Green Bay News

GREEN BAY – Motorcycle instructors and riders say knowledge is one of the best ways to ensure a safe journey, every time they hit the road.

On this Sunday morning in an empty parking lot at Northeastern Wisconsin Technical College, about one dozen students are set to finish their motorcycle class, opening them up to legally ride the area’s roadways.

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and instructors say motorcycle classes do much more than just teaching basic motorcycle operation and defensive riding.

FOX 11’s Bill Miston is working on this story and will have more on FOX 11 News at Nine.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) – Jimmie Johnson pulled into victory lane after his late-race gamble paid off to win the rain-delayed Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway, then pulled out his cellphone and tried to dial his wife in the first few minutes of Mother’s Day.

“Then I caught her on FaceTime,” Johnson said, “and she was NOT so happy to be on FaceTime with all those people around. I think the signal went out – or she hung up on me.”

There’s a good chance Chandra will forgive him.

Johnson, so dominant on mile-and-a-half tracks, held off Kevin Harvick as the clock struck midnight heading into Sunday. They were chased across the line by Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon after a dramatic final few laps.

Most of the leaders had been conserving fuel after pitting with 58 to go, right on the upper end of the pit window, when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got into the wall with 12 laps left. Johnson was among those who pressed their luck by staying on the track, while Harvick went in for right-side tires and fuel, and Martin Truex Jr. got a splash of gas.

“It just dawned on me: We’ve won two races, we’re locked in the Chase, points don’t matter. We’re going for the win,” Johnson said. “It was just sort of a gut feeling, split-second.”

Johnson built a lead on the restart with six laps left, but Harvick sped around Earnhardt on his fresh tires down the front stretch, setting his sights on the lead.

“They had the most raw speed,” said Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus.

Harvick bobbled just slightly at one point on the back stretch, though, giving Johnson a little more space. The six-time series champion maintained it the rest of the way to win for the third time this season and his third race at Kansas Speedway.

“The 48 and 88 didn’t have the speed, and they gambled and had enough cars in between us that we didn’t have enough laps to get around them,” Harvick said. “It’s hard to know what’s right and what’s wrong. You know half of them are going to come in and half are going to stay out.”

Harvick still extended his points lead over Truex heading into next week’s All-Star race at Charlotte. Johnson is third in the standings as he chases another title.

“In some ways we fought really hard to get to victory lane, but it’s also fun to win gambling,” Johnson said. “We haven’t really gambled to win one.”

Truex led a race-high 95 laps, but his pit decision proved costly. Without fresh tires, one of the strongest cars in the field faded on the final restart and finished ninth.

“Really hate when it comes down to fuel mileage. It seems like I’m always at the wrong end of that deal,” he said. “It would have been fun to see whether we had anything for him.”

Joey Logano stormed to a top-five finish despite two pit-road penalties.

The first came just before a band of rain passed through, dousing the track and forcing a delay of 2 hours, 16 minutes. The other came when Logano entered pit road with it closed, dropping him from sixth to the back of the line with 83 laps left.

Matt Kenseth was next in sixth, followed by Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch. Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10 with interim crew chief Todd Parrott calling the shots.

Richard Childress Racing learned this week that its final appeal of penalties for altering tires during a race at California had been upheld, and that Newman would be without usual chief Luke Lambert and two other crew members for a six-race period beginning with Kansas.

One of the bright spots all night was the heady driving of 18-year-old Erik Jones, who made his first Sprint Cup start in the No. 18 while Kyle Busch continues his recovery from a broken leg.

Jones spent most of the night near the front, even passing his idol Gordon with a daring move in front of the grandstand. But a bobble of his own doing with 72 laps left sent him sliding head-first into the wall, and Jones wound up finishing the race 25 laps down.

“I learned a lot, racing up front, racing with these guys,” said Jones, who was running in the top 5 when he wrecked. “Just got loose and lost it. All my fault. Guess I have to go back and figure it out. But I’m ready to do another one. I hope I get another shot at it.”

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

TOWN OF SPRINGBROOK, Wis. (AP) – Authorities say a 19-year-old man has died after a utility terrain vehicle overturned in western Wisconsin.

The Dunn County sheriff’s office says the victim was a passenger on a Polaris Ranger that crashed Saturday on private property in the Town of Springbrook.

