Green Bay News

With celebrations in the streets of Tehran, and praise at the White House, the deal would seem on it’s face, a significant step toward safety. So is it?

Israeli’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu says, “On the contrary. The deal would legitimize iran’s illegal nuclear program. It would leave iran with a vast nuclear infrastructure.”

Israel’s fears may not be so unfounded.

Matthew Kroenig, one-time adviser on Iran policy at the Pentagon and author of ‘A Time to Attack’ says North Korea now may have enough material for 10 to 30 weapons.

“Well we’ve tried these nuclear deals in the past, North Korea comes to mind, we struck this agreed framework with North Korea in 1994 we thought we’d solved the North Korea nuclear problem and we now know they’ve been cheating on the deal from day one,” Kroenig said.

“Unfortunately for Israel, they don’t really have any good options on their own, all of their options run through Washington so if they want tougher sanctions on Iran they can’t do that without the white house blessing,” said Kroenig

Thus, a return to the ‘trust but verify’ approach. Can Iran really be allowed to keep enriching, with the understanding it’s for energy, nothing nefarious? Their president today vowed, Iranians “do not seek to deceive.”

“Today they have all accepted that enrichment on the Iranian soil is not a threat,” said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

But that doesn’t mean everyone in Iran is a fan of the deal. Hard liners there say they conceded too much. One of the Ayatollah’s advisers, adding, ‘we gave up a race-ready horse and we got in return a broken bridle’.

In other words, there may still be plenty of bartering to be done between now and June 30th.

As Holy Week nears an end, Christians around the world are observing Good Friday, which recalls Jesus’ death by crucifixion.

INDIANAPOLIS — National championships, multiple Final Four appearances, impressive won-loss records year after year. Whatever your criteria for deciding the best of the coaches, this year’s Final Four group has it.

Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski is one ring away from a hand full of championship jewelry. He is tied with John Wooden for most Final Four appearances and his career victory total stands alone and even has a comma in it.

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo has one national title and seven Final Four appearances. He is the Spartans’ all-time winningest coach and he is just five wins from 500 in 20 seasons.

Kentucky’s John Calipari, in addition to being two wins from the best record in Division I history, is trying for a second national title in his sixth Final Four, although trips with Massachusetts and Memphis were vacated for NCAA violations. He has 635 wins.

Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan is in his second straight Final Four at the Division I level but he led Wisconsin-Platteville to four Division III national championships and two of those were with unbeaten teams. He has a combined win total at three schools of 739 in 31 seasons.

Maybe it’s not a Mount Rushmore of college coaches. If you really went and searched, maybe you could find a group with a higher pedigree of coaching royalty. That would be hard. This is quite a collection of coaches at the top of their games for a long, long time.

“This is an old crew if I’m the youngest of the four,” quipped the 55-year-old Calipari.

Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan watches asKentucky head coach John Calipari answers a question during a news conference for the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Thursday, April 2, 2015, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Calipari, who was recognized Friday as Coach of the Year by The Associated Press, is the only one of the four who has coached in the NBA, leading the New Jersey Nets from 1996-99 and a brief stint as an assistant to Larry Brown with the Philadelphia 76ers. Now he is concerned with the players who will most certainly be in the NBA for years to come.

“I’m focused on helping these kids reach their dreams. Their dreams are my dreams,” he said.

Krzyzewski is in his 12th Final Four, his first in 1986 in his sixth season at Duke. He and the Blue Devils have become a fixture in the season’s final weekend and he relies on each trip he has made to make the current one the best possible for these players.

“The first time you don’t know what the heck you’re going into,” said Krzyzewski, the only Division I coach with more than 1,000 victories. “I think the main thing that we’ve done is we refer to what was good for us when we left, how we traveled, when we practiced, that type of thing, what we did while we were in the Final Four. It’s a combination of all those things. It’s more of an evolution of what you do.”

Izzo had an amazing run stopped last season when the Spartans lost to eventual champion Connecticut in the regional final, one step shy of the Final Four. Every player who had stayed four years under Izzo played in a Final Four until last year’s group came so close.

“The difference in my first one and my second one is I learned how to get tickets and hotels done on Sunday night,” Izzo said, referring to the last day of the regional finals. “That first Final Four in Tampa, I think I was doing them on the way to the game. That was not very beneficial.

