Green Bay News

SUAMICO — When asked about playing No. 1 seed De Pere on Saturday, Mackenzie Jerks smiled.

The Bay Port senior is playing in her final postseason in high school and there was no way she wanted to be “one-and-done.”

So after falling behind by six points early in the fourth quarter, Bay Port gathered itself, rallied and defeated Manitowoc for the second time this season, 58-52, in a Division 1 regional semifinal.

“I just looked at them and said, ‘Girls, you have nothing to lose; you can be the first team (at Bay Port) in six years to win a playoff game,'” Bay Port coach Kati Coleman said. “Every one of those girls looked me in the eye and I could tell we weren’t going to lose. That comes down to mental toughness.”

“This whole week we focused on staying together and playing as a team,” Jerks said. “I’m so proud of everyone.”

No. 4-seeded Bay Port (13-9) defeated the No. 5 Ships (12-11) during the regular season, 67-62, but Manitowoc is so dangerous with UW-Milwaukee recruit Alyssa Fischer and 6 foot 4 Meg Wolowicz. Bay Port doesn’t have the same star power, so it knew it needed everything to beat Manitowoc again.

Fischer scored 21 points and Wolowicz scored 14 despite being saddled with foul trouble throughout.

“Biggest thing is you have to stop Fischer,” Coleman said. “We knew Wolowicz was going to get it inside somehow. We knew if we walled up on the front and walled up on the back that it would be hard for (Fischer) to get shots up. You just to really not let her touch the ball.”

Meanwhile, Bay Port was its usual balanced self. The Pirates don’t have a player averaging 11 points per game on the season, but did have four players in double figures: Ellie Knutson scored 12, while Jerks, Brooke Harris and Maddie Re each scored 11.

“If you have somebody that’s your leading scorer or scores 20 points per game, you zero in on them,” Coleman said. “We have a couple people at nine and 10, but of you shut them down that next person at eight or seven might step up. Who do you not guard? You have to guard everyone on our team.”

Jerks, a Truman State (Mo.) recruit, also played a great floor game, allowing teammates to score on the fast break. She likes the idea of not having to score 20 points.

It helps me a lot,” Jerks said. “It takes a lot of weight off my shoulders. Just that I can rely on anyone to score at a critical time, it’s a huge relief off my shoulders.”

Bay Port outscored Manitowoc, 24-12, to finish the game and will need that type of performance Saturday against De Pere (21-2), which beat Bay Port, 58-48, this season. Jerks knows what lies ahead, but she’s feeling good.

“I feel very good,” Jerks said. “We had a great week of practice. Everyone is working so hard. The most important thing is to believe we can win and I think that’s going to carry over (Saturday).”

Coleman said there has a been a countdown for her team in regards to how many days of basketball were left this season. Saturday wasn’t guaranteed until Friday’s win. She said she will have the same message before Saturday’s tipoff; that only that game is guaranteed.

“You have one more game that’s guaranteed,” she said. “It’s their time to step up to the challenge. I think they will. We have a handful of girls that are hungry. They know what it takes and they’ll be ready.”

