APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - Appleton's common council has decided to reconsider purchasing land for the proposed downtown expo center.

On Wednesday night, council members approved moving the $28 million project forward again, however there is still a long road ahead.

During the meeting about 15 people spoke up in favor of the plan.

“It’s not just about building an expo center,” Pam Seidl of the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau said, according to FOX 11. “It’s about building a vibrant community and moving toward a vision of attracting that creative class that we all love to talk about.”

Earlier this month, council members voted 8-6 against buying an Outagamie County-owned parking lot for approximately $2 million. The lot is right behind the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel.

Alderperson Patti Coenen asked to reconsider the issue, saying unanswered questions need to be addressed. A majority of her peers agreed, but 3 council members voted against taking another look at the issue.

“There is a lot of reasons this project could not turn out well and if it does then the brunt, the challenge or managing this project day in and day out is going to fall on the taxpayers,” Alderman Kyle Lobner said.

The Community and Economic Development Committee will now study the possible land purchase before another vote might take place. The committee meets next Monday at 5 p.m.

Most of the project cost would be covered from an increase in hotel room taxes in the area.

MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ) - A man accused of stealing from Marinette County accounts has pled no contest. 

On Thursday, David Marquardt entered that plea to a charge of theft of more than $10,000 from a business setting. Three other counts, including two of misconduct in office, were dropped but will considered at sentencing on March 26.

Marquardt, a former county parks worker, was tasked with handling user fees collected for camping, firewood, park use and other items. According to the criminal complaint, Marquardt admitted to taking up to $40,000 to fund a gambling habit and help pay bills at a daycare he ran.

A day after charges were filed, Marinette County fired Marquardt.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Not guilty pleas were entered in federal court Thursday by a Neenah mailman accused of dumping political mailings in a garbage bin instead of delivering them.

A jury trial is set for March 12 for Rickey Krueger, who's charged with one count of "obstruction of mails."

According to the U.S. Postal Service, 879 pieces of campaign mail were found in a dumpster right before the election this past November. The flyers were from 3 different Republican campaigns.

PITTSBURGH (WTAQ) - The only brother of Green Bay Packers' coach Mike McCarthy died Wednesday.

47-year-old Joe McCarthy III was playing racquetball at a gym in the family's home area of Pittsburgh when he collapsed.

KDKA-TV said he was taken to a hospital in McCandless Pennsylvania, where he was pronounced dead. There was no immediate word on the cause of Joe McCarthy's death.

Mike McCarthy, who's 51, was supposed to hold his season ending news conference late Wednesday morning -- but the Packers canceled it about a half hour before it was supposed to begin. It has not been re-scheduled.

Joe McCarthy operated his own law firm in the Pittsburgh area. He was a former deputy state attorney general in Pennsylvania.

Joe and Mike McCarthy were very close. They're the only 2 sons of Joe Jr. and Ellen McCarthy. They played sports together and worked in their father's Pittsburgh tavern.

Packers' president Mark Murphy said the team was "very saddened" to learn about Joe McCarthy's death, and their "sincere condolences" are with the coach's family.

This came 3 days after the Packers' tough loss at Seattle in the NFC Championship Game. Mike McCarthy was criticized by many for some of his play calling in that game -- but many who tweeted their condolences Wednesday night said things need to be put in perspective.

(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A Milwaukee man will spend just over nine years in prison for providing the heroin that killed a man from northeast Wisconsin.

23-year-old Arthur Graham Jr. had pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide in the overdose death of Jeremy Schleis in Lawrence in Brown County last March.

Graham was sentenced to 10 years in prison, plus 10 years of extended supervision. His prison time was reduced by the 320 days he spent in jail while his case was going through the courts.

Prosecutors said Graham sold heroin to Schleis in Milwaukee the night before the user died.

The 10-year prison sentence was twice as long as what the prosecution and defense recommended -- and the supervision time was 5 years shorter.

Brown County Circuit Judge Marc Hammer said his sentence more closely reflected Graham's "critical role" in the loss of Schleis' life.

(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)

MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - The Wisconsin Department of Ag, Trade and Consumer Protection is warning operators and employees of small businesses about a recent phone scam that has targeted several gas stations in the Fox Valley area.

