Green Bay News

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A bill aimed at increasing the speed limit on Wisconsin highways is cruising through the Capitol.

Rep. Paul Tittl, a Manitowoc Republican, says the bill allows the Department of Transportation to increase speed limits to 70 miles per hour in approved areas. The top speed limit in the state is currently 65 miles per hour.

The bill faced little opposition at an Assembly transportation committee hearing Tuesday. DOT representatives say they would likely raise the speed limit on rural freeways and expressways. They would test individual roads to determine which sections could accommodate increased limits.

Rep. John Spiros, a Marshfield Republican, proposed an amendment that would allow the DOT to set a lower speed limit for commercial vehicles.

The committee is expected to vote on the bill next month.

OSHKOSH – With eight adult female sturgeon speared Tuesday on lakes Poygan, Winneconne and Butte des Morts, the spearing season on those lakes will end Wednesday, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says.

A total of 79 adult female sturgeon have been speared on those three lakes since the season opened on Saturday. That number is 90 percent of the harvest cap of 88, which automatically triggers a closure after the next day of spearing. Spearing hours are 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In all, 27 sturgeon were speared on the upriver lakes on Tuesday, bringing the season total to 274.

Spearing continues on Lake Winnebago, where 191 sturgeon were taken on Tuesday. That brings the season total to 1,295. The DNR predicts spearing could end on Lake Winnebago on Friday or Saturday.

The overall total number of fish speared is up to 1,569.

The DNR says three sturgeon weighed in at 100 pounds or more. The largest was Chad Cherney’s fish registered at Payne’s Point in Neenah, which measured 81.3 inches and 137.5 pounds. It was the heaviest fish speared so far this season.

• Click here for daily totals and harvest limits

GREEN BAY –  Want to step back in time? A new exhibit is on display at the Neville Public Museum.

The “Wisconsin History Tour” allows people to experience our state story and local story with plenty of artifacts to see.

Artifacts include maps of De Pere dating all the way back to the 1800’s and historical items from the earlier Polka Days in Pulaski.

Those at the museum say the exhibit is a great way to bridge communities.

Beth Lemke, museum director, says, “Objects and artifacts have ties to one another as individuals and that experience allows us to look at past and present and try to understand each other as people and communities.”

Museum officials say the exhibit is free to the public all this week. The exhibit will be on display through Mar. 15.

NEENAH – A routine traffic stop became a drug bust, with more than 10 pounds of marijuana found, police say.

Around 7:20 p.m. Friday, police say an officer pulled over a vehicle near the intersection of Cecil St. and Marathon Ave. because its registration had expired. While going up to the car, the officer smelled marijuana and called in a second officer for backup.

The officers searched the driver and found pills and a white powder in plastic bags. Investigators say tests showed the powder was cocaine. He also had $500 in cash on him.

Police then searched the vehicle and say they found marijuana in the passenger compartment, plus a suitcase full of bags of marijuana. Police took a total of more than 10 pounds of marijuana. They also found edible marijuana candy, which is illegal in Wisconsin.

The driver, 19-year-old Ryan L. Brosman of the town of Clayton, has been charged with possession with intent to deliver THC and cocaine, and second-offense possession of THC. THC is the active component of marijuana.

TROY, N.H. (AP) – Here’s an upside to all this snow: It was so deep in Troy, New Hampshire, that residents were finally able to capture a black Labrador retriever who’d been on the lam for three years.

The wily female pup, who’s 3 or 4 years old, had been spotted regularly, but nobody could get close enough for a grab. That changed on Sunday night when Courtney Davis and his girlfriend, Tiffany Bennett, spotted her running from an abandoned trailer. Hampered by deep, fluffy snow after a series of heavy storms, the dog couldn’t get away again.

Carl Patten Jr., who’s been keeping the pooch in his heated garage since then, said Tuesday that he’s using two collars on her: one a harness and the other around her neck, just to be safe.

