Green Bay News

RACINE, Wis. (AP) – Three people escaped safely from a fire in Racine that caused extensive damage to a multi-family home.

Eighteen-year-old Jenacy Reyes told the Racine Journal Times that she was babysitting a 3-year-old Wednesday afternoon when she noticed the room she was in getting warm.

The newspaper reports Reyes grabbed the girl, woke another person in the house and escaped the fire.

The Racine Fire Department said in a news release that firefighters saved two cats in an upper-unit apartment in the building but a dog in the lower unit died.

The department says the fire originated on the first floor but the cause remains under investigation.

The total loss was estimated at $60,000.

GREEN BAY – The Brown County Sheriff’s Department arrested a man on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, after he allegedly crashed into a restaurant and kept going.

Authorities say the call came in for a reckless driver around 5:30 Wednesday night.

Green Bay Police say the man crashed his SUV into the Pizza Ranch on East Main St. Police say the man kept driving, eventually crossing into Bellevue.

The Brown County Sheriff’s Department was the agency that made the arrest. The Department said the man was taken into custody shortly after he crashed into the Pizza Ranch.

Authorities did not know if the man was injured, but the Sheriff’s Department said the man was taken to the hospital to be checked out.

More information is expected to be released Thursday.

APPLETON – The Appleton Common Council voted 10-4 to purchase land needed to build an exhibition center Wednesday night.

Council members agreed to buy the land from Outagamie County. The land is currently a parking lot on Lawrence Street, behind the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel. It’s estimated value is about $900,000.

The price the council agreed to pay around $2 million.

The same vote came before the council in January and was voted down. But later that month, the council voted to reconsider the deal.

The $28 million exhibition center would be owned by the city, but managed by the Paper Valley hotel. The vote on the land sale is just the first step in building the center. Other conditions will need to be met, like raising hotel room tax rates throughout the Fox Cities.

Supporters say the exhibition center will bring more businesses and money into the area.

Those who oppose the plan say it’s a big risk for taxpayers.

LITTLE CHUTE – As the Little Chute basketball team makes a run this post-season, one senior has caught people’s attention.

Parker Wyngaard’s style might look unorthodox. He plays one-handed.

“I picked the ball up when I was two. There wasn’t any doubt in my mind I was going to play basketball,” said Wyngaard after practice Wednesday.

Wyngaard’s living out his hoop dreams this year: Starting on varsity for the Little Chute Mustangs.

“I think the competitiveness, just proving to people that I can play basketball,” said Wyngaard.

Wyngaard had a bit extra to prove. He was born without his left hand. But, he says he’s never labelled himself as different.

“Everybody has something to prove when they go out there. I can’t make an exception to myself just because of my disability. I have to be put up to the standards of everybody else,” said Wyngaard.

His coaches say the speedy, intense player holds his own against others.

“It’s just another player and I think all the other guys on the team would say the same thing. To me that’s amazing. That he’s out here doing what he’s doing with one hand. The game is hard enough to play with two hands,” said head basketball coach Mickey Martin.

Wyngaard’s parents say they’ve pushed him to be a role model on and off the court.

“He’s very determined and he always has a positive attitude. I must say he’s never really felt sorry for himself,” said Kelly Wyngaard, his mother.

“The best thing has been his inspiration. He recently met with a young lady from Neenah who has a similar situation. And that makes me more proud than anything he does on the basketball court,” said Ken Wyngaard.

As his high school basketball career comes to a close, Wyngaard has some advice for others with disabilities.

“You can’t get frustrated at yourself or at the position that you’re in. You have to find a way to fight through that and in the end your dreams will come true and you will have an impact on the world,” said Wyngaard.

He’s making his impact one basket at a time.

Wyngaard will continue as an athlete in college. He’s accepted a cross country and track scholarship to Lake Superior State University next fall.

But first, he and the Little Chute Mustangs will take on Freedom in a basketball showdown this Friday.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Legislature’s finance committee will hold four regional public hearings for later this month to take comments on Gov. Scott Walker’s 2015-17 budget proposal.

