APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - Appleton police have arrested a man in connection with the heroin overdose death of a 20-year-old woman.
On Wednesday, police announced the arrest of 29-year-old Edward A. Spangler of Kaukauna. He has not been formally charged, but a charge of first-degree reckless homicide is being sought.
Authorities say their investigation started back on June 18, after Alyssa M. Steward of Appleton died. Autopsy results released in September showed that Steward died of a drug overdose.
KAUKAUNA, WI (WTAQ) - A groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday will mark the beginning of work to redevelop a historic downtown Kaukauna mill.
It'll take place at the 82,000 square foot Eagle Mill.
The final product, called Grand KaKalin, began in 2012 and will eventually house the Kaukauna Public Library while offering commercial and retail space.
Paper manufacturer Expera will lease the top floor of the building to house its new corporate headquarters.
WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ) - Investigators with the Green Bay Police Department has searched in the hopes of locating missing UW-Green Bay student Amber Wilde.
For the second time, police conducted a search of a 30-acre property near Waupaca. That's after the PD applied for and was granted a search warrant of the property, which was first searched in 2000.
Wilde was four-and-a-half months pregnant when she went missing in September of 1998.
No other information about the case has been made available.
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Police are investigating the assault and robbery of a UW-Oshkosh student Wednesday evening.
The student told authorities he was struck in the head while walking on Elmwood Avenue, near the Halsey Science building, around 7 p.m.
The victim says he's unsure what he was hit with. The student says he turned around and saw a person in dark clothing running away.
The student says he’s missing some money.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Winnebago County Wide Crimestoppers at (920) 231-8477.
Green Bay, WI (WTAQ) - Heavy lifting on building a new, two year budget for Wisconsin will begin very soon....and one of the items that could be in it, has a connection to an initiative that may prove controversial.
While Governor Walker talks up more money for training at places like Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay...he's also talking mandatory drug testing for people on unemployment and getting food stamps.
Governor Walker says he hears from employers that want a skilled workforce and want their workers to pass drug tests.
He's says legislation aimed at drug testing for those recieving state help will happen.
The Governor spent a good part of the day Thursday touring state technical colleges from Oak Creek, to Wausau, to La Crosse.
STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Investigators in three states are looking into possible regulatory violations involving the commercial fishing industry.
One of those states is Wisconsin, where Sturgeon Bay-based Dan's Fish, Inc. President Dan Schwarz issued a statement Thursday about it.
“Dan’s Fish, Inc. takes great pride in the way it has always openly and honestly conducted its business,” the statement read, “and is in full compliance with all state and federal laws.”
Schwarz went on to say in the statement that the tri-state investigation involves "scores of companies in three states."
Officials with the Wisconsin DNR say they provided "assistance" Wednesday at the business' industrial park headquarters in the 100 block of Jib Street. That's on the south side of Sturgeon Bay.
Any further questions were directed to the federal agency and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Western Michigan.
“Will cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation to root out any regulatory violations,” The company said in the statement. “However, that no local restaurant or wholesale buyer is part of this regulatory issue.”
(Additional reporting from FOX 11).
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A state panel agrees that customers who don't use much electricity should pay more to help maintain power lines and poles.
On a 2-1 vote Thursday, the state Public Service Commission approved an increase of $9 a month in the fixed charges paid by WPS customers in north central and northeast Wisconsin. That's $6 less than the $15 jump the Green Bay utility had asked for.
The PSC figures that when the usage fee decrease is taken into account, the average residential customer who uses 600 kilowatt hours of electricity per month will have to fork over about $3.40 more per month next year, compared with their 2014 bill.
The commission also voted to reduce WPS usage rates by 2 cents per kilowatt hour. Together, the agency says it will mean an average monthly rate hike of 3 percent for almost 450,000 Public Service customers.
Utility spokesman Kerry Spees called the state's approval a "big step" in getting its fixed charges more in line with what the utility pays for things for its infrastructure.
Public Service and other utilities say low-usage customers need to pay their fair share of those costs.
Opponents say they're being punished for doing what the government and utilities have encouraged them to do -- save energy.
Madison Gas and Electric and We Energies have asked for similar increases in their fixed charges. The commission is expected to act on them later this month.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - It's becoming an all-too-common occurrence around the UW-Oshkosh campus, assault incidents.
