Green Bay News

An ancient ritual is getting a modern twist on social media this Ash Wednesday.

Christians who received ashes are sharing “ashtags,” photos of the ashes on their foreheads. The term “ashtag” is a play on “hashtag,” a method of participating in social media discussions by tagging a word or phrase with the # sign.

A search of the term #ashtag returns a feed of photos on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

• Click here to see the #ashtag feed on Twitter
• Click here to see the #ashtag feed on Facebook

Bishop David Ricken of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay got into the act, sharing this photo on his Twitter account.

I got my ashes. How about you? Share yours on #Twitter too. #Lent2015 #Ashtag pic.twitter.com/TFqzLORv2l

— Bishop David Ricken (@BpDavidRicken) February 18, 2015

Observed by many Christian denominations, Ash Wednesday is the traditional beginning of Lent. The ashes placed on followers’ foreheads symbolize mortality.

GOSHEN TOWNSHIP, OH (WCPO-TV) – A dog who suffered serious injuries trying to save her owner from a house fire has a new place to call home.

The dog, Carmen, covered her owner’s body in the Ohio house fire two weeks ago.

Unfortunately, the man died, and Carmen suffered severe lung damage.

But after days of extensive treatment, Carmen was released from vet care Monday. She is now staying with her former owner’s brother, Philip Ledford.

“It’ll be tough in that sense seeing Carmen every day because she will remind me of Ben, because it will be like having a piece of him around. I know he’d be happy to see her, healthy and happy,” Ledford said.

The family says Carmen’s recovery was nothing short of amazing.

 

ASHWAUBENON – The Green Bay Packers organization continues to purchase land on the west side of Lambeau Field. But the team has not announced any specific plans for the area yet.

The organization’s latest purchase is the property where the Road Star Inn is located at 1941 True Lane. The Packers paid more than twice the assessed value for the property, according to the Brown County Register of Deeds Office.

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 February 16.

With this purchase, the Packers now own 24 properties west of the stadium including all of the properties in the area from Ridge Road to Marlee Lane and from Lombardi Avenue to Brookwood Drive.

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

• Click here for a map of the Packers’ properties.

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 62 properties.

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama is missing out on part of his oldest daughter’s life: her college campus tours as she tries to figure out where to study in two years.

He was absent when 16-year-old Malia toured Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley last summer. Her mother, Michelle Obama, accompanied the high school junior on recent visits to New York University, Barnard College and her father’s alma mater, Columbia University.

One possible explanation for Obama’s absence is that presidents attract attention wherever they go and their presence could detract from the visit.

Practically everywhere they go, presidents are accompanied by helpers and advisers, Secret Service agents, drivers, doctors, reporters and others who travel in his protective security bubble.

“It’s hard to tour college campuses with that moving office in tow,” said Lisa Caputo, former press secretary and deputy assistant to President Bill Clinton. “It brings a lot of attention, which is really not the point of the visits.”

It’s easier for presidential children to take these trips with their mother or other family member, she said.

Obama checked out Stanford’s picturesque, palm-tree lined campus in Palo Alto, California, last week when he addressed a cybersecurity summit there.

“I’ve got to admit, like, I kind of want to go here,” Obama said of Stanford. “I was trying to figure out why it is that a really nice place like this is wasted on young people who don’t fully appreciate what you got. It’s really nice. And everybody here is so friendly and smart, and it’s beautiful. And what’s there not to like?”

Obama said his administration is “infiltrated” with Stanford people, including National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, and said he’s always heard about everyone riding bikes around campus and hopping into the school’s many fountains.

“Let’s face it, I like Stanford grads,” he said, adding that Stanford “is the place that made ‘nerd’ cool.”

Bill Clinton, the most recent president to send a child straight from the White House to college, did not tour any campuses with daughter Chelsea. She did that with her mother, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Chelsea’s parents accompanied her to Stanford in the fall of 1997 to begin her freshman year, and were there again to wave and blow kisses when she graduated in 2001.

Whichever college Malia decides to attend in the fall of 2016, Obama most likely will show up for her big first day as a college freshman. Malia is a junior at the exclusive Sidwell Friends School in Washington, where Chelsea also was a student.