The panel will meet March 18 at Brillion High School; March 20 at Alverno College in Milwaukee; March 23 at the University of Wisconsin-Barron County; and March 26 at Reedsburg High School.

Rep. John Nygren, a Marinette Republican who serves as the committee’s co-chairman, says the hearings will generally run from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. but could vary slightly according to each venue’s availability.

Once the committee completes the hearings it will return to Madison and begin revising the budget line-by-line. When that work is done the committee will forward the budget to the full Assembly and Senate for votes.

STURGEON BAY – Taken on its own, Wednesday morning’s arrival of the Athur M. Anderson’s arrival in Sturgeon Bay isn’t unusual.

More than a dozen Great Lakes freighters make their winter home here every year.

“They’re well cared for by their owners and so consequently we get a chance to see a lot of them come back to Sturgeon Bay each year. So for us it’s kind of a migration back home, you might say,” according to Jon Gast with the Door County Maritime Museum.

But the fact the Anderson is arriving in early March for its winter lay-up is very unusual.

The 767-foot was so late this year in part because ship got stuck in ice on Lake Erie for nearly a week during a routine trip last month.

It had to be rescued by Canadian and US Coast Guard ice-breakers.

After a slow-going trip across the lakes, with the help of more ice-breakers, the Anderson finally made it to Sturgeon Bay.

It’s easy to see why it may have had issues getting to Sturgeon Bay.

Lake Erie is almost completely covered in ice, and Lake Huron doesn’t have very much open water to speak of either.

And while Lake Michigan isn’t as bad in its central and southern sections, the northern parts near the Straits of Mackinac are very, very icy.

The Anderson’s arrival in Sturgeon Bay brings a little more attention than some other ships, though, because of its unique historical significance.

The Arthur M. Anderson was the last ship in touch with the Edmund Fitzgerald the night the Fitzgerald sunk.

Says Gast, “The Anderson, in the midst of that communication, lost both visual sight and also lost audio with them and it went down. So, of course, it was the first to indicate that something had gone wrong, and the possibility that the Fitzgerald had sunk.”

DE PERE — Thursday night can’t come soon enough for the De Pere girls basketball team.

That’s when the Redbirds face Kimberly in a Division 1 sectional semifinal at Bay Port and for De Pere, it’s time for payback.

The last two postseasons the Papermakers eliminated De Pere, including last year when the Redbirds missed a shot at the buzzer.

“It’s never a good feeling and I definitely don’t want them to end my basketball career,” senior Carly Cerrato said.

No. 1-seeded De Pere (22-2) has eight seniors and this is it. De Pere has been impressive this season, with losses coming on the road at Sheboygan North and Manitowoc.

Other than that, the Redbirds, the 2012 state champs, have been unbeatable and they feel if they play their fast-paced game they should be fine.

“I’m feeling very confident about this game,” Cerrato said.

I’ve been saying this all postseason, if we end up losing I think we’ll beat ourselves,” senior Jessie Rabas said.

Last season, De Pere was the underdog at undefeated Kimberly in a regional final and Cerrato’s 3-pointer at the buzzer missed, giving Kimberly a 36-35 win. Two years ago, De Pere was on a mission, riding a 44-game winning streak only to see the Papermakers stop the streak, 50-45, in a sectional semifinal.

The Redbirds are now using the “R” word.

Girls Basketball Brackets

“Getting revenge on them, hopefully, we’ll be good,” Rabas said. “It gives us more of a motivation to beat them when they’ve beat us and knocked us out of the playoffs, not only for basketball, but boys basketball, volleyball. They’ve knocked us out of pretty much every sport.”

Coach Dave Johnson talked to his team about No. 3 Kimberly (18-6) earlier this week and he chuckled when he saw his team’s response.

“There was almost an irritation when we started talking Kimberly and what we need to do,” Johnson said. “I guessed that surprised me a little bit. I think it means a lot more to them than I was led to believe, other than just being a sectional semifinal, them being in the way to where we want to get.”

