Green Bay News

APPLETON –  The Goodwill Grows program teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club of the Fox Valley Wednesday to show off a machine that can grow 900 pounds of food each year.

A little unexpected fun – when cutting the ribbon for the new machine, the giant scissors broke.

The hydroponic machine will help teach children the benefits of healthy eating and growing their own food.

The inventor of the machine, Alex Tyink, said this will be a great experience for children, “What we want to do is to help them understand how to eat well and maybe provide some opportunities to eat some foods they might not have access to on a regular basis.”

Kids will be able to eat the food they grow at the Boys and Girls Club, or to take it home and share with their families.

ASHWAUBENON – A retailer whose headquarters is just down the road from Lambeau Field says its stores will open on Thanksgiving night – despite a Green Bay Packers game going on at the same time.

Shopko says it will once again open its 300 stores around the country on Thanksgiving night for the Black Friday shopping rush.

“While business at our Green Bay and Wisconsin locations may start off slower than normal that evening, as our Wisconsin-based customers root on their hometown team, we expect it will be business as usual for the vast majority of our stores,” read a statement from the company.

Shopko is one of many retailers that have opened the night before Black Friday in recent years as stores race to be the first to open their doors to shoppers.

The Packers are set to host the Chicago Bears at 7:30 p.m. Thanksgiving night. The Packers last played on Thanksgiving in 2013, and have not played a Thanksgiving Day game in Green Bay since 1923.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A federal judge has approved a plan to resolve thousands of NFL concussion lawsuits that could cost the league $1 billion over 65 years.

The NFL expects 6,000 of nearly 20,000 retired players to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or moderate dementia someday. The settlement approved Wednesday by a federal judge in Philadelphia would pay them about $190,000 on average.

The awards could reach $1 million to $5 million for those diagnosed in their 30s and 40s with Parkinson’s disease or Lou Gehrig’s disease, or for deaths involving chronic brain trauma.

The league has been dogged for years by complaints that it long hid the risks of repeated concussions in order to return players to the field.

Players’ lawyers have argued that the settlement will help families get needed financial awards or medical testing that might take years if the case went to trial.

Senior U.S. District Judge Anita Brody approved the deal after twice sending it back to lawyers over concerns the fund might run out. The negotiators did not increase the original $765 million plan, but agreed to remove that number as the cap.

The deal means the NFL may never have to disclose what it knew when about the risks and treatment of concussions.

The league’s top lawyer said Brody’s approval “powerfully underscores the fairness and propriety” of the settlement.

“Retirees and their families will be eligible for prompt and substantial benefits and will avoid years of costly litigation that – as Judge Brody’s comprehensive opinion makes clear – would have an uncertain prospect of success,” NFL general counsel Jeff Pash said in a statement.

The total NFL payouts over 65 years, including interest and $112 million sought for lawyer fees, is expected to be more than $1 billion.

Critics contend the NFL is getting off lightly given annual revenues of about $10 billion. But plaintiffs would have first had to fight their way into court – instead of getting booted to NFL mediation under their players’ contracts – to prevail.

“From a business point of view, (the NFL has) … avoided what may have been the biggest risk to their continued prosperity,” said Andrew Brandt, director of the sports law program at Villanova University law school.

“Removing this as a threat is extraordinary,” he said.

The NFL lawsuits, and similar suits filed later against the NHL, the NCAA and others, has fostered debate, discussion and safety reforms about sports concussions. Yet the NFL games seem to be as wildly popular as ever.

“I know people talk about, it’s dangerous, and mothers won’t let their sons play football. But I don’t see that. I don’t see that at all,” Brandt said.

About 200 NFL retirees or their families have rejected the settlement and plan to sue the league individually. They include the family of Junior Seau, the popular Pro Bowler who killed himself at his San Diego-area home in 2012 after several years of increasingly erratic behavior. An autopsy showed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

Brody most recently asked for several tweaks, including partial credit for time played in NFL Europe and other developmental leagues, to broaden the settlement. Negotiators quickly agreed to her suggestions.

She rejected other complaints raised at a November hearing, including those who say the agreement does not cover future deaths from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease that can only be diagnosed after death, or contemplate the day when it might be diagnosed in the living.

Others oppose the award reductions for older men and those who played in the league for fewer than five years.

“Although objectors insist that there must be compensation for CTE, the NFL parties were unwilling to settle claims based solely on a (diagnosis) … rather than on manifest neurocognitive deficits,” the lead negotiators wrote in a March court filing urging Brody to approve the deal. “Many of the behavioral and mood conditions claimed to be associated with CTE are prevalent within the general public.”