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

Friday’s Scores

Appleton North 58, Appleton East 43

Chippewa Falls 56, Wausau West 41

D.C. Everest 80, Superior 26

Eau Claire Memorial 45, Hudson 39

Marshfield 65, Eau Claire North 44

Neenah 57, Oshkosh West 48

Oshkosh North 41, Appleton West 33

Stevens Point 66, Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln 61

Division 1 Sectional 2
Regional Second Round

Arrowhead 55, Kettle Moraine 36

Bay Port 58, Manitowoc Lincoln 52

De Pere 86, Sheboygan South 48

Germantown 56, Hamilton 46

Green Bay Preble 59, Sheboygan North 47

Kimberly 46, Hartford Union 23

Mukwonago 51, Homestead 43

Waukesha West 58, Waukesha South 27

Division 1 Sectional 3
Regional Second Round

Badger 47, Watertown 30

Janesville Craig 65, Madison La Follette 52

Janesville Parker 55, Muskego 38

Madison Memorial 45, Kenosha Tremper 33

Middleton 69, Madison West 53

Oconomowoc 62, Burlington 48

Sun Prairie 57, Madison East 41

Verona Area 75, Kenosha Bradford 18

Division 1 Sectional 4
Regional Second Round

Brookfield Central 47, Brookfield East 41

Divine Savior 79, Milwaukee Vincent 45

Franklin 71, West Allis Central 32

Milwaukee Riverside University 69, Milwaukee Career & Tech. Ed. 21

Oak Creek 56, Racine Park 21

Racine Horlick 67, Racine Case 62

West Allis Nathan Hale 57, Greenfield 52

Division 2 Sectional 1
Regional Second Round

Hortonville 70, Shawano Community 37

La Crosse Logan 50, Holmen 47

Lakeland 58, Rhinelander 47

Menomonie 47, Rice Lake 40

Mosinee 62, Merrill 55

New London 49, Antigo 30

Onalaska 60, Sparta 43

River Falls 53, Ashland 42

Division 2 Sectional 2
Regional Second Round

Beaver Dam 55, West Bend East 20

Cedarburg 47, Menasha 20

Grafton 38, Slinger 34

Green Bay Southwest 47, Seymour 26

Notre Dame 41, Ashwaubenon 27

Plymouth 56, Port Washington 46

Pulaski 35, Marinette 29

West De Pere 53, Kaukauna 36

Division 2 Sectional 3
Regional Second Round

DeForest 51, Baraboo 32

Edgewood 43, Mount Horeb 37

Elkhorn Area 62, Waterford 36

Fort Atkinson 28, Milton 24

Monona Grove 49, Jefferson 24

Stoughton 72, Oregon 50

Union Grove 55, Wilmot Union 33

Waunakee 44, Portage 33

Division 2 Sectional 4
Regional Second Round

Cudahy 66, Milwaukee Bradley Technical 22

Greendale 43, South Milwaukee 29

Milwaukee King 110, Milwaukee South 22

New Berlin Eisenhower 63, Waukesha North 49

New Berlin West 59, Pewaukee 37

Pius XI 48, Wauwatosa East 21

Shorewood 52, Messmer 22

Wauwatosa West 61, Wisconsin Lutheran 58

Whitefish Bay 28, Nicolet 22

Division 3 Sectional 1
Regional Second Round

Arcadia 47, Neillsville 31

Baldwin-Woodville 60, Prescott 22

Barron 42, Northwestern 34

Durand 49, Altoona 40

Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 41, Black River Falls 19

Hayward 71, Amery 26

Somerset 54, Saint Croix Central 40

West Salem 43, Westby 34, OT

Division 3 Sectional 2
Regional Second Round

Denmark 49, Southern Door 39

Fox Valley Lutheran 54, Little Chute 27

Kiel 35, Oostburg 17

Peshtigo 63, Northland Pines 36

Roncalli 57, Kewaunee 38

Valders 57, Sheboygan Falls 41

Wittenberg-Birnamwood 50, Clintonville 25

Xavier 49, Freedom 43

Division 3 Sectional 3
Regional Second Round

Adams-Friendship 42, Westfield Area 13

Big Foot 80, Evansville 46

Brodhead 71, Edgerton 40

Dodgeville 57, Platteville 42

Lakeside Lutheran 53, Marshall 46

River Valley 47, Richland Center 34

Whitewater 53, Lake Mills 32

Wisconsin Dells 51, Lodi 43

Division 3 Sectional 4
Regional Second Round

Brookfield Academy 41, Brown Deer 27

Kettle Moraine Lutheran 44, Milwaukee School of Languages 21

