KAUKAUNA, WI (WTAQ) - Kaukauna's city clerk has come under fire over the past year for lack of organization, improper filing of records and late federal tax payments that's led to fines for the city.

The latest red flag happened during Tuesday's spring election, when about 130 voters were given incorrect ballots.

"The ballots were all on the table, but were given out off of the wrong pile. It was certainly unintentional," Kaukauna Mayor Gene Rosin says. "I'm sure the appropriate authorities will be looking into that and deciding on how they want to remedy that debacle."

But the problems surrounding the office, led by clerk Susan Duda, began to appear last September. That's after a second independent auditor, Baker Tilly, conducted an audit of the office.

"Sloppiness...and I hate to say that, but from what I'm seeing now and with the studies, that's what it looks like to me," says Rosin. 

The Times-Villager newspaper first reported on the "Internal Control Review" presented to city leaders. It detailed a, "lack of organization, storage and filing systems in the clerk/treasurer's area." They also found three areas considered, "high risk for potential misappropriation of assets, errors in financial reporting, or additional liability to the city."

The city has paid fines for Duda missing the target date of tax payments, but Rosin didn't detail how much it has cost them. He does say these independent audits are worth the investment to prevent future problems.

Rosin says based upon the recommendations outlined in that audit, along with a prior one performed by Schenck and Associates, a committee was formed to implement some procedural changes.

"We want to correct and put in place upgrading that office with perhaps higher technology, maybe additional training is needed," says Rosin.

The mayor said it's a process that started three to four months ago, and will continue to be implemented over the rest of this year. Rosin said this issue, combined with the recent election, has made it a rough ride for city hall.

"I have had residents that have asked me, what are you guys doing down there?" said Rosin. "I'm sure there have been residents that have contacted her and felt the heat through the grapevine."

Despite the publicity generated by these problems, Duda won her re-election Tuesday over challenger Glen Meyerhofer 65 to 35%. Rosin says that speaks volumes about the public's confidence that she can perform her job up to these new standards.

"Her long-term tenure down here has proven that she is capable of doing that job," says Rosin, who added they've discussed adding a second full-time person to help in the office. Currently, the Kaukauna Clerk/Treasurer's office has one full-time, one part-time and a shared employee with another city department.

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Oshkosh police say they've arrested a man for drunk driving after he crashed into a squad car and resisted arrest.

An anonymous caller tipped off the cops to a suspicious vehicle in the driveway of a business at 2125 W. 20th Avenue around 4:40 a.m. Wednesday. The vehicle had damage on the front quarter panel on the driver's side.

Police officers arrived on scene to find the driver passed out. When he did wake up, the 30-year-old Fond du Lac man began swearing at the cops. He then drove backwards into the front corner of a police car. 

Officers stated that they broke out the driver's side window of his car to prevent him from getting away. They took him to the hospital for a blood test. The suspect was then cleared to go to jail.

Police are still trying to figure out what the man’s car hit before their encounter. The blue 2000 Chevrolet Impala not only had damage to one side, but had been driven with no tire on the front driver’s side for a while.

Anyone who finds damage that may have been caused by this car is asked to call Oshkosh police at (920) 236-5700.

OCONTO, WI (WTAQ) - Charges have been filed against a Neenah man accused of causing a fatal drunk driving crash last weekend.

19-year-old Zachary Romnek is facing one count of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle. The crash happened on County Highway W in the Town of Riverview early Saturday.

The criminal complaint states that Romnek was drunk when he lost control of his pickup truck and struck a tree. 19-year-old Thornton Gressler of Bonduel died at the scene.

Romnek posted a $5,000 cash bond. He is due back in court next week.

(Additional reporting from FOX 11).

NEENAH, WI (WTAQ) - State Assembly Republican Dean Kaufert has been elected as the new mayor of Neenah -- and he's thinking about keeping his legislative seat until his term officially ends next January.

Kaufert defeated Neenah's incumbent mayor George Scherck Tuesday. The 56-year-old Kaufert says he won't run for re-election to his State Capitol post this fall -- but he might not resign before then.  

