Green Bay News

TOWNSHIP OF ELBA- One person suffered serious injuries in a Dodge County crash.

It happened around 5:15 p.m. Wednesday on State Highway 16 in the Township of Elba.

Officials say a van and a car hit each other at the intersection with County Highway T.

A 61-year-old woman from Juneau suffered serious injuries.

Three other people had minor injuries.

APPLETON- The high school boys basketball state tournament starts Thursday.

One of the teams headed to state, the Xavier Hawks.

Good Day Wisconsin caught up with the team as they traveled to St. Francis Xavier Catholic School in Appleton for a pep rally.

MARINETTE – The suspect in a 2008 murder waived a preliminary hearing Wednesday and pleaded not guilty.

Erik Smith allegedly killed Eric Volp. Prosecutors allege the two left a Michigan bar, argued and, when Volp got out of Smith’s car, Smith ran him over. Smith then put Volp’s body in the trunk, prosecutors say, and drove to a stream in Marinette County, where he left the body.

Smith will stand trial July 6, according to online court records.

Smith is serving a sentence in a Colorado federal prison, as was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison after being convicted of possessing child pornography in 2010.

A Fond du Lac woman who says her right to a public trial was violated when a judge emptied the courtroom during jury selection has filed suit in federal court.

Nancy Pinno was convicted in 2009 of mutilating a corpse for helping her son, Brandon Mueller, cover up the murder of Renee Redmer. Pinno was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison.

She appealed through the state courts, and although the Wisconsin Supreme Court said that Judge Richard Nuss erred in clearing the public from the courtroom without following the proper procedure, the mistakes were not sufficient enough to order a new trial. The court noted Pinno’s attorney did not object at the time. It was a 4-3 decision.

Pinno appealed the decision directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided late last year not to hear the case.

This week, Pinno filed suit in the federal court based in Milwaukee, again claiming her Constitutional right to a public trial was violated. She is asking the court to order a new trial.

No hearing dates have been set.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Authorities say a Milwaukee police officer shot and wounded an armed suspect overnight.

A police statement says it happened just before 2:30 a.m. Thursday after two officers stopped to question two men about suspected drug dealing. Police say one suspect fled, while the other reached into his waistband, pulled out a handgun and fired. One officer fired back, striking the gunman.

The officers chased him on foot to an alley where he struggled with the officers before they arrested him.

Neither officer was hurt. Police say the suspect’s injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. He was taken to a hospital.

The officer who shot the suspect is a 26-year-old who’s been with the department for four years. He’s been put on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Police say a woman was driving drunk when she crashed her car in Milwaukee, killing her 7-month-old son.

Authorities say the 22-year-old mother was driving at a high rate of speed when she lost control of the car about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday and it rolled over. Investigators say the baby was in infant carrier that was not secured in the vehicle.

The mother was taken to a local hospital for injuries that apparently are not life-threatening. Police say they will recommend charges of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and driving with a suspended license causing death.

OSHKOSH- The Art of the Brick is the first major museum exhibition to focus exclusively on the use of LEGO® bricks as an art medium and artist Nathan Sawaya has taken it to new heights.

The Oshkosh Public Museum is very excited to host this exhibition through June 14, 2015.

Sharon Schwartz from the Oshkosh Public Library joined Good Day Wisconsin with a look at this exhibit.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A Madison judge is set to hold a hearing on whether to temporarily block Wisconsin’s new right-to-work law.

The Wisconsin state AFL-CIO and two local labor unions filed a lawsuit last week arguing the law amounts to an unconstitutional taking of their property because under the statutes workers who don’t pay union dues still receive union benefits. They’ve asked Judge William Faust to issue temporary and permanent injunctions blocking the law.

State attorneys counter the law isn’t an unconstitutional taking of union property since it doesn’t remove a single penny from union accounts. They also contend challenges to other states’ right-to-work laws on the same grounds have failed.

Faust has set a hearing on whether to issue the temporary injunction for Thursday morning.

TOWNSHIP OF HERMAN- One person suffered life-threatening injuries after a crash in the Township of Herman.

The crash happened around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on State Highway 33.

Officials say the driver of a pick up truck pulled out from a stop sign and was struck by a semi carrying 40,000 pounds of cheese.

The semi overturned in a pond and spilled diesel fuel.

