Green Bay News

SHAWANO – The driver charged in connection with a triple-fatal crash was ordered Monday to stand trial.

Ryan Swadner faces 11 counts, including three of second-degree reckless homicide for the Oct. 21 crash which killed Paige Brunette, Cody Borsche, and Tyler Welch.

Cody Borsche, Paige Brunette and Tyler Welch (Photos courtesy Shawano, Bonduel schools)

Swadner was bound over for trial after a preliminary hearing, which included testimony that he had THC in his system, according to online court records.

Arraignment is scheduled for July 20.

According to the criminal complaint, officials found marijuana inside Swadner’s car the day of the crash.

When detectives asked Swadner if he was smoking marijuana before the crash, the criminal complaint says Swadner admitted to smoking two to three weeks before the crash but he couldn’t remember smoking the day of the crash. Swadner’s attorney has questioned the toxicology report results.

The complaint alleges Swadner was headed to a gas station so Welch could sell drugs to a person waiting for them.

While headed north Highway 22, officials say Swadner was trying to pass another vehicle stopped to turn left. Swadner immediately lost control of his car and that’s when he hit an SUV in the other lane.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Qatar has agreed to temporarily extend travel bans on five senior Taliban leaders released last year from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in exchange for captured Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a senior U.S. official said.

The official said Sunday the ban would remain in place until diplomatic talks for a longer-term solution are completed. The restrictions had been due to expire on Monday under a May 2014 exchange for Bergdahl. U.S. officials said Friday the Obama administration was closing in on an agreement with Qatar to extend the restrictions for six months that could be announced this weekend. It was not immediately clear why that agreement had not been finalized.

The official said the U.S. remains in “close contact” with Qatari authorities “to make sure these individuals do not pose a threat to the United States.” As a result of the talks to date, Qatar “has agreed to maintain the current restrictive conditions on these individuals as we continue these discussions,” the official said.

The official said the former detainees are all currently in Qatar and remain subject to the travel ban and extensive monitoring. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly speak to the matter.

Under the terms of the exchange, the five detainees were sent to Qatar, where government officials agreed to monitor their activities and prevent them from traveling out of the country for one year. In return, Bergdahl, who had been held captive by the Taliban for nearly five years after walking away from his Army post in Afghanistan, was released to the U.S. military. He recently was charged with desertion.

At least one of the five allegedly contacted militants during the past year while in Qatar. No details have been disclosed about that contact, but the White House confirmed that one of the Taliban leaders was put under enhanced surveillance.

One or more of the detainees met with some members of the al-Qaida-affiliated Haqqani militant group in Qatar earlier in the year, according to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. That was an indication that the group was reaching out to communicate with the so-called Taliban Five, said Graham, who predicted all five will rejoin the fight.

Four of the five former detainees remain on the United Nations’ blacklist, which freezes their assets and has them under a separate travel ban. But the U.N. itself has acknowledged that its travel ban has been violated. In a report late last year, the U.N. sanctions committee stated, “Regrettably, the monitoring team continues to receive a steady — albeit officially unconfirmed — flow of media reports indicating that some listed individuals have become increasingly adept at circumventing the sanctions measures, the travel ban in particular.”

The State Department insists that U.S. officials work to mitigate the risk of former Guantanamo detainees returning to the fight, threatening Americans or jeopardizing U.S. national security. U.S. officials have noted in the past that the five Taliban leaders are middle-aged or older, were former officials in the Taliban government and probably wouldn’t be seen again on any battlefield, although they could continue to be active members of the Taliban.

Members of Congress have repeatedly expressed concern about what will happen after the travel ban expires and criticized the administration for releasing the five in the first place. They have asked the Obama administration to try to persuade Qatar to extend the monitoring.

Many lawmakers from both parties disapproved when the five Guantanamo detainees were swapped for Bergdahl. They complained that the White House did not give Congress a 30-day notification of the transfer, which is required by law. The White House said it couldn’t wait 30 days because Bergdahl’s life was endangered.

After the transfer, the House Armed Services Committee demanded the Pentagon release internal documents about the swap. The committee received hundreds of documents, but lawmakers complained that they were heavily redacted. The committee inserted language in the fiscal 2016 defense policy bill that threatens to cut Pentagon spending by about $500 million if the Defense Department doesn’t provide additional information about the exchange.

