Green Bay News

WASHINGTON (AP) – After nearly 100 years, the National Park Service holds some of the country’s most beautiful and historic places, though it also suffers from an $11 billion backlog of unfunded maintenance and a visitor base that’s aging and mostly white.

With its centennial approaching in 2016, the park service is launching a campaign Thursday to raise support and court a younger, more diverse visitor base. First lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush will co-chair the campaign, calling on Americans to “Find Your Park.”

Sustaining the parks and keeping them relevant to visitors far into the future is a challenge, park officials said. Many facilities date back 50 years or more and are in danger of failing, such as a 70-year-old water pipeline at the Grand Canyon that breaks regularly and could cut off the water supply to the site, National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said. Lodging at Glacier National Park needs a major overhaul, and the nearly 100-year-old Memorial Bridge in Washington needs at least $150 million in repairs – more than the agency’s entire annual construction budget.

Behind the scenes, officials are seeking to expand fundraising through the National Park Foundation and bolster congressional support to improve the parks.

This is the third major campaign in the national parks’ history. An outcry over deplorable park conditions in 1915 originally led to the creation of the National Park Service. In the 1950s, there were calls to close parks because of their neglected conditions. That inspired a campaign to rebuild infrastructure and invite returning World War II veterans and their families to visit parks, with the memorable slogan “See the USA in your Chevrolet.”

“They came in droves, and in the back seat of that station wagon in the national parks were today’s boomer generation,” Jarvis said. “They are our base today … The question that we’re facing is who’s going to be the next generation of park supporters.”

While the national parks counted 292 million visitors in 2014, those visitors tend to be older and whiter than the U.S. population overall.

“If we were a business and that was our clientele, then over the long term, we would probably be out of business,” Jarvis said.

In studying public perceptions, park officials found many people think national parks are only in the West – places such as Yellowstone and Yosemite. They want people to understand that urban sites such as the Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Little Rock Central High School and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington are also national parks.

Over the next year, an advertising campaign will show how people connect with their favorite parks. Corporate sponsors including American Express, REI and Humana also are supporting the effort with co-branded marketing.

To broaden access to the parks, all fourth grade students and their families will get free admission to national parks during the next school year.

Celebrities including the science guy Bill Nye, actresses Bella Thorne and Roselyn Sanchez, E! News anchor Terrence J. and singer Mary Lambert are urging millennials to put down their smartphones for time in parks.

President Barack Obama requested an increase of $432 million to support the National Park Service in his 2016 budget proposal. It’s a sustained request that would lift the agency’s budget to $3 billion annually to address deferred maintenance and other needs but likely will face resistance in Congress.

During a recent hearing, Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of California said Congress must ensure the parks are well maintained. But he said the park service is plagued by “a clash of visions” between open access and new policies limiting access or amenities in some areas. He said the agency should be cautious about naming new parks before it fixes the ones it already has.

A campaign is under way to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild historic infrastructure with private funds. Campaign planners hope public support will also help build congressional support.

“If we don’t reach out and become relevant to a broader population, we won’t have the support the parks need to do their jobs in the future,” said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

NEW YORK (AP) – Every year, slightly more boy babies than girl babies are born worldwide. But back when sperm meets egg, the two sexes are conceived in equal numbers, a new study suggests.

That contradicts the idea found in many textbooks and scientific articles that males are in the majority at conception, researchers said.

And it implies more females than males die before birth, resulting in the excess of male births, says Steven Orzack, a study author.

“We don’t have good information on the cause of this difference,” he said.

The work, released Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also estimates the ratio of males to females at various points in pregnancy. It finds a see-sawing pattern over that time in which sex is more prone to die in the womb, as various genetic influences take their toll.

“We’re gaining fundamental new insights in the biology of humans in the first nine months of life,” Orzack said.

That biology “unfolds differently, starting soon after conception, between boys and girls,” he said.

