Green Bay News

TOWN OF SEVASTOPOL – It’s frigid outside, but the bitter cold does create beautiful scenes.

FOX 11’s Pauleen Le spent the morning at Cave Point County Park in Door County on Feb. 27. She was exploring the ice formations along the shore of Lake Michigan.

Watch the video above to see the tranquil beauty of a winter’s morning at the park.

• Click here to see photos from Cave Point
• Click here to watch more videos

MADISON (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker’s spokeswoman says the University of Wisconsin System requested that it no longer have to report allegations of sexual assaults to the state since it was already required to do so under federal law.

Walker’s budget deletes a required annual state report from every UW campus about allegations of sexual assaults.

Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said Friday that UW requested the deletion as part of the de-coupling of the university from state laws and oversight.

UW System spokesman Alex Hummel says the change would allow the university to focus on the federal report. He says the requirements being proposed for removal were largely duplicative of what’s reported under federal law, which Hummel says UW is “deeply committed to.”

WAUKESHA (AP) – An attorney for one of the two girls accused of repeatedly stabbing a classmate and leaving her for dead in a wooded park in southeastern Wisconsin argues the charges against her should be dismissed because the girls were coerced by a fictional Slender Man character that they perceived was real.

In a Waukesha County Circuit Court filing, defense attorney Joseph Smith Jr. asks the judge to dismiss a charge of attempted first-degree intentional homicide because his client believed Slender Man would kill her family. He asks the judge to dismiss the case and notes the state could proceed with charges in juvenile court.

All the girls were 12 at the time of the attack last May. The victim survived 19 stab wounds.

MADISON (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to give the University of Wisconsin System more autonomy from state laws would free it from requiring UW employees to report allegations of sexual assaults.

That requirement is one of more than two dozen state laws UW would no longer have to follow under Walker’s proposal that would turn the university into a public authority model.

All the changes are spelled out in a nonpartisan analysis of Walker’s budget released Thursday by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Under that switch, the UW Board of Regents would be given the power to set its own policies on such things as sexual assault reporting, tenure protections and tuition.

Some lawmakers have voiced concerns with giving the university the freedom to set tuition and other policies with no legislative oversight.

FOX 11’s Pauleen Le spent the morning exploring the frozen beauty of Cave Point County Park in Door County, Feb. 27, 2015.

The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame and the team announced additional opportunities for fans to join in Brett Favre’s induction ceremony – including seating in the stadium bowl.

Favre will be inducted into the team’s hall of fame and have his number retired on July 18.

“We are pleased to be able to offer new options for fans to share in the excitement of the evening,” said Hall of Fame Inc. President Perry Kidder. “We’ve worked closely with the Green Bay Packers and the Journal Broadcast Group to make this happen.”

A ticketed viewing opportunity will be held inside the seating bowl for fans who would like to be at Lambeau Field to watch the ceremony live on the TundraVision video boards. During the evening, Favre also will make an appearance in the bowl to address the crowd. Tickets will be $4 each, with net proceeds going to Favre 4 Hope.

“This viewing opportunity from the stadium will be a unique complement to a special evening and allow more people to share their excitement with Brett,” explained Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy. Tickets will be $4 each, with net proceeds going to Favre 4 Hope.

Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. May 12, 2015 and be available through Ticketmaster in person, over the phone or via the Internet. A limit of eight per order will be established. Parking, also priced at $4, will be available in Lambeau Field’s west-side parking lot.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Leonard Nimoy, the actor known and loved by generations of “Star Trek” fans as the pointy-eared, purely logical science officer Mr. Spock, has died.

Nimoy died Friday of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his Los Angeles home, said his son, Adam Nimoy. He was 83.

Although Nimoy followed his 1966-69 “Star Trek” run with a notable career as both an actor and director, in the public’s mind he would always be Spock. His half-human, half-Vulcan character was the calm counterpoint to William Shatner’s often-emotional Captain Kirk on one of TV and film’s most revered cult series.

