Green Bay News

EAU CLAIRE (AP) – A former Eau Claire County deputy treasurer has pleaded not guilty to stealing from taxpayers.

Sixty-four-year-old Kay Onarheim entered the plea Monday in Eau Claire County Circuit Court to party to theft and misconduct in office. A criminal complaint says an audit of the treasurer’s office from 2011 to 2013 shows more than $625,000 in missing funds. The former county treasurer Larry Lokken is also charged in the case. Both left the office in 2013.

WEAU-TV says Lokken is due to be arraigned July 1.

TOWN OF CAMPBELL (AP) – Firefighters from nine departments are battling an industrial fire on French Island.

The fire at River Steel is burning creosote-soaked wood chips and creating a large cloud of smoke. Authorities are asking residents around the fire in the Town of Campbell to stay in their homes.

WXOW-TV says wood chips from old railroad ties are burning. Heavy excavating equipment is being used to push the wood chips around so firefighters can attack the fire.

There are no reports of injuries.

MENASHA- At least one shot was fired during an overnight disturbance in Menasha.

Police say 15 to 20 people were involved in the fight in the 500 block of Appleton Street.

At least one gunshot has been confirmed.

No one was hurt.

No one is in custody.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Menasha Police Department at 920-967-3500.

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) – Police say a 66-year-old man was beaten in suburban Milwaukee after stopping to help a motorist push a car.

WISN-TV and WITI-TV report Merlin Hoaglan of West Allis is in an area hospital with a serious head injury. His daughter Julie Hoaglan says he’s unconscious and has two hemorrhages in his head and fractures on his face from the attack.

Witnesses told police that Merlin Hoaglan was trying to help a woman and her children push a disabled car Saturday. Police said there was argument, and witness said the woman’s 47-year-old boyfriend punched him from behind.

West Allis police say the case has been referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office for review of potential charges.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – The maximum-security prison where two killers pulled off a “Shawshank Redemption”-style escape has a reputation for brutality that belies the reform-minded ideals it was founded upon when it opened on an Adirondack mountainside in 1845.

Back then, the Dannemora state prison a few miles from the Canadian border was supposed to be the beacon of a new reform movement that advocated humane treatment of prisoners instead of the torture practiced downstate at Sing Sing. In keeping with that philosophy, the warden didn’t even punish two inmates who escaped a month after the prison opened and were quickly recaptured in the harsh surrounding landscape.

“That reform mindset didn’t last,” said Jeff Hall, a history professor at Queensborough Community College who wrote his doctoral dissertation on Adirondack prisons. “Within a decade, Dannemora was using a dungeon for solitary confinement, as well as a chair bath, which was basically waterboarding. As more and more prisoners were sent there, it became ungovernable.”

Today, nearly two centuries later, the 3,000-inmate prison retains an infamous reputation for brutality that ranks it among the worst in the New York state prison system.

A 2014 report by the Correctional Association of New York, an independent nonprofit group that inspects state prisons, found Clinton Correctional Facility is a place where there is little oversight, guards regularly beat inmates and racial tension festers between prisoners and corrections officers.

The report found that while 63 percent of inmates statewide are locked up for violent crimes, at Clinton, that figure is about 90 percent. Inmates there report among the highest rates of inmate-on-inmate fights in all state prisons, driven by gang feuds and drug disputes.

Notable past inmates include mobster Charles “Lucky” Luciano; New York City nightlife legend Michael Alig; and rappers Tupac Shakur, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Shyne.

State Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell visited Clinton last September and was told repeatedly by inmates that brutality inflicted by both guards and fellow inmates was a problem.

“I asked the inmate council, ‘Are you safe here?’ And the guys at Clinton burst out laughing they thought the question was just funny. But it wasn’t,” O’Donnell said.

Any inmate who might have heard David Sweat and Richard Matt sawing through their steel cell walls with power tools wouldn’t dream of saying anything, due to a culture of violence and fear that dictates a strict code of silence.

“Let me be clear, that will get you killed, that’s the kind of environment it is,” O’Donnell said.

The facility itself is massive, O’Donnell said, with dank, dark cell blocks and facilities that are great distances away from one another, ill-equipped for full security camera coverage.

Jim Miller, a spokesman for the union representing state prison guards, said it would be inappropriate to make any comment about the culture of Clinton while the search for the prisoners was ongoing.

The prison was built on a mountainside with the goals of relieving crowding at Sing Sing and putting the transplanted inmates to work operating an iron mine and forge. The village that grew up around the prison was named Dannemora, after a mining district in Sweden.

“The state lost money on the iron mine operation,” said Hall, who grew up in the Adirondacks. “Eventually the prison had to give inmates other things to do and they started other traditional prison industries like making caps, military uniforms, license plates and government office furniture.”