“It’s like Houdini, this dog,” Patten said. “That’s what we nicknamed her. She’s calming down quite a bit, but she still wants her freedom.”

Folks in the southwestern New Hampshire town had tried for three years to lure her close or catch her in humane traps. No dice. Residents left food out, and the Lab could be seen traipsing around carrying squirrels that had been road kill. Patten said it took a little adjustment to her new surroundings, but the dog is eating now.

The rescue organization Granite State Dog Recovery is asking for the public’s help in finding the dog’s owner. A tracking microchip was implanted in New Hampshire, but the paperwork was never registered.

The dog has heartworm and Lyme disease and will require some medical treatment. A local veterinarian, Dr. Andrew Cooke, checked her out and gave her a rabies vaccine, Patten said.

GREEN BAY – Bellin Hospital in Green Bay and Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah are partners in working to revolutionize the way we pay for health care.

The Bellin-ThedaCare Partnership began three years ago as part of a pilot program with Medicare patients to lower costs for the government. And it’s working.

“It’s changing the way we view the delivery of health care,” explained Dr. Dave Krueger, executive director and medical director for the Bellin-ThedaCare Healthcare Partners.

The partnership is testing out the Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations program. The program is responsible for coordinating the care of 20,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Northeast Wisconsin.

“I think we’re proving the point that as you increase quality you drop costs,” said Krueger.

The health care partners hire care coordinators to monitor the patients’ health, working to prevent injury to keep them out of the hospital. When health care is improved, costs are lowered, and the partnership receives a portion of the savings if the measured quality of care is also improved.

Measuring the success takes into account 33 different criteria including patient surveys, hospital admissions, and preventative care.

“These patients are on Medicare. The federal government is paying for their health care,” said FOX 11 Investigates reporter Mark Leland. “And the partnership gets a bonus for keeping these patients out of the hospital and doing a good job?”

“Yes, and then we take those dollars put them back into the care coordinators and all those additional services,” said Krueger. “So it’s a way we can fund things that in the past we have not been paid for.”

According to Krueger, results for the first two years showed a savings to the federal government of $10.8 million. Bellin-ThedaCare Healthcare Partners received a bonus of $7.5 million to help cover its costs, leaving a net savings to taxpayers of more than $3 million on just 20,000 Medicare recipients. Results for the third year are not in.

“When your health is good, you feel better. You end up spending less on health care and more on things you want to do,” said James Dietsche, chief executive officer at Bellin Health. “That’s what Bellin-ThedaCare is working on together.”

The independently run ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value in Appleton teaches health care providers around the world how to become more efficient.

Center president Dr. John Toussaint says the Pioneer ACO model could influence how we all pay for health care in the future.

“Looking at moving to this more aggressive payment process where you don’t get all these bills,” said Toussaint. “And we’re basically just paying a yearly fee per individual for people taking care of those individuals.”

Is this the wave of the future when it comes to health care?

“Yes, yes. From a global point of view what we’re asking to do is get paid for improving quality and decreasing costs. And so that offering should be received in the marketplace,” said Krueger.

In fact, Bellin-ThedaCare Healthcare Partners is currently working with Anthem Blue Cross. If the partnership drives down costs and is able to measure improvement in quality of care, it will receive a financial bonus from Anthem. In turn that could drive down costs for you, the patient.

“I think over time you will pay less, the premiums would become more and more competitive so as the costs go down and Anthem can price their product lower,” said Krueger.

Others are already embracing the Pioneer ACO model. St. Mary’s and St. Vincent hospitals in Green Bay are co-owners of the Prevea physicians group in Northeast Wisconsin. Prevea began its own ACO recently, Prevea 360, offering patients another health insurance option.

“It means being paid more for quality, being paid more for outcome, rather than being paid for what we do,” explained Therese Pandl, chief executive officer with Hospital Sisters Health System which runs St. Vincent and St. Mary’s Hospitals.

