Green Bay News

GRAND CHUTE – Wisconsin Timber Rattlers individual game tickets are going on sale March 7.

The team also says it is planning a birthday party for Whiffer, one of its mascots, at Fox Cities Stadium that day.

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers mascot Whiffer entertains young fans at Fox Cities Stadium, April 8, 2013. (WLUK/Alex Ronallo)

Tickets for the 2015 season can be purchased at the stadium box office, by phone at 1-800-948-4623 or online. Season-ticket holders who pick up their tickets at the box office or fans who buy individual tickets to an April game at the box office will receive coupons for 40 percent off purchases in the Snake Pit team store.

The birthday party will celebrate Whiffer’s second birthday and will include cake and other treats. Mascots from other area teams and businesses are scheduled to attend. Activities also include a coloring contest and children’s movies. Weather permitting, a sledding hill and speed pitch machine will be set up in the stadium. The first 500 fans will receive a free hot dog, soda and bag of popcorn.

Fox Cities Stadium is scheduled to be open from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. March 7.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say the Powerball jackpot has risen to an estimated $500 million, which would make it the fifth largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

The lottery raised its jackpot estimate hours before Wednesday night’s drawing and has raised it twice since Saturday’s drawing by a total of about $105 million.

No one has won the Powerball jackpot for more than two months, so the prize has been growing gradually from its $40 million starting point.

It’s been nearly a year since a Powerball prize topped $400 million

Powerball is sold in 44 states as well as Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

The chance of winning a Powerball jackpot is about 1 in 175 million.

GREEN BAY – Former Packers quarterback Brett Favre said Tuesday evening that he wants his induction banquet for the Packers Hall of Fame to be held inside Lambeau Field.

The ceremony is planned for July 18 inside the stadium’s atrium. The approximately 1,600 tickets for the event are sold out, according to Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, Inc. and the Green Bay Packers.

Favre appeared on FOX News Channel with Greta Van Susteren Tuesday and said he believes everyone should have an option to go to the induction banquet.

The three-time NFL MVP acknowledged the Packers and the hall have received some feedback about the current arrangements.

“I know it’s been stressful for the Packers, especially,” Favre said. “But we’ve gotten a lot of emails as well, it being sold out, the Hall of Fame ceremony this upcoming summer. I would like to see, in my opinion, I would like to see us do it in the stadium.”

Watch the interview:

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The Packers Hall of Fame explained on Jan. 31 that it followed its standard procedure for setting up the Favre banquet event.

“Each year, no matter who is inducted, we first go to the people and companies who have supported us throughout the years to determine their interest in the banquet,” Packers Hall of Fame, Inc. President Perry Kidder said in a statement. “We were delighted with the positive response this year and how quickly the sponsorships, tickets and tables sold out. In addition to our longtime supporters, we will host a record number of returning Hall of Famers and their guests, plus expected NFL dignitaries.”

Kidder says Favre’s banquet will be televised for the first time ever.

Favre says he’s still planning to return to Lambeau Field for an actual game during the 2015 season. That will be when his name and No. 4 are unveiled inside Lambeau Field on the north façade.

FOX 11’s Andrew LaCombe will have more tonight on FOX 11 News at Five.

WAUPACA (AP) – The Waupaca County sheriff says he’s optimistic that investigators will solve two murder cases from 1992 and 1978 in the next year.

Sheriff Brad Hardel told Post-Crescent Media that investigators have made progress on both cold cases.

In 1992, 23-year-old Tanna Togstad and her boyfriend, 35-year-old Timothy Mumbrue, were found stabbed to death in her Royalton farmhouse. Authorities said in February 2013 that a man who was convicted of rape in Wisconsin and killing a man in Oklahoma was a person of interest in the 1992 double homicide.

Officials said DNA testing tied the man to the case, but not much has been said since.

“We’ve got a few things we’re waiting on to come back from the (state) crime lab,” Hardel said. “But we’re not definitely convinced that he’s the only person (of interest). There’s a good chance there is someone else besides him.”

Togstad’s brother, Richard Togstad, said he last saw his sister a few days before her death.

“I want it solved,” he said. “I want this guy, or guys, in prison before they die of old age.”

In the other cold case, 26-year-old Marcella Carpenter was found dead in a burning Clintonville house in January 1978. She died of a single stab wound.

Hardel said “there is a good possibility of solving that one,” but declined to elaborate.

MADISON (AP) – Republican legislators are circulating a bill that would clamp down on state land purchases beyond the limits Gov. Scott Walker has proposed in his budget.

Reps. Joe Sanfelippo and David Craig’s bill would prohibit the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands from buying any new land.

The bill also would end state payments to local governments to offset lost property taxes for land the Department of Natural Resources purchases through its stewardship program. And local governments would be able to nix any future DNR stewardship acquisitions.

