Green Bay News

GREEN BAY — Mark your calendars if you want the chance to see the Packers this offseason. The team released some important offseason dates on Monday and announced when their 2015 training camp will start.

The Packers will hold Rookie Orientation Camp Friday, May 8th and Saturday, May 9th. Those practices will be closed to the public, but you can see updates on FOX 11.

The Packers announced three days during their Organized Team Activities where there will be practice open to the public. Those are Thursday, May 28th, Tuesday, June 2nd and Wednesday, June 10th. Practices will be at 11:30am on Clark Hinkle Field and will be open to fans, weather permitting.

Mandatory minicamp, which generally has one practice open to fans, will be from Tuesday, June 16th through Thursday, June 18th. The specific schedule has not yet been released.

Green Bay’s first 2015 training camp practice will be on Thursday, July 30th. Players will report on Wednesday the 29th.

BALTIMORE (AP) – Baltimore police say they have arrested a man on a handgun charge near the scene of recent rioting over the death of a man fatally injured in officers’ custody.

A Baltimore police officer who briefed reporters at the scene said police did not fire their weapons and that no one was wounded.

Live television coverage and photos tweeted from the scene showed medics putting a man in an ambulance and a large police presence, with officers lining up to apparently block one street. The officer said the man did not want to be treated in the ambulance but was taken to a hospital anyway.

The activity is taking place in the Penn North neighborhood, where police first spotted Freddie Gray on April 12. He was arrested and fatally injured in police custody. Six officers were charged Friday in Gray’s death.

BOSTON (AP) – A Tennessee woman searching for the stranger she kissed while running the Boston Marathon this year says she finally heard back – from the mystery man’s wife.

Barbara Tatge says her daughter had dared her to kiss a random, good-looking man as she ran through the town of Wellesley, where the women of Wellesley College traditionally offer kisses to runners.

After the April 20 race, her daughter took to social media to try to find the man, who clearly left an impression on her mom.

Tatge says The Wellesley Townsman, a Boston-area news outlet, passed on a letter addressed to her Sunday after the campaign generated nationwide attention.

The unidentified man’s wife said the attention was fun but that the couple wanted to remain anonymous.

“When this story aired on the news we were pretty surprised,” the mystery man’s wife wrote in a portion of the letter quoted by The Townsman. “For me, I’m not mad. Believe me, our friends have gotten a lot of mileage out of this story and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them give my husband grief!”

The wife continued: “While this may not be the ending that you had hoped for, that spontaneous, silly moment in Wellesley captured the fun, energy and spirit of the Boston Marathon. I greatly admire your spunk and courage and wish you many happy races in the future. Congratulations on your Boston finish!”

Tatge says she wrote back to the wife Monday, thanking her for her graciousness and good humor.

“The letter was so kind and good-hearted,” she said. “She’s a great sport, and he’s fortunate to be married to someone like her.”

Tatge also apologized for any embarrassment the search may have caused.

“I just wanted her to know that the media firestorm stemmed from my loving daughter’s good-hearted dare,” she said. “I didn’t want to cause any discomfort to him or his family.”

Tatge said she’s been touched by the support she’s received but is happy to move on.

She also hopes to run the Boston Marathon again but with one important caveat: “Moving forward, I’m going to revert to only kissing single men.”

Oshkosh North coach Troy Schaefer talks about his team’s 6-1 win over Appleton North on Thursday in Fox Valley Association baseball action.

The Spartans scored three runs in the first inning and that was enough for pitcher Brian Brown, who allowed just one unearned run in a complete-game victory.

MENASHA – The Trestle Trail Bridge connects the City of Menasha to the Town of Menasha’s Fritse Park.

Park officials are hoping the tragedy won’t take away the positives it has added to the community.

“It’s supposed to be a fun place but unfortunately tonight and this morning that’s not the case,” said Mike Kading, Town of Menasha Parks and Recreation Director.

For now the swings remain still, the trails unused and the park empty.

Police officials closed Fritse Park after Sunday night’s shooting that left four people dead and one critically hurt. It’s something Kading says has never happened before, “This is a positive place, the trail is very busy. If you come here on the weekends its hard to find a parking spot.”

Kading says more than 300,000 people use the Trestle Trail bridge every year. Security cameras were installed to the park building in 2009 but there are no cameras on the bridge.