Authorities say they've received reports of fraudulent phone calls made by people claiming to be "district managers" of the company they're calling to.

According to a release from DATCP, gas station workers receive a phone call from a person claiming to be a district manager. The "district manager" then tells the employee to take $500 from the registers to a local retailer and buy a Green Dot prepaid card with the money loaded on it.

Once the workers have the card loaded, they are told to call the "district manager" back and give them the card number and PIN.

As soon as the caller gets the information, they drain the card before the employee knows they’ve been lied to.

If your business has received similar calls, you're asked to contact your local law enforcement.

For additional information, visit the Consumer Protection Bureau at http://datcp.wisconsin.gov, send an e-mail to datcphotline@wisconsin.gov.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The largest bank that's based in Wisconsin saw its earnings rise 2.2 percent over the past year.

Associated Banc Corp of Green Bay reports a net income of 47.5 million from October through December, about $1 million more than the same quarter the previous year.

Stockholder earnings rose from 28 cents a share to 31 cents.

For the year as a whole, Associated Bank had a net income of $185 million, $2 million more than in 2013. Earnings rose 6 cents for the year to $1.16 per share.

The company credited the increases to a rise in net interest income, and reduced expenses.

(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)

MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - Governor Scott Walker said Friday that he has denied a plan by the Menominee Tribe to build an off-reservation casino in Kenosha.

In a statement, "After a comprehensive review of the potential economic impact of the proposed Kenosha casino project, the risk to the state's taxpayers is too great," Walker said. "Due to the compacts negotiated by Governor Doyle, the current cost to taxpayers of approving the proposed casino project is up to $100 million and the long-term economic hit to the state budget would be a potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars."

The project called for a partnership between the Menominee Tribe and Hard Rock International for an $810 million casino at the former Dairyland Greyhound Park dog track in Kenosha. Tribal officials claim the new casino would not only create over 10,000 jobs, but help pull the tribe out of poverty.

In 2013, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs gave the Menominee Tribe the green light to move ahead with the project after reviewing the proposal for over 9 years.

“It is our belief that this project would have improved the lives of the nearly 9,000 members of the tribe,” Menominee tribal chair Laurie Boivin said in a news release. “Instead, one tribe – the Forest County Potawatomi – and one goal of Governor Walker – the presidency – has led to a no for our people.”

However, the Forest County Potawatomi has been staunch opponents of the plan. They argue it would slash profits from their casino in Milwaukee. The Potawatomi say their gambling compact with Wisconsin requires the state to refund hundreds of millions of dollars in back payments that Walker approved for the casino. The Menominee promised to make up any lost revenue.

Earlier this week, the Potawatomi Tribe filed a lawsuit over the rejection of language by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs regarding reimbursement.

PROTECTING WHITE HOUSE BID

Governor Scott Walker said he was protecting Wisconsin taxpayers -- not his national political standing -- when he rejected the $800 million Kenosha casino.

Walker announced his long-awaited decision this morning, just one day before he's scheduled to appear with other possible GOP White House candidates in Iowa. The gathering comes about a year before next January's Iowa presidential caucuses.

The conservative National Review says some political activists believe Walker would take "real risks of leaks in his Iowa coalition if he either approves expanded gambling," or does not act on a right to work law for Wisconsin.

The governor told reporters in Milwaukee Friday that the timing of his casino announcement was not related to his appearance at the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines.

Democrats were livid, saying Walker put White House ambitions over the prospect of 10,000 new jobs and millions of gambling tourists at Kenosha.

MENOMINEE TRIBAL BOND

The Menominee Indian tribe offered to put up a bond of $200 to $250 million, to make sure no other tribes lost money from the Kenosha casino that Governor Scott Walker rejected.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said the Menominee wanted to make sure that taxpayers would not be on the hook if the Potawatomi or Ho-Chunk tribes lost gaming revenues to Kenosha.

However, the Republican Walker cited the possibility of hundreds of millions of tax dollars going to the Potawatomi not only to make up for losses from a Kenosha casino, but for refunds of past payments the Potawatomi made to the state.

Walker told reporters he tried working out a deal that would have accommodated both the current Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee and the Menominee Kenosha project. But he couldn't strike an agreement -- and Walker said the blame goes to former Democratic Governor Jim Doyle for approving the Potawatomi gaming compact which included the state's potential payments.