A passenger in the pickup, a 67-year-old Dodge County man suffered life threatening injuries.

The driver, a 36-year-old man had non-life threatening injuries.

The semi driver also had non-life threatening injuries.

State Highway 33 in the area was closed for about three hours.

DE PERE — The Xavier boys basketball team didn’t want to play second fiddle to the girls basketball team, which last week placed second at the Division 3 state tournament at the Resch Center.

So the Hawks boys made sure this week they would not be forgotten as they clinched their second WIAA state tournament bid with a win last Saturday against Valders in a sectional final.

Friday at 10:45 a.m. the Hawks (23-3) play East Troy (18-7) and they hope they can keep themselves on an even keel in the biggest setting any of the players have ever played in.

Boys State Basketball Schedule

“Think obviously there are going to be some nerves there, it’s a big stage. I don’t think any of us have never been on,” guard Kyle Van Hammond said. “So it’s obviously going to be tough, but we have to stay composed. I think we can do it.”

“It’s a place to play, we just have to play our game; keep winning and keep doing what we’re doing, even though it’s a new atmosphere,” guard Sam Burkart said.

Xavier has had some tests during the postseason, having to beat Eastern Valley rival Freedom and Valders. Xavier has reached this point playing hard-nosed defense and consistently making shots from the perimeter.

Xavier knows it has to keep playing at a high level in order to win the gold ball the girls team didn’t win.

“Going to Madison, obviously you have the best in the state down there,” coach Matt Klarner said. “It’s going to be very competitive. We’re expecting a great game from East Troy and we’re looking forward to it.”

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

MILWAUKEE (WITI-TV) – Did you see the season-ending episode of FOX’s new hit show Empire?

If so, you were watching the work of a Milwaukee man who is making his mark in Tinsel Town.

The former UW-Milwaukee film student, Eric Haywood is a writer with the season’s most surprising TV show success. And if you’re from southeastern Wisconsin, his face may be familiar.

Justin Williams has the story.

FOND DU LAC – A Fond du Lac hospice nurse is hoping to reach a new high.

Andy Land is planning the uncommon quest of climbing earth’s highest mountain. A few more than 4,000 are on record ever making it to the 29,000 foot top of Mount Everest.

Land has a special purpose for his trek. He is trying to raise money and awareness for hospice care.

Wednesday was Andy Land’s last day of about a year of training before he takes on Mount Everest.

“It’s just so much more than a dream come true,” he said of the impending climb.

Land has been climbing mountains for more than 20 years. A climbing service he worked with in the past offered him a spot for their 20-15 Everest climb.

“I was like, ‘oh my gosh, you’ve gotta do it, if you can find the money.’ Now I didn’t think he would find the money,” said Land’s wife Mary Sue.

But Land found the money, about $40,000. His terminally ill older brother changed a life insurance policy to help and The Hospice Organization and Palliative Experts, or HOPE of Wisconsin offered sponsorship.

Land is a hospice nurse and the director of Hospice and Palliative Care for Agnesian HealthCare.

He told FOX it’s his true calling, but said he’s disappointed in the system.

“We need to do a lot better job,” Land explained.

So Land is using his climb to raise money to increase education hospice care, for caregivers and families. He told us the first step is getting people to talk about death.

“They’re scared. They think, ‘if we bring it up, if we say the word, it’s gonna jinx the situation,’ and that’s how we act. So it’s just changing that, one person at a time,” Land explained.

Land told us he owes so much to his hospice patients.

“They just teach you so much about how to live. When you’re facing dying…you find out what’s really important in your life,” he said.

Land told FOX 11 the Everest climb will put those lessons into action.

His wife told us she’s nervous, but she couldn’t be more proud.

“I don’t think I could ever be as dedicated to anything for such a long period of time as the training he’s had to go through, ‘said Mary Sue Land.

“If I get there and I perform well and I don’t summit, I don’t summit, but I need to make sure I perform well. I really wanna summit and I’m gonna give it everything I have in order to do that,” said Andy Land.

Land said, most importantly, it’s his message that’s making the difference.

Land leaves for Nepal next Wednesday. He told us the climb itself will last from early April to late May and that he should be home in June.

Here is the link to the website about his climb and fundraising: https://climbingforhospice.org/Default.aspx

So far Land has raised about $100,000, mostly from individual donations.