Yet what’s been fun for me is every Final Four I’ve gone to, I’ve told (the players) what to expect, it doesn’t even come close. That’s kind of cool.”

Ryan is the only one of the coaches who knows what Calipari is facing in pursuit of being the first undefeated Division I champion since Indiana in 1976.

“Our two Platteville teams in Division III in ’95 and ’98 went undefeated. I get so many text messages and calls from guys who played on those teams that said, ‘Aren’t those people smart enough to know there’s been other undefeated teams in men’s basketball?’ I don’t text back, ‘No, they’re not smart enough.’ I text back and say, ‘They don’t feel it’s relevant in this Division I environment.’ But if you’re asking what it’s like to go through a perfect season, I just always thought it was pretty neat.”

Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith won the title in 1998 with Kentucky. He knows how hard it is to get to the Final Four. This group of contemporaries has impressed him for how long they have been successful.

“What I appreciate is those guys are all veteran coaches. There’s no hotshot, upstart guy,” Smith said. “I really appreciate that because I think there’s been that trend, even with me, ‘We need younger, more energetic. Or the game has passed you by.’ That’s not the case at all for most of us.

“Coaches, you’re going to be teaching and coaching the rest of your life.”

INDIANAPOLIS — Next in the way of Kentucky’s perfect season: Frank the Tank and his fun-loving band of Wisconsin teammates.

Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky and the Badgers were so loose they were giggling on the podium during their interviews Friday, answering questions about what they eat (Kaminsky likes omelets with syrup on top), how they slept (Sam Dekker got eight solid hours) and what their word of the day is for the poor NCAA stenographers they discovered earlier at the tournament (Nigel Hayes went with “prestidigitation”).

The team they face Saturday, 38-0 Kentucky, is also trying to keep things pressure-free, and their coach, John Calipari, tried working some magic of his own with the numbers.

Everybody is 0-0,” Calipari said. “Whether you’re Duke, Michigan State, Wisconsin or us, everybody’s record is the same. We’re all feeling the same thing. We all want to win a national title.”

If the Wildcats do, they’ll be the first program since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers to finish a season as undefeated champions — an accomplishment that hovers over everything this week at what is shaping up as a monumental Final Four because of the history involved.

“If we do complete that goal, I couldn’t even put it into words,” said Andrew Harrison, whose two free throws were the difference in the 68-66 win over Notre Dame in the Midwest Regional final.

But undefeated doesn’t necessarily mean perfect, and Wisconsin is hardly in awe.

This is a rematch of last year’s semifinal. In that game, the Badgers (35-3) were leading Kentucky by two when Harrison’s twin brother, Aaron, spotted up from behind the upper-left part of the arc with 5.7 seconds left and made his second straight game-winning 3-pointer.

Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker spins a ball on his finger during a practice session for the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Friday, April 3, 2015, in Indianapolis. Wisconsin plays Kentucky on Saturday. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

“He has that clutch gene,” Dekker said after that one.

One notable stat from that 74-73 thriller: Kaminsky finished with only eight points and five rebounds.

The 7-foot center, who averages 18 points and almost nine rebounds this season and will likely go in the first round of the NBA draft, said he would have returned for his senior season either way. Still, the loss — and the way it went down — left a mark.

“It’s obviously motivating because you want to come back to this stage,” Kaminsky said. “This is what seasons are remembered for. You remember the national champion at the end of the season.”

Win or lose, these Kentucky players will be remembered — and watched some more. Freshman Karl-Anthony Towns — likely to become one of Calipari’s much-discussed “one-and-dones” — is a probable lottery pick, as is junior Willie Cauley-Stein. The Harrison brothers and four or five more are also expected to wind up in the NBA, too.

Wisconsin has a few future pros — Kaminsky, Dekker and Hayes. But it’s no big secret that the Badgers won’t win on raw talent.

“Do you think I have to tell my players that this is a big game or that Kentucky’s pretty good?” Badgers coach Bo Ryan said. “They are. I think our guys are astute enough to figure that part out.”

THE POSTMEN: The big man is back — at least at this Final Four. This game will feature three of best: Kaminsky for Wisconsin and 6-11 Towns and 7-foot Cauley-Stein for Kentucky. The Wildcats also have Trey Lyles at 6-10 and Marcus Lee at 6-9. To practice for Kentucky’s height, Ryan tinkered with the idea of using tennis rackets to swat down shots at practice. “But with these guys, they might have started whacking each other with them,” he said. “We can’t simulate what they have.”

