Actor Larry David has a message for a study that reportedly states bald men are perceived to be more attractive to ladies: "what a crock of s---." 

David, creator and star of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," was on the "Today" show Wednesday to promote a new season of Curb when host Matt Lauer steered their conversation to baldness, a running gag in the show. 

"I always like to talk to you about things in the news," Lauer said. He then cited a study from the University of Pennsylvania that concludes, "bald men are perceived by ladies to be more attractive, confident and dominant as compared to their full-haired counterparts."

David, who is bald, responded: "What a crock of s---." 

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he added. "It was so stupid, I had to say it. As a bald man, there's not a word of truth to any that." 

David's language caused an uproar on the set of "Today," prompting yells from people off camera and causing Lauer to stand up from his chair while laughing. Lauer said the expletive would be censored for central and pacific time zones.  

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" returns to HBO on Oct. 1. 

Glastonbury police are investigating a reported carjacking at the Tannery Apartments overnight.

According to police, the victim was sitting in his Mercedes in the complex, located at 917 New London Turnpike, around midnight Wednesday when a male suspect opened the door and pointed a handgun at him.

The suspect ordered the victim out and took off with the vehicle north on New London Turnpike.

The car is described as a white 2013 Mercedes GK350 with New York plates. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Glastonbury Police Department at 860-633-8301.

((CORRECTION: Police initially indicated that the stolen car was black, but later updated to say it was in fact white. The story above has been updated.))

A 32-year-old man was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in New Britain overnight, according to New Britain police.

Police said the accident happened around 12:20 a.m.at the parking lot of NewBrite Plaza at 60 East Main Street.

The victim, identified only as a resident of Puerto Rico, struck a concrete post and chain in the parking lot and suffered serious injuries. Police said he was not wearing a helmet.

The crash is under investigation by the New Britain Police Department’s Traffic Safety Bureau. Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact Sgt. Steven King at 860-826-3071.

A Waterbury man has been arrested and charged in a 2010 murder in Norwalk.

Authorities said that 30-year-old Ibo Boone was charged with murder in the death of Michael “Mizzy” Robinson, Jr., who was shot to death on Oct. 29, 2010 near South Main Street and Grove Street in Norwalk.

Police believe the shooting was related to street gang activity.

Robinson was featured on cold case playing cards that are provided to inmates in the state Department of Correction system.

Boone was held on a $1 million bond and is scheduled for arraignment in Norwalk Superior Court on Wednesday.

“While a case may be considered ‘cold,’ it is never closed. I wish to thank all who worked so diligently on this investigation and to reaffirm our commitment to work to bring some sense of closure to families who have lost loved ones,” said Norwalk Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik in a release.

Delta is about to start letting its passengers text from 35,000 feet above the ground.

Starting Oct 1, Delta passengers connected to in-flight wi-fi will be able to text anyone via iMessage, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, the airline said Wednesday.

The service will be free, though only words and emojis will be sendable — no sending videos, photos or SMS messages — and if wi-fi is heavily in use, messages may have some lag.

It is the first major American airline to do so.

"We know many of Delta's customers want or need to stay connected in the air and on the ground, which is why we're investing in an easy, free way to send and receive messages inflight through some of the most popular global platforms," said Chief Marketing Officer Tim Mapes in a statement.

The airline is also touting faster paid wi-fi on its flights.

Saber Grills has issued a recall on liquid propane regulators found in certain models of its gas grills after reports of users getting singed by fire shooting out from the burner knobs.

The recall involves Model RA329 LP regulators with a date code in the range of 1120 to 1344. The regulators were sold with certain Saber LP grills, warranty part kits and natural gas to LP conversion kits.

The Georgia-based company warned the LP regulator can "allow gas to flow at a higher pressure than intended, which can result in a gas leak and flame burst from the burner knobs, posing fire and and burn hazards."

A total of 35 cases of regulators malfunctioning have been reported so far. Three of those reports involved singed arms and two reports were of burned or singed hair.

The products were sold at specialty outdoor living stores nationwide, including Family Leisure, Fortunoff Backyard Store, and Watson’s, and online at Bed, Bath and Beyond and Frontgate from September 2011 to May 2017 for between $800 and $2,000. The warranty parts and conversion kits were also sold for between $50 and $110.

