Green Bay News

Two Rivers – A two-phase study to better understand difficult wave conditions in the Two Rivers Harbor is set to get underway by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers at a cost of $127,000.

Scientists will position wave gauges in and around the harbor to better understand the wave situation. The first phase will focus on the height and direction of waves during a six month period.

“The city recognizes the importance of this study in our efforts to mitigate the surge problem in our Lake Michigan harbor, and to reduce shoaling between the piers of the outer harbor,” said Greg Buckley, Two Rivers city manager. “Both issues present challenges in our efforts to make greater use of the harbor for both recreational and commercial uses.”

The city spends thousands of dollars every five to seven years to dredge the outer harbor, a practice Buckley says is not financially sustainable.

The data from the study will be used to better understand the type and source of waves that create hazardous navigation within the harbor.

The second phase of the study will analyze the collected data and develop a computer model of the waves in the harbor. The results will evaluate various structural solutions such as breakwater modifications.

The report is expected to be complete in December 2016.

The study is being completed through a partnership between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the city of Two Rivers using the Corps’ Planning Assistance to States Program.

APPLETON – Services remembering our fallen military members were held around Northeast Wisconsin on Saturday.

The Fox Valley Veterans Council paid tribute in Appleton to those who served in the Armed Services, with a special salute to those who lost their lives serving their country.

“I think it is important to recognize those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice as well as those who were able to come home and support their families,” said Tom Nelson, Outagamie County Executive.

Veterans in Winneconne were treated to a day of free fishing with the help of volunteers with boats.

Sixty-five veterans took part in the 3rd annual Wounded and Retired Veteran Fishing Event took place on Lake Winneconne.

Memorial Day is officially recognized on Monday, a national holiday.

CLEVELAND (AP) – A white Cleveland patrolman who fired down through the windshield of a suspect’s car at the end of a 137-shot barrage that left the two unarmed black occupants dead was acquitted Saturday of criminal charges by a judge who said he could not determine the officer alone fired the fatal shots.

Michael Brelo, 31, put his head in hands as the judge issued a verdict followed by angry, but peaceful, protests: Outside the courthouse police blocked furious protesters from going inside while across the city others held a mock funeral with some carrying signs asking, “Will I be next?”

The acquittal came at a time of nationwide tension among police and black citizens punctuated by protests over deaths of black suspects at the hands of white officers – and following a determination by the U.S. Department of Justice that Cleveland police had a history of using excessive force and violating civil rights.

Before issuing his verdict, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John P. O’Donnell reflected on the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore over the deaths of black suspects but said he would not offer up Brelo to an angry public if the evidence did not merit a conviction.

“I will not sacrifice him,” O’Donnell said.

Brelo – who fired a total of 49 shots, including 15 down through the windshield while standing on the hood of the suspects’ vehicle – faced as many as 22 years in prison had the judge convicted him on two counts of voluntary manslaughter for his role in the end of a chase that began after Timothy Russell’s beat-up Chevy Malibu backfired.

His sister, Michelle Russell, said she believed Brelo would ultimately face justice, despite the judge’s decision.

“He’s not going to dodge this just because he was acquitted,” she said. “God will have the final say.”

Michelle Russell urged protesters to be peaceful and work for real solutions.

“We need to organize and figure out a way to stop this from happening again,” she said.

About 200 people walked in a mock funeral procession that had already been planned to mark six months since another deadly shooting that sparked anger in Cleveland’s black community: the killing of Tamir Rice, a black 12-year-old boy carrying a pellet gun who was shot by a white rookie officer.

Protesters carried a black, plywood coffin and softly sang “I’m going up yonder, we’re marching, we’re marching.”

The crowd was a mix of blacks and whites walking peacefully in a park and along the streets near the home of the county prosecutor as neighbors looked on. Several police officers followed the march on foot and on horses.

Some carried signs saying “I Can’t Breathe” and “Freddie Gray Lynched,” references to a pair of police-involved deaths: the chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York City and the death of a Baltimore man who suffered a spinal injury while in custody.

One activist, Carol Steiner, said the verdict is “a very bad precedent for Cleveland” with a decision still to come in the Rice case. “Police murder people of color and not have to serve one day in jail.”