On Friday, lawmakers stepped up their calls.

“This release was a complete overreach by the White House, ignoring U.S. law,” said Republican Rep. Ed Royce,the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

House Speaker John Boehner said Congress would “continue our efforts to investigate the administration’s handling of the Taliban Five swap.”

MILPITAS, Calif. (AP) — Her electronic waste is someone else’s treasure.

A recycling center in the Silicon Valley is looking for a woman who dropped off an old Apple computer that turned out to be a collectible item worth $200,000.

The computer was inside boxes of electronics that she had cleaned out from her garage after her husband died, said Victor Gichun, the vice president of Clean Bay Area.

She didn’t want a tax receipt or leave her contact information, and it wasn’t until a few weeks later that workers opened the boxes to discover an Apple I computer inside.

The San Jose Mercury News reports it was one of only about 200 first-generation desktop computers assembled by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne in 1976.

“We really couldn’t believe our eyes. We thought it was fake,” Gichun told KNTV-TV.

The recycling firm sold the Apple I for $200,000 to a private collection, and because the company gives 50 percent of items sold back to the original owner, Gichun said he wants to split the proceeds with the mystery donor.

He said he remembers what she looks like and is asking her to come back to claim her $100,000 check.

“To prove who she is,” Gichun said, “I just need to look at her.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft will roll out the latest version of its Windows operating system at the end of July.

The company said Monday that Windows 10 is designed with mobile computing in mind, allowing users to switch seamlessly between personal computers, tablets, smartphones and other gadgets. The operating system is intended to give apps a similar feel on all devices and comes with a new Web browser integrated with Cortana, the company’s voice-activated answer to Apple’s Siri.

Microsoft Corp. says Windows 10 will be available in 190 countries as a free upgrade on July 29 for anyone currently running Windows 8.1 or 7, the two previous versions of the software.

 

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq vowed Tuesday to retake Anbar province — now mostly held by the Islamic State — by launching a large-scale military operation less than two weeks after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the extremists in the provincial capital of Ramadi.

The operation, which Iraqi state TV said was backed by Shiite militias and Sunni pro-government fighters, is deemed critical in regaining momentum in the fight.

But as a sandstorm descended across the region, there was no sign of any major engagement against the extremists, who have been gaining ground in the province west of Baghdad despite U.S.-led airstrikes.

A Pentagon spokesman, Col. Steve Warren, said Iraqi forces have begun “shaping operations” and “security zone interactions,” which he described as probing and reconnaissance actions that would precede any major combat in or around Ramadi.

The Iraqis have begun moving forward from their base at Habbaniyah, and IS fighters likewise are probing in the direction of Habbaniyah, Warren said. He added that he could not confirm that the Iraqi forces have surrounded Ramadi.

The Islamic State — also known by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL, and Daesh in Arabic — seized large parts of Anbar in early 2014 and captured Ramadi earlier in May. Iraqi forces, which had been making steady progress against the extremists in recent months with the help of the air campaign, scored a major victory in recapturing Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit last month.

Elsewhere in Anbar province, the Islamic State group last week captured the Iraqi side of the key al-Walid border crossing with Syria. Those gains followed the IS seizure of the ancient town of Palmyra in Syria.

The launch of the operation in Anbar came only days after U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Ash Carter, criticized Iraq’s forces, saying its troops fled the IS advance on Ramadi without fighting back, leaving behind weapons and vehicles for the extremists.

Baghdad defended its troops and said preparations were underway for the large-scale counteroffensive in Anbar, involving Iranian-backed Shiite militias known as Popular Mobilization Units. That possibility sparked fears of potential sectarian violence in the Sunni-dominated province, long the site of protests and criticism of the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.

The Shiite militias chose a religious name for their campaign, deepening those worries and drawing criticism from the Pentagon. The Popular Mobilization Units have named it “Labaik Ya Hussein,” which is Arabic for “I am here, Hussein” — referring to a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the most revered figures of Shiite Islam.

Warren called the title “unhelpful,” adding: “We’ve long said … the key to expelling ISIL from Iraq is a unified Iraq that separates itself from sectarian divides.”

