Green Bay News

GENEVA (AP) – Secretary of State John Kerry is stable condition in a Swiss hospital after suffering a leg injury in a bike crash.

Kerry was flown to Hospital University Geneva and is being evaluated. The secretary’s spokesman said paramedics and a doctor were with Kerry’s motorcade when the crash happened Sunday morning near Scionzier, France.

Kerry is stable and did not lose consciousness.

TOWN OF MENASHA – After weather postponed the event originally scheduled to take place two weeks ago, the Hands Over the Fox event will take place Sunday evening.

The event comes nearly a month after a deadly shooting on the Trestle Trail Bridge that killed four people including the gunman. Among the victims were Jon Stoffel and his daughter Olivia. Their wife and mother, Erin was shot three times but was able to get the family’s other two children off the bridge unharmed. She was released from the hospital on May 22. Adam Bentdahl of Appleton was also killed in the shooting.

Hundreds are expected to gather on either side of the Trestle Trail Bridge at 7, Sunday evening. People will then walk onto the bridge until they meet in the middle and join hands in a moment of silence to remember the victims. Nearby churches are asked to ring their bells at 7:33 p.m. and boaters and kayakers in the surrounding water will sound their horns to show community strength and support.

People are encouraged to arrive early. There will also be shuttles available at nearby locations as parking near the bridge is very limited.

FOX 11’s Pauleen Le spent the morning checking in on final preparations for the event.

For more information on Hands Over the Fox and a map of shuttle stops to and from the event, click here.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Joe Biden announced Saturday that his son, Beau, has died of brain cancer. Beau Biden was 46.

“It is with broken hearts that Hallie, Hunter, Ashley, Jill and I announce the passing of our husband, brother and son, Beau, after he battled brain cancer with the same integrity, courage and strength he demonstrated every day of his life,” the vice president said in a statement late Saturday.

“The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words. We know that Beau’s spirit will live on in all of us, especially through his brave wife, Hallie, and two remarkable children.”

President Barack Obama said he and the first lady were grieving alongside the Biden family.

“Michelle and I humbly pray for the good Lord to watch over Beau Biden, and to protect and comfort his family here on Earth,” Obama said.

The younger Biden was a lawyer, member of the Delaware National Guard and former Delaware attorney general.

He was hospitalized earlier this month at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The vice president’s office had declined to say what he was being treated for.

In 2010, Beau Biden suffered a mild stroke. Three years later, he underwent surgery at a Texas cancer center to remove what was described as a small lesion.

He announced last year that he would not seek a third term as attorney general and instead planned to run for governor in 2016.

GREEN BAY – Despite five touchdown passes from quarterback Donovan Porterie, the Blizzard fell to Cedar Rapids 50-32 Saturday night at the Resch Center.

Having won four of their previous five games, Green Bay was looking to move into second place in the United Conference.

However, the Titans proved to be the more complete team on this night. Quarterback Willie Copeland threw for three scores, Washaun Ealey ran for two and the defense added a fumble return in a game they never trailed.

The Blizzard will need to win their remaining two contests and get help from other opponents if they hope to compete in the IFL Playoffs next month.

After a bye week, Green Bay returns to action on June 13th, when they host the Sioux Falls Storm at 6 p.m.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Paul Goldschmidt outslugged the Milwaukee Brewers with two homers and four RBIs, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 7-3 win Saturday.

The left-handed first baseman led off the third with a homer before hitting a long three-run shot for a 7-2 lead in the fourth. That drive caromed off the scoreboard high above the 400-foot sign in deep straightaway center, chasing starter Kyle Lohse (3-6) from the game.

Goldschmidt had three hits with two runs at Miller Park, where he improved his average to .511 for his five-year career. The Diamondbacks pounded out 11 hits off Lohse in his 3 1-3 innings.

Even Arizona starter Jeremy Hellickson (3-3) got in on the fun at the plate with two hits, including an RBI single through a drawn-in infield in the second.

The Brewers lost their seventh straight to drop to a major league-worst 16-34. The long ball was again a huge problem for them.

Lohse has now allowed 13 homers in 11 starts. The Brewers came into the day having allowed 64 homers, second only behind the 66 given up by San Diego.

The Diamondbacks, who have won the first two games in Milwaukee, have homered in eight straight games for the first time since 2013.

The Brewers couldn’t keep up.

They got to Hellickson for two runs and four hits over the first two innings before the right-hander settled down to retire 14 of the next 16 hitters. Hellickson went six innings, and reliever Randall Delgado allowed one run over the final three innings for his first career save.

