Green Bay News

GREEN BAY – Area communities are making efforts to try to stifle the ever-growing threat of cybercrime, including Brown County.

County officials will hold two meetings in the coming week to make sure area governments – and you – are prepared.

“Each one of these dots represents a target – or something that’s attacking,” said August Neverman, sitting in front of a large TV screen with lines of color streaming from one side of a world map to the other. “Your home computer is having this happen right now; your work computer too.”

Neverman is the Chief Information Officer and Information Security Officer with Brown County. If you have an electronic device – be it a computer, tablet or smartphone, it’s open to being attacked – whether you know it or not.

According to information technology security company Symantec, two-thirds of data breaches were due to system glitches and human negligence.

Prevention can be handled through constant monitoring, updates, but also through sharing of information, like keeping passwords safe and not opening questionable emails – no matter how legitimate they may seem.

Neverman says about 45-percent of cyber-attacks are done by hackers for a social purposes, five percent espionage and cyberwarfare. The other half? Cybercrimes – like stealing identities, credit card info, and denial of service attacks on network systems.

“You kind of have a three-way attack,” said Neverman. “They’re attacking you when you’re in the public, they’re attacking you at home, and at work and there’s really no difference to them.”

That’s why Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach will hold a meeting later this week with county municipalities to ensure steps are being taken to protect their digital assets in an ever interconnected world. A meeting for the general public is set for next week at 6 p.m. at the Brown County library.

“The cybercrime and cybersecurity issue is everywhere and it’s anyone,” said Streckenbach. “Everything is connected through the internet one way, or the other, so everything has a level of risk and the question is what are we doing to prepare ourselves? And then continuing to monitor that.”

Acknowledging the threat is out there and is very real.

“Our main objective is to continue to have a conversation about what we’re going to do to protect ourselves with cyber-attacks, both from a public standpoint and a private standpoint.”

TOWN OF UNION – Two people were injured in a one-vehicle rollover crash Tuesday afternoon in Waupaca County.

Officials say the crash happened at 12:52 p.m. at the intersection of Stony Ridge road and State Highway 110 in the Town of Union.

Deputies say the vehicle rolled over after the driver took the curve incorrectly.

The driver, an 83-year-old woman from Iola, and a passenger, were transported to a hospital for minor injures.

 

MADISON (AP) – A federal judge has denied an attempt by Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson to temporarily block a constitutional amendment that could remove her as head of the state’s highest court.

The amendment changes how the chief justice of the state Supreme Court is selected. Wisconsin voters approved it earlier this month.

U.S. District Judge James Peterson said Tuesday that Abrahamson would suffer no irreparable harm if she is temporarily removed as chief justice while her lawsuit is pending.

Peterson set a May 15 date to hear further arguments.

The amendment will be certified on April 29, and the four-justice conservative majority is expected to act quickly to remove the liberal Abrahamson from the post she’s held since 1996.

Abrahamson has sued to delay implementation of the change until after her term ends in four years.

CHICAGO (AP) – The Chicago Bulls could be without forward Nikola Mirotic for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks because of an injured left knee.

Mirotic’s status is in doubt after he was hurt in a scramble for a loose ball with the Bucks’ Zaza Pachulia on Monday. A day later, he had his knee and thigh wrapped and was walking with a noticeable limp.

Coach Tom Thibodeau would not put a timetable on his return, although he did not rule Mirotic out for Thursday’s game at Milwaukee.

The Bulls want to see how Mirotic responds to treatment.

The team called Mirotic’s injury a strained left quadriceps, although Thibodeau said it was more to the knee. Either way, the odds of him playing Thursday did not look good.

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

GREEN BAY – Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt was sworn in at an inauguration ceremony Tuesday as he enters his fourth term as mayor.

The ceremony took place at City Hall.

Schmitt was joined by a group of students from Youth Government Day.

He said he is looking forward to strengthening the economy of Green Bay.

“This is a great day for the city of Green Bay, and for me. Here we are electing the leader of the community to continue to foster those partnerships and build a strong economic base, family supporting jobs, and I’m delighted to lead that effort,” Schmitt said.