Laconia 46, Ripon 29

Milwaukee North 64, Saint Francis 40

Poynette 49, Columbus 39

Saint Thomas More 71, Tenor/Veritas 10

Waupun 58, Lomira 36

Winnebago Lutheran Academy 45, North Fond du Lac 34

Division 4 Sectional 1
Regional Second Round

Athens 59, Colby 35

Cameron 64, Webster 18

Colfax 39, Glenwood City 29

Fall Creek 66, Osseo-Fairchild 44

Ladysmith 49, Unity 33

Phillips 52, Hurley 47

Regis 36, Elk Mound 27

Stanley-Boyd 79, Augusta 58

Division 4 Sectional 2
Regional Second Round

Algoma 48, Gibraltar 34

Auburndale 47, Stratford 41

Bonduel 55, Amherst 38

Crandon 49, Menominee Indian 48

Marathon 52, Edgar 25

Oconto 46, Wabeno/Laona 43

Reedsville 40, Manitowoc Lutheran 35

Shiocton 49, Iola-Scandinavia 48

Division 4 Sectional 3
Regional Second Round

Aquinas 70, Melrose-Mindoro 39

Cambridge 53, Belleville 25

Cochrane-Fountain City 57, Luther 56

Cuba City 79, Lancaster 33

Deerfield 43, Parkview 35

Mineral Point 63, New Glarus 45

Riverdale 50, Pardeeville 34

Wisconsin Heights 58, Brookwood 56

Division 4 Sectional 4
Regional Second Round

Howards Grove 47, Lake Country Lutheran 24

Kenosha Saint Joseph Catholic Academy 66, Racine Lutheran 37

Lourdes Academy 39, Markesan 24

Martin Luther 73, Destiny 33

Racine St. Catherine’s 53, Shoreland Lutheran 38

Random Lake 47, Ozaukee 34

Saint Marys Springs 51, Weyauwega-Fremont 25

Division 5 Section 1

Regional Second Round
Assumption 54, Bowler 34

Flambeau 70, Prentice 35

Frederic 55, Siren 26

McDonell Central 49, Clayton 39

Northwood 34, Luck 22

South Shore 73, Mercer 37

Thorp 47, Owen-Withee 33

Turtle Lake 54, Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran 39

Winter 74, Bayfield 66

Division 5 Section 2

Regional Second Round
Abbotsford 45, Newman Catholic 40

Gillett 65, Gresham Community 19

Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran 57, Suring 46

Loyal 51, Columbus Catholic 25

Niagara 42, Phelps 27

Three Lakes 46, Wausaukee 27

Tri-County 50, Wild Rose 35

Division 5 Section 3
Regional Second Round

Bangor 53, Blair-Taylor 35

Barneveld 67, Southwestern 24

Benton/Shullsburg 41, Belmont 33

Cashton 57, La Farge 40

Highland 44, Wauzeka-Steuben 36

Hillsboro 62, Royall 31

Independence 37, Alma/Pepin 24

River Ridge 34, Fennimore 28

Division 5 Secton 4
Regional Second Round

Argyle 45, Albany 23

Fall River 55, Central Wisconsin Christian 25

Heritage Christian 63, Milwaukee Academy of Science 29

Hilbert 67, Sheboygan Area Luth. 34

Monticello 56, Black Hawk 37

Randolph 54, Rio 45

Sheboygan County Christian 54, Elkhart Lake/Glenbeulah 30

University Lake School 42, Catholic Central 41

Bay Port’s Mackenzie Jerks talks about her team’s 58-52 win over Manitowoc in a Division 1 regional semifinal on Friday.

Manitowoc played at Bay Port in a Division 1 girls basketball regional semifinal on Friday.

Bay Port won, 58-52.

ASHWAUBENON – You may remember a small plane’s rough landing from February of last year.

The pilot was forced to land at an Oconto County airport after running into trouble. Thankfully, all on board survived.

Now the men who helped guide that plane to safety are being honored.

They’ll head to Las Vegas next week for recognition from the National Association of Air Traffic Controllers. But first, they told their story to FOX 11’s Kelly Schlicht.

The late shift on Thursday, February 13, 2014 began like any other for air traffic controllers at Austin Straubel Airport.

“It was around four or five o’clock. The plane was coming from Rochester, Minn., and it was scheduled to land in Menominee,” said Justin Krenke, an air traffic controller.

