Green Bay News

FOND DU LAC – If the outdoors isn’t your thing, maybe it’s buttons.

The Wisconsin State Button Society is holding its annual show in Fond du Lac at the Retlaw Plaza Hotel.

The event is free and runs until 5:00 p.m. on Friday and on Saturday will begin at 9:30 a.m. and end at 2:00 p.m.

Dealers have buttons for sale and also have educational displays.

Event participants say there’s a lot of history and art in buttons, especially those made out of glass or rare ones, such as buttons from Civil War uniforms.

WACO, Texas (AP) – A Texas police chief says three officers fired 12 times after gunfire erupted during last month’s deadly melee involving bikers at a restaurant in Waco.

Police Chief Brent Stroman said Friday that three Waco officers fired their rifles outside a Twin Peaks restaurant where bikers had gathered for a meeting May 17.

Investigators have said a dispute among rival biker gangs ignited a fight in the restaurant’s parking lot, where nearly two dozen law enforcement officers were staged in anticipation of the meeting.

Nine people were killed and 18 injured. Investigators haven’t said who fired the fatal shots.

Stroman says officers “did not fire indiscriminately into the crowd” after the shooting began.

Stroman also defended the decision to arrest about 175 bikers and charge each with engaging in organized crime.

APPLETON – City leaders are set to discuss whether to buy two properties for a proposed new library.

The proposed $37 million project would be built on the Fox River Bluffs, but the city would have to buy the properties where Fox Banquets Rivertyme Catering and Trinity Lutheran Church are currently located. City leaders announced Friday that they have agreements in principle to buy both properties.

A vote is expected at a special meeting of the full Common Council, which has been called for 6 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall.

There will be time for public input at the meeting, officials say.

Some citizens and council members have raised questions about the need for a new library and the cost and location. Earlier this month, the council decided to hold off on scheduling a citywide advisory referendum on the library proposal.

OVERTON, Texas (AP) — Two Texas girls whose lemonade stand was shut down because they lacked a permit will instead offer the drink for free.

Television station KLTV reports that 8-year-old Andria Green and her 7-year-old sister, Zoey, will take only donations for lemonade Saturday in Overton, about 120 miles east of Dallas.

A police officer on Monday approached the stand, which offered lemonade for 50 cents and “kettle korn” for $1.

In patrol-car video, the officer can be heard asking the girls’ mother, Sandi Evans, for a permit. She says she wasn’t aware they needed one.

A family friend went to City Hall to get one. Authorities waived the $150 fee, but said health department officials needed to inspect the stand.

Overton’s police chief says police must follow state health guidelines.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – YouTube is seeking to win over gamers.

The online video giant announced plans ahead of next week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo to launch a separate app and site specifically for fans of video games.

YouTube product manager Alan Joyce said in a statement Friday that YouTube Gaming will be a destination for users to find gaming videos, live streams and Internet personalities. The app and site will feature individual pages dedicated to more than 25,000 games.

Joyce noted that if a user began searching for the word “call” on the YouTube Gaming app, the military shooter “Call of Duty,” not the Carly Rae Jepsen tune “Call Me Maybe” would appear first.

YouTube will also seek to make it easier for users to broadcast live and competitive gaming, known as e-sports, by creating singular links that can be shared and removing the need to schedule a broadcast.

“When I look at where YouTube is weaker in the gaming content space, I think live and e-sports,” said Ryan Wyatt, YouTube’s global head of gaming content, in an interview last month. “In the coming weeks, you’re going to see us make improvements to our live product, and we do want to invest in e-sports from a content perspective. In some ways, it’s still nascent, but there is something to say about the future of e-sports, and we definitely want to be part of it.”

The move by Google-owned YouTube takes direct aim at Twitch, the gaming-centric streaming video site acquired by Amazon last year for nearly $1 billion. While YouTube remains the dominant online video site, Twitch has solidified itself over the past three years as a destination to stream gameplay from such titles as “League of Legends” and “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.” Twitch now boasts 100 million users who watch 1.5 million broadcasters a month.

