Green Bay News

WASHINGTON (AP) — A severe solar storm smacked Earth with a surprisingly big geomagnetic jolt Tuesday, potentially affecting power grids and GPS tracking while pushing the colorful northern lights farther south, federal forecasters said.

So far no damage has been reported. Two blasts of magnetic plasma left the sun on Sunday, combined and arrived on Earth about 15 hours earlier and much stronger than expected, said Thomas Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

This storm ranks a 4, called severe, on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 1-to-5 scale for geomagnetic effects. It is the strongest solar storm to blast Earth since the fall of 2013. It’s been nearly a decade since a level 5 storm, termed extreme, has hit Earth.

Forecasters figured it would come late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning; instead, it arrived just before 10 a.m. EDT. They had forecast it to be a level 1.

“It’s significantly stronger than expected,” Berger said. Forecasters had predicted a glancing blow instead of dead-on hit. Another theory is that the combination of the two storms made it worse, but it’s too early to tell if that’s so, he said.

The storm seemed to be weakening slightly, but that may not continue, and it could last all day, officials said. It has the potential to disrupt power grids but only temporarily. It also could cause degradation of the global positioning system, so tracking maps and locators may not be as precise as normal.

Often these types of storms come with bursts of radiation that can affect satellite operations, but this one has not, Berger said.

But the most noticeable effect is usually considered a positive. The Aurora Borealis or northern lights that usually can be viewed only in the far north will dip south, so more people should be able to enjoy the colorful sky show. Forecasters were not sure just how far south it would be visible.

Forecasters said early Tuesday, before sunrise, auroras were already seen in the northern tier of the U.S., such as Washington state, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Space Weather branch chief Brent Gordon said if the storm effects continued through Tuesday evening, there was a “very strong possibility” that the northern lights could be seen as far south as the middle United States, even Tennessee and Oklahoma. That also means much of Russia and northern Europe, as far south as central Germany and Poland, had the potential for the sky show.

The sky has to be clear of clouds but the crescent moon will appear small enough it shouldn’t interfere with viewing of the aurora is in the sky, Gordon said.

TOWN OF LEDGEVIEW – Winter is traditionally a time to put away a bicycle, but the growing trend of fat bikes makes riding possible year-round.

A fat bike is similar to a mountain bike, but has extra-wide tires and is designed to be ridden in snow.

In the video above, Ross Bomber demonstrates a fat bike by going for a ride at Ledgeview Park in the town of Ledgeview.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – There would be no school report cards with results of tests taken by students this spring under a bill that has passed the Wisconsin state Senate.

There is broad support for the proposal passed Tuesday because of concerns related to the troubled implementation of the test and fears that students could fare poorly on it.

This year’s test, known as the Badger Exam, is tied to the Common Core academic standards.

The bill passed on a voice vote with no debate. It now heads to the Assembly.

It would ensure that the test results aren’t used to measure either a school’s performance or be included as a factor in teacher evaluations until next school year.

With no test scores, there would be no report card next fall.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Mini-shots of hard alcohol could be offered to sample at Wisconsin liquor and grocery stores under a bill headed to Gov. Scott Walker for his consideration.

The state Senate passed it on a voice vote Tuesday without debate. The bill also easily cleared the Assembly last month on a voice vote.

Retailers with liquor licenses could provide customers with one half-ounce of booze, the equivalent of a third of a shot.

Customers could only have one hard alcohol sample a day.

State law already permits stores to offer beer and wine samples. Supporters of the bill say offering the free mini-shots will help distilleries and other liquor sellers compete with breweries and winemakers.

Similar bills failed in 2012 and 2014.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin is joining the nationwide push to ban a key plastic exfoliant in soap, toothpaste and other personal care products out of fear it’s leading to water pollution.

The state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill banning the tiny bits of plastic known as microbeads. They are typically found in facial scrubs and toothpaste.

Scientists recently discovered that the particles are flowing by the billions from wastewater treatment plants into the Great Lakes and other water systems.

Major manufacturers have already started substituting microbeads with natural substances including ground-up fruit pits, oatmeal and sea salt.

