Green Bay News

NEENAH – A Fox Valley woman is Making a Difference for special needs kids.

FOX 11’s Emily Deem spent Wednesday morning with Celeste Brennan the founder of Happy Face Apparel.

Happy Face Apparel has special clothing designs for autistic and other special needs kids that function well (stay on), but also look nice.

Click here to learn more about Happy Face Apparel.

The fire danger is high throughout the state.

A few counties in Northeast Wisconsin are under a Red Flag Warning. Waupaca, Waushara and Green Lake counties.

The warning is from noon Wednesday until 8 p.m. Wednesday.

A Red Flag Warning is issued when critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or are imminent.

Be careful with any activities that could lead to a wildfire.

BOSTON (AP) – Boston will mark the second anniversary of the 2013 marathon bombings Wednesday with a subdued remembrance that includes a moment of silence, the pealing of church bells and a call for kindness.

Mayor Marty Walsh and other officials will raise commemorative banners on Boylston Street early Wednesday. A moment of silence follows at 2:49 p.m., marking the time the first of two bombs exploded near the finish line April 15, 2013. Church bells will then ring throughout the city.

Mayor Walsh has also declared April 15 “One Boston Day,” a new tradition meant to honor the city’s resilience and spread goodwill.

“April 15 is a date that has come to stand for our city’s deepest values,” Walsh has said. “One Boston Day will inspire all of us to come together as the community we are and share the spirit of Boston by giving back.”

The relatively modest remembrance comes in contrast to 2014’s commemoration of the attacks, which killed three people and injured more than 260 others.

Survivors, first responders and thousands of others gathered at the marathon finish line, and Vice President Joe Biden, at an earlier event, declared: “We are Boston. We are America. We respond. We endure. We overcome. And we own the finish line.”

The new One Boston Day is partly inspired by survivors of the attacks, many of whom are now doing charitable works.

Liz Norden, a Stoneham resident whose two adult sons – J.P. and Paul – each lost a leg in the attack, has set up a nonprofit called A Leg Forever to help other amputees pay for costs that insurance won’t cover. She says the work has been therapeutic.

“My boys had so much help from the generosity of people from everywhere,” Norden said this week. “If you lose your leg to a horrific accident, you don’t have the media coverage or the resources that my family was so blessed to have. So it’s important that we try to help other amputees that don’t have that.”

People are encouraged to share their random acts of kindness using the Twitter hashtag OneBostonDay. The city has also launched a website – http://www.onebostonday.org.

An elementary school in Reading says students will be writing thank-you letters to local police and fire departments. The Hyatt Regency Boston will be accepting donations of new or gently worn men’s sneakers for St. Francis House, a Boston homeless shelter.

Jurors in the trial of marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, meanwhile, have been warned to avoid anniversary events and this year’s race. The Boston Marathon – one of the world’s premier running events – takes place April 20; the penalty phase in Tsarnaev’s trial begins the next day.

The jury has already convicted Tsarnaev of all 30 charges against him. In the next phase, they weigh sentencing the 21-year-old ethnic Chechen to death or life in prison.

Norden says nothing short of execution is warranted.

“He destroyed so many families that day,” she said. “I want the ultimate justice.”

WASHINGTON (AP) – Wednesday is the deadline for filing income tax returns, a day long associated with the dread of rushing to fill out complicated forms and, perhaps, making a payment to Uncle Sam.

But for most, it’s not that bad. Aside from the complicated forms, tax season generates $300 billion in tax refunds each year, a significant boost to the U.S. economy.

Five things to know about Tax Day:

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MAJORITY OF TAXPAYERS GET REFUNDS

The IRS has received more than 99 million tax returns as of April 3, and about 78 percent of them have qualified for refunds. Average refund: $2,815.

The IRS expects to process 150 million returns by the end of the tax season. So far, more than 90 percent have been filed online.

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CHANCES OF GETTING AUDITED SLIM

Last year, the IRS conducted the fewest number of tax audits in a decade, and the number could be even lower this year, said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

Koskinen blames budget cuts. Congress has cut the agency’s budget by $1.2 billion since 2010.

