Green Bay News

WOODSTOCK, Ill. (AP) – A suburban Chicago man who says he always wanted to know what it is like to smash through a garage door now knows the feeling.

Ninety-one-year-old Walter Thomas of Woodstock was able to slam an SUV through a garage door with his family’s help.

The garage was slated to be torn down, so Thomas’ action was of no consequence. The SUV was donated. It was then up to Thomas to back it through the garage door and check that activity off his bucket list.

Thomas described what he did this way: “I hit the gas, squealed the tires and bang, we went through the door.”

Thomas says he doesn’t know what he could to top that.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – A pipeline rupture that spilled an estimated 101,000 gallons of crude oil near Santa Barbara last month occurred along a badly corroded section that had worn away to a fraction of an inch in thickness, federal regulators said Wednesday.

The preliminary findings released by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration point to a possible cause of the May 19 spill that blackened popular beaches with crude oil and created a 9-mile slick in the Pacific Ocean.

The agency said investigators found that corrosion at the break site had degraded the pipe wall thickness to 1/16 of an inch. Additionally, the report noted that the area that failed was close to three repairs that had been made to the pipeline because of corrosion after 2012 inspections.

The findings indicate that over 80 percent of the metal pipe wall had worn away over time because of corrosion, said Richard Kuprewicz, president of Accufacts Inc., which investigates pipeline incidents.

“There is pipe that can survive 80 percent wall loss. When you’re over 80 percent, there isn’t room for error at that level,” Kuprewicz said.

The line where the break occurred is shut down indefinitely.

California’s U.S. senators issued a statement last week calling the response insufficient and demanding operator Plains All American Pipeline explain what it did, and when, after firefighters discovered the leak from the company’s underground 24-inch pipe.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Michelle Obama said Wednesday that it’s important to help bees, butterflies and other creatures that spread the pollen that helps food grow.

She also announced that a network of conservation and gardening groups has launched a nationwide campaign to create 1 million pollinator gardens by the end of next year. Such gardens are one way to help reverse the decline in pollinating insects by offering food, water and shelter.

Last year, the first lady added a pollinator garden to her vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House.

Separately, President Barack Obama recently released a plan to help reverse the decline in the population of pollinators by making millions of acres of federal land more bee-friendly, spending more money on research and considering the use of fewer pesticides.

Pollinators are responsible for one out of every three bites of food eaten daily in the U.S., Mrs. Obama said.

“Bats, bees, birds, all of those, they get attracted to the gardens and they go and sprinkle life around so that food grows,” she said at the annual spring harvest of her garden.

The threat of rain forced the event to be moved indoors to the White House East Room.

Staff harvested the garden earlier Wednesday, so all that was left for the first lady and two dozen students to do was to prepare the waiting baskets and bowls of cauliflower, kohlrabi, broccoli, fennel and lettuce.

The vegetables went into a grilled soba chicken salad, dressed with vinaigrette made with honey from the White House beehive, that Mrs. Obama and the students then ate.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Milwaukee pitcher Jimmy Nelson made it easy for John Lackey and the St. Louis Cardinals, giving up five runs in the first inning.

“You can’t allow that much damage that early,” Nelson said.

Lackey used that lead and pitched seven strong innings, leading the Cardinals to a 7-4 victory over the Brewers on Wednesday.

Nelson (2-6) lasted five innings, giving up seven hits and seven runs – six earned. Nelson has allowed 20 runs and 23 hits in 14 2-3 innings and has taken the loss in all four of his appearances – three starts – against St. Louis since last season.

“It’s just really frustrating on my end,” Nelson said. “I have two, three good outings and finally feel like you’re in the right place where you need to be and then you have two or three tough ones. It’s a long season and you’ve got to be consistent.”

Brewers manager Craig Counsell agreed.

“He got into a rhythm, but you’ve got to get into a rhythm right off the bat,” Counsell said.

The 36-year-old Lackey (4-3) scattered 10 hits, allowing three runs while striking out five and walking one. He is 4-1 in four career starts against Milwaukee.