The latest took place Wednesday evening, which actually became the first to happen on campus property.
UW-Oshkosh Police Chief Joseph LeMire says it's the 7th violent incident that his agency has investigated with city police since the start of the school year. Some of those others include stabbings and robberies. LeMire tells FOX 11 this latest incident is different.
“This one was not a robbery. There was not extensive injury in this case,” he said.
LeMire says the student did not have a good description of the suspect, only that the man was wearing dark clothes. LeMire said the victim was not sure what he was hit with.
It happened around 7 p.m. Wednesday on Elmwood Avenue, near the Halsey Science building. That’s close to where other recent attacks happened.
“Typically about seven o’clock on a Wednesday it could be a well-populated area, typically. Possibly at this time it was not well-populated,” LeMire explained. “We recognize that when we have incidents of violence the level of anxiety and the level of concern is, obviously, raised.”
LeMire says campus police officers are doing more, including working closer with the City of Oshkosh Police Department, increasing patrols and extending safewalk hours, which are times when students and staff can walk with a community service officer.
The campus police chief said in all the recent incidents men have been targeted. He says that’s possibly because men are less likely to walk in pairs or groups at night.
“Comes down to that targeting of people who are alone and walking by themselves,” LeMire explained, saying it’s up to everyone to be as safe as possible.
Police are still looking for the suspect in Wednesday night’s assault. But a 19-year-old man has been charged in two of the other recent attacks and investigators have said he is a suspect in one other incident.
Jake Sizemore was back in court Wednesday. He is facing four charges, including robbery. He was arrested last month after an attempted robbery near campus. According to police he was carrying a knife.
Police consider him a suspect in the stabbing of two students during an attempted robbery October 21st. Sizemore has not been charged in that case.
(Additional reporting from FOX 11).
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The Salvation Army is rolling out the red kettles, as bells will start ringing on Friday for the Christmas Campaign.
Bell ringers in the Fox Valley and Green Bay areas will be out during this weekend and every day through Christmas Eve.
In the Fox Valley, the Salvation Army's goal is $1.2 million. The Brown County corps will announce their fundraising goal on Wednesday.
The bell-ringing season also brings with it match days. In the Fox Valley, Bassett Mechanical says it will match up to $5,000 donated to red kettles on Nov. 26. More match days are expected to be announced later in the season.
Volunteers are needed throughout the season. Click here to sign up for a shift.
The Salvation Army says donations go toward Christmas dinners, clothes and toys for families in need. Volunteers also take gifts and meals to those in hospitals and nursing homes.
Some families will receive financial aid after the Christmas season.
BELLEVUE, WI (WTAQ) - The Brown County Sheriff's Department says they're conducting an internal and criminal investigation into the department's DARE program.
In a statement by the sheriff's department, "On Monday October 6, 2014 Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Vanden Heuvel was placed on administrative suspension during a criminal and internal investigation. On Wednesday, October 8, 2014 Deputy Vanden Heuvel tendered his resignation letter to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office."
The DARE program, according to the department's website, is a 16-week program which teaches 5th graders about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.
Members, along with some volunteers, have raised money to fund the DARE program by parking cars for Green Bay Packers home games in the Kmart parking lot.
The proceeds are the main source of revenue, but FOX 11 reports that what happened to some of that money is now the subject of this investigation.
Vanden Heuvel served as the county’s DARE officer for 20 years.
Reached by phone Friday, Brown County Sheriff's Lt. Scott Semb declined to comment further on this investigation. However, if you are a DARE donor and have questions or concerns about your donation, you're asked to contact Lt. Semb at (920) 448-4456.
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - A preliminary hearing was waived Thursday by a man charged in a number of robberies near the UW-Oshkosh campus.
According to online court records, 19-year-old Jake Sizemore is due to enter a plea on December 5th to four charges, including one of felony robbery.
Authorities say Sizemore was carrying a knife in his pocket when he was arrested October 26 after an attempted robbery near campus. The student who was attacked was able to run away and notify police.
Investigators have also tied Sizemore to the robbery and beating of a UWO student on October 20. According to the criminal complaint, the student was approached by Sizemore, who was riding a bicycle, when he was leaving the Polk Library around 1 a.m.