The prison is like a village within the village that clings to its perimeter wall. There’s the Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief, constructed by inmates of fieldstones and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At one time there was a ski jump for inmate use. There was a tuberculosis hospital and an insane asylum, which have been converted to other uses.

The prison was originally built of wood harvested on the site, but later expanded with buildings constructed of red granite mined nearby on Dannemora Mountain, said Peter Light, a retired corrections officer who started a two-room history museum at the prison.

The buildings are heated by steam piped from a powerhouse outside the 40-foot-high perimeter wall. It was through one of those 24-inch-diameter pipes that Sweat and Matt escaped.

Because of its age, the facility is constantly undergoing renovations and repairs, Light said. “In so doing, you have a lot of contractors who come in.”

Investigators are looking into the possibility that the escapees got their power tools from an outside contractor.

O’Donnell said when the escapees are caught, they’ll likely spend the rest of their lives in isolation, “in a living hell.”

Green Bay – The Green Bay Parks and Rec Department’s summer programs begin today.

Superintendent James Anderson and his crew talked with Good Day Wisconsin about what kids and parents can expect at the parks and pool this season.

Click here for more on the summer activities.

We’ll start out mostly sunny with temps nearing 82 Tuesday.

Storms could develop overnight, mainly after 7 p.m.

A few of these storms could become strong overnight with gusty winds and large hail.

At this point the greatest threat for severe weather is to the far northwestern portion of our viewing area, including northern Marinette, Oconto and Menominee counties.

Sheboygan – Sheboygan police are looking for a robbery suspect.

Police say a taxi drove a man to the Sommers Trailer Court just before 8 p.m. Monday. Officers say the man attacked the taxi driver and took some money. The suspect then ran off.

Police do not believe the man is armed.

The suspect is described as a skinny black man, about 6′ to 6’2″. The man had a gaunt face, a mole or birthmark below his left eye and patchy facial hair.

If you have any information, you are asked to call Sheboygan police at (920) 459-3333.

DE PERE- There are four more dates in the De Pere summer art walk series.

More than 25 businesses are participating.

FOX 11’s Pauleen Le spent the morning with some of the artists.

OSHKOSH- Experience outdoor sports, find the latest gear and equipment, talk to professionals and enthusiasts! Introduce the kids to archery, fishing, rock climbing, training dogs and more! Get the season’s hottest prices on boats,

The entertainment lineup features top talent and outdoor celebrities like Patrick Flanigan, Tom Miranda, Melissa Bachman, Frank Addison Jr, and Jeff Boutin.

Daily shows include the giant 7000 gallon super tanker aquarium full of fish, wild game grilling gurus and cooking demonstrations, the latest in dog training, the Great Bear Show and more!

Prizes and trips to be given away daily!

SEYMOUR, Wis. (AP) – More than a dozen homes have been evacuated in Eau Claire County as authorities search for a man suspected of abducting a woman at a Wal-Mart in southeastern Wisconsin.

Police were still looking for the 24-year-old suspect Monday night in a heavily wooded area in the town of Seymour, The Leader-Telegram reported. Authorities say that he ran away after a high-speed chase out of Eau Claire and that he’s armed with a rifle or shotgun.

Eau Claire County Undersheriff Dan Bresina said at a Monday evening news conference that 16 homes were evacuated. Eau Claire County Sheriff Ron Cramer told WQOW-TV that nearby residents wouldn’t be allowed to return to their homes Monday night.

Authorities say the 21-year-old victim is an employee at the Mukwonago Wal-Mart and knows the suspect. Co-workers called police about 5 a.m. Monday after she didn’t come back from a break, and store surveillance video shows her being forced into a car.

The woman escaped seven hours later at an Eau Claire convenience store. She was able to tell officers who abducted her, according to Mukwonago police.

Aircraft, police dogs and SWAT units were being used in the search for the suspect.

Madison – Day one of the state WIAA golf tournament is in the books, and local teams are in contention. Click on the video for highlights and scores!

With day two on Tuesday, three of the top five teams in Division one (Notre Dame, De Pere, Bay Port) are from our area, and in Division three, St. Mary’s Springs holds the lead.

For all the golf scores, just click here.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) – Megan Rapinoe scored twice and the United States overcame early defensive shakiness to beat Australia 3-1 Monday night in the Americans’ opener at the Women’s World Cup.

Christen Press also scored for the second-ranked U.S., which is seeking its third World Cup title and first since 1999.

Lisa De Vanna had tied the score midway through the first half for Australia, beating controversial American goalkeeper Hope Solo.