NORMAL, Ill. — The Green Bay men’s basketball team led 31-24 at halftime but was outscored 45-25 in the second half and saw its season come to an end in the first round of the NIT at Illinois State, 69-56, on Wednesday night.

Senior Keifer Sykes’ amazing career came to an end as the Green Bay’s No. 2 scorer of all-time scored 14 points, had four rebounds and three assists. Also, Alfonso McKinnie added 11 points in his final game and Greg Mays scored eight.

Green Bay’s season ended at 24-9.

GREEN BAY (24-9)
Fouse 0-1 0-0 0, Love 1-6 0-0 3, Mays 4-8 0-2 8, Sykes 5-16 1-2 14, McKinnie 5-12 1-2 11, Kanter 2-4 0-0 4, Botz 0-1 0-0 0, Small 1-4 4-7 6, Francis 3-7 0-0 6, Lowe 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 23-61 6-13 56.
ILLINOIS ST. (22-12)
Lee 4-7 9-10 18, Knight 5-10 4-4 17, Lynch 4-9 7-9 15, Hawkins 0-4 0-0 0, Akoon-Purcell 4-9 6-8 14, Hunter 0-0 0-0 0, Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 2-5 0-0 4, McIntosh 0-4 1-2 1, Wills 0-1 0-0 0, McCloud 0-4 0-0 0, Stawarz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-53 27-33 69.

Halftime—Green Bay 31-24. 3-Point Goals—Green Bay 4-21 (Sykes 3-10, Love 1-4, Botz 0-1, Kanter 0-1, Small 0-2, McKinnie 0-3), Illinois St. 4-16 (Knight 3-5, Lee 1-2, Akoon-Purcell 0-1, Wills 0-1, Hawkins 0-3, McCloud 0-4). Fouled Out—Fouse. Rebounds—Green Bay 37 (McKinnie 7), Illinois St. 42 (Hawkins 9). Assists—Green Bay 15 (Fouse, Francis, Love, Sykes 3), Illinois St. 11 (Lee 6). Total Fouls—Green Bay 23, Illinois St. 13. A—4,942.

DE PERE — Cody Schwartz remembers last year’s trip to the state tournament, when West De Pere played Wisconsin Lutheran in a Division 2 state semifinal.

The Phantoms were making their first state appearance since 1933, so West De Pere’s trip was huge throughout the community, maybe too huge.

The Phantoms fell to Wisconsin Lutheran, which proceeded to win the state title. West De Pere was happy to be at state, but this year, not so much.

West De Pere (20-6) plays Mount Horeb (21-5) at 3:15 p.m. on Friday at the Kohl Center and senior Cody Schwartz can tell there’s a difference with the team this year.

“Last year we were a little deer in the headlights coming into the Kohl Center, a little nervous; adjusting to the college court,” Schwartz said. “We might not have been as up to par as we are in this day. I think we’re just more prepared this time, more comfortable and I think we’ll play better.”

Boys State Tournament Schedule

West De Pere has reached this point despite being saddled with injury all season. Connor Konshak opened the season on the bench with a thumb injury he suffered during football season.

Then as Konshak returned, guards Jesse Owens and Luke Pannier each suffered season-ending knee injuries in the same game on Feb. 6. Through it all West De Pere persevered.

We’ve had to face a lot of adversity and each time we struggled a little bit, but as time went on every day we got a little better feeling with each other and built chemistry,” said Konshak

“It’s been really strange with different things,” coach Andy Werner said. “We tried things early that didn’t fit our personnel. We had it going for a while when Connor was coming off the bench and then Luke and Jessie go down and we kind of had to re-invent ourselves and play to our strength and try and find what works best for us and we found that.”

Through it all, Schwartz has been there for the Phantoms. The San Jose State recruit said all season, injuries or not, the seniors have been driven.

“I’d say this whole run has been fueled by us eight seniors saying we don’t want this be the last time we play with this team,” Schwartz said. “Whatever that takes, we’re going to do it.”

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

NEENAH – The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is taking an official stance on same-sex marriage.

The Presbyterian Church is becoming the largest Christian denomination to authorize the weddings church wide. It has a membership of 1.8 million, down 25 percent in the last decade.

A majority of the churches’ regional districts voted in favor of redefining marriage to include a commitment of two people. That majority just reached this week and it includes the group of Presbyterian churches in Northeast Wisconsin.