Orzack is president of the nonprofit Fresh Pond Research Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He reports the work with scientists from Harvard and Oxford universities and elsewhere.

In general, around 105 boys are born for every 100 girls worldwide. The imbalance, first noticed centuries ago, is a natural phenomenon not due to selective abortion of girls in some areas.

The study authors drew on a variety of sources for information on the male-female ratio throughout pregnancy, including abortions, genetic sampling of fetuses in the womb, and fetal deaths.

To estimate the sex ratio at conception, they examined data on nearly 140,000 embryos that had been routinely screened at fertility clinics in the United States and elsewhere for genetic problems.

The embryos were 3 to 6 days old. Analysis concluded that by that point, the sex breakdown was virtually 50-50.  So extrapolating backward, “the best evidence we have is that the sex ratio at conception is even,” Orzack said.

The fertility-clinic data provide the best available stand-in for what happens in natural conception, the authors said; their analysis shows those two ways of conceiving produce identical sex ratios for babies at birth.

DENVER –  A Colorado photographer is celebrating a milestone.

This is the 60th year he’s covered the NCAA men’s final four. And for Rich Clarkson, it will be his last.

This week the 82-year-old is being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Clarkson says he’s made some great friends over the years, “For me it’s been a really good experience, meeting and getting to know so many people.”

Clarkson also says he’s not sure who will win this year, “Everyone thinks Kentucky got it locked up this year. Not so sure.”

Clarkson says one of the most difficult things about photographing the basketball games at his age is standing up at the end of the game after sitting for so long.

 

MADISON – A Shawano man was sentenced to 39 years for sexually assaulting three children, all under the age of 8.

Dick McKenna, 57, was sentenced to 24 years in prison and 15 years of extended supervision.

The charges span from Jun. 4, 2003 to Jun. 5, 2006 and April 2008 to Aug. 2012.

McKenna pleaded guilty during the course of his trail and also admitted to sexually assaulting two women when they were young girls.

 

 

 

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The mayor of Indianapolis says the city will fight not to be defined by the state’s new religious objections law.

Mayor Greg Ballard called Monday for the Legislature to repeal the law or to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s civil rights law.

Officials say they’re stepping up an “Indy welcomes all” campaign as visitors arrive for this weekend’s NCAA Final Four men’s basketball tournament.

CEO Bill Oesterle of consumer review service Angie’s List appeared with Ballard at a news conference. Oesterle says he wasn’t satisfied with Monday’s response by Republican legislative leaders on addressing changes to the law. He says they’re scrambling to put a good face on a bad issue. Angie’s List has suspended plans for a $40 million Indianapolis expansion over the law.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — A McMuffin for dinner? It might happen, as McDonald’s plans to test an all-day breakfast at some locations in the San Diego area starting next month.

The company said in a statement that the test is in response to customers who have said they’d like to eat breakfast foods outside the typical morning hours that they are served.

The world’s largest restaurant chain said the test will include a partial menu and feature some of McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. The company didn’t say which sandwiches would make the cut.

Fans of McDonald’s breakfast menu have long wanted the option to get breakfast at McDonald’s after 10:30 a.m. But offering both the breakfast and lunch menu had been considered logistically impossible, given the tight kitchen spaces of the restaurants.

McDonald’s had even tweeted about the topic in February, saying it doesn’t serve breakfast all day because its grills “just aren’t big enough for breakfast and lunch.”

Still, Jeff Stratton, head of McDonald’s USA, said in an interview with The Associated Press that same month that the company was taking a look at how it could make breakfast available later in the day.

The push to make breakfast outside normal hours partly reflects how McDonald’s is working to keep pace with shifting habits. In particular, executives have noted that customers increasingly want foods personalized to their tastes and schedules.

McDonald’s said Monday that it was too early to speculate on any outcomes from the test.