At least Brewers fans behind the plate were distracted during the middle innings by photo opportunities with people dressed like characters from the movie “Star Wars” on Star Wars night at the ballpark.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Diamondbacks: SP Bronson Arroyo threw a 30-pitch bullpen session on Friday at the team’s Salt River Fields training complex in Arizona, while RP David Hernandez is next scheduled to pitch at Double-A Mobile on Sunday after going back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday. Both right-handers are recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Brewers: Gerardo Parra replaced Khris Davis in left field before the top of the second. Davis left the game with right knee soreness following a strikeout in the bottom of the first.

UP NEXT

Diamondbacks: The road doesn’t seem to affect RHP Chase Anderson (1-1), who is scheduled to make his fourth straight start away from home on Sunday. Anderson is 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA over his last three starts.

Brewers: RHP Tyler Wagner will make his big league debut in his first home game this season. The team tabbed the rookie to start Sunday after beginning the season at Double-A Biloxi, which has played all its games on the road as it awaits the opening of its new home park on June 6. Wagner was 5-1 with a 2.01 ERA in nine starts in the minors.

OSHKOSH – Oshkosh’s Public Works Department held a open house Saturday to show off its new field operations facility.

The city broke ground on the project in August 2013, replacing the old central garage building.

Officials say the 150 thousand square foot facility can store more than 100 public works vehicles.

The new space is designed to enhance efficiency.

City leaders say they can already see the benefits of the new space.

“We’ve already noticed some efficiency that we’ve gaine, particulary on the maintenance side because in the past we would have to move multiple vehicles to do simple service like an oil change,” said city manager Mark Rohloff.

The total amount spent on the project was around $19 million.

HORTONVILLE – It’s a sweet weekend in Hortonville.

Despite the rain, people came out for the seventh annual Chocolate Fest at Commercial Club Park.

The festival is a free, family event put on by the Fox West Chamber of Commerce.

The day’s activities included a Tour de Chocolate bike ride, a bake-off and a vendor village.

Organizers say one of the event’s biggest attractions is a chocolate eating contest!

“Kids from young to old ages, all alike, they all enjoy it. It’s just one of those moments where you’re allowed to just shove your face with chocolate and it’s encouraged and so it’s nice seeing their faces light up and really enjoy it,” said Terri Werner, Fox West Chamber of Commerce marketing coordinator.

All proceeds from the event support local charitable organizations and scholarship programs to area high school students and non-traditional students.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is standing firm on recent comments about abortion and ultrasounds in the face of criticism.

Asked by a New Hampshire woman during a 2-day swing through the early voting state, Walker defended a Wisconsin law that requires doctors to conduct ultrasounds before performing abortions. Speaking about abortion on a talk radio show recently, Walker touted the law, then said ultrasounds are “just a cool thing out there.”

He said in his Concord stop: “I’m pro-life, but if someone’s pro-choice don’t you want an informed choice?”

Walker says his decision to hold firm on his stance despite criticism is an important quality for a future president.

His trip to New Hampshire also includes speaking slots at two county Republican party events.

INDIANOLA, Miss. (AP) – B.B. King’s early life personified the blues: He was born to dirt-poor sharecroppers in the cotton country of the Mississippi Delta and left alone by the deaths of his mother and grandmother when he was a child. But he never let those circumstances hold him back or define him, a minister said Saturday at the funeral of the blues legend.

“Hands that once picked cotton would someday pick guitar strings on a national and international stage. Amazing,” the Rev. Herron Wilson said in a standing-room-only sanctuary at Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church in King’s hometown of Indianola, Mississippi.

King, whose distinctive guitar style influenced generations of entertainers, was 89 when he died May 14 in Las Vegas. At his request, his body was returned to his native Mississippi for a final homecoming.

“He will forever be the king of the blues,” Stevie Wonder said in a spoken tribute that was played at the funeral, although he did not attend.

About 500 people filled the sanctuary of the church, a red brick structure that sits in a field off of B.B. King Road in Indianola. More than 200 people who couldn’t get into the sanctuary watched a live broadcast of the funeral in the church’s fellowship hall, many waving hand-held fans with a black-and-white photo of a smiling King hugging his black electric guitar, Lucille.

At the beginning of the service, family members filed past King’s open casket, which had an image of Lucille embroidered on the padded white cloth inside the lid. Later, the casket was closed and covered with a large arrangement of red roses.