The number of audits dropped even as the number of tax returns went up. As a result, fewer than 1 percent of tax returns were audited last year.

But rich people beware: Your chances of getting audited go up as your income rises. Last year, the IRS audited 7.5 percent of returns filed by taxpayers making more than $1 million.

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APRIL 15 ISN’T MUCH OF A DEADLINE IF YOU’RE DUE A REFUND

The IRS doesn’t like to talk about it, but penalties for filing late federal tax returns apply only to people who owe money. The penalty is a percentage of what you owe. If you owe nothing, there is no penalty.

But it doesn’t make much sense to file late if you are owed a refund. And beware – if you have unpaid taxes, the late fees add up quickly.

The failure-to-file penalty is generally 5 percent of your unpaid tax bill for every month, or part of a month, you are late. It kicks in on April 16. In general, the maximum penalty is 25 percent of your original tax bill.

There also is a penalty for failing to pay your tax bill, separate from the penalty for failing to file at all, but it’s much smaller. That’s because the IRS wants you to file a return even if you don’t have enough money to pay your bill.

The failure-to-pay penalty is 0.5 percent of your unpaid taxes for every month, or part of a month, you don’t pay.

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HEALTH LAW MAKES TAX DAY MORE COMPLICATED FOR SOME

This was the first tax season that regular folks grappled with the complicated connections between President Barack Obama’s health care law and the tax system. For about three-quarters of taxpayers, all they had to do was check a box on their tax return indicating they had health coverage for all of 2014.

For the rest, there was some head-scratching.

This was the first year uninsured people faced fines collected by the IRS. And those who got tax credits to help pay premiums last year had to file a convoluted new form to show they got the right amount.

The Obama administration fumbled when the Department of Health and Human Services sent out tax reporting forms with erroneous information on premiums to hundreds of thousands of people. Officials disclosed the problem and set about correcting the mistakes.

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LOOKING AHEAD

The end of tax filing season doesn’t mean everyone can relax. Tax preparation company H&R Block says many people who received tax credits to help pay for health insurance premiums apparently are unaware that they need to file a return.

If they don’t, they may not be able to renew their tax credits this fall for health coverage in 2016.

BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri inmate has been executed for killing a man in a fit of rage over child support payments 16 years ago.

Andre Cole, 52, on Tuesday night became the third convicted killer put to death this year in Missouri. His fate was sealed after the U.S. Supreme Court turned down several appeals, including one claiming Cole was mentally ill and unfit for execution.

Also Tuesday, Gov. Jay Nixon refused a clemency petition that raised concerns about the fact that Cole, who was black, was convicted and sentenced by an all-white jury.

Mike O’Connell, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said Cole was executed by lethal injection at 10:15 p.m. and pronounced dead nine minutes later.

In the execution chamber, Cole nodded as relatives blew kisses his way. He chose not to make a final statement. He breathed deeply a few times as the drug was administered.

Cole declined any sedatives prior to the execution. He also declined to order a last meal and instead received the day’s inmate tray, O’Connell said.

Attorney General Chris Koster said in a statement he hoped “that the sentence carried out tonight brings those forever impacted by this tragedy a sense of justice and a measure of closure.”

Cole and his wife, Terri, were married for 11 years and had two children before divorcing in 1995. The couple fought about visitation and he was upset about child support payments, authorities said.

By 1998, Cole was $3,000 behind in child support. Koster said Cole became angry when he learned that a payroll withholding order was issued to his employer, taking the money out of his check.

“Before I give her another dime, I’ll kill (her),” Cole told co-workers, according to Koster.

The first deduction appeared on his Aug. 21, 1998, paycheck. Hours later, Cole forced his way into his ex-wife’s home by throwing a tire jack through a glass door, Koster said. He was confronted by Anthony Curtis, a friend who was visiting.

Andre Cole used a kitchen knife to repeatedly stab Curtis, then Terri Cole. Curtis died but Terri Cole survived.

