Green Bay News

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Powerball jackpot has climbed to $485 million, making Wednesday night’s drawing the fifth largest prize in U.S. history.

It’s been more than two months since someone won the Powerball jackpot, so the prize has been gradually growing from its $40 million starting point.

The last time Powerball grew nearly so large was February 2014.

Because of strong sales, lottery officials Tuesday raised the estimated jackpot from $450 million to $485 million.

Lottery officials are quick to point out that the game is for fun and a chance to dream. They note the chance of winning a Powerball jackpot is about 1 in 175 million.

Powerball revenue has been down slightly during a drought of jackpots, but officials say this big prize has caused sales to surge.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has opened an office in Iowa, the first of the potential 2016 presidential candidates to take such a step.

Walker spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski confirmed Tuesday that Walker’s tax-exempt fundraising group, Our American Revival, has leased the space in a suburb of Des Moines.

Kukowski says the campaign is in the process of opening other offices, but she had no further details on where they would be or the timing.

The office has been used for numerous other political campaigns in recent years, including Mitt Romney’s general election effort in 2012 and prior to that Michele Bachmann’s campaign during the Iowa caucus that year.

Walker’s director of Iowa operations previously worked for Bachmann in that race.

The Des Moines Register first reported on Walker securing the space.

MARINETTE COUNTY – A stretch of Hwy. 41 northbound is closed in Marinette County because of a crash between a car and an ambulance.

The crash happened around 10:45 a.m. near Hwy. T, the State Patrol says. The ambulance ended up on train tracks, and a train is stopped short of the crossing.

Traffic in both directions was stopped. Southbound lanes opened around 1:45.

A detour route has been set up using Flame Rd., Old Peshtigo Rd. and Hwy. T.

ALGOMA – A burglar told a homeowner he was looking for a warm place to escape the cold, Algoma police say.

Just after 6:45 p.m. Monday, officers were called to the 200 block of N. Fourth St. The homeowner told investigators he was away from home all day, and when he came back, he found someone in his house. The intruder left after his conversation with the homeowner. The homeowner discovered that someone had gone through the property and coins were missing from a cup.

The intruder was described as a white male, around 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds, with short hair and medium-length facial hair. he was wearing a white winter jacket with plaid print and blue jeans.

Police say three similar burglaries have taken place in the past seven weeks, and they may be related. One was on Lakeview Dr. and two more were on Margaret Lynn Ave. In those cases, coins, food and drinks were taken. In most of the cases, homeowners had left some doors unlocked.

Anyone with information is asked to call Algoma police at (920) 487-3311.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin grocery shoppers may soon be able to sample mini-shots of hard liquor in an aisle near them.

The Assembly’s government operations committee unanimously approved a bipartisan bill Tuesday that would allow retailers with liquor licenses to provide small shots of booze to their customers. The measure would allow shoppers to sample one half-ounce of hard alcohol, the equivalent of one-third a shot.

Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, says he sponsored the bill to level the playing field for distilleries and other liquor producers as they compete with breweries and wineries, which can offer samples.

The bill now moves to a vote in the Assembly. Kleefisch says he anticipates a unanimous vote in that chamber later this week.

A similar bill is under consideration in the Senate.

OSHKOSH – Someone broke in to a convenience store and stole tobacco products.

Oshkosh police say the burglary happened around 11:30 p.m. Friday at the Citgo station at 403 N. Sawyer St.

The burglar is thought to be in his late teens or early 20s. Surveillance images can be seen above.

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

Watch a Feb. 10, 2015 news conference by Menominee tribal and Hard Rock International officials in Milwaukee.

The tribe and Hard Rock International offered to pay $220 million toward a new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks if Gov. Scott Walker reversed his decision to deny their plan to build a casino in Kenosha.

BROWN COUNTY – For the fourth time, the family of a missing Brown County woman has increased a reward in the case.

Victoria Prokopovitz was last seen at her Pittsfield home in April of 2013. She left her purse at home, with her ID, money and cellphone. Since then, friends and family have tried to figure out what happened to the 60-year-old grandmother. An exhaustive search hasn’t turned up any clues as to why she disappeared without identification, money or a vehicle.

Prokopovitz’s family is now offering an $11,000 reward for information leading to her location. The reward expires May 11, the Brown Co. Sheriff’s Office says.

