Green Bay News

Peter’s lifelong fascination of science and physics led him and classmates to a rural school science camp in Madison, where they learned about stem cell research and hands-on activities in the acclaimed UW-Madison lab. Peter’s motto is “not Wow, but How”, when exploring how the wonders of science works.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup white or red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups olive oil
Chopped Romaine lettuce
Diced tomatoes or sliced grape or cherry tomatoes
Sliced cucumbers
Sliced red onion
Greek pitted olives
Crumbled Feta cheese

Directions:

Shake first 7 ingredients together in a large glass jar or whisk ingredients together in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use. Shake well before serving. Keeps in fridge for about a week. When ready to serve, make a salad with Romaine, cucumbers, red onions, tomatoes, and a few olives. Toss with a little of the dressing. Crumble a small amount of feta cheese on top.

MADISON (AP) – Opponents of a Republican proposal to eliminate the tax on business equipment say Wisconsin homeowners would see their property taxes increase to make up for the lost tax revenue.

Proponents say the bill would spur business growth and help create jobs. The bill’s co-sponsor, Rep. Robert Kulp, says the equipment tax is a burden on some businesses which need to keep an extra set of books to track taxable property.

An analysis from the bipartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau shows taxes on an average home would increase 2.7 percent, or $80 annually to make up for the lost revenue while keeping the current level of services. Overall, Wisconsin homeowners would see property taxes increase by $270 million a year.

The State Journal says real estate agents and local government officials say the shift in the tax burden is unacceptable.

TOWN OF MUKWA – A school bus and car crashed Tuesday morning near New London.

Authorities say it happened around 7:15 a.m. on Hwy. 54 and Larry Rd.

School district leaders say eight students and a driver were on the bus owned by the New London School District. None of them were hurt. Another bus picked them up and finished the route.

Elementary, middle and high school students were all on the bus.

It’s unknown if anyone in the car was injured.

The Airbus A320, the model of plane that crashed in France on Tuesday, is a workhorse of modern aviation.

Here are some key facts about it:

-Similar to the Boeing 737, the single-aisle, twin-engine jet is used to connect cities that are between one and five hours apart.

-The A320 family of planes has a good safety record, with just 0.14 fatal accidents per million takeoffs, according to a Boeing safety analysis.

– Before Tuesday, the last crash of an A320 was AirAsia Flight 8501, which fell into the Java sea off the coast of Indonesia on Dec. 28.

-There are about 3,600 A320s in operation worldwide, according to Airbus.

-Airbus, a European plane-making and aerospace group, also makes nearly identical versions of the A320: the smaller A318 and A319 and the stretched A321. An additional 2,500 of those jets are flying.

-The plane is certified to fly up to 39,000 feet, its maximum altitude before its rate of climb begins to erode. The plane has an absolute flight limit of 42,000 feet. But it can begin to experience problems as low as 37,000 feet, depending on temperature and weight, including fuel, cargo and passengers.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin lawmakers are set to hear the public’s thoughts on allowing off-duty and retired police officers to carry guns in schools.

Current state law generally bans people from possessing guns on school grounds as well as within 1,000 feet of school grounds. The prohibition doesn’t apply to police officers acting in their official capacity.

A bipartisan group of legislators has proposed a bill that would allow off-duty and retired officers to carry guns in schools as well.

The state Senate’s judiciary committee has scheduled a public hearing on the bill for Tuesday afternoon.

PARIS (AP) – The French newspaper La Provence says an Airbus plane with at least 142 passengers, two pilots and four flight attendants on board has crashed in the Alps region.

The Germanwings flight was traveling from Barcelona to Dusseldorf when it crashed between Digne et Barcelonnette, the paper said. It cited French civil aviation authorities for the number of people.

Airbus said it is aware of the reports of a crash but could not confirm.
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PARIS (AP) – The French newspaper La Provence says an Airbus plane with at least 142 passengers, two pilots and four flight attendants on board has crashed in the Alps region.