YouTube Gaming is scheduled to debut this summer in the U.S. and U.K. The app and site will be previewed at YouTube’s booth on the E3 show floor beginning Tuesday.

GRAND CHUTE – Casey and Carson Barfels will leave Lake Itasca State Park, Minnesota, via the Mississippi River next week and begin their 1,000-mile journey by canoe back to their home in Appleton.

The departure date is June 24th. This trip is aimed at helping veterans by raising funds to benefit Jared Allen’s Homes for Wounded Warriors.

The pair has a fund-raising goal of $100,000. The journey is estimated to take 37 days.

Donations are submitted via the Voyage for Vets website and goes directly to Jared Allen’s Homes for Wounded Warriors. The mission of Allen’s organization is to provide financial assistance and support to injured United States military veterans by building and remodeling handicap accessible homes to suit their individual needs.

Casey Barfels, 43, is a former US Army and Iowa Army National Guard members. His son Carson, 11, is an active Boy Scout. The two have been planning the trip for a year.

The Barfels plan to post regular updates, including photos and video of their journey, on Facebook.

FOX 11’s Laura Smith will have more on this story tonight on FOX 11 News at Nine.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State John Kerry will be released from hospital Friday after undergoing surgery on a broken leg.

State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Kerry would be discharged from Massachusetts General Hospital in the afternoon but remain in Boston for the time being as he recovers.

Kerry broke his right femur on May 31 in a bicycle accident in France. His operation was June 2.

Rathke said Kerry would speak publicly upon leaving the hospital.

WASHINGTON (AP) – As many as 14 million current and former civilian U.S. government employees had their personal information exposed to hackers, according to two people who were briefed on the investigation, a far higher figure than the 4 million the Obama administration initially disclosed.

The newer estimates put the number of compromised records at between 9 million and 14 million going back to the 1980s, said one congressional official and one former US official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because information disclosed in the confidential briefings includes classified details of the investigation.

There are about 4.2 million federal employees, so the majority of the records exposed relate to former employees.  Contractor information also has been stolen, officials said.

The latest revelation came a day after a major union said the cyber theft is more damaging than it first appeared, asserting that hackers stole personnel data and Social Security numbers for all the federal workers in a central personnel database.

The Obama administration had acknowledged that up to 4 million current and former employees whose information resides in the Office of Personnel Management server are affected by the December cyber breach, but it had been vague about exactly what was taken.

But J. David Cox, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a letter Thursday to OPM director Katherine Archuleta that based on incomplete information OPM provided to the union, “we believe that the Central Personnel Data File was the targeted database, and that the hackers are now in possession of all personnel data for every federal employee, every federal retiree, and up to 1 million former federal employees.”

The OPM data file contains the records of most federal civilian employees, though not members of Congress and their staffs, members of the military or staff of the intelligence agencies.

The union believes the hackers stole military records and veterans’ status information, address, birth date, job and pay history, health insurance, life insurance, and pension information; and age, gender and race data, he said.

Also Thursday, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic Senate leader, said that the hack was carried out by “the Chinese” without specifying whether he meant the Chinese government or individuals. Reid is one of eight lawmakers briefed on the most secret intelligence information.  U.S. officials have declined to publicly blame China, which has denied involvement.

The union, which does not have direct access to the investigation, said it is basing its assessment on “sketchy” information provided by OPM. The agency has sought to downplay the damage, saying what was taken “could include” personnel file information such as Social Security numbers and birth dates.

“We believe that Social Security numbers were not encrypted, a cybersecurity failure that is absolutely indefensible and outrageous,” Cox said in the letter. The union called the breach “an abysmal failure on the part of the agency to guard data that has been entrusted to it by the federal workforce.”

Samuel Schumach, an OPM spokesman, said that “for security reasons, we will not discuss specifics of the information that might have been compromised.”

Schumach did, however, address Cox’s comment on encryption. “Though data encryption is a valuable protection method, today’s adversaries are sophisticated enough that encryption alone does not guarantee protection,” he said. “OPM does utilize encryption in some instances and is currently increasing the types of methods utilized to encrypt data.”

The central personnel data file contains up to 780 separate pieces of information about an employee.

