Green Bay News

GREEN BAY – Do you love sushi, but feel like you can’t make it at home?

Ace Champion is a personal chef and teaches cooking classes at Cooks Corner.  Chef Ace joined FOX 11’s Emily Deem on Good Day Wisconsin to show just how easy it can be to create sushi right in your own kitchen.

SUSHI RECIPES:

Black Rice California Roll with Spicy Sauce topped with fresh Avocado and Siracha Sauce

BBQ Jamaican Jerk Chicken with Avocado, Mango and Cucumber finished with a Spicy Japanese Jerk Sauce, ginger and wasabi

Black Rice In-side out Sushi Roll stuffed with Garlic Asparagus & Smoked Honey Ham

Oshi Sushi Blackened Tuna with Raspberry Balsamic Reduction Sauce

GREEN BAY – Looking for a fun event the whole family can enjoy?

Race Into Reading will take place today from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at Gnome Games East in Green Bay.

Gnome Games has teamed up with the Brown County East Branch Library and local Dirt Track drivers for the to kick off the 2015 Summer Reading program.

At the event people can enjoy a bunch of the hot cars!  Drivers will also be there for the kids and their families to talk to — a great way to kick off the summer reading program at the East Branch library

The event is free and open to the public.

Click here for more information about the event.

MOSINEE, Wis. (AP) – Life rarely presents a single moment representing the fulfillment of creativity, hard work and cooperation of a large group of vastly different people, but it did on a recent Wednesday morning at a fishing pier on the Wisconsin River.

It happened shortly before noon in Mosinee’s River Park, when former Mosinee High School Principal Jim DeBroux, who was paralyzed from his neck down in a 2009 fall from a ladder, used a baton designed to be used by his mouth to push a button. That button set in motion another specially designed piece of equipment, a one-of-a-kind robotic fishing rod. The rod reared back, hesitated a moment, and then cast a hook, worm and bobber into the river about 20-feet away.

As casts go, it was unremarkable. But for DeBroux and the crowd that gathered at the park for the occasion – a design and production team consisting of Mosinee Middle School and Northcentral Technical College students, their teachers, and a crowd of about 30 friends, parents and educators – it was a beautiful thing.

“I can’t tell you what this means to me,” DeBroux said, his voice catching from the rush of emotion. “Um, for those of you don’t know, my injury is such that I can’t feel anything below my shoulders. And I never thought this day would come. … I can’t tell you what sense of freedom this gives me.”

It all started with a question, asked of DeBroux more than a year ago. DeBroux, who left his job as principal after his injury, vowed that he would find a way to keep teaching kids. He’s done that in part by giving presentations at local schools about what it’s like to live with paralysis. He was taking questions after a presentation for Mosinee students when one asked him a stark question: “What do you miss the most?”

The question “came out of the blue, and it caught me off guard,” DeBroux said. “I could have said anything, golf or travel. … But my dad and I used to fish together, and I started when I was kid, with my grandpa and dad. (Fishing provided) some of the most rewarding times in my life, with its solitude and peace.”

His answer stirred everyone in the audience that day, but Maggie Hattlestad, then a 13-year-old seventh-grader, was particularly upset by the thought that DeBroux would never be able to do again something he loved so much. She walked away in tears.

Dave Masterson, a technical-education teacher at Mosinee Middle School, noticed Maggie’s reaction, and thought that something that could move a young teenager so deeply also could provide stimulus to learn, the Wausau Daily Herald Media reported. Masterson and his colleague, Kathy Brandon, a gifted-and-talented teacher at the middle school, teamed up to offer a challenge to the nine GT students in Brandon’s math class: Design a piece of equipment that would allow DeBroux to fish from his wheelchair.

Once the two educators presented the problem to the class, the students, including Maggie, now 14 and in eighth grade, embraced the challenge and were off.

“Our challenge was to give them the rope and then let it go,” Brandon said. “Not to hold them back, but unleash them.”