Christopher Clouser, a businessman and longtime friend of King, said King instructed him to deliver several messages during the funeral. He sent love to family and friends and thanked his bandmates and other entertainers.

Clouser said King also wanted people to know how uncomfortable he was “riding in the back of the car that Eric was driving” – a reference to “Riding With the King,” an album that King and Eric Clapton released in 2000 with a cover photo of the two guitarists on a road trip.

Country singer Marty Stuart said King created a musical legacy for the home state they share.

“As a fellow Mississippian, I’m so proud to stand in his shadow as I walk across the world,” Stuart said.

On the way into the church, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant recalled spending time with King in the bluesman’s tour bus before a concert last year in Indianola. Bryant said King was proud of being from Mississippi.

Noting the thousands of people who came to Indianola for the public viewing Friday and funeral Saturday, Bryant said: “He would have loved to know that one more time he’s helping the Mississippi Delta.”

Silvan Zingg, a boogie-woogie pianist from Switzerland, played with King at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2011 and described it as one of the best days of his life. He booked a last-minute flight from Milan to Memphis on Friday so he could attend the funeral, and he ended up playing during the service.

“To be here today … with his all family and his friends – it means everything to me,” Zingg said.

Tony Coleman, King’s drummer for 37 years, said King never referred to himself as King of the Blues, an honorary title others used.

“He felt like the blues was the king, and it was his responsibility to keep it king,” Coleman said as he entered the church.

A children’s choir based at the B.B. King Museum clapped as they sang gospel songs, including one with the chorus: “Let’s all get together, bring peace to the world.”

President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton each sent a letter, and those were read aloud by Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, a friend of King.

“The blues has lost its king and America has lost a legend,” Obama said. “No one worked harder than B.B. No one did more to spread the gospel of the blues.”

Clinton recalled playing two gigs with King: “I was his backup sax man.”

As rain fell after the funeral Saturday, King was buried at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, which opened in 2008 to tell his life’s story. The museum will develop a memorial garden, with benches and a water wall, around the gravesite.

LEDGEVIEW – Uncle Mike’s Bake Shoppe owner Mary Vande Walle says she’s lost trust in a former employee.

About three weeks ago, Vande Walle noticed the numbers weren’t adding up and money was missing from the register. Her son, who also works at the bakery, decided to look at security camera video.

“He found one of my decorators up in the till and she was waiting on customers. She’d set the money alongside the register and then after she’d give the change back to the customer, she would stick the $20 into her pocket. We saw it twice on the camera,” Vande Walle said.

Court records show Connie Huven was charged with theft in a business setting involving more than $10,000.

Vande Walle says the Brown County Sheriff’s Office investigated the alleged theft on Thursday.

“They did a sting here. They actually caught my decorator in the act of stealing from them,” she said.

According to the criminal complaint, three officers posed as customers and bought bakery items with pre-recorded money. Eventually the officers took Huven outside and questioned her. Officials found the pre-recorded bills in Huven’s possession and she was arrested.

Uncle Mike’s Bake Shoppe has been in business for more than a decade. The owner says this is the first time they’ve caught an employee stealing from them.

“We’re just a small business. Everybody’s like family that works for us. You wouldn’t expect that from your family,” Vande Walle said.

FOX 11 attempted to contact Huven, however she has not returned our calls.

Gabrielle Mays will have the full story on FOX 11 News at Nine.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Jo Winkens has spent 10 years tending to the tombstone of a man whose name he knows only from the markings. But he wants to know more.

Winkens is one of many Dutch volunteers who look after 8,300 American World War II soldiers’ graves at a cemetery in Margraten in the Netherlands. But the Wausau Daily Herald reports that caring for Wayne C. Clark’s tombstone has turned into a personal mission to track down the Wisconsin man’s family.

Clark was killed in Germany in the final weeks of the war. Winkens learned that Clark was born in Mosinee and attended Waupaca High School but hasn’t managed to contact any living family members.

Winkens says he wants them to know someone is taking care of their loved one.

BROWN COUNTY – It’s beginning to look a lot like summer in many fields around Northeast Wisconsin.

Plots are starting to turn green, as corn and other crops are starting to grow.  And if it seems a little early, it is.

Rows of green corn stalks shoot out of the ground on the Brickstead Dairy Farm near Greenleaf in Brown County.

Corn planting on the site started April 30th.

“We were able to get it in. We got everything in by May first here this year. The rains held off until the corn got germinated. That very important to help the root structure go down, instead of up,” said Dan Brick, Brickstead Dairy Farm.