In Walker's words, "Had Governor Doyle not put in place this compact, we would be having a much different conversation. This wasn't just an arbitrary decision we could make." 

(Additional reporting from FOX 11).

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A federal grand jury has indicted a 29-year-old Green Bay man, for allegedly coercing girls to appear in pornographic videos he produced.

Joseph Valdez is now facing 3 federal counts of sexually exploiting children -- and one count of possessing child pornography.

Police in Seymour investigated the case, along with the FBI. It's part of U.S. Justice Department program called "Project Safe Childhood," which focuses on reducing child sexual exploitation.

(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)

MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ) - Charges have been filed in connection with the death of a man whose body was found in Marinette County back in 2008.

In a release by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, prosecutors say Erik M. Smith left a bar in Iron Mountain, Michigan, with Erik Volp in October of that year. They allege both men argued, and when Volp got out of Smith's car, Smith ran him over.

Smith they allegedly put Volp's body in the trunk and drove to a stream in Marinette County, where he left the body. Volp's body was recovered in July 2009.

State DOJ officials and the Marinette County District Attorney's Office are working together on the case. 

Smith is currently in a federal prison in Colorado. He was sentenced to over 19 years in prison after being convicted of possessing child pornography in 2010.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A 59-year-old Green Bay woman has died after a two-vehicle crash Saturday.

Police say it happened at the corner of E. Mason and Roosevelt Streets around 11:20 a.m.

An officer witnessed the accident and immediately went to check for injuries. The cop found the woman unconscious and unresponsive. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

A Green Bay man inside the other vehicle was not injured. Large portions of adjoining cross streets were closed until 5 p.m. to allow for accident reconstruction.

The crash remains under investigation. If you have any information, you’re asked to contact Green Bay Police.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A house fire in Green Bay Saturday forces four people from their home.

Fire crews were called to a home in the 1200 block of E. Garland Street just before 11 a.m.

The Green Bay Metro Fire Department says they got a report of a fire in the basement of a single-family residence. One adult and two children managed to escape after noticing the blaze.

No one was hurt.

Firefighters say the fire was in the laundry area of the basement. Damage was limited to the basement, with some smoke damage to the first and second floors. Total estimates are at $15,000.

Cause of the blaze is under investigation.

The family of four is being assisted by the American Red Cross.

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Two people had to be rescued from Lake Winnebago Sunday morning after a car they were in broke through the ice.

Authorities say it happened near Menominee Park just before 7 a.m.

They were rushed to the hospital, but there's no word on their conditions.

Officials indicate that the vehicle was off a marked trail by about 200 yards, two miles from the Merritt Avenue Boat Launch.

No other information is available at this time.

HOWARD, WI (WTAQ) - A 52 year old woman suffered life-threatening injuries after being stabbed by her boyfriend overnight in Howard. 

Brown County Sheriff's deputies say the 51 year old man stabbed the woman at a home in the 2700 block of Shawano Avenue around 1a.m. Monday. 

Deputies say two other people were in the home at the time.  A 39 year old man suffered minor injuries. 

The victim's boyfriend is in custody.

The Sheriff's Office is calling this an isolated domestic violence incident and the public is not in any danger.

The investigation is ongoing and more information could be released later today.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - While the Northeastern U.S. braces for up to three feet of snow, Wisconsin is getting a much smaller dose of winter today.

A low pressure system brought snow to the western part of the Badger State early this morning, with freezing rain possible at the tail end of the system.

The National Weather Service has issued winter weather advisories until noon for much of western Wisconsin -- roughly from Viroqua to La Crosse to Neillsville to Medford to Ladysmith and points west.

Up to 2 inches of snow are predicted for parts of western and north central Wisconsin.

Forecasters say all of the Badger State might see freezing drizzle and-or light snow as the day goes on, with highs in the 20's and 30's. The freezing drizzle could linger into the evening.

Then it's supposed to be dry at least through Friday.

Temperatures are supposed to remain above normal for most of the week, but a much colder weekend is in store with lows back into the single digits on Friday night.

(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Oshkosh police are investigating a series of recent residential burglaries.

Authorities say it's been taking place during the early evening hours, and happening in areas where there is low lighting. Someone is walking through backyards and gaining entry through patio doors.