About 18,800 grills and 2,900 warranty parts and conversion kits are affected by this recall. The grills were manufactured in China.

For more information and a full list of recalled model numbers, visit recall.sabergrills.com.

Health professionals and business leaders gathered in Hartford Wednesday to discuss the opioid epidemic.

Governor Dannel Malloy made welcoming remarks at the forum hosted by the Hartford Business Journal.

Malloy spoke about how deadly heroin has become over the years, now that it is being mixed with fentanyl.

“Someone is poisoning your poison,” he said. “The reality is if you are using heroin today, you are regularly buying a lottery ticket to be poisoned to death.”

In 2012, 17 of the people who died in Connecticut had fentanyl in their system, according to Malloy. This year fentanyl is projected to be in the systems’ of 644 people who die from overdoses.

The Hartford Business Journal did a month-long series on opioids in the workplace. Greg Bordonaro, the journal’s editor, said he thinks this is an issue employers need to face head-on. After speaking with several employers on the issue, he recommends business have programs and policies in place before they are confronted with an employee that needs help.

“Employers in particular, they have to know how to deal with this issue because it impacts their bottom line, especially if you have employees who are addicted and facing those problems. Sometimes you can’t just fire them. You have to figure out how to deal with them and get them help and recovery,” Bordonaro said.

One of the forum’s speakers was Matthew Eacott. Eacott grew up in Avon and started experimenting with drugs as a young teenager. He spoke about his struggle with addiction and how it progressed from Vicodin to Percocet to Oxycodone.

“I would accumulate arrests here in Hartford, Boston, I would flunk out of school, I was losing relationships. The drugs were a priority in my life and I was unwilling to do what it took for me to give myself the chance to learn something different, something that could help with my own recovery,” said Eacott.

Eacott said he spent a decade in and out of rehab before he found Aware Recovery Care, a program that he said saved his life. He is now almost six years sober, has advanced to become the Vice President of the company and is sharing his message to give other addicts hope.

“The more I can get out and talk about how addiction has no boundaries, the better,” said Eacott.

Governor Malloy also encouraged doctors to band together and watch out for one another to try and stop the epidemic. He also encouraged people to be mindful that it is easy to become addicted to a prescription if you are taking it longer than three to five days. Another idea he had was for employers to do more.

“Employers have a role to play in having a conversation with their insurance carriers or even in their own reimbursement systems. Long-term prescriptions, anything beyond three to five days for a pain episode is potentially addictive,” Malloy said.

A Southington man is accused of robbing a local liquor store Tuesday.

Michael Foley, 25, is accused of walking into Wineland Discount Liquors at 1543 Meriden Waterbury Turnpike around 1 p.m. and stealing a bottle of vodka. The clerk told police that Foley said he had a knife, though he did not show it.

Police said Foley fled the area on a bicycle and the clerk activated the store’s panic alarm, prompting a police response. But before police arrived, a relative of the clerk who was headed to the store to help spotted Foley and stopped him, taking back the bottle of vodka and taking his bike.

An officer recognized Foley on the store’s surveillance footage and he was later found walking near Burritt and Clark Streets. Foley had a knife on him, police said.

Foley was charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree threatening, breach of peace, larceny, and interfering/resisting an officer. He was held on a $50,000 and is due in court Wednesday.

Bloomfield fire officials are investigating two suspicious fires at vacant homes that occurred overnight Wednesday.

The first fire happened just after midnight at a vacant house at 20 Gilbert Avenue. Fire officials said that when crews arrived there were heavy flames showing from the front of the house. Firefighters started a defensive operation and knocked it down.

Firefighters responded to another fire at 15 Walker Lane, which is also a vacant home, about one hour later. Officials said a trash compactor caught fire outside the home. The heat from the fire melted the siding at 15 Walker Lane and the building next door at 17 Walker Lane.

Fire officials deemed both blazes suspicious and are investigating whether they are connected.

Shoreline East trains were suspended on Wednesday after a tree fell on the tracks in Guilford.

As of 11:30 a.m., no trains were able to pass through.

Shoreline East apologized to its riders for the inconvenience.