It’s a similar story around Wisconsin. As of May 24th, U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers indicate 93% of corn was planted across the state. That is 30% higher than last year, and about 20% ahead of the five-year average.

• To see how Wisconsin crops are doing compared to other states, click here for the USDA’s most recent crop report.

“Having that much planted was the second highest percentage in over 35 years,” said Liz Binversie, Brown County Agricultural Educator.

Binversie says that puts many area farmers about two, to three weeks ahead of schedule.

“There are some farmers that are finishing up. Now, maybe they’ve got 20 acres, or 50, or 75 left. But for the most part, most of our farmers are done with that at this point,” she said.

And when it comes to alfalfa, state numbers indicate about 20 percent of farmers have already made their first cut of hay. That’s the second highest in 35 years.

Brick says he cut his fields last week.

“Probably be five crops for hay. We’ll be on a 30-day cutting schedule from here on out. So we’ll have five cuttings by September 15. So far, I could say we’re looking for a record yields here so far. It can only go down from here,” he said.

Agriculture agents say recent rains will help.

“We are still about an inch or two behind our average precipitation for the year. So we don’t want to have a drought situation, so we’re really hoping again with this rain coming up, that we’ll be able to catch up,” said Binversie.

Brick says he sleeps better at night after the corn is in the ground.

“Everything looks very green. So I can’t complain. Hoping we don’t get too much at one time. Hopefully we get some rain in July, when it’s very much needed,” he said.

The corn in much of the area should be ready to harvest by the end of August.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Three Milwaukee residents have been hospitalized after a large street fight ended with gunfire.

Milwaukee police responded to the triple shooting in northern Milwaukee at about 10 p.m. Friday. They say an unknown male pulled out a gun and fired repeatedly into a large group during a fight on the street.

Two women, ages 18 and 25, and a 19-year-old male were taken to a local hospital with injuries that aren’t considered life threatening.

Police say they are still investigating the shooting.

OAK CREEK, Wis. (AP) – Three Wisconsin men are facing charges for allegedly stealing a $500,000 excavator and sending it into Lake Michigan in December.

Oak Creek Police were initially baffled as to how the massive earth-moving machine wound up in the lake. But WISN-TV reports a man arrested for a separate crime recently fessed up.

Kyle Orr, 22, told police he and Brian Nelson, 18, broke into the construction site and drove the excavator around. Orr says Jerek Stys, 18, joined the pair the following night when Nelson placed a rock on the pedals to send it into the lake.

Police say the excavator was a total loss and removing it cost another $150,000. The three men are charged with operating a vehicle without consent and criminal damage to property.

BALTIMORE (AP) – Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley on Saturday joined the Democratic presidential race with a longshot challenge to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the 2016 nomination and tried to stake a position to her left on the economy and Wall Street reform.

“I’m running for you,” he told a crowd of about 1,000 people, serving up a populist message at Federal Hill Park in Baltimore, where he served as mayor before two terms as governor. He said “the urgent work” drawing him into the campaign was “to rebuild the truth of the American dream for all Americans.”

O’Malley has made frequent visits in recent months to early-voting Iowa, where he was headed later Saturday, and New Hampshire, his destination Sunday. Still, he remains largely unknown in a field dominated by Clinton.

Already in the race is Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who could be O’Malley’s main rival for the support of the Democratic left.

An ally of former President Bill Clinton, O’Malley was the second governor to endorse Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2007. But he said Democrats deserve a choice in the 2016 primary.

“The presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth … between two royal families,” O’Malley said. “It is a sacred trust to be earned from the people of the United States, and exercised on behalf of the people of the United States.”

He pointed to recent news reports that Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein would be “fine” with either Clinton or former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a leading Republican contender and the son and brother of presidents, in the White House.

It was a forceful message that O’Malley will focus on overhauling the financial system, a priority for liberals opposed to the bailouts of Wall Street banks.

“Tell me how it is, that not a single Wall Street CEO was convicted of a crime related to the 2008 economic meltdown? Not a single one,” O’Malley said. “Tell me how it is, that you can get pulled over for a broken tail light, but if you wreck the nation’s economy you are untouchable?”

The 52-year-old O’Malley has spoken often about the economic challenges facing the nation and said he would bring new leadership, progressive values and the ability to accomplish things.

“Our economic and political system is upside down and backward and it is time to turn it around,” he told the crowd. “We are allowing our land of opportunity to be turned into a land of inequality.”

O’Malley has presented himself to voters as a next-generation leader for the party, pointing to his record as governor on issues such as gay marriage, immigration, economic issues and the death penalty.