People around the world are celebrating Earth Day, April 22, 2015.

WATERLOO – Trek is recalling about 900,000 bikes.

The Wisconsin-based company says a quick-release lever on the front wheel hub can get caught in the front disc brake assembly. This can cause the front wheel to suddenly stop or even fall off.

One rider was left paralyzed in a crash.

The bikes involved are model years 2000 through 2015 and were made in China and Taiwan.

Trek says it will replace the quick-release mechanism for free.

Click here or call 1-800-373-4594 for more information.

STEPHENSVILLE – After facing criticism from animal rights activists for years, a 44-year-old tradition in Stephensville is ending.

The St. Patrick Parish pig wrestling event was cancelled Wednesday. The parish says they will substitute the event with a Human Foosball Tournament instead.

Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK), an animal rights group, called for a criminal investigation by the Outagamie County District Attorney and Sheriff last year because the church sponsored event violated Wisconsin state law, including animal cruelty and the health and safety of children.

FOND DU LAC – Fond du Lac Fire and Rescue will be holding a news conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss a suspected arson fire that happened last week.

29-year-old Colin Habram was charged Wednesday afternoon.

At 3:00 p.m. officials will talk about the fire that occurred at 410 Ellis Street on April 14. A dog and a cat died in the fire.

Habram faces multiple charges, including two counts of arson and the mistreatment of animals.

MADISON (AP) – Officials with a state board that oversees for-profit colleges are urging Wisconsin legislators to drop plans to eliminate the agency.

A Republican bill would merge the departments of Financial Institutions and Safety and Professional Standards into a new agency. The measure would eliminate the Educational Approval Board and leave authorizing for-profit colleges to the new entity. State consumer protection officials would handle student complaints but many existing regulations on the industry would vanish.

EAB Chairman Don Madelung told the Senate’s workforce development committee on Wednesday that eliminating the board will attract more out-of-state-based for-profits to Wisconsin because they’ll see the state has let its guard down.

Board Director David Dies told the committee that without the board the for-profit industry in Wisconsin would become what he called a “buyer-beware free-for-all.”

GREEN BAY – The expansion of Green Bay East’s automotive program is shifting into high gear.

Here in this auto shop, Rich Sawyer helps more than 130 students a year learn how to fix fenders and find their futures.

“The need is greater than the supply at this point and the only way we can increase the supply is to increase the size of the program,” said Sawyer, of the demand for automotive classes at Green Bay East.

Through funding from the Green Bay School district and partnerships with local auto dealers, that City Stadium Automotive expansion will happen this fall. The $329 thousand transformation will be covered by more than $135 thousand in private donations.

David Cuene with Broadway Automotive says this program will help train workers passionate about cars—something he says is hard to come by in job applicants.

“They’re absolutely not there, and I think this program will help facilitate that, actually,” said Cuene.

Starting in September, students will have two additional stations like this to do hands on work.

“Every station will be fully set up as a station would be at an automotive dealership where a technician would work. They’ll have their own tool bench, their own tool box, organized tools, their own lift, their own computer set up so kids don’t have to share equipment for basic jobs,” said Sawyer.

Students about to graduate say the auto classes provided them with direction.

“Honestly I think without this program I don’t know what I’d be doing. I just, I can’t think of anything I’d be doing other than this program and working on cars,” said Jose Flores, who has already started working at Bergstrom Automotive, and will attend Fox Valley Technical College this coming fall.

And underclassmen say they can’t wait to see the new shop next fall.

“I am very excited,” said junior Victor Perez. “It’s going to be a great opportunity for me and my future.”

Gearing up for the hands on career training they’ll need for the road ahead.

The City Stadium Automotive program will allow students to gain college credit for their high school auto classes. They also will have the ability to become nationally certified as a technician.

MADISON – How much are we paying our politicians when they’re in Madison on official business? That’s the question a viewer asked FOX 11 Investigates to check out. The viewer specifically wanted to know whether there was a change in the way the state Assembly handles expenses.

• Click here to see the per diem expenses for state representatives in 2014.

There was a change back in January. The Assembly changed its per diem rates. That is the money taxpayers pay politicians to cover their expenses. It is meant to cover things like food and lodging.

Under the new policy, the rates for day visits dropped $19 for most state representatives. But the amount they receive when they stay overnight in Madison is up $50.

