Green Bay News

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Wild birds are believed to be behind the first major widespread outbreak of bird flu in the United States, with the virus confirmed in the animals in 10 states. The number of birds infected climbed to more than 9 million Monday with more reported cases in Iowa. Here are some questions and answers about how wild birds remain healthy even when carrying the virus and spread it to backyard and commercial flocks of chickens and turkeys.

WHAT’S THE LATEST ON THE NUMBER OF BIRDS INFECTED?

The number of chickens and turkeys infected with avian influenza climbed again with four more probable cases in northwest Iowa totaling an estimated 2.3 million birds. A national laboratory is doing additional testing, but Iowa officials said four chicken farms appear to be infected, including an egg-laying operation with about 1.7 million birds.

HOW DID THE VIRUS ARRIVE STATESIDE?

Disease experts believe a portion of it came from European and Asian strains of bird flu that readily cause illness and death in birds and mixed with a North American strain that was less likely to cause severe illness as birds from different regions crossed migratory paths.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Geological Survey have reported three versions of bird flu in 57 cases confirmed since December, starting first with domestic backyard flocks, wild captive birds and wild aquatic birds in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Additional cases surfaced in January and February on the West Coast, and by March, cases emerged in the Midwest.

WHICH WILD BIRDS CARRY THE VIRUS?

Bird flu has been found in more than 100 species of wild birds, but most are low pathogenic viruses – present, but don’t sicken or kill it. The virus can be left behind in wild birds’ feces, on feathers and on the bodies of dead birds. Birds confirmed to have carried the virus currently spreading infection in the United States include ducks, Canada geese and predatory birds.

HOW DOES THE VIRUS GET INTO COMMERCIAL BARNS?

USDA Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. John Clifford has said it’s not entirely clear how the virus gets into commercial barns, which are mostly enclosed, but there are likely several ways. In some cases, the virus may enter on clothing or shoes of workers, although commercial operations have strict biosecurity guidelines for changing clothes and disinfecting items. Clifford also speculates wind could be carrying the virus in on dirt particles or feathers through barn ventilation openings. Officials are exploring all possibilities in an effort to identify and eliminate identified pathways, Clifford said.

IS IT THE FIRST SUCH OUTBREAK IN THE U.S.?

It’s the first widespread one that’s affected millions of commercially raised chickens and turkeys, but there have been sporadic cases of low pathogenic versions before. In 2004, an outbreak of H5N2 was found in a flock of 7,000 chickens in Texas, marking the first outbreak of a high pathogenic strain in 20 years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

WHAT DO THE NUMBERS AND LETTERS MEAN WHEN IDENTIFYING VIRUS STRAINS?

The numbers specify proteins on the flu virus surface. One set has a long scientific name starting with an H numbering 1-16 and the other has a long name starting with an N and number 1-9. The protein mixture determines whether the virus can attach only to bird cells, infect other animals or attach to human cells. In all, there are 144 ways the proteins can mix to create different versions of the bird flu, ranging from H1N1 to H16N9.

COULD BIRD FLU SICKEN AMERICANS?

There have been no confirmed cases of illness in humans associated with the current H5N2 bird flu virus, leading scientists to believe it cannot easily attach to human cells. There is an increased chance of human infection, the CDC says, because bird flu viruses have been known to mutate into versions that can jump to humans.

WHAT CAN I DO TO AVOID THE BIRD FLU?

The CDC recommends observing wild birds only from a distance and avoiding contact with surfaces that appear to be contaminated with bird feces. Also, avoid contact with domestic poultry that appear ill or have died and properly handle and cook poultry products.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Tuesday is a potential watershed moment for America’s gay and lesbian couples. After rapid changes that have made same-sex marriage legal in all but 14 states, the Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether it should be the law of the land.

All eyes will be on the justices for any signals that they are prepared to rule that the Constitution forbids states from defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. On the sidewalk outside, people have been waiting in line since Friday for prized seats for the historic arguments.

The cases before the court come from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, all of which had their marriage bans upheld by the federal appeals court in Cincinnati in November. That is the only federal appeals court that has ruled in favor of the states since the Supreme Court in 2013 struck down part of the federal anti-gay marriage law.

The first state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry was Massachusetts, in 2004. Even as recently as October, barely a third of the states permitted it. Now, same-sex couples can marry in 36 states and the District of Columbia, a dramatic change in the law that has been accompanied by an equally fast shift in public opinion.