Just weeks ago, riots in Baltimore broke out following the death of Freddie Gray, an African-American man who died in police custody following his arrest last month.

A few demonstrators gathered near Federal Hill Park to protest O’Malley’s criminal justice policies as mayor, an office he held from 1999 until his election as governor in 2006. “He’s claiming to be this savior of Baltimore, but he’s not,” said Duane Davis, who said he is homeless.

During O’Malley’s speech, there was sporadic shouting from protesters, including one who blew a whistle.

And O’Malley’s speech did not go off without a logistical hitch. Technicians lost audio on an introductory video before he took the stage.

O’Malley was known for his tough-on-crime, “zero tolerance” policies that led to large numbers of arrests for minor offenses. Critics say it sowed distrust between police and the black community. Supporters note the overall decrease in violent crime during his tenure.

O’Malley has defended his work to curb crime, saying he helped address rampant violence and drug abuse. He has said the unrest in Baltimore should wake up the nation to the need to address despair in poor communities.

“Last month, television sets around the world were filled with the anger and the rage, and the flames of some of the humblest and hardest hit neighborhoods of Baltimore. For all of us who have given so much of our energies to making our city a safer, fairer, more just and more prosperous place, it was a heartbreaking night in the life of our city,” O’Malley said.

“But there is something to be learned from that night, and there is something to be offered to our country from those flames. For what took place here was not only about race, not only about policing in America. It’s about everything it is supposed to mean to be an American.”

Megan Kenny, who held a sign that said “stop killer cops” and yelled “black lives matter,” said she thought O’Malley’s decision to run was “a strange choice,” especially because of the recent rioting. She attributed the unrest to his “ineffective zero-tolerance policy.”

The 38-year-old Baltimore resident said she thought O’Malley’s decision to run was “very bizarre and out of touch.”

O’Malley could soon be joined in the Democratic field by former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who plans to make an announcement next week, and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, who is exploring a potential campaign.

Sanders has raised more than $4 million since opening his campaign in late April and sought to build support among liberals in the party who are disillusioned with Clinton.

One of O’Malley’s first tasks as a candidate would be to consolidate support among Democrats who are reluctant to back Clinton and eyeing Sanders.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Witte contributed to this report.

TOKYO (AP) – A powerful and extremely deep earthquake struck a group of remote Japanese islands and shook Tokyo on Saturday, but officials said there was no danger of a tsunami, and no injuries or damage were immediately reported.

The offshore earthquake struck off the Ogasawara islands at 8:24 p.m. at a depth of 590 kilometers (370 miles), Japan’s Meteorological Agency said. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 7.8 and a depth of 678 kilometers (421 miles).

Public broadcaster NHK said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

But the temblor was powerful enough to rattle large parts of Japan’s main island of Honshu. Buildings swayed in Tokyo and stopped some train services in the city, and there reports that parts of the capital were without power.

The meteorological agency did not issue a tsunami warning because the quake struck so far beneath the earth’s surface. Deep earthquakes usually cause less damage at the surface than shallow ones.

The Ogasawara islands are about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Tokyo.

HORTONVILLE – Crews are fighting a house fire in Hortonville this morning.

Officials received a call just before 5:30 a.m. from a man saying there was a fire in his kitchen.

The fire then spread to other parts of the home.

The man got out safely. The Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department says he is the only person who lives at the house.

We don’t know yet what started the fire.

ASHWAUBENON – Many people saw rain pour through their area last night and into the morning.

Showers are likely during the morning hours.  The rain will gradually disappear.

The afternoon looks to be clear, cool and breezy with a high of 60 degrees.

Tonight it could get a little chilly with a low of about 40 degrees.

Frost is also possible for tonight in the Northwoods.

APPLETON – The Gathered Earth Gift Shop is starting new beginnings in a new location.

The shop first opened in 2012 inside Lowney’s Landscaping Center. In May of this year, the owners found a new location at 3402 N. Richmond Street.

FOX 11’s Pauleen Le spent the morning checking out the new location and upcoming classes.

For more information on The Gathered Earth Gift Shop and upcoming classes, click here.

TOWN OF CENTER – One man is dead after a house fire in Outagamie County.

The Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department was called in Friday night around 8:45 to the home at N3622 County Trunk A in the Town of Center.

Officials say a man who lived in the home was inside at the time of the fire and was confirmed dead.

Numerous agencies assisted in putting out the fire.

Officials say County Trunk A between Rock Road and Wege Road will be shut down for several hours as the investigation continues.