Brewers third baseman Hector Gomez was removed from the game in the bottom of the sixth when he crashed into the seats behind third chasing a foul ball hit by Jason Heyward. He was examined by a physician for a possible concussion and the results were negative.

“I hit my head but not too bad because I put my left arm to protect me just a little bit,” Gomez said. “There’s a bump there. The fans said, ‘Don’t move, don’t move,’ and then I stayed on the floor.”

The Brewers are off Thursday before starting a series at Minnesota on Friday. Gomez said he would be ready to play.

Seeing Gomez be so aggressive didn’t surprise Counsell.

“Hector’s going to do that, he’s going to go all out, no question,” Counsell said.

The Cardinals scored five runs in the first. Jhonny Peralta and Mark Reynolds had RBI singles, and a run scored when Gomez couldn’t handle a grounder for an error.

Nelson didn’t record an out until his 23rd pitch and needed 29 pitches to get out of the inning.

“It’s a great way to start your day,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “It gave John some room to work.”

Gerardo Parra hit a solo homer, his first since May 15, in the third for the Brewers’ first run. Parra was 4 for 5.

Milwaukee added solo runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: OF Ryan Braun didn’t play Wednesday. He flew to Los Angeles to undergo a planned procedure called chryotherapy on a sore right thumb that stems from an injury at the end of last season. It is the second time he’s had the thumb treated.

ROSTER MOVE

The Brewers optioned RHP Tyler Cravy to Triple-A Colorado Springs. Milwaukee recalled OF Shane Peterson from Colorado Springs. Peterson, who was drafted by the Cardinals in 2008, started in left field. It was his third game in the majors.

UP NEXT

Brewers: Kyle Lohse (3-6, 6.50 ERA) pitches Friday at Minnesota. Lohse will make his 12th start and has lost his last two. Opponents are hitting .284 with 13 homers against him.

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (7-1, 2.27 ERA) will be facing Los Angeles and making his first appearance at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers handed Wacha his first loss last Saturday. His seven wins are tops in the majors this season.

MADISON – The State of Wisconsin Building Commission approved several projects across the state, including an entrance and expansion project at Reeve Union on the UW-Oshkosh campus.

The expansion of the building will include an accessible entrance to the Algoma side of the building, more meeting rooms, a passenger elevator and a reception area that will serve as a welcome information desk for the building.

Plans also include making the Algoma entrance lobby more open and replacing windows with more energy efficient ones.

The expansion project is estimated to cost $7.6 million. This would cost students a maximum of $28 per student, per semester. Fees would gradually increase to the maximum amount over three years.

You can see renderings of the project here.

 

GREEN BAY – A long-time stalled downtown development project is finally getting some new life.

Despite being optimistic, the La Crosse-based developer has some work to do – and money to spend – on the six-story WaterMark building at 114 Pine Street.

“Right away, you’re already going to see that the first floor windows are clean,” said Three Sixty Real Estate Solutions CEO Marvin Wanders, “We just closed on the transaction, but that matters.”

That the curbside appeal of the property must match with what a corporate office should look like, both externally and internally, as Wanders and his company is trying to fill the 107,000-square-foot space. Retail and first-floor restaurant options are also being sought.

Wanders says the new ownership means nothing will change – same name, same building. But the end result is what Wanders hopes will leave a mark on the already burgeoning downtown development.

“You have a lot of fantastic things going on in this community, and we’re excited to be part of it.”

Excited, as it took months to untangle and take over the financials cemented into the stalled development. Three Sixty specializes in taking stalled projects, or buildings, and making them commercially successful.

“This was not an easy project to get to this point, it took several months,” said Wanders. “There were nine parties involved, which meant nine different attorneys.”

Over the last ten years, the city has spent millions to move the project forward. The city council approved the buyout of the original developer’s limited liability corporation in April.

Three Sixty is required to invest at least $2 million to bring the empty spaces up to snuff; possibly more could be spent, depending on the needs of potential office clients.

A portion of the 6th floor of the WaterMark building is seen on June, 3, 2015. (WLUK/Bill Miston)

Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt didn’t deny the project’s hurdles, but says the development of the surrounding area helps to draw in interested parties.