The regional paper cited French civil aviation authorities for the number of people. According to the paper, the plane crashed between Digne et Barcelonnette.

Airbus said it is aware of the reports of a crash but could not confirm.

MANITOWOC – Spring is here and it’s time to get your home and yard into shape.

FOX 11’s Pauleen Le spent the morning with Dale and Ryan Lindner of Ace Hardware to get some maintenance tips.

For more information on Ace Hardware, click here.

 

VILLAGE OF MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. (AP) – Authorities say a 20-year-old man accused of abducting a woman from a southeastern Wisconsin hospital and fleeing from sheriff’s deputies in an exchange of gunfire has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Mount Pleasant Police Chief Tim Zarzecki tells WISN-TV he was notified of the man’s death Monday night.

Racine police say officers tracked the man to a home in the Village of Mount Pleasant and found him hiding in the bushes. They say the man threatened to shoot himself with a handgun, and did so despite intervention efforts. He was taken to a Milwaukee hospital, where he later died.

Several schools in Racine County canceled classes Monday as authorities searched the area for the man.

Authorities said the woman was shaken but otherwise unharmed after the incident.

The WPS Farm Show is an opportunity for the agricultural community to check out the latest farming equipment, machinery, tools and services.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Milwaukee’s police chief was justified in firing a white officer who killed a black man during a scuffle last year, a panel of police commissioners ruled Monday night.

The three-commissioner panel earlier Monday had found that former officer Christopher Manney violated department protocol when he tried to search the man moments before they began fighting. Some in the room cheered when the ruling on Manney’s firing was announced.

Manney shot and killed 31-year-old Dontre Hamilton last April after a confrontation that began with Manney making a welfare check on Hamilton, who had been sleeping in a downtown park. According to Manney, Hamilton grabbed the officer’s baton and attacked him with it.

Prosecutors ruled the shooting was justified, but Chief Ed Flynn fired Manney, saying he improperly initiated a pat-down. Department investigators contend Manney couldn’t explain why he felt the need to pat Hamilton down beyond a general belief that homeless and mentally ill people often carry knives. Hamilton had paranoid schizophrenia, but his family has said he wasn’t dangerous.

“No one suspected him of committing a crime,” Mark Thomsen, an attorney representing the department, said in closing arguments Monday. “There wasn’t a basis for (the pat-down),” Thomsen said.

Thomsen had argued that officers can frisk someone only if they reasonably suspect the person is armed and poses a threat. He maintained that Manney never clearly explained how he felt threatened.

Manney’s attorney had argued that “the good of the service” did not require that the officer be fired.

“I want to be a cop. It’s who I am. I’ve helped people my whole life,” Manney told the panel.

Prosecutors’ decision in December not to charge Manney with a crime touched off days of peaceful rallies that saw protesters compare Hamilton’s death to Michael Brown’s fatal shooting at the hands of a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Dontre Hamilton’s brother, Nate Hamilton, told reporters after the panel’s first ruling that the family was happy with the decision.

“There’s still more to come,” he added. “I’m just not going to be satisfied until all officers respect us, respect people, respect our constitutional rights.”

Manney, who filed an application for disability retirement two days before he was fired, had testified on Sunday that he thought Hamilton might be under the influence of drugs or alcohol and he believed he might have a weapon.

“Lots of homeless have knives,” Manney’s attorney Jonathan Cermele said. While Manney wasn’t certain of what was in a bulge in Hamilton’s clothing, Cermele said, “he knew homeless people have a shard of glass, a knife, et cetera.”

Flynn testified on Saturday that Manney’s “bad decision-making” created a chain of events that put him in a position where he had to use deadly force.

A former Milwaukee detective said at the hearing Monday that Manney did the right thing by trying to frisk Hamilton. Steven Spingola, who now works with TNT’s “Cold Justice” program, said Manney would have been reckless otherwise.