“I think cameras are good for after the events. They’re not so good, if ah, at not making crime happen,” Kading said, “This is very unfortunate and very sad for the people involved but it’s about people in the Fox Valley who are hardy people. We will overcome and we will reclaim this as a positive experience.”

Photos of severe weather that hit Northeast Wisconsin on May 3, 2015.

DENMARK — Good pitching always beats good hitting and if that’s the case then the Denmark baseball team is in good shape in terms of having a successful season.

The Vikings have an embarrassment of riches on its pitching staff this season, with four hurlers having signed national letters of intent. Ryan Pelischek, Jack Collins, Tanner Umentum and Derek Van Pay are college-bound pitchers who have led the Vikings to a 14-0 start this season.

“It’s nice to coming to every ball game knowing that we have somebody on the mound that’s going to keep you in the game,” coach Bill Mueller said. “They work hard throughout the season; offseason, they put a lot time in to get better.”

With the four pitchers being seniors, this is their last chance to reach the state tournament. Last season, Denmark was a No. 1 seed but had its postseason cut short in regionals.

Everyone wants to go as far as we possibly can, so every day we put in as much hard work as we can and get better every day,” said Pelischek, a left-hander. “That’s the ultimate goal, of course. That’s what every team’s goal should be.”

Once the postseason is complete, the four pitchers will move onto college with Collins and Pelischek going to the University of North Dakota, while Umentum is headed to Chicago State and Van Pay to St. Cloud State.

“The group of guys we have here is really special,” said Collins, a left-hander. “A lot of us in the offseason work out on Saturday mornings, all four of us. Even as freshmen we were always working and trying to get better.”

Miller has the luxury of marching out a premier pitcher for almost every game, but once in a while “another” pitcher gets a chance. It’s tough to follow in the footsteps of the foursome which has done so much.

“This is pretty remarkable, actually,” Van Pay said. “We kind of joke around to some of the guys that pitch a little bit that they are the best fifth string in the state.”

All four senior pitchers get along, and Umentum said when one of the pitchers allows just a hit, it doesn’t go unnoticed. The rest do what they can to spark the pitcher on the mound to make sure no more hits are surrendered.

“During the games one of the guys will allow the hit and we’ll just ride him the whole way through the inning, trying to get him motivated, get this next guy out,” Umentum said. “Just get them a little edge on their shoulder.”

The approach has worked for Denmark, which is off to a great start. This week, the Vikings will have their biggest Bay Conference test with home-and-home games against West De Pere.

They are the only perfect teams in conference plays this season.

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

Wisconsin’s inland fishing season opened on May 2, 2015.

Photos submitted to ReportIt, May 3-9, 2015.

Submitted May 3, 2015 by Debra Ryan of Neenah, who writes:

“Arrived at Fritse Park shortly after the shooting and taped a couple scenes.

Location: Fritse Park in Town of Menasha”

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) – Ferguson is paying an attorney $1,335 an hour to help the St. Louis suburb negotiate and possibly litigate reforms pressed by the Justice Department since Michael Brown’s shooting death by a police officer there last summer, according to a newspaper report.

The Ferguson City Council unanimously decided behind closed doors in March to hire Dan K. Webb of suburban Chicago at an hourly rate that Missouri Lawyers Weekly, a legal publication, said is nearly double Missouri’s highest attorney billing rate last year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. That tab doesn’t include the expenses and fees of any lawyers or paralegals in Webb’s firm who may work on the case.

Webb, 69, is a former federal prosecutor whose clients in private practice have included Philip Morris, Microsoft, the New York Stock Exchange and former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a Republican who served prison time after being convicted of federal racketeering and fraud charges.

Webb prosecuted former National Security Adviser John Poindexter during the Iran-Contra scandal, leading to Poindexter’s conviction of conspiring to mislead Congress, obstructing congressional inquiries and making false statements. That conviction was overturned on appeal.

Webb will work with the Justice Department, which spent seven months probing Ferguson’s police department and municipal court after white Ferguson officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old, in August.

A St. Louis County grand jury and the U.S. Justice Department declined to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November. But the Justice Department released a scathing report citing racial bias and racial profiling in the Ferguson Police Department and a profit-driven municipal court system that frequently targeted black residents.

After the report, Ferguson’s city manager, police chief and municipal judge resigned. The municipal court clerk was fired for racist emails.