“A very complicated project, there were a lot of different people involved in this,” said Schmitt at the press conference Wednesday, re-launching the WaterMark project. “This is a property that’s surrounded by success.”

The building has just one office tenant – logistics company C.H. Robinson, which is on the fifth floor. But at the end of the day, Wanders say the end-users will drive what space is needed – or looks like.

“You look at this location; this location will be a great location for companies that are growing and want to expand, to a recruitment standpoint, when you can go downstairs at lunch time, and take a walk on city deck or you can go to restaurants and coffee shops,” said Wanders.

And there are already changes for the building on the horizon. Wanders says a letter of intent has been signed with a coffee shop and cafe for a portion of the first floor space of the building. He says legal documents are being drawn up and hopes to announce at least one new tenant in the next few weeks.

APPLETON – A fire at an Appleton apartment building is being considered suspicious.

Appleton police say a fire that damaged an apartment building on S. Chain Drive June 3, 2015, is considered suspicious. (Photo courtesy Appleton Police Dept.)

Police say crews were called to the 3000 block of S. Chain Drive just before 9 a.m. Wednesday. Smoke was coming from a window on the building’s second floor.

Although the fire itself was contained to one room, it caused damage to several other apartments. Most of the residents in the eight-unit building are expected to be able to return to their homes Wednesday after an initial investigation is finished.

Everyone inside the building was already out by the time firefighters arrived. A firefighter twisted an ankle while fighting the fire; no one else was hurt.

The state Division of Criminal Investigation has been called in to help police and firefighters investigate. Officials are looking for one person in connection with the investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Leitzinger at (920) 832-5541 or send a text message with the keyword APDTIPS to 274637.

BANCROFT, Wis. (AP) – Portage County authorities are trying to resolve a standoff at a home in downtown Bancroft following a report of shots fired.

The incident was reported around 11 a.m. Wednesday. Authorities evacuated a nearby elementary school as a precaution, and closed the main street in the central Wisconsin community of about 500 people.

Portage County Sheriff Mike Lukas says officers made contact with a person who told authorities he had fired shots. He confirms that shots were fired, but says officers didn’t immediately now how many. He says nobody was transported to the hospital.

Officers from several agencies are at the scene.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Wisconsin committee has taken up a bill that would allow residents to legally possess a marijuana byproduct to treat severe seizure disorders.

Lawmakers and parents told the Assembly Committee on Children and Families on Wednesday that they want to approve the bill so parents can legally possess the derivative that doesn’t produce a high in users. Families with the drug wouldn’t be able to produce, purchase or transport the drug in Wisconsin and would still be subject to federal law.

It’s legal for hospitals to run clinical trials using the drug, but none has started a trial in the year since the derivative was legalized.

A Wisconsin Medical Society spokesman said the bill would shortcut allowing doctors to test the drug and could be dangerous.

GREEN BAY – As we move into the summer season, area farmers’ markets make their return, including Green Bay’s Broadway District one on Wednesday nights.

The Farmers’ Market on Broadway is celebrating its 12th anniversary on opening day Wednesday.

There are more than 200 vendors lining the streets. The farmers’ market offers a variety of products, ranging from locally grown produce, to crafts and specialty goods.

The market is open every Wednesday from 3-8 p.m. and will run through Oct. 7.

The Downtown Appleton Farm Market also opens Wednesday in Houdini Plaza. The Saturday morning version on College Avenue opens June 20. The market will run through the end of September, while the Saturday market runs through the end of October.

You can visit the Farmers’ Market Association to find a Farmers’ Market near you.

APPLETON – A video extolling one student’s love for Lawrence University won top honors at a national competition.

“The Rabbit’s Nose,” a spoken-word piece written and performed by 2014 graduate Shea Love, earned Grand Gold honors in the 2015 Council for Advancement and Support of Education Circle of Excellence competition. The video, produced by Rachel Crowl, Lawrence’s web content and new media coordinator, focuses on Love’s thoughts as she looks back on her college experience and looks ahead to life after graduation.