The 19-year-old was trapped under the UTV. He was flown to Mayo-Eau Claire Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name has not been released.

The sheriff’s office says the man who was operating the vehicle suffered minor injuries.

The sheriff’s office says the operator apparently was accelerating while making a turn when the UTV rolled onto the passenger side, trapping the passenger. Authorities say seat belts were not being used.

The crash remains under investigation. Alcohol and drugs do not appear to be a factor.

Ingredients:

1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 pound sliced bacon

Directions:

Line the bottom of 2 large jellyroll pans with foil. Sprinkle a little brown sugar on one side of each piece of bacon. Press sugar mixture into bacon with your hands. Flip over and do the same with the other side of the bacon. Place the bacon slices on the baking pans. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place both baking sheets in oven and bake 25 minutes, or until crisp. Remove from oven and use paper towels to absorb the grease.

Serve right away!

Thanks to all of our viewers who sent us photos using our ReportIt feature!!

After a cooler Saturday, temperatures take another step back today for Mother’s Day.

Highs only reach 56 under cloudy skies. We could see a few rain showers, mainly during the evening hours, but most of us should stay fairly dry during the day.

Late Sunday night more organized rain showers and a few isolated thunderstorms will move in and last into Monday morning.

SUAMICO- Moms are being honored at the NEW Zoo.

Moms get in free and will get some free gifts.

The zoo is open from 9-6 p.m.

HATTISBURG – Two Mississippi police officers were shot and killed after making a traffic stop early Saturday morning.

Officials said they have arrested two men they believe are responsible.

The two officers, Benjamin Deen, 34 and Liquori Tate, 25 stopped a Cadillac Escalade around 8:30 Saturday night.

Shots were fired from the Escalade.

Deen and Tate died at the hospital.

The suspects drove off in one of the police vehicles that was later found abandoned.

One of the suspects was found at a motel while the other was found at an apartment building.

It’s not clear why the officers stopped their vehicle in the first place.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Jason Rogers hit his first career home run, Gerardo Parra also homered and drove in four runs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 12-4 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night.

Jean Segura added a solo shot and Khris Davis kept up his hitting surge with three hits and three RBIs for Milwaukee, which finished with its season-high scoring total. The Brewers also improved to 3-3 since Craig Counsell took over as manager for the fired Ron Roenicke.

Davis, who came into the series hitting just .209, was 4 for 5 in Friday’s loss to the Cubs.

Kyle Lohse (2-4) gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings for the Brewers.

Travis Wood (2-2) took the loss, allowing six runs – four earned – and six hits in four innings as the Cubs lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Chicago catcher David Ross pitched a scoreless eighth inning, with his fastest pitch at 76 mph. Kris Bryant hit his first career homer.

Parra’s first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the second inning, gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead.

Chicago came back to take a 3-2 lead in the third inning. Addison Russell singled, Dexter Fowler doubled and Bryant hit the first pitch he saw over the center-field fence.

When Bryant came back to the dugout, all of the Cubs coaches and players had retreated to the clubhouse, leaving no one to greet him.

Davis’ two-run double and Parra’s sacrifice fly in the third inning put the Brewers ahead 5-3.

Sterling Castro had an RBI single in the fourth inning pull the Cubs within one, but Segura’s second home run of the season pushed the lead back to 6-4.

The Brewers broke the game open in the fifth inning. Davis’ second RBI double and Martin Maldonado’s sacrifice fly was followed by Rogers’ first career home run, a three-run shot to center field to make it 11-4.

Parra’s RBI single in the sixth inning closed out the scoring.

HITTING STREAK

Russell extended his hitting streak to 12 games with his single in the third inning. It is the longest streak by a Cubs rookie since Mike Fontenot also had a 12-game hitting streak in 2007.

TRAINERS ROOM

Brewers: CF Carlos Gomez did not start for the third straight game with what Counsell has called a “very mild” right hip flexor injury. Counsell hopes Gomez will return Sunday. … 3B Aramis Ramirez did not start for the second straight game with lower back tightness. He is also expected to play Sunday.

UP NEXT:

Cubs: RHP Kyle Hendricks (0-1) will be making his Miller Park debut Sunday against the Brewers in the series finale. He was 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA against Milwaukee last season.