Ironically, before Kimberly’s recent wins over De Pere, it was the Redbirds with the postseason advantage, having won four straight playoff games from 2009-12 over the Papermakers.

For this year’s team, though, only Rabas and Cerrato were on the roster the last time De Pere beat Kimberly and they were little-used freshmen. So, Thursday is the final chance for this Redbirds team to beat Kimberly.

Cerrato says she still thinks about her missed 3-pointer last year and she’s focused on changing her team’s fortune.

“To think if that would’ve went in we would’ve moved forward in the tournament and kept going,” Cerrato said. “But I don’t let it bring me down, especially now. I want to get revenge on them.”

“It’s in the back of our mind every practice, every day,” Rabas said. “I think that one shot will drive us hopefully on Thursday.”

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

GREEN BAY – About a hundred UW Green Bay students, staff, and alumni rallied Wednesday against potential state budget cuts to the UW System.

The group calls its message a non-partisan one.

“We’re not attacking the administration,” said Sierra Storm Spaulding, a junior. “We’re simply attacking the education cuts and what those are going to mean for students.”

The $300 million cut is part of Governor Scott Walker’s two-year budget proposal. Lawmakers from both sides say they are working on options to decrease the impact.

Democrat and UW-Green Bay grad State Sen. Dave Hansen joined the group at his former school.

“Freezing our hands and our toes, but understanding that a $300 million cut to the university system and almost $8 million to UWGB could be deadly,” said Hansen.

Knowing Democrats are in the minority, Hansen has been asking Republicans to help find alternatives. Fellow UW Green Bay grad, Republican State Sen. Rob Cowles says he is working on it.

“In talking to a number of my Republican colleagues, there is a sense that this needs to be changed,” said Cowles. “I think there is a concern, how do you come up with the money?”

Walker has maintained the UW cuts can be absorbed through new operating flexibilities the system would receive under his budget.

Republican State Rep. John Nygren agrees the move would help. He co-chairs the Joint Finance Committee, which reviews state spending.

“It would seem between the opportunity to save dollars and the reserves that they could be able to withstand it, but I guess more information probably needs to be forthcoming before we make that final decision,” said Nygren.

As for the rally at UW-Green Bay, students say they plan to hold a similar event later this month. However, that rally will be in Madision.

BAYFIELD, Wis. (AP) – The popular ice caves in northwestern Wisconsin are set to reopen after a temporary closure.

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Superintendent Bob Krumenaker says the ice caves will reopen at 7 a.m. Thursday after being closed due to high winds.

The National Park Service closed the caves temporarily at 6 p.m. Tuesday because of concerns that high winds and blowing snow could make the ice leading to the caves unsafe.

Around 12,000 people have visited the ice caves along the south shore of Lake Superior since they opened over the weekend.

Officials say temperatures will be warming starting this weekend, so visitors should not delay if they want to see the ice caves this year.

ELLSWORTH, Wis. (AP) – A western Wisconsin woman is accused of chatting on Facebook before a crash that killed three children, including her daughter and two nieces, in December 2013.

Kari Jo Milberg, 34, of Centuria, was charged Friday with three felony counts of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving, KARE-TV reported.

Cellphone records show Milberg was sending and receiving Facebook chat messages just before the crash, Pierce County investigators allege.

Authorities believe driver inattention contributed to the Dec. 12, 2013, crash on Wisconsin Highway 35 near Prescott.

Milberg’s sport utility vehicle collided with a truck after Milberg apparently lost control on a curve. Milberg’s 11-year-old daughter, Lydia, died at the scene. Milberg’s two 5-year-old nieces, Laynie Jo Amos of Amery and Clara Pavek of Prescott, died at hospitals. Milberg was critically injured, and her 3-year-old son had minor injuries. The truck driver and his two passengers were not hurt.

Online court records do not list a defense attorney for Milberg. A telephone listing with her name had a busy signal.