Now that everyone else has weighed in through mountains of legal briefs, the justices get to say, or at least hint, what they will decide. On Tuesday, five lawyers will present arguments over 2½ hours to help the court conclude whether, on this question, the 14 remaining states must join the rest of the country.

The main thrust of the states’ case is to reframe the debate.

“This case is not about the best marriage definition. It is about the fundamental question regarding how our democracy resolves such debates about social policy: Who decides, the people of each state or the federal judiciary?” John Bursch, representing Michigan, wrote in his main brief to the court.

Other arguments by the states and more than five dozen briefs by their defenders warn the justices of harms that could result “if you remove the man-woman definition and replace it with the genderless any-two-persons definition,” said Gene Schaerr, a Washington lawyer.

The push for same-sex marriage comes down to fairness, said Mary Bonauto, who will argue on behalf of the plaintiffs. The people who have brought their cases to the Supreme Court are “real people who are deeply committed to each other. Yet they are foreclosed from making that commitment simply because of who they are,” she told reporters last week.

Arguments made by Bonauto, other lawyers for same-sex couples and more than six dozen supporting briefs have strong echoes of the 1967 Loving v. Virginia case, in which the Supreme Court struck down state bans on interracial marriage. In that case, the justices were unanimous in finding that those bans violated the constitutional rights of interracial couples.

No one expects unanimity this time around. But many people believe the justices will take the final step toward what gay rights supporters call marriage equality, in part because they allowed court orders in favor of same-sex couples to take effect even as the issue made its way through the federal court system.

That was action through inaction, as other judges played a major role over the years. Only 11 states have granted marriage rights to same-sex couples through the ballot or the legislature. Court rulings are responsible for all the others.

Forty-three years ago, the Supreme Court swept away the appeal of two men who wanted to marry in Minnesota in just one sentence.

“That did not work out well because the country was not ready to see us in the way it sees us now,” said James Esseks, leader of the American Civil Liberties Union’s gay rights effort.

More recently, the Supreme Court has advanced rights for gay and lesbian Americans in three decisions dating back to 1996, each written by Justice Anthony Kennedy. In the most recent, in 2013, the justices divided 5-4 and threw out part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that prevented legally married same-sex couples from receiving a range of federal benefits. Kennedy, joined by his four more liberal colleagues, explicitly left open the issue now before the court in an opinion that mixed his well-known belief in individual dignity with his views on the important role of the states in American democracy.

The federal government’s refusal to recognize valid same-sex unions “humiliates tens of thousands of children now being raised by same-sex couples. The law in question makes it even more difficult for the children to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives,” Kennedy wrote.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the longest and most acerbic of three dissents in that case. He correctly predicted that people seeking the right to marry and judges hearing those cases would rely on Kennedy’s opinion to take the next step and strike down state marriage bans.

Tuesday’s courtroom drama will unfold in front of the few hundred people who are lucky enough to score seats. The line began forming on Friday and stretched around the corner by Monday morning, as opponents of same-sex marriage held a news conference in front of the court.

The opponents spoke in favor of legislation, already introduced, that would strip the justices of authority to decide the issue. “We hereby demand that judges cease and desist from undermining the will of the American people,” opponent Janet Porter said, reading from one of more than 300,000 proclamations Porter said have been sent to the court and Congress.

Gay rights advocates stood nearby. One sign held aloft read, “Don’t like gay marriage? Don’t get gay married.”

A decision is expected in late June.

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. (AP) – A sailboat skipper says the wind from a deadly storm that played havoc with a weekend race in Mobile Bay came so suddenly, it just “shot off the charts” and her boat nearly capsized.

Fifty-two-year-old Susan Kangal told The Associated Press on Monday that she and her all-female crew of two adults and five teens were preparing to weather the storm on a 34-foot racing cruiser Saturday afternoon when the wind suddenly shot from 15 or 20 mph to more than 70 mph.

Kangal, who is an experienced sailor, says, “everything went white,” and the boat heeled over so far she could see water easing over its side.

Her boat remained upright, but others flipped. Two people were killed and four are still missing.

The full lineup of “Jeopardy!’s” Celebrity Week, including Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, has been announced.

Three of the fifteen celebrities will compete every day from May 11-15. The winner claims at least $50,000 for a charity of his or her choosing; second- and third-place winners claim at least $10,000 for charity.

