Green Bay News

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — Jurors began deliberating Tuesday in the murder trial of former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez, after his lawyer acknowledged for the first time that his client was at the scene of the killing and saw it happen, but described Hernandez as a kid who simply did not know what to do.

The defense urged jurors to find Hernandez not guilty of murder.

“Did he make all the right decisions? No,” lawyer James Sultan said during his closing arguments. “He was a 23-year-old kid who witnessed something, a shocking killing, committed by someone he knew. He didn’t know what to do, so he just put one foot in front of the other.”

Hernandez is charged in the June 17, 2013, death of Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. Lloyd was shot six times and died in an industrial park less than a mile from Hernandez’s home. At the time, the star tight end had a $40 million contract with the Patriots.

Sultan pinned the killing on Hernandez’s co-defendants, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz. Both men have pleaded not guilty and will be tried later.

Assistant District Attorney William McCauley said Hernandez’s behavior after the crime showed that he was involved. He cited evidence that Hernandez had rented a car for Wallace and directed his fiancee to give the two men $500 to flee, as well as surveillance video from inside Hernandez’s home that showed him hanging out with them a few hours after Lloyd was killed.

“He’s laying around the pool, soaking up the sun, drinking up smoothies with his two confederates,” McCauley told jurors.

The prosecutor told jurors Hernandez was the gunman and urged them to go through all the evidence.

“If you do that, you’ll get to where you need to go, which is to find the defendant guilty for the murder of Odin Lloyd,” McCauley said.

In addition to the murder charge, the jury of seven women and five men will decide Hernandez’s guilt or innocence on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.

Sultan spent several minutes of his closing argument asking jurors to forget what they have heard about Hernandez in the media and outside the courtroom. Hernandez also faces murder charges in a separate case involving the death of two men.

He pointed out that prosecutors never presented a clear motive for why Hernandez would kill Lloyd, saying they were friends and future brothers-in-law and that there was no evidence he would have wanted Lloyd dead.

“You didn’t hear because it doesn’t exist,” Sultan said. “Does the prosecution expect you to fill in that gaping hole in its case with guesswork, speculation?”

He also said investigators unfairly fixated on his client, presuming his guilt and finding what they could to support that theory.

“The investigation done in this case was incomplete, biased and inept. That was not fair to Odin Lloyd, that was not fair to Aaron Hernandez, and it was not fair to you,” he said. “All that effort and this is all they could come up with. What does that tell you?”

The trial featured hundreds of pieces of evidence and testimony from 135 witnesses — 132 of them called by the prosecution.

Prosecutors said Hernandez and two friends drove to Boston to pick up Lloyd at his home, then drove him to the industrial park in North Attleborough and killed him.

Surveillance video at Hernandez’s home minutes after the shooting showed him holding a black item that appeared to be a gun. A joint found near Lloyd’s body had Hernandez’s and Lloyd’s DNA on it.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. Postal Service is issuing a new limited edition “Forever” stamp honoring the late poet and civil rights champion Maya Angelou. But a quotation on the stamp apparently originated elsewhere.

The stamp dedicated Tuesday showcases a portrait of Angelou and includes the quotation: “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

Children’s book author Joan Walsh Anglund tells The Washington Post (http://wapo.st/1GkWVBG ) the quotation is from her book “A Cup of Sun,” published in 1967.

Angelou rose from poverty, segregation and violence to become a force on stage, screen and the printed page. She died last May at her Winston-Salem, North Carolina, home at 86.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The prolific character actor best known for his role as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on “The Dukes of Hazzard” has died. James Best was 88.

His wife of 29 years, Dorothy Best, said that Best died Monday night in hospice care in Hickory from complications of pneumonia.

Best starred on the television series that ran from 1979 to 1985. He was the lawman futilely chasing the Duke brothers, often in the company of his droopy-faced basset hound Flash. Best employed a battery of catch phrases in the role, as well as memorable laugh that was comically villainous.

“I acted the part as good as I could,” Best told The Charlotte Observer in a 2009 interview. “Rosco, let’s face it, was a charmer. It was a fun thing.”

