Green Bay News

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A 33-year-old woman who witnesses say stood motionless while her young daughter was struck and killed on a Madison street has been sentenced to more than two years in prison.

Raya Hansen told a Dane County judge Monday that she takes full responsibility for the death of her 1-year-old daughter, Lily.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports Hansen said she wanted to apologize “to everyone who had to go through this.”

Hansen pleaded guilty last week to child neglect. She will be on 10 years of extended supervision.

The complaint says Hansen was high on drugs when she put her daughter in a wheelchair and headed to a drug store about 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 14, 2013.

The wheelchair rolled out into the street and was struck by a van.

BELLEVUE – The most romantic day of the year is just days away.

This Valentine’s Day got FOX 11 wondering what makes love last a lifetime.

FOX 11’s Pauleen Le spent the morning at Bellevue Retirement visiting Jim and Fran Gigl who have been married for 69 years, Art and Ethel Lambert who have been married for 56 years, Al and Darlene Paul who have been married for 61 years and Bob and Trudy Gmack, who have been married for 65 years for some tips.

For more information on Bellevue Retirement, a Senior Lifestyle Community, click here.

 

GREEN BAY- Snow will start Tuesday night and continue through the night with an expected 1 to 3 inches of accumulation by Wednesday morning in most places.

A couple northern counties are under a Winter Weather Advisory.

Clouds will increase Tuesday and temperatures will reach the mid 20s.

A storm system will push in from the west and track to Lake Superior by midnight.

Most of the day will be snow-free but we’ll start to see some accumulation in our western counties by 5 p.m. and in Green Bay and the Fox Cities by 6 p.m.

Snow will mostly end by 6 a.m. Wednesday but there is a chance for a few snow showers throughout the day and temperatures will be near 30 early in the afternoon and fall to near 22 by 5 p.m.

After that, much colder air moves in. When you wake up on Thursday morning the temperature will be near zero.

MAZOMANIE- Two people have been shot overnight in Dane County.

The shooting happened around 11:30 p.m. Monday at a mobile home park in the Town of Mazomanie.

We don’t know the condition of the victims or if anyone was arrested.

We’ll be following this story all morning long on Good Day Wisconsin.

GREEN BAY – Two people have been forced from their home by a fire in Green Bay.

It happened about 7 p.m. Monday on Zeise Avenue. That’s on the city’s east side.

The fire department says a gas grill flared up and started the siding of the house on fire. The fire also damaged some of the framework of the house.

The blaze caused about $5,000 in damage. No one was hurt.

 

MILWAUKEE — Khris Middleton scored 12 of his 18 points in the third quarter, and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Brooklyn Nets 103-97 on Monday night.

Jared Dudley had 19 points for Milwaukee, which won its fifth straight home game. Giannis Antetokounmpo added 12 points and nine rebounds.

After a poor-shooting first half, the Bucks turned up the defensive pressure and forced eight turnovers in a third quarter in which they outscored Brooklyn by 16.

Jarrett Jack had 26 points for the Nets.

But mistakes doomed Brooklyn. It closed to 89-84 midway through the fourth quarter, but Dudley recovered a turnover by Mason Plumlee that turned into an easy transition layup for Middleton that put the Bucks back up by nine with 3:14 left.

FOND DU LAC – Athletes from the Canada to Sweden to Latvia are in Fond du Lac this week.

Monday, they kicked off the 35th Annual World Ice and Snow Sailing Association Championships. About 100 different athletes will be taking part.

“It’s kind of like our Olympics,” said Kellie Nightlinger of Juneau, Alaska.

Lake Winnebago is alive with the sounds of ice sailing. The athletes are revving up for a week of competition.

“Most of us are falling in love with the speed, because there’s tremendous speed when the conditions are right,” said Jenny Back of Sweden,

“You’re harnessing the wind to propel yourself and it’s kind of like you against the wind,” said Nightlinger.

But there’s more to like, than the fast pace.

“It’s like, it’s like some kind of escape,” said Richard Liepins of Latvia.