Now it’s up to the Justice Department and the city to negotiate an agreement to reform the police department and municipal court.

A Ferguson spokesman declined to publicly discuss the hiring of Webb.

Brian Fletcher, a Ferguson council member elected in April, said the city faces a $2 million to $3 million budget deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30, and will likely face a similar deficit next year. That’s without the cost of implementing any reforms or paying Webb’s legal bill.

“The city wanted somebody who could try the case if necessary if they had to. But they don’t want to do that,” Webb told the newspaper. “And it’s clear to me that the Department of Justice doesn’t want to do that . I have resolved a lot of cases in my time.”

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The state Senate is poised to vote on a bill that would clear the way for a 70 mph speed limit on at least some Wisconsin roads.

The bill would allow the state Department of Transportation to decide where to raise the limit from 65 mph to 70 mph. The measure would prohibit the DOT from raising the limit on four-lane roads with at-grade access, however.

The Senate is set to vote on the measure on Wednesday. It would then go to the state Assembly. That house passed the bill in March before legislators added the at-grade restriction. Both houses must pass an identical bill before it can go to Gov. Scott Walker for his signature.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation reports more people have died on Wisconsin roads last month than April 2014.

With 44 deaths last month in Wisconsin, traffic fatalities in April were 19 more than in April 2014, an increase of 43 percent.

As of April 30, 146 people have died in state traffic crashes, including nine motorcyclists, 11 pedestrians and two bicyclists.

Traffic deaths through April were 35 more than the same period in 2014 and 14 more than the five-year average.

GREEN BAY – After just one year of college football, Quinten Rollins made enough of an impact on the Packers’ front office to become a second round draft pick. Rollins is no stranger to making quick impressions.

“He was only here a year and the team just gravitated to him,” said Miami University cornerbacks coach John Hauser. “He’s a natural leader.”

Rollins was the MAC defensive player of the year for the RedHawks after completing a seven interception senior season. Hauser said Rollins went to his basketball coach and expressed an interest in playing football. According to Hauser, Miami head coach Chuck Martin watched Rollins at practice “and said absolutely. We’ll take him, for sure.”

“First impression was he looked really good,” said Hauser. “I liked that. We didn’t have a lot of six-foot corners.”

Hauser said he and the defensive staff knew right away they had something, but didn’t know exactly what. Hauser often uses basketball as a teaching tool for his corners when talking about press coverage, so Rollins had a head start there – he is second in RedHawks basketball history in career steals, only former NBA player Ron Harper had more.

With a new staff and smaller-than-hoped roster, the RedHawks didn’t tackle live during preseason practices, so coaches didn’t know where to play Rollins or if he could tackle. The first game of the season against Marshall they played him as the cornerback to the “field” side, the wider part of the field from where the ball is snapped. Rollins had one tackle that day, but broke up two passes – the only two broken up by RedHawks defenders.

“After the first game we knew, ‘ok, he can play wherever we want,’” said Hauser.

The RedHawks often matched Rollins up against their opponent’s best receiver, in addition to using him in blitzes and to help against the run. Rollins finished the season with those 7 interceptions, but also 72 total tackles with 4 for loss. He returned one interception for a touchdown, defended 16 passes and forced a fumble.

Hauser and his staff were ecstatic to see one of their own picked in the second round of the draft. Calling his former pupil a “playmaker,” someone who can change the game, Hauser lauds Rollins’ maturity. He says the rookie will be a “veteran-type guy” right away in his work ethic, a comment that could be said of other Green Bay rookie success stories like Randall Cobb and David Bakhtiari.

“[Rollins is] just a great kid,” said Hauser. “He’s a professional. He was one of the easiest kids I’ve ever had to coach. You didn’t have to ever tell him to do something: he was always going to do the extra stuff. He’s a great dad to his daughter, was a great teammate to our players.”

OSHKOSH – EAA AirVenture event organizers announce Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band will return for the fifth time since 2008 on Friday, July 24.

The DAV (Disabled American Veterans) and the EAA Warbirds of America will sponsor the concert at the Boeing Plaza stage.

Sinise is best known for his role as Vietnam veteran Lt. Dan Taylor in the film, Forrest Gump and as star of the hit TV series CSI: New York. Sinise plays bass in the band and is a well-known supporter of veterans and active-duty personnel.