The tracks were cleared around 1 p.m. and trains were operating on or close to schedule, according to Shore Line East.

A woman who asked for animals to be removed from a plane headed from Baltimore to Los Angeles was escorted off the plane screaming, airline officials told NBC Los Angeles and video shows. 

The woman on a Southwest Airlines plane at Baltimore-Washington International Airport on Tuesday said she had a life-threatening pet allergy. 

Video captured by another passenger shows her struggling with two officers. 

"I'm sorry. My dad has a surgery. What are you doing?" she yells. 

"I will walk. Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" she continues. 

Other passengers can be heard saying, "She's walking." 

The woman, who is heard on video saying she is a professor, repeatedly asked the officers what they were doing and said they ripped her pants. 

"Our flight crew made repeated attempts to explain the situation to the customer, however, she refused to deplane and law enforcement became involved," Southwest Airlines said. 

The airline apologized and said it was local police who removed the woman. 

"We are disheartened by the way this situation unfolded and the customer's removal by local law enforcement officers," the airline said. "We publicly offer our apologies to this customer for her experience and we will be contacting her directly to address her concerns."

The airline said the woman failed to provide certification that she had an allergy. Their policy states that passengers without a medical certificate can be denied boarding if they "cannot travel safely with an animal" on the plane, a company statement said. 

Southwest said there was an emotional support animal and one pet on the flight. 

The man who captured the video, Bill Dumas, said everyone on the plane was ready for takeoff when officers boarded. Dumas said the woman was adamant that she not be removed and wanted the two animals on the plane to be taken off instead. 

He said other passengers remained calm and urged the woman to cooperate with officers.

A Southwest flight attendant explained the company's policy to other passengers and the crew appeared to handle the situation well, Dumas said he believed.

The flight later departed for Los Angeles.

SONIC Drive-In has acknowledged that some of its payment systems may have been breached after unusual activity was reported on credit cards used at SONIC locations.

SONIC has over 3,500 locations across the country, including four in Connecticut.

The company is working with law enforcement to determine the scope of the issue. A company spokesman did not say how many locations may have been affected and said the investigation was only in its beginning stages.

“Our credit card processor informed us last week of unusual activity regarding credit cards used at SONIC,” the company wrote in a statement.

“The security of our guests’ information is very important to SONIC. We are working to understand the nature and scope of this issue, as we know how important this is to our guests. We immediately engaged third-party forensic experts and law enforcement when we heard from our processor. While law enforcement limits the information we can share, we will communicate additional information as we are able.”

Anyone who has recently visited a SONIC and used a card to pay should monitor their accounts carefully and report any discrepancies to their financial institution.

The hurricanes may be long gone, but those stranded without water, power or even homes are still in desperate need for help to get back on their feet.

First Harvey, then Irma, and now Maria left millions struggling in their aftermath.

“Puerto Rico’s always been good to me,” said New Britain Youth Services worker Sal Germano. “So I said, you know what, let me help them out, because they always helped me out.”

“What can I do? My small donation isn’t going to make as big of an impact as getting people together and doing a whole, big one with the community.”

Every day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. donations are being accepted at New Britain Youth Services. They’re looking for clothing personal hygiene products, food and other necessities.

“Batteries, flashlights,” Germano suggested. “Little Foreman grills if you can.”

Meanwhile, the Consolidated School District of New Britain Public has given one goal to all of their 17 schools: raise as much money as possible to help as many people as possible.

“We are going to break it into thirds, so that we can give equal distribution to those impacted areas using our local and our state partners,” explained Superintendent Nancy Sarra.

Students at each school were given creative freedom to raise the funds, a project Sarra says instills an attitude of gratitude.

“Even though we have it tough here – we have tough times and money is tough – there are always people who are in greater need,” Sarra said.

Money will be collected at each of the schools’ central officers and to the New Britain Board of Education until Monday, Oct. 9.

Republican lawmakers urged Gov. Dannel Malloy to sign off on the state budget passed by the legislature at a press conference in Hamden Wednesday.

The state’s fiscal year ended on June 30 and the state still does not have a budget.