Janney Capital Markets had released an analyst note earlier Monday saying that their industry sources had told them that McDonald’s planned to test all-day breakfast in the U.S. The analyst note was released before McDonald’s confirmed the report.

“Having those breakfast items available to sell all day would also serve as a reminder to customers (and the media. and Wall Street.) that McDonald’s does indeed have craveable food to sell,” Janney analyst Mark Kalinowski wrote.

Shares of McDonald’s Corp., based in Oak Brook, Illinois, added 90 cents to $97.86 in afternoon trading.

 

MADISON (AP) – A study from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance says the state’s mandated inflated pay rates on public projects cost taxpayers more than $200 million in 2014.

Gannett Wisconsin Media reports the group looked at the state’s laws on prevailing wages, which set minimums for worker wages and benefits on big government projects. The group found it would have saved state and local governments $200 million to $300 million if they paid market-based rates.

Prevailing wages were 45 percent higher than local market rates on average, according to the study.

The study was paid for by an industry group that backs repealing prevailing wage requirements. The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance did not take a position on whether they should be repealed.

Contractor groups say there were problems with the study’s methodology, and that getting rid of prevailing wages would result in lower pay and quality.

“They assume savings for the taxpayer by lowering wages in construction,” said Wisconsin State Council of Carpenters executive director Mark Reihl. “The problem with that is if you have lower wages you’re not going to get the same level of efficiency, productivity and quality.”

A state legislature bill to repeal prevailing wages is awaiting a committee hearing. The bill is authored by state Rep. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield.

“They need to be repealed so we can let the free market – as the private sector does – determine the cost of wages and the cost of projects that have a direct impact on the taxpayers,” Hutton said.

There are laws on prevailing wages in 32 states, with rules in Wisconsin dating back to the 1930s. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development calculates prevailing wages using a survey of construction contractors, although only about 10 percent of surveys are filled out properly and returned.

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s National Bardo Museum reopened to the public Monday again for the first time since extremist gunmen opened fire on foreign tourists earlier this month, killing 22 people in the country’s worst attack on civilians in 13 years.

A Tunisian looks at a hole made during the attack, in a mosaic in Tunisia’s National Bardo Museum Monday, March 30, 2015. The Bardo Museum is open to the public again for the first time since extremist gunmen opened fire on foreign tourists earlier this month, killing 22 people in the country’s worst attack on civilians in 13 years. (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi)

The government says the man considered the “operational chief” of the assault was killed in a security raid Saturday. Two gunmen were killed the day of the March 18 attack in Tunis, which was a blow to Tunisia’s fledgling democracy and its tourism industry.

“Welcome to Bardo” read a large sign at the museum entrance in Arabic, English and French at its reopening Monday.

A small but steady flow of visitors came, walking past flowers laid in honor of the victims and flags of their many nationalities.

The country’s largest museum, renowned for richly colorful Roman mosaics, houses 8,000 works and is a top destination for European cruise ship passengers and other tourists.

Curator Moncef ben Moussa told The Associated Press that a team of experts is working on repairs at the museum after the attack. One bronze sculpture and one mosaic suffered slight damage, and some glass cases were broken.

“This museum will always hold the story and the passage of this terrible moment we lived, of the victims who fell during this terrorist attack,” Tourism Minister Selma Elloumi Rekik said. “Now we want to see the positive — Tunisia is open to visitors.”

Lebanese tourist Vola Abboud said, “When you see this special art people did, the people’s history, when they loved the art and architecture, and now you see the ‘ugly people,’ this is what they did. … I feel the spirits of the people who died, their souls.”

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Benjamin Wiacek contributed to this report.

 

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program entered a critical phase on Monday with substantial differences still remaining less than two days before a deadline for the outline of an agreement.