Krenke was on a radio transmission with the pilot of this plane, John Laws, when the aircraft ran into trouble.

“Some instruments basically failed. He knew they wouldn’t be able to make it into Menominee so he said I need to get out of this icing. It just kept accumulating ice and couldn’t get rid of the ice on the airplane.

Krenke tried to guide the pilot to a safety.

“If you need to descended below 2500 and declare an emergency we can try to get you on an approach to Oconto,” said Krenke on the air traffic control recording.

“Compassion Flight 06Q, we are declaring an emergency,” said the pilot.

Fellow air traffic controller Adam Helm stepped in to help.

“As soon as we knew that the airplane was going to land in Oconto, we got on the phone and asked them to get crash, fire rescue, fire trucks out there,” said Helm.

Meanwhile, their coworker Mike Osterander took over all other direction in the tower.

“When this happened, I just tried to take as much of the other things to do off of him so he could concentrate on it,” said Osterander.

But as the pilot neared Oconto, he couldn’t land.

“I see it on my right side, I didn’t land. It looks like they’re plowing,” said the pilot.

“I lost radar contact and lost communication with him, and Adam was on the phone with some Oconto fire and rescue and also the county saying get the plows off the runway this is an emergency. He came around and circled and crashed, but everyone survived. So, it was a good outcome,” said Krenke.

Now the three men will be honored by their industry for keeping their cool.

“You feel like you’re a part of the plane and the person flying it, even though I’m sitting in a room looking at a screen. It was pretty scary. I don’t want to have to do it again,” said Krenke.

But the three insist they were just doing their jobs, helping keep the skies and all who fly them safe.

OUTAGAMIE COUNTY – An Outagamie County father was charged Friday with sexually assaulting his daughter over the course of six years.

Authorities say the now 14-year-old daughter, turned her father in to Grand Chute Police.

The 36-year-old man is charged with repeated sexual assault of the same child and incest. FOX 11 is not naming the man, because that would also mean identifying an alleged victim of sexual assault.

According to the criminal complaint, the man assaulted his daughter about once a week since she was 7-years-old. The complaint says the abuse ended last spring, when the girl was 13-years-old.

Police say they do not believe there are any more victims.

If convicted, the man is facing 100 years in prison. He is being held on $50,000 bond.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Republican-controlled House unexpectedly rejected short-term funding for the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, increasing the prospect of a partial shutdown at midnight of an agency with major anti-terrorism responsibilities.

The vote was 224-203 against the measure, as 52 Republicans defected on the leadership-backed legislation.

A combination of conservative, tea party-backed Republicans on one side of the political aisle and Democrats on the other opposed the bill. The first group was upset because the legislation had been stripped of changes to President Barack Obama’s immigration policy, and the second because it lacked full-year funding for the sprawling department.

With less than seven few hours remaining before the midnight deadline, it was unclear what Speaker John Boehner and other Republican leaders would next propose.

Democrats led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California urged them in advance to allow a vote on a bill to keep the department in funds through the Sept. 30 end of the budget year – a step the GOP high command had previously refused to take.

“You have made a mess,” Pelosi said to Republicans as debate neared an end on the measure.

That wasn’t how tea party-backed rebels saw it.

“It does not make any difference whether the funding is for three weeks, three months or a full fiscal year. If it’s illegal, it’s illegal,” said Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala.

Other conservatives disagreed with that sort of analysis in large numbers – and said so.

“It’s the best solution that we have available to us right now,” said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark. “Nobody wants to shut down the Department of Homeland Security.”

Across the Capitol, the Senate waited to add its assent after playing out a series of acts in the Republicans’ effort to use the measure to wring concessions on immigration from the White House.

A largely symbolic attempt to advance legislation that would repeal Obama’s immigration directive of last fall failed on a vote of 57-42, three short of the 60 required.

That separate proposal was “commonsense legislation that would protect our democracy from the egregious example of executive overreach we saw in November,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who successfully led his rank and file in recent days to a decision to pass Homeland Security legislation without immigration-related provisions.