Earlier this month, Schmitt beat City Council President Tom De Wane to win re-election.

Both Schmitt and De Wane have said they will work together for the good of the city.

BALTIMORE (AP) – The six officers suspended in the investigation of a black man who died after his arrest had worked on the police force anywhere from nearly two decades to three years, officials said.

The officers were identified by city officials Tuesday. They have been suspended with pay while authorities investigate the death of Freddie Gray, who was handcuffed and placed in a transport van. At some point during his 30-minute ride in the van, his legs were shackled after an officer said he became “irate,” authorities have said.

Gray rushed to the hospital in critical condition and died of a “significant spinal injury” on Sunday – a week after his arrest, Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said Monday.

Exactly how he was injured and what happened in the van is still not known.

Gray, 25, was arrested on April 12 after police “made eye contact” with him and another man in an area known for drug activity, and the two men started running, authorities said. According to court documents, Officer Garrett Miller accused Gray of carrying a switchblade, which was discovered in Gray’s pocket after he was stopped.

The lawyer for Gray’s family said he believes the police had no reason to stop him in the first place.

“They’ve made concessions on lack of probable cause,” attorney Billy Murphy said. “Running while black is not probable cause. Felony running doesn’t exist, and you can’t arrest someone for looking you in the eye.”

The suspended officers were identified as:

– Lt. Brian Rice, 41, with the department since 1997.

– Sgt. Alicia White, 30, with the department since 2010.

– Officer Caesar Goodson, 45, who has been there since 1999.

– Officers William Porter and Edward Nero, who along with Miller, all joined in 2012.

Kim Deachilla, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, said a law firm that contracts with the union is representing them.

The officers’ specific roles in the arrest were not released. Bystander video shows officers on bicycles, in patrol cars and in the transport van.

Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said the reason for Gray’s stop is “a question we have to dig into.”

Gray’s death has prompted daily protests and a vigil was planned Tuesday evening at the spot where he was arrested.

Harold Perry, 73, a retired small businessman who is nearly blind, said he heard the arrest through his bedroom window, and a young man screaming: “You’re hurting me! Get your knee off my back.”

He said he heard the young man say, “I’m an asthmatic.”

In the bystander video, Gray is screaming, but it’s not clear what he is saying. Police have also confirmed he asked for an inhaler and medical attention.

Capt. Eric Kowalczyk, a department spokesman, said Batts met with all six officers involved in Gray’s arrest on Monday. The Baltimore Sun first reported the meeting.

At a news conference Monday, officials vowed transparency and pledged to hold those found responsible accountable. Batts said the investigation will be completed by May 1 and the results will be sent to the state attorney’s office to determine whether criminal charges will be filed. Batts also said he is ordering that police review and rewrite “effective immediately” its policies on moving prisoners and providing them with medical attention.

“I understand the community’s frustration. I understand it because I’m frustrated,” Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said. “I’m angry that we are here again, that we have had to tell another mother that their child is dead.”

Police on Monday released a more detailed timeline of how Gray was arrested and transported.

It revealed that Gray was placed in leg irons after an officer felt he was becoming “irate” in the back of the transport van, and that the van made several stops on its way to the police station, even picking up another prisoner in an unrelated case, after Gray had asked for medical attention several times.

The death comes six months after Baltimore officials released a plan to reduce police brutality and misconduct. The plan followed a request by city officials to the U.S. Justice Department to review police policies and procedures.

The Justice Department’s review should include a broader investigation of whether officers have committed civil rights violations, said the Rev. Cortly C.D. Witherspoon, president of the Baltimore chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He said he plans to send a letter with that request by Wednesday.

(CNN) Starbucks is offering a very special $200 gift card for Mother’s Day, but it will only get your mom $50 worth of coffee.

According to the company, the stainless steel card is laser-etched with floral details and a satin ceramic finish.

But mom can earn free drinks by being enrolled in the rewards program.

Only 1,500 of them will be for sale online at Starbucks.com.

 

The sheriff who had former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez in custody for more than 18 months said Tuesday that he’s a master manipulator and will probably do fine in prison now that he has been sentenced to life for murder.