Obama is an involved father who has been open about the pain of growing up without his dad and his desire to be a presence in his kids’ lives. Despite his presidential duties, Obama still attends parent-teacher conferences and other kid functions.

The rise of modern technology also means Obama doesn’t necessarily have to accompany Malia on college campus tours.

Obama can use his iPad to take a virtual tour of any school she visits, an option that wasn’t available in Bill Clinton’s day. Malia could use her iPhone to ring her father in the Oval Office with her impressions or send a note to his BlackBerry if he’s too busy to talk. They can also catch up over family dinner.

Obama quips that his children are less interested in spending time with him now that they’re older, another reason for him to skip her tours.

“Most kids, I don’t care who they are, really don’t want their parents trailing around,” said Anita McBride, who was first lady Laura Bush’s White House chief of staff. McBride is also going through the college search process with her 17-year-old son. “They want this to be their experience,” she said.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The two candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court have agreed to three joint appearances in the weeks leading up to the April 7 election.

Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is being challenged by Rock County Circuit Judge James Daley for a 10-year term on the court.

Daley’s spokesman Brit Schiel said Wednesday that the candidates had agreed to three joint appearances in the coming weeks.

The first is March 19 at a meeting of the Milwaukee Bar Association. The second is March 24 before the Dane County Bar Association and the third is March 25 at the Dane County Rotary in Madison.

The rotary event is advertised as a forum. Messages left with the two other organizations to get additional details about their events were not immediately returned.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis walked in a solemn Ash Wednesday procession between churches on Rome’s ancient Aventine Hill, calling on people to humbly remember their human limits as faithful began their annual penitential Lenten period.

Francis, carrying his pastoral staff, chanted prayers along with other participants during the few minutes’ walk down the street. He wore a purple cloak, in keeping with the somber Lenten mood as Catholics spiritually prepare for Easter, which falls on April 5 this year.

The pope lowered his head so a prelate could dab ashes on his head during the ceremony inside St. Sabina’s Basilica, a church which dates to the early 5th century. The ashes symbolize mortality.

Then Francis, along with other churchmen, sprinkled ashes on the foreheads of other faithful, motioning the sign of the cross with their fingers as they did so.

The ritual of the ashes was a “reminder of the truth of human existence,” Francis said in his homily. “We are limited creatures, sinners always in need of penitence and conversion.”

Almsgiving, prayer and fasting are traditional ways to mark Lent. Francis encouraged church hierarchy, starting with himself, to be humble enough to cry, so that their prayer will be “ever more authentic and without hypocrisy.”

Holy Week ceremonies, beginning with Palm Sunday on March 29, are expected to draw huge crowds of tourists and pilgrims to Rome and the Vatican. They include the Good Friday evening Way of the Cross torch-lit procession at the Colosseum.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – UPS deprived New York of millions of dollars in revenue by shipping nearly 700,000 cartons of untaxed cigarettes from Indian reservations to smokers statewide despite an earlier agreement to stop, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and New York City Corporation Counsel Zachary Carter are seeking $180 million from Atlanta-based UPS, saying the cheap cigarettes increased smoking by New Yorkers while also costing $29.7 million in lost excise tax revenue from the state and $4.7 million from the city.

UPS denied it knowingly shipped cigarettes, saying it agreed in 2005 to stop delivering cigarettes to consumers nationwide in a policy that exceeded requirements of federal and state law.

The civil suit filed in Manhattan claims UPS shipped unstamped cigarettes to and from “numerous” contraband cigarette enterprises on Indian reservations in New York from 2010 to 2014, naming eight smoke shops or distributors. It seeks an injunction to halt the shipping along with damages and penalties for contraband cigarette trafficking and additional damages for enterprise corruption.

“UPS has deliberately turned a blind eye to the fact that millions of dollars’ worth of untaxed cigarettes are shipped each year through its facilities,” Carter said. Authorities said the lawsuit was based on documents subpoenaed from the company.

Schneiderman said in order to limit smoking, “the No. 1 preventable public health crisis today,” officials have to stop the flow of illegal low-cost cigarettes. The suit cites federal reports showing smoking kills more than 400,000 people in the U.S. annually and that a 10 percent price increase cuts adult smoking by 3 to 5 percent and youth smoking by 6 or 7 percent.