With the March 31 target fast approaching, the top diplomats from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Germany and Iran were meeting to try to bridge remaining gaps and hammer out the framework deal that would be the basis for a final accord to be reached by the end of June.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, have been meeting in the Swiss town of Lausanne since Thursday in an intense effort to reach a political understanding on terms that would curb Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Officials say the sides have made some progress, with Iran considering demands for further cuts to its uranium enrichment program but pushing back on how long it must limit technology it could use to make atomic arms. In addition to sticking points on research and development, differences remain on the timing and scope of sanctions removal, the officials said.

In a tweet, Gerard Araud, the French ambassador to the United States, said “very substantial problems remain to be solved.”

And, in a sign that a deal is unlikely on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will leave the talks, just a day after arriving, to return to Moscow for previously planned meetings, according to his spokeswoman Maria Zarakhova. Lavrov will return to Lausanne on Tuesday if there is a realistic chance for a deal, she said.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Sunday it was up to the Iranians to make the choice to accept what has been presented to them.

By accepting the restrictions, the Iranians would “live up to their rhetoric that they are not trying to acquire a nuclear weapon,” he said in Washington on ABC’s “This Week.”

The Obama administration says any deal will stretch the time Iran needs to make a nuclear weapon from the present two to three months to at least a year. But critics question that, and say it would be flawed because it keeps Tehran’s nuclear technology intact.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the forefront of accusations that Iran helped Shiite rebels advance in Yemen, says the deal in the works sends the message that “there is a reward for Iran’s aggression.”

“But we do not shut our eyes, and we will continue to act against any threat,” he said — an allusion to Israeli warnings that it will use force as a last resort against Tehran’s nuclear program.

The officials in Lausanne said the sides were advancing on limits to aspects of Iran’s program to enrich uranium, which can be used to make the core of a nuclear warhead.

Tehran has said it is willing to address concerns about its stockpiles of enriched uranium, although it has denied that will involve shipping it out of the country, as some western officials have said. One official said on Monday that Iran might deal with the issue by diluting its stocks to a level that would not be weapons grade.

A senior State Department official said that shipping the stockpile is one of the “viable options that have been under discussion for months … but resolution is still being discussed.”

Uranium enrichment has been the chief concern in over more than a decade of international attempts to cap Iran’s nuclear programs. But a Western official said the main obstacles to a deal were no longer enrichment-related but instead the type and length of restrictions on Tehran’s research and development of advanced centrifuges and the pace of sanctions-lifting.

Both demanded anonymity — the State Department official in line with U.S. briefing rules and the Western official because he was not authorized to discuss the emerging deal.

Over the past weeks, Iran has moved from demanding that it be allowed to keep nearly 10,000 centrifuges enriching uranium, to agreeing to 6,000. The officials said Tehran now may be ready to accept even fewer.

Tehran says it wants to enrich only for energy, science, industry and medicine. But many countries fear Iran could use the technology to make weapons-grade uranium.

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Associated Press writer Aron Heller contributed.

 

TORONTO (AP) — An Air Canada passenger plane landed so significantly short of the runway in Halifax that it hit a power line and knocked out power at the airport, the lead investigator said Monday.

The Airbus 320 landed 1,100 feet short of the runway during an early Sunday morning snowstorm. It crashed into a bank of antennas and sheared off its main landing gear, nose cone and an engine before skidding on its belly. Twenty-five people were taken to the hospital and all but one has been released.

Mike Cunningham, regional manager for Canada’s Transportation Safety Board, said investigators are still trying to determine why Flight AC624 from Toronto landed prematurely.

A Sunday, March 29, 2015 photo provided by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada shows a Air Canada Airbus A-320 at Halifax International Airport after an “abrupt” landing. The Airbus 320 skidded off the runway at the Halifax airport in bad weather, and officials said Sunday 23 people were taken to a hospital for observation and treatment of minor injuries. None of the injuries were considered life threatening, Air Canada said. (AP Photo/The Transportation Safety Board of Canada)

Cunningham said they interviewed the pilots Sunday night but that he is prohibited from commenting about what they said. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data are being downloaded Monday.