Much of the Department of Homeland Security was to remain open, even if funding expired at midnight. Airport security checkpoints would remain staffed, immigration agents would be on the job, air marshals would do their work and Coast Guard patrols would sail on. Of the department’s 230,000 employees, an estimated 200,000 would remain at work, either because they are deemed essential, or because their pay comes from fees that are unaffected by congressional spending disputes.

And ironically, a federal court order has blocked implementation of Obama’s immigration policies that most Republicans seek, at least temporarily.

Taken together, the day’s events at the Capitol underscored the difficulty Republicans have had so far this year in translating last fall’s election gains into legislative accomplishment – a step its own leaders say is necessary to establish the party’s credentials as a responsible, governing party.

Republicans gained control of the Senate in last November’s balloting, and emerged with their largest House majority in more than 70 years.

Further demonstrating GOP woes, House GOP leaders abruptly called off a vote on a major education bill that had attracted significant opposition from conservatives as well as Democrats and the White House.

Aides attributed that decision to the need to work separately on rounding up enough votes to pass the measure that would prevent a partial shutdown at Homeland Security.

The day’s developments occurred against a midnight deadline for funding the department, an agency with significant responsibilities in the nation’s fight against terrorism.

An early, 240-183 test vote in the House indicated ample support for the spending bill, but a short while later the House was gaveled into recess while the search went on for support to pass the legislation itself.

“The House must pass this bill in short order to keep the lights on at the Department of Homeland Security in the near term,” said Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky. “Hopefully, this will buy us this additional time that we clearly need.”

Democrats argued against the measure, saying their preference was a longer-term bill to provide funding that carries the department trough the Dept. 30 end of the budget year without attempting to alter immigration policy. It cleared the Senate Friday on a vote of 68-31.

“Give us a vote, Mr. Speaker. Give us a vote. Instead, drip, drip, drip,” said Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader.

Some House Republicans agreed, noting that Senate Democrats had demonstrated their ability to block any challenges to Obama’s immigration policies, and that the president had vowed to veto them in any event.

“The only question is when – tomorrow or in three weeks,” said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. “Some folks just have a harder time facing political reality than others.”

Obama’s first immigration directive, in 2012, lifted the threat of deportation from many immigrants brought to the country illegally as youngsters. Another order last fall applied to millions more who are in the United States unlawfully.

___

Associated Press writers Charles Babington, Andrew Taylor, Matthew Daly and Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.

MADISON (AP) – The company looking to open an iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin says it is closing its office in Hurley effective on Sunday, casting doubt on the future of the project that sparked fierce debate and opposition from environmentalists and tribal members near the site.

Bill Williams, president of mining company Gogebic Taconite, released a statement Friday announcing the sudden move.

He says the company will “continue to investigate the possibility of pursuing a permit to mine” but it can’t justify having an office in Hurley without the prospect of immediate action.

Williams says the company’s revelation of wetlands in the area makes continued investment “unfeasible at this time.”

He says reclamation activities at monitoring and testing sites will be completed.

Timeline of the actor Leonard Nimoy, best known for his role as Spock in the original Star Trek series.

GREEN BAY – Police have released the names of the two officers involved in Tuesday night’s fatal shooting of an armed man.

Officer Matthew Dunn, 24, was stabbed in the arm by Joseph Biegert, police say. Officer Brian Krueger, 28, was also injured in the incident.

According to investigators, Dunn and Krueger were called to Biegert’s apartment in the 1500 block of Plymouth Ln. around 7:30 p.m. for a report that Biegert had taken an unknown amount of medication in an attempt to harm himself. Biegert stabbed Dunn with a knife, police say, then both officers shot him. Biegert was pronounced dead at the scene.

Both officers were taken to thoe hospital, where they were treated and released.

Dunn has been with the Green Bay Police Dept. for two years and Krueger for five years. Both officers have been reassigned to administrative duty while the incident is investigated. The state Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident, following state law.