Walker’s budget proposal would place a moratorium on all stewardship purchases until 2028.

Sanfelippo says land purchases are a drain on state funds and takes land out of private hands. He says his bill gives local officials more control.

MADISON (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker isn’t saying what he discussed while meeting with the British treasury chief, as the likely 2016 Republican presidential candidate continues his four-day trade mission in London.

Walker exited Downing Street on Wednesday saying only that the meeting with George Osborne was “outstanding.” Walker was similarly tight-lipped on Tuesday following a private meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Walker is in London for a trade mission, although the trip is also seen as an opportunity for the prospective presidential candidate to burnish his foreign-policy credentials.

Walker has not held any press availability during the trip, which has consisted mostly of private meetings. But the governor is scheduled to give a public speech on the global economy later Wednesday at the prestigious Chatham House think tank.

CHICAGO (AP) — Little League International has stripped Jackie Robinson West of the national title that the Chicago team won last summer after an investigation revealed it had falsified boundaries to field ineligible players.

In a stunning Wednesday announcement that came months after the all-black team, whose ages ranged from 11 to 13 years, captured the attention of the country and the hearts of its hometown, the baseball organization said it also found that after the league had changed the boundaries, some team officials went to surrounding leagues to convince them to go along with what they’d done.

“This is a heartbreaking decision,” Stephen D. Keener, the Little League International president and CEO, said in a statement.

“As painful as it is, we feel it is a necessary decision to maintain the integrity of the Little League program. No team can be allowed to attempt to strengthen its team by putting players on their roster that live outside their boundaries.”

The team has been suspended from Little League tournament privileges until new leadership is found. The team’s manager, Darold Butler, is also suspended, and an administrator from the district that includes Jackie Robinson West has been removed from his position, according to the statement.

The march of the team riveted the city, all the way to its loss in the world championship game to South Korea, and when it was over, thousands of people lined Chicago’s streets to catch a glimpse of the boys as they were paraded by bus from their South Side baseball field to a downtown park. There were countless heartwarming stories about the team, including an effort by major league players to contribute money so the parents in the blue collar community could attend the World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and another about Cubs players huddled around a television watching the team during a rain delay at Wrigley Field. The team was treated to a trip to the major league World Series and to the White House to meet President Barack Obama and the first lady, Michelle Obama.

In October, the organization launched an investigation when a coach from a nearby suburb alleged that Jackie Robinson West had violated rules by poaching top suburban players. The story, which was first reported by DNAinfo.com, appeared to end in December when the national organization said it had uncovered no violations. But the organization said it would reopen the investigation if new information surfaced. About that same time, the organization learned of questions about boundary maps involving multiple leagues, and the investigation resumed.

“Little League International … learned that Jackie Robinson West Little League knowingly expanded its boundaries to include territory that belonged to other leagues in the district without the approval from the other leagues or the Little League International Charter Committee” and used the “falsified boundary map for their 2014 tournament,” the organization said.

League officials did not immediately return calls for comment. Throughout the investigation, the team has maintained that no cheating occurred.

This is the third time in the 68-year history of the Little League World Series that Little League International had vacated wins after an investigation had revealed wrongdoing. In 1992, a team from the Philippines was disqualified and in 2001 a team from the Bronx was disqualified.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy will miss four to six weeks of spring training for the Milwaukee Brewers because of a strain of his right hamstring.

The injury is near the top of Lucroy’s hamstring, close to the hip, an area that had given Lucroy a little trouble at the end of last season, assistant general manager Gord Ash said Wednesday.

Lucroy was fine when he was examined on Jan. 26 in Milwaukee at the time of the team’s winter fan outreach event, Ash said. The Brewers are unsure how Lucroy aggravated the injury.

Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to the team’s spring training facility next week in Arizona. Ash said he was hopeful that Lucroy would be ready for the April 6 opener against Colorado.

“One thing we wanted to make clear here, he can still throw, he can still hit,” Ash said. Lucroy will also get more work on the practice field at first base, as the Brewers had planned, though he won’t get game experience this spring.

Lucroy won’t run, or do any other activities that might further strain the injury

The injury doesn’t change the long-term plans to get the right-handed Lucroy as many as 30 games at first, Ash said. It’s a way to keep Lucroy’s bat in the lineup while limiting his workload behind the plate.

Left-handed hitting Adam Lind, acquired in the offseason from Toronto for pitcher Marco Estrada, is expected to be the regular first baseman in Milwaukee.

Lucroy started 133 games at catcher last year, hit .301 with 13 homers and 69 RBIs, and finished fourth in voting for the NL MVP award. He was one of the few regulars in an otherwise free-swinging lineup who was able to consistently work counts.