Investigators recovered a bottle of oxycodone painkiller pills and two cellphones from Milberg’s SUV, KARE-TV reported. Blood tests showed that oxycodone and a sedative were present in Milberg’s system at “therapeutic levels” at the time of the crash. The spring following the crash, investigators found a third cellphone at the accident scene that had been thrown from Milberg’s SUV.

Investigators also determined that the SUV’s tires were badly worn and unable to channel moisture that may have been on the road.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Republicans who control the Wisconsin Assembly Labor Committee have rejected four attempts by Democrats to make changes to a right-to-work bill.

The amendments were rejected Wednesday on party line votes as expected. The committee approved the bill with all Republicans in support and Democrats against, but the vote was largely symbolic.

The Assembly expects to debate the Senate version of the bill on Thursday, which passed last week.

Democrats had asked that the committee consider its amendments in advance of the debate before the full Assembly.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says that no changes will be made to the bill before it passes and is sent to Gov. Scott Walker. He plans to sign it Monday.

MIAMI (AP) – Florida Gov. Rick Scott will not seek U.S. Supreme Court review of a law that would have required applicants for welfare benefits to submit to mandatory drug testing.

The law, a top priority of the Republican governor’s first term, was ruled unconstitutional by two federal courts.  Scott’s administration did not ask the Supreme Court to consider the case by a Tuesday deadline.

American Civil Liberties Union of Florida Executive Director Howard Simon said that means lower court rulings invalidating the 2011 law will stand.

“After nearly four years of litigation, this ugly attack on poor Floridians has finally come to an end,” Simon said Wednesday. “This law was always about scoring political points on the backs of Florida’s poor and treating them like suspected criminals without suspicion or evidence.”

U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven in Orlando originally declared the law requiring urine tests for the applicants to be an unconstitutional search and seizure, a ruling upheld by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in December. Scriven and the appeals judges found no evidence of a pervasive drug problem among Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program applicants.

The ACLU challenged the law on behalf of Luis Lebron, an Orlando Navy veteran and single father who refused to submit to a urine test. The 11th Circuit found that only about 2.6 percent of Florida welfare applicants failed the drug test during the four months the law was in effect, almost half for marijuana use.

“We chose not to appeal this case,” said Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz in an email. “The governor is continuing to protect Florida children any way he can and create an environment where families can get jobs so they are able to pursue their dreams in safe communities.”

Another of Scott’s drug-testing priorities, an executive order requiring random drug tests for thousands of state workers, was also struck down by a Miami federal judge. The 11th Circuit, however, reversed part of that ruling, concluding that some categories of workers in sensitive jobs could be subjected to such tests.

State officials and a union representing many of them are currently working toward agreement on those categories, which would again go before a federal judge.

MANITOWOC – Sculptures honoring the earliest residents of the land that is now Wisconsin are taking shape.

When it is finished, The Spirit of the Rivers monument will be 16 feet tall, and weigh three tons.

In a downtown Manitowoc art studio, R.T. “Skip” Wallen, turns styrofoam and modeling clay into history.

“This will be around here for 100 years from now, or maybe longer than that. So that thought can be intimidating,” said R.T. “Skip” Wallen, Sculptor.

But the Manitowoc native has sculpted for 30 years. He was asked to create a monument called the Spirit of the Rivers.

“With the rich history that we have here, Native Americans came immediately to mind. And I was thinking of this as a way to remind people of the people that lived here before,” said Wallen.

Wallen says the sculptures depict a Native American man and woman carrying a canoe ashore. A tribal elder points the way.

Historians say the monument represents a time hundreds of years ago, when woodland tribes lived in the Great Lakes region.

“They speak a similar language, they have a lot of the same folklore stories, and most importantly, they have a shared common technology which at the middle of which, is the birch bark canoe,” said Kerry Trask, Great Lakes Historian.

The monument will be covered in bronze, and delivered to a Lakeshore site near the Manitowoc-Two Rivers border.

A non-profit group began fundraising efforts three years ago.

“The statues themselves will cost $750,000. We have raised 83% of that,” said Carol Wergin, Spirit of the Rivers.