MADISON – The Wisconsin AFL-CIO is organizing another rally Saturday at the state Capitol. The group also put together events Tuesday and Wednesday in opposition to a Republican-backed right-to-work bill.

According to a spokesperson from the state Department of Administration, AFL-CIO leaders have been granted a permit for the event, and they estimate a crowd of 5,000 people. The event is scheduled to start at noon Saturday outside the Capitol on the State St. side.

Capitol police estimated about 2,000 people were at the events each day earlier this week. Police arrested four people Wednesday and one person Tuesday.

The state Senate passed the right-to-work bill Wednesday night. An Assembly committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the bill Monday morning.

MADISON – There’s been a lot of debate over the past week about what a “right-to-work” law would do to Wisconsin’s economy.

Twenty-four other state have similar laws in place. Right-to-work makes it illegal to force private-sector workers to pay union due to get or keep a job.

What is the impact? Both sides have different numbers to back up their arguments.

“It’s really a political framing of this issue,” said Arnold Shober, a government professor at Lawrence University in Appleton.

Shober believes overall research on the issue isn’t conclusive.

“Almost certainly the unions will be weakened, but would it affect the economy? Who knows,” he said.

The states with existing right-to-work laws have diverse economies.

The two newest right-to-work states, Indiana and Michigan, are probably the most similar to Wisconsin with strong manufacturing industries. They’ve only had the laws in place for about three years.

“What we know is right-to-work states have a lower annual salary for workers across the board, not just union workers but for all workers,” said State Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee.

Democrats cite U.S. government data from 2013. They say average wages for all jobs in right-to-work states are nearly $4 an hour lower than the remaining states.

Republicans point to other federal numbers from 2003 to 2013. They say wages in right-to-work states grew an average of 15 percent, while wages in remaining states grew at eight percent.

The Wisconsin State Senate convenes Feb. 25, 2015, in an extraordinary session to discuss right-to-work legislation. (WLUK/Andrew LaCombe)

Many economists who have studied all of the right-to-work data say it’s impossible to determine how much of a factor right-to-work policies have on the numbers. States also have several varieties of other economic development initiatives in place.

A Republican leader pushing the bill expects Wisconsin’s economy will eventually benefit.

“Overall, I mean it’s going to take years, but that’s some of these major policy shifts, that’s what they’re about,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. “It’s about long-range kind of projections in the future on the job creation that it will create.”

The Assembly labor committee is holding a public hearing on the measure Monday at 10 a.m. in Madison.

It could be debated by the full Assembly Thursday, where Republicans have a 63-36 majority. The governor has said he would sign the bill into law.

Another union-organized rally is planned for noon tomorrow outside the Capitol in Madison.

KAUKAUNA — The Neenah boys basketball team knew there were no guarantees entering Thursday night’s regular-season finale.

The Rockets trailed Kaukauna and Kimberly by one game in the race for the top spot in the Fox Valley Association entering Thursday’s game and not only did Neenah need a win, it needed Fond du Lac to spring an improbable upset at Kimberly.

Not being able to control what was going on at Kimberly, Neenah controlled what it could, its own game.

This was a game expected to live up to the hype of the first meeting, when Kaukauna won, 75-70, in double overtime, and for the most part it did. However, this time Neenah made plays down the stretch and outlasted the Ghosts, 63-56, in front of a sold out fieldhouse.

With the win, Kimberly won its first outright conference title since the 1973-74 season and Neenah was just happy it won.

“It was a great team effort,” Neenah coach Scott Bork said. “We had contributions out of our bench. We talked about that before the game that we needed contributions from the bench and that was huge.”

It’s never fun to lose and knowing we had another shot at them at their place, their senior night, we were kind of looking forward to playing them and giving them our best effort,” Neenah center Matt Heldt said.

What was bigger was the biggest or tallest player on the court. After a slow start, the 6 foot 11 Heldt began using his height advantage over Kaukauna, which doesn’t have a starter listed at taller than 6-3.

Heldt was consistently getting deep position by the basket and attempting easy shots. He ended with 25 points.