The Connecticut House of Representatives and the state Senate both passed Republican versions of the budget, but Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, has vowed to veto the spending plan, which he said would be devastating to the state’s effort to increase jobs. 

On Wednesday Republican lawmakers argued that the budget was bipartisan and the best option for the state.

“It avoids the draconian cuts the governor wants to make through his executive order,” Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano said.

Fasano said the budget brings stability to cities and towns with increases in municipal aid, restores cuts to non-profits and avoids painful tax increases.

Some of Malloy’s issues with the budget revolve around the GOP plan when it comes to pension fund spending.

The budget spends less money annually on retirement benefits for state employees while mandating that they pay more for their plans starting in 2027.

The Republican budget puts those savings into action for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 fiscal year. The governor said that kind of budgeting is exactly what’s led to Connecticut having one of the most underfunded pension systems in the country. He even accused Republicans of taking part in “Rowland-era,” budgeting.

Len Fasano argues that it is inaccurate to say the pensions are not fully funded.

“The pension is fully funded -100 percent. What happened is that because we change it in 2027 that has a fiscal impact.”

State Senator George Logan (R-Hamden) said that the budget fairly addresses the issue of teacher pensions.

“The budget does not shift teacher pension costs onto municipalities and property taxpayers. This is an expense that the state should not be paying. And shifting it onto its towns and cities. Doing so would mean cuts to teachers schools and increased property taxes. We have enough taxes. We cannot afford any more additional taxes," Logan said.

There are also concerns about cuts to higher education. The University of Connecticut, which faces a $300 million cut in funding over the next two years under the budget plan, said that amount of money lost would mean closing regional campuses, chopping financial aid, and possibly cutting division one athletics.

Republicans have defended their position, saying that social services and municipalities need the money and that UConn can get cash through the federal government, grants and increasing tuition.

Spending cuts will be triggered on Oct. 1 if no budget is passed, and the governor has expressed doubts that legislators will make that deadline. Fasano said that if the governor vetoes the budget, the legislature still has the ability to override it and encouraged residents to voice their opinion to their legislators.

“There is no budget out there that can garner support from the House and the Senate but the budget that was passed. There's no other plan. There’s no other alternative. The Democrats do not have support for their budget," Fasano said.

Southington residents found critical remarks of their support for President Donald Trump written in chalk on their driveway, police said. 

Police responded to Olson Drive on Tuesday for reported vandalism on the residence's driveway.

The message was critical of the resident's support for Trump in the 2016 election. It stated that the resident's ancestors were immigrants and that in supporting Trump, the residents were supporting deportation of themselves, Southington police said. 

The suspected vandal called the residents "bigots" and "racists", in addition to making fun of the home's Halloween decorations, according to police. 

There are no suspects at this time but police ask anyone with information to call them at (860) 621-0101.

The proposed waterfront MGM Casino resort at Bridgeport’s Steelpointe Harbor is still a long way from becoming a reality.

Gaming isn’t authorized under state law in Bridgeport and the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes that run Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun will likely fight the proposal.

Still, Mayor Toni Harp of New Haven is willing to roll the dice because she says the privately funded project would provide a boost to the regional economy. The MGM proposal comes with 7,000 jobs and a new job training facility in New Haven.

“I think it’s a good idea because the jobs crisis is really, really crazy,” Debbie Kee, a mother of two from New Haven, said. “I myself have been experiencing difficulty finding a job, I’ve been jobless now for a year.”

Harp’s spokesperson told NBC Connecticut no potential sites for the job training center have been identified yet.

“Realistically, I think that the downtown area is a good spot to bring it into,” Alyssa Krinsky, the assistant market manager for City Seed, said. “Downtown’s always a busy bustling area so it would be a great addition to the area.”

The City Seed farmer’s market sets up by City Hall and in three other Elm City neighborhoods.

“While casinos are always kind of a shifty subject for people, because of just the nature of them,” Krinsky said. “It’s more jobs and we can always do with more jobs in the new haven area, absolutely.”

Some of the farmer’s market customers, she said, are on food stamps.

“We don’t want people to stay on the program,” Krinsky said. “We want people to be able to get off the program and progress and have a job where they’re making enough money to attend the markets and spend their own money.”