FOX 11 Investigates is examining not just what happened but why. We traveled to Madison to sit down with one of the leaders in the Assembly. State Rep. Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna) is the Assembly Majority Leader. He says the per diem rates haven’t changed in more than a decade and in that time expenses have gone up.

“We don’t want to have elected representatives with a disincentive to come down to Madison to represent their people back home,” Steineke said. “We want to make sure that their actual costs are covered and they’re not losing money coming down to Madison.”

Some people aren’t very happy about the change. Hear from one of them in our full report Thursday night on FOX 11 News at Nine.

• Click here to see the per diem expenses for state senators in 2014.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Bipartisan legislation aimed at helping the victims of sex trafficking moved toward Senate passage Wednesday after lawmakers solved a partisan dispute over abortion that had sidetracked the bill for weeks.

“An effort to fight back against human trafficking in our country is, without question, no place for gridlock and dysfunction,” Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington said on the Senate floor. “It certainly shouldn’t have taken this long_but I’m pleased that we were able to work together, find common ground, and reach an agreement.”

The legislation, which looked likely to pass by a wide margin Wednesday afternoon, would boost law enforcement resources and create a new fund to help victims. Its approval would clear the way for a vote on President Barack Obama’s pick for attorney general, federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch, whose nomination was put off by GOP leaders until the trafficking bill could be dealt with.

After resolving the abortion dispute earlier this week, Republican leaders including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas resisted efforts by conservatives in their caucus to add immigration-related amendments to the bill that could have invited still more controversy, senators and aides said Wednesday.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said that “I yielded to higher authorities against my better judgment” and withheld an amendment allowing for punishing parents for immigrating illegally with their kids.

“We ended up with no immigration amendments and it could have altered the nature of the bill and debate,” Sessions said. “They wanted another bipartisan accomplishment and it wouldn’t have achieved it.”

In addition to Sessions’ amendment, several others related to immigration were held off, according to senators and aides, including one by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., seeking to eliminate the Constitution’s guarantee that anyone born in this country has U.S. citizenship.

Lynch’s attorney general confirmation vote could come on Thursday. She would replace Eric Holder and become the first black woman to hold the nation’s top law enforcement job. Democrats have railed against the months-long holdup on her confirmation, with Obama last week calling the delays “embarrassing,” even though Democrats controlled the Senate for part of that time and didn’t bring her up for a vote.

The trafficking bill had appeared set for easy passage in the Senate earlier this year until Democrats started raising alarms about language they said represented an expansion of existing prohibitions on spending federal money to perform abortions. A deal negotiated by Cornyn, Murray and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada ensures that a new pot of non-taxpayer money in the victims’ fund – paid for by criminals’ fines – could not go to pay for any medical services, and therefore abortion restrictions wouldn’t apply.

A second stream of money would also go into the fund and be available for medical and health services. It would be $5 million previously appropriated by Congress for Community Health Centers, which is already subject to federal prohibitions on abortion funding.

“This legislation, I think, actually is a very positive step because what it demonstrates is that we have not fallen deaf to the cries of those who actually need our help, the victims of human trafficking,” Cornyn said on the floor. “This legislation will be instrumental in helping victims of sexual abuse and trafficking recover from a life in bondage.”

The House has passed a similar bill.

Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said the White House was reserving judgment until it had a chance to review the final language in the deal, but he also said the endorsement from some Democrats was “certainly an encouraging sign.”

“If we see strong Democratic support, including from champions for women’s health care like Patty Murray, that certainly seems like the kind of thing the president would be able to support,” Earnest said.

The pot of money at issue was quite small, but outside interest groups, including Planned Parenthood, got involved and the bill stalled, even as lawmakers in both parties bemoaned the Senate’s inability to advance such a bill.

Tuesday’s deal allows all sides to claim victory: Republicans for ensuring money for medical procedures is subject to the existing abortion restriction, and Democrats for establishing that the existing restriction isn’t expanded to a new source of money.

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, applauded the agreement, saying, “Thankfully, Sens. Reid and Murray and other women’s health champions held the line” in the negotiations.

Are you experiencing pain if the lower back? It could be caused by a tear or problem with the SI joint. Dr. Limoni with BayCare Clinic joins Living with Amy to talk about how he can help. Take a look.

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s biggest city, in a far-reaching effort to limit its impact on the environment, marked Earth Day on Wednesday by announcing a plan to reduce its waste output by 90 percent by 2030.

Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled his sweeping OneNYC plan, which includes an overhaul of the city’s recycling program, incentives to reduce waste and tacit support for the City Council’s plan to dramatically reduce the use of plastic shopping bags.

