Green Bay News

GREEN BAY – Lots of people will be giving and receiving floral arrangements for Valentine’s Day. But did you ever think of the process of making those arrangements?

In the video above, Jim Parmentier of Parmentier’s 9th Street Floral in Green Bay shows how to put together one of the hundreds of arrangements his business expects to make this year. He also discusses the latest trends in Valentine’s Day bouquets.

Click on the links to the left to watch more from Parmentier’s Floral and other Valentine’s Day-themed videos.

MADISON (AP) – Sen. Tammy Baldwin is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate three deaths and reports of prescription drug abuse at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Baldwin says the seriousness of the allegations warrant a review by a law enforcement agency independent from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The medical center is currently being investigated by the VA Office of the Inspector General and the VA’s Secretary of Health. The medical center came under scrutiny last month when whistleblowers alleged physicians overprescribed narcotics.

Baldwin’s letter lists the deaths of Thomas Baer, of Marshfield, last month; Jason Simcakoski, of Stevens Point in 2014; and Jacob Ward of Milwaukee in 2013.

A hospital spokeswoman declined to comment on the ongoing investigations Friday.

MADISON (AP) – Gov. Scott Walker’s administration has suspended merit raises and retention pay increases to help deal with a budget gap that must be plugged by the end of June.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported Friday that Walker sent a memo to state agency human resources directors on Feb. 5 announcing the freeze.

It’s unclear how many employees will be affected. University of Wisconsin faculty, academic staff and appointees will not be affected, but UW System spokesman Alex Hummel said the freeze will apply to classified employees, including custodians, administrative assistants, information technology workers, accountants and food service workers.

Hummel said there are about 10,100 UW System employees considered classified staff, but not all will be affected because the types of pay raises put on hold are not automatic.

The freeze affects merit pay raises and increases aimed at retaining workers. Other raises are not affected.

Marty Beil, executive director of the state employees’ union, called the suspension of raises “another slap in the face of workers by the Walker administration.”

Cullen Werwie, spokesman for the state Department of Administration, said the freeze was designed to help balance the budget, which is projected to be between $233 million and $283 million short by the end of June. He said no specific estimates were available of how many people would be affected or how much money would be saved.

Werwie said agencies will have the ability to offer merit and retention raises under the two-year budget that begins in July and that the Legislature is currently debating.

ELKHORN (AP) – A Whitewater man has been convicted on all 12 counts against him in an attack that left two young girls with life-threatening injuries.

A jury in Walworth County deliberated about 7½ hours before returning guilty verdicts for Larry Shannon about 11 p.m. Thursday. The Janesville Gazette says the 42-year-old man was convicted of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, false imprisonment and sexual assault of a child, among other counts.

Prosecutors say Shannon cut the throats of the girls, ages 12 and 10, and left them tied to chairs after he had sexually assaulted the older child in October of 2012. He was also accused of choking his now ex-wife and tying her to a chair. Then he led police on a chase with speeds reaching 100 miles per hour that ended in Beloit.

MADISON (AP) – Wisconsin’s counties would take over assessment of property taxes from smaller communities under a provision included in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal.

The state’s 72 counties would take over assessments for municipalities with populations under 39,000. Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay and other larger cities would continue their own property tax assessments.

Revenue Secretary Richard Chandler says it will not only generate cost savings, but would improve the quality of the assessment process. A system of 1,851 taxing districts in Wisconsin would be consolidated at county assessment offices.

A recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found problems with uniformity and fairness in assessing property taxes around the state. Twenty percent or more of residential taxes were being paid by the wrong people in dozens of communities.

Blizzard warnings start at 7 p.m. tonight and last through Saturday for Keweenaw, Marquette and Alger counties in upper Michigan.

Here is what to expect:

• 45 mph winds and near-whiteout conditions
• Possible road closures
• 4″ to 9″ of snow
• Wind Chill reading -25 to -35

Click Here for current road conditions in Michigan.

GREEN BAY – We think you’ll love this idea for preparing a beautiful Valentine’s Day dinner at home.  Ken Hall, Executive Chef of the Oneida Casinos, shared these recipes for steak and shrimp followed by a luscious chocolate dessert.

