Green Bay News

MADISON (AP) – Secretary of State Doug La Follette says budget cuts to his office are “totally unthought out nonsense.”

The Legislature’s budget-writing Joint Finance Committee voted Wednesday to cut his office by more than half a million dollars and eliminate two of three fulltime positions.

La Follette says the move will cripple his office and leave him unable to process documents as required by law. He says it will be a “train wreck” and unrealistic to expect his office to continue serving the public as expected.

The Republican-controlled committee also voted to reduce La Follette’s office from 4,000-square-feet to just over 600 and place it in the basement of the Capitol.

However, it said the office must remain accessible to the public.

La Follette is the only Democrat in statewide office.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Police say an officer has shot an armed robbery suspect outside a Walgreens drug store in Milwaukee.

The suspect was rushed to the hospital Wednesday morning. There’s no immediate word on the suspect’s condition. Authorities say two other suspects were arrested.

MADISON (AP) – Republican leaders of the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee say they plan to reject Gov. Scott Walker’s proposals eliminating a judicial advisory panel and putting a judicial investigatory commission under control of the state Supreme Court.

The panel started taking votes on Walker’s budget on Wednesday.

The co-chairs say they plan to reject Walker’s proposal to put the Judicial Commission under control of the state Supreme Court.

Both Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and Justice Annette Ziegler, along with the executive director of the commission, had objected to the move. Neither the court nor the commission requested the change.

Walker had defended the move as helping to streamline operations.

The co-chairs say they will also not do away with the Judicial Council, which advises policy makers on court-related issues.

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball team announced Linc Darner as the seventh head coach in program history Wednesday at the Kress Events Center.

“Since I got into coaching, this has been my dream, I’m very excited to be at Green Bay,” Darner said.

Darner comes to the Phoenix program after nine years at Florida Southern. The Indiana native is coming off an NCAA Division II national championship.

“Fans are going to be surprised. I like to run a lot,” Darner said.

Darner said he met with the team early Wednesday morning and is working to keep the recruits previously committed to the university.

FOX 11 Sports’ Dylan Scott was at the news conference and will have a full report tonight on FOX 11 News at Five.

MADISON (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal reducing the power of a citizen board that sets policy for the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has been taken out of his budget.

Making the DATCP board advisory only was one of 14 policy items taken out of Walker’s budget on Wednesday by the Republican co-chairs of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee. Walker’s proposal making the Natural Resources Board advisory only was also removed.

Both ideas can be pursued as separate bills, which is a tougher road to passage than being included in the budget.

Removal of the policy items was announced on the first day that the budget committee was taking votes on making changes to Walker’s two-year spending plan.

MADISON (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal changing who does property assessments in Wisconsin has been removed from his budget.

Co-chairs of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee said Wednesday that Walker’s proposal putting counties, rather than municipalities, in charge of doing assessments had been removed.

The idea had run into widespread opposition, including from the Wisconsin Counties Association which worried about the added costs of the new responsibility.

Republican committee co-chair Sen. Alberta Darling says the idea deserves to be debated, just not as part of the budget.

The proposal can be introduced as a separate bill, which faces a tougher path through the Legislature than if it were part of the larger state budget which has to pass.

WAUTOMA – If you’re trying to call the Waushara County Sheriff’s Office, don’t look in the white pages.

The sheriff’s office says the latest CenturyLink phone book has the wrong number listed in one section. Citizens have tried to call the number listed in the white pages, but the sheriff’s office says they are greeted with a recording saying the number doesn’t work.

The non-emergency number is (920) 787-3321 or 1-800-242-3377. As always, emergencies can be reported by calling 911.

The number in the front part of the phone book is correct, sheriff’s officials say.

An historic gate at Rock Island State Park will not be removed – at least for now – in order to give local residents a chance to save the structure, the DNR says.

Last week, the DNR announced that the 80-year-old Thordarson Gate would be removed due to its deteriorating condition. At that time, the DNR said it would be “cost prohibitive” to repair the structure.

However, given the reaction since then, the DNR will delay removal to allow time for supporters to try to raise funds to save the gate, said DNR spokesman Paul Holtan.

“However at this point there are no assurances that it will be kept up.  The wood is in an advanced state of decay, so any effort to save it will be quite costly and will require engineering evaluation to ensure the structure can be retained safely.  But at this point, however, the removal has been put off,” he told Fox 11.

Originally, the DNR planned to post interpretive panels depicting photos of the gate along with its history. And park officials were planning on saving sections of the gate that would have put on display in the park in the future.

The gate is named for its builder, Chester Thordarson, who owned the majority of Rock Island prior to the department purchasing it from his heirs in 1965. The iconic gate was built as part of a 30-acre tall fence enclosure to protect Thordarson’s rare plantings from the island’s browsing deer herd. The fence proved to be unsuccessful.