During a wide-ranging career of several decades, he also acted in movies including “The Caine Mutiny” and “Rolling Thunder,” and he appeared on television shows including “Gunsmoke” and “The Andy Griffith Show.”

“I was fortunate enough to call him my friend since the day he walked on the set of ‘Gunsmoke’ back in the early ’60s,” actor Burt Reynolds said in a statement. “Onset or off, behind the scenes, in front of a class or just as a friend, his name was so fitting because he was truly the ‘best’ at whatever he did. My heart is heavy, and I miss him deeply.”

Best was an acting teacher who helped several future Hollywood stars learn how to appear more natural on camera.

“I learned more about acting in front of a camera from Jimmie Best in an afternoon than from anyone else in a year,” said Dukes of Hazzard co-star John Schneider, who played Bo Duke. “When asked to cry on camera, he would say, ‘Sure thing . which eye?’ I’m forever thankful to have cut my teeth in the company of such a fine man.”

Best was born in the western Kentucky community of Powderly, the youngest of eight brothers and a sister. After his mother died when he was a toddler, Best was adopted and raised in Indiana. He served in the U.S. Army in World War II and started acting in a military theater company, according to his website.

PHOENIX (AP) – Sen. John McCain announced Tuesday that he will run for re-election in 2016, making official a move that has been widely expected for the Republican as he looks to extend his nearly three-decade career in the Senate.

McCain described his plans to run before an Arizona Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Phoenix. He has signaled on several occasions in recent months that he was planning to seek a sixth term, but is now formally entering the race.

His appearance before a pro-business crowd comes ahead of a race in which he will likely face a challenge from the right amid tea party dissatisfaction over his record in the Senate. The Republican Party is currently divided between pro-business and conservative factions, and McCain’s announcement location put him in friendly territory as he begins the race.

McCain will be 80 by Election Day, but says he is in great shape and has much work to do in the Senate.

“I work 16-hour days. Look at what I’ve done for Arizona and America,” he told The Associated Press. “Make your own judgment.”

McCain is a former prisoner of war during the Vietnam War who was first elected to the Senate in 1986, replacing longtime conservative stalwart Barry Goldwater. He ran for president in 2000 and secured the Republican Party’s nomination in 2008, losing to Barack Obama. He coasted to re-election to the Senate in 2010.

McCain said he will emphasize local issues during his campaign, such as the drought, his work to benefit a copper mine and legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA was thrown into turmoil last year amid allegations of misconduct and cover-ups at the VA hospital in Phoenix.

The most prominent Republican to hint of a possible challenge to McCain is state Sen. Kelli Ward, a conservative member of the Arizona Legislature. Whoever runs will be at a huge financial disadvantage against McCain, who already has more than $3.5 million in cash on hand.

“We certainly anticipate a challenge both from right and left, and we’ll be ready,” McCain said.

Glenn Hamer, president of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and industry, said McCain never takes anything for granted in a political race and has a deep reservoir of support in Arizona. That combined with his national security credentials should easily overcome any primary challenge in 2016, Hamer said.

“I would expect that he would be overwhelmingly re-elected,” he said.

McCain was elevated to chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee this year after his party reclaimed the Senate. He has repeatedly used his stature on the committee to attack Obama’s foreign policy decisions.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Authorities in Nairobi learned just before dawn last Thursday that gunmen had attacked a college in northeast Kenya. Seven hours elapsed before police commandoes trained to deal with such a situation flew to the scene, a delay which may have contributed to the high death toll of 148 and which points to deeper problems as Kenya confronts a growing threat from Islamic extremists.

Public anger about the delayed response was apparent Tuesday as about 250 students demonstrated in Nairobi, the capital. At one point they passed a truck carrying security forces with red berets and rifles.

“Where were you?” the students shouted angrily. The troops did not respond. They also banged on the sides of a police vehicle and converged briefly outside Kenyan police headquarters, again demanding: “Where were you?”

The Kenyan military, which has a barracks in the town of Garissa where the attack by the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab occurred, was the first to respond with some help from local police officers, the government has said. The police department’s paramilitary Recce tactical unit, which is trained in close-quarters combat and hostage rescues and is based in Nairobi, was briefed about the attack but was put on standby because the military said it could handle the attackers, said a senior police officer who was involved in Thursday’s actions.