“He affected the lives of many,” Adam Nimoy said. “He was also a great guy and my best friend.”

Asked if his father chafed at his fans’ close identification of him with his character, Adam Nimoy said, “Not in the least. He loved Spock.”

However, Leonard Nimoy displayed ambivalence to the role in the titles of his two autobiographies, “I Am Not Spock” (1975) and “I Am Spock” (1995).

After “Star Trek” ended, the actor immediately joined the hit adventure series “Mission Impossible” as Paris, the mission team’s master of disguises.

From 1976 to 1982, he hosted the syndicated TV series “In Search of … ,” which attempted to probe such mysteries as the legend of the Loch Ness Monster and the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart.

He played Israeli leader Golda Meir’s husband opposite Ingrid Bergman in the TV drama “A Woman Called Golda” and Vincent van Gogh in “Vincent,” a one-man stage show on the life of the troubled painter. He continued to work well into his 70s, playing gazillionaire genius William Bell in the Fox series “Fringe.”

He also directed several films, including the hit comedy “Three Men and a Baby” and appeared in such plays as “A Streetcar Named Desire,” ”Cat on a Hot Tim Roof,” ”Fiddler on the Roof,” ”The King and I,” ”My Fair Lady” and “Equus.” He also published books of poems, children’s stories and his own photographs.

But he could never really escape the role that took him overnight from bit-part actor status to TV star, and in a 1995 interview he sought to analyze the popularity of Spock, the green-blooded space traveler who aspired to live a life based on pure logic.

People identified with Spock because they “recognize in themselves this wish that they could be logical and avoid the pain of anger and confrontation,” Nimoy concluded.

“How many times have we come away from an argument wishing we had said and done something different?” he asked.

In the years immediately after “Star Trek” left television, Nimoy tried to shun the role, but he eventually came to embrace it, lampooning himself on such TV shows as “Futurama,” ”Duckman” and “The Simpsons” and in commercials.

He became Spock after “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry was impressed by his work in guest appearances on the TV shows “The Lieutenant” and “Dr. Kildare.”

The space adventure set in the 23rd century had an unimpressive debut on NBC on Sept. 8, 1966, and it struggled during its three seasons to find an audience other than teenage boys. It seemed headed for oblivion after it was canceled in 1969, but its dedicated legion of fans, who called themselves Trekkies, kept its memory alive with conventions and fan clubs and constant demands that the cast be reassembled for a movie or another TV show.

Trekkies were particularly fond of Spock, often greeting one another with the Vulcan salute and the Vulcan motto, “Live Long and Prosper,” both of which Nimoy was credited with bringing to the character. He pointed out, however, that the hand gesture was actually derived from one used by rabbis during Hebraic benedictions.

When the cast finally was reassembled for “Star Trek – The Motion Picture,” in 1979, the film was a huge hit and five sequels followed. Nimoy appeared in all of them and directed two. He also guest starred as an older version of himself in some of the episodes of the show’s spinoff TV series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

“Of course the role changed my career- or rather, gave me one,” he once said. “It made me wealthy by most standards and opened up vast opportunities. It also affected me personally, socially, psychologically, emotionally. … What started out as a welcome job to a hungry actor has become a constant and ongoing influence in my thinking and lifestyle.”

In 2009, he was back in a new big-screen version of “Star Trek,” this time playing an older Spock who meets his younger self, played by Zachary Quinto. Critic Roger Ebert called the older Spock “the most human character in the film.”

Among those seeing the film was President Barack Obama, whose even manner was often likened to Spock’s.

“Everybody was saying I was Spock, so I figured I should check it out,” Obama said at the time.

Upon the movie’s debut, Nimoy told The Associated Press that in his late 70s he was probably closer than ever to being as comfortable with himself as the logical Spock always appeared to be.

“I know where I’m going, and I know where I’ve been,” he said. He reprised the role in the 2013 sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness.”

Born in Boston to Jewish immigrants from Russia, Nimoy was raised in an Italian section of the city where, although he counted many Italian-Americans as his friends, he said he also felt the sting of anti-Semitism growing up.