Rodgers will be playing for the Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer Fund, it has been announced. His episode is set to air May 12. He’ll be going up against “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary and retired astronaut Mark Kelly.

O’Leary posted a photo of the three, along with host Alex Trebek, on Twitter, when they were together to tape the episode in March.

Ok contest time. Who can name the other 2 contestants, host and name of this iconic game show? Watch May 12! pic.twitter.com/UfNLLrUAnM

— Kevin O'Leary (@kevinolearytv) April 1, 2015

Here is the full list, in alphabetical order:

Celebrity Famous For Charity John Berman CNN co-anchor, “Early Start with John Berman & Christine Romans” Friends of Karen Neil Flynn Actor, “The Middle” Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Josh Gad Actor, “Frozen,” “The Comedians” Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Vince Gilligan Creator, “Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul” Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond (Va.) Penn Jillette Magician, comedian Opportunity Village, Las Vegas Mark Kelly Retired astronaut, U.S. Navy Captain Memorial Hermann Foundation (Houston) Wendi McLendon-Covey Actress, “The Goldbergs” WomenShelter of Long Beach (Calif.) Debra Messing Actress, “The Mysteries of Laura” PSI/Youth Aids Kevin O’Leary Entrepreneur, “Shark Tank” Martin P. Solomon Medical Education Scholars Program (Boston) Zachary Quinto Actor, “Star Trek,” “The Slap” Direct Relief Mo Rocca Humorist, Journalist, “CBS Sunday Morning,” “My Grandmother’s Ravioli” Inner-City Scholarship Fund (New York) Aaron Rodgers Quarterback, Green Bay Packers Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer (MACC) Cynthia Rowley Fashion Designer The FEED Foundation / Public Art Fund (New York) Bellamy Young Actress, “Scandal” Operation Blankets of Love (OBOL) Ginger Zee Meteorologist, “Good Morning America” Susan G. Komen West Michigan

Watch “Jeopardy!” weeknights at 6:00 on FOX 11.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average national price of a regular gallon of gasoline has jumped 13 cents in the past two weeks to $2.58.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that higher crude oil prices caused the run-up at the pump. However, the price is $1.11 below the mark a year ago.

Los Angeles has the highest-priced gas in the Lower 48 states at $3.30 a gallon. The low average was in Tucson, Arizona, at $2.20.

The average price in California is up 17 cents, to $3.23.

Lundberg says pump prices could climb by a few more pennies as gasoline prices catch up to oil prices.

 

DALLAS (AP) — A severe storm system that swept across parts of Texas over the weekend brought numerous reports of tornadoes, damage to buildings, large hail and several inches of rain, the National Weather Service said Monday.

The weather service’s Forth Worth office said it had received reports of twisters in rural Johnson and Hill counties but hadn’t yet confirmed them.

Some homes and other buildings were flattened in the aftermath of the storm Sunday while other structures had their roofs torn away or were damaged by falling trees. There were no accounts of injuries.

Residents east of Rio Vista, Texas,clean up Monday, April 27, 2015, after a severe storm system swept across parts of Texas Sunday night. The storm brought numerous reports of tornadoes, damage to buildings, large hail and several inches of rain. There were no accounts of injuries. (Rodger Mallison/Fort Worth Star-Telegram via AP)

Hail described as the size of ping pong balls, and larger, showered the area.

National Weather Service forecaster Lamont Bain said Monday that severe weather reached Comanche, Erath, Somervell, Bosque, Hill and Johnson counties. He said Glen Rose received more than 4 inches of rain.

Part of the Waxahachie police headquarters south of Dallas flooded as water several inches deep rushed into the building.

Anita Foster, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross, said in a statement Monday that her agency is assessing the damage and providing assistance to families.

“Overnight, Red Cross teams provided cots and blankets for the shelter set up in Maypearl, and stood by for shelter needs in Johnson, Hood and Erath counties,” she said. “The event is still unfolding with flash flooding throughout the area.”

More severe weather was forecast for North and East Texas through Monday, with forecasts calling for winds up to 70 mph, hail and the possibility of tornadoes.

Other parts of Texas, meanwhile, were lashed by heavy rains. The weather service on Monday issued a flash-flood watch for parts of the Panhandle. Amarillo had received up to 2 inches of rain as of Monday morning, and moderate to heavy rainfall was forecast through the day.

Strong thunderstorms in the Houston area Monday downed trees and damaged homes and buildings.