It was only after hours had gone by and the military had suffered some casualties that a decision was made to send in the Recce unit, he said. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press. Military spokesman Col. David Obonyo did not immediately answer phone calls seeking comment.

With police helicopters not operational because of mechanical problems, the Recce Squad flew the 200 miles (325 kilometers) to Garissa aboard two small planes which could not fit the whole squad, forcing other members to travel by road. Once the tactical team went into Garissa University College at 5 p.m. — almost 12 hours after the attack had started — they killed the four gunmen and secured the campus within a half hour. By then, almost 150 students and others were dead.

Kenya has vowed severe retaliation against al-Shabab and its military on Monday announced air strikes against al-Shabab camps in Somalia.

The problem of a lack of a coordinated response to an extremist attack also plagued Kenya’s security forces after al-Shabab attacked Nairobi’s Westgate Mall in September 2013, killing 67 people. The army stormed the mall without coordinating with the Recce unit whose members had already infiltrated the mall and were closing in on the attackers, leading to a friendly fire incident that killed one Recce officer and forced the elite police team to withdraw.

“We have refused to learn from the Westgate attack. What was the Kenyan army doing for seven hours before the Recce team came in? Were they just hanging about? We saw KDF (Kenya Defense Force or the Kenyan army) camping outside of the university as the killing went on inside,” said Patrick Gathara, a commentator and award-winning political cartoonist.

Inter-service rivalries may also be playing a role in coordinating responses to extremist attacks and security officials also complain of under-funding and corruption. For example, a government commission looked into the procurement of the grounded police helicopters, suspected fraud and recommended an audit of their purchase.

“The systemic corruption that afflicts all our institutions infects our security services too. This continues to be the deadweight our efforts against terrorism have to carry,” said Kenyan corruption expert John Githongo, currently a visiting scholar at Stanford University’s Haas Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law.

A number of Kenyan universities have increased security following the Garissa attack, hiring more guards and urging students to be vigilant. But some students are fuming over what they allege is a government failure to act on intelligence and prevent violence by al-Shabab, the Somali-based extremist group that has vowed more attacks in Kenya as reprisal for Kenya having sent troops into Somalia.

“We are not safe,” Kenyan students chanted on Tuesday.

Their slogan captured the unsettled mood in many Kenyan schools, and the country as a whole.

“We might be next,” said Walter Mutai, a 22-year-old statistics student at Moi University. “These people, they can target anywhere.”

“I feel vulnerable as a Kenyan citizen,” said Ricky Thomas Nyakach, a 22-year-old student who plans to study law this year. Kenya, he said, is struggling with a “badly flawed security system” in which security forces have bad equipment as well as low morale because of inadequate salaries.

Wearing a suit and tie, Nyakach stood in a park before the rally and said student demands include “a total overhaul” of Kenya’s security apparatus, the construction of a memorial in honor of those killed at the Garissa college and the payment of funeral expenses and about $22,000 in compensation for the families of the victims.

The protesters presented a petition to the office of President Uhuru Kenyatta and received an official signature of receipt, but some were skeptical about whether they could achieve meaningful change.

The demonstration was mournful at times. There were signs that read: “You remain in our hearts!” and “RIP comrades.”

Students and other Kenyans gathered at dusk for a vigil honoring the victims, lighting candles, holding flowers, reading their names aloud and erecting a white wooden cross for each of those who were killed in Garissa.

On Tuesday, police presented in court five suspects, three of whom allegedly supplied guns to the four men who carried out the Garissa killings. The court granted police 30 more days to investigate the suspects before charging them in court. Police said they want more time to investigate a sixth suspect, a Tanzanian citizen who is being held in Garissa. The Interior ministry had said they had arrested the Tanzanian with grenades hiding in the ceiling, but the police charge sheet says he was arrested under a bed and was not a student at the university.

SHAWANO – Shawano County is looking for a new coroner.