“It’s almost poetic to see it from a distance,” said Craig Molitor, President of the Fond du Lac Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The sport probably looks familiar. It’s a close relative to warm weather wind surfing.

“Most of us are summer sailors we like to sail year ’round,” Back explained.

There are three different classes of competition. There is the kite, the wing and sled classes. Some of the events are held both on smooth ice and on the snow that’s gathered on the lake.

“It’s good when guys from different countries come together and have the possibility to compete and party,” said Liepins.

You can see around the ice rink there are eleven flags from the eleven countries that are here to compete. Fond du Lac needed to bring in at least five countries in host the championship.

“The visitor’s bureau’s been working with them, really, for the last two years trying to pull this thing together. A year ago this week we brought the selection committee to town,” Molitor explained.

The visitors bureau worked with the Winnebago Association of Kiteboarders to make this event a reality.

Despite a slow start to the ice season, so far the lake is looking good.

“Ihis ice we’re standing on now is about two feet thick and as far as the conditions for the sport itself, it seems to be ideal,” said Molitor.

“The conditions today have been just perfect,” added Back.

So what makes Fond du Lac a perfect place for ice sailing? Competitors say it’s got a lot of wind, a lot of ice and a lot of expertise.

“I come back here to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin every year, two or three times a year to get better at my skills. There’s so many experts right in this area,” Nightlinger explained.

Events on the lake just off Roosevelt Park in Fond du Lac will be going on daily through Saturday.

GREEN BAY — Laken James had a stellar high school basketball career at Oconto, where she was not only an all-state caliber player, but left as the school’s all-time leader in every major category.

James is now a freshman on the UW-Green Bay women’s basketball team, but the point guard is pointless this season, in fact, minute-less.

James has gone from star player to anonymous, in some ways, but it’s really not that bad. After talking with Phoenix coach Kevin Borseth before the regular season tipped off James decided on redshirting, knowing minutes would be hard to come by with the likes of guards Megan Lukan, Tesha Buck, Kaili Lukan and fellow freshman Allie LeClaire in the way.

No basketball player wants to sit out a season, especially one of James’ caliber, but she already sees the benefit of redshirting.

“Right now, I’m redshirting, but I’m working and getting better,” said James, who is one of two freshman redshirting this season (Jen Wellnitz). “Even seeing strides throughout the year makes it a lot easier.”

Laken James has been special for Oconto

The redshirt decision not only should allow her more playing time during her career, she said she will likely double-major now that she has an extra season.

It’s definitely a no-brainer,” she said. “I ‘m not going to say it makes it easier. It’s definitely the smarter decision for me in my situation, so I’m happy with that.”

While James isn’t playing this season, she does suit up for games and travels with the team, so she’s getting as much experience as possible without playing. Her main experience, though, has come through practices where at times she impresses Borseth.

“We go after her and double-team her and all of a sudden she flips one behind the back to a kid screaming down the middle of the lane for a basket,” Borseth recalls. “It’s like, ‘Why did you throw that? It was the only one I had left,’ and it’s right on the money.”

When Borseth talks about James, he beams. He has an obvious excitement for when she’s able to hit the court.

“I really believe Laken James is going to be a whale of a player here,” Borseth said. “She’s a kid that wants to be here for one and she’s got talent, she’s got drive and is really a typical Green Bay kid.”

Borseth said the only negative of redshirting would be if James suffers an injury during her next four seasons and doesn’t have a redshirt year available. However, Borseth also said every player that has redshirted under his lead has never regretted the decision.

Currently, Green Bay, which leads the Horizon League this season, has three redshirt players in senior Megan Lukan and sophomores Mehryn Kraker and Mariah Monke, who are all starters.

So James has perfect examples as to why redshirting can be a positive. Still, she’s a competitor and does think about her time.

Said James: “It’s hard not to look forward to the future, and for me I use this year as strictly getting better and trying to make sure in some way I can get better.”

If James does get better it will be tough to keep her on the bench next season.