The Assembly's regular session is over, but two special sessions are possible -- one which might consider censuring or expelling Representative Bill Kramer, who's charged with sexual assault.

Also, Governor Scott Walker says he'll call a special session if the Supreme Court strikes down the 2011 photo ID requirement for voting. Walker said he wants something in place for this fall's elections that would pass constitutional muster.

Kaufert has spent almost two dozen years in the Assembly. He's the 15th member of the lower house to announce that he'll leave the chamber by the end of the year.

(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Police in Green Bay say they were called to the city's east side Wednesday night for a report of a teenager with a gun.

Officers say the gun turned out to be fake, but they did discover a small amount of drugs inside a Stuart St. home.

“We have had a history with this house, nothing of this type that I know of,” Lt. Pat Childs told FOX 11. “The people that were here we have a history with, some of them don’t live here and we have a pretty significant history with them of this type of activity.”

A neighbor called police around 7 p.m. after seeing a group of kids outside the house. One of the kids was displaying a gun in a threatening manner.

“We did locate the handgun,” said Childs. “It was a facsimile gun, but looked just like a real handgun. Nobody was hurt. We don’t have any information on anybody else that was threatened with it or anything like that but the investigation is ongoing.”

Six people were taken into custody, one of them was a juvenile.

MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) - A Manitowoc man is greatful to be alive thanks to his dog waking him up when his house caught fire.

Fire crews say the blaze broke out around 12:30 a.m. Thursday at the home on 17th Street.

Both the man and dog are okay. It's unclear what caused the fire and how much damage was caused.

HOWARD, WI (WTAQ) - Officials say one person is dead and another is hurt after a semi truck carrying carrying heavy equipment exploded Thursday.

The Brown County Sheriff's Department say it happened on Pamperin Road, near Grubber Road around 1:25 p.m.

Authorities say the truck was carrying a compressed natural gas fuel system. Howard Public Safety Director Ed Janke says something shifted in the truck causing the system to detonate.

The truck belongs to Ace Manufacturing Industries, which has two facilities near each other on Pamperin Road. It was driving from one of the facilities to the other at the time.

The male driver was pronounced dead at the scene. A male passenger was thrown from the vehicle and taken to an area hospital with critical injuries.

In a statement late Thursday from Ace Manufacturing Industries co-owners Kelley Krouth and Brian Lakari, " First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the truck driver who lost his life in this accident, as well as another worker who was injured. For privacy reasons, we are not releasing the names of those involved. We are a small and close-knit company and this has shaken and saddened all of us.  We are fully cooperating with local authorities. Our second shift has been cancelled, but we will resume third shift operations.”

A number of businesses were either evacuated or asked to take cover in a save area of their business while rescue crews addressed leaking fuels and removed the injured passenger.

Howard Fire and Brown County Hazmat Teams secured the area so a Reconstruction Team could start to document the scene.

Pamperin Rd. between Velp Ave. and Cornell Road will remain closed for several hours while the investigation continues.

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Three men were arrested and two guns recovered after an incident in Oshkosh Wednesday night.

Police say they were called to the 800 block of Frederick Street around 9:50 p.m. for a report of a shot being fired.

Cops say two Oshkosh men, ages 33 and 32, were fighting and each had a gun. A shot was fired during the disturbance and the 32-year-old man took off with both guns.

Authorities say that man gave one of the guns to an 18-year-old man. Both men hid the guns in a neighboring garage and went into a house before being arrested.

No one was hurt.

All three are being held in the Winnebago County Jail.

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Police in Oshkosh need your help finding the people who used a stolen credit card at some local businesses.

Authorities say the card was in a purse stolen from the Fox River Mall in Grand Chute. After it was used in Oshkosh on March 15, the card was deactivated.

Oshkosh P.D. have released several surveillance photos of the two suspects.

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

HOWARD, WI (WTAQ) - Authorities are releasing more information about the fatal truck explosion in the Village of Howard Thursday.

The Brown County Communication center began receiving calls about a large explosion in the 2200 block of Pamperin Road around 1:25 p.m.