“Obviously, we were a bit nervous,” Rapinoe said. “Couldn’t play a lot worse at times.”

U.S. star forward Alex Morgan, sidelined by a bone bruise in her left knee, entered in the 79th minute in her first game action with April 11 with her Portland club.

Rapinoe scored in the 12th minute for the Americans, Press put the U.S. ahead for good in the 61st, and Rapinoe added her 31st international goal in the 78th, the first two-goal game at the World Cup for the Americans since Abby Wambach against Norway in 2007.

The U.S., which won the title in 1991 and ’99, improved to 5-0-2 in World Cup openers and 23-0-2 in all matches against Australia. The game was televised in prime time on network television back home, where large numbers of fans tuned in last year for the men’s World Cup in Brazil.

“Couldn’t be prouder to have the women of Team #USA representing us in stars, stripes, and shin guards. Good luck,” Democratic president candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted.

In the absence of the 25-year-old Morgan, 35-year-old Abby Wambach and Canada-born Sydney Leroux started up top against the No. 10 Matildas, whose best World Cup finish was sixth in 2007

While the American women have won three straight Olympic gold medals, the third World Cup title has eluded them. They lost the 2011 final to Japan on penalty kicks.

The field has expanded from 16 teams to 24 this year, and the Americans’ next match in Group D will be Friday against Sweden and former U.S. coach Pia Sundhage. They finish group play on June 16 against Nigeria, which tied Sweden 3-3 in the opener of Monday’s doubleheader.

The World Cup is being played as FIFA deals with a scandal which U.S. prosecutors allege involves more then $150 million in bribes. FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who is not at the tournament, announced last week that he plans to resign.

Controversy also hangs over the U.S. team. Solo started a day after an ESPN report revealed new details about her arrest last June in Washington state on domestic violence charges.

The U.S. team has defended Solo in the face of the allegations. The charges were dismissed by a Kirkland, Washington, judge earlier this year, but prosecutors told ESPN there is an appeal scheduled.

“That was a long time ago. I’ll be honest, we’ve moved on,” coach Jill Ellis. “She’s been a fantastic player and teammate. None of that has even resonated with us, and I’m sure many of the players aren’t aware of it.”

Solo was tested in the fifth minutem, when she tipped Emily Van Egmond’s shot off the crossbar and over. She made another save on Michelle Heyman in the 13th.

Rapinoe’s kick from the top of the penalty area deflected off an Australia’s Laura Alleway past goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri.

But De Vanna tied it when she facing off with Solo and slotted the ball inside the near post for her 36th goal in 100th international appearance appears

Press scored off a cross from Leroux in the 61st minute. When Press was subbed off seven minutes later she was given a hearty ovation from the crowd of 31,148, which overwhelmingly sided with the Americans. It was her first career World Cup goal.

WENATCHEE, WA (KOMO-TV) – Talk about a happy reunion.

A firefighter in Washington state saved a baby who almost died in a house fire.

Seventeen years later he is on hand to watch her head toward adulthood at her high school graduation.

BONDUEL – A dynamic duo, riding in Bonduel this afternoon, has been on quite the adventure together the last seven months.

Adam Sandoval and his Chihuahua, Scooter, are trying to visit every Harley Davidson dealership in the lower 48 states. It isn’t just a joy ride, though.

Growing up in Green Bay, Sandoval wanted to do two things: ride a Harley across the country and be a soldier. Only half of one of the two came true.

“Unfortunately temptation, distraction, a lot of bad choices kept me from every joining the military,” said Sandoval.

Last November, Sandoval decided to turn his regret into a goal.

“I’ve been coast to coast two times, I’m on my third leg now,” said Sandoval.

At each Harley Davidson shop, Sandoval and Scooter are raising money, more than $85,000 so far, all for the American Legion Legacy Scholarship. It helps make higher education possible for children of fallen soldiers.

“Kind of pay back the men and women who made that sacrifice that I didn’t,” said Sandoval.

“Myself being a veteran, I can appreciate all his hard work and dedication to this cause,” said Eileen Fox of Mosinee.

Riding from Wausau to Bonduel, Fox is one of many who’ve joined Sandoval and Scooter for part of their journey.

“I wish I had the cojones to do it, so I give him props for doing this,” said Fox.

Sandoval reached a major milestone before reaching Wisconsin. He passed the world record for most miles on a motorcycle in a single country. He is at more than 25,000. The record was 23,000.

“I sold my Florida home, I sold my other motorcycles, I sold my vehicles, all my furniture and put it in the bank and that’s how I fund this trip,” said Sandoval.

The moves allow him to donate all the money he raises. With 426 of 696 Harley shops left, Sandoval and Scooter have plenty of opportunity to raise even more.