Sizemore yelled at the student, and then punched him in the face and kicked him with steel-toed boots, according to the complaint. The complaint goes on to say Sizemore took off with the student's backpack containing his laptop, books and wallet.
Police say the two students who were assaulted, as well as a third student who was present during the attempted robbery on October 26, identified Sizemore as the attacker.
Sizemore is also considered him a suspect in the October 21 stabbing of two students during an attempted robbery, the complaint said.
Sizemore is being held in the Winnebago County Jail on $50,000 bond.
(Additional reporting from FOX 11).
NEENAH, WI (WTAQ) - Sheriff's deputies are hoping that a modern-day blood analysis will help solve a murder that happened over 51 years ago near Neenah.
Winnebago County officials have sent a blood sample from the crime scene to Sorenson Forensics in Salt Lake City. Detectives are also interviewing people who could still have new information about what happened.
According to the Appleton Post-Crescent, Wayne Pratt was 24 when he was killed the night of June 13th of 1963. He left his house near the gas station to provide service to a car that pulled in -- but his wife noticed that the station's lights were not on about 15 minutes later.
She then his found dead body in a storage room.
Sheriff's sergeant David Mack says Pratt's wife is still interested in finding answers. Several suspects have emerged over time -- but nobody was ever charged.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - If you haven't seen any real snow this fall, just wait until Monday.
The National Weather Service says a "surface low" pressure system will build steam from the west -- but the exact track is uncertain, so we're not sure how much of the white stuff you can expect.
Forecasters say we will get something. They're using the words "significant accumulations" for western and west central Wisconsin -- and "uncertain" accumulations for the eastern part of the state.
The Weather Service says the biggest totals are expected north of Milwaukee and Madison. Officials suggest to keep an ear tuned to the weather forecasts into Monday.
Meanwhile, a band of light snow veered into far northwest Wisconsin late Friday morning. Forecasters expect accumulations only on grassy areas and elevated bridges.
Wind gusts of up to 40 miles an hour are possible in higher parts of southwest Wisconsin after midnight.
Parts of central and west central Wisconsin could get sleet Friday night and perhaps an inch of snow Saturday night.
Snow accumulations are also possible Tuesday and Wednesday in the far northern counties of Ashland and Iron.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Wisconsin officials said Friday that a second round of testing in the Fox River turned up no new genetic evidence of the invasive Asian carp.
The DNR said Friday that 200 DNA samples were taken in the Lower Fox River on October 16th and 21st. That was after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tested for Asian carp DNA close to the mouth of the river in downtown Green Bay.
Those tests were in June and July, and the word came out last month that one positive sample was found.
The DNR's Bob Wakeman said his agency is pleased that the new results came back negative, and that there are no "live" silver carp in the river.
DNR officials said they never learned the cause of the first positive test. There was speculation that it could have been caused by a bird excrement or somebody's fishing bucket that were in places where the bloated carp's DNA had been discovered in Lake Michigan at Chicago.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Students at Green Bay Southwest High School had to be evacuated Friday afternoon following a small electrical fire.
The Green Bay Metro Fire Department says the fire started in a heating vent.
Crews were called just before 3 p.m. and students evacuated the building. Students were allowed back inside about a half-hour later.
Battalion Chief Robert Wiegert says smoke spread into the hallways and the damage is likely less than $2,000. Typically, Wiegert says, this kind of fire is seen in homes, not schools.
Green Bay Southwest High School officials say the building will be open until 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. for students to go into the school to get their belongings they left behind.
The school also announced events on Friday night will be canceled but Saturday’s events will go on as planned.
School officials indicate they will ventilate the building over the weekend so the school will be ready for students on Monday.
(Additional reporting from FOX 11).
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The city of Green Bay is among the municipalities trying to complete their leaf pickup duties, but an expected winter storm starting Monday is complicating matters.
City workers say ideally, the snow would hold off until after Thanksgiving.
“We don’t like to see it this early, but if it happens, it’s Mother Nature and we’ll fight it,” Tim Gates, a supervisor for the city’s public works department, told FOX 11. “We’ll deal with it.”
Green Bay has about 28 large trucks that are used for both leaf pickup and snow removal. Workers are starting to transition a handful of those trucks for winter use.
“We got to get wings put on the trucks, we got to get front plows put on, the blades have been gone through,” said Gates, who adds the process takes about an hour.