ANALYTICS: When asked what stats he pays most attention to, Ryan focused in on one: Points per possession. It’s pretty clear why. The Badgers lead the nation in that stat at 1.22. Kentucky’s not far behind, ranked ninth at 1.156.

BALANCE: Part of Calipari’s coaching brilliance this season has been figuring out how to spread the minutes and the touches, while keeping everyone happy. Nobody on Kentucky averages more than 26 minutes a game, and Andrew Harrison leads the team in scoring with a modest 11 points a game. The Badgers, whose roster isn’t as deep, have three players who score more — Kaminsky (18.7), Dekker (13.9) and Hayes (12.4).

ENDS AND ODDS: The Wildcats are five-point favorites, matching the lowest number they have been favored by all season. Also, for those thinking this Kentucky team will go down as the best in college basketball history if it runs the table, think again. The 2014-15 Wildcats would be a 3½-point underdog against the 2011-12 title team, according to R.J. Bell, a betting analyst who runs the Pregame.com website.

INDIANAPOLIS — Quinn Cook is Duke’s heart and soul, the senior who suffered through two stunningly early NCAA Tournament exits then slid over to accommodate the arrival of a talented freshman point guard.

That’s why he won’t let the Blue Devils be content with just making it to the Final Four.

“There’s no next year for me,” Cook said.

Look around the Final Four, and there’s a lot of guys feeling the same way heading into Saturday’s national semifinals.

There’s Wisconsin’s senior quartet led by Frank Kaminsky. There’s Michigan State’s Travis Trice-Branden Dawson duo that pushed a No. 7 seed to yet another final-weekend NCAA Tournament appearance for coach Tom Izzo.

Sure, unbeaten Kentucky is stacked with young talent and one-and-done players who often overshadow the guys that stick around for four years. But this Final Four offers plenty of proof that seniors – tournament-tested veterans ready to hit a key shot or mentor inexperienced teammates when their moment comes – still have a big say in how far their teams go in March.

“I think it speaks to why they’re here,” Trice said Friday. “It takes seniors to really put you over the edge and kind of help the young guys. Kentucky’s a special talent where you’ve got some of the best players in the country on the same team. But for the teams that aren’t as talented as maybe they are, you’ve got to have guys who have been through it and can lead the other guys.”

That trio of teams have gotten here in different ways.

Wisconsin’s Josh Gasser throws a ball during a practice session for the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Friday, April 3, 2015, in Indianapolis. Wisconsin plays Kentucky on Saturday. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The Badgers (35-3) are back in the Final Four after suffering a crushing one-point loss to Kentucky in last year’s national semifinals, an experience that stayed with Kaminsky and fellow seniors Traevon Jackson, Duje Dukan and Josh Gasser. It helped drive the Badgers to a single-season school record for wins while playing amid expectations that were stratospheric from the moment preseason practice began.

Kaminsky, named Associated Press Player of the Year on Friday, has been at his best in the tournament, averaging 22.8 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 52 percent in the four-game push through the West Region as a No. 1 seed.

“The senior class, the four of us, it provides a sense of leadership, a sense of experience, that nobody has really had before,” Dukan said. “With the one-and-dones, they have some seniors but it’s not the same type of seniors that have been through the grind playing and all that. But you know it’s just a matter of what works. Some people find the one-and-done to work better. We find it better to stick around.”

Compare that to the Spartans (27-11), who followed a run to the Elite Eight by flirting with not even making it back into the field of 68.

The Spartans stood at 13-7 after a January loss at Nebraska, but went on a late-season push that included reaching the Big Ten Tournament final to returning to the NCAAs for the 18th straight year.

Trice has been averaging 19.1 points over the past 13 games and is shooting 41 percent from behind the arc in the tournament. Meanwhile, Dawson’s tournament numbers are on par with his season totals; the Big Ten’s top rebounder is averaging 9.3 rebounds to go with 11 points.

More important, Izzo said, is the time they’ve spent mentoring teammates competing for playing time against them.

I keep reminding those freshmen every day: ‘You better appreciate those guys, you better appreciate them a lot because not everyone does this,'” Izzo said this week. “This is some of the things that have separated this year’s team from top to bottom. There is a – I don’t know if you can use the word – but there is a true love for one another. That is a powerful, powerful thing.”