The entire airport went black as the plane hit a power line before its hard landing.

“That’s pretty unique. The power line itself is well beyond the obstacle clearance criteria from that runway and that aircraft touched down significantly short of the runway,” Cunningham said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

The power outage meant an emergency response center had to be moved to a nearby hotel. Nova Scotia Power later restored power, and police said a power line south of the runway outside airport property was damaged.

Cunningham said he’s sure the power outage was a contributing factor in the delayed response in retrieving the 133 passengers and five crew members. Passengers complained they were left standing on the tarmac for up to 50 minutes as they were lashed by wind-whipped snow before buses arrived. He said the length of time it took to respond will be a big part of their investigation. Halifax Stanfield International Airport spokesman Peter Spurway also said they are also conducting an investigation into their response.

The Halifax region was under a snowfall warning when the plane landed at 12:43 a.m., with an Environment Canada alert saying, “Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.”

Passengers said the plane circled the airport for a half hour because the pilot said he was waiting for better visibility. The pilot also warned passengers he was thinking of diverting to Moncton, New Brunswick before he decided to land in Halifax. Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Klaus Goersch said the weather was appropriate for landing.

Cunningham said it’s likely they were a number of factors for the accident. About a dozen investigators are surveying the accident site and recovering pieces of wreckage Monday.

Cunningham said the passengers and crew were lucky, noting there was no fire.

“With things like an engine coming off and penetration of the fuselage, things could have been worse,” Cunningham said.

 

NEW YORK (AP) – After two bodies were pulled from the rubble of an apartment building collapse, authorities shifted their focus to the cause of the massive explosion and fire and investigated the possibility that someone might have improperly tapped a gas line serving one of the buildings.

“There’s reason to believe so far that there may have been inappropriate tampering with the gas lines within the building, but until we get full evidence, we can’t conclude that,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday.

About half the site had been cleared by midday Monday, but investigators had not yet reached the cellar level where Thursday’s explosion took place.

“When we reach the level of the gas piping, the way the debris is removed will change so that those who will investigate the mechanics of what happened will have access to that without it being torn apart,” Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.

The mayor’s office said Monday that one victim has been officially identified as 23-year-old Nicholas Figueroa. The bowling alley worker was on a date at a restaurant when the explosion and fire leveled three buildings.

DNA testing will be done to identify the second body that was recovered Sunday.

Restaurant worker Moises Locon was reported missing after the blast. Police listed his last name as Lucon in a missing-person report, but the Guatemalan consul said it is spelled Locon.

In August, utility workers discovered that the gas line to the restaurant had been illegally tapped, according to Consolidated Edison. The discovery led Con Edison to shut down gas service to the building for about 10 days while the building owner made repairs. Gas service was restored after the utility deemed it safe, the utility said.

Inspectors from Con Ed visited the building about an hour before the explosion and determined work to upgrade gas service didn’t pass inspection, locking the line to ensure it wouldn’t be used and then leaving, officials said. The work underway was to put in a bigger line to serve the entire building, Con Ed President Craig Ivey said.

Fifteen minutes later, the sushi restaurant’s owner smelled gas and called the landlord, who called the general contractor, Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said. No one called 911 or Con Ed.

The contractor, Dilber Kukic, and the owner’s son went into the basement and opened a door, and the subsequent explosion burning their faces, Boyce said.

Kukic – who’s facing unrelated charges of bribing an undercover investigator posing as a housing inspector – declined through his lawyer to comment on the circumstances surrounding the explosion. City records show Kukic got a permit last June for plumbing, flooring, removing partition walls and other work at the building.

“The focus of the investigation is not on infrastructure. … It’s focusing on the work that was being done in the basement of those locations,” said Joseph Esposito, commissioner of the city’s Office of Emergency Management.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – New campaign finance reports show Wisconsin Supreme Court hopeful James Daley made a major push to boost his cash over the last month.