Cox complained in the letter that “very little substantive information has been shared with us, despite the fact that we represent more than 670,000 federal employees in departments and agencies throughout the executive branch.”

The union’s release and Reid’s comment in the Senate put into sharper focus what is looking like a massive cyber espionage success by China. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, an Intelligence Committee member, has also said the hack came from China.

Mike Rogers, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said last week that Chinese intelligence agencies have for some time been seeking to assemble a database of information about Americans.  Those personal details can be used for blackmail, or also to shape bogus emails designed to appear legitimate while injecting spyware on the networks of government agencies or businesses Chinese hackers are trying to penetrate.

U.S. intelligence officials say China, like the U.S., spies for national security advantage.  Unlike the U.S., they say, China also engages in large-scale theft of corporate secrets for the benefit of state-sponsored enterprises that compete with Western companies. Nearly every major U.S. company has been hacked from China, they say.

The Office of Personnel Management is also a repository for extremely sensitive information assembled through background investigations of employees and contractors who hold security clearances. OPM’s Schumach has said that there is “no evidence” that information was taken.  But there is growing skepticism among intelligence agency employees and contractors about that claim.

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Associated Press writers Donna Cassata and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Even while calling for a “civilized” Republican debate in 2016, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker charged on Friday that GOP senators seeking the White House haven’t accomplished anything in Washington.

The 47-year-old two-term governor was the first of five Republican presidential prospects to appear at a luxury mountainside resort in Utah, where 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney was hosting a private gathering with his top donors. Friday’s speaking program featured Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina in addition to Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Walker said his party’s 2016 presidential class should be divided into two groups. “There are fighters and there are winners,” he told dozens of donors in a hotel ballroom, describing the fighters as the senators in the race.

“They have yet to win anything and accomplish anything,” Walker said of the senators.

Up next was Rubio, who did not engage Walker, but drew a contrast between the older and younger crop of candidates.

“Yesterday is over,” the 44-year-old senator declared, repeating a common theme designed to distinguish himself from leading Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Jeb Bush. “The old ways of doing things aren’t working anymore.”

“Some have said I should have waited my turn,” Rubio said. “I didn’t know there was a line.”

Bush was invited to Romney’s gathering, but was finishing a European tour on Friday.

Romney’s invitation-only event gave the Republican contenders an opportunity to connect with 250 leading donors and political operatives.

Some attendees started their day hiking with Romney and his wife at 6 a.m. Others played flag football with Rubio. Among other activities: skeet shooting with Graham, a hot air balloon ride, outdoor yoga and horseback riding with Ann Romney.

Overall, more than a dozen high-profile Republicans are expected to seek the presidency. With the first debates just two months away, some candidates have begun fighting to stand out.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams has found listeria in its plant again and has halted production and closed retail shops for the second time since April, the company said Friday.

Listeria was discovered during routine swabbing that is part of the monitoring process, and the Columbus-based company is taking steps to figure out how it got into the plant, CEO John Lowe said in a statement on the company’s website.

“We have a theory and are testing that theory,” he said.

He said safety protocols worked as intended, and no ice cream was contaminated.

There is no timetable for resuming production, Lowe said. Jeni’s is temporarily closing its 21 retail shops because there isn’t enough ice cream to keep them stocked.

The statement didn’t provide specifics about where the listeria was discovered, and the company said it wouldn’t comment further.

Jeni’s shut down production April 23, recalled its products and closed shops after listeria was discovered in pints of ice cream and the plant. The company had traced the source to a pint-filling machine in the plant. Jeni’s destroyed $2.5 million worth of ice cream, then cleaned and reworked production to try to prevent future contamination. Production resumed May 13, and shops reopened May 22.

There were no known illnesses from Jeni’s April recall, which came as Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries also shut down and recalled all products after listeria in its products was linked to three deaths.

A government investigation of Jeni’s found inadequate testing and cleaning in its plant. The report said Jeni’s managers did not have an adequate sampling and testing program and were not sufficiently sanitizing some surfaces, including the floors.