Karim al-Nouri, a spokesman for the Popular Mobilization Units, said the name wasn’t sectarian.

“This name has no sectarian dimension (or meaning) because all Iraqis, regardless of their sect or religion, love Imam Hussein,” al-Nouri said.

A spokesman for Iraq’s Shiite militias said the operation would “not last for a long time,” and that Iraqi forces have surrounded Ramadi on three sides.

New weapons are being used in the battle “that will surprise the enemy,” said Ahmed al-Assadi, who is also a member of parliament. He told reporters that another operation was underway north of the nearby province of Salahuddin.

Plans called for the forces in Salahuddin to move against Ramadi from its northeastern side, al-Assadi added.

The Anbar operation aims to cut off supply routes and recapture the outskirts of Ramadi first — not the city itself, according to provincial councilman Faleh al-Issawi and tribesman Rafie al-Fahdawi.

They told The Associated Press there was ongoing fighting and airstrikes west and south of Ramadi on Tuesday, adding that more Sunni fighters will be armed starting Wednesday to fight the Islamic State.

The sandstorm complicated efforts to retake the city, al-Issawi said.

“There is zero visibility on the front lines and our men are highly concerned that they might come under attack by Daesh in such bad weather,” he said.

Security forces and Sunni militiamen who had been battling the extremists in Ramadi for months collapsed as IS fighters overran the city.

The militants gained not only new territory 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, but also large stocks of weapons abandoned by government forces as they fled.

Carter said Sunday that Iraqi forces had “vastly outnumbered” the IS militants in Ramadi but “showed no will to fight.”

Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, said Carter’s remarks surprised the government and that he “was likely given incorrect information.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest defended Carter’s remarks, saying the Iraqi government acknowledged that the setback in Ramadi was the result of a breakdown in command and planning. Earnest added that the Iraqi forces in Ramadi had not benefited from U.S. or allied training.

He praised Iraq’s announcement it had launched a major military operation to drive Islamic State from Anbar, adding: “I think that is a clear indication of the will of the Iraqi security forces to fight. And the United States and our coalition partners will stand with them as they do so.”

Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of the elite Quds forces in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who has taken on an advisory role with the Shiite militias, lashed out Monday at U.S. efforts. The Iranian daily newspaper Javan, seen as close to the Revolutionary Guard, quoted Soleimani as saying the U.S. didn’t do a “damn thing” to stop the advance on Ramadi.

“Does it mean anything else than being an accomplice in the plot?” he reportedly asked, later saying the U.S. showed “no will” in fighting IS.

Al-Abadi had urged the Shiite militias to help retake Anbar province. The militiamen have played a key role in clawing back territory from IS elsewhere in Iraq, although rights groups and Sunni residents have accused them of looting, destroying property and carrying out revenge attacks — especially after government forces recaptured Tikrit last month. Militia leaders deny the allegations.

The participation of the Shiite militias in the Anbar operation risks exacerbating tensions that arose amid retaliatory sectarian killings that roiled Iraq in 2006 and 2007. Distrust of the Shiite-led government runs deep in Anbar, where U.S. troops fought some of their bloodiest battles since Vietnam and only succeeded in rolling back militants when Sunni tribesmen and former insurgents rallied to their side as part of the Sahwa, or Awakening, movement in 2006. After the U.S. troop withdrawal, Sunni anger at Baghdad has grown steadily.

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Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad and Robert Burns and Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington contributed to this report.

 

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average price of gasoline has increased 4 cents a gallon over the past two weeks to $2.84 a gallon.

Still, that’s a tiny increase compared to the 35-cent jump recorded over the previous five weeks.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that it’s also an indication gas prices may be close to peaking as the summer driving season approaches.

Lundberg says oil prices rose only slightly last week.

Meantime, with more refineries coming back online after maintenance, supplies should increase, stabilizing prices.

The average national price for midgrade gas was $3.04, with premium going for $3.20.

The highest price recorded in the continental United States was $3.83 in Los Angeles. The lowest was $2.36, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The average price in California was $3.66, down 10 cents a gallon.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top executive says Takata Corp. plans to replace the chemical in its air bags that has been linked to a defect responsible for at least six deaths.