The Texas Department of Transportation reported heavy rains have led to standing water on roads in Alto and other parts of East Texas, and in Hardeman County, northwest of Wichita Falls near the Panhandle.

 

BALTIMORE (AP) — Thousands were expected Monday at a funeral for a man who died after suffering serious spinal injuries while in the custody of Baltimore police.

Services were planned for 11 a.m. EDT for Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who died April 19 after an encounter days earlier with police left him with grave spinal injuries. Pastor Jamal Bryant, who was to deliver Gray’s eulogy, said he expected Baltimore’s New Shiloh Baptist Church to be filled for the service.

A small group of mourners was lined up about two hours ahead of the funeral. As they began filing into the church, the white casket with Gray’s body was opened, flanked by floral arrangements. A rope was placed in front of the casket to prevent people from getting too close. One person used a cellphone to take a photo of the body.

Placed atop Gray’s body was a white pillow with a screened picture of him. A projector aimed at two screens on the walls showed the words “Black Lives Matter & All Lives Matter.”

On Sunday, the White House said the head of President Barack Obama’s initiative for young men of color would attend the funeral. Broderick Johnson, chairman of the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force and a Baltimore native, is to be joined by two other administration officials, according to the White House.

At Gray’s wake Sunday, mourners who didn’t even know him filed in a steady stream for hours into a funeral home. Some supporters stood outside with signs that read, “We remember Freddie” and “Our Hearts Are With The Gray Family.”

Melissa McDonald, 36, who said she was Gray’s cousin, wore a shirt with “Freddie Forever” printed on the back. She described her cousin as a nonviolent person.

“He didn’t deserve to die the way he did,” she said.

Gray’s wake followed demonstrations Saturday that turned violent. Roughly 1,200 protesters rallied outside City Hall on Saturday afternoon, officials said. A smaller group splintered off and looted a convenience store and smashed storefront windows. A protester tossed a flaming metal garbage can toward a line of police officers in riot gear as they tried to push back the crowd. Earlier, a group of protesters smashed the windows of at least three police cars.

Some 34 people were arrested, according to Baltimore Police Department, and six police officers sustained minor injuries.

During a news conference Sunday, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called for protesters to be peaceful.

“At the end of the day, we are one Baltimore. We need to support peaceful demonstration and continue to enforce in our communities that rioting, violence, and looting will not be tolerated in our city,” the mayor said. “Together we can be one Baltimore and seek answers as we seek justice and as we seek peace.”

Gray’s death has prompted near-daily demonstrations. Gray was arrested one week before he died when officers chased him through a West Baltimore neighborhood and dragged him into a police van.

Police said Gray was arrested after he made eye contact with officers and ran away. Officers held him down, handcuffed him and loaded him into the van. While inside, he became irate and leg cuffs were put on him, police have said.

Gray asked for medical help several times, beginning before he was placed in the van. After a 30-minute ride that included three stops, paramedics were called.

Authorities have not explained how or when Gray’s spine was injured.

Police acknowledged Friday that Gray should have received medical attention on the spot where he was arrested — before he was put inside a police transport van handcuffed and without a seat belt, a violation of the police department’s policy.

___

Associated Press writer Amanda Lee Myers contributed to this report.

 

LACEY, Wash. (AP) — A government teacher is being hailed as a hero after tackling a 16-year-old student who fired two shots into the air Monday at a Washington state high school, police and students said.

No one was injured after the teen shot toward the ceiling in the school commons before classes began at North Thurston High School in Lacey, about 60 miles southwest of Seattle, authorities said. The shooter is in custody.

Brady Olson, who teaches Advanced Placement government and civics, stopped the shooter, according to school officials and students.

“If anyone in the school were to do something like he did, I would think it would be him,” said Teia Patan, 17, who saw the shooting but did not see Olson tackle the gunman. “He’s one of those people who watch over kids.”

Patan was swept into a classroom and then escorted out of the building after the shooting. He described his high school as a nice, calm school, with no bullying.

“When it was happening, I first thought it has to be fake,” said Patan, a senior in one of Olson’s civics classes.

District spokeswoman Courtney Schrieve told The News Tribune newspaper that she also heard reports that Olson took down the gunman.

“He’s a very large guy, he’s a very popular teacher, and I can see him doing that,” Schrieve said.

Patan said a friend of his reported talking to Olson after the shooting but didn’t offer any more details.