Daley and incumbent Justice Ann Walsh Bradley were expected to file reports with state election officials on Monday showing their fund-raising and expenditures from Feb. 3 through March 23. Daley’s campaign supplied a cover sheet to The Associated Press showing he raised about $148,500 over that period and had $214,100 on hand. Previous reports show Daley had raised $65,000 during January and had about $88,400 on hand as of Feb. 2.

Bradley’s campaign hadn’t filed or released its cover sheet as of midday Monday. Previous reports show she raised about $109,900 in January and had $352,900 on hand as of Feb. 2.

The election is April 7.

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) – Officers opened fire after two men dressed as women refused to stop Monday at the National Security Agency gate at Fort Meade and then smashed into a police vehicle blocking the road, leaving one of them dead, officials said.

A police officer and the other man in the vehicle also were hurt, the NSA said in a news release. Investigators have not yet determined how the man in the vehicle died, and the conditions of the wounded man and officer were not immediately clear.

An FBI spokeswoman said earlier in the day that the incident was not believed to be linked to terrorism. The NSA said the incident was contained to the vehicle control point area on the perimeter of the secure campus.

A senior defense official said the two men were dressed as women. That official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing incident.

The NSA is headquartered on the sprawling Army installation near Baltimore.

The FBI is investigating and working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland to determine if federal charges are warranted, FBI spokeswoman Amy J. Thoreson said in an email.

Local television showed two damaged vehicles near a gate and emergency workers loading an injured uniformed man into an ambulance. Aerial news images showed that one of the damaged vehicles was a white SUV marked “NSA Police.” Its front end was crumpled, and the hood was up. The other was a dark, unmarked SUV.

A building on the NSA campus was damaged by gunfire earlier this month. Authorities captured a man March 3 who they believe fired that night on the NSA site, as well as earlier at several nearby places and two moving vehicles. The suspect in that case, Hong Young, told police he heard voices directing him to fire on one of the occupied vehicles.

The gate that serves as the NSA entrance is just off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, a scenic commuter route. In addition to the NSA, Fort Meade is home to the Defense Information Systems Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command. About 11,000 military personnel and about 29,000 civilian employees work on the property.

 

 

GREEN BAY – Packers fans, say cheese.

The Green Bay Packers are hosting their third annual Packers Ticket Takeover Contest.

The contest, sponsored by American Family Insurance, gives fans a chance to have their photo printed on approximately 80,000 tickets for a 2015 home game.

They will begin accepting submissions on March 30 and will end at 11:59 p.m. Central Time, on April 13. A panelist will choose the top five photos and those five will be posted on packerseverywhere.com for fans to vote for their favorite starting April 20.

The winner of the contest will have their photo printed on a home game ticket and receive 2 tickets to that game.

To submit a fan picture of you, your family and friends or a pet, click here. The image must abide by contest rules.

Among more than 80,000 submissions, Ernie Stevens of Green Bay was won last year’s contest. His photo featured his son posing as Aaron Rodgers for Halloween. The photo was featured on the Dec. 28, 2014 ticket for the Green Bay Packers vs Detroit Lions Fans Appreciation Game. Stevens took his son to the game.

 

 

 

 

Watch live streaming video of a hearing regarding overprescribing of medication at the VA hospital in Tomah.

MADISON (AP) – Wisconsin lawmakers have introduced a bill that would impose statewide regulations on online ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft.

The measure would require companies to apply for a $5,000 state license and carry $1 million in commercial insurance for each driver. Drivers would have to submit findings form a criminal background check to their companies.

The measure also would prohibit local governments from adopting any regulations on such companies.

The bill’s chief author is Rep. Tyler August, a Lake Geneva Republican. He says the bill would solve a patchwork of local ordinances.

Uber media relations officials didn’t immediately respond to an email inquiry Monday morning.

CLEVELAND (AP) – Browns general manager Ray Farmer has been suspended by the NFL for the first four games next season for sending text messages to the sideline during games.