Kevin Kennedy, executive vice president of North America for Takata Corp., also is telling Congress the company “deeply” regrets every rupture episode involving its air bags, especially those causing injury or death. Kennedy says in written testimony for a U.S. House hearing Tuesday that the percentage of air bag inflators likely to have a problem is “extremely small” but Takata is replacing all of them.

The company has declared 33.8 million air bags defective in an agreement with U.S. regulators.

The chemical, ammonium nitrate, can burn too fast if subjected to prolonged exposure to airborne moisture.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers held back from spending more in April, deciding instead to channel income gains into savings.

Consumer spending was flat in April — the weakest performance in three months — after a revised 0.5 percent increase in March, the Commerce Department reported Monday. The March advance had been the biggest gain since last August. Personal income rose a healthy 0.4 percent.

The unchanged reading for consumer spending in April had been expected given weakness previously reported in retail sales and auto sales for the month. Economists, however, forecast that spending will rebound in coming months. Solid gains in employment and incomes should translate into more confident consumers who are willing to spend more.

With income growing and spending flat, the personal saving rate jumped to 5.6 percent of after-tax incomes — the second highest level since December 2012.

Economists believe consumers will start spending the savings they have accumulated from the big drop in gas prices. While the cost of filing up the tank has risen a bit in recent weeks, prices are still nearly $1 below the levels of a year ago.

Consumer spending is closely watched because it accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

“The April income and spending figures are another reminder that even though their incomes are rising at a healthy pace, households are still reluctant to boost spending more freely,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at BMO Capital Markets, in a note to clients.

He said he still believed the overall economy would grow between 2.5 percent and 3 percent in the current April-June quarter.

The overall economy shrank in first three month of the year, with the gross domestic product contracting at an annual rate of 0.7 percent.

Consumer spending slowed to growth of just 1.8 percent in the first quarter, down from spending growth of 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter. The frigid cold in many parts of the country kept shoppers away from the malls. With the arrival of spring and warmer weather, analysts are looking for spending to rebound.

The weakness in April, the first month in the new quarter, reflected big declines in spending on both durable goods such as autos and nondurable goods such as clothing and food. Spending on services, which covers utility bills and rent, edged up 0.2 percent.

Recent employment gains are expected to fuel spending. The economy created 223,000 jobs in April, pushing the unemployment rate down to a nearly seven-year low of 5.4 percent.

The Federal Reserve has kept a key interest rate at a record low near zero since December 2008 in an effort to combat high unemployment. Even though the job market has revived, the Fed has left rates alone in part because inflation for nearly three years has been running below the Fed’s 2 percent target.

Many economists believe the central bank, which next meets on June 16, will delay its first rate hike until September.

PARIS (AP) — Lovers in Paris, beware: City authorities are taking down thousands of padlocks affixed to the famed Pont des Arts bridge.

The city says the locks, usually hung by couples to express eternal love, are causing long-term damage to Paris heritage sites. Last summer a chunk of fencing fell off under their weight.

Authorities began dismantling the metal grills along the sides of the bridge Monday and plan to remove 45 tons of padlocks in all.

Some residents had campaigned against the locks, which started appearing about a decade ago and now cover sites across the French capital.

The Pont des Arts bridge will soon have padlock-proof plexiglass panels instead, while the city explores other ways for Paris visitors to express their “amour,” including street art on the subject.

Paris city employees remove a railing loaded with locks on the famed Pont des Arts bridge in Paris, Monday June 1, 2015. Lovers in Paris, beware: City authorities are taking down thousands of padlocks affixed to the famed Pont des Arts bridge. The city council says the locks, usually hung by couples to express eternal love, cause long-term damage to Paris heritage and sometimes pose a security risk. Last summer a chunk of fencing fell off under their weight. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Park Service says the Washington Monument is temporarily closed again after another power failure.

The agency announced Monday that the monument was closed Monday morning after the elevator lost power around 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

Officials say no one was on board when it lost power, and rangers escorted one visitor from the observation level to the ground by the stairs.

Electricians and elevators technicians are working to find the source of the electrical problem. The monument was closed on Thursday and Friday morning last week after an electrical problem caused a power failure on Wednesday evening.