Police indicate things being stolen are "limited". Citing the ongoing investigation, officials are refusing to say what exactly is being taken.

The Oshkosh Police Department is reminding homeowners to lock their doors and leave a light on near doors. It’s also a good idea to make it appear someone is home by leaving lights on, putting the lights on timers or leaving a TV or radio on.

Anyone who sees a burglary in progress should call 911. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (920) 236-5700. Anonymous tips can be left with Crime Stoppers by phone at (920) 231-8477, by text message with the keyword IGOTYA to 274637 or online.

BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - Authorities with the Brown County OWI Task Force made the most arrests for drunk driving this past weekend than it has in nearly three years.

On Friday, officers made six arrests and 11 arrests were made on Saturday in the Hobart/Lawrence area. That's the most since May 4, 2012 and the most arrests ever in the Hobart/Lawrence area.

Officers say in one case, a driver was being taken to the hospital for a blood draw when he noticed another erratic driver, stopped and arrested that driver.

Overall, 103 stops were made. Officers issued 73 citations and 87 warnings. 

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - After a father and son from Sussex died on Sunday when their vehicle plunged through the ice on Lake Winnebago, authorities are urging the public to be very careful due to unpredictable conditions.

"I would express extreme caution when you're venturing anywhere near these cracks because what might seem like solid ice may only be several inches thick," said Lt. Steve Verwiel with the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office. "This winter with these ice plates moving about, it's been a little bit different from other years." 

Verwiel says there are areas prior to this recent cold snap that were wide open and just recently frozen.

Officials warn that there are all types of ice: White ice that has air built up in it and can be dangerous, dark solid ice which is safest or honey-combed ice which can have water moving through it. 

Verwiel recommends anglers or anyone planning to head out onto the ice do their homework first.

"Talk to local fishing clubs, and Lake-Link will have a tab for Lake Winnebago, Poygan, or wherever they're going," says Verwiel. "Because there are a lot of guys reporting ice conditions on the Lake-Link as well."

Also, he adds the safest bet is to stick to the marked snow roads.

"Some of those snow roads are running parallel with the cracks, the way the cracks turned out, so you don't want to venture off the snow road at all," Verwiel said. "That's what happened Sunday. They left the snow road, and they came upon a crack and before they could steer away from it, it was too late."

On Monday, authorities identified 40-year-old Andrew Doro and his 8-year-old son Derek as the two who died at a hospital following their rescue from the lake. The two went into the water about 2 miles east of the Merritt Street boat landing in Oshkosh.

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - The Oshkosh Corporation reports a 40 percent drop in its quarterly net income, due mainly a large decline in its military vehicle business.

Tuesday morning, Oshkosh said it made just over $34.5 million from October through December, the first quarter of its new fiscal year. That's about $20 million less than the same quarter a year ago.

Stockholder earnings fell from 63 cents a share to 47 cents.

Oshkosh said revenues in its defense division plunged from $481 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 to $269 million this past fall.

The drop was due to lower U.S. defense spending, and an absence of international military vehicle sales.

Commercial vehicle sales rose 9 percent, as Oshkosh reported strong orders and higher backlogs in its non-defense vehicle lines.

(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service) 

GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ) - Authorities in the Fox Valley say a three-year-old boy had to be rescued after falling into a restaurant's grease pit.

Fire officials say it happened last Friday when the boy was standing on top of the manhole cover above the pit at the Denny's restaurant in Grand Chute.

“The child had fallen through an in place but unsecured manhole cover which had approximately four feet of cold grease contents inside of it,” Grand Chute Fire Department division chief Matthew Kasriel told FOX 11.

The boy's parents managed to pull the child to safety when fire crews arrived.

Authorities say the boy was treated inside the restaurant, then taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton. No word on the child's current condition.

“Fire personnel assisted in ensuring that the manhole covers were secured in place mitigating that hazard.”

Officials notified Outagamie County Public Health about the incident.

FOX 11 contacted the public health department and Mary Dorn, a public health officer, said, “The securing of covers on the grease pit doesn’t fall under the licensing and inspecting that we do as a public health agency.”

Grand Chute’s community development department says it’s the restaurants responsibility to make sure its grease pits are secure.