 

BOSTON (AP) — A lawyer for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev urged a jury Monday to spare the young man’s life, portraying him as “a good kid” who was led astray by his radicalized and belligerent older brother.

David Bruck delivered the defense’s opening statement in the penalty phase of Tsarnaev’s trial, saying there is no punishment Tsarnaev can get that would be equal to the suffering of the victims.

“There is no evening the scales,” Bruck said. “There is no point in trying to hurt him as he hurt because it can’t be done.”

Tsarnaev, 21, was convicted of 30 federal charges in the twin bombings that killed three spectators and wounded more than 260 other people near the marathon’s finish line on April 15, 2013. He was also convicted of killing an MIT police officer during the Tsarnaev brothers’ getaway attempt.

This stage will determine whether he is executed or spends the rest of his life behind bars.

Bruck urged the jury to sentence the defendant to life in prison without the possibility of ever being released.

“His legal case will be over for good, and no martyrdom, just years and years of punishment,” the lawyer said. “All the while, society is protected.”

Bruck focused heavily on Tsarnaev’s now-dead brother, Tamerlan, saying he led the plot and provided the “fuel” to drive the plan. He said Tamerlan was “consumed by jihad” and had “power” over Dzhokhar, who admired his older brother.

Bruck contrasted Tamerlan with Dzhokhar, saying Tamerlan was loud and aggressive, got into fights, failed at everything he did and never held a steady job, while Dzhokhar was a good student in high school, was loved by his teachers there, had many friends and never got in a fight.

“He was a good kid,” the lawyer said. But he said Tsarnaev started going downhill in college.

Tsarnaev was a 19-year-old college student at the time of the bombing. His brother, 26, was killed days after the attack when he was shot by police and run over by Dzhokhar during a chaotic getaway attempt.

The first two witnesses called by the defense Monday described two incidents at a local mosque when Tamerlan Tsarnaev became angry and interrupted prayer services.

Loay Assaf, an imam, said that in one of those incidents, in January 2013, Tamerlan became furious when Assaf likened the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to the Prophet Muhammad. Assaf said Tamerlan began shouting at him and calling him a hypocrite.

The prosecution made its case in the penalty phase last week, calling victims and family members to the stand to recall in heartbreaking detail the blood, the screams and the terror of the attack and the pain and grief it continues to inflict.

Prosecutors portrayed Tsarnaev as an unrepentant killer who gave the finger to the security camera in his jail cell three months after his arrest. The startling photo and video were shown to the jury last week.

Bruck downplayed the gesture, saying Tsarnaev was “acting like an immature 19-year-old.”

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration moved on two fronts Monday to advance its nuclear diplomacy with Iran, with talks between top U.S. and Iranian diplomats and an aggressive effort to sell the emerging deal to skeptical American lawmakers and constituencies.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif were to meet Monday in New York for the first time since world powers and Iran sealed a framework agreement on April 2 that would limit Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon. They now have little more than two months to meet their own deadline of June 30 for a comprehensive accord.

In Washington, lead U.S. negotiator Wendy Sherman told a conference of reform Jews that diplomatic collapse would leave Iran perilously close to nuclear weapons capacity. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said a final agreement would in some ways be tougher than what the U.S. has outlined thus far.

All the activity was taking place before the Senate begins debate Tuesday over empowering Congress to review and possibly reject any nuclear pact. Republican presidential candidates are lining up to oppose any deal with a government the U.S. considers the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and to show their support for Israel.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida wants to require Iran’s leaders to publicly accept Israel’s right to exist, a nearly impossible mandate. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas hopes to put the onus on advocates to win congressional approval of a deal, and not on opponents to gather enough votes for rejection.

Kerry and Zarif are reconvening after their marathon negotiations in Switzerland with several questions outstanding. Particularly problematic for President Barack Obama and his team are how quickly sanctions would be eased for Tehran in exchange for nuclear concessions, and how to snap economic restrictions back into place quickly if Iran is caught cheating.

At a breakfast meeting with journalists, Moniz, a former MIT physics department head, provided some new detail on the combination of technical limits that the U.S. says would keep Iran at least a year away from assembling enough fissile material for one nuclear weapon for at least a decade.