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

GREEN BAY – The days of less than $2 a gallon gas were short lived.

Big jumps last week, a little more Monday as February has been a month of rising pump prices so far. And it’s a trend that is expected to continue.

Prices are moving back up, although still well below anytime in the last several years. AAA says another 50 cents a gallon could be tacked on by mid-spring.

“I loved it! I was hoping they’d stay there longer,” lamented Norbert Radle of Neenah. “It was, oh no they’re going back up again. It’s going to happen.”

As gas prices go up, Radle is sharply aware of the impact on his wallet.

“A fill-up is about 14-15 gallons, so if it’s like 20 cents, that’s a couple bucks and on a monthly basis I drive a lot of miles, that adds up,” Radle said.

Other drivers are also looking back on the past as the pain at the pump increases.

“When gas prices were low, I filled that truck up every day and it was full because I had the opportunity to run whenever I wanted to, and yes I did take a couple more trips,” said Ed Ouradnik of Ashwaubenon.

Currently, the price of a gallon of regular unleaded in the Green Bay area is topping out at around $2.19. That’s compared to $2.05 a week ago. And just $2.00 a month ago.

And now, AAA officials say they expect gas prices to go up more, adding it’s not uncommon for costs to increase 30 to 50 cents per gallon between now and mid-spring.

“That’s an estimate of what we see in a typical year. This may be, it’s kind of an atypical year in a lot of ways,” said AAA Wisconsin Dir. of Public Affairs Nick Jarmusz. “Even though we’re seeing labor issues where it’s not something we see every year, we’re still seeing such low oil prices that even those refinery issues are, the low oil prices are continuing to keep prices at lows that we really haven’t seen in quite a while.”

The increase would put prices anywhere from $2.50 to $2.70 a gallon, which for some drivers, is a deal breaker.

“Definitely more time in front of the TV that’s for sure,” said Ouradnik.

There is some encouraging news. AAA does not expect the national average price of gas to rise above $3 a gallon this year.

“When it was near four dollars, that’s when it was really putting a clamp on our style. Three dollars I can live with,” said Radle.

“Anywhere near three dollars, that’s pretty much shooting your wallet,” said Ouradnik.

Motorists say they have no choice but to grin and bear it.

“You just do what you do,” Radle said.

AAA admits changes in the price of crude oil, which was recently trended up, could dictate the pace of any gas price increase or decrease.

GREEN BAY – A step ahead Monday for a new hotel near Lambeau Field.

Green Bay’s Plan Commission gave its approval for the Staybridge Suites, leaving only city council approval needed.

But what is the need for more hotel rooms in the stadium area, particularly year-round?

Developer Troy Hoekstra says his property would fill a niche.

”We think that there’s value in putting a lodging facility and attaching it to that with the banquet facility. It’s history and its location is an opportunity with extended stay,” said Hoekstra.

The $11.1 million plan includes a five story hotel building, complete with small meeting space and pool.

The developers still need more parking spaces on the hotel lot, but it’s working out a deal with nearby businesses.

At Monday’s meeting, Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt says he supports the new hotel.

“We’re bullish on the hotel market. We believe there is money to be made in hotels and that the community needs the right hotels and that’s what we’ve been going after,” said Schmitt.

We dug into the numbers, and here are the facts about existing hotels.

Right now, Brown County has 4300 rooms total. Many of those rooms are near Lambeau Field, where new development is poised to happen.

With the Road Star Inn closing, the Green Bay market is losing 67 hotel rooms. However, it could gain 77 hotel rooms with the new Staybridge Suites proposal.

“So really it’s pretty close to a wash. We’re not gaining a lot of supply but we are replacing some of the rooms we’re losing with a much nicer, newer product,” said Brad Toll, with the Green Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Toll says one more hotel won’t saturate the market. However, he says additional hotels in future developments could be too much.

“We look at the number of rooms that we have very carefully and we monitor that supply as well as what the demand is,” said Toll.