New York, with about 8.5 million residents, would be the largest city in the Western Hemisphere to adopt such a plan, which aims to reduce the amount of its waste by more than 3 million tons from its 2005 level of about 3.6 million tons.

“The average New Yorker throws out nearly 15 pounds of waste a week, adding up to millions upon millions of tons a year,” de Blasio said in a statement. “To be a truly sustainable city, we need to tackle this challenge head on.”

The waste reduction plan is part of an update to the sustainability project created by de Blasio’s predecessor, Michael Bloomberg. De Blasio is rebranding it OneNYC and widening its scope, linking it to the signature cause of his administration: combating income inequality.

The mayor pledges to lift 800,000 New Yorkers out of poverty or near poverty in the next decade, one of the largest anti-poverty efforts in the nation’s history, and wants to end racial and ethnic disparities in premature mortality.

De Blasio also reiterated his lofty housing goals — he aims to create 500,000 units of affordable housing by 2040 — as well as new capital expenditure pledges to cut down on commuter times and improve the city’s aging infrastructure.

For decades, the city’s trash has been exported by rail or barge to South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or upstate New York. The new plan would eliminate almost all the garbage exports, which cost more than $350 million annually.

The amount of waste produced by the city has fallen 14 percent since 2005 because of an increase in recycling, and a key component of the plan is to bolster that output by simplifying the process.

Currently, residential buildings have two types of recycling bins. The city’s new single-stream plan, already used by other cities, would consolidate all recycling into one bin by 2020.

Organics — such as food scraps and yard waste — make up 31 percent of the city’s residential waste stream. A program to collect that material directly from residents’ homes is expanding to nearly 200,000 residents by year’s end, and city officials want to serve every home by the end of 2018. The city also will offer economic incentives to participate, including potentially a property tax rebate for homeowners.

The city also aims to reduce commercial waste by 90 percent by 2030 by adopting a program similar to what’s used in residential buildings. That could also mean tax incentives for participating businesses and fines for ones that don’t.

The de Blasio administration stopped short of endorsing a City Council bill that proposes a 10-cent fee on plastic bags, but officials said that reducing their use is a priority and that they would coordinate efforts with the council.

A spokeswoman for de Blasio said some of the funding for the program would be revealed in next month’s budget proposal.

The Zero Waste portion is meant to build on de Blasio’s environmental record, which includes a ban on Styrofoam boxes and the goal to reduce carbon emissions from city buildings by 80 percent by 2050.

WASHINGTON (AP) – A common type of pesticide is dramatically harming wild bees, according to a new in-the-field study that outside experts say may help shift the way the U.S. government looks at a controversial class of chemicals.

But in the study published by the journal Nature on Wednesday, honeybees – which get trucked from place to place to pollinate major crops like almonds- didn’t show the significant ill effects that wild cousins like bumblebees did. This is a finding some experts found surprising. A second study published in the same journal showed that in lab tests bees are not repelled by the pesticides and in fact may even prefer pesticide coated crops, making the problem worse.

Bees of all kinds – crucial to pollinating plants, including major agricultural crops – have been in decline for several reasons. Pesticide problems are just one of many problems facing pollinators; this is separate from colony collapse disorder, which devastated honeybee populations in recent years but is now abating, experts said.

Exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides reduced the density of wild bees, resulted in less reproduction, and colonies that didn’t grow when compared to bees not exposed to the pesticide, the study found.

Scientists in Sweden were able to conduct a study that was in the wild, but still had the in-the-lab qualities of having control groups that researchers covet. They used 16 patches of landscape, eight where canola seeds were coated with the pesticide and eight were they weren’t and compared the two areas.

When the first results came in, “I was quite, ‘Oh my God,'” said study lead author Maj Rundlof of Lund University. She said the reduction in bee health was “much more dramatic than I ever expected.”

In areas treated with the pesticide, there were half as many wild bees per square meter than there were in areas not treated, Rundlof said. In the pesticide patches, bumblebee colonies had “almost no weight gain” compared to the normal colonies that gained about a pound, she said.

University of Illinois entomologist May Berenbaum, who wasn’t part of either study and last year was awarded the National Medal of Science, said in an email that the studies “indicate that, at least with current technology, systemic use of pesticides is fraught with environmental problems.”

The European Union has a moratorium on the use of neonicotinoids and some environmentalists are pushing for the same in the United States.  Rundlof conducted her study just before the European ban went into effect in 2013.