The bill passed Tuesday on a voice vote would prohibit making personal care products containing microbeads starting in 2018 and disallow selling them starting in 2019.

New York and Illinois already have bans in place.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin state Senate has approved the appointment of the treasurer of Gov. Scott Walker’s political committee to a spot on the nonpartisan University of Wisconsin Hospital oversight board.

The Senate voted 17-13 with all Republicans in support and Democrats against to approve the appointment of Andrew Hitt.

He volunteers as treasurer for Our American Revival, a tax-exempt fundraising committee Walker created earlier this year to help bolster his exploration of a presidential run.

Hitt told a Senate committee last month that his role with the group is extremely limited, does not include work on policy and primarily involves dealing with administrative paperwork.

Democratic Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling says in a statement that the appointment doesn’t pass the “smell test.”

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — A senior Iranian official suggested Tuesday that Iran is nearing a preliminary deal with the U.S and five world powers that would lead to a breakthrough eluding them for more than a decade — a formal pact limiting Tehran’s ability to make an atomic weapon while easing punitive economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The United States was less upbeat, with officials saying the sides had made progress but still had a ways to go in eliminating differences over what Iran had to do for a gradual end to sanctions.

“There’s no doubt they have made substantial progress over the past year,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. “Reaching an agreement is at best 50-50.”

The sides face two deadlines: an end-of-March date for a preliminary deal, and a June deadline for a comprehensive agreement that fills in the blanks.

A comprehensive agreement that the U.S. says would stretch the time Iran would need to make a bomb from a few months to a year has been a top foreign policy objective of the Obama administration. Even a deal by deadline will not end the Iran nuclear controversy, however.

Congressional Republicans have threatened to upend it, claiming it is ineffective, and it is expected to further cloud relations between the United States and Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forms the next government, either through elections on Tuesday or as the head of a new ruling coalition.

Officials for both sides have said that the talks are making headway on limiting Iranian nuclear activities that could be retooled to make weapons. In exchange, the West would progressively lift economic and political sanctions.

Still, the comments by Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akhbar Salehi were among the most promising to date. Only one “final item” remained contentious, he told reporters in the garden of the luxury hotel in Lausanne where the talks are being held. He didn’t specify the “final item.”

If that is resolved, “we can say that on technical issues, things are clear on both sides,” he told reporters adding: “As a whole, I am optimistic.”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have taken the lead in what formally remain talks between Iran on one side and the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany on the other.

Most of the disputes focus on technical issues like the numbers of centrifuges Iran would be allowed to operate as part of an agreement. The machines can enrich uranium up to levels used for the fissile core of nuclear arms, but Iran says it only has energy, medical and scientific aims.

Salehi and U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz joined the talks last month to try and iron out the technical differences.

But even if the final-stretch talks turn into a deal, outside interference could hurt chances of its implementation.

A letter last week by Republican senators to the Iranian leadership warning that Congress could upend any deal continues to cast a shadow over the negotiating table. Another senior American official said the issue came up at Monday’s Kerry-Zarif meeting as well as a Sunday gathering among senior U.S. and Iranian negotiators.

Both American officials demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks on record.

The deal taking shape would limit Iran’s uranium enrichment and other nuclear activity for at least a decade, with the restrictions slowly lifted over several years.

CLINTONVILLE – A police chase that began with an SUV stolen from an auto repair shop ended with an arrest two counties away.

Clintonville police say they were called to Steinke Auto on West St. around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. A 2008 GMC Yukon Denali XL had been stolen.

A little while later, police in Marion saw the SUV. Officers tried to pull it over, but the driver did not stop. The driver then led police north on Hwy. 45 into Shawano County, then west on Hwy. 29 into Marathon County.

Marathon County sheriff’s deputies eventually arrested the driver.

JERUSALEM (AP) — With his political future in question, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday made a last-ditch appeal as Israelis went to the polls in a tight parliamentary election, warning his hard-line supporters that high Arab turnout was endangering his right-wing party’s dominance.

