Green Bay News

O.H. Schultz Elementary’s snack pack program is for students who are offered free, or reduced lunch. Every Friday, students are provided a package including healthy snacks, books and educational games provided by FFA and community donations. Jordan relates the importance of giving to other people in need.

Zach Sand, O.H. Schultz Elementary School 2nd Grade Teacher, states that compassionate values provided by this program are reflected in students like Jordan, who outwardly want to help.

Public School Experience airs weekly in Good Day Wisconsin and FOX 11 NEWS at 5 and 9pm.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker has approved 1 percent pay raises for two small state employee unions.

Walker signed the deals into law on Wednesday after they passed the Legislature unanimously.

The new contracts are with the Wisconsin State Attorneys Association and the Building Trades Negotiating Committee.

The deals are for the current fiscal year only and the 1 percent raises are equal to raises other state employees have received. No pay increases are proposed in Walker’s budget for the two-year period that begins July 1.

TOWN MENASHA – A National Day of Prayer event is being organized for Thursday to honor those who lost their lives during the tragic shooting on Trestle Trail Bridge this past Sunday.

Organizers say the event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a 15-minute prayer on the Trestle Trail Bridge.

Following prayer, the community is welcome to share a meal at Fritse Park on the west side of the bridge. Organizers ask you bring a lawn chair and food to pass such as hot dogs, buns, condiments, potato salad, chips, and dessert. All leftovers will go to local food pantries.

Town of Menasha police expect the event to be large, and have made arrangements for additional parking.

Overflow parking for Thursday’s event will be at Kimberly Clark, 401 N. Lake Street. Shuttle buses will be provided to the park and back.

• Click here for event details

SANAA, Yemen (AP) – Yemen’s Shiite rebels and their allies consolidated their hold in another part of the southern port city of Aden on Wednesday after heavy fighting with militiamen loyal to the exiled government and capturing the area’s presidential palace, officials said.

The latest advance by the rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies, loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, showed they are still combat ready despite Saudi-led airstrikes.

The rebels took Aden’s southwestern Tawahi district, killing the area’s military commander, Maj. Gen. Ali Nasser al-Hassani, and seizing the palace, military officials said.

U.S. forces once used the palace as an operations center and training facility for anti-terrorism forces after rebels captured Sanaa last September, they said. Experts and trainers left this spring when clashes began in Aden.

Gunmen reportedly shot at residents trying to flee Tawahi by boat, while several hundred families managed to flee elsewhere in Aden by sea, said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman of the United Nations secretary-general.

Meanwhile, security officials said airstrikes continued throughout the country, killing dozens of rebels and their allies. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren’t allowed to brief journalists.

The U.N. human rights office says at least 646 civilians have been killed in Yemen since the airstrikes began March 26. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s government in exile in Saudi Arabia puts the civilian death toll at least 1,000. At least 300,000 people have been displaced.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin urged the international community to intervene to rescue civilians he said the Houthis deliberately targeted.

“We appeal coalition forces to do all they can as soon as possible to salvage Aden,” he said, adding that any negotiations over the country’s future could not include Saleh or his family members.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he hopes to secure a pause in the war as he prepared for Thursday talks in Saudi Arabia.

___

Associated Press writer Cara Anna at the United Nations contributed to this report.

AVON PARK, Fla. (AP) — A central Florida woman helped save herself and her children by sending a message in an online pizza order that asked employees to call 911 because she was being held hostage.

The Avon Park Pizza Hut employees spotted what Cheryl Treadway wrote in the comment section of her online order. Employees recognized Treadway as a regular customer and called the sheriff’s office.

Highlands County Sheriff’s deputies went to the home, where they were greeted by Treadway, who was carrying a small child. She told them her boyfriend, Ethan Nickerson, 26, was inside the home, armed with a knife. Her other two children were also inside.

Treadway and the child were escorted to safety.

WFLA-TV reports Lt. Curtis Ludden started talking to Nickerson through a closed door.

“His first words were, of course, ‘I’m not coming out because I know I’m going to jail,'” Ludden told the TV station.

