Green Bay News

BALSAM LAKE, Wis. (AP) – A Minnesota man charged with fatally stabbing a Wisconsin fisherman is back in jail after allegedly tweeting about the victim.

Charges filed in Polk County say 19-year-old Levi Acre-Kendall tweeted on May 7 that if anyone is praying for him, they should also keep the victim’s family in mind.

Acre-Kendall is charged with reckless homicide in the death of 34-year-old Peter Kelly of St. Croix Falls. Authorities say he stabbed Kelly on April 14 after an argument along the St. Croix River.

The Star Tribune reports (http://strib.mn/1QQpERe ) Acre-Kendall was free on bond when he sent the tweet and wasn’t supposed to have contact with friends who witnessed the stabbing. The charges say Acre-Kendall’s tweet was seen by both men.

Acre-Kendall’s attorney has said his client acted in self-defense.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The Amtrak train that derailed along the nation’s busiest tracks may have been struck by an object in the moments before it crashed, investigators said Friday, raising new questions about the deadly accident.

National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said an assistant conductor aboard the train told investigators that she heard Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian talking over the radio with an engineer for a regional railroad just before the crash.

The regional engineer, who was in the same area as the Amtrak train, said his train had been hit by a rock or some other projectile. The conductor heard Bostian say the same had happened to his Amtrak train, according to Sumwalt.

The windshield of the Amtrak train was shattered in the accident but one area of glass had a breakage pattern that could be consistent with being hit by an object, he said, and the FBI is investigating.

Sumwalt declined to speculate about the exact significance of a projectile striking the train, but the idea raised the possibility that the engineer might have been distracted, panicked or even wounded in the moments before the train left the rails.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority does not yet know what caused the damage to its train that night, said Jerri Williams, a spokeswoman for the agency.

SEPTA trains traveling through the area – including one of the poorest and most violent parts of Philadelphia – have had projectiles thrown at them in the past, whether by vandals or teenagers, she said. It was unusual that the SEPTA train was forced to stop on Tuesday night.

Not long before the derailment, two passengers on a southbound Amtrak told The Philadelphia Inquirer that something shattered a window on their train as it passed through the same area. They said Amtrak police boarded the train at 30th Street station in Philadelphia to document the damage. Amtrak has not commented on the report.

NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said the board was seeking more information about the other Amtrak train’s window damage.

The Amtrak wreck has made it clear that despite the train industry’s widespread use of electronic signals, sensors and warning systems, safety still sometimes comes down to the knowledge and experience of the engineer at the controls.

Those skills would have been critical on the curve where the New York-bound train derailed, killing eight and injuring more than 200 in the deadliest U.S. train accident in nearly six years.

Instead of high-tech signals or automatic controls, engineers on that stretch of track have to rely on their familiarity with the route and a printed timetable they carry with them, not unlike engineers a century ago.

“We’re depending heavily on the human engineer to correctly obey and interpret the signals that he sees and also speed limits and other operating requirements,” said David B. Clarke, a railroad expert at the University of Tennessee.

The engineer, who had been working that route for several weeks, told investigators that he does not recall anything after ringing the train’s bell as he passed by the North Philadelphia station a couple of minutes before Tuesday night’s crash.

The engineer told the NTSB in an interview Friday that he felt comfortable with the train and was not fatigued, Sumwalt said.

In the minute before the derailment, the Amtrak train accelerated from 70 mph to more than 100 mph, even though the curve where it came off the tracks has a maximum speed of 50 mph.

It’s not clear whether Bostian manually accelerated, Sumwalt said, though a data recorder shows that he did engage a braking system seconds before the derailment.

Experts say the railroad’s signaling system would have slowed the train automatically if it had hit the maximum speed allowed on the line, but older cab-signal and train-control systems do not respond to localized speed restrictions.

Investigators are also conducting drug tests. Bostian’s lawyer has said he was not using drugs or alcohol.

James Weir, a friend of Bostian’s since they were teenagers in the Memphis area, said he called the engineer after hearing about the wreck, but that his friend was hospitalized and could not say much.

As a teenager, Bostian was a safe driver who would not go even 5 mph over the speed limit, he said.

