Green Bay News

Blueberry Thyme Lemonade Cocktail:

Muddle blueberries with a few sprigs of thyme. Add blueberries and thyme to lemonade. Fill glass with ice, add lemonade. Optional: 1oz vodka and stir.

Sage Rosewater Cocktail:

To prepare sage simple syrup, bring 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil, add in a few sage leaves. Let cool. Fill glass with ice, add 1/2 oz sage syrup, 1/2 oz rosewater, 1 oz vodka, top with club soda.

MADISON (AP) – A sweeping proposal giving control of the lowest-performing schools in Milwaukee to a commissioner who could fire all the teachers and administrators also applies to other large, racially diverse school districts in Wisconsin.

The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, approved the overhaul plan for Milwaukee. The so-called Opportunity Schools and Partnership Program requires three criteria to be met, and Milwaukee is the only district that would immediately qualify.

But Madison and Racine meet two of the three criteria and could be brought into the forced reorganization plan later.

Under the Republican-backed proposal, an independent commissioner would be able to convert the three lowest-performing schools to private voucher or independent charter schools in the first year and then up to five more schools each of the following years.

NEW YORK (AP) — Electrolux is recalling a line of Kenmore gas ranges sold exclusively at Sears because of a potential fire hazard.

The company said the burner flame on about 250 Kenmore Elite dual fuel ranges can go out while the gas is turned on, allowing gas to continue escaping. No incidents or injuries have been reported.

The ranges include model number 790.42603xxx with serial numbers ranging from AF42500601 through AF43000916 and model number 790.42613xxx with serial numbers ranging from AF42500541 through AF43103647.

The model and serial numbers are on the inside frame of the range door on the left side. Kenmore Elite is printed on the front of the oven door. They were sold at Sears stores nationwide from June 2014 through October 2014.

Consumers with ranges included in the recall are urged to call Sears for a free repair. Sears can be contacted at 888-710-9284 and more information can be found at www.sears.com through the product recall link at the bottom of the page.

MADISON (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker has signed a bill that allows state transportation officials to raise the speed limit to 70 mph on some Wisconsin roads

Walker signed the measure Wednesday. It passed the Senate and Assembly on voice votes earlier this year.

Under the law, the Department of Transportation can raise the speed limit to 70 mph only on four-lane roads that have entrance and exit ramps. They can’t raise the limit on roads with at-grade access.

DOT officials say they plan to raise the limit on freeway portions of the interstate system as well as portions of U.S. Highway 51, U.S. Highway 53 and U.S. Highway 41. The measure’s chief sponsor, Rep. Paul Tittl, has said the agency expects to have new signage posted this summer.

LUXEMBURG – Fire destroyed a house in Luxemburg early Tuesday.

Firefighters say they were called to E1333 Hwy. F just after 3:20 a.m. When they arrived, firefighters say the roof of the single-family house was on fire. Because the roof had collapsed, firefighters fought the fire from the outside. They were able to keep the fire away from an adjacent propane tank and barn. Firefighters were on scene for about three hours.

The fire woke up the two people who lived there and they got out safely. The Red Cross is helping them.

No one was hurt.

Investigators are still trying to figure out how the fire started.

MARINETTE COUNTY – Just in time for Memorial Day travel, Highway 141 in Marinette County is set to reopen.

The state Department of Transportation says the highway should be open by 9 a.m. Friday. A detour had been in place since April 6 as crews replaced a structure at Smith Creek.

Plans call for the highway to again be detoured after Labor Day when crews replace a structure at Left Foot Creek.

The $9 million project includes building southbound passing lanes between 24th Road and Airport Road, and between Smith Creek and Van Road; drain replacement; grading of intersections; asphalt paving; curb and gutter; new signs; beam guard replacement; and pavement marking.

The work zone is between Beaver and Middle Inlet.

MADISON – Major road construction projects around Wisconsin will shut down for Memorial Day traffic.

The state Department of Transportation says most construction in work zones will end by noon on Friday and will not start again until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

The DOT expects peak travel times to be from noon until 8 p.m. on both Friday and Monday. AAA Wisconsin predicts 662,645 people will be on the roads during the weekend.

“Although most lanes through work zones will be open to handle the heavy holiday traffic, drivers may still encounter narrow lanes, lane shifts and rough pavement. They will need to stay alert, slow down, and not tail-gate. Rear-end collisions caused primarily by distracted driving, speeding and following other vehicles too closely are the most frequent type of crash when approaching and driving through work zones,” Beth Cannestra, director of the WisDOT Bureau of Project Development, said in a news release.