 

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Officers in suburban Detroit took a stray pig into custody, holding the animal in the back of a police vehicle before reuniting it with its owner.

This May 28, 2015 photo provided by the Shelby Township Police Department shows officers picking up a stray pig in suburban Detroit. A homeowner said she was doing yard work when the pig came barreling toward her, chasing her into the front yard before apparently getting distracted by a decorative ball. Police showed up and got the pig off the streets, though it left a mess inside the police vehicle before it was reunited with its owner. (Shelby Township Police Deptartment via AP)

Debbie DeRiemaecker told WXYZ-TV that she was doing yard work last Thursday evening at her home in Macomb County’s Shelby Township when the pig came barreling toward her. It chased her into the front yard before apparently getting distracted by a decorative ball.

DeRiemaecker called 911 and explained the situation.

She says police officers soon pulled up at her home and got the pig off the streets, though it left a mess inside the police vehicle.

DAYTON, Texas (AP) — Several hundred cattle stranded during Texas flooding have been rescued as volunteers on horseback and in boats herded the animals to safety.

The weather-related cattle drive happened Sunday through Dayton, about 30 miles northeast of Houston.

Last week’s heavy rain in Liberty County and flooding along the Trinity River left some cattle on land surrounded by water.

Cowboys on horses and in air boats guided as many cattle as they could reach. Some of the animals swam to higher ground, while others — such as calves — were put into boats and hauled to land.

Sheriff’s Capt. Ken DeFoor says people crowded the streets to watch the cattle herded several miles to reach a railroad yard.

The cattle will be hauled back to the ranch once the water recedes.

 

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Blanca has formed in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico and is expected to strengthen quickly over the next two days.

The second named storm of the season was centered about 335 miles (540 kilometers) south-southwest of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, on Monday. It has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and is moving northwest at 5 mph (7 kph).

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami says no coastal warnings or watches are in effect, but the storm is expected to gain strength and become a hurricane Tuesday. Forecasters call it a slow-moving storm.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Andres weakened a bit Monday morning. It is about 840 miles (1,350 kilometers) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. It is moving west-northwest at 6 mph (9 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph). No warnings or watches are in effect.

 

KINGSFORD, MI – The United States Postal Service in Kingsford, Michigan will continue operations as normal through the end of the year.

In July of 2014, US Postal Service announced they would be moving their mail sorting operations from Kingsford, Michigan to Green Bay to cut costs. They expected the move to be complete by July of 2015, but now say closure and consolidation activities will resume in 2016.

US Postal Service says, “The decision to defer the next phase of the initiative was based upon operational considerations, and was made to ensure that the Postal Service will continue to provide prompt, reliable and predictable service consistent with the published service standards.”

U.S. Rep. Dan Benishek of Crystal Falls was happy to hear about the delay in consolidation, “This facility not only provides jobs to families in the Upper Peninsula, it also is critical to ensuring that rural communities receive their mail in a timely fashion.”

Benishek said he had helped deliver thousands of petitions to the US Postal Service opposing the decision to move the postal sorting services to Wisconsin.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday threw out the conviction of a Pennsylvania man prosecuted for making threats on Facebook, but dodged the free-speech issues that had made the case intriguing to First Amendment advocates.

Chief Justice John Roberts said it was not enough for prosecutors to show that the comments of Anthony Elonis about killing his ex-wife and harming others would make a reasonable person feel threatened. But the high court sent the case back to the lower court without clarifying exactly what the standard of proof should be.

The ruling was a narrow victory for civil liberties groups that had urged the court to make it tougher to convict people who make crude comments on social media that might be viewed as threatening.

Yet the high court declined to lay out broad constitutional protections for such comments. “It is not necessary to consider any First Amendment issues,” Roberts wrote.

Elonis, of Freemansburg, in eastern Pennsylvania, was prosecuted under a law that makes it a crime to threaten another person after he posted Facebook rants in the form of rap lyrics about killing his estranged wife, harming law enforcement officials and shooting up a school.

One post about his wife said, “There’s one way to love you but a thousand ways to kill you. I’m not going to rest until your body is a mess, soaked in blood and dying from all the little cuts.”

