A package that prompted Hartford police and the bomb squad to respond to a women’s health center and abortion clinic on Friday was safe and contained only cosmetic products, according to police.

Hartford police responded to Hartford GYN Center, on Jefferson Court, at 12:24 p.m. after medical center staff became suspicious of a package the U.S. Postal Service delivered, police said.

Staff removed the package from the building and Hartford police called the bomb squad, which identified no threat, police said.

The building was not evacuated, according to police, who added that there are well-structured suspicious package protocols in place at the facility to keep patients and staff safe.

Police said they expect that Jefferson Street from Hudson to Main, near Hartford Hospital, to reopen by 3 p.m.
 

The past two-and-a-half years have been very difficult for Gaby Espinosa, a Norwalk teen who is among the thousands of American youth forced to live without a parent because of deportation.
Her father, Alex Espinosa, was removed to his native Colombia in 2011.

“My dad used to spoil us all the time. When he was gone, it was like … this is real. You’re on your own now,” Gaby said.

“It’s the worst thing that can happen to a human being. Being separated from the family is terrible,” Alex Espinosa said. Alex Espinosa’s journey began in 1989.

Fearing for his safety, he left Colombia for a better life in America. He admits he was crossing the U.S./Mexico border illegally when he was stopped.

Alex Espinosa was detained, but wasn’t present at his immigration hearing, where he was tagged with a voluntary departure. He maintains he wasn’t told he had to leave the country by a certain time.

His new attorney, Glenn Formica, said that’s how Alex Espinosa’s legal woes began.

“The immigration court, even in 1989, should have had him in front of the judge, and the judge should have said, 'Mr. Espinoza, you understand that you're being deported today, you understand that you're getting this special condition to your deportation,’” Formica said.

Formica said Alex tried to correct his status for years.

Although he paid taxes and didn’t have a criminal record, ever-changing immigration laws in the 1990s complicated Alex Espinosa’s quest for citizenship.

“What Alex’s case highlights more than anything, is someone who tried to do it right, someone who did try to follow the rules,” Fomica said.

Formica said immigration reform is Alex Espinosa’s best chance to be reunited with his family.

Under the current law, he has to wait another eight years to re-enter the country legally. That’s an unfathomable reality for Gaby Espinosa.

“In another eight years, I’ll be 27. My brother will be 23. [My dad will have] missed our entire youth. It hurts me that he’s going to miss all that,” Gaby said.

For now, the only way Gaby Espinosa can see her father is if she travels to Colombia, which is unaffordable for her.

While Gaby Espinosa is hopeful her father will return to America someday, she hopes people understand how difficult it is for kids and families who are separated by deportation.

“[My dad] isn’t a criminal. He’s done nothing wrong. He has a clean record. … For this to happen to him, it just makes no sense. It’s an injustice to our family,” she said.

Mosquitoes trapped last week in Voluntown have tested positive for the eastern equine encephalitis virus. This is the earliest the virus has been detected in the state in the 16 years the trapping program has been in existence.

State health officials said the heavy rains are a contributing factor and there is cause for concern about the early findings because of a longer season to spead the virus.

The mosquitoes to test positive were trapped on July 10, according to the State Mosquito Management Program, and they are the fire mosquitoes to test positively for the virus this year. 

“While the EEE-infected mosquitoes were Culiseta melanura, a bird feeding species, identification this early in the season is reason for concern,” Dr. Theodore Andreadis, Chief Medical Entomologist at the CAES said. “Due to recent heavy rains, this species is particularly numerous now and will potentially have a longer season to spread the virus to birds and then mosquito species that feed on birds and people before the weather turns cold in the fall.”

To reduce the risk of being bitten by mosquitoes residents should:

• Minimize time spent outdoors between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active.
• Keep door and window screens tight-fitting and in good repair.
• Wear shoes, socks, long pants, and a long-sleeved shirt when outdoors for long periods of time, or when mosquitoes are most active. Clothing should be light colored and made of tightly woven materials that keep mosquitoes away from the skin.
• Use mosquito netting when sleeping outdoors or in an unscreened structure and to protect small babies when outdoors.
• Consider the use of mosquito repellent, according to directions, when it is necessary to be outdoors.
• For information on EEE and what you can do to prevent getting bitten by mosquitoes, visit the Connecticut Mosquito Management Program website.
   