Spingola acknowledged that Manney told investigators that the first time he felt fear was after Hamilton had lunged at him and punched him.

Robert Willis, a master police tactics instructor, testified that he felt Manney’s approach was valid because he legally stopped Hamilton and felt concerned for his safety. Willis said under cross-examination that Manney’s legal team is paying him $175 an hour for his work in the case and he planned to bill them for 20 to 25 hours of work.

A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for most of Northeast Wisconsin.

Rain, freezing rain, and snow are all likely with this storm. Conditions will be different across our area but it will be slippery for the drive to work Wednesday morning.

Tuesday will be the calm before the storm. We’ll see mostly sunny skies and a high near 43 with southeast winds at 10 to 15 mph.

We’ll see rain, freezing rain and snow in our area overnight.

At this point indications are that much of the area will pick up 2 to 3 inches of slushy snow accumulation and most of that will fall overnight between midnight and 7 a.m.

This wintry mix will most likely cause hazardous driving conditions in the morning. By the afternoon, temperatures will climb into the 40’s.

Our team of meteorologists will keep a close on this storm. Keep it tuned to FOX 11 News and fox11online.com.

Click here for Director of Meteorology Pete Petoniak’s full forecast.

Amy’s kitchen is recalling nearly 73,900 cases of frozen meals including vegetable lasagna due to possible listeria contamination.

NEW YORK (AP) – The newest weapon in the breakfast wars is a biscuit shaped like a taco.

Taco Bell is launching a “biscuit taco” this week and ditching its “waffle taco,” which got widespread attention last year when it was included in the rollout of the chain’s breakfast menu.

The swap comes as the chain tries to build on its year-old breakfast business by once again going after the dominant player in the mornings: McDonald’s.

In a new ad campaign, Taco Bell plans to paint Egg McMuffins as boring, routine food for the brainwashed. In New York and Los Angeles, it is putting up propaganda-like posters for a place called “Routine Republic,” with one featuring a demonic clown holding what looks like an Egg McMuffin with the words “Routine Rules.”

National TV ads will feature testimonials from real-life “defectors” saying things like “I admit I used to be a McDonald’s fan.”

It’s a continuation of an ad campaign last year that featured real-life people named Ronald McDonald professing their love for Taco Bell offerings. At one point, McDonald’s responded by tweeting a photo of Ronald McDonald kneeling down to pet a frail Chihuahua, which was once the mascot for Taco Bell.

Some referred to the back-and-forth as “the breakfast wars.”

Whether the biscuit taco has more staying power than the waffle taco remains to be seen. Despite the attention the waffle taco initially generated because of its novelty in the fast-food space, there were early signs it might not last. Not long after it was rolled out, Taco Bell Chief Marketing Officer Chris Brandt noted that “some of the things on our menu might run out of gas.” The chain has also repeatedly said the star of its breakfast menu is the A.M. Crunchwrap, which is a grilled tortilla stuffed with eggs and a hash brown along with sausage, bacon or steak.

As for its latest offering, a Taco Bell representative said it’s “more than just a biscuit, it’s a warm, fluffy, buttery biscuit, folded in the shape of a taco” and it’s here to stay. Starting Thursday, people can get it filled with options like eggs, sausage, cheese or deep-fried chicken and jalapeno honey sauce. It has between 370 and 470 calories, depending on the fillings.

Already, the launch of a national breakfast menu has helped drive up sales at Taco Bell, which has been trying to redefine itself as a hip brand with its “Live Mas” slogan. In the latest quarter, the chain’s sales rose 7 percent at established locations, driven by breakfast, according to parent company Yum Brands Inc.

Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol said breakfast has been holding steady at about 6 percent of sales. That’s compared with between 20 and 25 percent for McDonald’s, which has been playing up its own offerings by noting it cracks fresh eggs to make Egg McMuffins.