Elonis claimed the government had no right to prosecute him if he didn’t actually intend his comments to be threatening to others. He argued that his musings were protected by the First Amendment.

But the government said it didn’t matter what Elonis intended. It argued that if the comments provoked enough fear and anxiety to make a reasonable person feel threatened, that was enough to prosecute it as a crime.

Seven justices on the high court agreed that it was not necessary to reach First Amendment issues in reversing Elonis’ conviction. Roberts said the reasonable-person standard is “inconsistent with the conventional requirement for criminal conduct — awareness of some wrongdoing.”

Justice Samuel Alito agreed with the outcome, but said he would have made clear that a person can violate the law if he disregards the risk that comments will be interpreted as a threat.

Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, saying he would have found Elonis’ posts to be “true threats” under the objective standard accepted by the vast majority of appeals courts prior to Monday’s ruling.

Facebook was not a party in the case.

Elonis had claimed his posts under the pseudonym “Tone Dougie” were a form of therapy that allowed him to cope with the breakup of his marriage and being fired from his job at an amusement park.

His lawyers said the comments were heavily influenced by rap star Eminem, who has also fantasized in songs about killing his ex-wife. Elonis’ wife testified that the comments made her fear for her life and she persuaded a judge to issue a protective order.

After his wife obtained a protective order, Elonis wrote on Facebook: “Is it thick enough to stop a bullet?”

Those and other comments led to his arrest. A jury found Elonis guilty under a law barring interstate communications that contain “any threat to injure the person of another.” He was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison and was released last year.

Elonis was arrested again in April for allegedly throwing a pot that hit his girlfriend’s mother in the head. Police charged him with simple assault and harassment.

Steven Shapiro, national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the decision “recognizes that the law has for centuries required the government to prove criminal intent before putting someone in jail.”

“While today’s decision insists on fairness, it is not a license to threaten, which remains illegal when properly proved,” Shapiro said.

While the ruling was seen as a minor victory for First Amendment advocates, University of Maryland law professor James Grimmelmann said it was also “not much of a loss for people concerned about harassment and domestic violence.”

Elonis’ attorney, John Elwood, said he is confident Elonis will be vindicated when lower courts reconsider his case, possibly at a new trial.

“We’re pleased that the Supreme Court saw the case for what it was: A criminal conviction for a “crime” of speech based on only a showing of negligence,” Elwood said.

The Justice Department says 63 people were indicted on federal charges of making illegal threats in the 2013 fiscal year, up from 53 cases the previous year.

CENTRAL, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham opened his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination Monday with a grim accounting of “radical Islam … running wild” in a world imperiled also by Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

He dedicated himself to defeating U.S. adversaries — a commitment that would place thousands of troops back in Iraq, essentially re-engaging in a war first launched in 2003.

“I’ve got one simple message,” he told supporters in the small town where he grew up. “I have more experience with our national security than any other candidate in this race. That includes you, Hillary.”

In that fashion, he took on Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former secretary of state, as well as non-interventionists in his own party and rivals with little to no foreign policy experience.

Graham, 59, becomes the first candidate in either party to hail from one of the first four states that cast presidential primary ballots. Iowa and New Hampshire lead the process, followed by South Carolina and Nevada.

Having won his third term last November, Graham is a prominent Senate voice in seeking a more muscular foreign policy and one who casts the threats facing the United States in particularly dark terms.

“Simply put, radical Islam is running wild,” he said. “They have more safe havens, more money, more weapons and more capability to strike our homeland than any time since 9/11. They are large, they are rich, and they’re entrenched.”

He said as president, he’d “make them small, poor and on the run.”

“I’m afraid some Americans have grown tired of fighting them,” he said. “I have bad news to share with you — the radical Islamists are not tired of fighting you.”

Graham did not mention the possibility of U.S. casualties in his speech, but he has state plainly in recent weeks that more Americans sent to Iraq and Syria “will die … to protect the homeland.”

Despite his focus on Islamic State militants with footholds in those two nations, Graham said Iran poses the gravest threat.

If the U.S. does not head off a nuclear capability in Iran, Graham said, “Iran will trigger a nuclear arms race in the least stable region on Earth, and make it more likely that people who aspire to genocide will have the most effective means to commit it.”