DESSERT:

4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 cups chocolate chips
1cup  Oreo cookie crushed

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder and vanilla till smooth.
In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, melt the  butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine.  Continue to heat (or microwave) briefly, just until the mixture is hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the mixture to this point will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
Add the hot butter/sugar mixture to the egg/cocoa mixture, stirring until smooth.
Add the flour, oreos and chips, again stirring until smooth.

Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

Place into small dishes and bake at 350 until done 20-25 minutes.
Ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and a cherry on top.

STEAK & SHRIMP

2ea- 4oz sirloin steaks
16ea   Shrimp peeled and de-veined
1T  garlic, smashed
2T  butter
Parsley
splash of white wine
6oz  smashed potatoes
Veggies of choice

Grill steak for 2minutes per side, remove and let rest.

Heat saute pan over medium high heat, add 1 tsp olive oil and saute shrimp for 2minute, flip over and add garlic. Cook stirring for 1 minute add wine and butter and parsley. Swirl around until butter melts, season with salt and fresh cracked pepper.

To serve place the potatoes in the center of the plate, lean the steak up along side drape shrimp over and down the sides, pour the garlic butter over and around. Garnish with your favorite veggies.

KESHENA – Members of the Menominee Tribe plan to begin a march to Madison Friday morning.

The tribe says it will walk about 150 miles between its reservation in Keshena to the state capitol. It’s a sign of protest against Gov. Scott Walker’s decision to reject the tribe’s proposed casino in Kenosha.

Walker says approving the casino could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars if the Forest Co. Potawatomi successfully sued the state.

The Menominee tribe plans to arrive in Madison on Wednesday, one day before the deadline the governor faced to make a decision on the proposal. The governor announced his decision last month.

The tribe is hoping to meet with the governor in Madison after he returns from his trade mission to London.

The governor’s administration said earlier this week that they have no plans to revisit the issue.

The Menominee is beginning the march with a rally outside the tribe’s offices.

FOX 11’s Andrew LaCombe is at this morning’s rally and will have more on FOX 11 News at Five.

The big story of sturgeon spearing ’89 so far is not how many fishermen are out there, but how many chose not to be.
Here at the Otter Street Fishing Club in Oshkosh, a lot of the ice club members are spending their spearfishing weekend inside Jerrry’s Bar because they say the ice too thin. And in the case of one fisherman, he simply has no choice.

“This is the first year I missed in probably since the early 70’s I was out last weekend checking around. I was on about 18 inches of ice when a few hundred yards out all of a sudden my truck dropped through and it went to the bottom,” he said.

That type of experience has made even the most enthusiastic ice fishermen think twice about spearfishing this weekend.

“This has just been a real bad year. I was called by my friend Wednesday night. We’ve lost over 5 inches of ice since Sunday and he says there’s no way we’re going out.
So we just decided there’s no way its not worth to risk your life for a fish.”

But out here on asylum bay, 3/4 of a mile away from the shoreline south of Neenah, the ice is thick enough to attract a number of ice fishermen out here to try their luck.

“Well it’s about a foot about right here. We feel we’re pretty safe right here.”

Just a few hundred yards from where these shanties are camped there’s open water, but still far enough away for the heartiest of sturgeon spearers.

“There isn’t as many as there used to be, but there’s quite a few out here. I haven’t been around to talk to nobody yet and we’ll see everybody tonight out at the taverns and see how they’re doing and go from there I guess.”

NECEDAH, Wis. (AP) – A 21-year-old woman is being held in a fatal shooting in Necedah (neh-SEE’-dah).

The Juneau County Sheriff’s Department says the woman could be charged Friday in the death of a 24-year-old man. He was shot at a residence in Necedah Thursday. The victim was rushed to Mile Bluff Medical Center in Mauston where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities say the suspect was acquainted with the victim.

GREEN BAY – It’s one of the most popular ways to show appreciation for someone special on Valentine’s Day – giving flowers.

Parmentier’s 9th Street Floral in Green Bay is planning to make hundreds of deliveries on Friday.

The owner says since Valentine’s Day falls on a weekend, business is better than usual.

FOX 11’s Pauleen Le spent time at Parmentier’s to check out final preparations before the big rush.

For more information on Parmentier’s 9th Street Floral, click here.