Then there’s the Blue Devils (33-4), who have three freshman starters in star big man Jahlil Okafor, point guard Tyus Jones and versatile forward Justise Winslow. All three have lived up to preseason hype, and yet, Duke’s success is just as much about Cook.

Cook had spent most of his career at the point during a career that included tournament-opening losses to No. 15 seed Lehigh (2012) and No. 14 seed Mercer (last year). Then Jones’ arrival prompted Hall of Fame head coach Mike Krzyzewski to talk with Cook about shifting over to play off the ball alongside Jones.

“I said, ‘I’m going to depend on you,'” Krzyzewski said. “He’s taken that to the highest level.”

Cook has responded by averaging 15.5 points and shooting 50 percent from 3-point range, the best numbers of his career. He’s also developed into the Blue Devils’ best on-ball defender.

“Without Quinn Cook,” Duke assistant Nate James said, “we would not be here right now.”

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Newly released records related to the fatal police shooting of a 19-year-old Wisconsin man show he told his mother he trusted police.

Police documents released Friday say Tony Robinson Jr. called his mother from jail last year after he was arrested for armed robbery. In a recorded call, his mother, Andrea Irwin, tells him not to talk to police. Robinson says officers said they’d help him.

In an interview Friday, Irwin tells The Associated Press she told Robinson not to talk without a lawyer. She says any parent would give their children the same advice.

Madison officer Matt Kenny killed Robinson last month. Police say Robinson, who was biracial, assaulted Kenny, who is white, when Kenny responded to calls about Robinson allegedly attacking two people and running through traffic.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Fewer than half of the young immigrants who now qualify for Arizona driver’s licenses have actually obtained them.

About 20,000 young people qualify for a federal program that protects them from deportation and assigns them a Social Security number, but the state Department of Transportation says only about 6,700 of them have obtained licenses.

Arizona is among the last states to allow immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to get licenses. In January, a federal judge issued a permanent injunction against a state policy denying so-called DREAMers licenses, although the state is appealing that ruling.

Advocates say misinformation is to blame, in part, for the low turnout. But in states like Colorado and California, immigrants who are now eligible for licenses have turned out in high numbers.

GREEN BAY – The proposed state budget could mean a loss of $4.6 million at UW-Green Bay.

Friday UW-Green Bay employees learned more about a retirement plan that will help the school save money and cut down on staffing.

To qualify, employees must be at least 55-years-old with five years of service.

Around 157 employees are eligible for the program.

The hope of the voluntary incentive program is that enough employees are interested and in turn, help the school save money.

UWGB Director of Human Resources, Sheryl Van Gruensven explains, “Those employees are eligible for 50 percent of their salary payout; either via a lump sum payment at their end date or it could be a contribution into Wisconsin Retirement System into their health savings account or a 403 (b) program.”

UW-Oshkosh, UW-Eau Claire, and UW-Superior have also announced a similar program.

 

GREEN BAY – It’s time to fill those Easter baskets, but if industry experts are correct, there could be less chocolate in those baskets in the coming years.

Major chocolate companies, like Mars, Inc., are predicting the price of chocolate could double by 2020. They say several factors are playing into that chocolate forecast.

According to the International Cocoa Organization, cocoa beans are only grown near the equator, 70 percent coming from West Africa.

Chocolate companies say farmers are growing less cocoa, focusing on more profitable crops with less pest and disease impact.

“You’ve got one part of the world that’s producing almost all the chocolate, there is a chance of a shortage, but with it being five years out, I don’t think it’ll be too much of an issue hopefully,” said Ben Beernsten of Beersten’s Candies in Green Bay.

Beernsten’s family of chocolate makers looks at the issue optimistically.

“There is talk about it anywhere from 20 to 40 percent increase in the cost of cocoa,” said Beernsten. “We haven’t seen much of an impact on it yet.”

Besides the declining supply of cocoa beans, another factor to consider is the growing demand for chocolate. Hershey predicts chocolate sales in China will be up 60 percent by 2019. Similar growth is expected in other countries in Asia.

“If prices double, I probably would eat a lot less chocolate, but I’d still come here,” said Scott Campbell of Milwaukee, while shopping at Beernsten’s. “This is the best candy in the world I think.”