Brewers: RHP Matt Garza (2-4) will be going for this fourth straight quality start in the series finale. He is 1-2 with a 5.82 ERA in his career against the Cubs.

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

As the saying goes, Saturday is a Rugby day.

This afternoon was no different at Barney Williams Park in Howard.

Four Division-III men’s clubs– two from Wisconsin, two from Iowa– took part in a couple playoff games this afternoon, including the Green Bay Celtics Rugby Football Club.

They defeated the Iowa City Ducks by a score of 33-20 to remain undefeated and continue one of the best seasons in the club’s 43 year history.

The Ducks scored first, but Green Bay then went on a 33 to 3 run that put the match out of reach.

They don’t have much time revel in this win, though.

“[Sunday] we play the winner of the next game here, at 11 [am Sunday]. So we’ll see who it is,” said team captain Jeremiah Rose.

When asked about the Celtics’ performance today, Rose said that they “need to play a little smarter. Not make so many mistakes. But we came together in the end and pulled it out.”

The second match Saturday saw the Bremer County Bucks from Iowa defeat the Milwaukee Barbarians 50 to 33.

Milwaukee surrendered a few quick scores early to fall behind by about 20 points, a deficit from which they couldn’t recover.

Now, the Bucks and the Celtics square off Sunday at 11 AM at Barney Williams Park.

The winner of this match goes onto the Midwest Region final on May 16th in Joliet, Illinois.

At that point, the teams playing in that game will be among the final 16 teams in the country still vying for a national championship.

GREEN BAY – A class at UW-Green Bay is making a difference by teaching students how to become philanthropists, using real world dollars.

All semester long, these students learned that philanthropy means much more than just handing out big checks.

They’re enrolled in a one-of-a-kind Strategic Philanthropy class. Students selected a type of cause.

“We had a lot of passionate needs in the class, so just coming up with one need was kind of difficult,” said UW-Green Bay Senior Brooke Decoster. “But, we all came together.”

Then, they sought out local groups in need.

“They requested proposals from non-profits fitting their criteria and the non-profits were wonderful,” said Lora Warner, their professor.

This week, UW-Green Bay students gave ten thousand dollars to the Family Services Transitional Living program of Brown County.

“Transitional living is an opportunity for youth that are homeless. We provide actual housing units for them with a case manager who teaches them the skills they need to be effective in the community,” said Meika Burnikel, the program director.

Students say the need for help is growing. With nearly 1,000 people homeless, Brown County has the third highest homelessness rate in the state.

Family Services says more than 100 young people in our community are on a wait list for housing opportunities.

The transitional living program director says the ten thousand dollars is an important step forward.

“This actually will provide shelter dollars to these kids so this will pay for their rent in order to live successfully in the community,” said Burnikel.

Professor Lora Warner says the grant money comes from the Learning by Giving Foundation.

“We are the only class that I know of like this in Wisconsin,” said Warner. “It’s to encourage students to become philanthropists and encourage them to be involved in the community.”

Students say being able to give such a large gift is a feeling they’ve never had.

“To actually have ten thousand dollars to actually give away is quite an amazing experience,” said Decoster.

And they hope to continue their work with non-profits even after this class is dismissed.

UWGB has the only undergraduate certificate in non-profit management in the state. The Strategic Philanthropy course is in its third year.

TWO RIVERS – Hundreds in Two Rivers turned out to wish happy birthday to a very special fire truck Saturday.

Colton, the pink fire truck, celebrated his first birthday with a 5K Run/Walk, food, fun and games for all ages.

The truck is named after four-year-old Colton Steinhorst of Ashwaubenon who lost his battle with cancer nearly two years ago.

Colton the Truck is part of the national Pink Heals organization dedicated to raising money, awareness and hope for people fighting cancer.

In addition to the birthday festivities, people could add their signature to the more than 2,000 already on truck in honor or support of a loved one touched by the deadly disease.

“It’s like a moving memorial. People say kind of like the Vietnam Memorial, the wall. We take these signatures wherever we go,” said Pink Heals of Manitowoc president Missy Miller.

The money raised Saturday will to go the truck’s upkeep and provide cancer patients in Manitowoc County with financial assistance.

GREEN BAY – The National Association of Letter Carriers held its 23rd annual food drive Saturday.

The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is the nation’s largest single-day food drive.

People dropped off bags of non-perishable food by their mailbox for pick up.