Sandoval and Scooter’s trip could land them a reality TV series. Sandoval says he has plenty of footage and is in negotiations with a few networks. He plans to film an episode in Green Bay in November.

APPLETON – Educators and parents gathered across the state today, including here in Appleton, to voice their concerns over education funding in the proposed Wisconsin state budget.

“The time is always right to do what’s right,” said one educator.

“In addition to the loss of local control when vouchers send tax dollars to private schools, vouchers open the door to corporate education forces,” said Karin Babcock, a parent whose children attend public school in Appleton.

Democratic State Representative Eric Genrich of Green Bay says he’s heard similar concerns.

“I’ve heard a lot from constituents across the district that are really concerned about the Republicans in the state legislature really emphasizing the vouchers to the detriment of public schools across the state.

Here are the facts. Under the budget proposal, the statewide school voucher program cap of 1,000 students would be lifted. State funding for those students would be split between the public school district in their area, and the private school they choose.

“The variable costs of about 7000 dollars travels with the child. And 5000 dollars stays with the original school,” said State Representative John Macco (R-Ledgeview).

But Macco also says the amount of per-student funding will increase across all public schools.

“We put 200 million dollars back into public schools, including $100 per-pupil increase next year,” said Macco.

Some state democrats say that’s still not enough.

“I prefer that more resources would be funneled into public school classrooms across the state instead of siphoned off to other private voucher schools,” said Genrich.

However, republicans in the legislature say there may not be any more wiggle room with funding in this budget cycle.

The budget debate is set to continue this month. Any proposals in the budget still need approval by the full legislature.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Milwaukee police say a woman has died after she was shot while sitting in a parked car over the weekend.

Twenty-one-year-old Lenesha Brock was shot several times and critically injured Saturday night. Police say she died at a hospital on Sunday.

A 30-year-old man also was shot while sitting in the car. His injuries are not life-threatening.

Police say they are still looking for a motive and suspects.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Snoop Dogg sued Pabst Brewing Co. on Monday, claiming the beer-maker owes him a portion of its proceeds from the company’s sale to Oasis Beverages.

The breach-of-contract lawsuit seeks 10 percent of the net sales price paid to Pabst for its Colt 45 malt beer line, which was included in last year’s sale.

Snoop Dogg signed a three-year agreement in 2011 to endorse Colt 45’s fruit-flavored beer called Blast by Colt 45. The lawsuit states his contract called for him to receive a portion of the sale price if Pabst sold its Colt 45 operations before January 2016.

His contract also called on the rapper to consult with Colt 45’s marketing team at least once a year on how he could integrate Blast by Colt 45 into his concerts, interviews and social media posts. Snoop Dogg received an upfront payment of $250,000 and an additional $20,000 for every 10th mention of the beer on social media, TV or during a concert.

The contract also called for the rapper to receive a royalty on each case of Blast by Colt 45 that was sold.

Pabst did not immediately return email and phone messages left at its San Antonio offices.

The lawsuit states Pabst told the rapper that the sale didn’t trigger the clause entitling him to sale proceeds.

The sale of Pabst to the Russian company Oasis Beverages was announced in September 2014. No purchase price was announced, but the lawsuit filed by the rapper’s attorney, Alex Weingarten, states Pabst was reportedly sold for $700 million. It is unclear how much of the sale price was for the Colt 45 line of beers.

In addition to Colt 45 and its namesake beer, Pabst Brewing Co. makes Old Milwaukee and Schlitz.

MUSKEGO, Wis. (AP) – The two bicyclists killed in a crash in Muskego Saturday were longtime employees at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.

Authorities identify the victims as 45-year-old Paul Brown of Franklin and 54-year-old Anthony Oliver of Oak Creek. Police say the two were struck and killed by an SUV as they rode their bikes on Highway 36.

Police tell WDJT-TV both were wearing helmets and riding on the right side of the road.

The Journal Sentinel reports Brown worked at Northwestern Mutual for over a decade and served as its director of business technology solutions.

Oliver joined the company in 2001 and worked as an application development director.

Police say the 20-year-old South Milwaukee man who was driving the SUV was arrested on suspicion of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Searchers have recovered the body of a missing boater from Lake Mendota in Madison.

The Dane County sheriff’s office dive team recovered the body of the 22-year-old Madison man around 10:20 a.m. Monday.

Witnesses say the man jumped off a sailboat into the water to cool off and quickly disappeared. Authorities were called to the possible drowning just before 6 p.m. Saturday.

Using side-scan sonar, deputies found the man’s body about a mile from the shore of Memorial Union in about 60 feet of water.

An autopsy is planned Tuesday. The victim’s name was not immediately released.