Norwalk’s Maritime Aquarium is a big draw to the southwest corner of the state, attracting nearly half a million visitors last year, and it’s about to get some extra attention.

The aquarium turned 25 years old today. 

“Twenty-five years ago, our founders hoped that a new aquarium might drive revitalization of the South Norwalk neighborhood and teach visitors about the natural history of Long Island Sound,” Jennifer Herring, president of The Maritime Aquarium, said. “But I don’t believe that even they imagined what we have been able to achieve as a regional marine-education resource and as a hub for the development that has occurred around us.”

According to a recent economic-impact study, The Maritime Aquarium generates $25 million for the city and $42 million for the state each year, all while operating on the aquarium's $10 million budget.

The aquarium’s primary goal is to educate the public about Long Island Sound and they consistently find new ways to do that. 

They have the largest IMAX movie theater in the state and will have a new research vessel next year.

 “As wonderful as those new technologies are - and as much as we anticipate the unknown technologies that will become available to us in the next 25 years - the greatest tool, the most important connection, always will be the simple act of a child touching a horseshoe crab, of the smile forced out by the playfulness of an otter, or of the thrill of looking into the toothy mouth of a shark for the first time," Herring said. "That's what inspires our visitors,” Herring said in a statement.

The birthday party kicked off at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

 

Aspirin's long list of benefits now include cancer prevention.

Researchers found that women who took low dose aspirin every other day for 18 years ended up with about a 20 percent lower risk of colon cancer, according to a study published this week in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

“This study provides some surprising new information since it wasn’t thought that such a low dose, especially every other day, would have an effect on cancer,” said Nancy Cook, the study’s lead author from Boston’s Brigham, Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Colon and rectal cancers are the third most common types of cancer in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. This year alone, the National Cancer Institute reports 102,480 new patients will be diagnosed with colon cancer and 40,340 will be diagnosed with rectal cancer.

The new study included nearly 40,000 women 45 and older who were part of the Women’s Health Study. The participants were randomly assigned to either take 100 milligrams of aspirin or a placebo every other day. Researchers followed the women for up to 18 years from the start of the study.

Women who took aspirin were more likely to have gastrointestinal bleeding (8.3 percent versus 7.3 percent) and peptic ulcers (7.3 percent verses 6.2 percent).

The researchers pointed out that not all women enrolled in the Women's Health Study were followed up with, and that cases of gastrointestinal bleeding were only self-reported.
 

Temperatures are continuing to climb with no end in sight. Beat the heat with these creative tips for staying cool.

Chill your sheets

Instead of turning your pillow onto the “cold side” every five minutes, try throwing your pillow cases, sheets and blanket into storage bags and then putting them in the freezer. The cooler linen will keep you comfortable on a hot night.

Run your wrists under cold water

Blood flows close to your skin in your wrists and the insides of your arms. Sleepingrelief.com suggests running them under cold water for about a minute. Cooling these areas will also cool down the rest of your body.

Blow air over ice

No air conditioning? Make your own. Sleepingrelief.com suggests filling up a large shallow container with ice and placing it between you and a fan before you go to bed. The amount of time it takes the ice to melt should be just enough time for you to fall asleep.

Eat spicy foods

It's no coincidence that some of the warmest climates boast some of the spiciest foods. The Huffington Post reports that eating spicy foods actually cools you down. Spicy foods make you sweat, which helps cool you down faster.

Turn off TVs and computers when not in use

TVs and computers on sleep mode still give off heat energy. It is best to turn them off when not in use so you don’t add to the heat in your house.

Sleep downstairs

Since heat rises, your house is likely to be cooler on the ground floor. Sleeping downstairs may be a more comfortable way to sleep during a heat wave.

Oldhouseweb.com suggests ways to keep cool in an old house, such as leaving your attic hatch open for airflow. That way, rising heat has somewhere to escape to.

A motor scooter driver was injured in Plainfield on Tuesday afternoon after colliding with a station wagon on Lathrop Road Extension, police said.