Letter carriers collected the bags as they delivered mail along their postal routes.

Organizers say it is a great way to help out those in our community.

“It’s great because everything helps the local community. Nothing leaves the area, local pantries come in and pick up the food to take it to their pantry and sort it out, so it’s going right to the people’s neighbors. People might not know someone is laid off that need the food to help their family, and their neighbor might be that and you may not even know it. So it’s just great helping out all you can,” said food drive coordinator Randy Meyer.

The drive is expected to bring in more than 200 thousand pounds of food.

APPLETON – Hundreds of athletes took part in the Special Olympics Wisconsin Hometown Games Saturday.

Athletes competed in track and field events.

The event started off with the parade of athletes led by the Appleton East High School band.

The Hometown Games have taken place for over ten years at the school.

Organizers say the program is changing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities.

“Getting them moving, and part of training is we work with them on proper eating, proper drinking and working through that because a lot of our work is throught the Fox Valley and are community based programs. So we are working with them to teach them how to cope in a community,” said Mark Wolfgram with Fox Valley Special Olympics.

The event serves as a qualifier for the State Summer Games held in Stevens Point next month.

JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) – A 42-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for an attack that left two young girls with life-threatening injuries in Walworth County.

The Janesville Gazette reports Larry Shannon, of Whitewater, stared at the ceiling and smirked as he was sentenced Friday.

In February, he was convicted of tying up two girls for hours after slashing their necks with a kitchen knife, sexually assaulting one girl and leading law enforcement on a two-county chase in October 2012.

Judge David Reddy sentenced Shannon to life with no chance of extended supervision for causing great bodily harm during the sexual assault of a child younger than 13. For the remaining 11 convictions, he was sentenced to another 145 years and nine months of confinement with 60 years of extended supervision.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The third inmate who walked away from a corrections boot camp in western Wisconsin has been captured in Minnesota.

Minneapolis police say Jesse J. Fairly was located at about 11 a.m. Saturday, he surrendered and was taken into custody.

He and two others walked away from the St. Croix Correctional Center in New Richmond on Wednesday night. It’s a minimum security facility where the men were taking part in a boot camp program that includes manual work assignments and discipline.

The other two, Kyle J. Peterson and Andre L. Vance, were arrested Friday in Wisconsin.

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says: “The American dream is out of reach.” In his comments Saturday, he was trumpeting a theme he’s touched on during his earlier visits to South Carolina.

Addressing the Citizens United Freedom Summit in Greenville Saturday, Walker said: “It’s not out of reach because of Wall Street. It’s out of reach because of K Street,” a reference to lobbyists in Washington.

He said government needs to get of the way and power needs to be put back in the hands of the American people.

Walker hasn’t yet declared his candidacy for president in 2016, but with an active political organization and repeated visits to the early voting states, he’s all but sure to get into the race later this year.

He’s already a popular figure among many in South Carolina for his efforts as governor to weaken Wisconsin’s public employee unions.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Much like his entire career, Jerry Kelly was just another player on the golf course Friday at The Players Championship.

Tiger Woods kept the biggest gallery wondering how much longer they would see him when he flirted with missing the cut until he delivered a moment rarely seen of late. He made a putt that mattered, a 10-foot birdie that allowed him to stick around for two more days.

In the afternoon, Rory McIlroy made it easy on himself – by his standard at the TPC Sawgrass – with a dull round of 71 that kept him in contention. Dull can be good on the Stadium Course that meted out its share of punishment.

And the island-green 17th was wild as ever.

What most everyone missed was the 48-year-old Kelly carving up the front nine with five birdies that carried him to a 7-under 65, giving him the low round this week and share of the lead with Kevin Na.

“I enjoy adrenaline,” Kelly said. “I am 48. I know it almost ravages the body as much as it helps it as you start getting older, but I would like to hang out for another couple of days and have some fun with it.”

Kelly and Na, who settled down after a wild start for a 69, where at 8-under 136. Both have some history on this golf course.

Na was the 54-hole lead at The Players three years ago until he faded under intense scrutiny of serious swing issues.

Kelly had a two-shot lead over Woods in 2001 going into a final round that took two days to complete because of storms. Woods went on to win, and two weeks later he completed his grand sweep of the majors at Augusta National.