Sheriff's officials say a box-style truck was slowing to make a turn into a parking lot of Ace Manufacturing Inc. when its load shifted, potentially compromising the truck's compressed natural gas fuel system. That fuel system detonated.

The driver of the truck, 59-year-old Gerald A. Throw Sr. of Sobieski, was killed in the blast. A passenger in the truck, 29-year-old Jose M. Perez of Green Bay, was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The truck itself is owned by McCoy Nationalease Inc. and was leased to Ace Manufacturing.

In a statement, the sheriff's department says the accident is still under investigation.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A plea deal has been reached for a former Green Bay school bus driver busted in an undercover child sex sting.

A Brown County judge allowed 34-year-old Victor Iakimenko to plead no contest to soliciting prostitution. He also entered an Alford plea to a charge of child enticement to avoid deportation.

An Alford plea means Iakimenko admits there is enough evidence for a conviction, but he maintains his innocence.

Iakimenko was caught in September 2013's Operation Black Veil Two. Authorities say Iakimenko chatted with online said he thought he was meeting a 15-year-old girl for a sexual act.

“In the end it was an appropriate outcome, I think the district attorney worked well with us in getting this case resolved,” Iakimenko's attorney Alf Langan told FOX 11.

Prosecutors say even though Iakimenko was willing to have sexual contact with a minor, they felt comfortable offering the deal because Iakimenko had posted an ad looking for an adult, not a child.

I think, under the facts and circumstances this was the appropriate resolution. There’s no allegation that he had any sexual contact with any of those children. There’s no allegation that he was specifically targeting young children by his ad,” according to Brown County District Attorney David Lasee.

Iakimenko will serve 30 days in jail, spend two years on probation and must complete sex perpetrator counseling. Should he not complete his two year probation, Iakimenko will be convicted of child enticement and deported. The felony charge will be wiped from his record if he remains clean.

(Additional reporting from FOX 11)

KAUKAUNA, WI (WTAQ) - We're learning more about an Election Day problem in Kaukauna.

More than 130 voters in the city's Ward 3 were given the wrong ballot. That led to those residents voting in a different Outagamie County Supervisor race.

On Friday, poll supervisors explained that the color of the slips of paper used to count how many voters voted in a specific ward didn't match the color of the ballot. So, poll workers ended up matching the colors of the voting slips.

“I guess we start to color coordinate the poll books, the ballots, and the voter slips,” Kaukauna City Clerk/Treasurer Susan Duda told FOX 11.

According to Outagamie County Clerk Lori O'Bright, she expects the candidates affected by these ballot problems in District 10 and 13 may ask for a recount.

(Additional reporting from FOX 11).

BELLEVUE, WI (WTAQ) - Brown County Sheriff's say a Green Bay man slammed his car into a garage overnight.

Deputies were called to a home at 2917 Mayflower Road in the village of Bellevue around 5:45 a.m.

When they arrived, deputies found the 21-year-old driver sitting in the driveway of that address. He was taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

Authorities say the crash damaged the garage, a car inside of it and the house. No one was home at the time.

The driver was cited for suspicion of OWI.

(Additional reporting from FOX 11)

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - While renovations continue at Lambeau Field, Packers fans can still look at the long and storied history of the Green Bay Packers.

The "Touchdown!" exhibit is on display starting Saturday at the Neville Public Museum.

The Packers Hall of Fame brought over many of the items prominently displayed at 1265 Lombardi, but this exhibit will also feature some new, never-before-seen artifacts and items.

The temporary home to the Packers Hall of Fame will be at the Neville Public Museum through the 2014 Packers season.

You can follow the latest on the Packers and see more exclusive video coverage of the "Touchdown!" exhibit at the News from the Pack blog.

OCONTO, WI (WTAQ) - Those getting court-ordered treatment in three Wisconsin counties are being sent to assisted living facilities with operational problems.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette says Oconto, Kewaunee, and Shawano counties continue to send poor and sick people to four facilities which got numerous state citations for resident abuse since 2000.

The newspaper said staffers at those living facilities have drugged and restrained residents, and did not separate people with violent records. Complaints of abuse were substantiated in 2006 and '13.