If approved, the developers hope Staybridge Suites will open early spring 2016.
The design will now go to the full Green Bay City Council. That meeting will be one week from tonight.

Don’t look now, but the basketball season is coming down to the final few weeks of the season, especially the girls’ side, which has just two week remaining.

It’s getting interesting everywhere in basketball, and that includes the Fox Valley Association boys standings, where Kaukauna lost its first game of the season last week, meaning the Galloping Ghosts and Kimberly each have one loss in conference play. Kaukauna was No. 1 in the FOX 11 Top 11 last week and despite a loss at Oshkosh West the Ghosts retain the No. 1 spot this week.

Furthermore, Kimberly lost a nonconference game but stays in the top five this week. The top five this week after Kaukauna is: Freedom, Seymour, Kimberly and Ripon.

Also, Ashwaubenon dropped out of the Top 11 and was replaced by Xavier.

As for the girls, De Pere remains in the top spot as the Redbirds have that look of not only a conference champion, but a team that could end up at the Resch Center and the state tournament.

There is a shakeup in the rankings after Kimberly won at Hortonville (No. 2 last week). The Polar Bears fall out of the top five and here are the top five teams this week after De Pere: Little Chute, St. Mary’s Springs, Xavier and Algoma. No teams fell out of the Top 11 this week.

This Week’s Key Games for Top 11 Teams

• Boys: Freedom at Xavier (Thursday). Both with one conference loss.
• Boys: Kimberly at Oshkosh West (Tuesday): The Wildcats did beat Kaukauna last week at home.
• Girls: Manitowoc at De Pere (Tuesday): Ships handed De Pere only loss.
• Girls: New London at Seymour (Tuesday): Each has two conference losses.
• Girls: Seymour at West De Pere (Friday): Each has two conference losses.
• Girls: Kimberly at Appleton North (Friday): North two games behind FVA co-leader Kimberly.

Here are this week’s rankings:

BOYS
1. Kaukauna (16-1): Ghosts suffer first loss to hold onto top spot. Last week: No. 1.
2. Freedom (16-1): Irish have big game this week at fellow conference co-leader Xavier. Last week: No. 3.
3. Seymour (16-2): Thunder has scored more than 80 points in each of last two games. Last week: No. 4.
4. Kimberly (14-2): Papermakers suffer nonconference loss to DeLaslle (Minn.). Last week: No. 2.
5. Ripon (15-2): Tigers have held last five opponents each under 50 points. Last week: No. 5.
6. De Pere (15-3): Redbirds allowing 41.2 points per game during six-game winning streak. Last week: No. 7.
7. West De Pere (14-5): Phantoms get big win last week against Shawano. Last week: No. 9.
8. Brillion (15-2): Lions should have easy week as they play two 1-win Olympian teams. Last week: No. 10.
9. Xavier (15-3): Hawks enjoying new year as they are 9-0 during 2015. Last week: unranked.
10. Luxemburg-Casco (14-4): Spartans drop crucial game at Shawano. Last week: No. 6.
11. Shawano (14-4): Hawks likely out of Bay Conference title race but still tough team. Last week: No. 8.
Dropped out: No. 10 Ashwaubenon (12-5).

GIRLS
1. De Pere (17-1): Redbirds look to avenge only loss this season when Manitowoc visits Tuesday. Last week: No. 1.
2. Little Chute (15-3): Mustangs maintain two-game lead in the Eastern valley. Last week: No. 3.
3. St. Mary’s Springs (18-1): Ledgers allowed a total of 51 points in two games last week. Last week: No. 4.
4. Xavier (14-4): Hawks’ Erin Powers having nice season, averaging 14.5 ppg. Last week: No. 7.
5. Algoma (14-3): With win Friday at Oconto, Algoma clinches another Packerland title. Last week: No. 8.
6. Hortonville (16-3): Polar Bears lose to Kimberly, now tied for first with Makers in FVA. Last week: No. 2.
7. Fox Valley Lutheran (14-4): Foxes get two wins last week by less than 10 points each. Last week: No. 9.
8. Freedom (14-4): Irish finishes season with four straight opponents playing at under .500. Last week: No. 10.
9. West De Pere (15-4): West De Pere has huge game Friday against Seymour. Last week: No. 5.
10. Green Bay Southwest (13-5): In battle for third in FRCC, Trojans have big games this week against Bay Port and Pulaski. Last week No. 11.
11. Seymour (16-4): Thunder has huge game Tuesday against New London. Last week: No. 6.
Dropped out: None.