“We’ll have chocolate until there is no chocolate to be made,” said Beernsten.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Don’t blink. There’s a total eclipse of the moon Saturday – and it’s an unusually short one.

If there are clear skies, the 3½-hour spectacle is visible from start to finish from the western U.S. and Canada where it occurs before dawn. Skygazers in the Midwest and East Coast only get part of the lunar show.

The eclipse can also be seen in its entirety Saturday night from eastern Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Europe and Africa are shut out.

You can see NASA’s eclipse map here.

Things to know about the celestial attraction:

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HOW LONG IS THE TOTAL ECLIPSE?

NASA calculates the total eclipse – the moment when Earth’s shadow completely blocks the moon – at only five minutes. Using a different model, the U.S. Naval Observatory put it at about 12 minutes. In either case, it’s the shortest lunar eclipse of the century.

On the west coast of North America, the total eclipse – what astronomers call totality – begins shortly before 5 a.m. PDT.

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WHY SO BRIEF?

In this case, the moon skims the upper part of Earth’s shadow. If the moon passes through the middle of the shadow, the eclipse lasts longer.

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WHY A “BLOOD MOON” DURING THE ECLIPSE?

“Blood moon” refers to its orange or red appearance – the result of sunlight scattering off Earth’s atmosphere. Whether the moon appears dark red, copper, bronze or another shade depends on several factors including the amount of volcanic ash in the atmosphere.

“That’s what makes lunar eclipses so interesting,” said Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington.

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WHEN IS THE NEXT TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE?

The next full eclipse of the moon occurs on Sept. 28 and will be visible across the U.S. and Canada, as well as western Europe and Africa. Totality will last a little over an hour.

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IS SPECIAL EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO WATCH?

Unlike solar eclipses which require eye protection, you only need clear skies to view a lunar eclipse. A pair of binoculars or backyard telescope will enhance your view, but they’re not necessary.

“Get a comfortable chair … and just look up,” said Mitzi Adams, an astronomer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

To watch the lunar eclipse online, click here.

The Rawhide Boys Ranch is declaring April 12, 2015 as Favre-Rodgers-Starr Day in honor of three Packers quarterback legends.

Rawhide wants Packers fans to take part in their Mighty Trio online campaign to celebrate Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Bart Starr.

Fans are encouraged to send pictures of them supporting their favorite quarterback.

You can send pictures to via Facebook or Twitter.

On 4-12-15, Rawhide will post the pictures to www.4-12-15.org

With 324 total regular season wins, Favre, Rodgers and Starr as quarterbacks for the Green Bay Packers have surpassed every other trio of quarterbacks playing on one team in modern football history.

Rawhide Boys Ranch was founded by Bart and Cherry Starr and John and Jan Gillespie. It’s a nationally recognized, Wisconsin non-profit organization providing residential care services to at risk youth from all over the state.

Tiger Woods has made up his mind — he will play the Masters.

After two trips to Augusta National this week, Woods announced his return to competition on his website Friday. He wrote: “I’m playing the Masters. It’s obviously very important to me, and I want to be there.”

Woods hasn’t played since Feb. 5, when he walked off the golf course at Torrey Pines with what he described as tightness in his lower back. He said a week later he would not play again until his game was acceptable for tournament standards.

MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) – Authorities say they have rescued two Northern Michigan University students from an ice floe in Lake Superior off the coast of Marquette.

The Mining Journal of Marquette reports that crews rescued the Michigan and Wisconsin residents Thursday evening. The men were about 500 yards offshore, stranded on breakaway ice that was moving north and surrounded by open water.

The students were examined at a local hospital and released. Their names weren’t released.

Officials have advised the public to stay off the ice because it’s unstable and unreliable.

A cow at a Green Lake Co. farm is cheering on the Wisconsin Badgers as they get set to play the Kentucky Wildcats in the Final Four on April 4, 2015.

MILWAUKEE — Arike Ogunbowale got a taste of what basketball might be like in college before receiving one more accolade for her storied high school career.

The Divine Savior Holy Angels senior is The Associated Press player of the year in Wisconsin, while Whitewater’s Judy Harms is the coach of the year.

For Ogunbowale, this is the third straight season that she won top player honors. Also, Green Bay Southwest’s Natisha Hiedeman was named to the first team after averaging 25.5 points this season for the Trojans.