University leaders say the video was one of 17 entries to earn Grand Gold status out of a total of 3,227. Other entries in the video category came from Brown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Southern California and Williams College, among other colleges.

The international competition honors work done in advancement services, alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing at colleges, universities, independent schools and affiliated nonprofits. The 2015 competition included entries in almost 100 categories from more than 720 organizations. Winners were selected by peers as well as people outside the educational field.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says Republicans are discussing delaying $1.3 billion worth of highway construction and other roads projects across Wisconsin since Gov. Scott Walker is unwilling to raises taxes or fees to pay for it.

Vos said Wednesday that Republicans are talking about not doing any of the additional borrowing Walker asked for in his budget to pay for roads projects.

Other Republicans have talked about lowering the amount of bonding by between $300 million and $800 million.

Vos says, “Maybe there should be no new bonding. Maybe that’s one option.”

Walker has repeatedly said he won’t approve a gas tax increase or higher vehicle registration fees. Vos has said higher fees should be considered.

Transportation funding is one of the last unsolved pieces of the budget.

ASHWAUBENON – The security-check process will now be faster for some passengers at Austin Straubel International Airport.

The TSA added pre-checks, which allows you to skip some of the steps, including being able to leave your shoes on.

To qualify, you have to pass a background check and be finger printed. You also have to pay a $85 fee, which will cover five years.

Austin Straubel and the Outagamie County Regional Airport are now among 145 airports in the county that offer this type of screening.

Brown County Executive, Troy Streckenbach hopes this new option attracts more people, “Obviously our main objective is to continue to increase our flight travel out of Green Bay and essentially it is one of those things people will look to in terms of their travel.”

To apply, you can go online and pre-register. From there you need to visit an enrollment site to finish-up the process.

The closest site in Green Bay is on West Mason Street.

 

 

Click here to apply for TSA pre-checks.

NEW YORK (AP) — Taco Bell says it will serve beer, wine and “mixed alcohol freezes” at a new location set to open in Chicago this summer.

The chain, owned by Yum Brands Inc., says the restaurant will have a new design it’s testing in urban markets. It says the layout has already been launched in South Korea, Japan and the United Kingdom.

A rendering of the design shows a row of lime-green stools along a bar that peers into an open kitchen, flanked by an exposed brick wall.

Taco Bell says its franchisee is ensuring that alcohol will be served responsibly and that a third-party secret shopper service will be hired to monitor alcohol sales.

The chain says the location “will highlight the work of local artists” to give it a neighborhood feel.

GREEN BAY –  Some students at NWTC were given a special honor Wednesday for making a difference while on an overseas trip.

Instructors and students from the school’s law enforcement program sprang into action after a teenage girl began having a seizure on the platform in London.

The group took care of the victim, comforted her friends and even went above ground to direct emergency workers.

Officers visiting from the United Kingdom were at NWTC Wednesday for the International Police Association Conference. While at the school, the officers expressed their gratitude to the group of students with a certificate and award.

The students involved are grateful to instructors for their training.

“They stayed calm throughout the whole entire incident so that reflected on us staying calm as well and being able to focus on what needed to get done,” said NWTC student Serene Day.

Instructors say they’re proud of the students. They say the students acted without hesitation and with compassion.

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Showtime will join rival HBO with an online streaming service for those that don’t want to pay for cable.

The cable channel said Wednesday that it will begin streaming in July for $10.99 a month on all Apple devices, including the iPad, iPhone and Apple TV. CBS Corp., which owns Showtime, said it will be available on non-Apple devices soon.

There’s been a shift to more online viewing. More cable company customers subscribe for Internet service than their TV offerings, according to data provider SNL Kagan.

HBO rolled out a stand-alone streaming channel as the new season of its blockbuster “Game of Thrones” began in April and Showtime has followed suit, seeking the same audiences that have flocked to Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.com.

Networks and cable channels have begun to create stand-alone streaming services as a way to reach people who don’t subscribe to traditional cable packages that have dozens of channels.

“Going over-the-top means Showtime will be much more accessible to tens of millions of potential new subscribers,” said CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves, in a printed statement.