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

MARINETTE – Marinette Marine marked a milestone on another LCS ship this afternoon. Workers laid the keel on the USS Wichita.

It is just one of six LCS ships currently being worked on in Marinette.

Laying the keel celebrates the start of construction on a ship’s hull. But Marinette Marine leaders say the USS Wichita’s keel laying also celebrates the transition of an entire shipyard.

“This is a turning point,” said Jan Allman, president and CEO of Marinette Marine.

In 2009, Marinette Marine’s parent company decided to spend $100 million over five years to more efficiently build LCS ships. The Wichita is the first ship to fully utilize Marinette Marine’s new production capabilities.

“She was the one that actually showed what we can do and what we’re capable of improving in the future,” said Joe North, of Lockheed Martin.

“We’re leaner,” said Allman. “We’re more efficient in building this hull than any of our past hulls.”

People in Marinette hope the Navy is taking note of the improvements. North says Lockheed Martin and Marinette Marine expect to start discussions with the Navy in the next few weeks on what ships could be built there in the future. That includes Small Surface Combatant ships, a variation of the LCS, to be known as Frigates.

“I think the good news is the Secretary of Defense announced they were going to continue on with modified LCSs,” said North.

The ships are supposed to have increased firepower and survivability. Leaders of the LCS program say maintaining the current workload is proof they can handle any order sent their way.

“Each one of these is a step forward, proving what our commitment is to the program and what we’re trying to do,” said North.

North says work on two more LCS ships, numbers 17 and 19, will start in about eight months.

The World Ice and Snow Sailing Championship (WISSA) is held on Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac Feb. 9-14, 2015.

OLATHE, KS (KCTV)- A Kansas couple has a simple secret to a long marriage. It seems to work.

The husband and wife have been together for more than eight decades.

The Worldwide Marriage Encounter honored Dale and Alice Rockey with its annual longest married couple award Saturday in Olathe.

The couple has been married for 81 years. The Rockeys met in Nebraska when they were both teenagers and married on December 29th, 1933. They have five sons and several grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren.

The Rockeys say the secret to their long and happy marriage is they tell each other all of the time that they love each other.

The Rockeys were chosen from over 375 nominations.

According to its website, the Worldwide Marriage Encounter is a marriage enrichment program that created this project to highlight marriage in America.

Marinette Marine held a ceremony marking the beginning of construction on the USS Wichita, Feb. 9, 2015.

Watch a live stream panel discussion that examines the escalating terror threat and the impact on free speech and expression. Panelists will also look at the impact of terror groups and the radicalization of Islam and what action the U.S. government should take to protect all Americans.

It’s not just Green Bay that’s way below average for snowfall, it’s the majority of Northeast Wisconsin.

Let’s take a look though at Green Bay, one of the few places with long-term records and data.

We’re sitting only about 20 inches so far since July 1st, about a foot below where we should be by now.

And as we look across our area, it’s a similar story.

Plymouth is near 14 inches below average.

Appleton and Oshkosh are sitting about 3 inches blow their average mark.

Most other spots in the southern third of our area are sitting between those two marks.

Moving a bit farther north, Shawano is 2.5 inches below average.

Clintonville, a little more than 3.

Kewaunee is close to normal, but still a shade under.

Over the northwoods, things start to diverge a little bit.

Peshtigo and Marinette are both way below average, but the far northern tires of our area are a different story.

Laona, Florence, Crivitz High Falls, Wausaukee, and Washington Island are all above average.

And in Florence’s case, about 2 feet above average.