The state excise tax on cigarettes rose in 2010 from $2.75 to $4.35 for a pack containing 20. The city tax is $1.50 per pack. That’s $58.50 altogether for a 10-pack carton.

“Since 2005, UPS has continued to work with regulators on this issue. In fact, UPS agreed to stop delivering cigarettes to consumers nationwide at that time,” company spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg said. “UPS tobacco policy strictly prohibits the shipment of cigarettes to consumers and unlicensed dealers or distributors, and we terminate service under that contract program if that policy is violated.”

The 2005 UPS agreement with New York’s attorney general, following an investigation of residential deliveries, required the company to take steps to ensure its drivers and other employees look for indications a package might contain cigarettes, keep a database of cigarette shippers and end relationships with those that tried to unlawfully use UPS to ship them.

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 20 years after his death, there is still plenty of news about Dr. Seuss.

Random House Children’s Books said Wednesday it will publish a recently discovered manuscript with illustrations called “What Pet Should I Get” on July 28. The publisher plans at least two more books, based on materials found in 2013 in the author’s home in La Jolla, California, by his widow and secretary.

The author whose real name was Theodor Geisel died in 1991.

Random House associate publishing director Cathy Goldsmith says “What Pet Should I Get?” was likely written between 1958 and 1962. The book features the same brother and sister seen in Dr. Seuss’ 1960 classic “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.”

 

GREEN BAY – A NASA astronaut who ran the Boston Marathon while orbiting earth made a stop at a Green Bay school today.

Sunita Williams visited McAuliffe Elementary School where she met with fourth and fifth graders to talk about space exploration.

Williams has commanded the International Space Station and logged almost a year in space over the course of two missions.

In 2007, Williams combined her passion for space exploration with her passion for athletics, running the Boston Marathon in space on a custom treadmill.

Now in charge of the spacecraft designed to transport people to the International Space Station, Williams is sharing her out-of-this-world knowledge and experience.

“This is the time that kids really start to get interested in science and math and so hopefully just talking about space with them and giving them an example of what space is like and what we’re doing will really encourage them to study science and math,” said Williams.

Williams is in Green Bay this week for Bellin Run kickoff events.

She says she is showing her support for the Bellin 10K because it is part of Nasa’s mission to promote health and fitness as a way of life.

Williams adds she will likely return to Green Bay to run the Bellin in June.

INDIANAPOLIS — With Matt Flynn and Scott Tolzien free agents to be, the Packers could select a new quarterback in the NFL Draft. One option could be a guy who some call “Favre” … not Brett himself, but East Carolina’s quarterback. Former Pirate Shane Carden looks a bit like the “gunslinger” and claims the Packers signal caller was his favorite quarterback when he was little. When he was a college freshman, he’s teammates called him “Favre,” but by the time he was an All-Conference USA performer as a senior, his nickname became “Captain.”

What do you like most about Favre?
I watched him growing up, just the things he was able to do outside the pocket. I’ve been told sometimes the plays I make are similar to him. I just loved the passion he always had for the game, the plays he made.

Would you make sure to tell the Packers about affinity for Favre?
Might have to, I’ll have to see how that goes. I haven’t met with them yet.

Why play football and not baseball? [Carden’s father played minor league baseball and he excelled at the sport]
I’m not sure, just something about playing football was different for me than any other sport. No other sport I was playing could give me that thrill.

ALLOUEZ – The village president of Allouez is stepping down.

Village leaders say Steve Vanden Avond is taking a job in another state.

The village board plans to discuss ways to fill the vacancy at a future meeting.

LA CROSSE (AP) – La Crosse County authorities have charged a man and his girlfriend in the death of the man’s 3-year-old daughter, who they say was abused and malnourished.

The La Crosse Tribune reports 30-year-old Dylan Bartsh and 24-year-old Jaymie Rundle were charged Tuesday with child neglect resulting in death and physical abuse of a child.

Bartsh’s daughter died Oct. 31 at a hospital three days after having a seizure, according to authorities. Court records say doctors found bruises, scratches and scarring on her face and body.