And with every scrape, and every modification, Wallen draws inspiration from the giant statues at hand.

“The idea is that the elder knows where we’ve been and has ideas about where we should be going, and so guide the way,” said Wallen.

The project is expected to be complete in the fall 2016.

MARYVALE, Ariz. (AP) – Former closer Jim Henderson threw a scoreless inning in his first outing since May and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin 8-0 on Wednesday.

In a game for the first time since ending last season with a shoulder injury May 2, Henderson walked one and struck out two in the second inning. He saved 28 games for Milwaukee in 2013 but went 2-1 with a 7.15 ERA in 14 games last year. Henderson had arthroscopic surgery in August.

Khris Davis and Juan Centeno had two-run singles for the Brewers, who didn’t have their first hit until Davis’ single with two outs in the fourth. Elian Hererra had a pair of RBI singles.

Seven Brewers pitchers held Wisconsin-Milwaukee to just one hit, a single by senior right fielder Derek Peake in the fourth, and struck out 15.

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

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A pair of Republican state lawmakers is working to allow factory and mercantile workers to voluntarily work seven consecutive days without a 24-hour rest period.

Wisconsin law requires employers in factory and mercantile establishments to grant workers 24 consecutive hours off in every seven-day cycle. The Republicans pushing for workers’ ability to waive that right, Rep. Mark Born of Beaver Dam and Rep. Van Wanggaard of Racine, say allowing workers the choice would make the state more competitive.

Born co-sponsored a similar bill with then-state Sen. Glenn Grothman, now a Wisconsin Republican congressman, in 2014. That measure died before it arrived in the Wisconsin Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, a La Crosse Democrat, says the effort, paired with right-to-work legislation, marks Republicans’ attempt to move Wisconsin backward.

Learn more about plans for a Meijer store at Hwy. 41 and Shawano Ave. in Howard:

• Site plan
• Description of the proposal

What is Meijer?

Meijer is a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer that operates 213 supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. As the inventor of the “one-stop shopping” concept, Meijer stores have evolved through the years to include expanded fresh produce and meat departments, as well as pharmacies, comprehensive apparel departments, garden centers and electronics offerings.

Meijer Expansion into Wisconsin

More than 2 years after Meijer first publicly confirmed it was considering opening stores in the state of Wisconsin, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer is in the home stretch of construction of its four new supercenters in the greater Milwaukee area.

The retailer confirms stores in Grafton and Kenosha will open this June, and its stores in Oak Creek and Wauwatosa will follow in August. The Kenosha and Oak Creek Meijer stores will also feature a convenience store and gas station, which will open about 30 days prior to the main store, in May and July respectively.

The new supercenters in Grafton, Kenosha, Oak Creek and Wauwatosa will feature fresh produce, meat and dairy delivered seven days a week, and a bakery that offers fresh bread baked four times daily. As Meijer stores are open 24 hours a day, customers will have access to these offerings around the clock.

In addition to traditional grocery and merchandise offerings, the stores will also feature a pharmacy offering the company’s free prescription program, as well as clinical services and immunizations designed to promote family health.

Meijer has plans for additional stores in the greater Milwaukee area and throughout the state, and has stated it plans to open two to three new Wisconsin stores each year for the next four years.

HOWARD – FOX 11 has confirmed Michigan-based grocer and retailer Meijer has filed site plans with the village of Howard. The proposed site is east of Hwy. 41 and south of Shawano Ave., across from Mills Fleet Farm.

Our first look at Meijer’s plans for a 195,000-square-foot supercenter and gas station in Howard is also the first look for village officials.

“They have this land under control and preliminarily this looks very good, so I’m assuming unless there is so big change on their end, from our standpoint this is pretty close to done,” Howard Village Administrator Paul Evert said.

The property has sat mostly idle for the past six years.

“It’s great for the whole area because it means jobs it means 150 to 200 part-time and full-time jobs for the area,” Evert said.