Farmer, who has acknowledged sending the messages, will not be paid during his suspension, the league said in a statement on Monday. His ban begins on midnight of the Sunday preceding the Browns’ first regular-season game and will end immediately after the Browns’ fourth regular-season game. The league said during his suspension that Farmer cannot be involved in any club matters. He is also prohibited from being at the Browns’ offices, practice facility or games.

The Browns were also fined $250,000, but the league did not strip the team of any 2015 draft picks. Cleveland has two first-round selections (No. 12 and 19) and six of the first 115 picks.

During its investigation, the league said it found no evidence that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam or other team executives knew about the texts.

“I respect the league’s decision and understand that there are consequences for my actions,” Farmer said in a statement released by the Browns. “Accountability is integral to what we are trying to build and as a leader I need to set the right example. I made a mistake and apologize to Jimmy Haslam, (coach) Mike Pettine, our entire organization and our fans for the ramifications. Learning is a big part of who I am and I will certainly be better from this situation.”

Troy Vincent, the NFL’s vice president of football operations, said Farmer used a cellphone on “multiple occasions” during games in 2014.

Haslam remains supportive of Farmer, who was promoted to general manager in February 2014.

“We accept the league’s ruling,” Haslam said. “Ray made a mistake and takes full responsibility for his role in violating the policy. It is critical that we make better decisions. Ray has tremendous integrity and I know has great remorse for what occurred. We are all committed to learning from this and making the Browns a stronger and better organization.”

The Browns went 7-9 last season, ending the year on a five-game losing streak and with rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel struggling in two starts.

The Wisconsin Badgers may have been busy on the basketball court last week, but so was at least one real badger in Wisconsin.

The state Department of Natural Resources shared video of a badger that was caught on a trail camera in Sauk County last week.

Watch the video:

The DNR says badgers have long claws to burrow, dig for food and create dens. They have webbed front feet to push out dirt and wedge-shaped heads to push their noses into holes and root out prey.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, badgers mainly eat rodents, but also eat ground-nesting birds and other small animals, as well as some plants. They are largely nocturnal, but sometimes come out during the day.

And unlike their basketball-playing counterparts, badgers spend most of the winter in their setts, or dens.

Frank Kaminsky and Jahlil Okafor are as different as stories can be in college basketball. The two, however, have a lot in common – both are in the Final Four and both were the top selections on The Associated Press’ 2014-15 All-America team.

Kaminsky, the 7-foot senior from Wisconsin, was a unanimous choice Monday. Okafor, the 6-11 freshman from Duke, received all but one first-team vote.

Notre Dame senior Jerian Grant, Kentucky junior Willie Cauley-Stein and Ohio State freshman D’Angelo Russell rounded out the first team.

Kaminsky worked his to the top by improving through four seasons in college. Okafor arrived with all the laurels out of high school and immediate talk about leaving for the NBA.

“Not to be overly patriotic, but we’re an American story, that you can do that in this kind of a system,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “Sometimes where it looks like the privileged, the ones that are identified as being great players and can’t-miss-type guys, where there can always come that guy from behind in the race and then cross the tape first.

“Frank is that guy who got a little bit later start as far as people noticing his abilities, but that’s just a great accomplishment on his part. … He took advantage of a chance and has made the most of it.”

Kaminsky, projected as a top pick in the NBA draft, led the Badgers to their second straight Final Four berth, averaging 18.2 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 55.3 percent from the field, including 39.5 percent from 3-point range.

He is one of those big men who is as comfortable on the perimeter as in the lane and his outgoing personality has made him a media favorite.

“It’s cool to be named first team All-American. It’s something you dream of as a kid,'” Kaminsky said. “To finally be able to do so, it’s a good thing and it shows how hard I’ve worked in my career. To be up there with Alando Tucker is a pretty cool thing.”