Meanwhile, designing wasn’t enough for Masterson. He wanted to see the thing built. But he realized that limitations of equipment and skill at the middle and high school levels would make it difficult. So Masterson put out the word to other tech-ed teachers to enlist help. Through word of mouth and networking, the project was brought to the attention of Dustin Van De Weerd, the elecromechanical instructor at Northcentral Technical College.

Van De Weerd put the project in front of his students, and asked for volunteers to take it on. “These two stepped up,” he said, motioning to Thor Gunderson of Park Falls and Justin Schaefer of Colby. The two paired up to refine and manufacture a design idea put forth by the Mosinee eighth-graders.

It became their NTC capstone project – an assignment to encapsulate what they learned in electromechanical program, a key project to be completed for graduation. A month ago they presented to DeBroux and the eighth-graders an early version of their invention.

The River Park demonstration on May 20 was an official unveiling. The project still isn’t complete; when it is, DeBroux will be able to command the fishing pole through an iPad application.

But the gregarious Gunderson and quiet Schaefer still felt a sense of accomplishment.

“It was a hardcore work month (to get the pole ready for Thursday),” Gunderson said. “But I want to keep on working with this. I’m not going to quit until this is perfect. I want to get an email from Mr. DeBroux that talks about how he went fishing and had a good time.”

Schaefer hopes he can help Gunderson complete the project. “It just feels good to help somebody like this,” he said.

The fishing rod as it stands now exceeds any expectations that DeBroux had.

“Wow, who would have thought it would come to this?” he said.

But fishing is almost beside the point, he said. The true value of the project lies in how it brought together teachers, students of various ages and others in the community to create and build and cooperate.

“What was important was the learning experience that all these people enjoyed,” he said.

He believes that the project can have potential to help others dealing with paralysis, too.

Maggie, the student who started it all with her empathy, fought back tears again that Wednesday.

“I’m just kind of overwhelmed with emotion right now,” she said after the demonstration. “I’m so happy. He has the ability to do something he loved.”

MENASHA (AP) – This isn’t your typical classroom project.

Art teacher Erin Culligan’s drawing and painting students at Menasha High School embarked on a large-scale barn quilt project for the first time this school year, and it has drawn plenty of interest from the surrounding agricultural community.

“They’re excellent artists,” Culligan said.

It’s been a big project, but “they’re high school kids and it’s nothing they can’t handle,” she said.

Barn quilts are a growing rural art movement, but they haven’t been prevalent in the Fox Valley, the Post-Crescent Media reported. The sheer number of barn quilts in some rural communities has made them destination points.

“Quilt” speaks to the pattern rather than materials. They’re made of plywood, and those made at Menasha High are 8-feet-by-8-feet. Their clean lines and bright colors are made of paints and steady hands rather than squares and stitches. There were 20 orders.

Culligan has four classes participating in the project. The finished pieces have drawn rave reviews.

For Joe Loderbauer of the Town of Harrison, it was an emotional experience. Students created the quilt he sought in memory of his wife, Donna, who passed away from cancer in fall. She’d always wanted one for their family farm, but they didn’t know where to look before learning about the Menasha High School project.

The Loderbauers found out they would get a quilt on the day after Donna died. More than 30 people were on hand when they hung it earlier this month.

“It looks excellent, and I’m so proud them,” Loderbauer said of the students. “I’d like to make them famous for it. It’s a great memorial.”

The project has taken significant effort. The class fell a few weeks behind schedule, but students spent time during spring break to finish what they started. They’ll start painting the final five quilts when returning to school on Tuesday.

Students have taken great pride in the project. Junior Rachel Hardginski designed an image from scratch for a quilt delivered earlier this month to Bill Calabria, owner of Morning Star Acres.

These aren’t pieces that are displayed at a student art fair only to be tucked away into a portfolio. They’ll catch eyes for up to 20 years. The longevity wasn’t lost on Hardginski.

“It’s really cool, but it’s also really weird to think about how long it’ll be there,” she said. “I love seeing artwork everywhere. It is cool to know that you were a part of it.”