The U.S. Justice Department, U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI will review the testimony and evidence and examine all available legal options, said Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

After the verdict, sheriff’s deputies stood in front of the courthouse carrying clear shields as protesters chanted “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” – a rallying cry that became popular after the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson. One demonstrator bowed his head with hands folded in front of the phalanx of deputies, praying in silence.

O’Donnell spent nearly an hour on an involved explanation of his decision that included mannequins marked with the gunshot wounds that the two motorists suffered on Nov. 29, 2012.

Brelo could have been convicted of lesser charges of felonious assault, but O’Donnell determined his actions were justified following a chase that included reports of shots being fired from Russell’s car, because officers perceived a threat.

Brelo’s lead attorney, Patrick D’Angelo, said his team was “humbled by the verdict but not emboldened by it.”

“Officer Brelo risked his life on that night,” D’Angelo said, only to be attacked by prosecutors in a prosecution he called “unprofessional” and a “blood fight.”

Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said he respects the judge’s decision and urged others to do so, as well. He said the case forced police and the public to face hard truths.

“This tragic experience has already forced a culture change within the division of police and a needed reexamination of the use of deadly force,” he said. “The end result will be less secrecy, additional transparency and accountability.”

Thirteen officers fired at the car with Russell and Malissa Williams inside after a 22-mile high-speed chase that involved 62 marked and unmarked cars and reached 100 mph. The pursuit began when Russell’s car backfired as he sped past Cleveland police headquarters and police officers and bystanders thought someone inside had fired a gun.

Brelo was the only officer charged because prosecutors said he waited until the pair was no longer a threat to fire his final 15 rounds.

Russell, 43, and Williams, 30, were each shot more than 20 times. While prosecutors argued they were alive until Brelo’s final salvo, medical examiners for both sides testified that they could not determine the order in which the deadly shots were fired.

Brelo has been on unpaid leave since he was indicted May 30, 2014. Police Chief Calvin Williams said Brelo’s leave will continue during disciplinary reviews for him and the other 12 officers.

Authorities never learned why Russell didn’t stop. He had a criminal record including convictions for receiving stolen property and robbery and had been involved in a previous police pursuit. Williams had convictions for drug-related charges and attempted abduction. Both were described as mentally ill, homeless and addicted to drugs. A crack pipe was found in the car.

The shooting helped prompt an investigation by the Department of Justice, which concluded the department had engaged in a pattern and practice of using excessive force and violating civil rights. The city and DOJ are currently negotiating over reforms.

In addition to the charges against Brelo, a grand jury charged five police supervisors with misdemeanor dereliction of duty for failing to control the chase. All five have pleaded not guilty and no trial date has been set.

“Our pursuit of justice for Timothy Russell and Melissa Williams is not over,” McGinty said.

____

Associated Press writers Andrew Welsh-Huggins and John Coyne contributed to this report.

WATERFORD, Wis. (AP) – Racine County sheriff’s officials have identified the victim of a fire that broke out in a House on a Fox River island in Waterford.

But investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire that killed 88-year-old Lawrence C. Gough.

Firefighters were dispatched to Gough’s home on Fox Isle Park Drive about 6 a.m. Thursday. Lt. Dan Klatt says a frantic caller told a dispatcher that several people were unable to get out. Gough found on the second floor. He died at the scene.

Two other people in the home were taken to a Milwaukee hospital.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Milwaukee police are investigating a crash that killed two women in their 20s.

A police statement says it happened around 2:15 a.m. Saturday when a westbound car was struck by a northbound pickup truck.

The women in the car were killed. Their names have not been released.

The pickup driver, a 42-year-old Milwaukee man, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He was not injured.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – An Army Reservist from Milwaukee who was killed in the 2009 Fort Hood shootings has been awarded the Purple Heart.

An overflow crowd of family, friends, veterans, service members, medical personnel and patients honored Russell Seager on Friday at the Milwaukee VA Medical Clinic as a three-star general presented the medal to his family.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports Fort Hood victims originally did not qualify for the Purple Heart because the killings were deemed an act of workplace violence. But through the efforts of victims, families and others, Congress changed the eligibility rule this year.