It’s not clear what impact Taco Bell’s breakfast is having on McDonald’s Corp., which has been struggling to hold onto customers more broadly amid intensifying competition. But others have been pushing into the breakfast category more aggressively as well, including Starbucks, which revamped its sandwiches last year.

GREEN BAY – A Green Bay police squad car was badly banged up after a crash on the city’s west side Monday night.

The scene of a crash near the corner of Bond Street and Military Avenue in Green Bay, March 23, 2015. (WLUK/Ben Krumholz)

The crash happened near the corner of Military Avenue and Bond Street.

There were at least two vehicles involved.

The front of the squad car and the back-end of the other car are badly damaged.

Authorities are still on scene, and have not released any information as to what happened, or if there were any injuries.

We have a crew on scene and will have more information as it becomes available here on fox11online.com.

 

The NFL awarded the Green Bay Packers two sixth-round compensatory picks in this year’s NFL Draft after losing three free agents in 2014.

James Jones, Evan Dietrich-Smith and C.J. Wilson signed with other teams after the 2013 season and the NFL has given picks 210 and 212 to the Packers.

Under the rules for compensatory draft selections, a team losing more or better compensatory free agents than it acquires in the previous year is eligible to receive
compensatory draft picks. Teams cannot trade away compensatory picks.

Compensatory free agents are determined by a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors. The formula was developed by the NFL Management Council. Not every free agent lost or signed by a club is covered by this formula.

The Packers have received the second-most compensatory picks since 1994 with 35. The Ravens have received the most with 44.

The 2015 NFL Draft will be held April 30-May 2 at Chicago.

MADISON — This past week the boys state basketball tournament took place at the Kohl Center and fans were interested in the 20 teams battling for a state title, in addition to watching the likes of McDonald’s All-Americans Diamond Stone and Henry Ellenson.

During one of the games being played Friday, though, there was more to the game than Brown Deer and Prescott battling in a Division 3 semifinal. That game marked the first time in the 100-year history of the tournament that a woman officiated a state tournament game.

Menasha native and current Green Bay resident Shelley Dietz stepped on the Kohl Center floor and went about her business of officiating the game. Afterwards, she reflected on the experience, saying, “It’s very exciting, it’s a great honor. I’m very surprised it took 100 years to get a female at the boys state tournament because there’s been many qualified female officials prior to myself.”

The former UW-Oshkosh basketball player officiates about 30 high school and college games per season, but none we’re quite like this.

“Obviously, it’s an exciting atmosphere, it’s a big game for the players, the coaches, the fans; everyone,” said Dietz, who‘s in the UW-Oshkosh Hall of Fame. “It’s a big game for us as officials, so everything is stepped up a little bit, but in the back of your mind, ‘Work your area, call the game as it’s just any other game.'”

Dietz almost was eligible to work the 2014 state tournament, but she fell one game short of the requirement of eight games. This past season, she worked about 12 games, including regionals and sectionals.

In the Brown Deer-Prescott game there was no controversial calls as Brown Deer prevailed, 62-50.

I’ll go back and watch a couple plays here and there but the game is over with,” she said. “I don’t feel we determined the outcome of the game and that’s a goal for every game, so I feel we did fine.”

Dietz has also worked about seven girls state tournament games, so she’s been under the bright lights before. Furthermore, she officiates Division III and Division II basketball in the state.

It appears Dietz is a rising official and she isn’t stopping at the boys state tournament. She’s going to strive for more.

“I put my time in, I watch game film,” she said. “It sounds goofy, but I watch myself and critique myself.”

Dietz, who owns three Subway restaurants in the Green Bay area, isn’t satisfied with what she has accomplished as she’s looking to make another jump in the future.

“I will go to the Division I camp for college and start to get my foot in the door,” said Dietz, who received her WIAA officiating license in 2001. “It’s just a matter of networking and obviously they have to like what they see.”

Based on last week’s state tournament game, there’s a lot to like.