“Whenever I would drive, I’d tend to go a little over and he’d fuss at me. He’d tell me to slow down. He’s just not the kind of guy that breaks the rules,” Weir said. “He puts safety ahead of everything.”

Preliminary checks have not found any pre-existing problems with the train, the rail line or the signals.

Because of his experience, Bostian should have known the route, even if there’s not so much as a speed limit sign on the side of the tracks, said Howard Spier, a Miami-based lawyer who is a former president of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys.

“It’s engrained in them. He knew it,” Spier said. “I’m convinced he knew he was entering a speed-restrictive curve.”

The wreck has raised questions about positive train control, a system that automatically brakes trains going too fast. It is installed on the tracks where the train derailed, but it had not been turned on because further testing was needed, Amtrak President Joseph Boardman said.

Boardman said this week that he intends to have the system running across Amtrak by the end of this year, as Congress mandated back in 2008.

The system is already operating in other parts of the Northeast Corridor, the busy stretch of tracks between Boston and Washington. An older, less robust automatic-control system is in place for southbound trains in the same area as the derailment.

Also Friday, the first funeral was held for one of those killed in the wreck. U.S. Naval Academy midshipman Justin Zemser, 20, was laid to rest on Long Island.

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Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill in Haddonfield, New Jersey, and Josh Cornfield in Philadelphia and Matt Friedman in Washington contributed to this report.

HOUSTON (AP) – Blue Bell Creameries will lay off more than a third of its workforce following a series of listeria illnesses linked to its ice cream that prompted a nationwide recall of all its products, the Texas company announced Friday.

The company, whose production plants remain closed, said 750 full-time employees and 700 part-time workers are losing their jobs. That represents about 37 percent of its 3,900 employees.

Another 1,400 workers will be furloughed but will still receive a substantial portion of their current pay. Employees essential to ongoing cleanup and repair efforts will continue working but have their pay reduced, Blue Bell said. Workers at distribution centers in 10 states will also be laid off.

The 108-year-old company’s production plants in Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama have been closed since Blue Bell issued a full recall in April. The company’s ice cream has been linked to 10 listeria illnesses in four states, including three deaths in Kansas.

Blue Bell CEO and President Paul Kruse called the decision to layoff and furlough workers “agonizing.”

“At Blue Bell, our employees are part of our family, and we did everything we could to keep people on our payroll for as long as possible. At the same time, we have an obligation to do what is necessary to bring Blue Bell back and ensure its viability in the future,” Kruse said.

Residents and officials in Brenham, Texas, where Blue Bell is headquartered, are bracing for how the layoffs will affect the city. Blue Bell is Brenham’s second-largest employer with 900 workers. Blue Bell said that 250 workers were being laid off at its main plant in Brenham, with an additional 300 being furloughed.

“There will be an impact” said Terry Roberts, Brenham city manager.

Thirty workers at the Sylacauga, Alabama, plant will lose their jobs, and 20 will be laid off from the plant in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Blue Bell did not provide a breakdown of the rest of the layoffs; it has distribution centers in 10 states.

Washington County Judge John Brieden said Blue Bell has been a great ambassador for tourism in Brenham, which has around 16,000 residents and is about 70 miles northwest of Houston. Last month, more than 200 people gathered at a prayer vigil in Brenham to show their support for Blue Bell.

“When they hurt,” Brieden said of Blue Bell, “we hurt.”

Blue Bell said it hopes it can eventually restore its workforce.

“Obviously, over time, we hope to build back up, but we anticipate that will take quite some” time, the company said in an email.

Page Michel, president and CEO of the Brenham/Washington County Chamber of Commerce, said two job fairs have been scheduled for later this month to help laid off workers.

“It’s going to be a tough time for a lot of people now, and our prayers are with them,” she said.

The layoffs come after Blue Bell signed agreements Thursday with health officials in Texas and Oklahoma detailing steps the company will follow to resume making ice cream products. No timeline has been set for when Blue Bell will resume production.

The agreements require the company to inform the states whenever there is a positive test result for listeria in its products or ingredients. Blue Bell had failed to tell federal or state health officials of repeated findings of listeria at its Oklahoma plant that date back to 2013.

Listeria illness generally affects only the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, pregnant women and newborns. The three people who died in the Blue Bell outbreak were already hospitalized for other illnesses when they consumed the tainted ice cream.