Krueger says other commercial deals with the Bellin-ThedaCare partnership are in the works, while early results with Anthem Blue Cross are already showing costs being driving down faster than expected.

OSHKOSH – A garage fire in Oshkosh Tuesday afternoon caused major fire damage to the garage as well as two vehicles inside.

The Oshkosh Fire Department was called to the fire located at 914 Otter Avenue at 1:04 p.m.

Fire crews controlled the fire within 15 minutes.

No one was injured in the fire.

Officials say the probable cause of the fire was accidental or electrical.

Wrightstown visited Little Chute in a girls nonconference basketball game Monday.

Little Chute won, 58-45.

GREEN LAKE – The former Waupun police officer charged in a multi-county crime spree pleaded guilty Tuesday to burglary counts from incidents in seven counties.

No sentencing date has been set for Bradley Young, according to online court records.

Prosecutors say Young broke into grocery stores in Berlin and Markesan and a Town of Green Lake restaurant. After a cross-state chase and manhunt in August 2013, he was arrested at a cabin in Burnett County.

Young pleaded guilty Tuesday to seven counts – one burglary count each from Green Lake, Dodge, Waupun, Waushara, Burnett, Marquette, and Fond du Lac counties.

Young was previously sentenced in Barron County for car theft. A prison sentence was stayed for a three-year probation term.

Learn more about shipwrecks on the Great Lakes.

MAYVILLE – Police say the elderly driver who struck nine vehicles in the parking lot of a grocery store in Mayville won’t be cited.

The police chief says the incident in the Piggly Wiggly lot last Friday was simply an accident. He says the 92-year-old man pulled out of his parking spot, got his foot stuck on the accelerator, panicked and lost control of his vehicle.

Two of the nine vehicles he struck were occupied.

Nobody was injured.

OSHKOSH – A woman who shot her co-worker was convicted of attempted homicide Tuesday, but will argue to a jury that she should be found not guilty by reason of mental disease.

Justine Boyd pleaded no contest to attempted first-degree intentional homicide for shooting co-worker Sharon Goffard at a Neenah Walmart, according to a court official. She was then convicted.

However, Boyd’s so-called insanity plea remains in place. A jury trial is scheduled to start Feb. 24, during which her mental state at the time of the Aug. 14, 2013 shooting will be consider.

If the jury rejects the plea, Boyd would face sentencing in criminal court. If the jury accepts the plea, she would be committed to a state mental facility.

Police and prosecutors said Boyd shot Goffard because she Boyd was upset that Goffard got an easier position at work. However, Boyd’s son told Fox 11 there was no motive for the shooting.

MEXICO, Maine (AP) – Two 15-year-old Rhode Island boys will return from their winter vacation with a story to tell after spending a night in below-zero temperatures when their snowmobile got stuck in the woods in Maine.

Ty Howard-Gotto and his friend Jonah May, both of North Smithfield, had tried unsuccessfully to start a fire late Monday when May saw a shooting star, made a wish and suggested they continue walking. Then they found a shed that might have saved their lives, Howard-Gotto said Tuesday after they were found unharmed.

They used plywood and gasoline from the boarded-up structure to start a fire to warm up, then spent part of the evening wrapped in tarps and resting in a golf cart inside the structure, he said.

The temperature dipped to 9 degrees below zero in the region, and the wind made it feel like 25 below. At first daylight, they began walking again and were picked up at 10 a.m. Tuesday by a passer-by, wardens said.

Wardens launched a search after the pair failed to arrive at a camp owned by Howard-Gotto’s grandfather Monday night in Andover.

Howard-Gotto said he made a wrong turn after departing from the nearby town of Mexico, then got stuck in deep snow.

But he said he’d lived in the area before moving to Rhode Island and was confident they would be OK.

“I wasn’t worried too much,” Howard-Gotto said.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin state troopers would see an average pay increase of 17 percent under terms of a newly negotiated contract.