It took about 20 minutes for Ludden to talk Nickerson into coming out peacefully. The children were not harmed.

According to an arrest report, the couple had been arguing throughout the day, as Nickerson carried a knife. When Treadway started to leave to pick up her children from school, Nickerson grabbed her and took her phone away. He went with her to the school.

Deputies say she eventually talked Nickerson into letting her use her phone to order a pizza. But immediately after sending the request, Nickerson took the phone back.

Nickerson was arrested and now faces multiple charges including aggravated assault with a weapon without intent to kill, battery and false imprisonment. He remained in the Highlands County Jail on Wednesday and bond has been set at $45,000. Jail records didn’t indicate whether he has hired an attorney.

Authorities credit Treadway’s quick-thinking and the fast response by deputies for a peaceful conclusion.

“I don’t know if I would have thought of it,” Ludden said of the message in the pizza order. “I mean it’s just something she did so naturally. The boyfriend never knew about it until he saw us coming around the corner.”

The cry for help was also a first for Pizza Hut manager Candy Hamilton.

“We’ve never seen that before,” Hamiton said. “I’ve been here 28 years and never, never seen nothing like that come through.”

 

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Senate’s leader says he’s talking to his colleagues to gauge support for repealing or revising Wisconsin’s prevailing wage law but a committee’s moves this week is making the picture fuzzier.

Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald told reporters Wednesday that he’s having one-on-one conversations with his caucus about what they would support.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has said he doesn’t have the votes to pass a repeal in that house. Regardless, Sen. Stephen Nass, the Senate’s labor committee chairman, has plunged ahead on a bill that would repeal the law.

He held a public hearing on the measure Tuesday and has scheduled a committee vote on Thursday. He’s also introduced an amendment that would retain the prevailing wage for expensive state projects.

Fitzgerald says those moves are making things complicated.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A fraternity chapter at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been kicked off campus after breaking the terms of its suspension.

Eric Knueve, a spokesman for the university, in a press release Wednesday said the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity chapter was terminated for hosting events while the organization was suspended for previous violations.

He said a university committee had suspended the fraternity for several consecutive semesters for previous offenses. The committee voted to terminate the chapter after an investigation determined that members intentionally violated terms of their suspension.

Knueve says the fraternity will lose its student organization status, including the ability to hold events for at least two years.

Knueve says the fraternity can appeal the decision.

A spokesman for the fraternity didn’t immediately respond to a voicemail requesting comment.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says expanding the private school voucher program probably can’t be done as Gov. Scott Walker has proposed.

Vos commented on the issue Wednesday after a new revenue forecast predicted no growth in the next two years above previous projections.

Walker proposed lifting the 1,000-student enrollment cap in the statewide voucher program, with funding for the expansion coming from public school districts that lose students. However, his approach has run into opposition from voucher advocates who worry it will lead to lower vouchers for participating students.

Vos says Republicans want to ensure that those already receiving vouchers don’t see a reduction. He says they have not yet talked about expansion.

Banana Coconut Cream Pie:

1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
4 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup shredded coconut
2 large bananas
¼ tsp nutmeg (optional)

Directions:

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Mix well, then slowly whisk in egg yolks then the milk. Cook over medium heat(or in a double boiler), stirring constantly, until mixture thickens* and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Stir butter or margarine and vanilla extract into mixture. Add shredded coconut and mix thoroughly. Cool in your refrigerator. Pour ½ of the mixture into pie shell, slice bananas over mixture, top with remaining filling. Chill at least 2 hours before serving. Garnish with whipped cream.
*mixture will thicken but not boil if using a double boiler.

Boston Cream Pie:

1 (18.25 oz.) Yellow Cake mix prepared as directed on box for 2 9 inch rounds.
2 9inch foil pie pans
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
4 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 container Chocolate icing(store bought) or 1 Recipe chocolate frosting

Directions:

Slice prepared cake rounds in half. This recipe will make two cream pies. In a large saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Mix well, then slowly whisk in egg yolks then the milk. Cook over medium heat(or in a double boiler), stirring constantly, until mixture thickens* and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Stir butter or margarine and vanilla extract into mixture. Refrigerate until cool. Remove top layer of cake in both pans. Pour ½ of the mixture onto cake layers, place top cake layer over mixture. Chill at least 2 hours, ice top cake layer with Chocolate frosting. Return to refrigerator until ready to serve.