Opinion polls had shown a close race heading into the vote, with Netanyahu’s opponents, led by Isaac Herzog of the centrist Zionist Union, in a slight lead. They also showed gains by a combined Arab list that could emerge as a kingmaker. The last available poll was published Friday, when a significant number of voters were still undecided, meaning the race was still too close to call.

But amid signs that his six-year reign could be in jeopardy, Netanyahu has veered sharply to the right in the closing days of the campaign, making a series of statements aimed at shoring up his nationalist base.

On Tuesday, he reiterated a pledge to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, putting him at odds with the United States and other Western allies.

He also claimed that his right-wing Likud Party’s rule was “in danger” because of Arab voters going to the polls “in droves.”

Late Tuesday, he issued a final plea, warning of a “significant gap” between Likud and the Zionist Union, and blaming unnamed foreign interests for working against him. “We are in a fateful campaign,” he said. “The only way to minimize that gap is to go to the polling station and vote” Likud.

Netanyahu has used similar doomsday language in the past to rally supporters to the polls. But his comments about Arab voters were remarkable because they targeted Israeli citizens, and quickly drew accusations of racism. Israel’s Arabs, who make up 20 percent of the population, have long complained of discrimination.

A new joint list of Arab parties, unifying four factions, has energized Arab voters and was pushing for a high turnout in the usually apathetic sector.

“I know that usually the prime minister in each country encourages the people to go vote. Then why is Benjamin Netanyahu getting scared when the people are voting?” Ayman Odeh, the Arab list’s leader, told The Associated Press in the northern city of Nazareth. “I say he is right, he should be scared, because he only has a few hours left as a prime minister.”

Shelly Yacimovich, a lawmaker with the Zionist Union, said on her Twitter feed that no Western leader would have uttered such a “racist” remark. “Imagine a warning that begins with ‘the rule is endangered. Black voters are heading in droves to the polls,’ ” she wrote.

Wadea Awawdeh, a resident of the Arab town of Kfar Kana, said Netanyahu “cannot hide his racist feelings toward the Arabs” anymore. “Netanyahu is angry because he feels he is losing.”

Herzog — Netanyahu’s main challenger — has promised to revive peace efforts with the Palestinians, repair ties with the U.S. and reduce the growing gaps between rich and poor.

“Whoever wants to follow (Netanyahu’s) path of despair and disappointment will vote for him,” Herzog said after casting his vote. “But whoever wants change, hope, and really a better future for Israel, will vote the Zionist Union led by me.”

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that President Barack Obama, who has had a testy relationship with Netanyahu, was confident strong U.S.-Israeli ties would endure far beyond the election, regardless of the victor.

Herzog’s call for change resonated with 51-year-old businessman Ofer Benishti, who voted at a polling station in Kfar Saba in central Israel. He said he was a lifelong Likud voter but was now casting his ballot for the Zionist Union.

“I have had enough,” said Benishti. “Bibi tried and tried and tried, but it just hasn’t worked. It’s time to give someone else a chance,” he said, using Netanyahu’s nickname.

But Meshy Alon, 22, said she was sticking with the prime minister. “He is not great, but he is better than anything else out there,” she said.

Israeli election officials said 54.6 percent of eligible voters had voted by early evening, a rate similar to previous elections. Election day is a public holiday in Israel; most people get off from work, beaches and restaurants fill up, and stores advertise election-day sales.

While exit poll results were expected after the end of voting at 10 p.m. (2000 GMT), the full implications of the election may not be known for weeks.

Israelis vote for parties, not individual candidates. No party has ever won a majority in the 120-member parliament, so it can take weeks of negotiations to form a governing coalition.

Several smaller centrist parties that have not pledged support for either Netanyahu or Herzog will likely tip the scales to determine who will become the next prime minister.

Netanyahu has governed for the past six years and has long been the most dominant personality in Israeli politics.

He has swung further to the right in the final stages of the campaign, complaining of an international conspiracy funded by wealthy foreigners to oust him, and warning of a “left-wing government supported by the Arabs.”

This election season has amplified the bitter divide between hard-liners and moderates in Israel.