Ash said Lucroy mentioned he had some concern about his right hamstring at the end of last season, and Lucroy told doctors that he was having trouble with the hamstring in November.

He was cleared in late January. The team said that Lucroy’s agent told general manager Doug Melvin last weekend that the hamstring was bothering him.

Lucroy was diagnosed with the injury by the team doctor on Monday. Another examination on Tuesday confirmed the extent of the injury.

Melvin is already in Arizona. Ash said his boss is optimistic and “pleasantly surprised” with the progress made by injured right-handed relievers Tyler Thornburg and Jim Henderson. Thornburg (right elbow) and Henderson (right shoulder) were each lost during the middle of the 2014 season.

“Given what we’re seeing here, barring early setbacks, they’re viable candidates,” Ash said, “which is very good news for us.”

MARINETTE – Officials have released the names of the people involved in a fatal crash Tuesday morning in the town of Peshtigo.

The Marinette Co. Sheriff’s Dept. says Norita A. Gifford, 76, of Peshtigo was killed in the crash. Three other people in an ambulance were also involved. The driver, 57-year-old Thomas A. Bell Jr. of Escanaba, Michigan, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. An attendant in the ambulance, 27-year-old Andrew J. Metzler of Escanaba, was treated and released. Officials say the name of a female patient will not be released. She was taken to a Marinette hospital for treatment and was eventually taken to a Green Bay hospital.

The crash happened around 10:45 a.m. on Hwy. 41 between Hwy. T and Flame Rd. Investigators say Gifford tried to turn left onto northbound 41 from an access road when the southbound ambulance hit her car. She was pronounced dead at the scene; a dog in the car also died.

The ambulance ended up on a set of railroad tracks next to the highway. A freight train coming through the area had to be stopped so it did not hit the ambulance. The stopped train caused some traffic backups at railroad crossings near the scene.

Traffic on Hwy. 41 was shut down in both directions for several hours. Southbound lanes reopened just before 1:45 and northbound lanes about an hour later.

DORCHESTER (AP) – A company that makes manufactured homes plans to re-open two plants in central Wisconsin.

Canadian American Homes has purchased the plants formerly owned by Liberty Homes, of Dorchester, which ended production in 2013 following a downturn in the housing market.

Canadian American president Alan Emery says demand in the manufactured and modular home industry is increasing. The purchase of the Dorchester plants is expected to create 150 jobs in the next couple years.

News-Herald Media says Liberty Homes had been in operation since 1941 and once operated nine plants in six states.

OSHKOSH – Police are looking for a shoplifter.

Investigators say around 8 p.m. Tuesday, a female walked into Walgreens, 315 W. Murdock Ave. She walked around the store, put things into bags and left without paying for them.

Police released several surveillance images of the person.

• Click here to see the surveillance images

Anyone with information is asked to call Oshkosh police at (920) 236-5700. Anonymous tips can also be left with Crime Stoppers by phone at (920) 231-8477, by text message with the keyword IGOTYA to 274637 or online.

OSHKOSH – Police are looking for a person who stole cigarettes and gas from a convenience store.

Around 10:30 p.m. Monday, Oshkosh police say a female walked into Bob’s Citgo, 506 Ohio St., grabbed cigarettes and left without paying for them. She then got into a tan- or copper-colored minivan driven by a male, who left without paying for gas.

The female was wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to call Oshkosh police at (920) 236-5700. Anonymous tips can also be left with Crime Stoppers by phone at (920) 231-8477, by text message with the keyword IGOTYA to 274637 or online.

Hortonville village administrator Patrick Vaile was arrested Tuesday on child pornography possession charges, according to Outagamie County jail records.

Criminal charges have not been filed yet. Vaile, 59, may appear in court this afternoon, according to the district attorney’s office.

The jail report lists Vaile being booked in Tuesday night on ten counts of possession of child pornography.

Although the sheriff’s department is listed as the arresting agency, the investigation was handled by the state Dept. of Justice, according to sheriff’s Capt. Mike Jobe.

Fox 11’s message to the Dept. of Justice was not immediately returned.

The military says that the death of Staff Sgt. Heidi Ruh was a suicide.

The body of the former Kiel resident was found on a running track on a base in Kosovo last May.

“Based on the totality of the investigation, to include the evaluation of evidence, death scene examination, interviews, and the final autopsy and toxicology reports conducted by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, as well as the legal opinion, our investigation determined that SGT Ruh’s manner of death was suicide and the cause was an intraoral gunshot wound,’ said Chris Grey, of the Army’s criminal investigation division.

Ruh joined the military in January 2003 as a biomedical equipment specialist. She was assigned to a medical brigade at Fort Hood, Texas. She deployed to Kosovo in January 2014 and was attached to Kosovo Force’s Multinational Battle Group-East.