*mixture will thicken but not boil if using a double boiler.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — High above New Orleans, a small plane rolled in tight barrels, trailing smoke to create inspirational messages: smiley faces, peace signs, hearts and words like “jazz,” ”amen” and — in a true testament of flying ability — “transform.”

Over seven days of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, a skywriter inscribed smoky messages that captivated the hundreds of thousands gathered below.

New Orleans entrepreneur Frank Scurlock conceived the idea and hired skywriter Nathan Hammond to pen the fanciful, fleeting art.

Scurlock, whose family runs a bounce castle manufacturing and rental company, said the messages were simply his way of reminding people that goodness can still flourish in a world that seems increasingly marred by violence.

In this May 2, 2015 photo, a giant heart hangs in the sky at sunset after skywriter Nathan Hammond wrote several days-worth of messages, relating to hope and love, over New Orleans, during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

“This is just a simple way for people to just look up in the sky, and say ‘Wow, what a great world that we live in,’ and a chance to believe and have faith in not only today but in the future,” he said.

Hammond flew his plane down from Kentucky to be here for Jazz Fest, which runs for seven days over the course of two weekends. The festival ended Sunday.

“We’re out here just kind of spreading the love, over the top of New Orleans,” Hammond said. He said he generally does commercial work for a company or an event with the occasional request for a marriage proposal. But Scurlock’s request was completely different. The entrepreneur hired him for 10 days, three flights a day.

Hammond has to keep his wits — and spelling — about him when he’s flying in tight loops or barrels. He estimates the letters to be about a mile tall, although they could stretch up to 10 miles, depending on the message.

On the ground, festival-goers were transfixed.

“I’ve seen him all week. I’ve taken pictures of him every single day and enjoyed him and wondered who did it. Every time they would start a word, we’d try to figure it out before they finished what it is,” Mary Mouton of New Orleans said.

 

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — There’s a slight chance that storms carrying large hail and tornadoes could move through parts of the Great Plains on Wednesday, the National Weather Service said, a path stretching through Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and North Texas.

It’s too early to tell how many storms could flare up or in which region, according to Richard Thompson at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, noting that the storms will likely be widely spaced apart.

“It’s possible the hail at the very biggest could be tennis ball- or baseball-sized but that would be very isolated,” Thompson said. “If everything worked the right way, there could be a tornado.”

The weather service says there is a 5 percent chance for tornadoes in the region, a 15 percent chance for severe hail and a 15 percent chance of 50 mph or stronger winds.

The severe weather is expected to last from about 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday, though storms are projected daily throughout the region through Saturday.

“This is the first of potentially several days of a severe weather risk,” Thompson said. “There could be some pretty heavy rain overnight and eventually flooding could be a concern.”

Areas of central Oklahoma saw heavy rainfall and some flooding overnight and early Wednesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Jonathan Kurtz said. Nearly 4 inches of rain fell in Norman, where the Oklahoma Department of Transportation shut down several on-ramps to Interstate 35. Construction crews worked Wednesday morning to pump water from the area and plan to install a temporary drain.

“People just really need to stay weather aware, have a plan and understand that severe storms are possible across portions of the southern plains almost daily through Saturday,” Kurtz said.

 

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Senate has approved a bill designed to curb using GPS devices to track people.

The measure would make placing a GPS device on another person’s vehicle without permission a misdemeanor punishable by up to nine months in jail and $10,000 in fines. The measure carves out exceptions for police, parents and business owners tracking company vehicles.

The Senate passed the measure on a voice vote Wednesday. The Assembly passed the measure in February. The Senate tweaked the bill’s language slightly on Wednesday so the measure must return to the Assembly. Both houses must pass an identical bill before it can go to Gov. Scott Walker for his signature.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Motorcycle owners would be able to attached colored lights to their bikes under a bill the state Senate has approved.