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson said Hernandez knows how to use his charm and manipulate better than anyone he has ever seen. He said Hernandez was generally affable and polite and would try to use those qualities to get what he wanted at the Bristol County House of Corrections.

“He would make every effort to get extra sandwiches,” Hodgson said. “He would just try to convince the officers to give him more than what they otherwise could get.”

Staff members were directed to treat Hernandez like any other inmate, Hodgson said.

Hernandez was convicted April 15 of the 2013 killing of Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. He will ultimately end up at the maximum-security Souza-Baranowski state prison. A lawyer for Hernandez did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the sheriff’s remarks.

After the verdict was delivered, staff from Bristol County brought Hernandez to a state prison not far from Gillette Stadium, where Hernandez used to play football in front of tens of thousands of cheering fans.

There, he told them, “I’ll miss you guys, but they got it wrong,” Hodgson said. “He didn’t really have much of a change in his demeanor. He pretty much still had a swagger in his step.”

Hodgson said the 25-year-old Hernandez has an ability to compartmentalize things and lock out the negative.

“He doesn’t really look at it as jail,” Hodgson said. “It’s more like training camp.”

Hernandez got into trouble from time to time in jail in Bristol County. He was accused of threatening to kill a prison guard and his family, and he got into a fight with another inmate.

Asked how he thinks Hernandez will do in prison, Hodgson said he thought he’d be OK.

“He’ll probably do fine. He’ll be able to talk his way through everything,” Hodgson said, adding that disrespect is a “hot-button” issue for Hernandez. “If someone’s trying to outwardly and aggressively disrespect him, that could create a problem.”

Hodgson said he had many conversations with Hernandez about his father, who died unexpectedly when Hernandez was 16. Hernandez would tell him how his father commanded respect whenever he walked into a room.

“His father was a huge, huge influence in his life and really his anchor,” Hodgson said. “If you disrespected him, it’s like you disrespected his father.”

CATANIA, Sicily (AP) – The United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday that more than 800 people were believed to have drowned in the weekend sinking of a boat packed with migrants trying to reach Europe, making it the deadliest such disaster in the Mediterranean.

New details of the tragedy emerged as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other aid agencies interviewed some of the 28 survivors who arrived overnight in Catania, Sicily.

Survivors put the number of passengers on board the three-deck fishing trawler at 850, according to UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards in Geneva. Only 24 bodies have been recovered.

“From available information and the various accounts we’ve had, UNHCR now believes the number of fatalities to have been over 800, making this the deadliest incident in the Mediterranean that we have recorded,” Edwards told reporters in Geneva.

Prosecutors in Catania said a special email address had been set up for relatives, friends and acquaintances of the victims in hopes of determining who was on board.

Still, they acknowledged the exact death toll may never be known. “No facts have emerged that can be helpful to determine in a more precise way the number of dead,” prosecutors said in a statement.

The International Organization for Migration said the rate of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean this year is far higher than in 2014, when a total of 3,279 migrants died. That, in turn, was much higher than in 2013, when around 700 people died, the agency said.

So far this year, 1,776 have died, according to the U.N. refugee agency, which estimates that 219,000 people made the crossing in 2014.

The 2015 death toll “could well top 30,000,” said Joel Millman, the IOM spokesman. “We just want to make sure people understand how much more … rapid these deaths have been coming this year than last year.”

Among the arrivals overnight were two suspected smugglers, who were immediately detained for investigation of aiding and abetting illegal immigration, as well as on multiple counts of manslaughter and causing a shipwreck. The two were to be questioned later Tuesday.

Survivors told aid workers the wreck was caused when one of the smugglers crashed the boat against the Portuguese-flagged King Jacob container ship that had responded to a distress call, according to UNHCR spokeswoman Carlotta Sami.

“The survivors said that the person who was steering the boat, their smuggler, was navigating badly, and he did a bad move that made it crash against the bigger ship,” Sami said by telephone from Sicily.