“That’s really amazing,” she said after scoring nine points in the McDonald’s High School All-American game. “There a lot of great players in Wisconsin so it’s an honor to be able to get it not once but twice now.”

East point guard Arike Ogunbowale, left, of Divine Savior Holy Angels high school in Milwaukee, Wis., battles for a rebound against West point guard Te’a Omari Cooper of McEachern high school, in Powder Springs, Ga., during the second half of the McDonald’s All-American girls basketball game in Chicago on Wednesday, April 1, 2015. East won 89-87. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

She is one off her tally, though it’s understandable if she’s focused on the future instead of the past.

Ogunbowale, a Notre Dame signee, played with future Irish teammates Marina Mabrey and Ali Patberg on the East squad at the McDonald’s game.

“It was pretty cool, just to see what is going to be happening for the next four years,” Ogunbowale said. “We all felt really comfortable so we’re really excited.

The 5-foot-9 Ogunbowale averaged 27.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.5 steals in leading the Angels to their first WIAA state title. She set a tournament record with 55 points in the state semifinals, which tied for third most in a girls game in the state, according to records kept by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association.

“I think she will be remembered as the greatest female player to play in the state of Wisconsin,” coach Jeff Worzella said. “At times, I just sat there on the sideline and was simply amazed at what she could do on the basketball court.”

Harms had a season to remember, too, after Whitewater won its first state championship. The Whippets became the first team to go undefeated and win the Division 3 title since Cuba City in 2010.

She gives much of the credit to the unselfishness of her players.

“The biggest reason is our seniors and the leadership out of our senior captains. They grew up a lot over the years,” Harms said. “It was finally their turn to lead and they just stepped up.”

It is what helped make this season “super fun,” Harms said. She took a different approach going into the year after what she called frustration for her and the team for an unspecified personal issue.

“I thought this year, ‘I’m not going to let outside distractions bother us.’ We really stayed together,” she said.

Something that didn’t change was Harms’ routine to incorporate games and tasks tied to her other job as a physical education teacher at Whitewater.

This year, she wrote phrases across a bunch of tennis balls and scattered them. Players had to gather the orbs and figure out the full phrase.

She also tried something new. Harms gave her players notebooks, and asked them to write goals each week. It was a way, she said, to keep challenging players even when the games themselves weren’t that challenging.

“Writing it down makes the kids a little more accountable in trying to reach” the goals, Harms said.

Mission accomplished in 2015.

Wisconsin Associated Press All-State Girls Basketball Team
First team
Arike Ogunbowale, 5-9, sr., G, Divine Savior Holy Angels (x)
Gabby Green, 5-5, sr., G, Pius XI (x)
Megan Gustafson, 6-3, sr., F, South South
Allazia Blockton, 5-10, sr., G/F, Dominican
Natisha Hiedeman, 5-8, sr., G, Green Bay Southwest

Second team
Kayla Goth, 6-0, sr., G, DeForest
Amani Wilborn, 5-10, G, Milwaukee Riverside
Chloe Wanink, 5-7, sr., G, Cameron
Annalese Lamke, 6-3, sr., C, Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau
Hannah Whitish, 5-9, jr., G, Barneveld

Third team
Shakeela Fowler, 5-3, sr., G, Milwaukee King
Taylor Hodell, 6-4, sr., F, D.C. Everest
Taylor Higginbotham, 5-10, sr., G, Germantown
Kelli Schrauth, 5-11, sr., F, Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs
Sarah Schumacherm 6-0, sr., P, Whitewater

Fourth team
Chelsea Ritter, 5-10, sr., F, La Crosse Aquinas
Mikayla Voigt, 5-9, sr., G/F, Kettle Moraine Lutheran
Karly Murphy, 6-1, jr., F, River Falls
Jasmin Samz, 5-10, sr., G, Wausau West
Madison Blair, 5-11, sr., G/F, Waterford