The 51-year-old Seager was a Milwaukee VA nurse practitioner who was headed to Afghanistan with an Army Reserve combat stress unit. The captain was one of 13 people killed at the Texas base.

BRIGHTON, Wis. (AP) – The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office says it’s investigating potential animal abuse on two farms where over 80 dead calves have been found amid deplorable conditions.

A sheriff’s office statement Saturday says deputies found at least 52 dead calves on a farm in Brighton Township on Friday afternoon. Fifteen live calves were moved from the property to a safe location.

Investigators later discovered at least 30 dead calves at a second farm owned by the same family, in Paris Township. At least 100 live cattle there were put under a veterinarian’s care.

The statement says the cause of the animal deaths has not been determined, and may have been due to disease, but investigators found evidence of neglect and long-term deplorable conditions.

The sheriff’s office says the farm owners are cooperating.

HOWARD – Wearable technology is giving fitness enthusiast a new way to track their progress.

If she’s not on the stair climber, Sarah Summerfield spends a majority of her day taking as many steps as possible.

For the past five months, she’s been using a fitness tracker, called Fitbit, to help her stay motivated.

“I like it a lot. It really keeps me on track for how many steps. I have it set now for 12,000 steps a day,” said Sarah Summerfield.

To help reach her stepping goal, Summerfield uses the Fitbit phone app. She also completes challenges and competes with friends.

“So you push this, and it tells you how many steps I’ve walked today. It does calorie burns too. But here’s my friend and Annie just pulled ahead of me,” Summerfield said.

So what do these things actually do? Think of it as your personal calorie counter, heart rate monitor, and it even tracks your sleeping patterns.

A 2013 Pew Research Center study found 60 percent of U.S. adults say they track their weight, diet, or exercise routine.

Twenty-one percent say they use some form of technology to track their health data.

Personal trainers like Kim Elsing have seen an increase in wearable technology over the years.

“One of the huge proponents of using a device like this would just be that it makes you mindful. It just gives you a goal to shoot toward every day so you know that everyday matters, when it comes to your health,” said Kim Elsing.

The wristbands have also made it easier for trainers to connect with their clients even when they’re outside of the gym.

“I can cheer them on. I can challenge them. I can watch what they’re doing, maybe watch what they’re eating,” Elsing said.

But not everyone enjoys the constant wristband workout reminders.

“I start work at 4:30 in the morning and I work, basically, a sedentary job most of my shift and the little red bars that light up, basically are telling you how inactive you are,” said Katy Schroeder.

Whether you use technology to keep you on track or you just stick to your daily routine, trainers say it’s important to eat healthy and exercise on a regular basis.

OSHKOSH – Students at Oshkosh North High School are ‘Shifting Gears’.

Students joined FOX 11’s Emily Deem to talk about this project.

Click on the video for the details.

ONEIDA – What are you plans for Memorial Day Weekend?

How about heading to Thornberry Creek at Oneida for some lunch or even a round of golf!

The folks from Thornberry Creek at Oneida joined FOX 11’s Emily Deem on Good Day Wisconsin to create some tasty menu items and great drinks!

Click the video to learn more about the menu items and drinks.

Click here to learn more about Thornberry Creek at Oneida.

DE PERE – Celebrate De Pere is reaching a milestone this Memorial Day weekend.

The annual event is celebrating its 25th year.

A B-25 flyover is scheduled during the events Veteran’s Salute Ceremony on Memorial Day.

The Romantics, Lonestar and Lee Greenwood are the musical acts set to headline throughout the weekend.

The fireworks show will take place Sunday at dusk.

Other entertainment during the weekend includes the Redneck Regatta, Car Show, carnival rides, Children’s Area and Fishing Tournament and music from local artists.

The event is a fundraiser for several area non-profits. The event has raised more than $2,000,000 for local charities in the last 25 years.

FOX 11’s Pauleen Le spent the morning checking out this year’s Celebrate De Pere event.

For more information on Celebrate De Pere, click here.

STOUGHTON (AP) – At the new Norwegian heritage center in Stoughton, 33 video screens dominate one wall, forming a large, interactive mosaic.

By selecting various options, visitors can create profiles of long-ago immigrants traveling from Norway to the U.S., then watch as their voyages visually unfold before them.