The cost to attend the concert is included with the day’s admission to EAA Airventure.

“The performance by Gary and the band is always outstanding, but we know that we’re doing this to honor all the veterans and active duty personnel who are here at AirVenture,” said Harold Cannon, president of EAA Warbirds of America.

The Lt. Dan Band covers a variety of music including Bruce Springsteen to Beyonce and the Zac Brown Band.

GARLAND, Texas (AP) – One of two gunmen who opened fire with assault rifles at a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas has been identified by a law enforcement official as a man who was on the FBI’s radar four years ago during a terrorism investigation. Authorities credited an off-duty officer working security at the event with saving lives by killing the gunmen.

At an apartment complex in Phoenix where the FBI says one of the gunmen lived, federal agents spent hours Monday examining a white minivan. They later began inspecting a second vehicle, a silver sedan, and took photographs of papers taken from the trunk.

FBI agents canvassed the Autumn Ridge Apartments complex to speak with residents as members of the Phoenix police bomb squad, wearing protective armor and helmets, assisted in the search.

Authorities believe the apartment belonged to a man a federal law enforcement official identified as Elton Simpson. The official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said investigators were searching Simpson’s property in connection with the case.

A second law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, confirmed that Simpson was the same man named in court documents as convicted in 2011 in federal court in Phoenix of making a false statement by lying to an FBI agent about whether he had discussed traveling to Somalia. According to the documents, Simpson had discussed with an FBI informant a desire to travel to Somalia, but denied to an FBI agent that he’d had any such discussions.

According to trial testimony, Simpson is an American Muslim who became the subject of a criminal investigation in 2006 because of his association “with an individual whom the FBI believed was attempting to set up a terrorist cell in Arizona,” U.S. District Judge Mary H. Murgia said in her order convicting Simpson.

“I’m telling you, man, we can make it to the battlefield,” Simpson said in May 2009, according to a recording of him and an FBI informant disclosed during Simpson’s trial. “It’s time to roll.” The FBI said Simpson had reserved a flight to South Africa for Jan. 15, 2010. He was arrested the day before the flight.

Prosecutors alleged that the false statement involved terrorism, but Murgia’s order said prosecutors hadn’t proved that part of the allegation. Another federal judge later sentenced Simpson to three years of probation.

Authorities in Texas, meanwhile, described a dramatic confrontation Sunday evening outside the Curtis Culwell Center in the Dallas suburb of Garland.

Police spokesman Joe Harn said Monday that two men stopped at a parking lot entrance blocked by a police vehicle. They came out of their car armed with assault weapons and began firing on an off-duty Garland officer and an unarmed security guard who also were getting out of their vehicle to question the men, Harn said.

The gunmen were wearing body armor, he said, and one shot the guard in the leg. The officer returned fire and struck both men, killing them. The guard was treated for his injury at a hospital and released.

Harn said investigators searched the men’s car and detonated several suspicious items, but no bombs were found in the vehicle. Additional ammunition was found inside.

“We were able to stop those men before they were able to penetrate the area and shoot anyone else,” Harn said.

The unidentified officer, who was not hurt, “did a very good job and probably saved lives,” he added.

Harn did not directly answer questions Monday as to whether the gunmen were acting in response to Sunday’s event, but said, “obviously they were there to shoot people.”

A resident of the Phoenix apartment complex said two men who lived in the apartment being searched largely kept to themselves but that one was friendly on occasion.

Bob Kieckhaver, who was among the residents who were evacuated for about nine hours from units near the apartment, said one of the men had a beard and wore an Islamic version of a prayer cap. He was quiet but the second man was more open and would greet others at the mailboxes. Both men were seen feeding stray cats, he said.

According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad – even a respectful one – is considered blasphemous. Drawings similar to those featured at the Texas event have sparked violence around the world.

The contest Sunday, hosted by the New York-based American Freedom Defense Initiative, was awarding $10,000 for the best cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The event featured speeches by American Freedom Defense Initiative president Pamela Geller and Geert Wilders, a Dutch lawmaker known for his outspoken criticism of Islam. Wilders received several standing ovations from the crowd and left immediately after his speech.

Wilders, who has advocated closing Dutch doors to migrants from the Islamic world for a decade, has lived under round-the-clock police protection since 2004.