Projects that may affect travel include:

• I-41 in Outagamie and Brown counties and WIS 441 over Little Lake Butte des Morts in Winnebago County. Lane restrictions and speed reductions will slow traffic.
• In Brown County, lane closure on I-43 northbound between the Leo Frigo Bridge and the I-41/43 interchange.
• Zoo Interchange in Milwaukee. Two system ramps are closed: from northbound I-894/45 to westbound I-94, and I-94 westbound to I-894/45 southbound.
• Reconstruction of I-794 east of the Marquette Interchange (Access to downtown and the lakefront is from Plankinton Avenue.)
• I-94 north-south corridor is reduced to two lanes at the WIS 20 interchange in Racine County.
• US 12/WIS 50 interchange in Lake Geneva is reduced to one lane in both directions on US 12. The US 12 westbound off-ramp to WIS 50 eastbound is closed.
• Marathon County U and K/Business 51 interchange reconstruction in Wausau. Reduced speed limit on US 51 between Bridge Street and County K. Eastbound and westbound lanes of County K (Business 51) under US 51 are closed until mid-June. Northbound US 51 off-ramp to County K is also closed until mid-June.
• WIS 54 at the Maple Drive intersection in Plover is scheduled to be closed until early September. WIS 54 traffic is being detoured via I-39 and Portage County B.
• Bong Bridge between Duluth and Superior.
• I-90 in La Crosse reduced to one lane of traffic in each direction.
• Verona Road and the Madison Beltline in Dane County.

Law enforcement officers will also be out making sure people are wearing their seat belts as part of a Click It or Ticket campaign.

For current travel conditions anywhere in Wisconsin, check the 511 website or call 511.

MADISON (AP) – Wisconsin disability advocates say the Legislature’s finance committee move to approve a special needs voucher program amounted to a “budgetary sneak attack.”

The committee created a program early Wednesday morning that would function like open enrollment for public schools, with public dollars following each disabled student who leaves the district for a private school.

State disability advocate groups responded to the news Wednesday morning with anger, saying they weren’t consulted in the matter. The program wasn’t part of Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget.

Opponents say, too, that the program would drain funds from public schools and students in private voucher schools wouldn’t receive the same protections as in public schools.

Voucher supporters contend the program would provide more options for disabled students.

MADISON – Get ready to see Brett Favre on a football field once again.

The day after he is inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame and the team retires his number, the former quarterback is scheduled to play in a flag football game at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.

Organizers say Brett Favre’s Legends Game will pit a Favre-led team of Packers legends against a team of NFL all-stars on July 19.

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. Pregame entertainment includes a flag football game between local police officers and firefighters.

Ticket prices range from $34 to $55. Family four-pack ticket packages are available for $112. Current University of Wisconsin-Madison students can buy up to two tickets for $13 each. Tickets go on sale at 8:30 a.m. June 3 and will be available at UWBadgers.com, by phone at 1-800-462-2343 or at the McGinnis Family Athletic Ticket Office, 1440 Monroe St., Madison.

Proceeds from the game benefit the Favre 4 Hope Foundation, Make A Wish, Special Olympics, Rawhide Boys Ranch and Ribbon of Hope.

Organizers say the game is being held in Madison because Packers officials were concerned about getting Lambeau Field’s playing surface ready for the NFL season following a Kenny Chesney and Jason Aldean concert in June.

You’ll be seeing a new face on Good Day Wisconsin soon.

Meteorologist Katy Kramer has joined the team. She’ll be working weekends, plus making appearances on the show on some weekdays.

Katy most recently worked as the morning meteorologist for WICD in Champaign, Illinois. Before that, she was the weekend meteorologist at WACH Fox in Columbia, South Carolina.

Katy is a native of Indiana and a graduate of Indiana University where she received a degree in Geography – Atmospheric Science and a minor in Telecommunications.

To learn more about Katy, click the link to the left to visit her bio.

You can connect with Katy on social media:

• Like Katy’s Facebook page
• Follow Katy on Twitter

Watch live streaming coverage of an announcement of a game involving Brett Favre in Madison July 19.

MADISON (AP) – An appellate court has invalidated statutes that required misdemeanor convicts to pay a DNA surcharge before they had to submit an actual sample.

The current state budget requires anyone convicted of a misdemeanor to pay a $200 DNA surcharge and submit a sample. However, the budget implemented the law in phases. The surcharges began in January 2014 but convicts didn’t have to submit samples until last month.

Garett Elward was stopped for fourth-offense drunken driving in July 2013 and convicted in January 2014. He argued he shouldn’t have to pay the surcharge, contending it didn’t exist when he committed his offense.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals sided with Elward on Wednesday, finding the surcharge bore no relationship to a DNA test because he never had to submit a sample.

JANESVILLE (AP) – A man charged with killing his girlfriend in Janesville a year ago has pleaded guilty to the homicide in an agreement with prosecutors.

Twenty-one-year-old Britney Cross was found bludgeoned to death behind a building along the Rock River on May 4, 2014. A witness testified Cross argued with Clayton Courtney near the Memorial Bridge that night, then saw Courtney alone.