At age 17 he was cast in a local production of Clifford Odets’ “Awake and Sing” as the son in a Jewish family.

“This role, the young man surrounded by a hostile and repressive environment, so touched a responsive chord that I decided to make a career of acting,” he said later.

He won a drama scholarship to Boston College but eventually dropped out, moved to California and took acting lessons at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Soon he had lost his “Boston dead-end” accent, hired an agent and began getting small roles in TV series and movies. He played a baseball player in “Rhubarb” and an Indian in “Old Overland Trail.”

After service in the Army, he returned to Hollywood, working as taxi driver, vacuum cleaner salesman, movie theater usher and other jobs while looking for acting roles.

In 1954 he married Sandra Zober, a fellow student at the Pasadena Playhouse, and they had two children, Julie and Adam. The couple divorced, and in 1988 he married Susan Bay, a film production executive.

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This story contains biographical material compiled by late AP Entertainment Writer Bob Thomas.

ATLANTA (AP) — Police say Travis Kvapil’s NASCAR Sprint Cup car has been stolen ahead of a race this weekend near Atlanta.

Police say a trailer with the racecar inside was hitched to a pickup truck parked outside a Morrow hotel, about 15 miles south of Atlanta.

Morrow police Detective Sgt. Larry Oglesby says surveillance video shows the truck and trailer being driven out of the parking lot around 5:30 a.m. Friday.

The car was inside the plain white trailer. Oglesby says the person who stole it likely didn’t realize the car was inside. He says thieves often assume it’s lawn equipment or something else they can easily sell.

Oglesby says he hopes the trailer will be abandoned once the thief realizes what’s inside.

APPLETON – As debate continues over whether an exhibition center should be built in downtown Appleton, city leaders are trying to answer some of the public’s questions.

The document, posted on the city’s website, includes questions posed before and during a public meeting Monday. It covers questions regarding the ownership of the center, the city’s proposal to buy land from Outagamie County, the status of the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel, the management structure and more.

• Click here to read the document

Last month, Appleton’s full Common Council voted not to buy a county-owned parking lot behind the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel, where the exhibition center would be built. That vote appeared to end plans for the center, but two weeks later, the council voted to take another look at the issue before another vote might happen.

In the meantime, an environmental review of the site showed no concerns that would impact construction.

OSHKOSH – Police say burglaries from homes are continuing in Oshkosh.

The most recent one was discovered Thursday in the 600 block of W. Linwood Ave. Someone broke a window to the patio door, then got in through the patio door and stole electronics.

Police say the burglaries are happening in the early evening. The burglar or burglars are walking through backyards and breaking in through patio doors in areas where there is limited lighting.

Although police say are not releasing what exactly is being stolen, they say the items are “limited” and would be noticed being carried out from a home.

Anyone with information is asked to call Oshkosh police at (920) 236-5700, or, if witnessing a burglary in progress, call 911. 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.

Police also recommend homeowners secure entryways and leave a light on, if possible. Make it appear as though someone is home by leaving lights on, putting lights on timers, or leaving a TV or radio on.

We’ve got a little music for you in this Flashback Friday segment.

Zach Wells brings us the story of a young phenom on the oboe, from Peshtigo High School from February 27, 2005.

GREEN BAY- The Syndicate Project Band is getting ready for a fundraiser.

It’s called Guitars for Vets.

The Syndicate Project will be the band of the night and lead singer Ryan Moreno is a veteran.

It’s happening at the Brick Lot Pub and Grill in Sturgeon Bay on Friday, March 6.

Click on the video to listen to their Good Day Wisconsin performances.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri State Highway Patrol says seven people have been killed in overnight shootings in southeastern Missouri and that the gunman is also dead.

Sergeant Jeff Kinder says the 36-year-old suspect was found dead in Shannon County early Friday from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Investigators say the attacks took place in multiple locations in and around the town of Tyrone, in Texas County, about 40 miles north of the Arkansas border.