MADISON (AP) – The Republican co-chairs of the Legislature’s budget committee have removed 14 of 49 policy items from Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal.

The Joint Finance Committee co-chairs released the list on Wednesday. It includes removal of Walker’s proposal to make the Natural Resources Board advisory only, and a proposal to shield university research records from public view.

The list comes out on the first day that the committee is voting on Walker’s budget.

Republican state Sen. Rob Cowles had asked last week that all 49 policy provisions be removed.

Removal of the items means they face a harder road to passage. They now must go through the process as separate bills, rather than part of a larger budget that passes on a single vote.

MADISON (AP) – A proposal that would have hid University of Wisconsin research from public view has been removed from Gov. Scott Walker’s budget, making it more difficult to pass the Legislature this session.

The Republican co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee on Wednesday announced that the item was being taken out of Walker’s spending proposal because it is a policy decision, not budget-related.

Open records advocates had urged rejection of the change, which had been attempted twice before in the Legislature unsuccessfully.

Current law allows state universities to deny access to records if they can make the case that the harm from release outweighs the public interest.

Walker’s proposal would have allowed those involved in certain university research to withhold information about their projects until they are published or patented.

MADISON (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to make the Natural Resources Board advisory only has been removed from his budget, signaling that that Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal is unlikely to pass the Legislature this year.

The Republican co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee on Wednesday announced that they were removing the proposal from the budget. That means it must be introduced as a separate bill, making it more difficult to pass than if it were included as part of the larger state budget.

Converting the board from one that sets policy for DNR to advisory only was one of the more controversial items in Walker’s budget. It was one of 14 policy items the committee co-chairs removed from the budget Wednesday.

MADISON (AP) – Animal health experts say a canine influenza virus has sickened hundreds of dogs in several Midwestern states, including one in Wisconsin.

The University of Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine says the virus has affected at least 1,000 dogs in Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana. Recent tests from the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory have identified the strain as H3N2. Clinical assistant professor Keith Poulsen says it’s not yet known how effective current vaccines are against this strain, which is believed to have come from Asia.

The virus can cause persistent cough, runny nose and fever in dogs. Experts say a small percentage will develop more severe symptoms. The infection has been associated with some deaths.

Veterinarians say the canine strain is not related to the avian flu and is not contagious to humans.

MADISON (AP) – A federal judge has denied an attempt by voters to intervene and stop a lawsuit brought by Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson challenging the timing of a recently approved constitutional amendment.

The amendment approved by voters April 7 allows justices on the Supreme Court to choose who will be the chief, rather than have it go to the most senior member. Abrahamson sued, arguing it should not apply until her term is over in four years.

Five voters on Monday attempted to intervene in the case and have it dismissed.

But U.S. District Judge James Peterson said in his order Tuesday that the voters’ interests will be adequately represented by those already named in the lawsuit.

An attorney for the voters said he was disappointed with the decision.

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) – Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in a deadly late-night shooting, sealing the downfall of an athlete who once had a $40 million contract and a standout career ahead of him.

Hernandez, 25, looked to his right, pursed his lips and sat down after the jury forewoman announced him guilty in the slaying of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old landscaper and amateur weekend football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. The first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole and automatically triggers an appeal to Massachusetts’ highest court.

Hernandez’s mother, Terri, and his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, cried and gasped when they heard the verdict, and Lloyd’s mother also cried. Jenkins wept loudly on his mother’s shoulder. Hernandez, his eyes red, mouthed to them: “Be strong. Be strong.”

The former football pro was also found guilty on both weapons charges he faced. The jury deliberated for 36 hours over seven days before rendering its verdict.

For reasons that were never made clear to the jury, Lloyd was shot six times in the middle of the night on June 17, 2013, in a deserted industrial park near Hernandez’s home in North Attleborough.

Police almost immediately zeroed in on Hernandez because they found in Lloyd’s pocket the key to a car the NFL player had rented. Within hours of Hernandez’s arrest, the Patriots cut the former Pro Bowl athlete, who was considered one of the top tight ends in the game.

Prosecutors presented a wealth of evidence that Hernandez was with Lloyd at the time he was killed, including home security video from Hernandez’s mansion, witness testimony and cellphone records that tracked Lloyd’s movements.

Hernandez’s lawyer, James Sultan, acknowledged for the first time during closing arguments that Hernandez was there when Lloyd was killed.

But the attorney pinned the shooting on two of Hernandez’s friends, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, saying his client was a “23-year-old kid” who witnessed a shocking crime and didn’t know what to do. Wallace and Ortiz will stand trial later.