Cole fled the state but surrendered 33 days later. He claimed at trial that he did not bring a weapon into Terri Cole’s house and that Curtis initiated the attack with a knife.

No relatives of Terri Cole or Anthony Curtis attended the execution.

Andre Cole’s brother, DeAngelo Cole, 38, of Las Vegas, said the attack was out of character for his sibling. He called it a crime of passion.

“It was a one-time thing,” DeAngelo Cole said. “He didn’t have a history of that kind of behavior.”

Cole’s attorney, Joseph Luby, said Cole’s mental health deteriorated during the more than a decade he spent in prison. He said Cole was plagued by psychosis and constantly heard voices in his head.

The courts were not convinced.

Both the Missouri Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to halt the execution based on mental health concerns. The U.S. Supreme Court also turned away appeals based on Missouri’s secretive method of obtaining the execution drug pentobarbital and over how instructions were given to the jury.

The jury itself was the source of the clemency request to Nixon. Advocates for Cole, including the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union and others, said his case was among many in which St. Louis County prosecutors unfairly prohibited black jurors from hearing a death penalty case involving a black suspect.

All 12 jurors in Cole’s case were white. Kimber Edwards, who was scheduled for execution in May, was also convicted and sentenced by an all-white jury. The Missouri Supreme Court, without explanation, canceled the execution orders for Edwards earlier this month.

Missouri tied Texas for the most executions in 2014 with 10. Missouri has now executed 15 men since November 2013.

MILWAUKEE- Milwaukee police are investigating after a four-year-old child was shot while playing in a home.

It happened shortly before 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Police say someone fired 13 rounds at the home, one of them struck the girl.

The girl was playing on a couch in the living room. She’s expected to recover.

No one is in custody.

This is the eighth shooting this week in Milwaukee.

Ingredients:

1 bag (6 to 8 ounces) baby spinach leaves
1 can (15 ounces) Mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup red seedless grapes, sliced in half
¼ cup sliced or diced red onion (optional)

Sesame Vinaigrette
½ cup canola oil
2 teaspoons sesame oil
¼ cup rice or white wine vinegar
2 to 3 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Directions:

In a large bowl bowl, toss together the spinach leaves, mandarin oranges, grapes, and red onions. In a jar shake together the vinaigrette ingredients. Drizzle some of the dressing over the salad. Extra dressing keeps in the fridge for about a week.

GREEN BAY – Concerned community members had the chance to speak with police and area leaders tonight.

They engaged in a conversation with them at UWGB, about recent national events involving unarmed black men and white police officers.
Those who gathered said they’re hoping to start the difficult dialogue about race relations and police.

“Some of the issues that are facing the issues that are facing our nation today could very well happen to my two young men,” said Kristyl Thomas, a Green Bay mother.

Campus Diversity Coordinator Justin Mallett says the discussion is important as Green Bay’s population becomes more ethnically diverse.

“Whether it’s personal, with me walking through the store and me getting followed through the store, or just a mere interpretation of people thinking just because I’m a black man I’m a Packer football player. It happens, and people think that,” said Mallett, when asked if he had personally experienced racial profiling.

FOX 11 dug deeper in to issues of race and criminal justice in Wisconsin.

Here are the facts.

According to the 2010 census, Wisconsin has the highest incarceration rates for African American men in the nation. Those same data shows white men in Wisconsin are imprisoned at just below the national average.

Green Bay Police Chief Tom Molitor says his department continually meets with leaders of various minority groups, to create greater inclusion.

“If people believe they are on the outs, that they have no say in what happens to them, that they have no sense of justice or input in how things are happening around them, that’s a bad situation,” said Molitor.

Community leaders say respect needs to come from all sides.

“We can’t just expect and put everything on the police. I’m a black woman saying this sitting in between these men, and I’m going to say it. A lot of the things we do we bring on ourselves. Let’s just tell the truth,” said Sharon Harper of the Divine Temple Church.

And mothers like Kristyl Thomas say they talk to their children at home about how to handle police situations.

“Stay still, don’t move. Respond to only questions that are asked of you,” she described. “Those are the conversations I’m having at my dinner table.”