Earlier this month, tens of thousands of Israelis rallied in a central square in Tel Aviv where a former head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency called for Netanyahu’s ouster. And on Sunday, tens of thousands of right-wing Israelis filled the same square to hear Netanyahu and nationalist politicians speak.

Netanyahu has appeared increasingly rattled, and after largely shunning the Israeli media for years, he gave a series of interviews to major Israeli television networks and small regional radio stations.

In a live phone interview on Israeli Channel 10 TV, Netanyahu ruled out a coalition with Herzog and said he would seek an alliance with the ultra-national Jewish Home party, which also opposes Palestinian statehood.

Netanyahu portrayed Herzog as someone who would easily and carelessly give up territory for a Palestinian state. The Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

“We have a different approach,” Netanyahu said. “They (the Zionist Union) want to withdraw. I don’t want to withdraw. If I put together the government, it will be a nationalist government.”

Netanyahu’s comments were a political gamble after he tried for years to assure a skeptical international community that he accepts the idea of Palestinian statehood.

If Netanyahu is re-elected, it would be more difficult for him to argue that Israel is a partner in U.S.-led peace efforts. Washington views the establishment of a Palestinian state as a pillar of its Mideast policy — a position shared by other Western allies.

Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian official, said Netanyahu had finally revealed his true intentions. “He never believed in the two-state solution,” he said. “What he said proved that all the time he was lying to the international community.”

___

Associated Press writers Aron Heller in Kfar Saba, Israel, Areej Hazboun in Nazareth, Israel, and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

NEW YORK – This St. Patrick’s Day, the strains of “On, Wisconsin!” rang out on the East Coast.

The Ashwaubenon High School marching band represented the Badger State in New York’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It was the fourth time the band has participated in the past 16 years.

The band’s itinerary in the Big Apple also included sight-seeing and two Broadway shows.

Click or tap the play button above to watch video of the band’s performance, shared by one of the band’s staff members.

WAUPACA – A Fremont woman who allegedly stabbed & killed her boyfriend was ordered Tuesday to stand trial.

Alison Roe was bound over for a trial after a preliminary hearing in Waupaca County Court. Arraignment is scheduled for March 31, according to online court records.

Roe allegedly stabbed Craig Dake at a Fremont apartment March 6. According to the criminal complaint, the two argued before she stabbed him.

If convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, she would be sentenced to life in prison.

MADRID (AP) — Experts believe bone remains found in a Madrid convent include those of Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes but are unable to identify them beyond doubt, they said Tuesday.

Releasing the latest details of the near year-long search, forensic anthropologist Francisco Etxeberria said investigators’ work led them to believe that Cervantes’ bones are among the remains of 15 bodies found in the crypt of the Barefoot Trinitarians, but they were unable to isolate them or prove definitively which belonged to the author of the Spanish language’s most revered work, “Don Quixote.”

Etxeberria said scientists would try to extract DNA profiles for the bones found, but were not sure if this would be possible. Cervantes had no known descendants.

Cervantes is known to have been buried in the convent in 1616 but construction work involving the convent in the following years made it difficult to ascertain exactly where his bones lay.

Authorities had hoped that the search, which cost some 160,000 euros ($168,000) and attracted much media attention, would allow them to do the great author justice by giving him a properly signposted burial site.

Investigators believed they had solid clues to work with in the probe. Cervantes died at age 69 and wrote that he only had six teeth in the end.

He also had battle wounds. In 1571, the writer was wounded in the Battle of Lepanto, which pitted Ottoman Turkish forces against the Holy League, led by Spain. Aboard the ship La Marquesa, Cervantes was hit by three musket shots, two in the chest and one in his hand.

In January, archeologists said that they found fragments of a casket bearing the initials “M.C.” and bones, but did not confirm if it belonged to Cervantes.

OSHKOSH – Police in Oshkosh plan to keep citizens updated with a semi-daily newsletter.

Officers say The Blue Chronicle will be a synopsis of the department’s activity over the previous 24 to 72 hours. The first issues have described incidents and arrests, as well as the department’s efforts in the community, such as officers working with students in Oshkosh schools.

Not all of the department’s more than 100 daily service calls will be described. In addition, some information will not be released because of ongoing investigations or privacy concerns in cases such as medical calls or mental-health commitments.