If it does snow and the leaves are covered up, the city says it’ll still pick them up. However, city workers say snow does slow down the process.
“We’ve been lucky the last couple years and we’ve gotten them all picked up,” said Gates.
Currently, the city has about 70 percent of the leaves picked up.
(Additional reporting from FOX 11).
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - It was an unexpected surprise for an Oshkosh girl, as her dad shows up at her school Friday after cutting short his latest military tour in Afghanistan.
On Friday afternoon at South Park Middle School, Army Sergeant Scott Anderson gave his daughter Isabella the shock of a lifetime and he surprised her at the end of her school day.
“I thought I was in trouble when Ms. McLaughlin came to get me. I was kinda shocked! I wasn’t expecting it,” Isabella told FOX 11.
“Is this, like for real, or am I dreaming?” she asked her father after their first hug.
Isabella told us as far as she knew her dad had several months left in Afghanistan.
“I thought he was coming home in the middle of next summer and I was not expecting this at all,” she explained.
Sgt. Anderson has served 5 tours of duty with the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq and Afghanistan, but says he’s here now because of the recent draw down of troops from Afghanistan.
For a long time the two just hugged.
The soldier told FOX 11 he wanted to share this very personal moment. It comes at a perfect time too, just a few days before Veteran’s Day.
“There’s a lot of negative stuff that gets reported in the news and I thought, ‘well, if I get a chance to put something positive out there, that happens to be very personal to me, why not?'” Sergeant Anderson explained.
The last time dad and daughter saw each other was in June.
(Additional reporting from FOX 11).
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The Sunday night football game between Green Bay and Chicago is the 190th meeting between the two old rivals.
Game time at Lambeau Field is 7:30 p.m. Central Standard time. The Packers are a 7 point favorite.
Three Packers are listed as questionable for the game – safety Burnett Morgan, guard T.J. Lang and guard Josh Sitton.
The Packers have signed tackle Jamon Meredith to the active roster and placed wide receiver Kevin Dorsey on injured reserve.
The Packers bring a 5-3 record into the game. They are one game behind NFC North Division leader Detroit. The Bears are 3-5.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
Green Bay, WI (WTAQ) - On this Veterans Day, WTAQ wants to thank all the men and women who've served and protected our freedom.
This summer, we had the chance to travel to Washington D. C. with nearly 140 Vietnam veterans from Northeast Wisconsin. For the most of them, it was their first visit to the Vietnam Memorial Wall.
It was an emotional experience for everyone, and capped off by the over the top heroes welcome they recieved when their plane landed back at Whitman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.
Here's the link to the story of that day in August.
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) - The De Pere Post Office was dedicated and renamed Monday in honor of Cpl. Justin D. Ross.
Ross died on March 26, 2011 while serving in Afghanistan, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. President Barack Obama signed a bill into law in June making this day possible.
"After I'm gone, this building will likely still be here and Justin's name will live on," said Ron Ross, Justin's father, who added that this is more than just about his son. "We just want this to be for everybody, but are very humbled that Justin's name is on the building."
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, 8th District Congressman Reid Ribble and De Pere Mayor Mike Walsh were among several guests invited to the ceremony.
Ribble introduced the bill to rename this post office.
"I picked Cpl. Ross because he was the first soldier killed after I was sworn into office in January 2011," said Ribble (R-Sherwood). "I chose him to represent all the other soldiers who were also killed in the line of duty. It is about Justin, today, but it's not just about Justin, it's for all of them."
“Corporal Justin David Ross made the courageous and selfless decision to serve his country and made the ultimate sacrifice,” Governor Walker said. “The great freedom we enjoy in America comes at great cost, and we owe our active military, veterans, those missing in action, and those who lost their lives for this freedom our humble gratitude.”
Ross was born on Sept. 14, 1988 in Wisconsin Rapids. He enlisted in the Army Reserves in 2006 and graduated from Bay Port High School in 2007. Ross was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010.
Ron Ross was asked what Justin would say if he could see this honor.
"He would hate this because, when he was a little boy, he would say don't look at me, he just didn't like attention," Ross said. "Hey Justin...we're giving you attention right now."
Ross says that character in the face of fear is what one thing he wants people to remember about his son.