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Associated Press writers Terry Wallace and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Public school districts could face an additional $48 million hit over the next two years under the voucher program included in Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget, according to a new memo from state financial analysts.

A Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo obtained by The Associated Press on Friday provides new details about Walker’s proposal to lift the 1,000-student statewide cap on voucher participation and create a program similar to open enrollment.

Under the plan, any public school student could apply for a voucher. Private school students enrolling in kindergarten, first grade or ninth grade would also be eligible.

Similar to open enrollment, students would receive funding from their district of residence to attend a voucher school under the proposal. The memo sets out that voucher students in kindergarten through 8th grade would receive $7,210, and high school students would receive $7,856.

Public school districts currently pay $6,635 for each student who moves via open enrollment to another public district.

More than 3,540 students applied this year to receive a taxpayer-funded voucher to attend private and religious schools in the third year of the statewide program, more than triple the enrollment cap of 1,000, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction said in a report Thursday. That number is up 4 percent from last year.

State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, requested the memo. His spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Voucher supporters say the program gives students in struggling public schools an opportunity to offset the cost of attending a private school.

Jim Bender, president of the group School Choice Wisconsin, said public school districts already pay to have students who move via open enrollment in other public school districts. He said applying additional payments for voucher students wouldn’t add much more to each district’s budget.

“It doesn’t seem to be causing any heartache when students go between public schools,” Bender said.

Opponents, primarily Democrats and public school advocates, say the program isn’t accountable to taxpayers and is part of a broader agenda to defund public education.

Betsy Kippers, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, a statewide teachers union, said the state should support its public schools so students across the state have access to quality education.

“This week it was announced that 86 percent of voucher applicants for next year don’t even go to public school now,” Kippers said in a statement, referring to DPI’s report Thursday. “Meanwhile, public school students have fewer teachers and less one-on-one attention.”

The voucher program began in Milwaukee in 1990, the first city in the country to offer the taxpayer subsidies to help poor children leave struggling schools. Since 2011, Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature have expanded it.

Walker and Republicans created a voucher program in Racine, eliminated enrollment caps there and in Milwaukee and raised income limits to allow middle-class students to participate.

The number of students applying from public schools decreased from 633 last year to 526 this year, a difference of 107.

All applicants in the statewide program, whether they attend public or private schools, must meet income requirements. A single parent with three children can earn up to $44,828 per year. For a married couple with two children, the cutoff is $53,310 annually.

To qualify in Racine, an applicant’s family income must be less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level. That equates to $71,637 for a family of four.

NEW YORK (AP) – Toys R Us is closing its iconic FAO Schwarz store, citing the high and rising costs of running the retail space on New York City’s pricey Fifth Avenue.

The company said Friday it will close the 45,000-square-foot store July 15 and it is looking for another location in midtown Manhattan. FAO Schwarz says it is the oldest toy store in the U.S., as it has had a location in New York City since 1870. It moved to its current Fifth Avenue location in 1986.

The location features a candy store, numerous specialty toy departments spread across three levels, and personal shoppers. It has been featured in several movies, including “Big,” where Tom Hanks danced on its large floor piano.

Toys R Us, of Wayne, New Jersey, has been privately held since 2005. It bought the FAO Schwarz brand in 2009.

For those running the full marathon on Sunday, they might have their hands full when it comes to the wind.

During part of the race, anyway.

Winds out of the south-southeast will be at 5-10 miles per hour to start the race and get stronger as the race goes on, gusting to 20 miles per hour or more by late morning.

Thankfully, the longest stretching of the race heading into the wind is going to be early in the route, moving south along the west side of the Fox River, mostly on Broadway.

In De Pere, the route doesn’t stay with or against the wind for any extended stretch.

But heading north back up the Fox River Trail, runners should pick up a nice boost by the winds which will be picking up as the race wears on.

Crooks Street in downtown Green Bay again sees a headwind, though the route turns with the wind after that along Cherry Street.

After another stretch into the wind along 12th street, the rest of the race then zig-zags back to Lambeau Field and the finish line.

Some political groups are already committing to spend big money on Wisconsin’s Senate race.