The definition of marriage in the Presbyterian Church will now read, in part, “between two people, traditionally a man and a woman.”

Despite a new definition for marriage, not much is expected to change at the 35 churches in the Winnebago Presbytery.

“This is an affirmation of what happened at our last Assembly and it’s a more public way of saying that the Presbyterian Church is becoming a more inclusive body,” said Sarah Moore-Nokes, the general presbyter for Winnebago Presbytery.

Last June, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church endorsed an expanded marriage definition. At that point, depending on state law, individual churches could decide whether to allow gay weddings.

Now that a majority of presbyteries agreed to the move, it makes way for a church constitutional amendment.

The Winnebago Presbytery voted in favor of the change last month.

“We’ve been in this conversation for a long time, but the prevailing sense is that we want to be a more inclusive body,” said Moore-Nokes.

“Not surprised, not happy, but it’s their decision, so I respect their decision obviously,” said Rev. Bill Hoffman of St. Therese Parish in Appleton.

For Catholics like Hoffman, the Presbyterian change goes against their understanding of marriage.

“There is a desire for unity among the Christian churches, so decisions that are taken that distance our practice make that occultism, that unity, a little more difficult to come to,” said Hoffman.

Presbyterians know some people are angry. For leaders of Winnebago Presbytery, they know that even includes people belonging to some of their churches.

“We know there are folks who disagree and part of being Presbyterian is it’s ok to disagree,” said Moore-Nokes.

The new definition of marriage for Presbyterian churches will officially take effect June 21st.

Click here to learn more about the charity, Climbing for Hospice

GREEN BAY — The N.E.W. Lutheran boys basketball team opened the season 2-8 and finished the regular season 11-11.

Safe to say the Blazers were hardly on the radar when it came to picking teams to make the Division 5 state tournament.

Nonetheless, N.E.W. Lutheran improved as the season went on and look who’s in the Division 5 field for the state tournament; yes, N.E.W. Lutheran.

The Blazers (16-11) play Hillsboro (22-5) on Thursday at the Kohl Center at 3:15 p.m. and the best reason to give for the Blazers’ fifth trip to state in the last six years is, “The real season starts when it starts in the playoffs and that’s when it matters the most,” junior Gabe Lloyd said.

In others words, when the postseason starts, the Blazers really get serious.

Boys State Basketball Tournament Schedule

Part of the reason N.E.W. Lutheran struggled during the regular season was the loss of some quality players from a season ago in Dakota Zinser, Kristian Zimmerman and Nathan Toenges, who graduated.

Furthermore, leading scorer Noah Gosse (17.8 ppg.) missed the first four games.

After we lost a lot of seniors nobody thought we’d get here,” Lloyd said. “I really like the fact we can prove them wrong, but at the same time we have to keep our head on straight and not get too ahead of ourselves.”

N.E.W. Lutheran defeated top-ranked Port Edwards (55-45) in a sectional final and third-ranked Wausaukee (69-42) in a sectional semifinal. Before the Blazers went on this run, though, they weren’t 100 percent certain they would be visiting Madison.

“There was little doubt, a little doubt,” Gosse said. “We were 11-11, we’re average now. We all thought, ‘All right, let’s play our best basketball and we’ll see what happens from there.’”

N.E.W. plays fast-paced, but what’s led the Blazers to state is defense. No team has scored more than 54 points in the postseason against N.E.W. Lutheran and the scoring margin is 20.2 ppg.

“The kids have played hard all year, but we’ve especially played hard this tournament run; we’re getting after it on defense,” coach Mark Meerstein said. “Kids are taking ownership; they’re really prideful of what they’re doing and it shows.”

N.E.W. Lutheran’s five-game winning streak it is on matches its longest this season. Playing arguably its best basketball of the season, is this the Blazers’ time to finally win a gold ball.

“I don’t think I ever predict what we want to do, we just try to do our best every time,” Meerstein said. “I couldn’t even tell you that.”

The players might have a different view of that compared to their coach.

“There are high standards for us because of what we’ve done in the past, and we’ve always wanted to get that gold ball and the fact we haven’t got it yet really pushes us to get it more and more and work hard for it,” Lloyd said.

“I’m expecting the first victory for sure; I’m not going to say for sure,” Gosse said. “But I think we can win the first one and then depends on who the opponent is for the championship game. I’m hoping to take home that gold ball.”