Previous issues of The Blue Chronicle have been posted on the police department’s Facebook page.

GREEN BAY – With two months to go before race day, the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon events are getting close to full.

Organizers say the half-marathon has reached 82 percent of its 6,000-runner capacity. The marathon relay is at 79 percent of its 200-team capacity. The full marathon is at 65 percent of its 2,000-runner capacity.

“The pace of registration always increases when we approach sell out and we want to remind runners who may have been waiting to sign up to do so soon before the event is sold out,” race director Larry Lueck said in a news release.

A few half-marathon entries have been reserved for the Run for a Reason program. Runners who raise $300 for charities affiliated with the marathon can receive a free entry.

The marathon is set for May 17.

• Click here for more information about the races and how to register

LITTLE CHUTE – Unlocked vehicles are having things stolen from them, mostly in Little Chute, police say.

The Fox Valley Metro Police Dept. says officers talked on Monday with a boy who was in possession of stolen property from at least two of the thefts, plus many other items police believed were stolen. Investigators think the boy was involved in stealing from vehicles just before they talked to him.

Anyone who had something stolen from a vehicle is asked to call police at (920) 788-7505. Police are reminding people to lock their vehicle’s doors and keep valuables out of sight.

Anyone who has information about the thefts is asked to call police; anonymous tips can be left with Crime Stoppers by phone at (920) 788-9090 or by email at [email protected].

GARDEN, Mich. (AP) – Critics of the first wind energy farm in the Upper Peninsula are asking a judge to intervene before more turbines are erected in an area known as the Garden Peninsula.

A request for an injunction was filed Friday in federal court in Marquette, two months after a lawsuit. Opponents say 14 turbines near the village of Garden in Delta County are noisy, have reduced property values and are a threat to birds, including eagles.

Traverse City-based Heritage Sustainable Energy has said its consultants have found no significant impact on birds.

Heritage also operates a wind farm in Huron County and another in parts of Missaukee, Osceola and Wexford counties. Those are in the Lower Peninsula.

MADISON (AP) – The Republican co-chairman of the Legislature’s budget committee says Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to detach the University of Wisconsin System from state oversight appears to be on life support.

Joint Finance Committee co-chair Rep. John Nygren says that he’s not convinced system regents will use the new autonomy to make major changes.

Mike Mikalsen, chief of staff to state Sen. Steve Nass, says Walker’s proposal is in “great jeopardy.” He says Nass is giving UW and Walker “one last chance to make the case.”

The comments echo Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who said last week that autonomy doesn’t make sense because regents don’t want to make changes and they could use their new authority to dramatically increase tuition.

A spokesman says UW officials appreciate the discussions about granting them autonomy.

A Neenah postal carrier who dumped political mailers in a dumpster was convicted in federal court.

Rickey Krueger pleaded guilty to putting the 879 items in the garbage. He was fined $750 and, according to the plea agreement filed in federal court, agreed to resign his position.

GREEN BAY – Gordon Lightfoot’s concert scheduled for the Meyer Theatre has been postponed.

Concert promoters say the singer is recovering from a recent bout of food poisoning. He was scheduled to play in Green Bay Wednesday night.

A makeup date is expected to be set soon. Tickets will be good for that date, promoters say, and refeunds will be offered to those who cannot make the new date.

ASHWAUBENON – The Road Star Inn near Lambeau Field – recently purchased by the Green Bay Packers – is being torn down.

According to the Brown County Register of Deeds Office, the Packers organization paid more than twice the assessed value for the property at 1941 True Ln. Documents filed with the county show the Packers bought the parcel for $2.8 million. Land records show the property has an assessed value of $1.365 million. The purchase was made under the name of a Packers company called Green Bay Development LLC. The sale was completed Feb. 16.

The Packers have torn down several buildings in the area in recent months, including the former Kmart store.

FOX 11 Investigates has reported on the Packers’ real estate deals near Lambeau Field since 2007. In the last decade, the organization has spent more than $53 million to acquire more than 60 properties.

• Click here for a map of the Packers’ properties