“This paper has the potential of really shifting the conversation,” said University of Maryland entomologist Dennis vanEnglesdorp, who wasn’t part of the study. “Neonics may have a very dramatic effect on these non-managed pollinators in the environment. This is the most definitive work I’ve seen in the area.”

One of the more interesting aspects of Rundolf’s study is that she couldn’t measure an effect on honeybees, just wild native bees. There may be an effect but it would be under 20 percent, she said. The different species of bees respond differently and that only results in confusion because until now, scientists have used the domesticated honeybees as the model for all bees.

Scientists speculated why there is a difference. It could be that honeybees, which have colonies in the tens of thousands, can absorb more losses than the more solitary native bees, which have smaller colonies and have more difficulty getting new queens, Rundlof said.

It could be that because honeybees are more social, “they are probably much better adapted at taking abuse,” said vanEnglesdorp.

While many large farms rely on honeybee colonies, a 2013 study found that wild bees and other insects were more important in pollination than previously thought and far more efficient at pollination than honeybees. Plus, the wild flowers around the world are mostly pollinated by wild bees, said Rundolf’s co-author, Henrik Smith of Lund University.

David Fischer, director of pollinator safety for neonicotinoid manufacturer Bayer CropScience, emphasized the lack of harm found in honeybees, saying “that’s the part of the story that seems to be not being paid attention to.” He said this should be reassuring for beekeepers.

Fischer faulted the Rundlof study for using unrealistically large amounts of the pesticide – 2.5 times what is applied in the United States. He called it “an overdose.” But Rundlof said she used dosages recommended in Bayer CropScience documents that she provided.

Bee scientist Jeff Pettis of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the Rundlof study finds the pesticide is a real problem for wild bees and “it does it under real world, well-replicated conditions” while using realistic doses.

Environmental activist groups are using the study to step up pressure on the U.S. government to ban the pesticide class. Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said federal agencies “must step up and take action to ban these dangerous chemicals before it is too late to save our wild bees.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Heath officials said Wednesday they are working to determine which food from a church potluck might have caused a suspected botulism outbreak that left one person dead and 23 others sick.

Doctors and officials said at a news conference Wednesday that health workers are interviewing those who attended the Sunday potluck at Cross Pointe Free Will Baptist Church in Lancaster to determine what might have caused the outbreak.

Fairfield Medical Center announced Tuesday that one woman had died of the suspected illness and at least 18 were sickened. The number of ill rose to 23 Wednesday.

Dr. Mark Aebi with Fairfield County Health said health officials are collecting samples from the church’s trash bin for leads. They’re also going into homes to test samples of homemade canned items that were used for some of the dishes at the potluck.

Officials have narrowed down their search to a few items that seem suspect, Aebi said.

Dr. Andrew Murry with the Fairfield Medical Center said a botulism antitoxin arrived in Ohio at around midnight Wednesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was then distributed to the several central Ohio hospitals treating the 23 patients with suspected cases of botulism.

Doctors are waiting on test results to confirm the illness, but doctors are fairly certain it’s botulism, Murry said.

Symptoms include blurred or double vision, drooping eyelids, difficulty swallowing and shortness of breath.

Doctors are also confident the illness is specific to those who attended the potluck, not a communitywide outbreak.

“Every person that we’ve seen was at this potluck,” Murry said.

About 50 to 60 people attended the potluck. Doctors said those who attended the event but have not displayed symptoms should be watched closely for the next 10 days.

Doctors have stressed that botulism is not contagious. Symptoms usually begin within 18 to 36 hours after consuming contaminated food but can occur up to 10 days later.

Officials said the Ohio Department of Health will be providing updates on the outbreak and the patients receiving treatment.

Learn more about the automotive technician lab at Green Bay East High School.

VIENNA (AP) — Negotiators are meeting in Vienna today in an effort to reach an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Representatives from the U.S., Iran and the European Union are meeting in a downtown hotel in talks to fine-tune a framework agreement reached earlier this month.

Iran denies any interest in nuclear arms but has agreed to reduce the capacity of nuclear programs that could be used to make such weapons. In exchange, it wants sanctions ended.

Complicated details on timing and monitoring remain to be ironed out by the June 30 deadline. The foreign ministers of Iran, the United States and five other countries at the table are expected to join in the talks at a later stage.

GREEN BAY – A Neopit man has been sentenced for assaulting his girlfriend with a hammer.

Federal prosecutors say Scott C. Rettler, 45, pleaded guilty to the attack, which happened last October on the Menominee Indian Reservation. The victim suffered “substantial” injuries.