In January, 12 people were killed by gunmen in an attack against the Paris office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had lampooned Islam and other religions and used depictions of Muhammad. Another deadly shooting occurred the following month at a free speech event in Copenhagen featuring an artist who had caricatured the prophet. Tens of thousands of people rallied around the world to honor the victims and defend the freedom of expression following those shootings.

Geller, whose group is known for a campaign against the building of an Islamic center blocks from the World Trade Center site, told the AP before Sunday’s event she planned the contest to make a stand for free speech in response to outcries and violence over drawings of Muhammad. She said in a statement after the shooting that it showed how “needed our event really was.”

Harn said the city had not received any credible threats before the shooting and a security plan for the event had been worked out over several months. He said additional security was hired for Sunday’s event. The sponsoring group has said it paid $10,000 for off-duty police officers and other private security.

The wounded security officer was shot in the lower leg, Harn said. He was treated and released from a hospital.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama was informed about the shooting. He said the president believes there is no form of expression that would justify an act of violence.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement condemning the attack, saying “Violence in response to anti-Islam programs like the one in Garland is more insulting to our faith than any cartoon, however defamatory.”

___

Associated Press reporters Brian Skoloff, Paul Davenport and Ryan Van Velzer in Phoenix and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Likely presidential candidate Scott Walker is in Michigan telling Republicans that tax cuts grow the economy.

The Wisconsin governor also told the Ingham County GOP on Monday that the government should measure success by “how many people are no longer dependent” on Medicaid, food stamps and unemployment benefits.

Walker is visiting a day before Michigan voters decide whether to increase taxes to improve deteriorating roads. He didn’t mention the measure backed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican.

Before the lunch event at an Oldsmobile museum in Lansing, Walker met with the family of ex-Marine Amir Hekmati, who’s being jailed in Iran.

Walker’s visit is the same day retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson announced a Republican presidential bid in Detroit and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul attended an event in Grand Rapids.

MADISON (AP) – Wisconsin students would have to pass the civics portion of the U.S. citizenship test to graduate from high school under a bill that a Republican legislator introduced.

Rep. James “Jimmy Boy” Edming’s bill calls for students to correctly answer at least 60 of 100 questions on the civics section of the test taken by those seeking U.S. citizenship. Examples of questions include how many amendments have been added to the Constitution (27), naming a branch of government (legislative, executive or judicial) and which war Dwight Eisenhower served in as a general (World War II).

Students would be allowed to retake the test until they pass. The requirement would apply to students at public schools, charter schools and schools participating in the state’s voucher program, which subsidizes private school tuition. The requirement would go into effect beginning with the 2016-17 school year.

Arizona and North Dakota have implemented similar requirements.

Edming, a freshman legislator from Glen Flora in northwestern Wisconsin’s Rusk County, wrote in a April 24 memo seeking co-sponsors that he’s shocked at how few people understand the workings of the U.S. government. He said Wisconsin high schools should help instill the responsibilities of citizenship.

“(The bill) will help ensure knowledge of the United States and its government and foster greater civic participation within our students,” he wrote.

A half-dozen Republicans, including five Assembly members and one senator, Van Wanggaard of Racine, have signed on as co-sponsors. The Assembly’s state affairs committee has scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday afternoon. A spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he supports the bill.

A state Department of Public Instruction spokesman didn’t immediately return a voicemail message.

NEENAH – Watch the complete news May 4, 2015 news conference on a shooting on the Trestle Trail in Menasha that left four people – including the shooter – dead and another victim hospitalized.

Dr. Raymond Georgen of Theda Clark Medical Center, Menasha Police Chief Tim Styka and Winnebago Co. Coroner Barry Busby spoke at the news conference one day after the shooting.

Click the play button above to watch the video or click on the links to the left for more coverage of the incident.

NEENAH – Victims killed on the Trestle Trail Bridge in the city of Menasha Sunday night have ties to a private Christian school, according to the school’s principal.

Ron Halma tells FOX 11’s Bill Miston that one of the families at Fox Valley Christian Academy was involved in the shooting that left four people dead, including the suspected shooter. A fifth victim, a female in her thirties, is currently in critical condition at Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah.

Fox Valley Christian Academy is closed for the day because of the incident. However, Halma says a prayer service is set for 1 p.m. at the school’s worship center, located at 1450 Oakridge Rd. in Neenah. He says parents, students and the public are welcome to attend.