The reward increased to $10,000 in October. Previous rewards were for $5,000, $2,500 and $1,000.

Anyone with information can call the Brown Co. Sheriff’s Investigative Division at (920) 448-4230, Crime Stoppers at (920) 432-7867, or send a text message to 274637 with the keyword GBTIP and the information.

NEENAH – Workers at a Neenah plant have been sent home because of a water line break.

SCA company leaders say the break happened in a water line in the fire protection system at the Neenah converting plant. There was some flooding in the plant and the electricity was turned off.

The flooding did not affect the company’s warehouse or shipping and will not affect customers’ orders, the company says. SCA hopes production can restart in unaffected parts of the plant on Wednesday.

About 450 employees work at the plant. Those who were not working on the problem were sent home.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – The Milwaukee City Council has approved a controversial $124 million streetcar connecting downtown and the lower east side.

A motion to reconsider passage of the streetcar failed on Tuesday. It was last approved in January. Opponents gathered petition signatures to block the project and argued the city had better way to spend its money than a streetcar that would only travel several miles along a fixed route.

But, proponents and business leaders urged the council to move forward with the project because it would stimulate economic development and new jobs.

Mayor Tom Barrett says he expects once the streetcar is built, its routes will be expanded.

MADISON (AP) – The Wisconsin Department of Justice is opposing civil rights advocates’ claims for $1.2 million in attorney fees they say they accumulated fighting the state’s gay marriage ban.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit in 2014 challenging the ban on behalf of eight gay couples. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb invalidated the ban in June. The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld her ruling in September.

ACLU lawyers and other attorneys who worked behalf of the couples filed a motion with Crabb in December demanding $1.2 million in attorney fees.

The DOJ filed a brief Tuesday saying that the claim grossly exceeds the market rate for civil rights attorneys in Crabb’s jurisdiction and questioning the attorneys’ hours.

Watch live streaming video of a news conference by the Menominee Tribe on the latest efforts to build a casino in Kenosha.

APPLETON – The emerald ash borer has made its way to Appleton.

City officials say the invasive beetle was found last month by a company removing an ash tree on private land. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture last week confirmed the presence of the insect in a sample from the property. It was the first time EAB was found in the city.

Emerald ash borers lay their eggs on the bark of ash trees in mid- to late summer. When the eggs hatch a week or two later, the larvae burrow under bark for the winter and feed, destroying the trees ability to take up nutrients and water. The trees eventually die and pose the danger of falling onto someone or something.

Outagamie, Calumet and Winnebago counties – the three counties in which Appleton lies – were already under quarantine for EAB. Outagamie and Calumet counties were put under quarantine last September when an insect was found near High Cliff State Park.

Anyone in Appleton who suspects an infestation can call the city forester at (920) 832-5580. The city can help with identification and planning but cannot remove trees from private property. The city will remove ash trees from terraces if requested.

• Click here to learn more about EAB and ways to combat it

Since 2003, Appleton has had a plan to deal with EAB. It involves removing all ash trees at construction projects; removing the most recently planted ash trees as time and budget allow; evaluating, removing and replacing ash trees that are in poor condition; working with state officials on trapping plans and completing an invesntory of city-owned ash trees. Officials say around 15 percent of the 30,500 terrace trees in Appleton are ash trees. About 125 are removed every year for a total of 700 since 2009. It costs the city $40-$70 to remove each one.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The parents of an American woman held by Islamic State militants say they have been notified of her death.

Carl and Marsha Mueller, the parents of Kayla Jean Mueller, released a statement on Tuesday saying they have been told that she has died.

The White House also issued a statement confirming her death.

The Islamic State group said Friday that the 26-year-old Mueller from Prescott, Arizona, died in a Jordanian airstrike.

The government of Jordan dismissed the statement as propaganda. U.S. officials have said they hadn’t seen any evidence to corroborate the report. Mueller is the only known remaining U.S. hostage held by the Islamic State group. She was taken into captivity in August 2013 while leaving a hospital in Syria.

MADISON (AP) – Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is far outpacing her challenger in fundraising in the race for the state’s highest court.

Bradley reported Monday raising just over $375,000 for the contest so far, compared with about $139,000 for Rock County Circuit Judge James Daley.

In January alone Bradley raised nearly $110,000 compared with $65,000 for Daley.