Gov. Scott Walker’s office says Marcus L. Jesse is stepping down. The governor now has to appoint a new coroner to finish Jesse’s term, which ends Jan. 7, 2019.

Applicants must live in Shawano County when the appointment becomes effective, which is expected to be June 1.

To apply for the position, click here and follow the instructions.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s water board says residents in February showed the worst water savings in nine months of drought monitoring.

A report released Tuesday showed a water use reduction of just 3 percent in February compared to baseline figures.

Gov. Jerry Brown last week ordered a mandatory statewide 25 percent drop in urban water use, saying voluntary cutbacks weren’t enough.

The dismal water savings came after the driest January on record in the state. The state compares water use to 2013, the year before California declared a drought emergency.

Brown called on residents in January 2014 to voluntarily reduce water use by 20 percent, but they only came about halfway to that goal

The State Water Resources Control Board began planning Tuesday how to enforce new mandatory reductions for cities.

NEW YORK (AP) — Drivers will see the lowest summer gasoline prices in about 6 years, according to the Energy Department.

The national average price is forecast to fall 32 percent from a year ago to $2.45 a gallon between April and September, the period when Americans do most of their driving. That would mark the lowest seasonal average since 2009.

For the year, the department’s Energy Information Administration expects gasoline to average $2.40 a gallon, down from $3.36 in 2014.

“It’s a very realistic average, but like a lot of averages, it doesn’t speak to some of the lumpiness you’ll see,” said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at OPIS.

He expects the fluctuation in the price to be uneven, and said it could even dip below the $2 mark within the period. He expects demand for gasoline to reach a high point in July and August.

The lower prices are a result of world oil supplies growing faster than demand because of higher production in North America and elsewhere. That dynamic has been depressing the price of crude oil. But, the Energy Department warned that the forecast could substantially change if oil-related sanctions against Iran are lifted as part of ongoing negotiations. That country is believed to hold at least 30 million barrels of oil in storage.

The price of Brent crude, a benchmark used to price oil used by many U. S. refineries and the most important factor in gasoline prices, is forecast to fall 40 percent this year.

U.S. drivers are expected to consume slightly more gasoline, a 1.6 percent increase, during the summer. But gasoline expenditures by household are expected to be the lowest since 2004, according to the EIA, with people spending about $700 less on gasoline in 2015.

The average price of gasoline in the U.S. was $2.38 a gallon Tuesday, down 33 percent from last year, according to AAA and GasBuddy.com.

Over the past six months, most Americans have kept their savings from cheaper gasoline, instead of spending the proceeds. The personal savings rate climbed to 5.8 percent in February from 4.4 percent in November. Economic growth has been limited because of the choice to save, since consumer spending accounts for roughly 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

“It’s odd, consumers have held back on spending even as they pocket a nice windfall from lower gasoline prices,” said Scott Anderson, chief economist at the Bank of the West.

There are two likely explanations for why consumers have been hesitant to spend: Either they assume that gas prices will once again climb back to previous levels. Or, the unusually harsh winter weather prevented them from shopping at the start of the year. The warmer spring weather and continued low gas prices projected by the government should lead more Americans to increase their spending in the coming months, Anderson said.

___

AP Economics Writer Joshua Boak contributed to this story from Washington, D.C.

BARABOO, Wis. (AP) – Authorities say a man jailed in Sauk County ran a drug operation from his cell with his girlfriend working as a distributor.

The Baraboo News Republic reports 52-year-old Mardi T. Suggs and his girlfriend, 49-year-old Sherry A. Fuller, face multiple felony charges. According to authorities, Fuller told investigators that she took over a cocaine dealing operation from Suggs, and she said he was running it from jail.

A police detective said he verified the drug operation arrangement in recorded jail phone calls between Fuller and Suggs.

Authorities say police got a tip in October that Fuller had traveled to Chicago to get large amounts of cocaine, and that she then sold it in the Baraboo area. Police say more than 60 grams of cocaine was taken from her vehicle’s trunk after a trip to Chicago.

Confidential informants bought cocaine from Fuller in February outside a Lake Delton gas station and in the parking lot of a Baraboo hospital, according to court documents.