While you normally see more snow the farther north you go anyway, the differences this year are even more stark than usual.

NEW YORK (AP) – Ed Sabol, the NFL Films founder who revolutionized sports broadcasting and transformed pro football from an up-and-coming league to must-watch theater, has died. He was 98.

Sabol died Monday at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, the NFL said.

Sabol was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011. During his tenure at NFL Films from 1964-1995, the organization won 52 Emmy Awards.

Working with his son, Steve, Sabol introduced a series of innovations taken for granted today: super slow-motion replays, blooper reels, reverse angle shots. They stuck microphones on coaches and players, set highlights to pop music and recorded pregame locker room speeches.

And one of their most important decisions was hiring John Facenda to narrate all this. He became known as the “Voice of God,” reading lyrical descriptions in solemn tones.

“We began making the game personal for the fans, like a Hollywood movie,” Sabol told The Associated Press before his Hall of Fame induction. “Violent tackles, the long slow spiral of the ball, following alongside the players as they sidestepped and sprinted down the field. The movie camera was the perfect medium at the time to present the game the way the fans wanted to see it.”

A star swimmer at Ohio State who had a brief stage career, Sabol was in the overcoat business with his father-in-law in Philadelphia before he formed Blair Productions, a film company named after his daughter. He described himself as a longtime “amateur moviemaker,” whose only experience producing sports was recording the action at Steve’s high school football games.

Then he won the rights to chronicle the 1962 NFL championship, changing the course of his film career and – very possibly – the league’s fortunes.

When Ed Sabol founded NFL Films, his son was there working beside him as a cinematographer right from the start. The two were honored with the Lifetime Achievement Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2003.

Steve Sabol, who succeeded his father as NFL Films’ president, died in 2012 at age 69 of brain cancer.

GREEN BAY – Green Bay may soon be another step closer to extending the East River Trail.

The city is in the process of purchasing half an acre of land located on Green Bay’s east side.

Once the land is purchased, the trail will extend along Saint George and Main Streets.

The Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department says the city applied for a Department of Natural Resources grant last year.

“Where we sit right now is we’re still completing property acquisitions. So this grant is for acquisition only. Once we purchase all of the properties along the stretch, that’s when we’ll try and secure funding to actually build the trail,” said Daniel Ditscheit, with the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry.

The city says it will probably take a few more years before trail development.

Once it’s finished, the trail will extend a mile and include a launch for canoes and kayaks.

DALE –  An Outagamie County couple is readjusting to life at home, two and a half years after a serious crash nearly cost Rick Boelter his life.

The 52-year-old Dale man hit a deer on his motorcycle about a mile from his home.

With a well-orchestrated escort he returned home Monday for the first time since.

Monday was Boelter’s last day recovering at Brewster Village Rehabilitation Center in Grand Chute.

Boelter hit a deer on his motorcycle near his home nearly three years ago.

“They told us he would be a miracle if he made it through the night of his accident, and then they told me he would pass away if I took him off the ventilator, and he proved them wrong again,” said Terry Boelter, Rick Boelter’s Wife.

Boelter suffered a brain injury, and had to have is right leg amputated below the knee.

His wife Terry was by his side every step of the way.

“It’s been a long road, but like I said, I’m very proud of him, and and we’re going home today,” she said.

Boelter crashed near the home of a Dale Fire & Rescue first responder. On Monday, that same first responder, was part of an escort that made sure Boelter and his family got home safely.

“It’s a small community, and Rick has been battling for two years trying to get back home, and we’re here to support him and make that celebration happen,” said Chad Ewing, Dale Fire & Rescue.

With encouragement from family and friends, Boelter made it up the new ramp to his home.

The Boelters had to made some modifications inside their home.

And after a few adjustments, Rick was ready for some needed rest.

“It feels good to be home. I waited a long time. I got here now, That’s the main thing I needed,” said Rick Boelter.

Boelter still needs physical therapy, and so the couple may buy a van to make getting around easier.

But Boelter says his hope is to be back on a cycle in a year.