Leaders and concerned citizens say tonight’s discussion is just a first step towards greater understanding in the community.

PULASKI – The parent who posted a video of his son being punched at Pulaski High School says he wants more action from the school district.

Tim Pine met with Pulaski School District Leaders Tuesday night, about 24 hours after posting the video to Facebook.

The video, which was taken a month ago, shows Pine’s son being punched in the head several times in the school’s lunch room.

Police records show 17-year-old Ethan Peters started punching Pine’s son because he was annoyed by him whistling.

Peters was suspended from school for four days and is charged with misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct.

Phy-ed teacher and varsity boys basketball coach David Shaw was supervising the lunch room when the incident happened.

A district reprimand to Shaw shows Peters complained to the teacher about the whistling. The memo also shows Shaw admitted telling Peters, “If I were you, I’d crack him upside the head.”

In the reprimand, which Pine provided FOX 11 through his own open records request, the district told Shaw he had to write an apology letter to both students involved and their families. The district also told Shaw he had to write a list of supervision procedures.

“We take this incident and all student safety matters very seriously,” said Bec Kurzynske, assistant superintendent for the district. “While we cannot discuss specific student or personnel issues, the Pulaski Community School District is continuing to review its approach to this specific matter.”

Pine says he posted the fight video to Facebook in hopes of getting more district action.

“I talked with the district superintendent,” said Pine. “He made a promise to me this would not get swept under the table or swept under the rug. Those were his words and that’s exactly what he did and that’s exactly why I posted it, because the parents in this district need to know what this school district is and is not doing.”

Pine provided FOX 11 the apology letter Shaw wrote. Shaw wrote: “My actions and words prior to the incident, while misinterpreted, were inappropriate. I feel terribly about the outcomes for each student in this incident. I am truly sorry.”

Pine told us his son gave him permission before posting the video to Facebook. He said Peters’ mother, the student seen punching in the video, was also fine with the video going up.

Pine also said his son has been homeschooled since the fight.

OUTAGAMIE COUNTY- The Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department has added a new Humane Officer to help investigate animal-related complaints.

Vicki Prey is a Fox Valley Humane Association employee and has been a police liaison since 2013.

“This allows me to work with animals and also provide education to people with regards to those animals so we can avoid abuse, neglect,” said Prey.

The Fox Valley Humane Association says this is the first of its kind partnership in the state.

Prey had to complete a humane officer certification program through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture.

Prey’s responsibilities will include assisting the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department in investigating animal abuse and neglect cases.

APPLETON – Appleton police say a man who is already a convicted sex offender is now facing charges for exposing himself at the city library and a church.

35-year-old Adam Beach is suspected of exposing himself on four different occasions.

“It’s behavior that’s unwarranted and it’s concerning to us that someone is around town exposing themselves,” explained Appleton Police Sergeant Dave Lund.

According to the criminal complaint, the four, the alleged incidents happened last Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The complaint says Beach showed his genitals to women serving at the Trinity Lutheran Church during two different community dinners. It says he also exposed himself to women working at the Appleton Public Library on another two occasions.

“In this case it was all female adults, no children that we’re aware of that were exposed to this, but, obviously, we don’t want anyone to be exposed to something they don’t want to see or witness,” said Lund.

Sergeant Dave Lund told FOX 11 the Appleton Police Department’s sex offender investigator helped track Beach down.

“He was someone that was actually known to our investigator,” Lund told us.

Digging deeper we found Beach listed on the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry where it says he was convicted in 1999 of exposing a child to harmful materials.

We were unable to get ahold of Beach for comment.

But in the court documents Beach admitted that he exposed himself to women at the library and church. He also said it’s exciting, but that he knows it’s wrong.

“The concern is that this individual needs to get help dealing with the issues that are causing him to do this in public and causing him to have repeated behaviors like this,” said Lund.

Beach has been charged with one count of lewd, lascivious behavior in public and, as a repeat offender, he could face up to two years in prison, if convicted.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) – A jury was seated Tuesday in the death penalty trial of Colorado theater shooter James Holmes after a selection process that experts say was among the largest and most complicated in U.S. history.