There was plenty to learn along the way, not the least of which was patience.

“It took us a long time,” senior Jordan Bosma said.

Students were broken into small groups for each individual quilt. The quilts took dedication and required students to work well as a team.

Classmates have taken pride in the work of their fellow students. Bosma felt a touch of excitement when driving past a one of the projects that’s now hanging from a barn.

Culligan drew her inspiration for the project from a love of public art and the many barn quilts she’s enjoyed while traveling through Shawano County – where roughly 300 quilts are on display.

Work will remain after students put down their paint brushes. Culligan, and those who’ve commissioned the quilts, welcome a helping hand in hanging them from people who have lift trucks or similar equipment. She can be reached at culliganemjsd.k12.wi.us

Sherry Loderbauer, Joe’s daughter, said she was impressed by the skill demonstrated by students and how the project unfolded. The family came up with the pattern. The colors had to be just right, given that the quilt is hung on a barn painted sea mist green.

She’s convinced the students have a bright future. They provided a tremendous recognition of her mother.

“It was very touching for our family, and my dad is thrilled,” she said. “He’s showing it off all the time.”

WIAA Track Sectionals took place on Friday night. In Division 1, Bay Port’s Cole Van Lanen is going to state , after placing first in shot put and discuss. Green Bay Southwest Senior Natisha Hiedeman will be going to state for the for the fourth straight year as she qualified in the high jump, long jump and triple jump.

Collin Hofacker of Freedom earned a 400-meter win in Division 2 and anchored the 4X400 realy to clinch a state berth.

Click on the highlights for more from track sectionals and softball regional final action.

APPLETON – Appleton took a step to recognize and promote its place in the hydro-electricity history books Friday. The city unveiled a new state historical marker for its replica of the Vulcan Street Plant.

The plant along the Fox River was one of the first commercial hydroelectric power plants and helped usher in the era of using water to create electricity..

The replica, built 50 years after the plant itself, is now at 530 South Vulcan Street right next to the Fox River in Appleton.

The Vulcan Street Power Plant was built in 1882. It used the Fox River to generate hydroelectric power for several houses and mills in Appleton.

“Appleton’s the ‘hydroelectric city.’ We were the first place where hydroelectricity became commercially viable,” explained Peter Peregrine, the chair of the Appleton Historic Preservation Commission.

The original plant burned down in 1891- but a working replica was built in 1932, using the original machinery.

“The generation of hydroelectricity is important to the community and it’s nice that we have a facility like this that is in such good shap and has such important equipment in it,” said Peregrine.

Friday the Appleton Historic Preservation Commission unveiled a new state historical marker for the building. The city says the original marker was stolen a few years ago. The new marker is now up higher to discourage vandalism.

The director of parks and recreation Dean Gazza told FOX 11 the Vulcan replica was falling into disrepair after having gone unnoticed for years.

“We spent the last couple years re-doing the building, having it re-painted, the roof re-shingled,” he told us.

The plant replica is a reminder of the history of hydroelectric power locally, in the state and the country.

Here are the facts:

According to the U.S. Geological Survey hydroelectricity made up 40% of the power produced in the United States by the 1920’s. Today that number is down to 7%.

And in Wisconsin, the state’s Public Service Commission told us it’s three percent of the total electric power.

According to the USGS some drawbacks prevent hydroelectricity from being as popular as it once was. Those include high investment costs and changes to fish and wildlife habitats.

Regardless of its popularity now, hydroelectricity had a hand in building Appleton and the city is honoring that by preserving the Vulcan.

“A community needs to keep its history and it can never lose that,” said Gazza.

“That’s amazing for what you think is a little town like Appleton, we were on the forefront,” added Peregrine.

While the replica is not open to the public, the city says it’s hoping to start offering tours sometime in the not too distant future.

NEENAH – The Fox Valley Christian Academy in Neenah is rallying around one of its families impacted by the Trestle Trail shooting.