Meijer focuses primarily on grocery items, but its stores also offer a garden center, and pharmacy.
Village administrator Paul Evert says the proposed development could add as much as $14 million in new tax base for the village.

“So it’s a big deal, and I think it will enhance the rest of the area,” Evert said.

As part of the Meijer plan, the village would extend Badgerland Dr. under Hwy. 41 all the way to Taylor St. for better traffic flow and access to the store.

We reached out to Meijer for comment for this story. A spokesperson said he had no information to offer.

With many other retail and grocery options in the Green Bay area, will a Meijer store change people’s shopping habits? We asked a grocery consultant.

“Meijer focuses on having lower prices than conventional stores, and they have better perishables than the superstores, so you’re probably going to find Meijer impacting all grocery stores to some extent,” said Frank Livingston, a grocery consultant.

A public hearing is scheduled for later this month on preliminary zoning approval. Then plans will go to the full board. Evert says if Meijer gets the go ahead, work would begin at the site this year.

“Demolishing structures, then in 2016 they hope to break ground, and open in ’17,” Evert said.

Meijer is currently building four new supercenters in the Milwaukee area. In a recent press release, the company said it expects to open at least two more stores in Wisconsin each year for the next four years.

OSHKOSH – An Oshkosh fishing club is giving back and making a difference in the community.

The Otter Street Fishing Club donated a chainsaw to the Oshkosh Fire Department.

The saw will be used in ice rescue and dive operations. Sometimes the ice can be too thick to get through, but the saw can cut through 42 inches of ice.

Those at Otter Street Fishing Club say they hope the saw will lead to even more positive outcomes for those who fall through the ice.

Greg Stelter, Oshkosh Fire Dept. equipment operator says the saw will come in handy, “Well the sheet or cake of ice can float back up and these sheets of ice can weight hundreds or thousands of pounds so it’s very difficult for a crew of guys to move them, this saw will allow us to cut through that sheet or cake and give access to our divers to get underneath it.”

The cost of the saw is around $1,400.

GREEN BAY – Green Bay east junior guard/forward Deonte Carlton knows all about the last time his high school won a postseason game. Carlton, as it turns out, was there.

“I remember that because my brother played [for East],” said Carlton. “I always wanted to play that.”

Carlton says he was in the stands that day as Green Bay East topped Appleton North. He was also in elementary school. The Red Devils’ last WIAA Tournament victory came back in 2007. Since then, in a sport where every team makes the postseason field, it’s been opening round loss after opening round loss. This year, a chance to snap that streak as East, a 5-seed in Division 1’s playoff field, visits #4 Sheboygan North on Friday.

“See coach’s face, our faces,” said senior point guard Kejuan Ransom. “To make it past this game would be everything.”

East split their two games with Sheboygan North this season, so they have confidence. They also have the support and interest of a revitalized fanbase after seasons of struggle. Ransom says he hears it in the school’s hallways, around town all the time.

“Every day, every day,” said Ransom. “People tell me we should go out there and play hard.”

Instead of pressure to snap the postseason skid, the fast-paced team is enjoying the success. East finished the year 10-12 overall, a step up from previous frustrating campaigns. They were also tied with Pulaski for fifth place in the always tough Fox River Classic Conference.

“It’s a good feeling because we like to play under pressure because we can step up to the spotlight and show what we’re made of,” said Carlton.

East head coach Rick Rosinski says his team has had highs and lows over the course of the season, but when they’re on and pushing the pace of the game, they’re tough to beat. Their win over Sheboygan North came by an 86-80 final score, huge point totals for high school basketball. Rosinski is happy quite a few of his key players will be back next season and hopes this tournament run is valuable experience going forward.

“This is the best time of the year,” said Rosinski. “I’ve been trying to stress that to my kids: this is March Madness for high school basketball.”

Winning the first postseason game since 2007 would validate a resurgent season for the Red Devils. Players say they’re proud of the season they put together and hope it’s not close to ending.

“We love East,” said Carlton. “We should be on the map with De Pere and Sheboygan North, the top teams in the conference. We deserve that.”