The 12 jurors and 12 alternates were chosen after remaining candidates were questioned as a large group Monday.

About 9,000 prospective jurors initially were summoned in what experts called the nation’s biggest-ever jury pool. They spent weeks filling out lengthy written questionnaires.

Hundreds were then asked to return for one-on-one questioning, where defense attorneys, prosecutors and the judge questioned them, sometimes for hours, about their views on the death penalty, mental illness and other aspects of the criminal justice system.

Opening statements are scheduled for April 27.

Holmes is charged with killing 12 people and wounding 70 others in the July 20, 2012, attack on a Denver-area movie theater. His defense attorneys don’t dispute that he pulled the trigger but say he was in the grips of a psychotic episode when he slipped into the theater and opened fire while dressed from head to toe in combat gear.

Prosecutors insist Holmes was sane and will ask jurors to convict him and sentence him to death.

If the jury finds Holmes was legally insane at the time of the attack, he would be committed indefinitely to the state psychiatric hospital. If the jury convicts Holmes, the only other option other than a death sentence is life in prison.

Jury selection began Jan. 20.

Many potential jurors were excused when they said they already had an opinion on Holmes’ guilt or were morally opposed to the death penalty.

Still others were dismissed because of personal connections to the shooting, including people who had friends or family in the packed theater that night, or who knew some of the hundreds of first responders who rushed to the scene.

In group questioning, attorneys had the chance to dismiss potential jurors without giving cause.

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

MADISON (AP) – Wisconsin lawmakers advanced a bill Tuesday that would allow for state regulation of ride-sharing services including Uber and Lyft.

The Assembly approved the measure Tuesday on a 79-19 vote. The bill now moves to the Senate.

“Other states are going to look to this bill and say that’s how you get this done, that’s how you protect consumers,” said one of the bill’s main author, Tyler August, R-Lake Geneva.

Regulating companies such as Uber and Lyft, which connect pedestrians with private drivers through a smartphone app, has become a hot topic as they’ve increased in popularity and compete with taxi and limo companies. The bill has sparked bitter debate between ride-sharing proponents and Wisconsin taxi companies.

Under the measure, the companies would have to purchase a $5,000 license, conduct driver background checks and maintain at least $1 million in liability insurance. The proposal would also prohibit drivers from discriminating against passengers because of race, religion, sex or disability.

Cory Mason, D-Racine, one of the bill’s authors, said comparing the ride-sharing companies to traditional taxi cab companies is like comparing cellphones to landlines or automobiles to horse and buggies.

“This is the future. It’s coming. It’s here,” Mason said.

The bill has sparked debate between ride-hailing proponents and Wisconsin taxi companies.

John Doherty, vice president of Transit Express, a Milwaukee-based charter transportation company, in a press conference Tuesday said the measure could be unfair to those who don’t have credit cards as they would not be able to pay with cash. Doherty also said he was frustrated that the bill would eliminate existing local ordinances.

He and other representatives of taxi cab and limousine companies across the state said they were not contacted about the bill. And they said they didn’t have the resources to put forth the same lobbying effort ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft would in deciding the matter.

“This is a battle of David and Goliath and we are the Davids in the room,” Doherty said.

Democratic representatives from Madison and Milwaukee tried in vain to amend the bill to preserve local ordinances in those cities.

Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, said the measure was rushed and did not take into consideration existing ordinances in Madison.

“If you think this is a progressive piece of legislation, you are sorely mistaken,” Taylor said.

ISIS is out with a gruesome new video that directly threatens America’s safety and promises another large-scale terrorist attack..

Most of the video is too graphic to show – American journalists and Egyptian Christians being beheaded, a pilot from Jordan being burned alive and repeated shots of the second plane crashing into the World Trade Center tower. And a threat: in the coming days America will be burned.

“Putting out videos threatening the United States is part and parcel with this communications strategy, which is 100 percent designed to always show strength and never weakness,” said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Gartenstein-Ross says that strategy has been outlined in a recent article from an ISIS supporter to followers – urging them to only show crimes of the enemy when they are accompanied with the punishment
The video is intentionally harsh and touts what the Islamic State views as victories at a time when the terrorist group is actually losing ground.