Jon Stoffel, his wife Erin Stoffel, and their daughter Olivia Stoffel, were shot in the May 3 attack. Jon and Olivia died, but Erin survived along with the couple’s other two children, Ezra and Selah.

This composite image shows Erin and Jon Stoffel, left, and Olivia Stoffel, victims in a May 3, 2015, shooting on the Trestle Trail in Menasha. (Photos courtesy ThedaCare)

Jon Stoffel worked for the Boldt Company, which donated t-shirts to the children’s school. The school is now using those shirts to honor Jon and Olivia, and support the rest of their family.

They say “Stoffel Strong,” and read “for when I am weak, then I am strong.” There are also bracelets available.

The school suggested a $20 donation to the family for a t-shirt, and $5 for a bracelet. But they say anything helps — and it will all go to fund Ezra and Selah Stoffel’s tuition to stay at the school.

“We love their family. Jon worked hard to make sure that they were at our school and so it has really come together and we are grateful for everyone who’s bought a t-shirt so far,” said Rachel Messer of Neenah.

If you too would like to be “Stoffel Strong,” you can click here to purchase a shirt or bracelet.

 

 

FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. (AP) – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined a Wisconsin bar $7,000 for the death of an employee who died when her head got caught in a dumbwaiter.

OSHA says WingDam Saloon and Grill in Fountain City failed to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards that were likely to cause death to serious harm to employees.

Twenty-one-year-old Brooke Baures died Dec. 1 from severe head trauma after she became trapped in the food service elevator, or dumbwaiter. She was a standout gymnast at Winona State University in Minnesota who lived in Chetek. She was also a 2011 graduate from Cameron High School.

OSHA says the dumbwaiter lacked safeguards to prevent it from moving when employees would reach in to load and unload it.

The dumbwaiter has been permanently removed.

The city of Appleton took a step to honor its place in the hydroelectricity history books by unveiling a new state historical marker for the Vulcan Street Plant, May 29, 2015.

MENOMINEE, Mich. –  An area graduate expected to get her diploma without her military mom at her side.

The Menominee, Michigan High School graduate says the onstage surprise is something she’ll never forget.

But it took some strategic planning and a very well kept secret.

Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Sara Hensley and her daughter, Paige Tickler, hug during graduation.

For the past seven months, Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Sara Hensley has been stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“I told them, January 2014, that I would be going and the first thing that Paige said was, ‘Graduation.’ I said, ‘You know if I can be there, I will be but I can’t make any promises,'” said Staff Sgt. Sara Hensley.

It took more than a year for Sara to plan her trip back home. Then, last month, she found out she’d be able to see her daughter, Paige, graduate from high school.

“I still didn’t want to tell anybody. I didn’t want to let myself get excited until I landed in Wisconsin,” Hensley said.

Sara flew in early Tuesday morning. Two days later, along with dozens of text messages between Paige’s guidance counselor, the plan was underway.

“I had my phone with me and when I was sitting out there at graduation I’d be texting her when to come,” said Troy Reuter, Menominee High School counselor.

As the co-valedictorian started to read her speech, she had no idea what was about to happen next.

“I was able to stand right behind her while she finished up her speech but she couldn’t see me,” Hensley said.

Staff Sgt. Sara Hensley with her daughter Paige and Paige’s step-dad.

“Her being there, it’s something you can’t take away,” said Paige Tickler.

“I missed a lot of stuff this year,” Hensley said.

But Sara didn’t miss graduation.

“I was crying, like the full out cry,” Tickler said.

As mom and daughter hugged and wiped away tears, the crowd cheered.

With a 4.0 GPA, Paige is headed to Michigan State University, in the fall, on a half tuition scholarship.

“I’m going there for their academic scholars program,” Tickler said.

“I couldn’t even think of anything else that I could want for her,” Hensley said.

Paige has also enrolled in Michigan State’s pre-med program with the goal of being a pediatrician.