The deal was discussed publicly for the first time Tuesday by Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who says the raises are too high for him to support.

But Wisconsin Troopers Association President Glen Jones says the bulk of the raises will go to younger troopers to help stop them from leaving for better paying jobs elsewhere.

Jones says the increase is reasonable given that troopers have not had a raise since 2009.

A special legislative committee is expected to meet within weeks to consider the troopers’ contract as well as deals for two other smaller unions.

Most state workers saw pay increases of 1 percent in both 2013 and 2014.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States must ensure that immigrants are fully included in the fabric of American society to prevent violent ideologies from taking root at home, Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday as he opened a White House summit on countering extremism and radicalization.

Joining local elected officials, community leaders and religious figures, Biden portrayed the U.S. as far better positioned than Europe, thanks to what he called America’s successful record at cultural integration.

Across the Atlantic, deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels and Denmark have left Europeans feeling vulnerable to the type of violent ideology promoted by the Islamic State group and once thought to be limited mostly to the Middle East and North Africa.

“National security flows from a sense of community,” Biden said, adding that the most important lesson the U.S. can learn is that “inclusion counts.”

Biden’s comments came at the start of a three-day conference highlighting domestic and international efforts to prevent extremists and their supporters from radicalizing, recruiting and inspiring others, particularly disaffected young people. The conference is designed to share best practices and emerging strategies to prevent extremists from carrying out violent acts.

“When I say we have to be able to see one another, I’m not talking about surveillance, I’m not talking about cameras,” Biden said, calling for U.S. cities to treat immigrant communities with respect. “Technology cannot replace contact.”

GREEN BAY – The 7th annual Turkey Trot was a couple months ago, but it brought people back together Tuesday.

Festival Foods presented checks to participating Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCA’s in eight Wisconsin cities, including Green Bay, Fox Cities, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac and Manitowoc.

The Thanksgiving Day event raised more than $308,000 this past year. Since 2008, the event has raised more than $1.2 million.

Those receiving money say they are proud to partner with Festival Foods.

Greg Lemke-Rochon of the Boys and Girls Club of the Fox Valley said, “We just love that partnership we love that ethic we love the way they deliver on that through this event which has just grown and grown and grown over time.”

As part of the Turkey Trot, Festival Foods gives out pumpkin pies when participants cross the finish line. More than 35,000 pies were distributed in 2014.

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – A powerful winter storm dumped snow from Nashville to Nantucket, and arctic-like temperatures gripped much of the U.S. and hundreds of thousands of people lost power in the South.

While some shivered, others bundled up and tried to make the best of a frustrating situation. Here’s a look at how people were handling the land of ice, snow and subzero temperatures.

COLD CARNIVAL

If there was a theme for this year’s Mardi Gras costumes in New Orleans, it was ‘Brrrrr.’

Despite the chilly temperatures, the crowds were thick. Tutus were worn over jeans and many costumes, such as clowns or animals, were baggy enough to cover sweat shirts.

Erin Buran, of New Orleans, wore a white jacket and feathery angel wings.

“My angel wings have tequila in them,” she said, showing the mouthpiece of a hydration backpack covered by the wings.

ROOF WORRIES

Massachusetts officials stepped up warnings about the potential for roofs to collapse under the weight of snow that has built up in recent weeks.

Numerous partial roof collapses have been reported in the state but no serious injuries to date.

Two New Hampshire school districts remain closed a day after schools were evacuated over concerns of snow buildup on roofs.

ICE BABY

Some things just won’t wait, as Jerry Nuesell can attest.

With his wife 33 weeks pregnant, the couple was headed to the doctor’s office when Lisa’s contractions led them to UNC Hospitals for the arrival of their first born, a boy.

“Turned out the little fellow was ready to make an appearance much sooner than we planned,” Nuesell said Tuesday.

He watched his son be born, then drove 30 miles back to Cary, North Carolina, to take care of their dachshund, Schnitzel. Ice covered most of his windshield and the drive wasn’t easy.