The installation is the centerpiece of the permanent exhibit space, dazzling in its imagery. Giving a tour, Jerry Gryttenholm, project leader for the center, described years of work to fine-tune every detail in the facility.

“We had the opportunity to do something special here, and we wanted to get it right,” he said.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports that Stoughton, a city of about 13,000 people 18 miles southeast of Madison, has long capitalized on its Norwegian roots. The heritage center’s grand opening Saturday will coincide with the city’s annual Syttende Mai celebration, which honors Norwegian Constitution Day.

In designing the center, its creators sought to complement existing attractions in Stoughton, not compete with them.

“This is about helping the city and doing what we can to make it more of a destination than a pass-through community,” said June Bunting, executive director of the Bryant Foundation, which built the center and will be its sole funding source going forward.

The Stoughton-based foundation was established in 1993 by Janet L. Bryant to honor her late husband, Edwin E. Bryant, a co-founder of the Nelson Muffler Corp. in Stoughton, which became Nelson Industries Inc.

The foundation did no public fundraising for the center and will not charge admission. Gryttenholm, who serves on the Bryant Foundation’s board, said the foundation is choosing not to reveal the project’s cost.

“This is about the community, not us,” he said.

The two-story center sits on a prominent downtown corner at 277 W. Main St., next to a Sons of Norway lodge and near the Stoughton Historical Society Museum. The center encompasses 15,000 square feet, with the main floor – the public space – 9,000 square feet.

Visitors will notice the huge word “Livsreise” on the building. It is the official name of the heritage center, a mash-up of two Norwegian words that means “life’s journey.”

According to the foundation, which has trademarked the term, it is pronounced “Lifs-rye-sa.” As the word gains familiarity, foundation officials hope it will become synonymous with the center. From the street, the center’s architecture appears dignified but not flashy. more evidence of the foundation’s modesty.

“We didn’t want it to stand out and be garish-looking,” Gryttenholm said.

Patrice Roe, owner of Nordic Nook, a Scandinavian gift store nearby, said she was impressed with the extent to which the foundation’s board members sought input from the community before embarking on the effort.

“They talked to everybody,” she said. “They don’t want to step on anyone’s toes. They’re trying to enhance things, not take anything away from anybody.”

That’s why there’s no gift shop at the center. The foundation doesn’t want to poach customers from Nordic Nook and others, Bunting said.

There’s no food for sale, either, as the Sons of Norway lodge next door has a great kitchen, and there are restaurants close by, she said. Likewise, the center’s auditorium seats just 68 – enough for one busload of tourists – so as not to compete with ticketed events at the Stoughton Opera House.

Visitors will be able to watch educational videos in the auditorium, and the center may occasionally host speakers and small performance groups. The other main parts of the center are the exhibit spaces and a genealogy room with six computer terminals.

The permanent exhibit space includes the large wall screens plus numerous other mixed-media displays. The overall focus is on telling the stories of Norwegian immigrants through digital displays.

“We’re about people, not artifacts,” Gryttenholm said. Although some artifacts add context to the digital displays, the center avoids the word “museum,” not wanting to oversell itself or be confused with the historical society museum.

A smaller space at the center will host traveling exhibits. Currently, it features “Sacred Symbols: The Folk Art of Norway,” on loan from Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum & Heritage Center in Decorah, Iowa.

Of the artifacts on permanent display, a majority were purchased from the now-closed Little Norway tourist attraction in the town of Blue Mounds. Others came from area residents.

Ardis Gyland, 82, a lifelong Stoughton resident, said the center is a fitting home for her grandmother’s marriage crown and her grandfather’s Bible, water-soaked from his years as a fisherman. The couple immigrated to Stoughton in 1917 when Gyland’s mother was 5.

“What they’ve done is just spectacular,” Gyland said of the center, which she toured during a sneak preview.

Gryttenholm said early excitement over the center suggests it could become just what the foundation had hoped – a draw for tourists from around the globe.

ATLANTA (AP) – Now that his surgically repaired right hand feels better than it has in two years, Ryan Braun is putting up some big numbers.

Braun homered and drove in four runs, four Milwaukee pitchers combined to hold Atlanta to three hits and the Brewers beat the Braves 11-0 on Friday night.