An attorney is not listed for Suggs in court documents. A message seeking comment was left with an attorney listed for Fuller.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Widespread power outages affected sites across Washington and its suburbs Tuesday afternoon. Officials have cited an explosion at a Maryland power plant as the cause and say there is no known link to terrorism.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest says Homeland Security has “indicated they don’t currently see a nexus to terrorism or anything like that” in the outages.

The White House, State Department, Justice Department and Capitol were all briefly affected. Power also went out at the University of Maryland and various Smithsonian museums. Several were evacuated.

Metro said 14 of its 91 public transit stations were affected. A spokesman says power to the trains remains on and trains are moving systemwide.

By officials’ counts, at least 28,000 customers in the metro area were affected.

The plant where the explosion occurred is in Charles County and is run by the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s staff considered making a lobbyist for a company seeking to dig an iron mine in Wisconsin the state Department of Natural Resources’ deputy secretary, according to a newspaper report.

Gogebic Taconite lobbyist Bob Seitz was considered to replace outgoing DNR Deputy Secretary Matt Maroney earlier this year, according to public records obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1Dgi79y ).

Gogebic Taconite planned to dig a 4½-mile-long iron mine in the Penokee Hills just south of Lake Superior. Republicans who control the Legislature passed a bill relaxing the state’s mining regulations in an effort to jumpstart the project, drawing intense criticism from environmentalists who feared the mine would pollute the pristine region. Gogebic Taconite also shipped $700,000 to Wisconsin Club for Growth, a conservative group that helped Walker and Republican lawmakers survive recall elections in 2011 and 2012.

The DNR would have been the agency to approve Gogebic Taconite’s state mining permits. The company pulled out of the state in February, however, saying the project wasn’t feasible.

The newspaper reported that emails and other documents obtained through Wisconsin’s open records law confirmed that Walker’s administration was considering hiring Seitz to replace DNR Deputy Secretary Matt Moroney, who moved to a senior advisory position in Walker’s office in late February.

The administration ultimately gave Seitz a job as an assistant to state Public Service Commissioner Ellen Nowak in mid-February. The DNR deputy secretary job was given to Kurt Thiede, that agency’s land division administrator, last month.

Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said Tuesday in an email to The Associated Press that staffers dropped Seitz from consideration for the DNR post after learning a federal law prohibits people who have worked for a company that is applying for or has obtained air or water permits from working within the agency that issues such permits for two years.

Seitz didn’t immediately return a voicemail message Tuesday. A message left with PSC spokesman Nathan Conrad seeking an interview with Seitz also wasn’t immediately returned.

STURGEON BAY – The Door Co. Sheriff’s Dept. is investigating a home break-in Sunday, in which multiple pieces of jewelry were taken.

The incident happened at a home just north of Sturgeon Bay, according to a department news release.

Suspects broke into the home and went through the whole home, stealing jewelry, a TV, digital cameras, an oil painting, glass jewelry box, collectable coins, old coins, etc.

30 plus items of jewelry were taken in the burglary. Diamond rings, pearl rings and necklaces, smoky topaz rings and necklaces, garnet and ruby rings, and other valuable and costume jewelry were taken.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Door Co. Sheriff’s Dept. at 920-746-2416 or Investigative Sergeant Connie Schuster at 920-746-2428.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky entered the campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination Tuesday with a declaration that he’s running for the White House to “return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government.”

That message posted on his website prefaced a kickoff speech later in the day in Louisville.

“I am running for president,” his web message said. In remarks to supporters, Paul could be counted on to be a fierce critic of Washington, where he is in his first term as a senator but seldom in line with his party’s leadership.

Paul’s challenge now is to convince Republican primary voters and caucus-goers that his is a vision worthy of the GOP presidential nomination, a prize twice denied his father, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

Hundreds of supporters were already crowding into a hotel ballroom to hear Rand Paul speak, and many said they had been backers of Ron Paul’s presidential runs.

“Rand, I think, encompasses those same principles (as his father), but he also realizes the pragmatism that is necessary to bring those principles to fruition in American politics today,” said Eric Thomas, a 49-year-old financial services worker from Knoxville, Tennessee, who was waiting for Paul to arrive at his launch event.