“We’re going to live and die with Matt getting touches in the post and then playing off of it,” Bork said. “In the second quarter and the second half he started to demand his position a little bit better and we started to do a better job of finding him in those spots.”

In the teams’ first meeting, Kaukauna rallied a couple times to force overtimes, but not this time. Neenah held a slight lead late and Kaukauna was forced to foul.

The Rockets buried 8 of 8 free throws in the final 70 seconds to deny Kaukauna (19-3, 15-3) a piece of the FVA title.

“Take care of the ball, get a score, get a stop and get fouled,” Bork said. “Tho their credit, the crowd didn’t faze, the excitement of the moment didn’t faze them. They stepped up and knocked down throws.”

And they did it in what might’ve been the loudest environment Neenah will play in all season.

“The game at our place was the same kind of atmosphere, so the huge crowd didn’t affect how they played,” Bork said. “Sometimes, I think they thrive on that. It’s something they lived for their entire life.”

Neenah (18-4, 15-3) now looks to the postseason, where it has high expectations after losing to Germantown last year in the Division 1 state title game.

“Every loss we had we learned a lot from,” Heldt said. “It’s prepared us very well for the playoffs.

“This win builds a lot of momentum for the postseason. The playoffs, anything can happen so we have to be ready for anybody. We can’t overlook Fond du Lac, they are our next game.”

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

The next Republican presidential candidate is likely attending a meeting of conservatives just outside of Washington DC.

One of the most talked-about potential candidates is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a rising star in the Republican Party. Walker, speaking before a packed house at CPAC on Thursday evening, talked about jobs, labor unions and the rise of the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

“I want a commander-in-chief who will do everything in their power to ensure that the threat from radical Islamic terrorists do not wash up on American soil,” Walker said.

Walker’s followers said he’s already been tried and tested and properly vetted on a national stage.

Journalist David Catanese has been covering the run-up to the presidential race in 2016 since the 2012 campaign ended. Catanese rates Walker’s chances as solid, in large part because of surviving a recall election in Wisconsin.

“It got conservatives from all around the country to rally to his cause,” Catanese said. “Now he can go back to those conservatives and I say I beat the Democratic unions in a tough blue state and won not once, not twice, but three times,” he added.

That election also earned him a national donor base and name recognition.

And this week’s Quinnipiac University Poll on Iowa has Walker leading everyone by double digits, with 25%. The next candidate is Rand Paul with 13%, followed by Dr. Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee with 11%.

One concern for some may be that Walker never finished college, though it may be a sensitive topic to bring up for his critics, especially in the political realm.

“They don’t want to be on the debate stage and say ‘this guy doesn’t have a college degree and I went to Harvard and Yale.’ That doesn’t sell politically; that makes you look elitist,” Catanese said, adding Walker’s greatest challenges will be not to mess up and keep the momentum, even as expectations continue to rise.

As far as the general election, a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Walker trailed far behind possible Democratic Candidate Hillary Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid “rapid growth” in the collection of data on Americans, the White House on Friday proposed legislation that calls on businesses to do more to help consumers protect their personal information.

The draft bill, first obtained by The Associated Press, gives a nod to consumers fed up with how much of their private lives wind up in the hands of marketers. But the proposal frustrated many privacy advocates, including Democrats on Capitol Hill, who say the bill won’t change much for consumers. They cite several loopholes that would give companies a way to opt out without consequence.

The bill would allow industries to develop their own privacy standards, for example, and startups would be shielded from any punishment during the first 18 months they are in business. The bill also would pre-empt most state privacy laws, which in some cases are much tougher.

“We need to put in place a system of rules that puts consumers in control of their information, not corporate interests and data reapers,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., adding that he planned to push his own legislation next week.

Consumers might also be skeptical about how much the White House values Americans’ privacy: President Barack Obama outlined similar goals in 2012 in his “consumer privacy bill of rights.” A year later, National Security Agency analyst Edward Snowden revealed that the government had collected the phone records and digital communications of millions of citizens not suspected of a crime.