Grey said the length of the investigation was not unusual.

“There are no set time parameters for death investigations. CID Special Agents go to great lengths to treat and process all death investigations in a timely manner with special attention to detail to ensure we have an accurate account of exactly what transpired. That is the very least we owe to the deceased, their family and the Army, whatever the circumstances may be,” he said.

She is survived by two sons, ages eight and 11. They live with her ex-husband.

GREEN BAY –  Looking for a sweet treat for your sweetheart, but you don’t want to put your own baking skills to the test?  Then head to Oshkosh where Tamara’s The Cake Guru has you covered.  From custom cupcakes and cakes to other heart-shaped desserts, the bakery is full of special items for Valentine’s Day.  Owner Tamara Mugerauer and her assistant Megan Wara were on Good Day Wisconsin to share some of their sweet ideas.

Tamara’s the Cake Guru

1529 Oregon Street – Oshkosh

920-236-9144

Follow them on Facebook to see daily creations and specials.

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama is asking Congress to formally authorize war against Islamic State militants, offering a draft resolution that says the Islamic State “poses a grave threat.”

The president is sending Congress a proposed three-page authorization for military force. A copy was obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press from congressional officials.

Obama would limit authorization to three years, with no restriction where U.S. forces could pursue the threat. Obama’s proposal bans “enduring offensive combat operations,” an ambiguous term intended as compromise between lawmakers who want authority for ground troops and those who don’t.

Obama is proposing to end a 2002 authorization for war in Iraq. But his draft remains silent on 2001 legislation against al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

GRAFTON, Wis. (AP) – A man in Ozaukee County is accused of shooting his fiancee and trying to kill two police officers.

Grafton police responded to a domestic disturbance Saturday and broke into the house after hearing a gunshot. A criminal complaint says 31-year-old Joseph Damrow shot his fiancee in the leg and shot into a wall. The two officers were on the other side. They were not injured.

Damrow is being held on $150,000 bond. He has been charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, second-degree reckless injury and other counts.

SUAMICO- We’re getting a lesson in snakes and other reptiles on Good Day Wisconsin.

NEW Zoo Director Neil Anderson joined Good Day Wisconsin.

Click on the video to learn more.

MAZOMANIE, Wis. (AP) – Close relatives have identified the teenage girl and the man who were fatally shot at a mobile home near Mazomanie.

Authorities say a 17-year-old boy who was apparently upset over his breakup with a 15-year-old girl took a gun to her residence Monday night and fatally shot her 16-year-old sister and a 39-year-old man.

The man’s mother, Joyce Zimdars, identified her son, Chris Schwichtenberg, as one of the two victims. Zimdars says her son lived at the mobile home with the sisters’ mother and was raising his two teenage boys alone after their mother died about 10 years ago. Sixteen-year-old Ariyl Brady was also killed. Her mother, Mary Brady, and Schwichtenberg’s sons were not injured.

Ariyl Brady’s father, Justin Brady, tells the State Journal his other daughter, Amanda Brady, wasn’t home when her ex-boyfriend showed up.

MILWAUKEE- For the first time since it was stolen, a very rare instrument returned to the stage at Wisconsin Lutheran College Tuesday night.

Many feared its last show on that stage would be its final performance. The Lapinski Stradivarius was stolen from the Wisconsin Lutheran College parking lot in January of 2014. More than one year later, a celebration at the scene of the crime.

It was a celebration 300 years in the making. As Frank Almond played the Stradivarius at Wisconsin Lutheran College Tuesday evening, those who helped to recover it were also given a standing ovation.

In every great performance, the plot is never simple.

“There`s aspects of mystery, tragedy and comedy all rolled up into this thing,” Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said.

In the drama involving the stolen Stradivarius violin, the greatest performance may not have happened on the stage, but rather, behind the scenes.

“We`re just darn glad members of this department rose to the occasion,” Chief Flynn said.

More than a year ago, two men stole the rare Stradivarius violin in the parking lot of Wisconsin Lutheran College. Concertmaster Frank Almond was tasered and the treasured instrument vanished.

“There was a lot of pressure on us,” Chief Flynn said.

On Tuesday night, Almond and members of the Milwaukee Police Department returned to the scene of the crime.

“It’s also great being here — being at this wonderful institution for a concert event, rather than a crime scene,” Chief Flynn said.

For the first time since the crime, the concertmaster and the rare violin took the stage.

“Without the work that these men, and women and many others in that whole case, this concert literally would not have happened,” Frank Almond said.

It was a celebration for the instrument, which recently turned 300 years old, and those who helped to save it.

“I’m very grateful for that,” Almond said.

The men who stole the instrument were arrested, convicted, and are both serving time in prison.