Graham’s call for a stronger military posture abroad is a calculated risk for the three-term senator and retired Air Force lawyer who surprised many when he began to hint earlier this year he would run for president.

His approach stands in stark contrast to a fellow senator and presidential candidate, Kentucky’s Rand Paul, who favors less military intervention. And Graham’s blunt talk about more troops and casualties stands out even among Republican rivals who promise more generically to quash Islamic State militants, but sidestep the details of potential military action.

Polls suggest a majority of American adults support military action against the group commonly called ISIS. But support drops when respondents are asked specifically about a ground war.

Graham came to Congress an outspoken member of the conservative freshman class that brought Republicans a majority in 1994. Yet since then, he’s joined with Democrats on some contentious votes as the Senate has become more clearly divided along partisan lines.

He backed a 2012 immigration overhaul and voted to end a 2013 partial government shutdown, for example. He also backed President Barack Obama’s two Supreme Court appointees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elana Kagan.

That has earned Graham enmity among some Republicans, but on Monday he remained unapologetic, saying his willingness to “work with anybody” will be necessary to solve domestic policy challenges. Without getting into the details, Graham said wealthier members of his generation will have to take fewer Social Security and Medicare benefits, while younger workers may have to work longer and pay more.

“We have to fix entitlement programs to make sure people who need the benefits the most receive them,” he said. “That’s going to require determined presidential leadership.”

Graham leaned heavily on his personal story Monday, delivering his speech in front of the building where he grew up and his parents ran a pool hall, bar and restaurant. Graham’s parents died when he was in college, leaving him as guardian to his then 13-year-old sister, Darline.

“We depended on Social Security benefits to survive,” Graham said, later adding, “As president, I’ll gladly do what it takes to save a program that once saved my family.”

Graham plans an immediate campaign swing through New Hampshire and Iowa.

The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra will not partner with those trying to keep the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra alive.

The Green Bay Symphony folded after its last concert this spring. Some of those involved with the group are still working on ways to revive the orchestra.

Talks with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra for a partnership were rejected by the Madison-based group, FOX 11 has learned.

Those working on reviving the Green Bay Symphony didn’t want to talk on camera yet about their possible next steps, but some are hoping a 2015-16 season can be crafted.

MADISON (AP) – A liberal group and a voting rights organization have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a host of changes Republicans have made in Wisconsin election law.

One Wisconsin Institute, Inc., Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund and a half-dozen voters filed the lawsuit in Madison on Friday against the Government Accountability Board, which oversees state elections.

They allege that a number of provisions in state law, including a requirement that voters to show photo identification, a reduction in early voting days and hours and the elimination of early voting on weekends and evenings, place an unconstitutional burden on blacks, Latinos and voters who tend to lean Democratic.

• Click here to read the lawsuit

A GAB spokesman referred questions Monday to the state Justice Department. DOJ spokeswoman Anne Schwartz would say only that the agency is reviewing the lawsuit.

EASTHAM, Mass. (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers and Texas A&M head coach Mike Sherman has agreed to coach at Nauset Regional High School on Cape Cod.

Nauset athletic director Keith Kenyon confirmed to the Cape Cod Times that Sherman will replace him on the Warriors’ sideline this fall.

Sherman is a Massachusetts native who currently lives in Dennis on Cape Cod. After he was let go as the Miami Dolphins’ offensive coordinator he spent the last year on the Cape, doing occasional consulting work for the NFL and college teams.

Sherman tells the newspaper that he took the high school job because he didn’t want to put his family through another move. He says he is financially secure and missed coaching last season.

Nauset, in Eastham, draws students from six towns.

MADISON (AP) – Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has created a new open records office within the state Department of Justice.

Schimel says the Office of Open Government will handle records requests as well as offer advice on records and meetings law.

Newly hired Assistant Attorney General Paul Ferguson will lead the office. He’ll be assisted by a paralegal and a legal assistant. Schimel says the number of positions at DOJ won’t change. All three positions have been vacant.

Schimel says about DOJ had about five to six dozen open record requests waiting to be fulfilled when he took office in January. Kevin Potter, deputy administrator of the Division of Legal Services, has served as the agency’s records custodian but Schimel says Potter has many other things to do.