HBO Now can be had for $14.99 per month for anyone owning an Apple device and it will be available on Android devices this summer. CBS already has a streaming service for its network, where customers can watch “The Big Bang Theory” and other CBS shows for $5.99 a month. And Noggin, owned by Viacom Inc., lets users stream “Blue’s Clues” and other children’s shows for $5.99 a month.

Showtime launches its streaming service, also revered to as “over-the-top content,” on July 12.

NEW YORK (AP) — The E! Entertainment network says its documentary series on the former Bruce Jenner premiering next month will be titled, “I Am Cait,” and is showing a promo video for the series depicting her applying makeup.

The Olympic champion, who revealed this week that her new name is Caitlyn, is featured in an eight-episode series depicting her transition from a man to a woman that will debut July 26.

E! ramped up promotion Wednesday by releasing a video that depicts Jenner applying lipstick while sitting at a makeup table. She says for the first time a professional had come in and applied makeup for her. “What a difference,” she said.

Jenner, while driving near her California home, declared: “I’m the new normal.”

ZURICH (AP) – A day after announcing his decision to resign, Sepp Blatter was back at work at FIFA headquarters on Wednesday as the worst corruption crisis in the governing body’s 111-year history continued to unfold.

Interpol added six men with ties to FIFA to its most wanted list, while South African officials denied they made a $10 million bribe to secure the 2010 World Cup.

Blatter spoke to FIFA staff for about 10 minutes on Wednesday morning, returning to the same auditorium where he delivered his resignation speech a day earlier. Staff described him as being emotional, and said he received a standing ovation.

Elsewhere, Interpol got involved. The international police force, based in Lyon, France, issued an alert for two former FIFA officials and four executives on charges including racketeering and corruption.

Two of the men, former FIFA vice president Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago and former executive committee member Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay, have been arrested in their home counties. Warner has since been released and Leoz is under house arrest. The Interpol “red notice” means they risk arrest anywhere they travel.

In South Africa, Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula said the government wanted to “categorically deny” that the country paid any bribes to win the right to host the 2010 tournament.

Mbalula characterized the $10 million as an “above-board payment” to help soccer development in the Caribbean region.

The money, which went into a fund controlled by Warner, is part of the U.S. investigation into soccer corruption. That probe led to the arrest of seven soccer officials in Zurich last week, kicking off the FIFA scandal and eventually leading to Blatter’s decision to step down.

Warner and Leoz were among 14 people indicted in the U.S. as part of the federal investigation.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, speaking in Latvia on Wednesday at a meeting with EU justice ministers, declined to comment on Blatter’s resignation or whether he was himself under investigation.

“It’s an open case and so we will now be speaking through the courts,” Lynch said.

In a separate probe, Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation related to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests. Russia won the right to host the 2018 tournament and Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup.

The Swiss attorney general’s office said Blatter was not under investigation, but said it has opened criminal proceedings against “persons unknown” for money-laundering.

In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Blatter’s announcement hasn’t affected the country’s plans to host the tournament.

Blatter said Tuesday he would remain president until a new election can be set up, which FIFA said could be sometime between December and March.

But Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, who lost to Blatter in Friday’s election, is looking into whether he should be in line to replace Blatter without going to another vote. The Jordanian Football Association said it is studying FIFA rules to see whether they allow for the possibility.

In South Korea, former FIFA vice president Chung Mong-joon said at a news conference that he will think about whether to run. UEFA president Michel Platini is considered a likely candidate.

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Rob Harris and Karin Laub contributed to this report.

BEIRUT (AP) – A U.S. official said Wednesday that more than 10,000 Islamic State fighters have been killed by American-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in nine months, offering a body count for a campaign that has yet to blunt their advance.

Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s figure came after a Paris conference on how to stop the extremists ended without any new strategy to halt their campaign. It also comes months after the Pentagon dismissed such counts as “simply not a relevant figure” in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Meanwhile, the Islamic State group launched a major attack on the predominantly Kurdish city of Hassakeh in northeastern Syria, according to activists and Syrian state media.