Former Senator Russ Feingold announced Thursday he would seek the Democratic nomination again setting up the possibility of a rematch with incumbent Republican Ron Johnson. Johnson ousted Feingold by a 52-47 margin five years ago.

The potential match-up next November could have a larger impact in Washington. The 2016 race could be key in determining which party controls the next Senate.

At an event Friday in Milwaukee, Johnson said he anticipates a rematch next fall.

“It’s going to be a pretty clear choice. The same choice Wisconsin had in 2010,” said Johnson. “I mean, it’s going to be a close race. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”

Feingold hasn’t taken questions from reporters since his announcement, but his campaign released a 90-second video.

“I admire Wisconsinites’ optimism and determination,” said Feingold. “And my desire to serve is stronger than ever.”

Feingold and other Democrats hope to regain control of the Senate. Republicans have a 54-44 advantage. Two independent senators caucus with the Democrats. Thirty-four seats are up for re-election next year.

With the balance of power up for grabs, Wisconsin’s race will likely attract a lot of national interest and money. FOX 11 talked to two political groups who supported Johnson and Feingold five years ago.

The Club for Growth says it and its affiliated groups gave Johnson just under $500,000. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee said 2010 was its first year of operation, but it made 76,000 phone calls on behalf of Feingold. Both groups say they’ll do even more next fall.

“Spend what it takes to help him be able to win. I think the message will carry,” David McIntosh, the president of Club for Growth.

“This will be a top-tier priority race for our organization, and Senator Feingold is beloved by all the 25,000 members that we have in Wisconsin and the one million members that we have nationwide,” said TJ Helmstetter, a spokesperson for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign says big money will take the real power away from voters.

We at the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign are going to be focusing on the outside money,” said Matt Rothschild, the organization’s executive director. “How big is it? How much of an influence is it going to have? At this point, it’s a little too early to say.” [Notes:2:38]

The rematch would come in a presidential election year, when Democratic voters in Wisconsin historically outnumber Republicans. The facts show 1984 was the last time a Republican presidential candidate carried Wisconsin.

History is also working against Feingold. In the last six decades, only two senators have reclaimed a seat.

Feingold served three terms in the Senate before losing in 2010. Johnson was a political newcomer at the time, working as a manufacturing executive in Oshkosh.

MADISON – As the summer camping season kicks off, officials are reminding outdoor enthusiasts to leave their firewood at home to stop the spread of emerald ash borers or gypsy moths to the northwoods.

“‘Buy it where you burn it’ is good advice,” says Brian Kuhn, director of the Plant Industry Bureau in the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). “State parks require that firewood be brought from no more than 10 miles away. National forests require it to be purchased within 25 miles. Many private campgrounds prohibit bringing in firewood at all. And if you live in a county that’s under quarantine for either EAB or gypsy moth, it’s illegal to take firewood to a non-quarantine county. The only exception to these regulations is when you buy firewood with DATCP’s pest-free certification.”

This year EAB was found in more than half of Wisconsin’s counties. The heaviest infestations are in southeastern Wisconsin.

50 of the state’s 72 counties are also under quarantine for gypsy moth infestations.

Left on its own, EAB spreads no more than two miles a year.

FOND DU LAC – It doesn’t take much to cook a brat, but as more than 75 high school students learned, it’s much tougher when you also have to build the grill to cook the brat.

A Friday cookout among students from eleven Fond du Lac area schools is the culmination of Project G.R.I.L.L. It tasks each school with fabricating its own unique, working charcoal grill.

“As you can see these grills are enormous,” said Jamie Cleland, chairperson for this year’s Project G.R.I.L.L. “They’re trailers, some of them they have stereos and things like that.”

“We all spent all of our class time, even free time over spring break just to get these grills done,” said Myranda Abhold, a junior at Winnebago Lutheran High School.

This is the seventh year the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce has put on Project G.R.I.L.L.
“It’s just to get out that working in the manufacturing industry isn’t dirty and dungy,” said Cleland. “It’s fun, it’s cool, there is money to be earned.”

The work on the grills started last fall.

“Back then it was just brainstorming on what we wanted to do for our grills, so it really wasn’t any fabrication yet,” said Abhold.

The high school students did receive some professional help. Each school partnered with a manufacturing company throughout the project.