Once inside a plant, listeria can be very difficult to get rid of. It is found in soil and water and can be tracked into a facility by employees or carried by animals. Listeria illnesses generally only affect the elderly, people with compromised immune systems and pregnant women.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House sidetracked a high-profile White House-backed trade bill on Friday, a humiliating defeat for President Barack Obama inflicted by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and dozens of rank-and-file lawmakers from his own party.

The 302-126 vote came a few hours after Obama journeyed to the Capitol to deliver a last-minute personal plea to fellow Democrats to support the measure, which would allow him to negotiate global trade deals that Congress could approve or reject but not change.

“I don’t think you ever nail anything down around here. It’s always moving,” the president said as he departed — a prescient remark given Pelosi’s dramatic announcement later on the House floor.

“Slow down the fast track to get a better deal for the America people,” the California lawmaker said in a speech that drew handshakes and hugs from union-backed Democrats who have labored for months to reject Obama’s request for “fast track” authority in trade talks.

Republicans command a majority in the House, and Speaker John Boehner and the GOP leadership worked in harness with Obama to pass the legislation. But there were many defections among Republicans unwilling to expand the president’s authority and not nearly enough Democrats supporting him for the bill to prevail.

The outcome was also a triumph for organized labor, which had lobbied lawmakers furiously to oppose the measure that union officials warned would lead to the loss of thousands of American jobs.

Technically, the vote was on a portion of the legislation to renew federal aid for workers who lose their jobs through imports.

A second roll call followed on the trade negotiating powers themselves, and the House approved that measure, 219-211. But under the rules in effect, the overall legislation, previously approved by the Senate, could not advance to the White House unless both halves were agreed to. That made votes something less than a permanent rejection of the legislation.

Pelosi said the bill was “stuck in the station,” suggesting that changes could get it moving again.

Even so, it was unclear how majority Republicans and the White House would be able to gain the momentum.

“Basically the president tried to both guilt people and then impugn their integrity,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., one of the most outspoken opponents of the legislation.

Another Democrat, Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, said Obama had told Democrats that “his whole philosophy, life, everything he’s done has been to help people. And he thinks he’s doing that with this trade agreement.”

Cohen added he remains on the fence after hearing Obama make his pitch. He noted that FedEx, a major employer in his district, supports the bill, while longtime political allies in organized labor oppose it.

Business groups generally favor the measure. But strong opposition by organized labor carries at least an implicit threat to the re-election of any Democrat who votes in the bill’s favor.

The debate and vote are certain to reverberate in next year’s presidential election as well. Most Republican contenders favor the trade bill. Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton is uncommitted, despite calls from presidential rival Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders, an opponent of the measure, to take a position.

The president’s hastily arranged visit to Capitol Hill marked a bid to stave off a humiliating defeat at the hands of his own party.

His visit relegated much of the debate on the House floor to the status of a sideshow.

“Is America going to shape the global economy, or is it going to shape us?” said Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who is head of the House Ways and Means Committee and a GOP pointman on an issue that scrambled the normal party alignment in divided government.

But Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., countered that the legislation heading toward a showdown vote included “no meaningful protections whatever against currency manipulation” by some of America’s trading partners, whose actions he said have “ruined millions of middle class jobs.”

Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California, an opponent of the legislation, said Obama’s appeal “didn’t convince me. It may have convinced other members.”

Other presidents have had the authority Obama seeks. The White House wants the legislation as it works to wrap up a round of talks with 11 Pacific Area countries.

The same measure included a renewal of assistance for workers who lose their jobs as a result of global trade. Normally, that is a Democratic priority, but in this case, Levin and other opponents of the measure mounted an effort to kill the aid package, as a way of toppling the entire bill.

The move caught the GOP off-guard. House Republicans, already in the awkward position of allying themselves with Obama, found themselves being asked by their leaders to vote for a worker retraining program that most have long opposed as wasteful. Many were reluctant to do so, leaving the fate of the entire package up in the air, and Obama facing the prospect of a brutal loss — unless he can eke out what all predict would be the narrowest of wins.