PROVO, Utah (AP) – A woman who said she was too addicted to methamphetamine to raise more children pleaded guilty to charges that she killed six of her newborn babies and hid their bodies in her garage over a 10-year period.

Prosecutors say the plea deal means Megan Huntsman, 39, will likely spend the rest of her life in prison over what authorities described as a heinous series of killings from 1996 to 2006.

Huntsman’s voice broke as she said “guilty” six times Thursday to answer for each count.

The infants’ remains were discovered by their father, Darren West, last April as he gathered belongings from the home they had shared in Pleasant Grove, a city of about 35,000.

West, Huntsman’s estranged husband, called police after finding the first tiny body in a cardboard box. Authorities found the rest, seven in all, one of which they said was stillborn.

Huntsman told police she strangled or suffocated the newborns immediately after they were born, wrapped their bodies in cloth, put them in plastic bags and packed them in boxes. She told investigators she was addicted to meth at the time and didn’t want to care for the babies.

Authorities believe Huntsman gave birth to the children at home, but it remains unclear how she concealed the pregnancies and murders from family members and friends.

West discovered the bodies shortly after he finished an eight-year federal prison stint in on meth charges. He lived with Huntsman during the decade when they were killed, but police said they aren’t investigating him in connection with the deaths.

West and Huntsman have three other children, who are with other family members. He was not in court and has not spoken publicly about the case.

Defense attorney Anthony Howell declined to comment, as did family members who attended the court hearing about 45 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Utah County attorney Jeff Buhman said the family supports the deal with prosecutors that could reduce her minimum sentence to five years but “we’ll be shocked if she ever gets out.”

Huntsman has said little in her brief court appearances, but Buhman said she has expressed remorse and may speak at her sentencing. He said the plea gives Huntsman fewer options for appeal than a trial would have, which “hopefully will mean this case is essentially done after the sentencing.”

The day the bodies were found, Huntsman told police there were eight or nine dead babies in her home. But police later concluded that Huntsman was confused and guessing.

Pleasant Grove police detective Dan Beckstrom said she told police why she stored the bodies, but he declined to share her answer. “It truly,” he said, “is unexplainable.”

GREEN BAY – Do you need some last minute Valentine’s Day gift ideas?

FOX 11’s Emily Deem spent Friday morning at Beerntsen’s Candies in Green Bay to see what items they have for your sweetheart!

From chocolate covered strawberries, boxes filled with chocolate — Beerntsen’s Candies has something for everyone.

Click here for more information.

GREEN BAY- A fast-moving storm system pushes through Friday and brings cloudy skies with some occasional light snow. There may be a half inch of accumulation in spots. Winds will be southwest at 10 to 20 mph this afternoon.

It will be extremely cold for the opening of sturgeon spearing season this weekend and Valentine’s Day.

Winds will pick up Friday night out of the northwest and by Saturday morning we’ll have sustained winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35.

The temperature at 7 a.m. Saturday will be near 4 degrees and it will hold steady throughout the day under partly sunny skies and NNW winds gusting to 35 mph. Wind chills will be near -20 for most of the day.

The cold continues on Sunday as we wake up to a temperature near -11 and a daytime high of 6 with wind chills anywhere from 10 to 25 degrees below zero.

MOSINEE- Cold weather made battling a deadly house fire in Mosinee challenging.

Officials say the fire broke out around 5 p.m. Thursday at a duplex behind the Kwik Trip.

Officials say a man and woman were killed in the fire. Two others escaped.

No word on what caused the fire.

With first place in the Horizon League on the line, the Green Bay women’s basketball team used a stout defensive and big second half to defeat Wright State, 61-45 Thursday night at the Kress Center.

The victory improves the Phoenix record to 19-4 overall and 9-1 in Horizon League play. It also gives them a virtual three-game lead in the conference standings moving forward,

Tesha Buck led the way offensively, posting her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Mehryn Kraker added 14 points, with Sam Terry adding 11.

Defensively, the team held the league’s highest scoring team to a season-low points total. Green Bay returns to action Saturday when they visit Milwaukee at 2 p.m.

OSHKOSH – Oshkosh police have sent out a lot of press releases about crime in recent weeks.