Fourteen years later, Kelly and Woods are in different roles.

“I figured I would have another chance at this golf course,” Kelly said. “I didn’t think it would be that long, but it’s just strange. This whole career has gone by in the blink of an eye.”

Kelly and Na were two shots clear of Rickie Fowler (69), Chris Kirk (68), David Hearn (71) and Branden Grace (67).

Not much is left from all that star power on both ends of the draw at the start of the week.

McIlroy was in a featured grouping of the new generation, but the other two – Masters champion Jordan Spieth and Jason Day – now are old news. Spieth spent too much time trying to save par and finished with a meaningless bogey for a 72 to miss by three shots. Day started the second round tied with McIlroy and had two 7s on his card within four holes. He closed with a double bogey for an 81.

Phil Mickelson, who played in the group ahead of Woods, had two 6s and a 7 on his way to a 76 to miss the cut for the third straight year.

“I was thinking to myself as I was walking around, ‘I can’t believe I’ve actually won here,’ you know?” Mickelson said.

Woods, in his first start since he showed a remarkable short-game recovery at the Masters, hovered around the cut line most of the day until he got to the par-5 ninth for his last hole. He choked up for a soft pitching wedge to 10 feet, made the birdie and showed the kind of emotion he once reserved for big shots and big moments.

That gave him a 71 for even-par 144, making the cut on the number.

Given the nature of the Stadium Course, and the quality of the field, making the cut on the number means he was only eight shots out of the lead.

“I feel like I’m playing well enough to get myself up there,” Woods said. “I just need one good round and narrow up that gap between myself and the lead, and I feel like I can do that.”

Na was a different player in 2012. He was vilified for his slow play, which he attributed to having the yips with his swing. He simply couldn’t take the club back, and there times that when he did, he would purposely swing over the ball so he could start over. It was difficult to watch. It was even harder on Na.

But he has battled through it and came into The Players at No. 22 in the world ranking.

“I think I’m mentally tougher because I had gone through that, and I’m a lot more happier,” Na said.

Fowler was poised to close in on the lead until his approach on the par-5 16th drifted too far right and went into the water for a bogey. Fowler bounced back with a birdie on the island green at the par-3 17th, and he had a 3-foot birdie attempt that fooled him on the 18th.

Even so, he was two shots behind and brings a little extra motivation with him. In a magazine survey of players, in which they didn’t have to give their names, Fowler and Ian Poulter tied with 24 percent of the vote for the most overrated on tour. Fowler has won twice worldwide and is No. 13 in the world, mainly on the strength of his four top-5 finishes in the majors last year.

“If there’s a time where I need something to kind of give me a kick in the butt, then I can think of that and it will put me in the right frame of mind to go out there and take care of business,” Fowler said.

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

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s police officers are expected to be wearing body cameras this fall, but the police chief first wants to get public input on how officers should use them.

The department has ordered 10 cameras, at $400 apiece, but police chief Susan Riseling says they are back-ordered right now because so many other departments around the country are buying them.

At a recent public listening session with students and faculty, Riseling asked whether officers should have their cameras turned on in health care facilities, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.

That’s where 25 percent of use-of-force incidents take place, she said.

“This is one of the key things that we battle, we’re battling with,” said Riseling. “At first our thought was, ‘Yeah – hospital, medical, just turn it off.’ And then we ran the numbers and realized, ‘Wow, will our public be OK with that?'”

Riseling said in creating a policy, she has looked at policies already in place in departments around the country. Public input will also play a big role in shaping the department’s policy, she said.

She doesn’t expect the cameras to change the way her officers interact with the public, she said.

The cameras will never be “a substitute for values, for training, for supervision, and for holding people accountable,” she said. The camera’s real purpose would be to document interactions, so both police and the public can evaluate where force is used, Riseling said.

COMBINED LOCKS – More than 500 volunteers are giving back to the community.

With hammers, saws and a lot of paint, 14 homes are getting a makeover.

It’s all a part of a nonprofit organization called Rebuilding Together Fox Valley.

Now in it’s 15th year, Rebuilding Together’s “National Project Day” gives dozens of organizations and volunteers the opportunity to help low-income residents.

Korrie Van Lith’s home needed a new roof, windows and paint.

“So far, it’s perfect… they did a nice job,” said homeowner Korrie Van Lith.

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