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Associated Press writers David Espo, Darlene Superville, Jim Kuhnhenn, Alan Fram, Laurie Kellman and Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

BOSTON (AP) — Two men were charged Friday with conspiring to help the Islamic State group by plotting with a Boston terror suspect to kill U.S. citizens to support the objectives of the terrorist organization.

Nicholas Rovinski, 24, of Warwick, Rhode Island, was arrested Thursday. David Wright, 25, of Everett, Massachusetts, was arrested last week.

Both men are charged with conspiring with Usaama Rahim, 26, of Boston, who was killed last week by terror investigators who had him under 24-hour surveillance. Authorities say Rahim lunged at police with a military-style knife, but his family has questioned that account, noting that a knife is not seen in a grainy surveillance video cited by authorities.

Rovinski and Wright, Rahim’s nephew, were charged Friday with conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State group. Wright told the FBI he met Rovinski about a year ago through Facebook, and they began communicating, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court.

The affidavit says the men initially planned to behead a political activist whom law enforcement officials have identified as blogger Pamela Geller.

Rovinski’s lawyer, William Fick, declined to comment on the allegations. Rovinski is scheduled to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court on Friday afternoon.

Wright’s lawyer, Jessica Hedges, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment on the new charge. Wright has been in custody since his arrest last week on a charge of conspiracy to destroy evidence. He is scheduled to appear in court for a detention hearing next week.

Wright and Rovinski told authorities that during a meeting with Rahim on May 31 they discussed plans to behead Geller, according to the affidavit.

Two days later, Rahim called Wright and told him in a recorded conversation that he had “changed plans” and now wanted to attack “those boys in blue,” referring to police, either that day or the following day, the affidavit states.

Wright is accused of encouraging Rahim to “be steadfast in his intentions” and to destroy his phone and wipe his laptop computer to prevent law enforcement from searching them.

“In the course of this conversation, Rahim made several statements including his awareness that he might die during the attack,” the affidavit states.

About two hours after that conversation, Rahim was approached in a parking lot by Boston police officers and FBI agents. Authorities say he was shot and killed after he pulled out a knife and refused commands to drop the weapon, responding, “you drop yours,” the affidavit says.

The complaint says the men targeted Geller after she organized a conference in Texas in May featuring cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims generally believe any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad is blasphemous. Two men showed up with assault rifles and began firing, and a police officer shot them to death.

Days later, the Islamic State group publicly condemned Geller and called for her “slaughter.”

Using social media, Islamic State has called for attacks against residents of countries participating in the U.S.-led coalition against it.

The affidavit says that for the last six months, Rovinski has been posting comments on YouTube and Twitter supporting the Islamic State. It says that for at least two months, he has viewed videos about making weapons and uploaded them to his YouTube account.

CNN reported that one of its producers exchanged messages with Rovinski in March as part of research on Americans drawn to jihadists online. “I am not violent at heart but push the wrong button and its (sic) not pretty,” he wrote, according to CNN.

Authorities said Rovinski indicated on social media that he believed that Americans should die. According to the affidavit, on May 13, shortly after an Amtrak train derailed in Philadelphia — killing eight people — Rovinski commented on the video of the crash: “Whoever crashed the train deserves a medal!”

The FBI also said in the affidavit that Wright and Rovinski complained about the law prohibiting material support to foreign terror organizations — a crime they are now charged with.

“They made it so general now where they can manipulate and get you … on material support just for speaking … positively about (the Islamic State group),” Wright said, according to the affidavit.

During an interview with the FBI after Rahim was killed, Rovinski told agents he converted to Islam two years ago and was drawn to the teachings of the Islamic State group “because they represent the more pure and honest form of the religion.”

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Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.

Explore the latest rulings from the Supreme Court on key issues such as campaign fundraising, social media and employee discrimination.

MADISON (AP) – Democrat Russ Feingold, one of the most outspoken critics of political spending by corporations and outside groups, challenged Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson on Friday to agree to keep third-party money out of their U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin.

The former senator’s campaign provided The Associated Press a copy of the pledge minutes before asking Johnson to sign it. Johnson spokeswoman Betsy Ankney said she hadn’t had time to review it and had no immediate comment.