The girl’s death was ruled a homicide by a medical examiner, who also said high levels of table salt contributed. Injuries were found on her mouth, cheeks and jaw, and the examiner did not rule out the possibility that she was force-fed salt.

The autopsy also found the girl had a black eye, fingernail and bite marks, and injuries from an object similar to a wire hanger, and that she was chronically malnourished and dehydrated.

According to court records, Bartsh called his daughter’s life a “challenge” and told investigators that she stopped eating two weeks before she died. He and Rundle took custody of his daughter in May 2013.

Court records say defense attorneys have not been assigned to Bartsh and Rundle. Bartsh was awaiting extradition from Minnesota on Tuesday.

SUN PRAIRIE (AP) – It’s been a rough month for the mayor of a southern Wisconsin city.

A frisky groundhog bit the ear of Sun Prairie Mayor Jonathan Freund at a Groundhog Day ceremony earlier this month. Video of Jimmy the groundhog chomping on the mayor’s ear got tens of thousands of clicks on YouTube.

But the incumbent mayor didn’t get the sympathy votes he needed in Tuesday’s primary election, finishing third in a field of three and knocking him out of the Sun Prairie mayor’s race. Freund was appointed mayor in May 2014 after the previous mayor stepped down.

Sun Prairie is a suburb of Madison.

MADISON (AP) – The state Senate Health Committee has voted to approve Gov. Scott Walker’s appointment of the treasurer of his new political committee to the board overseeing the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.

The committee voted 3-2 on Wednesday to approve the appointment of Andrew Hitt to the University of Wisconsin and Clinics Authority Board.

Hitt previously worked for Walker’s administration before taking a job in the private sector January working for a senior living services company. He also volunteers as treasurer for Our American Revival, a committee Walker created last month as he explores a presidential run.

Hitt says his role with the Walker committee is extremely limited and mainly “administrative paperwork.”

The vote to approve his appointment was on party lines, with all Republicans in support and Democrats against.

INDIANAPOLIS — One of the players the Packers chose to meet with during the NFL Scouting Combine so far brings a versatility they prize on the offensive line. Arizona State tackle/guard Jamil Douglas says he enjoyed meeting with the Packers, and possesses a key quality the team prizes among linemen.

Did you meet with the Packers yet?
“Yes. They picked my brain. Put me on a pen and piece of paper, wanted me to draw out my favorite run play, pass play. It went good overall.”

What do you think of the Packers as a franchise being so far from where you’re from?
“Of course it’s far from Arizona, but great tradition with that team. They’re always in the winning races every year. Lot of respect for that team.”

On playing both guard and tackle
“A lot of teams I’ve talked to, they say they only travel 7 linemen. If you’re able to be versatile and play those different positions you can be one of those guys they travel.”

Where do you project in the NFL?
“A lot of teams say they see me as both, whether it’s guard or right tackle. I think I can play both positions and I provide that versatility for any team.”

GREEN BAY – An Open Records request to the Green Bay Area Public School District has been narrowed to only asking for student mailing addresses, according to a statement released by the district and School Choice Wisconsin.

The original request by School Choice Wisconsin had asked for “directory data” from Green Bay schools – which the Green Bay district defines as including a wide range of information. (Other school districts have narrow definitions of the term.) The district and some parents were upset with potential release of such information.

But the new request no longer seeks students’ names, phone numbers, grade levels or school of attendance. And, the district will inform parents how they can opt out of providing their students’ mailing addresses to School Choice Wisconsin, without impacting other educational uses of student directory data (e.g., yearbook, honor roll, etc.).

“The District joined by the Board of Education recognized that the unusual breadth and scope of the original request could be concerning to families and decided it was appropriate to communicate with them that the District was legally obligated to provide the requested information,” stated Superintendent of Schools and Learning Dr. Michelle Langenfeld. “We believe the modifications that were made should address our families’ concerns.”

This is a copy of a postcard School Choice Wisconsin has sent to parents. (Photo provided by Green Bay Area Public School District)

“As part of an ongoing mail program, we requested data to augment our mailing list,” stated School Choice Wisconsin President Jim Bender. “Because the initial coverage of this request left many parents with questions, we worked with the district to both clarify our use of the data and help resolve parental concerns. It was never our intention to use the data in any way that would cause privacy concerns. This revised request, we believe, meets the needs of the district, parents and School Choice Wisconsin.”