Current Wisconsin law prohibits operating a motor vehicle with lights other than white or amber in front and red in the rear. The bill’s main sponsor, Republican Rep. John Jagler of Watertown, says colored LED lights are becoming more popular on motorcycles. Under the bill, people could equip their motorcycles with any color lights aside from red, blue or amber as long as they shine down and don’t flash or rotate.

The Assembly passed the bill last month. The Senate passed the bill on a voice vote on Wednesday. The bill goes next to Gov. Scott Walker.

GREEN BAY – If you take the Ray Nitschke (Main St.) Bridge to work, you’ll need to go a different way Friday morning.

The Green Bay Public Works Dept. says the bridge will be closed from 4 a.m. until noon. Crews will be doing their annual spring cleaning and maintenance.

The bridge will be closed to traffic between Broadway on the west and Washington St. on the east. Traffic crossing the river will be detoured to the Tilleman (Mason St.) Bridge. via Ashland Ave., Mason St. and Monroe Ave.

Boaters on the Fox River should expect delays up to 90 minutes.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Senate has approved a bill that would allow Wisconsin transportation officials to raise the speed limit on some roads to 70 mph.

The bill would permit the Department of Transportation officials to raise the limit to 70 mph on roads they deem fit. The proposal would prohibit DOT from going to 70 on four-lane roads with at-grade access, however.

The Senate passed the measure on a voice vote on Wednesday. It goes next to the state Assembly. That chamber passed the bill in March before legislators added the at-grade prohibition. Both houses must pass an identical bill before it can go to Gov. Scott Walker for his signature.

A Walker spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to an email inquiring about whether the governor supports the measure.

NEW YORK (AP) – On the same day McDonald’s said it would begin testing delivery in New York, an order placed for two cheeseburgers, two large fries and a vanilla shake took about a half-hour to arrive at The Associated Press headquarters.

The whipped cream on the shake was a little melted, and an order of apple slices was missing. But the burgers and fries were warm.

The bill came to $23.32, including tip – nearly double the cost if a reporter had walked around the corner to the nearest McDonald’s to pick up the food.

The world’s biggest burger chain said Monday that it was starting the test and teaming up with Postmates, a service that is also working with Chipotle and Starbucks. It’s the latest sign that fast-food chains are eager to figure out ways to feed customer demands for greater convenience.

Already, Burger King has offered delivery in select regions since 2012. Others are experimenting with quicker takeout: Taco Bell lets customers order and pay in advance on its mobile app, and Starbucks said it plans to offer mobile pay-ahead later this year.

For fast-food chains, working with Postmates is a way to move into delivery by tapping into an existing network. Postmates compares itself to the car service Uber, and says it has a “fleet” of 10,000 delivery people who work as independent contractors.

Its partnership with fast-food companies is a bit odd, since Postmates offers delivery from a wide array of restaurants. That means people could already get some McDonald’s, Starbucks and other food delivered in the two dozen major metropolitan areas where Postmates operates.

By officially linking up with Postmates, however, companies can exert greater control over the process, said Holger Luedorf, head of business development at Postmates.

With Chipotle, for instance, the delivery fee is capped at $7.99 and the chain’s menu is optimized for the Postmates app. Chipotle says delivery is available wherever Postmates operates. And Starbucks is integrating Postmates into its app as part of its delivery rollout in Seattle later this year. The coffee chain said there will be a flat delivery fee, which hasn’t yet been disclosed.

Without providing details, Luedorf said Postmates is in talks with other companies as well.

Still, a big part of the attraction of fast-food is that it’s cheap, so the demand for it will hinge on whether people think the added cost is worth the indulgence.

Postmates’ delivery fees range from $5 to $20, depending on the distance, said April Conyers, a Postmates representative. There’s also a 9 percent service fee, and the tip.

McDonald’s said the test with Postmates in New York City includes 88 restaurants. The company and Postmates did not provide details on how the pilot differs from regular Postmates deliveries of McDonald’s.