“I had probably a good 6-inch-by-6-inch square that I had to peer through to get the best vision,” he said. “On multiple occasions, I thought this might not be the best idea.”

SURRENDER TO THE SNOW

The tourism office of Ithaca, New York, is waving the white flag, advising visitors on its website to check out the Florida Keys instead.

VisitIthaca.com’s home page displays sunny photos from Florida and provides links to Florida Keys information.

The top of the page reads: “That’s it. We surrender. Winter, you win. Key West anyone?”

Ithaca and the rest of upstate New York have been in the grips of a snowy and brutally cold winter.

ICY ROADS

Roads were icy and slushy, making driving difficult in many places and causing at least seven traffic deaths. There were three deaths in Tennessee, including a mother and son in Williamson County who stopped to help people in a sport utility vehicle that overturned in front of them when they were struck by a tractor-trailer. Two people were killed in Virginia as nearly a foot of snow fell in some places. In North Carolina, a woman died in a two-car crash in the northeastern part of the state. Two people were also killed in separate crashes in Maryland.

SPORTS CAR IN THE SNOW?

“I’ll just back up and fly out,” is the strategy Brent Seney had for freeing his black convertible Mazda Miata from the snow in the nation’s capital Tuesday.

Despite the thick blanket of snow along his street, Seney, 60, was confident his sporty ride could handle the roads. In fact, he planned to drive to his boat harbored at James Creek Marina in southwest Washington.

“I’ll shovel the snow off, make sure it’s not frozen too much because the harbor is all frozen in,” Seney said.

TRYING TO FLY

Trudging along a snowy sidewalk, Robin Winter and her daughter, Melissa, made their way to a Metro station in Washington so Mom could catch her flight home to St. Louis.

Robin Winter, carrying multiple bags and sporting a sock monkey hat, said she’d gotten into town Thursday, and had been watching the forecasts as the snow made its way across the country.

“If I would have decided to fly out Sunday night instead, you never know for sure if it’s gonna really happen until it really happens,” she said.

The Winters were optimistic the flight would not be canceled, though they were prepared for a delay. It appeared her flight left on time, but others weren’t so lucky. More than 1,800 flights were canceled at many airports, from Nashville, Tennessee, to the nation’s capital.

More than 2,000 travelers spent the night at Charlotte Douglas International Airport as a winter storm roared through North Carolina dropping snow, sleet and freezing rain on the region.

SNOWBALL FIGHT

Even though the snow in D.C. wasn’t ideal for a fight, people showed up anyway, some in costumes and battle gear. One wore a ski helmet and goggles, another had on a giraffe costume, and one wore a Captain America shirt and carried a shield.

“It’s not really snowball material. You can kind of get one, but it’s a lot of squeezing,” said Reco Thomas, of Alexandria, Virginia, as she tried to compact fluffy snow.

Rob Grell, a George Washington University medical student dressed as Batman, carried fellow student Shaunak Mulani on his shoulders as people pelted the two of them.

“This is overall just a fine time,” Mulani said as he shook off snow.

FIRST SHOVELER OUT

The sound of 61-year-old Joe Peldunas shoveling his driveway echoed across the otherwise quiet Marywood neighborhood in north Durham, North Carolina, around 8 a.m. Tuesday. No one else on his cul-de-sac was out, and there were few tracks in the layer of snow and ice more than a half inch thick on the road.

“This snow is probably going to stick around for a few days,” he said, adding that he wanted to clear his driveway as soon as possible.

Indeed, forecasters warned that temperatures over the next few days wouldn’t provide much relief.

TAKING IT IN STRIDE

After two hours of shoveling his steep driveway in the Cabe’s Mill subdivision of north Durham, North Carolina, 68-year-old Clay Shepherd was only halfway done. Still, he didn’t seem anywhere close to running out of energy. He was considering an afternoon hike along the nearby Eno River.