Authorities have not named the victims or the gunman. The victims were found at four different homes.

One injured person was taken to a hospital.

An investigation is ongoing. A motive for the killings and possible connections between the shooter and victims were not immediately clear.

A new show premieres on FOX 11 Sunday, March. 1.

It’s called The Last Man On Earth.

Here’s a synopsis- An ordinary man discovers he is the last man on Earth after traveling and finding no survivors, so he tries to adjust to life with no one else around.

Click on the video to see why Twinkies are part of the plot.

A photo of a dress is sparking a fierce debate online. The debate is all about the color.

Take a look at the video above. What color do you think it is?

Some people swear it’s white and gold when they look at it. Others look at the same picture, and see it as blue and black.

It might just be your eyes playing tricks on you. The woman who initially posted the picture says the dress is actually blue and black.

• Click here to see the original post

FOND DU LAC – A man who allegedly fired at an officer and set fire to a home has been convicted.

Shannon Rogler pleaded guilty Thursday to burglary, arson, failing to comply with an officer, and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, according to online court records.

A count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide was dropped. No sentencing date was set.

Rogler was arrested in December 2013 following a five-hour standoff that followed a suspicious house fire nearby. According to the criminal complaint, Rogler previously owned the foreclosed, vacant home that burned. Police say during the standoff, Rogler fired at an officer but missed. The complaint states Rogler told investigators he could have killed the officer if he wanted to but didn’t, because the officer was probably a father.

DE PERE- We’re checking out Waseda Farms in De Pere.

Waseda Farms just received the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Greater Green Bay Chamber.

Here are a couple recipes Waseda Farms shared.

Tomato Fennel Bisque

Yields 2.5 quarts

Ingredients:

2 14 oz. cans fire roasted tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock (homemade preferred)
2 cups cream
½ cup sherry wine
1 large bulb of fennel sliced
1 medium onion sliced
2 carrots peeled and cut into coins
2 large stalks of celery chopped
6 cloves of garlic minced
¼ cup of butter
½ tsp fennel seed
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp red pepper flake
Salt to taste
Fennel fronds for garnish

Directions:

Melt butter in a 6 quart or larger pot add vegetables, fennel seed, red pepper flake and a pinch of salt. Sweat vegetables over medium heat until translucent and soft. De-glaze pot with sherry wine bring to a boil. Once boiling carefully add tomatoes, vegetable stock, and cream simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes then add paprika. Puree contents of pot in a blender working in batches tasting and seasoning with salt until soup is smooth. Portion into bowls, garnish with fennel fronds, enjoy!

KOHLER, Wis. (AP) – A new study pegs the economic impact of proposed Kohler Co. golf course along Lake Michigan at more than $20 million annually.

The company has asked the Town of Wilson in Sheboygan County for a conditional use permit to build a championship 18-hole course on about 250 acres of forestland.

The study by Kohler says the golf course will create 227 full-time jobs, aside from temporary construction positions. Sheboygan Press Media says Kohler will make an initial investment of $25 million to build the course.

An environmental report from the state Department of Natural Resources is expected next month. The organization, Friends of the Black River Forest, has opposed the project

DOOR COUNTY – Mother nature has created some spectacular ice formations in Door County to check out this winter.

FOX 11’s Pauleen Le spent the morning checking out the beautiful sights at Cave Point County Park in Sturgeon Bay and Peninsula State Park in Fish Creek.

For more information on the parks, click here.

LONDON (AP) – Former pop star Gary Glitter has received a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted of sexually abusing three young girls in the 1970s.

The 70-year-old singer, whose real name is Paul Gadd, showed no response as he was sentenced Friday.

He had been found guilty earlier this month of one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13.

The singer was arrested in October 2012 under Operation Yewtree, the national investigation British police launched in the wake of a child abuse scandal surrounding the late BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile.

Glitter is best known for the hit “Rock & Roll (Part 2),” but he fell into disgrace after being convicted on child abuse charges in Vietnam.