Prosecutors have suggested Lloyd may have been killed because he knew too much about Hernandez’s alleged involvement in a deadly 2012 drive-by shooting in Boston. But they were not allowed to tell the jury that because the judge said it was speculation.

As a result, they never offered a motive beyond saying Hernandez appeared angry with Lloyd at a nightclub two nights before the killing.

Hernandez faces further legal trouble: He is awaiting trial on murder charges in the drive-by shooting. He is accused of gunning down two men over a spilled drink at a nightclub.

In the Lloyd killing, the defense argued that investigators fixated on Hernandez because of his celebrity and conducted a shoddy investigation in their zeal to confirm their suspicions.

Prosecutors said Hernandez organized the killing, summoned his two friends to help carry it out, and drove Lloyd and the others to the secluded spot in the industrial park. During closing arguments, prosecutors also accused Hernandez of pulling the trigger, though under the law it was not necessary to prove who fired the shots to convict him.

Security video from inside Hernandez’s home showed him holding what appeared to be a gun less than 10 minutes after Lloyd was killed. The surveillance system also captured Hernandez, Wallace and Ortiz relaxing at his home hours after Lloyd was shot, hanging out in the basement “man cave,” lounging by the pool and cuddling Hernandez’s baby daughter.

Hernandez was an All-American out of the University of Florida who was drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round in 2010.

As Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week continues, FOX 11 Meteorologist Phil DeCastro leads a tour of the FOX 11 Storm Chaser:

One of FOX 11’s best tools when severe weather hits is the FOX 11 Storm Chaser.

One of the most useful features is the built-in cameras. One faces out of the from windshield. Another faces the passenger. A third faces out of the rear window.

The storm chaser also has equipment that can ingest and broadcast video files.

The truck can even be a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. That allows the meteorologists to look at real time radar data.

There is also a 40-inch flat-screen television, which is hooked up to Applet TV and Radarscope. Both features can be controlled with an iPad.

Put it all together, and the FOX 11 meteorologists have all the tools we need to keep you save as severe weather season approaches.

GREEN BAY – If you are looking for ways to better manage your personal finances, look no further than your local library.  To coincide with the upcoming national campaign “Money Smart Week,” Brown County Librarian Bobbie Kuehn selected suggests these five titles to get you started.

1. Smart Money, Smart Kids, Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money by Dave Ramsey & Rachel
Cruze

2. 102 Ways to Save Money For and At Walt Disney World by Louis Mongello

3. The Everything Investing in Your 20s and 30s Book by Joe Duarte

4. The Charles Schwab Guide to Finances After Fifty by Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz

5. The Behavior Gap by Carl Richards

You can find this and previous “Good Day Reads” lists on the library’s website.

Money Smart Week runs April 18th through the 25th this year.  Events are scheduled throughout the state.

WASHINGTON (AP) – An effort to find and digitize all of President Abraham Lincoln’s papers is getting a boost from Boston-based document storage company Iron Mountain Inc.

The company announced a partnership with the Papers of Abraham Lincoln project at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s death Wednesday.

Stacy Pratt McDermott, the project’s assistant director, says Iron Mountain will provide cash to hire a second researcher to search for Lincoln documents at the National Archives and to expand the editorial team in Illinois. Iron Mountain also is working to develop a long-term digital archive for Lincoln’s papers.

The project has collected nearly 100,000 Lincoln documents, and 67,000 images have been posted online. There may be as many as 50,000 more Lincoln papers yet to find.

SUAMICO – The bull elk put on a little show of his dominance for us Wednesday morning.

Neil Anderson took us to the plains exhibit to tell us more about the elk and the pronghorns.

NEENAH- A 54-year-old Menasha man is in critical condition after he was pulled from Little Lake Butte des Morts.

It happened around 3 a.m. Wednesday in the Neenah area.

Witnesses say they heard the man yelling and saw him go underwater.

Two Neenah police officers assisting on the call pulled the man to shore, where authorities performed CPR.

The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department tells us they will release more information later Wednesday morning.

EASTPORT, N.Y. (AP) – Police say a Long Island man set his rental car ablaze while trying to kill bedbugs inside the vehicle.

Scott Kemery suffered first- and second-degree burns in the incident Tuesday outside an Eastport supermarket.

Police say the Bridgehampton resident poured alcohol over the insects, then sat in the car and lit a cigarette, setting off the blaze.

He fled the vehicle on his own.

Detective Sgt. Edward Fitzgerald told Newsday (http://nwsdy.li/1aTDlif ) that someone told Kemery that if he saturated the bedbugs with alcohol it would kill them.

Police say two other cars were heavily damaged from the intense heat of the fire.