Kee said she is hopeful state officials get behind the Bridgeport casino project.

“I think it will help our community,” she said.

State scientists believe removing a common, invasive shrub called Japanese barberry (berberis thunbergii) can help reduce the Lyme disease-carrying tick population by as much as 60 percent, but they told the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters it takes work.

Japanese barberry is inexpensive, changes color with the seasons, and grows quickly, all reasons experts told our team it has remained popular with homeowners and landscapers.

Researchers at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) warn it can transfer quickly from gardens to the wild, and they said they have frequently found it in woods bordering lawns, and beside hiking trails and roads.

Once established, Japanese barberry spreads rapidly and can crowd out young trees and wildflowers, forming dense thickets where they said their research showed the Lyme disease-carrying tick population is on average 12 times higher than in forest without it.

University of Connecticut Professor Tom Worthley travels around the state demonstrating methods to kill off the shrubs, and explained to our team that Japanese barberry is so resilient, “just cutting it doesn’t control it,” and that the shrub is able to re-sprout from roots left in the ground, as well as from branches that have been cut and left behind.

Worthley and CAES scientists advocate a set of methods homeowners can use to remove Japanese barberry from their homes and wooded areas, including the use of a propane torch or flame-weeder directed towards the base of a barberry. They said cooking the base of the barberry bushes can prevent new sprouts from coming up, but is dangerous without the appropriate training and gear. Instead, Worthley said, pulling the bushes out with chains or a weed wrench can be effective too.

The easiest option they recommended for homeowners may be to cut Japanese barberry bushes to its roots, and return to cut new growth every few months. This can take over a year, but Worthley explained repeatedly cutting it down will, “eventually exhaust the plant.”

The experts suggested homeowners can apply herbicide, available in many garden centers, to the base after cutting to speed the process up. Worthley cautioned homeowners to be wary of over-spraying and potentially harming native plants and wildlife.

The experts reminded homeowners considering removing Japanese barberry from their properties to always use protective gear when using power tools and chemicals.

Japanese barberry is commercially available in a variety of colors including lime green, orange, and crimson, but is generally a bright green in the wild for most of the year. It has thorny branches and oval leaves with smooth edges.

For more information on removing Japanese barberry and its effects on the environment, click here.

President Trump said Wednesday that he was considering lifting a nearly century-old shipping law to help Puerto Rico recover from devastating hurricane damage, though he also noted that the shipping industry would be opposed to a waiver.

“We're thinking about that but we have a lot of shippers and a lot of people that work in the shipping industry that don’t want the Jones Act lifted," Trump told reporters. "And we have a lot of ships out there right now.”

The Jones Act, a 97-year-old law that passed after World War I to protect the U.S. shipbuilding industry, requires that domestic shipping must be carried out by U.S.-owned, U.S.-made ships staffed by American crews. Critics of the act say it is limiting the delivery of potential aid to Puerto Rico by foreign vessels and will drive up prices for people on the island. Multiple studies have shown that the act has cost Puerto Rico’s economy billions of dollars. Eight members of Congress wrote a letter to the Department of Homeland Security urging the administration to waive the law. Republican Sen. John McCain has also called for the act to be scrapped. 

Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rossello, said earlier Wednesday that he expects the Jones Act to be waived. He told CNN that the act was temporarily waived during Hurricane Irma, which he said was much less devastating than what Puerto Rico is facing.

Rossello said his administration has talked to members of Congress from both parties.

“And they all support at least a temporary waiver of the Jones Act so that not only from U.S. maritime ships but from anybody that can bring help," he said. "And that is critical.”

The government has given varying statements on the Jones Act in recent days.

Elaine Duke, the DHS acting secretary, told reporters on Wednesday that there have been “no known waiver requests” for the Jones Act. But the DHS acknowledged the letter written by members of Congress in favor of scrapping the act.

"We have received a request from members of Congress -- which is not a normal way that waiver requests come in -- but we're going to evaluate the issues they've raised," a senior DHS official told reporters in a conference call Wednesday, CNN reported. "Our general counsel is evaluating whether members of Congress have standing to request such a waiver."

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said such a waiver is not yet needed, CNN reported.