(x) — unanimous selection

Honorable mention
Abby Gerrits, jr., Pewaukee; Mariana Bautista, sr., Heritage Christian, Sammy Kozlowski, sr., New Berlin Eisenhower; Akaylah Hayes, sr., Milwaukee King; Allie Barber, sr., Cedarburg; Alona Johnson, jr., Milwaukee Riverside; Gena Grundhoffer, jr., Assumption; Bailey Schultz, jr., Mosinee; Stephany Heggemeier, sr., Owen-Withee; Emily Kind, sr., Marathon; Morgan Horstman, sr., Bangor; Hillary Filla, sr., Arcadia; Tayla Stuttley, soph., Onalaska; Dani Nelson, sr., Augusta; Maddie Dunathan, sr., Hortonville; Abbie Botz, sr., Little Chute; Peyton Ufi, sr., Appleton Xavier: Bailey Diersen, sr., Fox Valley Lutheran; Jenna Smarzinski, sr., Kimberly: Alyssa Fischer, sr., Manitowoc Lincoln; Conner Grall, jr., Valders; Mariah Szymanski, jr., Pulaski; Margaret Miller, sr., De Pere; Madison Wolf, sr., Sheboygan North; Kylie Moe, jr., Brodhead; Chloe Pustina, sr., Cuba City; Emma Roenneburg, sr., Adams-Friendship; Rachel Slaney, sr., Barneveld; Kelly Tramburg, jr., Fall River; Taylor Baker, sr., Lodi; Caitlyn Hibner, jr., Portage; Alison Hughes, sr., Janesville Craig; Emma Meriggioli, sr., Madison Edgewood; Monica Muth, sr., Cambridge; Ellie Harmeyer, sr., Somers Shoreland Lutheran; Jessica Kelliher, sr., Waukesha North; Dani Rhodes, jr., Waukesha West; Ally May, sr., Arrowhead; Bre Cera, jr., Mukwonago; Shae Brey, jr., Regis; Jamie Reit, jr., Stanley-Boyd; Morganne Gruber, sr., Durand; Tatum Mayenschein, sr., Fall Creek; Katie Stark, jr., Hayward; Alexi Walesh, jr., 5-7, G, Two Rivers; Julia Silloway, jr., Berlin; Brooke Scott, sr., North Fond du Lac; Jamie Spanbauer, sr., Lourdes Academy.

Some of Wisconsin and Kentucky’s top leaders are putting some of their states’ top products on the line in Final Four bets.

The Wisconsin Badgers and Kentucky Wildcats square off Saturday night in an NCAA national semifinal basketball game.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has wagered an assortment of Wisconsin cheese and sausage, plus root beer, against a bet of Kentucky bourbon by that state’s governor, Steve Beshear.

The attorneys general from each state have also made bets. If Wisconsin loses, attorney general Brad Schimel will send Sargento cheese, Johnsonville brats and Leinenkugels beer to Kentucky. If the Badgers win, Kentucky attorney general Jack Conway will send Schimel a Meacham’s country ham.

WASHINGTON (AP) – A weakening U.S. economy spilled into the job market in March as employers added just 126,000 jobs – the fewest since December 2013 – snapping a 12-month streak of gains above 200,000.

The unemployment rate remained at 5.5 percent, the Labor Department said in its monthly report Friday.

The March jobs data raised uncertainties about the world’s largest economy, which for months has been the envy of other industrialized nations for its steadily robust hiring and growth. Employers now appear wary about the economy, especially as a strong dollar has slowed U.S. exports, home sales have sputtered and cheaper gasoline has yet to unleash more consumer spending.

Some of the weakness may prove temporary: An unseasonably cold March followed a brutal winter that slowed key sectors of the economy.

Last month’s subpar job growth could make the Federal Reserve less likely to start raising interest rates from record lows in June, as some have been anticipating. The Fed could decide that the economy still needs the benefit of low borrowing costs to generate healthy growth.

Reflecting that sentiment, government bond yields fell Friday. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note dropped to 1.84 percent from 1.90 percent before the jobs report was released. U.S. stock markets are closed in observance of Good Friday.

Economists noted that for months hiring had been stronger than other gauges of the economy, suggesting that a pullback in job gains was inevitable.

“Job growth has been running at a stupendous pace in America over the last several months, increasingly out of tune with other economic indicators, which have pointed to a slowdown,” James Marple, senior economist at TD Economics, wrote in a research note. “The reckoning in March closes at least some of this gap.'”

At the same time, some said last month’s data looks bleak in part because hiring had been so robust in the months that preceded it.

“Employers aren’t laying people off,” noted Patrick O’Keefe, director of economic research at the consulting firm CohnReznick. “What they’ve decided to do is slow down the pace at which they’re hiring until they have more confidence.”