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

HOUSTON (AP) – A proposal to turn the iconic but shuttered Houston Astrodome into a massive indoor park and build a tree-lined green space around the structure could cost nearly $243 million, according to a report released Monday by a nonprofit research group focused on land use.

The report by the Urban Land Institute is part of an effort by officials in Houston’s Harris County as well as preservation groups and local residents to save the Astrodome from potential demolition.

A panel from the Washington, D.C.-based land institute had visited Houston and previously released some of the details of its plan in December.

“The panel concluded that the Astrodome can and should live on,” the land institute said in its final report.

The group’s report calls for creating a massive indoor park within the stadium, with spaces for exercise and biking trails and indoor rock climbing, as well as new underground parking. The outside areas around the stadium would be converted into tree-lined green spaces.

The land institute also said its plan would provide space that could be used by the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, both of which use NRG Stadium next door.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett – who first proposed the idea for the indoor park last year – said county commissioners will review the report at its March 31 meeting.

“What is heartening about this is (the land institute) recognized the iconic nature of the building. They identified it as having the potential to be a grand space for the community,” Emmett said.

Emmett and other county officials in May plan to visit an airship hangar in Brandenburg, Germany, that has been converted into a giant indoor tropical theme park. Emmett said county officials hope to get some tips from their German counterparts.

The future of the structure has been in limbo since voters in 2013 didn’t authorize $217 million in bonds to turn it into a multipurpose special events center. While the Astrodome is not in any immediate danger of being demolished, local officials have struggled to find an alternative use. Over the years, some proposals – including a water park and a sports memorabilia museum – have not gained much traction, while others proposals have sought to demolish the stadium, which had become an eyesore in recent years but is now being cleaned up.

The land institute said its proposal would need to be paid through a private-public partnership.

Tom Eitler, vice president of advisory services for the land institute, said the $243 million price tag is just an estimate but “it gives a feel for the kind of money they will need to do these changes.”

Opened in 1965, the so-called Eighth Wonder of the World once housed MLB’s Astros and the NFL’s former Oilers, but hasn’t been home to a sports team since 1999 and has been closed to all events since 2009.

The world’s first multipurpose domed stadium is also under consideration for a “state antiquities landmark” designation from the Texas Historical Commission that would make it more difficult to tear it down.

The stadium’s most prominent use in recent years was as a shelter for Louisiana residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The National Park Service has added the Astrodome to its National Register of Historic Places.

APPLETON – The League of Women Voters is putting on a forum Monday night to give residents a chance to speak up on the city’s planned projects, including an expo center.

One project on the table is the possibility of building a new library on the Fox River Bluffs. The plans call for demolishing a church and banquet hall that are currently on that site.

City leaders are also planning to talk about the proposed Fox Cities Exhibition Center, the future of parking downtown-and renovation of the Appleton YMCA.

Mayor Tim Hanna will be one of four panel members discussing these projects.

The first half of the forum will be devoted to a short update on each.

During the last half people will be able to ask questions of the panel.

The forum is set to start at the library at 6:30 p.m. and scheduled to last until 8:00 p.m.

FOX11’s Alex Ronallo is at the forum and will have more tonight on FOX 11 News at Nine.

 

RACINE, Wis. (AP) – An African-American funeral home operator is accusing Racine city officials of discrimination for denying him permission to operate.

In a federal lawsuit, J.C. Frazier and Northwest Funeral Chapel Inc. claim the city’s plan commission in 2012 approved a permit that would allow him to move his existing Racine funeral home to the former Woman’s Club.

The lawsuit says the Common Council voted no, but less than two months later, a white-owned funeral business bought The Woman’s Club site and began operating a funeral home there.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the suit claims the city violated Frazier and Northwest Funeral Chapel’s equal protection rights.

The suit seeks damages of at least $335,000.

Mayor John Dickert said Monday that city officials had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.