And aside from this most recent wave, Oshkosh had issues in the fall, particularly in the campus area. From a meth lab bust, to ricin manufacturing, to assaults, the incidents had residents concerned. So we wanted to know how they’re feeling now.

Neighborhoods across Oshkosh felt shock waves from the fall’s criminal activity.

“I think it’s a big concern when things are going on, even if it was a little bit away from your neighborhood,” said neighborhood watch captain Ann Resop.

But the concerns continue for some this winter.

“So many robberies at businesses and so many robberies at homes now and that isn’t even picking a direct area. It’s like they’re all over,” explained neighborhood watch captain Shirley, who did not want us to use her last name.

Police Officer Joe Nichols told FOX 11, luckily a lot of those crimes have been solved.

He said it’s also not that there’s necessarily more criminal activity, but that officers are making the public more aware through traditional and social media.

“We’re being more proactive that way. Usually within the first hour we’re getting tips already on a photograph that we put out,” Nichols explained.

Another move is holding neighborhood watch meetings every few months.

Nichols told us 104 watch groups are active in Oshkosh.

“Citizens, if they have any questions, can direct them right back to the officers,” he said.

According to Nichols community involvement is essential to keeping the streets safe.

“Police can’t do it alone. They really can’t and having the neighborhood watch has been a great success for the city of Oshkosh,” he said.

Nichols told us neighborhoods with a watch group typically have less crime.

Watch members told us there are other benefits.

“Makes us more close-knit and it helps you find out more information from the police,” said Shirley.

They said working together is just one way to put and keep past criminal activity in the past.

“We don’t want that to keep happening, that’s why we need to be very positive and make sure people know that we have neighborhood watches out there,” explained Resop.

Aside from answering our questions, police also gave a presentation about internet safety at Wednesday’s watch meeting.

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Area Public School District sent an email to all its parents on Thursday, warning them of an open records request for information about students.

The open records request came from School Choice Wisconsin, a group that supports the voucher program.

Jim Bender, the leader of School Choice Wisconsin, says on Monday, his group sent this open records request to 30 school districts across the state.
It asks for students’ name, address, telephone number, grade level, and school.

It’s all called directory data, and under state law, besides grade level, districts are required to give the information to any third party that asks for it.

“It was an unusual request,” said Michelle Langenfeld, superintendent for the Green Bay Area Public School District. “It isn’t something we typically see because parents typically allow their student directory data to be used for things like yearbook and for programs, perhaps the newspaper, a highly successful student, so rarely do parents ever think about this.”

Langenfeld says that’s why she sent an email to all parents in the district, letting them know about School Choice’s request.

“I’m happy that they sent it because it also gave me a little bit more information what is going on, what they are asking, but it doesn’t tell me why they are asking,” said Princess Vele, a parent.

“We have marketing campaigns planned for later this year,” said Bender.

Bender says School Choice Wisconsin works to educate parents about opportunities they have, especially with the proposed expansion of Wisconsin’s school voucher program. The program offers aid for eligible families to send students to a private school.

Bender says Green Bay was the only district that had issues with its request.

“Clearly they don’t want parents to know about the educational opportunities in Green Bay,” said Bender.

FOX 11 asked Langenfeld whether the district is concerned about School Choice Wisconsin trying to lure students away from the district.

“My responsibility as the records keeper is to make sure parents are aware and protect their students’ data, regardless who asks for it,” said Langenfeld.

“Technical colleges, other military recruiters, other people request this data all the time, so they are trying to create a firestorm out of nothing,” said Bender.

“We receive many open records requests during the course of the year. I would say about an average of one a week,” said Melissa Thiel Collar, legal counsel for the Green Bay Area Public School District. “We have never received an open records request for directory data for all of our students.”

School Choice Wisconsin says it isn’t sure yet how it plans to use the data. However, in the past, it has used direct mailings to spread its message.

Parents can choose to opt out of sharing the data. However, that would also prevent a student from being in the school yearbook or be publicized for any sort of media recognition.

GREEN BAY – The Christian period of Lent begins in six days. In Green Bay, that typically means an increased attraction for Friday night perch fries.

But area restaurants and markets say they don’t have enough in stock.
At Allouez’s Lorelei Inn, the perch plate is one of the most popular things on the menu. The restaurant serves up to 60 pounds a night.