“They were awesome,” said Abhold. “They helped us with any questions. They were there when we needed them.”

The students could end up being there for the companies, filling a projected skills gap in manufacturing.

“I love doing this stuff,” said Nathan Lobajeski, a junior from Fond du Lac High School. “Yesterday we had junk yard wars. I got to do that. We came in first place. I’d like to do that for a job, because I don’t get bored at this.”

Reviews like that prove the program not only produces grills and brats, but possible careers as well.

Four scholarships were also awarded at today’s cookout. Last year’s brat fry funded two of them.

GREEN BAY – New Lutheran High School hosted the Good NEWS Fun Olympics Friday.

For the fourth year, the event has high school students lead fitness activities for elementary students.

In addition, a Latin teacher from Maine stopped by and showed off his professional stunt riding skills for the students during a motorcycle stunt show.

Stunt rider, Chris McNeil, says it’s important to have fun, but stressed safety is always important, “It is really a lesson that is applicable in any area of life. Skateboarding, whether you’re playing football, whatever you’re doing, taking the appropriate steps to be prepared and having the right attitude when you go out and do something.”

The goal of the event is to come together for a meaningful relationship building between the schools.

GREEN BAY – Local college students are helping to make a difference in children’s lives.

Students at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College delivered coloring books to children at Aurora BayCare Medical Center that they designed and created.

The students created more than 6,000 books that are specifically designed to match the developmental stages of children. They hand delivered the coloring books to kids throughout the hospital Friday.

Students say the look on the children’s faces was worth the time and hard work.

NWTC student, Bailey Blount says, “It’s really cool to see it all put together and final. It’s amazing. I’m really excited to get it to the children and see the look on their faces.”

This was a final project for many of the students and many of them graduate this month.

SUAMICO – Some animals at the NEW Zoo “vanished” from their exhibits Friday.

It was part of a nationwide campaign to highlight the growing importance on saving endangered species from extinction.

The African Penguins, who are endangered animals, “vanished” from their exhibit for a couple of hours. In their place, a life-sized replica of an extinct species was on exhibit instead.

The idea is to help the public consider what it would be like to not be able to see, learn, or connect with these animals again.

“When people care about the animals, it’s then that they are inspired to take action to try to protect them and the environment,” said Angela Kawski-Kroening from the NEW Zoo.

Friday marks the 10th Anniversary of Endangered Species Day.

BAILEYS HARBOR – It’s about two weeks behind schedule, but a Door County landmark is open for business.

The Cana Island Lighthouse near Baileys Harbor is undergoing a multi-phased renovation.

On a day where you couldn’t see much past the Lake Michigan shoreline, the Cana Island Lighthouse near Baileys Harbor was in its element.

“It’s a chance to experience a lighthouse as a lighthouse is. The time you need a lighthouse, is when the weather is foul,” said Dwight Zeller, Cana Island Lighthouse Site Manager.

Fog and flies kept some visitors at bay, but Dan and Julie Tonkin were the first to make it 97 steps to the top of the 89-foot tower.

“Heights are not my favorite, but with the fog and everything, it was a beautiful, beautiful view,” said Julie Tonkin, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

It’s a view of a $2.6 million dollar multi-phased renovation project.

“What you see behind me is the final paint job, the final close out. Trim work. Masonry,” said Zeller.

Landscaping needs to be completed.

“Putting some topsoil in, and put seed, fertilizer, mulch, around the new sidewalks, and putting in some colored stone around the building,” said Chris Buchman, Northeast Construction and Landscaping.

Door County owns the site. The Door County Maritime Museum manages it.

“It’s neat. They did a really great job of kind of keeping everything up-to-date. And it’s really wonderful history,” said Tonkin.

“To preserve history is being lost. And if someone doesn’t step up then it will be lost, and our next generations won’t know how it was,” said Joyce Hall, Braxton, Mississippi.

“We have a chance to do something and share something that has not been done before. That is bring Cana back to the way she was 146 years ago.

Cana Island is one of Door County’s most popular attractions, with about 40,000 visitors each year.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – When students at a Connecticut high school arrive Saturday for their junior-senior prom, they will have to get past the watchful eye of officials there to make sure girls’ dresses don’t show too much skin.

Shelton High School this week set up a prom dress review panel amid outrage from parents.