According to police, Colby Robinson, 19, of Caterbury, was attempting to make a right-hand turn off Lathrop Road Extension when he struck the front of a station wagon traveling in the other direction.

Robinson was ejected from the scooter. Police said Robinson was not wearing a helmet.

He was transported to the Plainfield Backus Emergency Center for treatment of his injuries and his condition is unknown.

The driver of the station wagon, Dennis Lafontaine, 30, of 185 Main Street in Hampton, was not injured, police said.

Robinson was issued an infraction for operating a motor vehicle without a license, according to police.

A 63-year-old man's body was pulled from the pond at Bushnell Park in Hartford late Tuesday evening.

According to police, a couple was walking through the park near the south side of the pond when they saw a man in the water.

The couple pulled him ashore and attempted to perform CPR, police said.

Emergency responders arrived and the man was pronounced dead, authorities said.

The man's name has not been released.

Police are actively investigating.

A church sign sparked controversy in Chicago over the weekend when it posted a controversial message after the George Zimmerman verdict.

“It is safe to kill black people in Amerikkka,” the sign read outside the First Baptist Church of University Park.

The sign, spurred from the weekend verdict, sparked a myriad of reactions from passerbys and churchgoers alike, many of which are not what the author of the statement and pastor of the church expected.

“I understand people are emotionally upset, but inciting anger in people is not going to help,” said Josh Kulas.

Pastor Reginald Williams Jr. said the sign was a message “not intended to divide, but to cause honest reflection in order to make this county a better place for all.”

“I think they could have worded it better,” said Joel Baker.

The church tweaked the sign Tuesday to read as a question rather than a statement. The new message now reads:

“Is it safe to kill blacks in America?”

A statement from Williams Tuesday read:

“It is interesting the amount of energy that people have put into attacking the church and the pastor…We also invite you to utilize those same passions to offer commentary towards solutions, and not divisions.”

Regardless of the change, the pastor said the intent is the same.
But many still disagree with the churches decision.

“The Trayvon Martin case is bad but putting this out there is not going to help,” said Donovan Jones.
 

A Brooklyn man has a long road to recovery after a man bludgeoned him with a hammer in an attack so vicious he lost an eye.

Dru Barnes, a musician, was walking home to Fort Greene from a friend's house in Bedford-Stuyvesant last week when he got lost, he said. Police believe the attacker followed him for a block before he struck, hitting Barnes in the eye.

The friend Barnes had just been visiting rushed to his hospital bedside.

"I arrive two hours later at the trauma unit, and there is Dru on a gurney. It was horrific, it was like a horror movie," Gerrit Vooren told NBC 4 New York.

At the hospital bed, Vooren recorded Barnes' recollection of the attack.

"I'm not sure what the motive was," Barnes says in the video, groggy from pain medication.

Police don't know, either. Authorities don't think it was a hate crime or a robbery. They have some surveillance video, witness reports and the hammer, but no identity of the attacker.

"This guy's on the loose, this can happen again. Clearly, he's deranged," said Vooren.

Barnes says he's relying on his Buddhist faith to get him through the multiple surgeries that are ahead.

His friends have set up a Facebook page to help pay for the costs.

More than money though, they want information to help catch the perpetrator and prevent it from happening to someone else.

Asiana Airlines has decided not to sue a Bay Area TV station that aired bogus and racially offensive names for four pilots on its plane that crashed at the San Francisco airport earlier this month, an airline spokeswoman told CNBC on Wednesday.

"Asiana Airlines has decided to not pursue legal action as a result of a public apology by KTVU for the report," Hyomin Lee told CNBC.

She said the airline instead would remain "dedicated to caring for the passengers and family members of Asiana flight 214 and supporting the investigation into the cause of the accident."

That decision came after Asiana had said Monday that it was going to sue KTVU for defamation over what it called its "racially discriminatory report" that disparaged Asians.

KTVU came under fire on Friday after an anchor read the fake, racist pilot names — whose origins were unclear — on air, accompanied by a graphic listing them. Video of the erroneous report on the fake names immediately went viral online.