State officials said they notified the counties each time they took enforcement actions against the living facilities -- but the three counties did not stop using those places.

Shawano and Oconto counties recently renewed contracts to keep using the centers this year. A Kewaunee County official said he's "exceedingly reluctant" to keep working with one center.

Shawano County attorney Tony Kurdus said the county quickly removed two people from one living facility after learning about abuse. He said it helped prevent the abuse from continuing.

An Oconto County offical would not comment.

(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - More of us are eating yogurt -- a trend that's about to create more jobs in southwest Wisconsin.

Schreiber Foods of Green Bay is about to build a new distribution facility in Richland Center, where the company now has two yogurt plants that provide about 400 jobs.

UW experts say yogurt is big business. The university's center for Dairy Research says 83 percent of American households buy yogurt. Three-fourths of those people are repeat customers.

Schreiber Foods has 35 plants and distribution centers throughout the globe -- including a plant in Green Bay which makes processed cheese, and a cream cheese factory in West Bend.

(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - A new telephone scam has cropped up in the Fox Valley area.

The caller says a $200 stipend is available, and all that's needed is a bank account number so the money can be deposited.

Sandy Chalmers, head of the state's consumer protection division, says the calls are tempting because they offer cash stipends. By claiming to be from the government, Chalmers says the callers portray the image of being someone people can trust -- especially for consumers who are elderly and have respect for government authority.

In this case, Chalmers says the scammers use the bank account information to drain the balance. She urges consumers to resist the temptation for giving out personal data over the phone.

Chalmers says the calls claim to be from a variety of government sources including the IRS, police, medical centers, and other official agencies.

(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)

MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ) - Police officers and medical personnel looked on Monday, as Governor Scott Walker signed four bills aimed at fighting the growing abuse of heroin.

The Republican Walker went to Marinette, the hometown of Assembly Republican John Nygren. He proposed a half-dozen bills that got overwhelming approval from both houses.

Walker was scheduled to host ceremonies in Stevens Point, Eau Claire, and Milwaukee to sign three measures he did not sign at his first stop.

The bills signed in Marinette will grant limited immunity to encourage witnesses to call 911 and report heroin overdoses -- allow trained medical personnel to give out an antidote to overdose victims -- provide grant money for diversion programs to help abusers -- and provide funds to boost prescription drug disposal programs.

Nygren, whose daughter almost died from heroin abuse, said the bills were a first start, and he believes they'll make a difference in a region that's been hard hit by heroin abuse.

(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Oshkosh police say two people were arrested following an incident Monday night.

Cops were called around 9 p.m. to the 300 block of W. Melvin Avenue. A 46-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman, both from Oshkosh, had gone to that address to confront one of the residents over a prior incident. 

At one point, officers say the woman pointed a handgun at one of the residents. However, the gun was knocked out of her hand during a struggle.

Police then found the gun in the backyard. They also recovered brass knuckles on the man and a machete in the man and woman's car. The woman was taken to jail on possible charges of recklessly endangering safety and disorderly conduct. That man was arrested on charges of being party to recklessly endangering safety, carrying a concealed weapon, having a prescription drug without a prescription and disorderly conduct.

A 28-year-old woman and 27-year-old man who lived at the home were unharmed.

MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) - Manitowoc police say they've arrested a man for allegedly touching an 11-year-old girl inappropriately Monday.

Authorities say it happened at Madison Elementary School around 8 a.m.

According to school officials, a man had touched the girl while she worked as a student crossing guard. 

The suspect was last seen walking south on N. 4th Street. The victim and a witness described the man to police, who were able to arrest 23-year-old Marcus Charles Allen a few minutes later.

Allen told detectives that he touched the child over the clothing as he walked past. Manitowoc Police Chief Tony Dick says they have no reason to believe this incident was an attempt to abduct or coerce the child to leave the crossing guard post.

Dick says extra police presence will be around Madison Elementary School for the remainder of this week.

In court Tuesday, Allen had his bail set at $3,000 cash. He's facing a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

Anyone with information about this or a similar case is asked to call Manitowoc police at (920) 686-6551 or Manitowoc County Crime Stoppers at (920) 683-4466.