Prosecutors said that after the trawler’s 27-year-old captain, Mohammed Ali Malek, rammed the Portuguese vessel, terrified migrants rushed around the overcrowded boat, which was already unbalanced from the collision. The ship pitched in the water before finally tipping over, and sinking.

Most on board were unable to escape because they were locked below deck on the trawler’s lower two levels. Hundreds more were squeezed on the upper deck, according to prosecutors.

Catania prosecutor Giovanni Salvi on Tuesday backtracked on an earlier statement that the container ship’s inexperience had contributed to the tragedy, stressing that crew members had done their job.

Sami praised the Portuguese ship, which had previous experience in a handful of other migrant rescues.

Mistreatment began before the migrants even set foot aboard the doomed boat on the night of April 16, prosecutors said in a statement, citing survivor accounts.

The migrants had been held for as long as 30 days on a farm near where the boat was docked before being transported in groups of about 30 in trucks to the embarking point, it said.

“In one instance, one of the migrants was allegedly struck with a club because he stepped away” to go to the bathroom, the statement said.

The weekend deaths have jolted the European Union into trying to come up with a plan to address the crisis, with Italy demanding that it not be left alone to shoulder the burden of rescues and that the EU focus on preventing the boats from leaving Libya.

Combatting the smugglers by arresting the ringleaders and destroying their boats is emerging as a key part of Europe’s 10-point proposal for an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday. Italy has arrested more than 1,000 smugglers, most of them the boats’ navigators and not the masterminds.

Survivors of the weekend disaster were brought Tuesday to a migrant holding center in Catania and were “very tired, very shocked, silent,” according to Flavio Di Giacomo of the IOM.

Sami said all the survivors were men, several of them adolescents. “They are very confused, fragile and scared,” she said.

The coast guard, meanwhile, reported that it saved some 638 migrants in six different rescue operations on Monday alone. On Tuesday, a further 446 people were rescued from a leaking migrant ship about 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of the Calabrian coast.

The smugglers use a variety of boats for their crossings, from rubber Zodiac-type boats to wooden fishing vessels and even old cargo ships. They are almost always overcrowded to maximize the revenue of the smugglers, who charge between 1,000 and 1,500 euros (dollars) for the crossing from Libya, where most trafficking operations originate.

Not all those turning to smugglers to escape conflict or violence are risking their lives in unseaworthy boats. Police in Ragusa, a Sicilian port town, said they arrested three Syrians connected to a Turkish-flagged luxury yacht that charged passengers $8,500 for the trip from Turkey to Sicily. Among the Syrian and Palestinian passengers were 23 children.

Selfies and other photos snapped by passengers helped police identify the smugglers, police said in a statement. They estimated that the organizers were paid some $800,000 in total for the trip. Authorities discovered the yacht was a smuggling boat when two merchant ships were called out to aid a boat in distress.

The EU plan calls for closer law-enforcement coordination to trace smugglers’ revenue sources, which prosecutors have said often evade traditional bank transfers in favor of informal networks, in which migrants’ relatives in Europe pay local brokers for each leg of the journey.

Italy had launched a robust and expensive search-and-rescue mission in 2013 after some 366 migrants drowned off the island of Lampedusa. The politically unpopular Mare Nostrum operation ended last year and the EU’s Frontex border patrol mission took charge. But its limited mandate and resources have prevented it from being effective in saving lives.

___

Barry reported from Milan. Frank Jordans in Berlin and Nicole Winfield and Frances D’Emilio in Rome contributed to this report.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) – A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition targeting rebels in Yemen says the so-called “Decisive Storm” campaign is over, but that allies will launch a new phase aimed at preventing the rebels from operating.

Speaking at a news conference in Riyadh on Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri says the objectives of the campaign have been met and that it would cease at midnight.

He says the rebels no longer pose a danger to civilians and that the new phase, called “Renewal of Hope” would focus on rebuilding the country while interdicting the rebels.

Asiri did not rule out future airstrikes against the Houthi rebels.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The co-chair of the Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee says he is open to raising hunting and fishing permit fees for people outside of Wisconsin.

Rep. John Nygren said Tuesday that option will be considered by the committee on Wednesday as it votes on parts of the Department of Natural Resources budget.