KTVU has apologized for the report. So has the National Transportation Safety Board, which said a summer intern had erroneously confirmed the names in response to a media inquiry.

It remains unclear where the names came from originally.

Hartford police are searching for two brothers wanted for a murder that took place in a school parking lot.

Kunta Soyini, 34, and his 37-year-old brother, Quan Soyini are accused of killing Chimar Gordon on July 10.

Gordon was found lying in the parking lot at the Thirman Milner Elementary School around 10:30 a.m. The shooting prompted officials to place the school on lock-in. Summer school was in session at the time of the shooting, but no students or staff witnessed the incident, according to police.

Homicide detectives were able to identify the Soyini brothers as suspects, but did not say what led them to the pair. Police have obtained arrest warrants for both men.

Kunta Soyini will be charged with murder and carrying a dangerous weapon when he is captured. Quan Soyini faces charges of murder, conspiracy to commit and aiding and abetting.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of either suspect can call Hartford Police Lt. Brian Foley at 860-757-4463 or Crime Stoppers at 860-722-TIPS.

What Elliot Sudal thought would be an average day of fishing in Nantucket turned out to be anything but.

Sudal, originally from Burlington, went fishing for bluefish on Sunday. 

He was reeling in his catch when a shark grabbed onto the fish he had hooked and bit it in half, Sudal said.

The shark swallowed the line and Sudal managed to reel it in.

After he pulled it ashore, Sudal paused to snap a picture before throwing the shark back out to sea.

The shark was not hurt, Sudal said.

Sudal attended Central Connecticut State University and later moved to Florida and then Nantucket, where he now resides.

Sudal said he loves to fish and has encountered sharks before.

As Connecticut tolerates another heat wave, local power companies and the regional grid operator are asking resident to conserve power.

They said were are not at risk of a blackout or a brownout, but usage is peaking. 

An excessive heat advisory has been issued for the entire state and ISO New England, which operates the national power grid, said demand could approach a seven-year-record as residents use air conditioners to get relief from the heat.

That record, set on Aug. 2, 2006, is 28,130 megawatts.

Today is the fourth day of the fourth heatwave this summer and power usage is expected to hit a peak on Thursday at 27,800 megatwatts.

Because of that, ISO is asking customers to conserve electricity, especially between noon and 8 p.m.

The mercury is expected reach 95 to 100 degrees inland through Friday or Saturday, according to NBC Connecticut meteorologist Bob Maxon. Humidity will push the heat index even higher, making it feel like 104 degrees.

The shoreline will get minimal relief. Temperatures by the shore will be in the low 90s for most of the week.

Norwich Public Utilities has issued a power alert to customers for today and tomorrow and asks residents to decrease the amount of electricity they are using by limiting their use of washers, dryers, stoves and by turning off unnecessary lighting during the peak period of the power alert.

“Electricity is a commodity that is bought and sold on the open market, and costs are determined by the amount of electricity that is bought. When a tremendous amount of electricity is being used, the price increases exponentially. We are then charged this higher price for the following year,” John Bilda, Norwich Public Utilities' general manager said in a statement. “Since the demand for power on these power alert days is so great, by decreasing our electrical use, we lower our electricity demand. This will then have a positive effect on next year’s wholesale energy cost.”

ISO recommends setting the thermostat to between 74 and 78 degrees between noon and 8 p.m., turning off unneeded lights, appliances and office equipment and doing laundry early in the morning or in the late evening.

If you are leaving home for an extended period of time, ISO recommends turning off your air conditioner.

The heat wave might end on Sunday, with cooler and less humid air moving in by then.

Check the full forecast here.

Send us your hot weather photos here.

San Diego residents have reported sightings of a rare black jellyfish known as sea nettles at local beaches.

The dark purple sea creatures were last seen about a year ago, and have now returned to local waters – sometimes delivering a painful sting to anyone that bothers them. And they’re not small – black jellyfish can grow up to three feet wide, with tentacles spanning 10 feet long.

A group of children at Pacific Beach were stung on Sunday afternoon, and said they witnessed others getting hurt as well.

But the sting isn’t too bad – the kids said it wasn’t painful for long.

“It lasts about 20 minutes,” said Tyler Crabtree.