Paul begins the 2016 race as just the second fully declared candidate, behind Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, but he could face as many as 20 rivals for the nomination before the lead-off Iowa caucuses in February.

Along the way, Paul is likely to challenge his fellow Republicans’ views on both foreign and domestic policy, as well as the nuts and bolts of how campaigns are run. Tech savvy and youth-focused, Paul is expected to be an Internet juggernaut that his competitors will be forced to chase.

After his speech in Louisville, Paul was set to answer questions from voters on his Facebook page. Before his announcement speech, he was already selling on his website iPhone cases branded with his logo, signed copies of the Constitution and Rand Paul beer steins.

The online store was a quick way for Paul to collect contact information for voters who want the swag but had not yet considered a direct donation to the candidate.

It’s unclear, though, how much support Paul can muster in the Republican mainstream.

Paul is a frequent contrarian against his party’s orthodoxy, questioning the size of the U.S. military and proposing relaxation of some drug laws that imprison offenders at a high cost to taxpayers. He also challenges the GOP’s support for surveillance programs, drone policies and sanctions on Iran and Cuba.

But as the presidential campaign came closer, Paul has shifted his approach somewhat on the complicated question about how much government the country actually needs.

“The issue on Sen. Paul and national security issues is where he comes down in the continuing conflict between his principles and his ambition,” said John Bolton, a former ambassador to the United Nations and a potential Paul rival for the GOP nomination.

In an interview, Bolton cited Paul’s shifting views on military spending.

In Paul’s proposal for the 2012 budget, he called for reducing military spending and for fewer troops at the Department of Defense. “The DOD should not be treated sacrosanct with regard to the treatment of taxpayer dollars,” Paul wrote in a plan that would balance the federal budget in five years.

But last month Paul proposed a 16 percent increase in the Pentagon’s budget.

“On any given day, it’s hard to know where he will be,” Bolton said. “I believe in redemption, and I hope he comes all the way over. But I just don’t know what’s at work in his mind.”

In another sign of his uphill climb, an outside group not connected to any candidate planned to spend more than $1 million on ads criticizing Paul’s positions on Iran sanctions. The ads were scheduled to start airing as Paul was declaring himself a candidate.

Perhaps reflecting the challenges he faces in convincing his critics he deserves the nomination, Paul is also leaving open the door to a second term in the Senate. With the backing of his state’s senior senator, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Paul is likely to seek the White House and the Senate seat at the same time.

McConnell was not expected to attend Paul’s political rally on Tuesday, instead opting for a meeting with the Jessamine County Chamber of Commerce near Lexington.

One of Paul’s likely rivals, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, has said he would not double-dip on the ballot. He is expected to announce next week that he will skip a Senate re-election bid in 2016 in favor of putting everything into a presidential campaign.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Burger King is paying the expenses and providing gifts for the wedding of an Illinois couple with an interesting connection to the fast food restaurant chain. Joel Burger and Ashley King accepted the company’s proposal Monday.

The State Journal-Register reports that the couple has been known as Burger-King since they were in the fifth grade together, in New Berlin near Springfield.

The couple announced their engagement this spring with a photo next to the sign at a local Burger King restaurant. Although a woman’s name usually comes first in an engagement announcement, they decided to flip their names.

A Burger King spokesman says the company felt an overwhelming urge to help the happy couple celebrate their upcoming marriage.

The Burger-King nuptials will be held July 17 in nearby Jacksonville.

MANITOWOC – A man who killed his stepson was convicted of a reduced charge Monday.

Jesse Moreno Jr. pleaded guilty to second-degree reckless homicide, which was reduced from first-degree intentional homicide, according to the Clerk of Courts office.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 12. The maximum penalty is 25 years in prison, as opposed to the life term for the intentional homicide.

During an argument about family and money, Moreno Jr. stabbed his stepson, Koyoko Perry, April 27, 2014, in Two Rivers. Perry tried to drive away from the scene. He then crashed into two vehicles in a driveway and later died at a hospital.

Manitowoc Cranes and Lamers Bus Lines are planning hiring events later this week.