Last month, the manufacturing, building and government sectors all shed workers. Factories cut 1,000, snapping a 19-month hiring streak. Construction jobs also fell by 1,000, the first drop in 15 months. Hiring at restaurants plunged from February. The mining and logging sector, which includes oil drilling, lost 11,000.

Some other categories showed further gains. Health care added 22,000 workers. Professional and business services – a sector that includes lawyers, engineers, accountants and office temps – gained 40,000. Financial services expanded by 8,000, and retailers maintained their 12-month pace by adding 25,900.

In addition to reporting sluggish hiring for March, the government revised down its estimate of job gains in February and January by a combined 69,000.

Wage growth in March remained weak. Average hourly wages rose 7 cents to $24.86 an hour. That marked a year-over-year pay increase of just 2.1 percent. But because average hours worked fell in March for the first time in 15 months, Americans actually earned less on average than they did in February. Tepid pay increases have been a drag on the economy since the Great Recession ended nearly six years ago.

Many Americans remain out of the labor force, partly because many baby boomers are reaching retirement age. The percentage of Americans who are either working or looking for work fell in March to 62.7 percent, tying the lowest such rate since 1978.

Job growth had been healthy for more than a year before March. Yet the streak of strong hiring, along with cheaper gasoline, hasn’t significantly boosted consumer spending.

The Fed signaled last month that it would be cautious in raising rates from record lows. The Fed has yet to rule out a June rate hike. But many analysts expect the first increase no earlier than September. In part, that’s because Fed officials have revised down the range of unemployment they view as consistent with a healthy economy to 5 percent to 5.2 percent from 5.2 percent to 5.5 percent previously. The weak hiring last month could give them further pause about a June rate hike.

“I think (June) is completely off the table,” said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at the financial services company Northern Trust.

Part of the problem is that the cheap oil – which economists say should eventually help consumers – has been a drag on manufacturers. Energy companies have halted orders for pipelines and equipment, hurting sales.

At the same time, manufacturers face pressure because of the strengthening dollar. It has made American-made goods costlier abroad, thereby cutting into exports.

“From our clients’ perspective, they think we raised our prices 25 percent because the American dollar got so much stronger,” said Drew Greenblatt, president of Maryland-based Marlin Steel.

McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, the Gap and other major employers have announced raises for their lowest-paid employees. But those pay raises are staggered and unlikely to fuel faster wage growth.

The economy has disproportionately added lower-paying jobs in the retail and restaurant sectors since the economic recovery began in mid-2009.

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AP Economics Writer Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.

SEATTLE (AP) – Finally cleared of involvement in her roommate’s 2007 murder in Italy, Amanda Knox says she will work on behalf of the wrongly convicted.

Knox writes in a letter published Friday in The Seattle Times that the kindness of friends, family and strangers has sustained her in the seven-plus years since she was arrested in Meredith Kercher’s death of in Perugia.

She says she knows she must give back.

Knox writes that she’s lucky she had the backing of lawyers, DNA experts and former FBI investigators who saw the injustice in her case. She says countless other wrongfully convicted people lack that support, and she wants to work to give them a voice.

Italy’s highest court exonerated Knox and her former Italian boyfriend March 27.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Nearly 200 firefighters have been battling a fire at General Electric’s Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky, shutting down production at the sprawling manufacturing center that employs thousands.

The fire began Friday morning in a nonproduction building, creating huge columns of smoke.

GE spokeswoman Kim Freeman says there are no known injuries.

She says the building engulfed in flames was used for offices and storage and is used by a private supplier distribution center. She says the fire has been contained to the building.

Freeman says the cause is still unknown.

Media reports say people living within two miles of the fire have been ordered to stay inside because of noxious smoke.

GE makes a range of appliances at the facility, including washing machines, dryers, dish washers, refrigerators and water heaters.

 

DALLAS (AP) — A truck-mounted crane has toppled onto the roof of the Dallas Museum of Art, injuring the operator and narrowly missing a sculpture outside the building.

Museum spokeswoman Jill Bernstein says was being used to assemble a tent for a special event when it fell Friday morning.

Bernstein says the crane operator was taken to a hospital. The operator’s name and condition weren’t immediately available.

The crane just missed a towering red steel sculpture called “Ave” by Mark di Suvero, which stands on the museum’s front lawn. Bernstein says no works of art were damaged but that the south end of the museum has been closed.

Officials are investigating why the truck tipped over.