In addition, GBAPS and School Choice Wisconsin will ensure a safe transfer of data, which School Choice Wisconsin clarified, will not be sold or distributed to other parties.

School Choice Wisconsin plans a mailing to explain to parents about the various school choice options they have.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has walked in a solemn Ash Wednesday procession between churches on Rome’s ancient Aventine Hill.

Francis, carrying his pastoral staff, chanted prayers along with other participants during the few minutes’ walk down the street. In the mild, late afternoon temperatures, Francis wore a purple cloak, in keeping with the somber Lenten mood, a penitential period for Christians preparing for Easter next month.

The ceremony inside St. Sabina’s Basilica includes a ritual dab of ashes on the heads of faithful. The ashes symbolize mortality. Francis sprinkled incense at the altar of the basilica, which dates to the early 5th century.

MADISON (AP) – Assembly Republicans have introduced a bill that would wipe out requirements that public works contractors be paid the prevailing wage.

Under current Wisconsin statutes, laborers, workers, mechanics and truck drivers who work on state or local public works projects or on highway projects involving the state must be paid wages equivalent to wages paid for similar projects. The statutes are designed to prevent employers from manipulating their workers’ wages enough that they could underbid competitors for government work.

The bill would eliminate the laws but leave intact statutes prohibiting local governments from enacting their own prevailing wage laws or ordinances.

The measure has a host of Republican sponsors in the Assembly. Assembly leaders have referred the bill to the chamber’s labor committee.

MADISON (AP) – Former state Rep. Duey Stroebel credits hard work and a good message for his win in Wisconsin’s 20th Senate District.

Stroebel collected about 67 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s special primary election, easily beating Ozaukee County Board Chairman Lee Schlenvogt and military veteran Tiffany Koehler.

No Democrats are running in the April 7th general election, making it all but certain that Stroebel’s win will increase the Republican majority in the Senate to 19-14.

The Cedarburg real estate developer couldn’t beat Glenn Grothman last year in a run for Congress, but he’ll take Grothman’s seat in the Senate. Stroebel finished third to Grothman in the Republican primary last year for the congressional seat. Stroebel spent nearly $800,000 of his own money on that losing effort. He served in the state Assembly from 2011 through 2014.

In unofficial returns, Schlenvogt trailed with about 24 percent of the vote and Koehler brought in about 8 percent.

“It is a long time coming. We worked really hard. I think we had a good message,” Stroebel told the Journal Sentinel.

“I think everyone ran a good race. It was a nice clean race. We talked about the issues. Conservatives had a clear choice who they could vote for,” he said.

The bedrock Republican Senate district is north of Milwaukee and includes parts of Dodge, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, Ozaukee and Washington counties.

Stroebel will likely be casting votes in coming months on the state budget – which includes such issues as giving the University of Wisconsin System more autonomy while also cutting its funding by $300 million – and a bill to make Wisconsin a right-to-work state.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has said he’s wanted to wait on debating right-to-work until after the April election when the Republican majority will be larger. Stroebel supports making Wisconsin a right-to-work state. Under that law, private-sector employees would no longer be required to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment.

Walker, a longtime supporter of right-to-work who is also taking significant steps toward a presidential run, has urged the Republican-controlled Legislature to wait on debating that issue because he fears it will distract from his agenda.

MADISON (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has expanded his political team to New Hampshire, hiring a senior adviser to lead his efforts there as he moves closer to a likely 2016 presidential run.

Walker’s political operation Our American Revival confirmed Wednesday that Andy Leach has been hired as senior adviser in New Hampshire and Michael Bir will handle day-to-day operations.

Leach is a former two-time New Hampshire Republican Party executive director. Bir was political director of the Michigan Republican Party through 2014 and also led programs for the Republican National Committee in Ohio in 2010 and 2012.

Walker has already hired staff in Iowa as he seriously eyes a run for the White House. He created the tax-exempt Our American Revival last month to raise and spend money.