Hours after the framework was announced, the U.S. said Iran would be permitted to keep 6,104 centrifuges installed. Of these, a little more than 1,000 could be kept at Iran’s deeply buried facility at Fordo that may be impervious to U.S. or Israeli air attack. None of those would be permitted to enrich uranium, material that can be used in a nuclear warhead.

Moniz said no advanced centrifuges can be installed or developed at that site for 15 years. And in a new twist, he said only one-third of the 1,000 centrifuges there can actually “spin” over that period. The rest will be “just sitting there,” he said.

The details are significant because they provide another piece of how American officials calculate that they’d have enough time to detect any Iranian push toward a bomb and respond. Tehran says its program is solely designed for energy, medical and research purposes, but Washington and many other governments distrust Iran’s motives.

Nowhere does skepticism seem higher than on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are wrestling with how tough to make legislation on Iran that has gained the tacit approval of Obama.

Proponents of the bill are trying to discourage any changes to the legislation. They recognize that politically driven amendments could undermine Democratic support and sink the carefully crafted measure.

“Anybody who monkeys with this bill is going to run into a buzz saw,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a possible White House candidate, warned ahead of this week’s debate.

Sherman, the State Department’s undersecretary for political affairs, said if talks fail to produce a final deal, Iran would be two to three months from being able to produce enough material for a weapon.

Speaking to the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, she said the president would reconsider support for the bill if it is distorted by amendments. “There will be a lot of pretty awful amendments, quite frankly, and we’ll see where we end up,” Sherman said.

The bill was approved 19-0 by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It has 62 co-sponsors from both parties.

The legislation would block Obama from waiving congressional sanctions for at least 30 days while lawmakers weigh in. And it would stipulate that if senators disapprove the deal, Obama would lose authority to waive certain economic penalties — an event that would certainly prompt a presidential veto.

Among proposed additions to the bill are demands that Iran release any U.S. citizens it is holding and refrain from any cooperation with nuclear-armed North Korea. Another insists that any agreement be treated as an international treaty, requiring two-thirds ratification by the Senate.

Another set of amendments would block any sanctions relief for Iran until it meets goals the U.S. set years ago as negotiating stances and has long since abandoned.

 

GREEN BAY –  A new bench was installed Monday along the Fox River in Green Bay.

Students at the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College designed a bench to honor former Green Bay  City Planner Dale Preston.

Students spent the semester working on the bench, which is in the shape of a compass.

Executive Director of NEW Water, Tom Sigmund says the bench is a great way to learn about sustainability and community planning, “There is a piece of concrete from the former HWY 41 as it was demolished. So we are trying to bring back a lot of the community and planning into this facility.”

A formal dedication ceremony will be held on May 13.

GREEN BAY – Two key figures in the Green Bay Packers’ 1990s renaissance will be immortalized in Lambeau Field in November.

Former quarterback Brett Favre will have his name and number 4 unveiled on the north facade during halftime of the Nov. 26 Thanksgiving night game against the Chicago Bears. Favre’s number will have been retired by then; that ceremony is scheduled for July 18 to coincide with his induction into the Packers Hall of Fame.

“It will be an incredible honor to be in Lambeau Field on Thanksgiving night with Packers fans and have my name and number placed among the greatest players in Packers history,” Favre said in a news release. “With the great history and tradition of the Packers-Bears rivalry, and remembering the great matchups we had during my career, it seems only fitting to have Chicago as the opponent.”

Favre joins Don Hutson (14), Tony Canadeo (3), Bart Starr (15), Ray Nitschke (66) and Reggie White (92) as the only Packers players to have their numbers retired.

Former general manager of the Green Bay Packers Ron Wolf gets introduced as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2015 on stage at the 4th annual NFL Honors at the Phoenix Convention Center Symphony Hall on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2015. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Invision for NFL/AP Images)

The team also announced that former general manager Ron Wolf’s name will be unveiled on the east facade of the stadium during halftime of the Nov. 15 game against the Detroit Lions.

“To be elevated and officially enshrined in football’s most glorious cathedral will put an exclamation point on my pro football career,” Wolf said in a news release. “It is an honor to be included alongside those greats that made the Green Bay Packers so unique in NFL history.”

Wolf is scheduled to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Aug. 8.

“The Packers are fortunate to have had many great players and general managers in our storied history. You would be hard pressed, though, to name any that have had a bigger impact on the organization than Brett Favre and Ron Wolf. It is fitting that they will be honored in the same season, since they teamed together to return winning football to the Packers in the ’90s,” Packers/president CEO Mark Murphy said in a news release. “We’re looking forward to two very memorable ceremonies to honor these men for their accomplishments.”