• Click here to read Feingold’s proposed “Badger Pledge”

Johnson’s campaign has asked Feingold whether he would disavow money from political action groups, and it’s been one of the larger unanswered questions since Feingold announced plans on May 14 to seek a rematch against Johnson.

Johnson defeated Feingold, who was seeking a fourth term, in 2010. Feingold stopped the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from spending money on television ads to support him in that race, and he refused to back the creation of a super PAC to help his campaign.

A tally by the Sunlight Foundation showed independent groups spent relatively little in that race, about $3 million, mostly on the Republican side.

But outside groups were expected to weigh heavy in the rematch because Democrats are targeting Johnson as they try to regain the Senate.

Feingold’s proposal is nearly identical to the pledge that Democrat Elizabeth Warren and Republican Scott Brown agreed to in Massachusetts’ U.S. Senate race in 2012. The so-called Badger Pledge is designed to prevent any third-party group from airing television, radio or online ads considered to be an independent expenditure or issue advocacy for the duration of the race.

Should a group spend money helping either campaign, the beneficiary would have to pay half the cost of the ad to a charity of the opposing candidate’s choice. The pledge also requires both candidates not to coordinate with any third-party group on issue advocacy ads.

Feingold said in a statement that the pledge is the only way to “limit the tens of millions of dollars from outside Super PACs and dark money groups on both sides of the aisle.”

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The head of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington, is facing questions about whether she lied about her racial identity, with her family saying she is white but has portrayed herself as black.

Rachel Dolezal would not answer questions about her background in an interview with The Spokesman-Review newspaper.

“That question is not as easy as it seems,” she said Thursday. “There’s a lot of complexities, and I don’t know that everyone would understand that.”

Dolezal is president of the local branch of the civil-rights organization, an adjunct professor in the Africana Studies Program at Eastern Washington University and chairwoman of Spokane’s police overnight board.

Mayor David Condon and City Council President Ben Stuckart say an inquiry is underway into whether she violated city polices when she listed herself as white, black and American Indian on her application for the Office of Police Ombudsman Commission.

“If this is true, I’ll be very disappointed,” Stuckart said Thursday, adding that the council will meet soon to discuss the issue.

Dolezal’s mother, Ruthanne, said the family is Czech, Swedish and German, with some Native American roots.

Ruthanne Dolezal said that she and her daughter have not been in touch for years but that Rachel Dolezal began to portray herself as African-American eight or nine years ago after the family adopted four black children.

“It’s very sad that Rachel has not just been herself,” the mother told the newspaper by phone from her home in Montana. “Her effectiveness in the causes of the African-American community would have been so much more viable and she would have been more effective if she had just been honest with everybody.”

Rachel Dolezal says the controversy is emerging because of legal issues between family members. Her mother says the family has been aware of the racial claims but has only commented about them when contacted.

The NAACP’s national communications office did not immediately respond to a phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Eastern Washington University would not discuss a personal issue, spokesman Dave Meany told the newspaper.

MADISON (AP) – An increase in crude oil traveling by rail through Wisconsin has prompted first responders to seek more firefighting foam so they’re better prepared for the possibility of a major train derailment.

Brian Satula, the state’s top emergency official as administrator for Wisconsin Emergency Management, says his agency is working to stockpile the expensive material. He hopes a federal Homeland Security grant will cover the purchase an additional 1,500 gallons of foam, and he wants to store the firefighting material at several sites within two hours of where a derailment could occur.

“Part of that process is not just appropriating the funds, but also finding somebody who’s going to move that foam, because we don’t have state agencies in those areas that we’ve identified,” Satula said. “We need to work with a local fire department or a public works agency.”

Rail companies also are ramping up their firefighting foam supplies, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

BNSF Railway purchased more foam to ease the concerns of local fire officials who worried they wouldn’t have enough to fight a major oil train blaze after a second track through La Crosse was approved as part of an expansion, according to spokeswoman Amy McBeth.

“We’ve now stationed a foam fire trailer and a spill trailer here. There’ll be a second trailer that’s coming as well. So, those are additional resources that BNSF has made available that the community can use for other incidents,” McBeth said.