After last year’s title game loss, that would be quite an accomplishment.

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

MANITOWOC COUNTY – The sap is flowing in Northeast Wisconsin.

And that means maple syrup is soon to follow.

Syrup producers say days with temperatures hovering around the freezing mark are picture perfect for making maple syrup.

Many tapped their trees a couple weeks ago, and now the run is on.

At Zander’s Maple Acres near Mishicot, Karl Zander is listening for signs of spring.

“The trees are dripping the sap. They’re waking up,” said Zander.

Zander says more than 400 sap taps cover 200 trees on his 10-acre site.

“So far, I would say we’re behind. At this point, I’ve only collected a little over 500 gallons of sap. Normally for a season I would pick up somewhere between 2400 and 2800, so I’m still considerably behind,” said Zander.

But Wednesday, Zander finally had enough sap to make his first batch of syrup. He says it generally takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

“When the weather was so warm, if you don’t collect the sap, it will spoil. So, you want to get it picked up and get it cooked through as quickly as you can,” said Zander.

Just to the south and west at Inthewoods Sugar Bush, owner Jesse Wagner says the season is off to a slow start.

“It was a cold Winter. There wasn’t a lot of snow pack in the woods in this area. The frost was deep down in the roots. The roots were froze up,” said Wagner..

But the sap from 1300 trees is running through a network of plastic tubing on the 17-acre site. Wagner boiled his seventh batch of the season.

“We had about 400 gallons of sap from yesterday, and we’re processing it right now,” said Wagner.

The sounds of the season. A sap run, that is music to the ears and noses of producers.

“The one thing you can never capture in any of the film is the aroma in here. If you could capture that, you’d understand why I do this every year,” said Zander.

Producers say there is at least another week or two left in this year’s sap run.

Both Zander and Wagner expect an average season.

Last year, Wisconsin was the 4th largest syrup producer, 200,000 gallons, behind only New York, Maine, and the big number one producer, Vermont.

PLOVER –  Sometimes, you might think your job stinks. But then there’s the job of a police officer in Plover.

Earlier this week, the call officers received was to remove a skunk whose head was stuck in a dog toy.

One officer tried a device for opening car doors to try to pop the toy off the skunk’s head. That didn’t work.

So, they called wildlife control and their specialists got the job done, later releasing the unhurt, but scared skunk back into the wild.

Nate Schulfer of the Plover Police Department said, “my partner here had a heck of a time watching me try to pop it off and then run so I didn’t get sprayed but after a while we just ended up calling the Absolute Wild Control down the road and they borrowed us a live trap so we could try and trap it for them.”

Luckily the skunk spared the officers and didn’t spray them.

Wednesday’s terrorist attacks at the Bardo Museum in Tunisia could have an immediate impact on an industry just beginning to recover there: tourism.

Of those killed in the attacks, most are believed to be tourists.

Hours later, The U.S. Embassy in Tunis issued an alert that also reiterated standing advice about the potential for violence in Tunisia and the risk of kidnappings. Its warning cautions against trips to Tunisia’s central, southern and border regions.

In Egypt, tourism dropped 32% in the year following the Arab Spring.

Hotel occupancy also went down following the terrorist attacks in Madrid in 2004, London in 2005 and, most recently in Paris, following the massacre the magazine Charlie Hebdo.

“Every time you have a raw publicized attack like you had in France recently then it’s going to send shudders throughout the industry and give people pause and cause them to have second thoughts,” said John Townsend, spokesman for AAA, which books domestic and international travel.

While security concerns may be preventing some from traveling, many in the business community worry the government has gone too far,  imposing restrictions that could be harmful in the long run.

“It’s an over-reaction,” said Michael McCormick, Executive Director of the Global Business Travel Association.  “You always have risk in any environment like this,” he added.

GBTA has been pushing lawmakers on Capitol Hill to keep the Visa Waiver Program running as-is.  It allows travel in and out of the country without long waits for travel visas.

“These are programs that are vital to keeping the economy moving. They don’t compromise security and safety they’ve been well tested programs that have taken years and years to develop,” McCormick said.

With the dollar now growing even stronger against the euro, travelers may think twice about staying home, but the fear of terrorism remains one of the biggest threats to tourism.