“I think it’s going to be a hard time in Green Bay without Friday night fish,” said co-owner Lynne Stahl.

A perch shortage is threatening to put a dent in business at the worst possible time.

“It’s Lent, and a lot of the Christians, they don’t eat meat,” said Stahl.

Fish markets and suppliers say unless there’s a miracle of biblical proportions soon, there won’t be enough perch to feed the faithful this Lent.

“I go through 4000 pounds of fish a week, and I don’t have it. And neither does anyone else,” said Michael Parkinson with Blue Harbor Fish Market.

Parkinson says locals lakes have a problem with spiny water-fleas killing perch. He says ice conditions on the great lakes have been poor for fishing. Also, Canada has cut perch exports 15 percent.

“That’s 30 thousand pounds of fillets that aren’t going to come to the United States this year,” said Parkinson.

Parkinson says price per pound has jumped up nearly four dollars in the past two years.

“Perch is 11.99 if you buy it wholesale, and if it’s available. I’ve heard of people paying 14, 15 dollars a pound for perch right now,” said Parkinson.

Though there is a shortage of lake perch, there is an availability to ship in European perch from Russia. It’s basically the same fish.

But experts say there are differences.

“The belly can be fishier. If a good cook cooks it you can’t tell the difference. But is that fair to the public?” asked Parkinson.

Lorelei Inn’s owners won’t serve European perch.

“We have tried it, but we haven’t cared for it,” said Stahl.

Keeping the Lenten tradition of perch pure and sacred at their restaurant, despite the shortage.

Many other restaurants in our area serve cod and haddock at their fish fries. There is not a shortage of those varieties. However, perch is a popular option in the region.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – Kentucky’s highest court considered on Thursday whether teen-age couples should be treated as criminals when they have sex and send nude photos to each other. If so, a third of America’s teenagers could be exposed to felony sex-offense charges, the 15-year-old boy’s lawyer said.

In this case, the legal fallout was one-sided after a mother spotted nude pictures on her seventh-grade daughter’s phone, and discovered that she was having sex with her eighth-grade boyfriend at her house.

Both teen-agers could have been charged with the same offenses, but the full weight of Kentucky’s law landed on the boy, who pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for having sex and exchanging the photos. Then, despite his plea, a judge designated him a sex offender, removed him from his home and sent him to a juvenile detention center.

Lawyers for the boy and the Commonwealth of Kentucky argued for nearly an hour before the state Supreme Court over whether this kind of voluntary sexual conduct between children should be criminalized at all.

“They had no idea they could be committing crimes,” said assistant public advocate John Wampler, who represents the boy.

Laws in Kentucky and many other states establish that no one under 16 can legally consent to sex. This boy was 15 and his girlfriend was 13 when they twice had sex after dating for more than a year.

The Legislature did not intend to say that a 15-year-old lacks the maturity to consent to sex with an adult, but then hold him criminally liable for the same behavior with a fellow juvenile, Wampler argued.

State Assistant Attorney General Gregory Fuchs countered that the boy initiated acts that “fit within the parameters of the crime,” and that if the defense argument holds sway, sexual activity between a 15-year-old and a 5-year-old could not be criminally prosecuted.

Wampler said the boy’s due-process and equal-protection rights were violated. A better solution, he suggested in a brief, would be to refer both boyfriend and girlfriend to counseling and order them to take classes on sexual boundaries.

Fuchs countered that the boy gave up the right to challenge the constitutionality of his conviction by pleading guilty, and that limiting the punishment to the boy was justified because he initiated the acts.

“There was only one victim in this case,” Fuchs said in a brief, “and it is just as illegal for appellant as a 15-year-old to possess that child pornography as it would be if he was 51 years old.”

The boy was already on probation for indecent exposure when he got in trouble with his girlfriend’s mother. In that case, he had knocked on a neighbor’s door dressed only in a towel and removed it to expose himself to the neighbor.

The justices interjected with a series of questions as the lawyers made their arguments. Justice Michelle M. Keller noted that sexual predators aren’t limited to adults.

“I don’t think it’s fair to say that we’re only interested in protecting juveniles from predators who are adults,” she said.

The state’s high court is expected to issue a ruling within a few months.