Speaking Wednesday to France Inter Radio a day after the Paris conference, Blinken said the airstrikes have been effective.

“We have seen enormous losses for Daesh,” Blinken said, using an Arabic acronym for the group. “More than 10,000 since the beginning of this campaign. That will end up having an effect.”

Blinken did not offer any figure for civilian casualties.

In September, the CIA said that Islamic State group has up to 31,500 fighters, meaning that could represent a loss of a third of its forces. Despite that, the extremists continue to attract more recruits from around the world who come to fight with the group to expand its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

Map shows areas of control in Syria

It’s not clear why Blinken offered the figure, as the U.S. military in conflicts since the Vietnam War has been either hesitant or discounted such figures as indicators of success. Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to offer them in January when asked by a reporter.

“The less of these guys that are out there, certainly that’s the better, but the goal is to degrade and destroy their capabilities,” Kirby said at the time. He added: “It’s simply not a relevant figure.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest, later asked about Blinken’s figure, said he had “no reason to believe” the number was inaccurate, saying 1,000 Islamic State fighters were killed in the fight for the Syrian border town of Kobani alone.

Meanwhile Wednesday, the Islamic State group targeted Hassakeh in an apparent attempt to reverse some of the advances made recently by Kurdish fighters in the northeastern Syrian province. Kurdish fighters have captured dozens of towns and villages there with the help of U.S.-led airstrikes and are getting close to Tel Abyad, a major Islamic State-held border town near Turkey.

The extremists launched the push on the city of Hassakeh, which is split between government forces and Kurdish defenders, on Tuesday night.

Syrian state television said extremists are battling for control of a juvenile prison still under construction on Hassakeh’s southern edge and have so far attacked it with five suicide car bombs.

The TV report said government warplanes have struck the Islamic State stronghold of Shaddadeh, south of Hassakeh. An Islamic State-affiliated Facebook page said the airstrikes on Shaddadeh destroyed seven homes without causing any casualties.

Syria’s state news agency SANA said another suicide car bomb targeted the city’s power station, causing damage and a power outage.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian air force is also taking part in the battle around Hassakeh and that Islamic State gunmen have entered the prison building. The group said dozens of fighters were killed on both sides, adding that IS brought reinforcements of about 400 fighters from the nearby province of Deir el-Zour.

Activists also reported intense fighting Wednesday in the northern Aleppo province between Islamic State fighters and other insurgent groups including al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, the Nusra Front. The Islamic State group has been on the offensive in the area where they captured several towns and villages over the past days.

Also Wednesday, nine prominent jihadi ideologues issued a fatwa, or religious edict, in which they called on Muslim militants to fight the Islamic State group because they have attacked insurgents.

“As the nation of Islam was waiting for more conquests by the holy warriors, the Baghdadis were stabbing the holy warriors in the back,” read the Fatwa that was posted on several jihadi accounts on social media, referring to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “They stopped the holy warriors’ march against the regime.”

The fatwa that was signed by religious figures including Jordan’s top pro-al-Qaida ideologues Abu Qatada and Abu Mohammed al-Maqdisi, as well as Abdullah al-Mheisny of Saudi Arabia who is now in Syria with the Nusra Front.

In the Qatari capital of Doha, U.S. envoy John Allen said Iraq’s so-called Popular Mobilization Forces – which include Iranian-backed Shiite militias – have a role to play in helping take back territory from Islamic State militants in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, but that they must fall under Baghdad’s control.

Speaking at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, Allen said leaders in Anbar “do not view these forces through strictly a sectarian prism” and understand they do not only include Shiite hard-liners.

“But we also remain very attentive to and concerned about extremist militia elements frequently influenced and led by the Iranian leadership,” he continued. “It is critical that all forces in the battle space fall under the command and control of the government of Iraq.”

The role of the militias is contentious among many Sunnis in Iraq, who fear they could enhance Shiite powerhouse Iran’s influence in the country and exacerbate sectarian tensions.

Allen, a retired Marine Corps general, is President Barack Obama’s envoy for the global coalition against the extremist group.

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Associated Press writers Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.