Kaminsky is Wisconsin’s second All-America joining Tucker in 2007. He is the second unanimous pick in as many years following Doug McDermott of Creighton.

Okafor is Duke’s 16th first-team All-America and is the Blue Devils’ second freshman in as many years, with Jabari Parker being chosen last season.

Okafor, who received 64 first-team votes, averaged 17.7 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 66.9 percent, second in the nation.

“His game has grown continuously and he’s got a lot more growth ahead of him,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “The main thing for Jah is that he’s gotten better as the season’s gone along.”

At Notre Dame, Grant’s career was in jeopardy last season when he was suspended for the second semester for what he called an academic mistake. The son of former NBA player Harvey Grant star returned for his senior season and averaged 16.8 points and 6.6 assists while playing 36.6 minutes per game.

“I can’t think of a better comeback story in college basketball the last couple years than Jerian,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “When I told him you need to come back because we have unfinished business, I didn’t know it would be this good and I am thrilled that it is this good because I was nervous it wouldn’t be this good. He came back for all the right reasons.”

Grant, who received 53 first-team votes and is Notre Dame’s first All-America since Troy Murphy repeated in 2001, said receiving an honor like this makes his decision to return that much sweeter.

“It’s great, especially with where I was last year,” he said. “The work I’ve put in, the guys having so much confidence in me to welcome me back like that.”

Cauley-Stein and his teammates are chasing history with an undefeated season just two wins away. The 7-footer is the first first-team All-America to average less than 10 points per game. He averaged 9.3 points while grabbing 6.4 rebounds and shooting 58.8 percent. He anchors Kentucky’s stifling defense.

“Coming in I felt like I was really overlooked and didn’t know if I really belonged but just worked and worked and worked and eventually became a player that everybody looks at like ‘Dude, you’re a freak athlete, you’re a beast,'” said Cauley-Stein, who received 45 first-team votes. “You can do so many things that I never imagined even happening and now it’s coming together.”

He is the 18th All-American from Kentucky and first since Anthony Davis in 2012.

Russell is another freshman who isn’t expected to be back for a second season. He averaged 19.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists and received 51 first-team votes. Russell is 15th All-American from Ohio State and the first since Jared Sullinger repeated in 2012.

“The level that he sustained was the most impressive thing,” Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. “The other thing that I loved was that the mistakes early, he learned from. He got better as the season went on. He became a more complete player. We knew he was going to be really good but just seeing his dedication to becoming a great player was very, very impressive.”

Utah senior Delon Wright led the second team and was joined by Kentucky freshman Karl-Anthony Towns, Northern Iowa senior Sean Tuttle, Arkansas sophomore Bobby Portis and Virginia junior Malcolm Brogdon.

The third team was Gonzaga teammates Kyle Wiltjer and Kevin Pangos, Oklahoma junior Buddy Hield, Syracuse senior Rakeem Christmas and Iowa State junior Georges Niang.

The voting, by the same 65-member media panel that selects the weekly Top 25, was done before the NCAA Tournament.

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AP Sports Writers Tom Withers and Will Graves in Cleveland; Beth Harris in Los Angeles; and Rusty Miller in Columbus contributed to this report.

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

GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Packers and Letroy Guion have reportedly agreed to a one-year deal, according to multiple published reports. Guion made 32 tackles and had 3.5 sacks in his first season with the Packers.

In February, Guion was arrested in Florida for felony possession of marijuana. Guion reached a plea agreement of no contest last week and the charges where dropped. He could still be disciplined by the NFL for violation of the league’s substance abuse and personal conduct policies.

According to NFL Network, the Packers also plan to bring back B.J. Raji on a one-year deal. Raji missed all of last season after tearing his right biceps in the third preseason game against Oakland.

The Packers still have three unrestricted free agents who remain on the market: cornerback Jarrett Bush, quarterback Matt Flynn and linebacker Jamari Lattimore.