Lamers is hoping to add more than 50 drivers.

Both experienced school bus drivers and new drivers are eligible for signing bonuses and incentive pay. Lamers Bus Lines offers a comprehensive training program with training pay to help new drivers receive their CDL with the proper endorsements. At the event hiring managers will be on hand to help candidates fill out the full application and interview them on the spot for the more than 50 job openings available in the area.

Lamers will host events Friday, April 10, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at several locations:

Green Bay West
2407 South Point Rd.
Green Bay, WI 54313

Green Bay East/East De Pere
2937 Monroe Rd.
De Pere, WI 54115

West De Pere
430 South Ninth St.
De Pere, WI 54115

Howard/Suamico
1934 Cardinal Ln.
Green Bay, WI 54313

Fox Cities
1825 Novak Dr.
Menasha, WI 54952

Freedom
N4289 Vine Rd.
Freedom, WI 54130

Denmark
452 N. Wall St.
Denmark, WI 54208

Meanwhile, Manitowoc Cranes will hold a career fair Saturday, April 11, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Manitowoc County Job Center, 3733 Dewey Street, Manitowoc, WI 54220.

Manitowoc Cranes is seeking a variety of skilled labor employees including welders, machinists, burners, assemblers, and more. A complete list of open positions is available on the company’s website.

Our increased need for qualified candidates reflects an increased demand for Manitowoc’s crawler crane products. “We’re excited to be in a position to hire again,” said Patti Denk, director of human resources. “The skills and abilities of the workforce in this area are second to none and will enable us to meet the upturn in our business.”

BOSTON (AP) – A jury has begun deliberations in the federal death penalty trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Jurors began considering 30 charges against Tsarnaev on Tuesday morning. They heard closing arguments Monday from prosecutors and Tsarnaev’s lawyers, and instructions from Judge George O’Toole Jr.

Since Tsarnaev’s lawyer admitted he participated in the deadly attack, Tsarnaev’s conviction is a near certainty. After the jury reaches a verdict, the same jurors will hear additional evidence in a second phase of the trial to determine whether Tsarnaev should spend the rest of his life in prison or be executed for his crimes.

Prosecutors said Tsarnaev made a cold, calculated decision to place a bomb near the marathon finish line to punish America for its wars in Muslim countries.

Tsarnaev’s lawyers acknowledged he played a role in the bombings but said it was his older brother, Tamerlan, who planned the attack.

MADISON (AP) – Wisconsin beekeepers who sustained losses due to poor weather can get some help from the federal government.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency says the emergency assistance was reauthorized as part of the 2014 Farm Bill.

Wisconsin dropped out of the top 10 honey-producing states in 2014 after brutal fall and winter weather wiped out a significant number of hives. The assistance program will help beekeepers who experienced losses from Oct. 1, 2013 through Sept. 30, 2014.

The State Journal says Wisconsin honey production has dropped about 21 percent, placing the state 15th among honey-producing states.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) – A small plane with at least five people on board has crashed near the city of Bloomington in central Illinois.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna 414 took off from Indianapolis and crashed just short of the airport in Bloomington after midnight Tuesday.

The agency had no information about possible injuries or deaths. It said that based on preliminary information there were at least five people on board, but possibly as many as seven.

The McLean County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a message seeking more information.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating, but there was no initial word on what caused the crash.

Madison – Thousands of Wisconsin Badgers fans supported each other after Monday night’s loss to the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA Basketball Championship.

Students at the UW Memorial Union Theatre cheered until the last minutes of the game. As the clock ticked down, all hopes of a Badgers victory faded from their faces.

“Top ten worst moments of my life,” said UW Freshman Jake Redovich. “I don’t remember the rest of the season. I’m too sad.”

“Devastated,” said Claire Holesovsky. “We were so close and then we lost.”

Students still cheered in a large mob on State Street for more than an hour after the game ended. Despite the loss, many found silver linings in the second place finish.

“Congrats to Duke,” said Carlos Diaz. “But we really are proud of our team.”

University police said officers did have to put out a small fire, but otherwise the crowd was well behaved.