It’s not certain why the jellyfish come to San Diego’s beaches, but scientists speculate it’s because they’re attracted to waters with low oxygen levels. This year marks the fifth time in a little more than a decade since they’ve been seen.

Earlier this month, black jellyfish were seen at Laguna Beach. People were got stung there said it felt like a bee sting.

Anyone who suffers a sting should wash it out with water, and should avoid rubbing the area so toxins do not spread.

Authorities arrested a satellite television installer Tuesday for allegedly sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl in a New Jersey home. 

Arcadio "Junior" Nova, 38, was preparing to install DirecTV inside a Paterson home July 3 when he sexually assaulted the child, prosecutors said. He was working as an independent contractor and was not dispatched by the company. 

Nova, who lives in Washington Heights in New York City, was charged with several counts of sexual assault, luring and endangering the welfare of a child. Attorney information wasn't immediately available, and no one answered the door at his listed address.

DirecTV said it was looking into the matter and had no one by that name as an employee or authorized technician. 

A San Diego woman offers a new account of the allegations of sexual harassment being levied against the mayor and wants other women to feel they can speak out as well.

Special Section: Mayor Under Fire

She has come forward to share her experience with San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, describing what she calls "uncomfortable" hugs and kisses.

The woman, who asked not to be identified because she's afraid she'll lose her job if she comes forward, doesn't work for Mayor Filner, but her job puts her in contact with him almost every day.

She says the allegations made public Monday are eerily similar to her own run-ins with Filner.

She says on several occasions Mayor Filner grabbed her, hugged her and kissed her hands and cheek, making her uncomfortable.

Once, she was shocked when Filner "popped up in front of me, hugged me and kiss my cheek."

She may see the mayor almost every day, but she said the embrace was done quickly and without her permission. And, she added, it was not similar to the hug of a friend or a colleague.

"It’s a different hug. The way he hugged me," she said.

"The hug is just like, the hands. You could feel it," she explained. "You could feel it’s different."

On the surface, her story doesn’t sound much different from the op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune Tuesday in which Filner acknowledged at times he "treated the people with whom he works poorly" and is "impatient and demanding."

In several local television interviews, Filner also admitted that he was a "hugger" and liked to show his affection often to both men and women.

However, the woman who spoke with NBC 7 San Diego said she never asked for the show of affection, and it made her uneasy.

When she would see him, she would pretend to be busy to avoid any interaction.

She did not tell her boss, because she said she was embarrassed and afraid.

"It’s just I’m powerless. I’m paycheck to paycheck, what am I going to do? Who’s going to really help me out?" she asked.

"I don't want any drama. I don't want any troubles. I don't want to cause any problems," she said.

The recent allegations, though, gave her the courage to share her story. She's hoping this will let others know it's okay, too.

"I'm a strong woman. I know what is right and what is wrong. The thing is, I have to do this. I have to finish this. I have to get over with this and get it out of my system, because when I release this I get peace," she said. 

A Middletown man accused of dealing crack and marijuana told police it was a short-time thing to avoid the bank foreclosing on his house, police said.

However, police said, the man has a past criminal history that includes prior drug possession convictions.

When police stopped Christopher White, 35, and his wife, Tiwanda White, 35, on Main Street near Kings Avenue on Tuesday night, they found crack cocaine, marijuana, scales, packaging material and a large amount of cash on the couple, police said.

Christopher White told police that he had only started selling drugs a short time ago because the bank was going to foreclose on his Heather Square house, police said.

But, this was not Christopher White's first drug arrest.

His name had come up on several investigations in the past, over a long time period, the detective informed him.

Christopher White acted surprised and again insisted that he’d only sold drugs for a short period of time, police said.

According to the arraignment report, Christopher White has been convicted for drug possession several times. Court records show convictions for drug possession in 2004 and 2005.

The couple was charged with operating a drug factory; several drug possession charges, including near a school because the vehicle stop was near Apple Day Care; and two counts of risk of injury to a child.

Christopher White was taken into custody and held on a $250,000 surety bond and Tiwanda White was held on a $100,000 surety bond.

Both are due in court on July 30.