Gov. Scott Walker did not call for any increase in hunting or fishing fees over the next two years in his budget. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau has prepared an alternative showing how much money would be raised by increasing fees $2 per license.

The Fiscal Bureau says the roughly $2 million raised a year could be used to fill some of 38 vacant positions, plug account shortfalls or bolster law enforcement.

TOWN OF PORTERFIELD – A man was arrested shortly after he allegedly robbed a home in the Town of Porterfield Monday afternoon.

The Marinette County Sheriff’s Department reports a Town of Porterfield resident, who lives on Schwalla Drive, came home during the noon hour to find their home had been burglarized and appeared the burglary was still in progress.

A short time later, deputies saw a suspicious vehicle parked nearby and located and arrested a 28-year-old man from Marinette.

Deputies say the man was in possession of the items stolen from the home.

According to deputies, the man is also linked to three other daytime home burglaries in the Town of Peshtigo between September 2014 and April 2015.

APPLETON – Wisconsin’s first poet laureate died Tuesday.

Ellen R. Kort passed away at the age of 79.

Kort, an Appleton native, served as the state’s poet laureate from 2000 to 2004.

According to her biography by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters, she authored 11 books and eight collections of poetry.

According to Wichman Funeral Home, funeral arrangements are pending.

 

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Senate is set to vote on a bill that would create statewide regulations on ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft.

The measure would prohibit any local ordinances governing ride-hailing companies. Instead, the companies would have to purchase a $5,000 state license, conduct driver background checks and maintain liability insurance. Drivers would be prohibited from discriminating against passengers based on their race, religion, sex or disability.

Supporters say the regulations will help Uber and Lyft expand around the state and create more transportation options. Critics say regulations should come from local governments, not the state.

The Senate is taking up the bill Tuesday afternoon. The state Assembly overwhelmingly approved the proposal last week. Senate approval would send the bill to Gov. Scott Walker for his signature.

GREEN BAY – A Michigan man faces attempted first-degree intentional homicide charges for shots fired during a drug deal last month.

Benjamin Hubbard, 22, is also charged with first-degree recklessly endangering safety, and possession with intent to deliver THC.

According to the criminal complaint, Hubbard met with Dwayne Carlton to sell Carlton marijuana. After Carlton tossed one bag to a friend, who left, and then claimed he didn’t have the money, Hubbard put a gun to Carlton’s chest, both men admitted.

After Carlton left the vehicle they had been sitting in, Hubbard fired several shots. Police found bullets at two nearby homes.

Hubbard returns to court Tuesday afternoon for the balance of his initial appearance. He is being held on a $100,000 cash bond, according to online court records.

LUENEBURG, Germany (AP) – Former SS Sgt. Oskar Groening told a German court Tuesday that he helped keep watch as thousands of Jews were led from cattle cars directly to the gas chambers at the Auschwitz death camp where he served as a guard.

The 93-year-old, charged with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder, said as his trial opened that he witnessed individual atrocities, but did not acknowledge participating in any crimes.

He recalled how a fellow guard discovered a baby abandoned among luggage and bashed it against a truck to stop its crying. After that, he unsuccessfully requested a transfer and started to drink vodka heavily to cope with working at the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, he said.

“I share morally in the guilt but whether I am guilty under criminal law, you will have to decide,” Groening told judges hearing the case at the Lueneburg state court in northern Germany. Under the German legal system, defendants do not enter formal pleas.

Groening testified in a lengthy statement to the court that he volunteered to join the SS in 1940 after working briefly at a bank, and served at Auschwitz from 1942 to 1944.

This undated photo made available by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, in Oswiecim, Poland, shows the former Auschwitz-Birkenau guard Oskar Groening as a young man in an SS uniform. At the opening of his trial in Lueneburg, Germany on Tuesday, April 21, 2015, the 93-year-old Groening testified that he bears a moral share of the blame for atrocities at the camp, but that it was up to the judges to decide whether he deserved to be convicted as an accessory to murder. (Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau via AP)

Aside from helping on the ramp as transports of Jews arrived, Groening said his main task was to help collect and tally money as part of his job dealing with the belongings stolen from people arriving at Auschwitz – a job for which the German press has dubbed him the “Accountant of Auschwitz.”