“The challenge isn’t doing it over a month,” Braun said. “The challenge is doing it over the course of a season, but the last month I’ve swung the bat a lot better than I have in a long, long time.”

On a day that began with Major League Baseball suspending reliever Will Smith eight games for using a foreign substance to doctor his pitches, Milwaukee wasted little time beating up on Braves starter Eric Stults.

The win was the Brewers’ largest margin of victory since Sept. 22, 2010, when they beat Cincinnati 13-1.

“We played a good game,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s what we’ve been looking for. Let’s play a consistent brand of baseball.”

Braun was an early catalyst, hitting his 11th homer, a two-run shot, to make it 2-0 in the first. The 2011 NL MVP added a two-run double off Trevor Cahill in the fourth and now has 29 RBIs in his last 23 games.

Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta gave up one hit, walked two and struck out two in four innings. He left the game early because of tightness in his left side.

Michael Blazek (4-1), making his longest appearance of the season, earned the victory in relief by allowing one hit and striking out three in three innings. Corey Knebel allowed one hit in the eighth, and Neal Cotts got the last three outs.

Braun has hit particularly well when swinging on the first pitch this season. After facing Stults in the first, Braun had a .636 average, seven homers and 13 RBIs in 22 first-pitch at-bats.

He’s been a particularly tough out over the last two weeks, batting .359 with six homers and 20 RBIs over his last 16 games. He added a double off Nick Masset in the eighth.

“Yeah, I feel good,” Braun said. “It’s a challenge to get back to a good place. Working on my mechanics and obviously I wasn’t able to use my top hand for the better part of two years, I can let the ball get a lot deeper (in the strike zone). My bat path is a lot better, a lot more consistent. It gives me a lot more room for error.”

A night after they had a season-low two hits in a 10-1 loss, the Brewers scored seven runs, all with two out, to take a 9-0 lead in the fourth.

Stults, an emergency starter when Alex Wood was stricken with a stomach virus, issued a bases-loaded walk to Peralta for the game’s fourth run and allowed Luis Sardinas’ infield RBI single to make it 6-0. That chased Stults, and manager Fredi Gonazlaez brought in Cahill, another former starter who’d been banished to the bullpen.

Cahill fared no better, giving up Carlos Gomez’s two-run single, Kris Davis’ RBI double and Braun’s two-run double.

Stults (1-5) allowed three hits, seven runs, five walks and struck out five in 3 2-3 innings. The left-hander has lost all four starts and has an 8.72 ERA in 22 2-3 innings this month.

Blazek got his first career hit in the seventh, driving in a run with a double off Ian Thomas to make it 11-0.

Smith plans to appeal his suspension for using rosin and sunscreen on his pitching hand. He’s available to pitch until his appeal is heard.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: C Jonathan Lucroy continues to take batting practice as he recovers from a broken left big toe, but Counsell said he’s still likely two weeks from beginning a rehab assignment.

Braves: Gonzalez has yet to decide when Wood, who was not at the ballpark on Friday, will pitch next. “I’m going to try to get him back here as soon as we can with this virus,” Gonzalez said. “Maybe he can help us out of the bullpen before his next start.” … 3B Chris Johnson, recovering from a broken left hand, will take batting practice at Turner Field on Saturday. He’s been working at extended spring training in Florida recently and hopes to begin a rehab assignment on Monday.

UP NEXT

Brewers: RHP Mike Fiers (1-4) will face Atlanta for the first time. Despite 52 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings this year, Fiers has a 4.75 ERA in eight starts.

Braves: RHP Shelby Miller (5-1), making his ninth start, leads the NL with a 1.33 ERA. He’s 5-0 with a 2.20 ERA in eight career starts against Milwaukee.

(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

GREEN BAY – It was a busy afternoon at Bay Port high school as the Pirates hosted a doubleheader in baseball and softball.

A star-studded affair on the diamond as the top two teams in the FRCC went head-to-head. Bay Port pitcher Connor Hock dazzled in the 7-1 win, giving up one earned run while striking out 10. Joe Baier added an RBI single in the contest.

Across the way, the softball program hosted West De Pere in a non-conference tilt. The Phantoms upending the FRCC champions 4-1. Half of West De Pere’s early runs coming off the clutch two-run single by Tia Danforth.