“It happens to be my 68th birthday. I didn’t imagine I’d be doing this,” he said, wearing a green sweater, dark jeans and a knit cap.

___

Somers reporter from Washington. Associated Press writers Amanda Lee Myers in Washington; Jessica Gresko in Arlington, Virginia; Matthew Barakat in McLean, Virginia, Lucas Johnson in Memphis, Tennessee, contributed.

ROSENDALE – The Rosendale-Brandon School Board voted Monday night not to offer a year-round elementary schedule for the upcoming 2015-2016 year.

District leaders had proposed offering a year-round schedule to its kindergarten through fifth grade. The schedule would include the same amount of days as a typical school year, with more breaks in between. The idea was to avoid the so-called “summer slide,” where educators say children tend to lose a lot of math a reading skills over the three month summer break.

A typical school schedule would have still been offered as well.

According to the district administrator, about 60 children were signed on to take part in the year-round schedule for the 2015-2016 school year.

It was unclear what the start up costs would have been for the new schedule.

The school board voted against offering the year-round schooling for the upcoming year, but members did say they might revisit the idea in the future.

Parents we spoke with on the subject said it could be a good idea for some students, but wouldn’t work with certain families’ schedules and might have been better if offered to all grade levels.

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) – An attorney for one of two Wisconsin girls accused of stabbing their classmate to please horror character Slender Man tried to convince a judge Tuesday to move her case into juvenile court, arguing that his client is mentally disturbed and believed she had to kill to protect herself and her family from the creature.

Taking the stand during the second day of a preliminary hearing, psychologist Deborah Collins testified that she has interviewed the 12-year-old Morgan Geyser several times and concluded she honestly believes Slender Man exists.

“(Her belief) hasn’t wavered and it’s been unyielding to a rational perspective,” Collins testified.

Collins also testified that Geyser told her she uses Vulcan mind control to keep negative emotions at bay and believes Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort visits her when he’s not away on business trips.

A private detective working for the defense testified he discovered more than 60 drawings of Slender Man in Geyser’s bedroom. Many of the sketches included notes such as “not safe even in your house” and “he is here always.” One drawing depicted a girl lying on the ground and a person standing over her with the message “I love killing people” written over the figure.

The detective went on to say he found more than a half-dozen Barbie dolls in the bedroom that had been marked with Slender Man’s symbol. Some were missing their hands and feet.

“I think we did a good job showing she believed (Slender Man) was real … across time and environment,” defense attorney Anthony Cotton said. “She believed in Slender Man. She believed he would hurt the family.”

According to court documents, Geyser and 13-year-old Anissa Weier told detectives they had been planning to kill a classmate for months. They are accused of luring her to a park in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha on May 31 and stabbing her 19 times. The classmate barely survived; one stab wound just missed her heart.

The alleged attackers were found walking toward the Nicolet National Forest, where they say they thought they would join Slender Man.

All three girls were 12 years old at the time of the incident. Geyser and Weier face one count of being a party to attempted first-degree intentional homicide in adult court. They each could face up to 65 years in the state prison system if convicted.

Police detectives testified on Monday that both girls believed they had to kill their friend and join Slender Man in order to protect themselves and their families from his wrath. Cotton is trying to use that to move Geyser to juvenile court, where she couldn’t be held beyond age 25.

He contends that since Geyser thought she was defending herself a charge of attempted second-degree intentional homicide is more appropriate. Since Geyser is under 18, she would face that count in children’s court.

Prosecutors countered that a preliminary hearing – the stage of Wisconsin’s legal process where a judge decides whether enough evidence exists to move to trial – isn’t the proper venue for such an argument. Judge Michael Bohren declined to rule on anything Tuesday, asking all sides to submit briefs. He promised to issue a decision on March 13.

Weier’s attorneys called only one witness Tuesday, a sheriff’s deputy who arrested her on the road. He testified Weier told him someone would kill her family unless she did something bad.