Groening said the money was regularly sent back to Berlin. Pressed by presiding Judge Franz Kompisch, he said his view was that it belonged to the state.

“They didn’t need it anymore,” he said of the Jews from whom the money was taken – drawing gasps from Auschwitz survivors watching.

Among them was Eva Kor, one of some 60 survivors and relatives from the U.S., Canada, Israel and elsewhere who joined the trial as co-plaintiffs as allowed under German law. She is expected to testify as a witness.

Kor, 81, told The Associated Press that she lost her parents and two older sisters in Auschwitz, and that she and her twin sister Miriam were subjected as 10-year-olds to horrific experiments by notorious camp Dr. Josef Mengele.

Kor, who now lives in Indiana, said she will ask Groening about what may have happened to Mengele’s files in the hope she can learn what she and her sister were subjected to – experiments she said caused her sister to die early nearly 30 years ago of kidney failure.

Groening could face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted. On his way into court, he told reporters that he expects an acquittal. His attorney, Hans Holtermann, wouldn’t speculate on the outcome.

“Mr. Groening made a long statement about the things he did in Auschwitz and he confessed that in a moral way he’s guilty in the Holocaust, but in the end the decision whether he’s guilty or not needs to be made by the court,” Holtermann told reporters.

Groening, who is not in custody, entered the courtroom with the help of a walker. He was lucid as his testimony began but gradually lost focus and Kompisch ended the court session early, saying he would question Groening further Wednesday.

The trial is the first to test a new line of German legal reasoning that has unleashed an 11th-hour wave of new investigations of Nazi suspects. Prosecutors argue that anyone who was a death camp guard can be charged as an accessory to murders committed there, even without evidence of involvement in a specific death.

There are currently 11 open investigations against former Auschwitz guards, and charges have been filed in three of those cases, including Groening’s. Eight former Majdanek guards are also under investigation.

The charges against Groening relate to a period in May and June 1944 when some 425,000 Jews from Hungary were brought to Auschwitz and at least 300,000 almost immediately gassed to death.

“Through his job, the defendant supported the machinery of death,” prosecutor Jens Lehmann said.

Groening recalled that he and other recruits were told by an SS major before going to Auschwitz they would “perform a duty that will clearly not be pleasant, but one necessary to achieve final victory.”

Groening testified that he did not know what that duty was until he arrived at Auschwitz but quickly learned that Jews were being selected for work and those who couldn’t work were being killed. In the vocabulary of the camp, he said, “the enemies of Germany were being exterminated.”

Thomas Walther, who represents many of the co-plaintiffs, welcomed Groening’s decision to make a statement and answer questions – almost unheard of in Nazi prosecutions.

“It’s a positive signal for the future course of the trial,” he said.

Kor said she saw Groening as an old man who had had a hard life, “but by his own doing.”

“If you’re guilty,” she asked, is there such a thing as being morally guilty but not legally guilty?

___

Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report

TOWN OF GIBRALTAR – A Door County theater company wants to consolidate its operation onto one property.

Northern Sky Theater, formerly called American Folklore Theatre, is asking Door County and Gibraltar town officials to rezone a 17-acre parcel of land on the southeast corner of Highways A and F to allow the company to build a two-building campus. Northern Sky is hoping to buy the property from Stella Maris Parish, but says it needs to have it rezoned from “countryside” to “commercial.”

Plan for Northern Sky Theater’s proposed campus in the town of Gibraltar. (Courtesy: Northern Sky Theater)

The summer season would continue to be performed at Peninsula State Park.

Right now, Northern Sky says it rents a business office in Ephraim, shop and costume space in Baileys Harbor, rehearsal space in Egg Harbor and storage space in Fish Creek. Those functions would be consolidated onto the new campus, which would have a 14,000-square-foot creative/support center with a rehearsal space that could become a 200-seat performance space; and an 8,000-square-foot scenery and carpentry shop.