Courtney’s guilty plea to first-degree intentional homicide requires a mandatory life prison term, but the sentencing judge could set a possible parole date. Charges related to a knife attack on Courtney’s roommate the same night and threats to the roommate’s girlfriend could be dismissed, but read in at sentencing.

The Janesville Gazette reports sentencing is set for August 12.

MADISON (AP) – Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Wednesday that he doesn’t have the votes to repeal the state’s prevailing wage law, but he hopes to reform the statutes through the state budget.

The Juneau Republican told WTMJ-Radio that his caucus is “fractured” on the issue, with some saying a full repeal would disrupt the construction industry. He said the state’s construction industry is largely built around the law.

“This is something we have tinkered with, but nobody has the guts to talk about full repeal,” Fitzgerald said. “As flawed and ridiculous as prevailing wage is, the construction industry has kind of built itself upon that.”

Under current law, crews on state or local public projects and highway projects must be paid wages equivalent to what they would earn working on other projects in the area.

And Fitzgerald said the construction industry’s roots in prevailing wage law have complicated his caucus’ discussions about reforming the statutes, making them much more difficult than conversations about right to work laws.

“It’s very messy right now,” Fitzgerald said.

When asked whether the caucus needed Gov. Scott Walker to help guide them, Fitzgerald said, “You certainly always need the governor involved … You need them to lean on people from time to time.”

Fitzgerald said the comment didn’t specifically refer to Walker. He said he planned to meet with Walker on Wednesday to talk about prevailing wage reform and other issues.

Earlier this month the Senate Committee on Labor and Government Reform voted 3-2 against a GOP bill that would eliminate the law.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has said he doesn’t have the votes in the Assembly to repeal the law, either.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Fire officials estimate the loss of a Milwaukee food and liquor store at $1 million.

Firefighters responded to a massive blaze that destroyed Mother’s Food & Liquor Tuesday about 10:30 p.m. Deputy Fire Chief Aaron Lipski says the building was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Eventually the roof collapsed into the burned one-story building.

The Journal Sentinel reports the fire was under control in about 1½ hours. Firefighters stayed on the scene for several more hours.

ASHWAUBENON – Wisconsin’s first tornado of 2015 has been confirmed in Shawano County after thunderstorms raced across the area Sunday, May 17.

National Weather Service damage surveyors and Shawano County Emergency Management confirmed the touch down of a weak tornado northwest of Gresham that afternoon.

Surveyors determined that the twister touched down around 3:30 Sunday afternoon and produced minor damage, mainly intermittent tree damage, along a 5 mile path northwest and north of Gresham.

Sunday’s system didn’t produce widespread severe weather.

This storm was what they call a “mini-supercell” thunderstorm, producing the only severe weather of the day for Northeast Wisconsin.

• Click here for details from the National Weather Service

Many communities around Northeast Wisconsin are getting ready for Memorial Day.

One of those communities is Oshkosh.

Matt Stoppenbach, a representative with the Patriotic Counsel of Oshkosh joined Good Day Wisconsin to explain the many events going on Monday.

Schedule of events on Monday, May 25:

7 a.m.
Reading of the names ceremony at at Memorial Park square at South Park (corner of 11th and Ohio).

8 a.m.
Wreath laying ceremony (Riverside Park)

9 a.m.
Memorial Day procession (starting at corner of Algoma Blvd. and Division St.) it will proceed down Algoma all the way to Riverside Cemetery.

Around 10:30 a.m.
Memorial Day service at Riverside Cemetery
After the service, the military funeral will take place for three veterans whose remains were never claimed.

_____

Click here for a list of events around the area.

GREEN BAY – If you are looking for a unique read that offers an “unconventional perspective” on life, Leah Liebergen of the Brown County Library offers these five suggestions:

1. Horrorstor: A Novel by Grady Hendrix, Fiction
2. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel, Non-Fiction Graphic Novel
3. Mother, Mother by Koren Zailckas, Fiction
4. Audacity by Melanie Crowder, Young Adult
5. Love Dishonor Marry Die Cherish Perish: A Novel by David Rakoff, Fiction

All are available from Brown County Library.  Available formats vary with the title (Large Print, Book on CD, downloadable e-Book, downloadable audiobook).

For this list, and previous Good Day Reads lists, go to the Booklist page under Adults on Brown County Library’s website and click on As Seen on Fox 11’s Good Day Wisconsin.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Milwaukee police say the death of a man found along a parkway is a homicide.

The body of the 51-year-old man was discovered Monday along the Kinnickinnic River Parkway. His identity has not been released.

Police say no arrests have been made.

SUAMICO- We spent the morning at the NEW Zoo in Suamico.

NEW Zoo Director Neil Anderson talked about endangered species.

Click on the video to learn more.