Click on the video for highlights of both contests.

GRAND CHUTE – Hundreds of fans have traveled hundreds of miles to Grand Chute to root on the teams playing in the NCAA Division Three Baseball Championship this weekend.

One group of fans came from far and wide to root for the Emory Eagles out of Atlanta.

“We are so excited! We are so proud of our team!” exclaimed Nan Merolla of Wilton. Connecticut.

“It’s just huge. We are so excited. I wanted to, like, hit people on the airplane and say, ‘guess where we’re going!'” added Esther Peacock of Los Angeles, California, laughing.

It’s an exciting weekend for those in the local tourism business too.

This is the 16th year the Fox Cities Stadium has hosted the D-3 Championship.

“Not only does it bring about a half million dollas of visitor spending to the Fox Cities, it also puts us on the map as a destination for hundreds of baseball teams,” explained Matt Tenhaken, the director of sports marketing for the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau.

According to the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau, sports tourism is very important.

“Hotels, restaurants and attractions really feel the impact of the soccer, baseball, softball, swimming participants that are coming into the community,” said Tenhaken.

It seems like fans are enjoying their visit to both the state…

“We love Wisconsin! What makes it really nice here is our host families really take good care of us,” said Merolla.

…and the stadium.

“The stadium is fantastic, it looks like it’s in really good condition, which is a tribute to the local people, but it’s really just a treat for our guys to play here,” Merolla explained.

And there was one more thing to cheer for Friday.

“Your weather is gorgeous!” Merolla exclaimed.

“We were so impressed with it last year. The weather was beautiful like it is today and we got to come back. It’s honestly a dream come true,” said Peacock.

The weather is just adding to the enjoyment at the old ball game.

WASHINGTON (AP) – In a victory for President Barack Obama, the Senate passed bipartisan legislation Friday night to strengthen the administration’s hand in global trade talks, clearing the way for a highly unpredictable summer showdown in the House.

The vote was 62-37 on the bill, which would let Obama complete trade deals that Congress could approve or reject, but not change.  A total of 48 Republicans supported the bill, but only 14 the Senate’s 44 Democrats backed a president of their own party on legislation near the top of his second-term agenda.

A separate measure to prevent parts of the anti-terror Patriot Act from lapsing, and a bill to prevent a cutoff in federal highway funding also awaited action by lawmakers who covetously eyed a weeklong vacation – set to begin whenever the work was done.

Senate passage of the trade bill capped two weeks of tense votes and near-death experiences for legislation the administration hopes will help complete an agreement with Japan and 10 other countries in the Pacific region.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Obama’s indispensable ally in passing the bill, said it would create “new opportunities for bigger paychecks, better jobs, and a stronger economy.

“The tools it contains will allow us to knock down unfair foreign trade barriers that discriminate against American workers and products stamped “Made in the USA,” he said.

The House is expected to debate the issue as early as next month.

There, Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, supports the bill. But dozens of majority Republicans currently oppose it, either out of ideological reasons or because they are loath to enhance Obama’s authority, especially at their own expense.

And Obama’s fellow Democrats show little inclination to support legislation that much of organized labor opposes.

In the run-up to a final Senate vote, Democratic supporters of the legislation were at pains to lay to rest concerns that the legislation, like previous trade bills, could be blamed for a steady loss of jobs.

“The Senate now has the opportunity to throw the 1990s NAFTA playbook into the dust bin of history,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. He referred to the North American Free Trade Agreement, passed two decades ago, and a symbol to this day, fairly or not, of the loss of unemployment to a country with lax worker safety laws and low wages.

Wyden and others said this law had far stronger protections built into it.

One final attempt to add another one failed narrowly, 51-48 a few hours before the bill cleared.

It came on a proposal, by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who supported the trade bill, and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who opposed it. They sought to made allegations of currency manipulation subject to the same “dispute settlement procedures” as other obligations under any trade deal.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned earlier that its approval could cause Obama to veto the legislation. The president has said it could cause the demise of the current round of talks with 11 other Pacific-area nations, and also could pose a threat to the monetary policy that is designed to help the U.S. economy run better.