The Packers say they will release more details on these games, plus other themes for 2015 home games, later.

MADISON – A UW-Madison student was arrested following an investigation into a sexual assault that happened during the weekend of April 18.

UW-Madison police received a report from a UW-Madison student saying she was sexually assaulted in a southeast residence hall on April 18, approximately 3:00 a.m.

The victim and the alleged offender knew each other.

A 19-year-old student from Neenah was arrested Friday, April 24.  The student was booked into the Dane County Jail.

The incident is currently under investigation by the UW-Madison Police Department.

 

 

Think you know which NFL player, past or present, was drafted in which round? Play the game!

Photos submitted to ReportIt, April 26-May 2, 2015.

GREEN BAY – The newest Packers players will represent the city of Green Bay with their hats.

Green Bay Packers 2015 NFL Draft caps are seen at the Packers Pro Shop, April 27, 2015. The underside of the bill features a graphical representation of downtown Green Bay. (WLUK/Tim Flanigan)

The team unveiled its official NFL Draft cap on Monday. The cap features a drawing of downtown Green Bay on the underside of the bill. The Leo Frigo Bridge features prominently in the design.

Each team’s NFL Draft cap features a similar drawing of its city’s skyline. Players who attend the NFL Draft will wear the caps when they are introduced on stage.

The caps are available for purchase in the Packers Pro Shop in-store and online.

The NFL Draft begins Thursday night in Chicago.

FOND DU LAC – A hospice nurse stranded at climbing camp on Mt. Everest is now safe at a mountain base camp and will leave in the next few days.

Andy Land, 53, left for Nepal last month. Land was on his way up the mountain when Saturday’s earthquake struck. The 7.8 magnitude tremor and aftershocks have claimed at least 3,700 lives in the small south Asian country, including climbers in avalanches on the world’s highest peak.

According to Facebook posts by Land’s wife, Mary Sue, and in an interview with their son Ben, Land told his wife he made it by helicopter to base camp Monday and will trek down the mountain in the next few days.

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“He and his group are all fine,” Mary Sue said in a post on the Climbing for Hospice Facebook page, following his journey. “He said that the devastation at base camp looks like a bomb went through. Many dead bodies.”

“I heard my mom say was he was just waiting to see if an avalanche would come and take everybody out with it, there’s nothing they could really do because they couldn’t leave and it was really scary,” said the Land’s son, Ben, in a phone interview with FOX 11.

“When he got down to base camp, he was telling my mom that it was still kind of scary because he was still at risk – the people who were actually killed by the avalanche at the base camps, at the higher base camps, they’re still at base camp, they haven’t been able to be flown out, so there are dead bodies, at base camp.”

The company Land is climbing with, International Mountain Guides, posted on its website late Sunday it hoped to fly all the climbers on the mountain down to the Everest Base Camp in one day.

 

MENOMINEE, Mich. – Police are still looking for a gun reported to be stolen from a home.

Menominee, Michigan, police say the theft was reported around 5 p.m. Thursday. They later arrested a 16-year-old boy in Marinette, Wisconsin, but did not find the gun.

The gun was described as a Taurus Raging Bull stainless steel .44 Magnum.

Anyone with information is asked to call Menominee police at (906) 863-5568.

MENOMINEE, Mich. – A police chase ended with a man being arrested on drug charges.

Police in Menominee, Michigan, say around 11 p.m. Sunday, they tried to pull over a vehicle driven by a man they thought was involved with illegal narcotics. The driver tried to speed off, leading police on a short chase. The 38-year-old man was eventually arrested.

Police are recommending charges of possession of heroin, resisting and obstructing a police officer and fleeing and eluding.

MADISON (AP) – The legal fight over what type of identification Wisconsin voters can show at the polls and be allowed to cast ballots continues.

The American Civil Liberties Union and state of Wisconsin are still battling more than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge to the state’s voter ID requirement.

The Supreme Court on March 23 declined to hear the ACLU’s appeal of lower court’s ruling declaring the law to be constitutional.

But a number of issues raised by the ACLU in the lawsuit have not been resolved.

In particular, the ACLU wants the state to be required to accept out-of-state driver’s licenses and photo identification cards issued both to veterans and at two-year technical colleges.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice objected in court filings Friday.