Rettler was sentenced to four years in prison, followed by three yearsof supervised release.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – The Milwaukee Brewers can finally start feeling good about themselves at the plate.

The pitching, though, needs a lot more work.

Starter Mike Fiers gave up two-out grand slams to Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier in back-to-back innings, and the Brewers wasted their best offensive performance of the year in a 16-10 loss on Tuesday night to the Cincinnati Reds.

Fiers (0-3) was shelled for eight runs in four innings for Milwaukee, which lost its seventh straight. The Brewers have the worst record in the majors at 2-12.

“For us to score 10 there and not even be close to winning, I can’t really explain it,” Fiers said. “Things definitely haven’t been going my way. I need to be better. I don’t know what else to say.”

Fiers became just the 14th pitcher to allow two slams in a game, according to STATS, the first since Detroit’s Daniel Schlereth against the New York Mets on June 28, 2011.

Zack Cozart hit two homers for the Reds, whose offense has reawakened for 22 runs in two games in Milwaukee after manager Bryan Price went on a profanity-laced tirade in his pregame media session Monday.

“It was one of those games that just didn’t seem like it was going to end. Our offense came through,” Frazier said.

For a change, the offense wasn’t the main problem either for the Brewers, even with a lineup littered with backups because of injuries.

Elian Herrera, who was called up earlier in the day from the minors, hit a grand slam in the sixth to get the Brewers to 13-10.

The Reds had more punch. Cozart led off the top of the seventh with a solo shot.

BATS AWAKEN

The 10 runs for Milwaukee matched the offense’s output for the previous six games. The Brewers also had 12 hits.

In what has been a miserable year so far, manager Ron Roenicke hopes the team can build on the production despite the loss.

“It’s just a shame you score 10 runs and aren’t even close to winning the game,” Roenicke said. “But real good job by a lot of the guys offensively. We’ll just see if we can get a good outing pitching and see if we can continue the offense.”

Herrera had five RBIs and scored three times.

SLAM DUNK

It was the fourth time in major league history that two teams combined for three grand slams, and the first since the Yankees hit three slams against Oakland on Aug. 25, 2011.

Reds first base coach Billy Hatcher was involved in one of the other games, hitting a grand slam for Houston in a 22-7 loss to the Cubs on June 3, 1987. It was the last time there were three grand slams in a game in which both teams hit at least one, according to STATS.

“You have some guys who never hit one and I’m talking about some of your best hitters,” Hatcher said. “To see three in one game is crazy.”

KEY ERROR

Jason Rogers had two throwing errors at third for the Brewers. The first error off Brandon Phillips’ bouncer in the third inning proved especially costly after the next batter, Bruce, hit his fourth career grand slam to open the scoring.

Jason Marquis (1-1) got the win despite giving up nine hits and five runs in five innings. He had eight strikeouts.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: Catcher Devin Mesoraco made his first appearance since coming off the bench on April 12 against St. Louis. Mesoraco has been dealing with a sore hip. He walked as a pinch hitter in the seventh and scored a run.

Brewers: Roenicke said C Jonathan Lucroy could miss four to six weeks with a broken left toe. He got hurt on Monday. … Scooter Gennett went on the DL on Tuesday after the second baseman cut his hand in the shower on Sunday in Pittsburgh. Herrera was called up from Triple-A to replace him on the roster.

UP NEXT

Reds: Johnny Cueto (0-2) hopes the offensive revival continues for his start on Wednesday. The 22 runs combined over the two straight victories exceeded the team’s 19-run output during a 1-7 stretch preceding the trip to Milwaukee.

Brewers: Jimmy Nelson (1-1) is as close as the struggling Brewers have to a stopper these days. Milwaukee starting pitching had an ERA of 5.96 entering Tuesday, the worst in the majors.

MADISON (AP) – The state Department of Natural Resources would continue to get funding to pay for removal of deer struck by motorists on Wisconsin roadways under a vote by the Legislature’s budget committee.

The Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee voted against Gov. Scott Walker’s recommendation to shift the cost to local governments.

The DNR spends about $700,000 a year contracting with local governments to remove the dead deer.

In each of the past two years, about 23,000 dead deer from the side of Wisconsin highways.

The state Department of Transportation reports that there were nearly 18,000 car-deer collisions in Wisconsin last year. Those accidents resulted in 407 people being injured and nine deaths.

The committee also voted to authorize a study on the effectiveness of the deer-removal program.