Here’s how two Postmates deliveries of McDonald’s in New York City went:

ORDERING

Orders can be placed online or through the Postmates app. The AP placed orders on two separate days – one for breakfast and one for lunch.

After searching for McDonald’s, the app and website gave locations within several blocks from the AP office, but the one that is closest wasn’t on the list.

Once the orders were accepted, an image of the delivery person appeared on the screen along with their customer rating and phone number.

Confirmation emails for each order said the deliveries would take up to an hour, but both arrived in about a half-hour.

Afterward, Postmates sent prompts to select tip amounts and rate the delivery person.

(And they offered to reimburse the cost of the missing apples.)

FEES

Timing seems to play a role for delivery fees. For a McDonald’s roughly three blocks away in New York City, the delivery fee for the order of burgers, fries and a shake in the late afternoon came to $5.50.

However, an attempt to order an Egg McMuffin at 7 a.m. resulted in an $11 delivery fee.

There was no explanation for the doubled fee on the website, but a notification on the app said “blitz pricing” was in effect. About 20 minutes later, the delivery fee came back down to $5.50

The 9 percent service fee is fixed. The tip options of 10, 15 or 20 percent are calculated based on the total cost of the order, including the delivery fee.

Add it up, and a $12.79 order ended up costing $23.32, including a 20 percent tip. Another order that would have cost $3.80 in the store ended up costing $11.57, including tip.

DELIVERY

Delivery people are paid with 80 percent of the delivery fee and tips.  In New York, they can choose to walk, bike or drive to make their deliveries.

They don’t wear special uniforms, but are given delivery bags that help retain heat.

Michael Rothberg, a 27-year-old delivery person, said Postmates ran a background check on him and that he attended a 1-hour orientation before starting work.

Rothberg, who is graduating from medical school in three weeks, said he signed up for Postmates to get some extra spending money. He said he can check the “hot spots” for deliveries on his phone, and gets alerts on deliveries, which he can choose to accept.

Based on his cut of the delivery fee and a 20 percent tip, his pay to deliver an Egg McMuffin was $6.33.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Senate has passed a bill adjusting election recount fees.

Currently recounts are free if the margin is less than 10 votes with fewer than 1,000 votes cast or less than half-a-percent in larger elections.

Requesters pay $5 per ward if the margin is 10 votes in smaller elections or falls between half-a-percent and 2 percent in bigger contests. Requesters pay full costs if it’s greater than 2 percent.

Under the bill, recounts would be free if the margin is less than 10 votes with fewer than 4,000 votes or no more than 0.25 percent in larger elections. Otherwise requesters would pay full costs.

The Senate passed the measure on a voice vote Wednesday. It goes next to the Assembly.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Senate has approved a bill that would phase out Wisconsin’s SAGE program.

The Student Achievement Guarantee Program provides aid to schools if they maintain an 18-to-1 or 30-to-2 teacher-student ratio for low-income students in kindergarten through third grade. Schools enter into five-year contracts under the program.

The bill would prohibit new SAGE contracts or renewals beyond one-year extensions for deals that expire this spring. The measure would create a program called Achievement Gap Reduction. That program would allow existing SAGE schools to earn aid by implementing tutoring, coaching for teachers or maintaining SAGE classroom ratios. Unlike SAGE, all participating grades wouldn’t have to adhere to the ratios.

School boards would have to review performance in each participating school every semester.

The Senate passed the bill 31-2 Wednesday.

Take a animated look at drought conditions in California and across the U.S.

MENASHA – For the third day in a row, the City of Menasha is offering counseling services to people affected by Sunday evening’s deadly shooting on the Trestle Trail Bridge.

Members of the Fox Cities Victim Crisis Response Team are available Wednesday until 8:30 p.m. at the Menasha Public Library.

Police say three innocent people were killed Sunday. As community members grieve, health experts expect the demand for counseling to continue for some time.

FOX 11’s Andrew LaCombe will have a complete story tonight on FOX 11 News at Five.