Portman, who was U.S. trade representative under former President George W. Bush, scoffed at threats of a veto. “I don’t think so,” he said in remarks on the Senate floor. “I think he (Obama) understands the importance” of his ability to conclude trade deals without congressional changes.

An alternative proposal backed by the White House merely stressed the importance of U.S. negotiators seeking ways to end the practice of currency manipulation, which can lower the price of foreign-made goods and place American-made products at a competitive disadvantage. It cleared on a vote of 70-29.

To mollify Democrats, the bill also included $1.8 billion in retraining funds for American workers who lose their jobs as a result of exports. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said the program duplicated other federal efforts, but his attempt to strip out the funds was defeated, 53-35.

The political alignment on the Patriot Act legislation was different, with the administration and McConnell on different sides.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest prodded the Senate to accept a House-passed bill renewing anti-terrorism programs due to expire June 1. He said that to do otherwise would put at risk “the ability of our national security professionals to keep us safe.”

But the House bill included a provision to eliminate the National Security Agency’s ability to collect mass telephone records of Americans. Instead, the material would remain with phone companies, with government searches of the information allowed by court order on a case-by-case basis.

“The untried – and as of yet, nonexistent – bulk-collection system envisioned under that bill would be slower and more cumbersome than the one that currently helps keep us safe,” McConnell said in remarks on the Senate floor. At worst, he added, “it might not work at all.”

The highway bill was the least controversial of the three on the Senate’s pre-vacation agenda, but only because lawmakers agreed in advance on a two-month extension of the current law. The House and Senate will need to return to the issue this summer.

Lawmakers whose time generally is scheduled far in advance adjusted as best they could as the Senate struggled with work put off until the last minute.

“It’s not the weather, it’s the Senate that’s the problem,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., hoping to make it home by Saturday night for a turn as pianist with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

___

Associated Press reporter Ken Dilanian contributed to this story.

OUTAGAMIE COUNTY – Tires, cars and old mobile homes went up in flames Friday in Northwest Outagamie County.

The Town of Nichols Fire Chief says the fire started at a salvage yard. It was sparked when workers were trying to fix a truck.

Workers tried to contain it, but the truck exploded– igniting things nearby.

Fire crews were able to contain the fire but it still burned for several hours.

(CNN) – He has adorned cereal boxes, t-shirts and bed sheets, been the star of a Saturday morning cartoon program and appeared on virtually every gaming platform to have ever been released.

He’s always hungry, and he’s turning 35 years old.

Born in Tokyo in 1980, our yellow friend was originally named Puck-Man after the Japanese Paku essentially, to chomp. But, given its closeness to a certain four-letter English word, a some concerned arcade shop owners, Puck-Man became Pac-Man.

Within 15 months of its U.S. release in October 1980, game maker Bandai/Namco sold more than 100,000 arcade units and fans spent over $1 billion — in quarters.

A pop-culture phenomenon had begun.

Pac-Man is now the star of one of the most successful video games of all time and according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is one of the most recognizable of all video game characters.

Pac-Man’s creator, Toru Iwatani, has said Pac-Man was meant to attract female gamers- to expand on the traditional male audience.

Another revolutionary idea in Pac-Man – to keep things interesting, each ghost behaves differently, one simply chases you, two try to attack from the front, and the fourth will seem like it is chasing you and then abruptly change course. Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde are dangerous, until they’re lunch.

I would be remiss not to mention his wife – Mrs. Pac-Man, a legend in her own right, or point out that Pac-Man is as relevant today as ever, with his own interactive Google Doodle in 2010 and starring in a beer commercial in Super Bowl 49. So raise a glass or chop a dot to Pac-Man.

Happy birthday, old boy.

According to the video game record keepers at twin-galaxies, Pac-Man arcade machines have generated more than $2.5 billion in sales.

That comes to about 10 billion quarters!

 

GILLS ROCK – The Door County Maritime Museum, at Gills Rock, is using technology to help bring history to life.

Some exhibits may be small but the history, behind the artifacts, is endless.

“We have our fishing tug the Hope which, basically, one of the biggest things about the museum is that you can go on board a real life fishing tug and see what it was like to be a commercial fishermen,” said Adam Gronke site manager at the Door County Maritime Museum.