The DHS also said Tuesday that officials thought waiving the Jones Act would be unnecessary. An assessment by the DHS showed there was "sufficient capacity" of U.S.-flagged vessels to move commodities to Puerto Rico, spokesman Gregory Moore said in a statement to Reuters and NBC News. 

"The limitation is going to be port capacity to offload and transit, not vessel availability," Moore said. "Most of the humanitarian shipments will be through barges, which make up a significant portion (along with tugs) of the US-flagged cargo fleet."

The Jones Act was waived after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma to facilitate the movement of petroleum along the East Coast, and to make up for the loss of high capacity pipelines, Moore said.

"The situation in Puerto Rico is much different," he said.

But critics of the Jones Act say that vessel availability isn't the issue. It's the higher prices Puerto Ricans must pay. 

“It is unacceptable to force the people of Puerto Rico to pay at least twice as much for food, clean drinking water, supplies and infrastructure due to Jones Act requirements as they work to recover from this disaster,” Sen. McCain wrote in a letter to DHS Tuesday. “Now, more than ever, it is time to realize the devastating effect of this policy and implement a full repeal of this archaic and burdensome act.”

McCain has been a long-time critic of the Jones Act and has previously drafted unsuccessful legislation to repeal it.

A senior DHS official said the Jones Act doesn’t allow the department to grant waivers solely to keep costs low, The Wall Street Journal reported. Waivers must be based on whether or not the there are enough U.S. ships to keep up with shipping needs, which DHS is saying there are. Only the Department of Defense can obtain a Jones Act waiver automatically, as it did to transport petroleum products from Texas after Hurricane Harvey.

The Shipbuilders Council of America did not respond for comment on the Jones Act, but according to its website the council strongly supports the act, calling it "vital to America’s economic, national and homeland security."

NBC reached out to DHS to clarify the status of a potential waiver for the Jones Act and what constitutes a formal request, but DHS has not yet responded. 

The American Red Cross has one way you can find out if your loved ones are safe in Puerto Rican shelters after the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria. 

"After a disaster, letting your family and friends know that you are safe and well can bring your loved ones great peace of mind. This website is designed to help make that communication easier," the website reads.

The organization's website feature allows people to either register themselves as "Safe and Well" or search for family and friends. 

American Red Cross workers are on the ground in shelters compiling a list of people on the island who are considered safe with the help of ham radio operators with the American Radio Relay League, based out of Newington.

Here's how you can find out:

1. Go to the Red Cross Safe and Well website
2. Click on Search Registrants
   
   
3. Enter the person's full name and phone number or address
   
   
4. A successful search will display the person's first and last name with a brief message

Red Cross will constantly be updating the list so people can keep checking back.

NBC Connecticut is pleased to announce that lead anchor Gerry Brooks will extend his contract through November 2018.

Gerry was considering retiring upon the expiration of his contract this November, but we are thrilled that our viewers will have another year with one of Connecticut’s most trusted, respected and iconic journalists.

“I turned 65 in August, and was contemplating retirement at the end of my contract in November. But two things happened. NBC CT President Susan Tully and VP/News Ben Dobson asked me not to retire, and kindly offered a generous deal for me to continue to anchor at 6, and assist in the transition to the next generation. I can't thank them enough,” Gerry shared with his Facebook followers. “I've been covering Connecticut for 43+ years now. Years ago, I promised myself that I wouldn't ‘hang on,’ that I would go out throwing fastballs. This will let me do that at a television station I love, and with colleagues I genuinely enjoy.”

NBC Connecticut will feature the following new team lineup starting Wednesday, October 25, 2017:

• 4:00-5:00 p.m. Kerri-Lee Mayland and Kevin Nathan
• 5:00-5:30 p.m. Keisha Grant and Mike Hydeck
• 5:30-6:00 p.m. Kerri-Lee Mayland and Kevin Nathan
• 6:00-6:30 p.m. Keisha Grant and Gerry Brooks
• 11:00-11:30 p.m. Keisha Grant and Gerry Brooks (thru November 22), Keisha Grant and Mike Hydeck (starting November 23)

First Alert Meteorologist Ryan Hanrahan will forecast for all of the early evening and 11 p.m. newscasts.