“There is rapid growth in the volume and variety of personal data being generated, collected, stored and analyzed,” the draft bill states. “This growth has the potential for great benefits to human knowledge, technological innovation and economic growth, but also the potential to harm individual privacy and freedom. Laws must keep pace as technology and businesses practices evolve.”

Tech-savvy marketers have long been tracking people’s movements online as well as their location, pairing that information with such offline data as race, gender, salary, where they live and even how much they paid for their house. The result is a thriving industry of data brokers that make money from selling detailed — and somewhat creepy — profiles of every consumer.

According to a draft, the bill identifies seven principles for safeguarding personal data, including giving Americans the right to access information that companies collect. It says businesses should act in the spirit of transparency and take steps to protect that data from being leaked or misused.

The bill also encourages industries to draft “privacy codes of conduct.” The Federal Trade Commission could take action against a company if it violates its own code. But the regulatory agency, known for suing businesses for unfair and deceptive business practices, wouldn’t be given any rulemaking authority as many privacy advocates want.

“It’s a big victory for the tech industry because it really sidelines the FTC and removes it as an effective force,” said Jeffrey Chester, head of the Center for Digital Democracy.

Some industry officials said they worried the legislation would be a burden to innovative businesses.

The Internet Association, which represents such companies as Google, Facebook and Twitter, said in a statement that the White House proposal “casts a needlessly imprecise net” and could “inadvertently mark a shift from ‘permissionless’ to ‘permission slip’ innovation.”

The White House declined to comment on the pushback from critics. But a fact sheet said the bill was “offered in the spirit of bringing all stakeholders into a public dialogue to advance new privacy protections.”

Under the bill, any company that collects personal data would have to give consumers “reasonable access” to that information or provide an “accurate representation” of the data. Consumers also would be given the opportunity to ask to correct or delete their information. But the company could get out of those requirements under certain circumstances. For example, individuals can be denied access to their data if the request is found to be “frivolous or vexatious.”

Neenah center Matt Heldt talks about Thursday’s win over Kaukauna in Fox Valley Association boys basketball action.

Neenah visited Kaukauna in a Fox Valley Association boys basketball game Thursday.

TOWN OF LEBANON – A wildlife rehabilitator has captured a great horned owl on camera.

Ms. Harvey is an 18-year-old owl, currently nesting three eggs high up in a tree at the Feather Wildlife Center near New London. Pat Fisher keeps track of the bird’s progress with a live-action camera from above.

Watch a live feed of the camera:

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The bird laid the eggs a couple weeks ago. The young are expected to hatch in about a month.

FOX 11’s Eric Peterson will have more on the story on FOX 11 News at Five and Nine.

GREEN BAY – A suspect has been arrested for the 2012 murder of Thomas Wick, law enforcement officials say.

Matthew Moore is scheduled to appear in Brown County court Friday afternoon, but has not been formally charged.

Wick was found in the basement of his 240 Hidden Creek Trail home in Howard on Feb. 27, 2012. Brown County Sheriff’s deputies say he was shot.

Investigators say a friend arrived that morning to help Wick remodel his basement and that’s when he found Wick lying on the floor dead. Police believe Wick had been lying there for several hours.

Authorities say the last known time Wick communicated with anyone before his death was a text message sent a couple days before his body was discovered.

Wick owned Bayside Electric, a residential and commercial electrical company.

FOX 11’s Laura Smith is in court and will have the latest on FOX 11 News at Five.

OSHKOSH – Police are looking for a man they think has been fraudulently cashing checks.

Oshkosh police are looking for Tyler B. Yonke, 29, of Hortonville. he is described as 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds, with blond hair and brown eyes. Officers say checks have been cashed throughout the Fox Valley. He also has outstanding warrants for his arrest in Winnebago County.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Brett Robertson at (920) 236-5723. Anonymous tips can be left with Winnebago County Wide Crime Stoppers by phone at (920) 231-8477, by text message with the keyword IGOTYA to 274637 or online.