“Their messaging is a winner’s messaging. It works while they’re strong. It doesn’t work while they’re weakening. Their problem right now is that they’re weakening,” Gartenstein-Ross said.

The Pentagon says the Islamic State has lost 25 to 30 percent of Iraqi territory it once controlled.
Still, they continue touting their victories – including cyber hacks – and many believe ISIS is still excelling in their online recruiting campaign.

U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Massachusetts, is a veteran and current member of the House Armed Services Committee.

“One of the things we need to do a much better job with is social media,” he said.
“They’re dominating social media right now. They’re able to go out and tell whatever story they want.”

Moulton, who used to train Iraqi troops, says targeting individuals is far less effective a strategy than the real enemy: the Islamic State’s ideology.

SUAMICO – The sounds of Spring.

Frogs are making a lot of noise in Northeast Wisconsin.

With the temperatures on the rise, the annual ritual has begun.

The frogs can be heard mostly at dusk, but some are croaking in the middle of the day.

Scientists are tracking what we hear now, to gauge the future health of the frog.

At a roadside wetlands area in Suamico, hundreds of frogs have come calling.

The Northern Leopard Frog is one of 12 frogs native to Wisconsin, and early April is the start of its mating season.

“Those are the males calling. Males are really just doing the calling. And they’re attracting females out there, to hopefully lay their eggs,” said Jason Petrella, Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve.

And just down the road at Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve,

“Right now, we’re hearing some Leopard Frog calling. Northern, Leopard Frog. They got kind of like a snore sound. I sometimes think of it as like taking a hand over a rubber balloon. I am also hearing quacking sounds. The wood frogs sound like ducks out in the woods,” said Petrella.

Petrella says in this area, the season is on time this year.

But DNR scientists Andrew Badje says the leopard frog is on the agency’s watch list.
He says water quality, loss of habitat, and laboratory research, contributed to about a 50% decline in the species in recent years.

And there are ways people can help. At thousands of sites across the state, citizen scientists can listen in and write down what they hear. It’s part of the Wisconsin frog and toad survey.

“Through that we can look at all the data. Figure out statewide distribution, and more importantly, it was designed to look at species whether they’re increasing or decreasing, or staying the same,” said Andrew Badge, D.N.R. Conservation Biologist.

Meanwhile the frogs in the bogs may be making their own comeback, thousands of eggs at a time.

FOND DU LAC- A Fond du Lac man has been honored for making a difference when a fire broke out at a business.

Bradley Schaar (Sh-Arr) was awarded a Citizen Life Safety award today.

He was a key part in helping firefighters battle a blaze in the building where he was working.

It happened last July, at the Comfort Inn Hotel.

Schaar provided valuable information to officials on the scene about each and every room in the hotel.

Scharr said he made sure he checked all the rooms before he got out of the building.

The Fond du Lac Fire Department says the fire started in an area where a garbage can was stored.

GREEN BAY – An Antigo man has been sentenced to 45 years in federal prison for producing child pornography.

Thomas A. Gervais, 45, pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography. Prosecutors say investigators were tipped off to Gervais after arresting another person last summer on child pornography charges. That person, who lived in a different state, told agents he traded child pornography with Gervais. Last fall, officers raided Gervais’s house and found evidence he had sexually assaulted and exploited two girls.

The judge also ordered Gervais to spend the rest of his life on supervised release after his prison term.

DE PERE — Starting fast is always a hope for any coach in any sport, but holding onto that momentum is also important.

Monday, the Kimberly baseball team raced to a 6-0 lead after two innings and appeared to be on its way to a comfortable win over De Pere.

However, the Redbirds didn’t fold against the Papermakers and rallied, closing the gap to two runs midway through the game, putting the pressure on Kimberly to do what it could to hold off De Pere and preserve a win.

Kimberly did that, outlasting the Redbirds,9-7, in a nonconference game. A close call, but Kimberly will take it.