The school, outside New Haven, announced Friday it has reviewed more than 150 dresses and informed six girls that their gowns won’t be allowed into the dance. Female school staff members will be at the dance to ensure that every girl attending has an “appropriate” dress, said Ann Baldwin, a spokeswoman for the school district.

The school’s policy is one of several across the nation that have sparked questions about the role of educators in policing the fashion of students, especially away from the classroom.

Shelton headmaster Beth Smith announced over the intercom last Friday that backless dresses, those that showed midriff, had lengthy slits or cutouts on the side would be considered inappropriate and banned from the junior-senior prom.

School officials said they were just reminding the school community of a long-established dress code requiring appropriate dress at the prom.

But students and their parents, many of whom had spent hundreds of dollars on dresses, were outraged. They said neither the student handbook nor the prom contract they signed had specifics about what would be deemed inappropriate.

Almost 380 students signed a letter denouncing the policy and asking the school to reconsider.

“It takes a long time to pick out a dress or have one custom made, even longer for any necessary alterations to be made; it is unfair to release the dress guidelines eight days before the dance and expect every person to have a dress that follows them,” the students wrote.

Baldwin said the school never intended to ban all low-backed dresses or every dress with a cutout. But some, she said, were clearly inappropriate.

“If the cutouts aren’t too revealing and don’t overexpose the girl, those are deemed appropriate,” she said. “If the dress is backless, but doesn’t go all the way down to the rear end, some of those have been deemed appropriate.”

Students were invited to submit photos of their dresses to a committee of seven female staff members for a thumbs up or thumbs down decision. Some students who had dresses rejected have gone to tailors to have them altered, others plan to wear different dresses, she said.

Shelton isn’t the only school this year to struggle with dress policy. A student in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was recently suspended after an official deemed her long-sleeved, floor-length prom dress too reveling in the bustline. A school in Stansbury Park, Utah, held a makeup homecoming dance after proctors turned away more than two dozen girls dresses were deemed inappropriate.

The students in Shelton say the issue goes beyond what school officials deem to be too revealing. They say it also speaks to a double standard and the shaming of young women.

“Don’t teach girls to hide their bodies; teach boys self control and that they aren’t entitled to a girl’s body just because she dressed in a way that made her feel beautiful or just didn’t want to get overheated,” they wrote. “And in a time when so many young girls struggle with body image should we not encourage them to be comfortable enough in their own skin to allow people to see it?”

Of the 549 students who have purchased the $90 tickets to prom, 313 are females.

School Superintendent Freeman Burr said in a statement that the goal of the policy is to make for “a safe and memorable evening” for every student attending the prom.

High school students in Fond du Lac County unveiled their creative grill designs May 15, 2015.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker is calling on legislators to reform his troubled economic development agency.

Walker’s office announced Friday he wants lawmakers to restructure the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. The administration said it wants to transition away from providing direct loans to businesses and instead putting the money toward tax incentives and use $55 million the governor has set aside for regional loans in his state budget proposal for worker education.

Walker created WEDC to replace the state Commerce Department in 2011. It’s been beset with problems since the beginning, including not tracking loans, leadership turnover and highly critical audits revealing mismanagement.

An audit last week found WEDC contracts with grant and loan recipients didn’t comply with state law and WEDC hasn’t demanded proof that recipients are creating or retaining jobs.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee has recommended reducing the shot clock from 35 to 30 seconds among a series of changes aimed at speeding up a game that has reached historic lows in scoring.

The NCAA experimented with a 30-second shot clock during the NIT and CIT postseason tournaments and the rules committee recommended making it permanent for the 2015-16 season. The shot clock was last reduced for the 1993-94 season, from 45 to 35 seconds.

Scoring in college basketball hit an all-time low in 2012-13 and nearly matched it last season, when teams scored 67.6 points per game.

The committee also recommended extending the restricted arc from three to four feet to reduce the number of collisions under the basket. Teams also would have one less second-half timeout.

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

Watch live streaming video of the jury’s decision on whether Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, should be sentenced to life in prison without parole or to death

As a $2.6 million renovation project continued, the Cana Island Lighthouse opened for the season on May 15, 2015.

Marinette visited West De Pere in Bay Conference softball action Thursday.