“The rehearsal space we used for years was not climate-controlled and had no dedicated restrooms,” Dave Maier, the group’s managing director, said in a news release. “We often find ourselves not knowing if a venue will be available for rent, making it difficult to map out long-term plans for development of the new works that are vital to our future.”

Northern Sky is working with Madison-based architectural firm Strang Inc. for the designs.

To make the dough: (May also use frozen french bread dough and then proceed to step two)

6 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 packages active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
¼ cup melted butter
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast and salt. Stir in 2 cups warm water, and beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2. On a lightly floured surface, knead in enough flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes total. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn once. **Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled.

3. Punch dough down, and divide in 4 to 6 pieces. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each piece into large rectangle or oval. Dough should be thin. Using a fork dock or poke the dough with the fork to perforate the dough.

4. Grease a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Place dough on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly, brush on melted butter. Let rise until dough has rested for 15 to 20 minutes.

5. Place in 450 degree oven for 5 minutes. Let cool.

Suggested ingredients needed for finished Flat Bread:
*These are only suggested ingredients and amounts. The actual variations and quantity of ingredients is solely up to the person creating the Flat bread and their tastes and imagination. Remember, this is not a Pizza so a minimum of toppings is advised*.

1 – 1 ½ cups Alfredo Sauce Homemade or jarred
1/3 cup Black olives sliced
1 Tbls Parsley chopped
8 oz Pork sausage (browned and cooled)
½ Cup Red onions, carmelized(fried)
8 – 12 oz. Shredded Farmers Cheese
2 Tblsp Parmesan cheese

Spread 1 to 1 ½ cups Alfredo sauce on top of crust evenly; you will not need the whole jar. Place onions, black olives and pork sausage on top of alfredo sauce. You will next top with Farmers cheese, parmesan cheese and sprinkle on the parsley. Place sheet pan with the Flat Bread on it back into the oven at 450 degrees for approximately 5 to 8 minutes or until cheese is slightly toasted. Remove from oven, let set a couple minutes and cut into strips. Flat Bread can be cooled and stored refrigerated or frozen in a closed container for a later time or served hot or at room temperature. Serve alongside of soups, salads or pasta dishes.

Breakfast Flat Bread:

1 – 1 ½ cups Alfredo Sauce Homemade or jarred
1/3 cup Black olives sliced
2 cooked scrambled eggs, cooled
1 Tbsp Parsley chopped
8 oz. Pork sausage (browned and cooled)
½ cup Red onions, carmelized(fried)
8 – 12 oz. Shredded Farmers Cheese
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

Spinach & Artichoke Flat Bread:

Prepare spinach & artichoke dip as described below
1/4 cup butter
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, partially thawed
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 (16 ounce) containers sour cream
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
garlic salt to taste

Mix cream cheese and sour cream in mixing bowl. Stir in Parmesan cheese and garlic salt. Add melted butter, stir in spinach and artichoke hearts. Add in cheeses. Spread Spinach & Artichoke Dip over prepared flat bread. Top with shredded cheese and parmesan, finish as directed.

Sweet Basil Sauce & Sausage Flat Bread:

1 – 1 ½ Cups Sweet Tomato & Basil pasta sauce
1/3 cup Black olives sliced
1 Tbsp Parsley chopped
8 oz. Pork sausage (browned and cooled)
½ cup Red onions, carmelized(fried)
8 – 12 oz. Shredded Cheddar Cheese
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa (follow package directions set a side)
1 cup toasted pecans
1 cup toasted sliced almonds
1/2 cup toasted pepitas
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup plumped cranberries (in 1cup orange juice over medium heat till orange juice is evaporated)
1/2 cup sliced scallions on the bias green parts only
Honey Orange Dressing (Recipe below)

To assemble Salad:

Fold dressing into the quinoa. Then all nuts, scallions and cranberries. Enjoy

Honey Orange Dressing:

2 tsp dijon mustard
1 cup white vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp fresh orange zest (use microplane)
1 Tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbsp kosher salt
3 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
2 cups grapeseed oil

Directions:

Combine first seven dressing ingredient in a food processor, blend and then slowly add oil with motor or blade running.

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