A few local businesses also have supplies of foam that could be accessed by fire officials in case of emergency, the La Crosse Fire Department said.

The state currently has one reserve of 1,600 gallons at Camp Douglas. Satula estimated that it could cost about $200,000 to build up the state’s firefighting foam supply.

GREEN BAY – Time is running out to register for the Bellin Run.

Organizers said 15,884 people had registered for the run as of Friday morning. That included around 7,000 Corporate Challenge program participants and close to 1,900 Kids for Running program participants.

Online registration is closed, but runners may still register in person at the Health & Wellness Expo from 3-8 p.m. Friday at Astor Park in Green Bay.

In-person registration is also available before the race on Saturday morning.

Organizers are expecting an influx of runners on race day because of a favorable weather forecast.

The Latest #bellinrun forecast. Morning fog but looks good. Good Luck! http://t.co/KolZK6ZC6D—
Pete Petoniak (@PetePetoniak) June 12, 2015

More than 18,000 people ran in the Bellin Run in 2014.

MADISON (AP) – It was a close call for an infant whose stroller was sent rolling downhill on a downtown Madison street where an SUV without a driver crashed into a tree.

Police say the driver of the SUV turned into the path of a family crossing an intersection Wednesday. The father maneuvered his 3-year-old son out of the way. The mother fell and lost her grip on the stroller which carried the couple’s 2-month-old daughter.

WISC-TV reports the SUV driver jumped out to stop the stroller as it rolled downhill, but she failed to put the vehicle in park. The driver tried to get back in the SUV, but was knocked to the ground. The SUV crashed into a nearby tree. The father caught up with the stroller. The baby wasn’t hurt, and, in fact, slept through the entire ordeal.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Republican straw poll, once a staple campaign event for GOP presidential candidates, is vanishing because of waning interest from 2016 hopefuls and questions about its relevancy.

A governing board for the Republican Party of Iowa voted unanimously during a private conference call Friday to drop the event, according to state GOP Chairman Jeff Kauffman. It was scheduled to be held in the central Iowa city of Boone on Aug. 8.

Republican officials wanted to make sure negativity surrounding the straw poll didn’t hurt Iowa’s traditional place in holding the first votes of the presidential nomination contest, with its leadoff caucuses. While calling the straw poll’s cancellation “extremely distasteful” to those who favor it, Kauffman said that step was necessary to strengthen Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status “and ensure our future nominee has the best chance possible to take back the White House in 2016.”

Since 1979, the straw poll has been held every summer before a contested presidential caucus and grew from a county fundraiser to a splashy event where candidates spent lavishly to bus in and entertain supporters. While the carnival-like event is beloved by Iowa’s political activists, critics say it has become a costly sideshow, and many candidates fear the humiliation of a poor showing.

For years, the poll has been considered an early but unreliable test of strength in presidential campaigns. In the six polls conducted since its first year, the winner has gone on to win the state caucuses three times. The eventual Republican nominee has won the poll only twice.

An indication of the poll’s demise this year was the reluctance of 2016 GOP hopefuls to commit to attending it. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham were among those who said they would skip the event. Others said they would not spend money to participate.

In an effort to appease concerns, state party officials told candidates they would no longer have to bid up to $35,000 for space to pitch tents at the event.

In 2011, about 17,000 people turned out for the poll, far fewer than the roughly 120,000 who voted in the January 2012 caucuses. Candidate Michele Bachmann spent $2 million on the straw poll and won, but she left the race after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses. The eventual GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, did not participate in the straw poll.

Ingredients:

1 small tub of Cool Whip
1 small box of any flavor INSTANT Jell-O-Pudding
1 1/2 cups milk
Ice Cream Sandwich Wafers (or graham crackers)

Directions:

Beat pudding mix and milk for 2 minutes on medium speed. Chill for 3 hours or until firmly set. Fold in container of Cool Whip to make a mousse. On a foil-lined pan, line bottom with sandwich cookies. Spoon mousse on top in heaping spoonfuls.Top with the other half of cookie pressing down lightly. Freeze until solid. Wrap each individually in foil for future use or serve immediately.