Bradley also has four times as much cash on hand for the final two months of the race. Bradley has nearly $353,000 compared with just over $88,000 for Daley.

Outside groups with partisan interests have spent heavily on officially nonpartisan Supreme Court races in recent years, far surpassing spending by the actual candidates.

The election for a 10-year term on the court is April 7.

The Menominee Tribe and Hard Rock International Corporation will hold news conferences today for what they call a “major game changer” for the Kenosha casino project.

Gov. Walker rejected the tribe’s plans for a Kenosha casino, but the tribe has persisted in trying to get him to change his mind.

The Milwaukee event will be held near the Bradley Center. State and local officials have been working on finding funding to replace the facility.

The tribe has scheduled news conferences in Milwaukee and Madison. Fox 11 will be covering the story all day and will have updates on line and on Fox 11 News at Five.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – A rare charge of assisting suicide has been filed against a Milwaukee man discovered unresponsive in a hotel room where a woman was found dead.

Medical examiner’s records say a Facebook post by John McCormack and a call to his sister led police to a hotel near Mitchell International Airport last month. The 53-year-old McCormack was found on the floor unresponsive. Twenty-nine-year-old Marlowe Marie Chapman was found dead on a bed.

Records say McCormack left a letter to police saying he and Chapman decided to end their lives because of troubles with their living situation and her health issues. Authorities say McCormack described in the letter how he melted sleeping pills into vodka and orange juice for Chapman.

McCormack’s defense attorney, Deja Vishny, tells the Journal Sentinel there are “there are complex psychological issues at play that have to be examined.”

CLEVELAND (AP) – An 11-year-old suburban girl charged with murder in the beating death of a 2-month-old who was staying overnight with her and her mother expressed no remorse over the infant’s death, police said.

The 11-year-old, her mother and the baby girl, Zuri Whitehead, were on a couch downstairs when the mother fell asleep at about 3 a.m. Friday, Wickliffe police Chief Randy Ice said at a news conference Monday. The mother was awakened less than an hour later by her daughter, who was holding the badly injured infant. Ice said the 11-year-old took the infant upstairs. When she returned downstairs, the infant was bleeding and her head was badly swollen, he said.

The 11-year-old’s mother immediately called 911, Ice said. Zuri was flown to a children’s trauma center in Cleveland, where she died.

Ice said the girl did not show any remorse. “I’m not sure she appreciated the gravity of what she did,” he said.

Juvenile Judge Karen Lawson entered a not guilty plea for the girl at a detention hearing on Monday and ordered that she undergo a competency hearing.

The police chief said the mother of the 11-year-old and Zuri’s mother, Trina Whitehead, have known each other for five or six years but aren’t related. Trina Whitehead has three other children and had the girl’s mother keep Zuri, of Cleveland, overnight to give her a breather.

The Associated Press is not naming the 11-year-old girl or her mother because of her age.

Neither Ice nor a Lake County juvenile court official could recall a murder suspect being that young. Court administrator Chris Simon said 13 is the youngest age that children are typically detained at the county’s juvenile detention center, where the girl is being held.

The girl cannot be tried as an adult. A child must be at least 14 years old in Ohio to be turned over to adult court. An 11-year-old can, however, be sentenced to a state Department of Youth Services facility until age 21.

FBI crime statistics show there were 20 children age 12 and under in the U.S. who were accused of murder during 2012, the most recent year for which statistics were available.

The middle school the girl attends had called police about the girl on one occasion for a non-violent incident, Ice said. The girl and her mother have been questioned.

The girl’s public defender declined to comment on Monday.

Ice is considering counseling for the officers who responded to the scene.

“We’re having a hard time getting (our) heads around this,” he said. “You don’t see stuff like this.”

ASHWAUBENON- A new toy train exhibit is open at the National Railroad Museum in Ashwaubenon.

It’s entitled “From Generation to Generation: The Love of Toy Trains.”

It features toy trains from John Casperson’s never before seen collection as well as other objects from the Museum’s own collection.
“Reflective of our mission to educate through the preservation of our community’s material history, this new exhibit will engage people of all ages, inspiring intergenerational connections, math and science learning, and an appreciation for the past,” said Jacqueline D. Frank, Executive Director of the National Railroad Museum.

For more information, click here.

Bob Lettenberger joined Good Day Wisconsin with a look.