For many of the people who live in Door County, the area’s rich maritime history is important.

Once you download the Junaio app, you can use your phone or tablet to watch videos or see 3D images. (WLUK/Gabrielle Mays)

“If we’re going to understand who we are, where we’ve come from, and maybe where we’re going, it’s important to preserve museums and to understand history,” Gronke said.

The newest exhibit called “Death’s Door” focuses on the late 1800s and early 1900s.

“Death’s Door is basically a passageway between the northern most tip of the peninsula and Washington Island. That passageway has traditionally been an area where a lot of shipwrecks have happened.”

Gronke says the water surrounding Door County contains one of the largest concentrations of fresh water shipwrecks in the world.

To help navigate those shipwrecks and the equipment used on the strait and the lake, the museum is offering five interactive exhibits.

• Click here for more information about the museum

“You can take your handheld device, whether it’s a tablet or phone… so that they can go around and they can read the codes that are on different areas around the museum,” Gronke said.

First, you download the designated app on your smartphone or tablet. Then the app will read the QR code and you’ll be able to see 3D images and videos.

“I take my viewfinder, I go over it, it reads it and then, suddenly, it’ll pop up. Now there’s a video playing of this Kahlenberg Engine actually being used,” Gronke said.

The museum says the app is easy to use and it took about four months to create and implement the interactive idea.

By next week, the museum will offer tablets for visitors to use.

The museum opens Saturday at 10 a.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) – A man convicted of killing Washington intern Chandra Levy is expected to get a new trial after government attorneys on Friday said the “interests of justice” would best be served by one.

On Friday, after more than a year of sporadic hearings and legal wrangling, government attorneys withdrew their opposition to a new trial for Ingmar Guandique. In a four-page motion, they told a judge they were preparing to re-try him.

Guandique’s attorneys had previously asked a judge to grant him a new trial because they said a key witness in the case, Guandique’s one-time cellmate, gave false or misleading testimony during his 2010 trial. Guandique’s attorneys said prosecutors knew or should have known the testimony was problematic and investigated further.

“The government continues to believe the jury’s verdict was correct,” prosecutors wrote in their motion, adding that they didn’t believe anything else learned during a post-trial investigation “casts doubt on the defendant’s guilt.”

However, prosecutors said that the “passage of time and the unique circumstances of this case” had made opposing a new trial more difficult.

“The interests of justice will therefore be best served by the government’s withdrawal of its opposition to the defendant’s motion and affording him a new trial,” prosecutors wrote.

One of Guandique’s attorneys, Jon Anderson, released a brief statement after the motion was made public.

“The government’s case against Ingmar Guandique was based on a lie,” Anderson said. “We are gratified that the government has now acknowledged that it cannot defend this conviction, and we look forward to justice being served in a new trial.”

Levy’s 2001 disappearance created a national sensation after the 24-year-old Modesto, California, native was romantically linked with then-Rep. Gary Condit, a California Democrat who was ultimately ruled out as a suspect.

Her remains were found in Washington’s Rock Creek Park in 2002, and prosecutors argued her death fit a pattern of attacks Guandique committed on female joggers. He was convicted and given a 60-year sentence, though he has maintained he is innocent.

At the center of Guandique’s new trial request was his former cellmate Armando Morales. Morales testified at trial that Guandique confided in him that he was responsible for Levy’s death. Because there was no physical evidence linking Guandique to Levy’s death, Morales provided some of the trial’s most powerful testimony.

In a court document filed in support of a new trial, however, Guandique’s attorneys suggested Morales lied several times at trial, including testifying he had not asked for anything in exchange for his testimony when, in fact, they say he asked to be put in a witness protection program.

They also argued Morales, a former California gang leader, testified at trial that he didn’t know how to come forward with information to law enforcement when, in fact, he was an experienced cooperator who had previously provided information.

Prosecutors have said they learned about some of Morales’ cooperation with authorities about a year after Guandique was sentenced. In late 2012, they brought the issue to the judge who had overseen the case, and the information and subsequent investigation led to the new trial request. The latest hearing in the case had been scheduled for next week, but prosecutors asked for a hearing in two weeks. They said at that hearing they would tell the judge how long they need to prepare for a retrial.