Her mom heads back to Cuba on Sunday.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Legislature’s finance committee has adopted Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to eliminate 80 positions within the state Department of Natural Resources, including more than half of the researchers in the agency’s science bureau.

Walker’s budget includes provisions that would eliminate about 19 researcher positions from the science bureau as well 11 natural resources educator spots. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, four of the scientist positions and two of the education positions are vacant. The changes would leave the science bureau with about 18 researchers and the agency with seven educator positions.

Republicans who control the finance committee proposed a wide-ranging motion dealing with the DNR’s budget Friday that maintains the governor’s plan. The panel approved the motion on a 12-4 vote.

GREEN BAY – New plans are in the works to connect downtown Green Bay to the Lambeau Field area.

“Tourism finds its way downtown,” said Beau Gille, owner of Adams Street Pub and Grill. “Obviously the main attraction is Lambeau Field, but people spend their day there and they want other things to do so they end up coming downtown.”

Starting this year, it’ll be even easier for Packers tourists to get downtown. The team is footing the bill for the G-Line. Starting July 15th, six days a week, a bus route will run directly between downtown and the stadium area.

“We’re going to do it a couple months on a trial basis and see what kind of response we get,” said Mark Murphy, Packers President and CEO.

Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt sees the Lambeau area as an opportunity. That’s why he is now calling, at least Green Bay’s portion of the area, ‘uptown.’ Schmitt has plans for signs and new ‘uptown’ marketing.

“It’s not that far, but I think free transit is a good step,” said Schmitt. “I think we’re going to look at updating Ashland a bit. We have a meeting with the DOT within the next two weeks to talk about the future plans.”

The plans aren’t just about downtown capitalizing on the Packers. The team says it has plenty to gain as well.

“I think especially with the expanded KI Center, we’re going to have a lot of people staying downtown and going to conferences there and they’re going to want to come out and have a tour of Lambeau Field,” said Murphy.

“Any way to get that traffic in the uptown part of town, downtown I think would be key,” said Gille.

MADISON (AP) – The University of Wisconsin System would be able to authorize independent charter schools in Madison and Milwaukee under a proposal by Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee.

The new charter school approval authority was slated to be approved Friday by the Joint Finance Committee.

It calls for UW to create a new office within four months to authorize independent charter schools in district with more than 25,000 students, which is only Madison and Milwaukee. The schools could be authorized without approval of the Madison or Milwaukee school boards.

It would also allow the Waukesha County executive to authorize independent charter schools in that county. Racine’s Gateway Technical College District Board and an accredited tribal college could also authorize them within their district or county, or in an adjacent county.

(SBG) – Will demonstrators who surround a Phoenix Muslim community center Friday night, be peaceful,or provoke action?

The organizer says they’ll hold up cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed where at least one of the Texas attackers prayed. But he insists, that’s not the point.

“I think the whole thing — the cartoon contest, especially, i think it is stupid and ridiculous. But it is what needs to take place in order to expose the true colors of Islam,” said Jon Ritzheimer, Draw Mohammed protest organizer.

And on this Facebook page, he’s encouraging the hundreds who say they’ll attend, to utilize their second amendment right just in case their first amendment comes under a much anticipated attack. In other words, bring your gun

“They’re gonna be loaded with guns today in front of families who are coming for their Friday prayers. That’s not dialogue, that’s provocation,” said Dr. Faheem Younus of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.

Dr. Younis says this and the push by the outspoken Pamela Geller, to put the cartoons on Washington DC’s area buses and trains as ads are unnecessarily inflammatory.

“I think the American people need to see this cartoon. I think the American people need to see this innocuous drawing,” said Pamela Geller, American Freedom Defense Initiative.

“The folks who make these cartoon contests are gong to go down in history right next to the chapter where there are the George Wallaces of this country where those who said yes there should be segregation, those who said yes there should be internment camps and all those bigoted ideas,” said Dr. Younis.