We were up 6-0 early and you’d like to have it where it was 6-0 at the end,” Kimberly coach Ryan McGinnis said. “Realistically, it’s great at this point of the season to have to go through. Today it was a hitters’ day, for sure.”

The biggest hitter was Brice Swick, who was taking a day off from pitching. The senior clubbed a two-run homer in a four-run second inning as the Papermakers opened a 6-0 cushion.

“I just tried to put a good swing on it,” Swick said. “It goes over the fence, it goes over the fence.”

De Pere’s Lucas Reynolds puts down a bunt during a game Monday against Kimberly. (Doug Ritchay/WLUK

De Pere didn’t back down and responded with a four-run third inning and scored once in the fifth to make things interesting. Kimberly was forced to use three pitchers in Griffin Hawley, Ben Carew and Danny Vanden Boom, the latter two who did enough to get the win.

“We flinched,” McGinnis said. “We made a mistake offensively in the top of the third. Bottom of the third, we got the lead-off out, then they bunted for a hit and Griffin got on it quickly and threw it away.

“You can live with that because it was an aggressive play. Then after that, we miss a ball in the outfield, we misdirect a ball and we left a few pitches up and they hit the ball around. Before you know it, it’s 6-4. You need to be able to get over that quickly and we didn’t.”

The Papermakers managed to build the lead back to 8-5 with more offense.

“We finally put two up on the board and a few up in the seventh,” McGinnis said.

Kimberly, the 2014 Division 1 state runner-up, has played a tough early schedule with games against West De Pere and Sun Prairie (doubleheader). The Papermakers are learning what it takes to win tough games as they are 3-1.

“It was good,”Swick said of Monday’s win. “We started off strong, got quiet halfway through; picked it up towards the end and started hitting better.

“It tests the team; sees what they have inside of them. It’s good to have a win like that.”

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

MADISON – Fire danger remains high throughout Wisconsin.

The state Department of Natural Resources says forecast dry conditions could push the fire danger to extreme in the coming days. The agency has been suspending burning with DNR-issued permits. It is also asking people to be careful with activities that could spark a wildfire, such as campfires, outdoor grills, smoking or using chainsaws, off-road vehicles or other small engines.

The DNR’s fire danger website is updated at 11 a.m. every day with current conditions.

SHAWANO – Even if you’re used to tackling NFL running backs and breaking up touchdown passes, a high school girl can still make you a little nervous.

“She kind of put me on the spot,” said Packers cornerback Micah Hyde. “I never got asked in front of a whole school before.”

Hyde was asked, in front of a cheering student body at Shawano High School, to prom by a student. It’s not the first time that’s happened, says Hyde, who admitted a prom trip is unlikely (though he did escort his younger sister to her prom last year).

Hyde was part of the annual Packers Tailgate Tour, a 5-day trip around the state. The tour includes large scheduled events for fans and also surprise stops, like Tuesday’s at Shawano High School. Students listened to players talk about respecting their peers and asked questions – prom and otherwise. Other players on the tour say while they look forward to seeing and meeting all fans, the younger ones hold a special place in their minds.

“Throughout my career I haven’t really been out there so much,” said tight end Andrew Quarless. “I think this is a good opportunity for me personally to get out in Wisconsin, speak to the fans and, like you said, the kids.”

The tour, in its 10th year, raises money for charities along the way as well.

“It’s [been] ten years, the money’s great, $1.6 million [raised overall],” said Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy. “The lessons. What I enjoy the most is the interaction at the schools, particularly with the younger kids. For them to see Packers players, people they’ve idolized. It’s a chance to teach some lessons, help kids make good decisions.”

A new element on school stops this year, the Lombardi-era players on the tour will hold smaller sessions with people from the area, talking about their own playing experiences while the more recent players address school assemblies.

“Their faces light up, it’s like it’s Christmas morning for them,” said former Packers offensive lineman Jerry Kramer. “How can you not enjoy that? How can you not enjoy being a part of it?”

The Tailgate Tour runs through Saturday, April 18th, concluding with an event in Sheboygan.