While Geller calls the managers of metro transportation in D.C. “cowards” for not running her ads, contending it’s all about freedom of speech. Metro tells us it’s suspending all issue-oriented ad’s through the end of the year–and in that time, will evaluate the safety and legal problems involved.

By the way, big police and FBI presence in Phoenix Friday night.

(CNN) – Now this is a boat.

A Florida yacht dealer plans to build a 656-foot “Gigayacht” named The Double Century.

The vessel includes room for two helicopters, multiple swimming pools, a theater, eight decks and a garage for a submarine.

The going price for this city of the water is about $750,000,000.

The dealer says the ship can be built in about four years once a buyer is lined up.

DETROIT (AP) – General Motors and Subaru are adding vehicles to the growing list of models being recalled by 11 automakers due to potentially exploding air bags.

GM is adding about 375,000 GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado heavy-duty pickup trucks from 2007 and 2008 to the recall in North America. Dealers will replace passenger air bag inflators.

Subaru is adding about 60,000 Impreza small cars from the 2004 and 2005 model years plus the 2005 Saab 9-2X made by Subaru. The recall also covers passenger air bags.

The U.S. government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released the model information on Friday. The vehicles are equipped with air bag inflators made by Takata Corp. of Japan that can inflate with too much force, spewing shrapnel into the passenger compartment.

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Dizzying temperatures caused water shortages in thousands of Indian villages and killed hundreds more people over the past day, driving the death toll from a weekslong heat wave to at least 1,826, officials said Friday.

Meteorological officials called the heat wave “severe” and warned that it would continue for at least two days across a huge swathe of the South Asian country from Tamil Nadu in the south to the Himalayan foothill state of Himachal Pradesh.

Most of those killed by heat-related conditions including dehydration and heat stroke have been in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where 100 people died just on Thursday as temperatures hovered at about 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit).

Thousands of water tankers were delivering supplies to more than 4,000 villages and hamlets facing acute water shortages in the central state of Maharashtra, state officials told the Press Trust of India news agency.

People across India were plunging into rivers, staying in the shade and drinking lots of water to try to beat the heat. Scorched crops and dying wildlife were reported, with some animals succumbing to thirst.

Many farmers and construction workers struggling with poverty were still working outdoors despite the risks. They along with the impoverished elderly were among the most vulnerable.

Cooling monsoon rains were expected next week in the south before gradually advancing north.

However, forecasting service AccuWeather warned of prolonged drought conditions, with the monsoon likely to be disrupted by a more active typhoon season over the Pacific.

“While there will be some rainfall on the region, the pattern could evolve into significant drought and negatively impact agriculture from central India to much of Pakistan,” senior meteorologist Jason Nicholls at AccuWeather said in a statement.

 

Click here to enter your child or grandchild for a chance to win an interview with a Packers player or coach.

GREEN BAY – Have you ever wished you could ask a Green Bay Packers player or coach a question?

The Packers are giving six lucky kids the chance to do just that.

The team, along with Edvest, kicked off their “Rookie Reporter” contest that will award six Wisconsin children with the opportunity to become a reporter for the day.

Each winner will tour Lambeau Field and meet and interview a Green Bay Packers player or coach.

Winners will also receive a $1,000 Edvest 529 college savings account, four tickets to a 2015 regular season Packers home game and autographed merchandise.

The contest begins Friday and will run through July 15.

Winners will be selected at random from eligible entries.

Children must be between the ages of 6-15. For a complete list of rules and how to enter the contest, click here.

 

MADISON (AP) – University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross says he is grateful that UW’s budget cut is set to be reduced from $300 million to $250 million.

Cross reacted Friday to the plan by the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee to reduce Gov. Scott Walker’s budget cut for the university by $50 million.

Cross calls that a “significant reduction” in the cut. He says reducing the cut “illustrates a willingness to open a new dialogue and partnership between the legislature and the UW System.”

The Joint Finance Committee also planned to freeze tuition for the next two years and give UW some flexibilities to deal with the cut, but not complete independence from state oversight and laws as Walker had proposed.