SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ) - Sheriff's deputies in Shawano County have arrested two people in connection with an online sex sting.
Authorities say the two people traveled to Shawano County after arranging encounters with what they though was a 15-year-old girl.
A 52-year-old Townsend man and a 24-year-old man from Green Bay were taken into custody.
Charges of using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime are being recommended against the two suspects.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A man from Michigan has been charged for firing shots in Green Bay last month during a drug deal.
22-year-old Benjamin Hubbard is facing charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety and possession with intent to deliver THC.
Hubbard met up with Dwayne Carlton to sell Carlton marijuana, according to the criminal complaint. After Carlton tossed one bag to a friend, who left, Carlton then claimed he didn't have the money. Both men admit that Hubbard put a gun to Carlton's chest.
Hubbard then fired several shots after Carlton left the vehicle they had been sitting in. Green Bay police officers found bullets at two nearby homes.
Online court records show that Hubbard is being held on a $100,000 cash bond. He returns to court Tuesday afternoon for the balance of his initial appearance.
PULASKI, WI (WTAQ) - Just a week after a video posted to Facebook showed a student-on-student attack in Pulaski High School's cafeteria, school officials are releasing a document looking to set the record straight.
The Pulaski Community School District says it's called, “inaccurate information verses the facts”, and was signed by the interim superintendent and Dave Shaw, a physical education teacher at the high school.
"No matter what happens here at the Pulaski Community School District we are always focused on the safety of our students,” Kimberly Uelmen, Pulaski Community School District’s Communications Coordinator, told FOX 11.
A district reprimand says Dave Shaw, a physical education teacher, told Ethan Peters the day before the fight, “If I were you, I’d crack him upside the head.”
“The comment that the teacher made was on March 17 when the student approached him and then on March 18, in the morning before school in the lunch room, the incident occurred,” according to Uelmen.
Peters is the student seen punching Pine’s son in this video. It took place March 18 before the start of the school day.
The video went viral after Tim Pine, the father of the teen being punched in the head posted it on Facebook last week. Pine says he uploaded the video because he was upset with the way the district was handling the situation.
“But now, since the posting of the video they’re moving and they’re actually doing something and they’re telling us what’s going on,” Pine told FOX 11.
The criminal complaint says the 17-year-old Peters hit Pine’s son because he wouldn’t stop making whistling noises in the commons.
“There were two supervisors but they were close to the hallway, so they could not get to the actual fight in time. They had to run across the room,” Uelmen said.
According to the district, Shaw was required to send a letter of apology to both students and their parents. The district adds that since the incident, adult supervision has increased with teacher walking the halls and the lunchroom.
(Additional reporting from FOX 11).
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - Authorities have arrested a 27-year-old man accused of repeatedly stabbing another man early Wednesday morning.
Appleton police were called to a home around 1 a.m. in the 1000 block of E. Windfield Place.
Officers found a 27-year-old man with multiple cuts and stab wounds. He was rushed to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
An alert was issued for the suspect and his vehicle. Shortly after, the Grand Chute Police Department spotted the suspect and was taken into custody at a nearby hotel.
The suspect is currently being held on a probation violation.
Green Bay, WI (WTAQ) - An extreme makeover will soon be underway at Green Bay East High School....specifically the automotive technician lab.
The automotive industry is one that is expected to continue to grow....and finding people who know their way around an engine is going to be a challenge for car dealers and repair shops.
That's why Green Bay East instructor Rich Sawyer is excited about the big expansion plans this summer for what's known as City Stadium Automotive.
About 120 students are now crammed into the small shop. Expansion will increase the space by 60 percent. And student demand will justify hiring another teacher.
Much of the funding for the expansion will come from area car dealers....who will be ready to hire kids who want to pursue a career in the field.
STEPHENSVILLE, WI (WTAQ) - After being the target of animal cruelty protests last summer, a Catholic parish in the Fox Valley has ended its annual pig wrestling event.
St. Patrick Parish of Stephensville ran it for 44 years with no problem, until the Global Conservation Group of Watertown rounded up 81,000 petition signatures against the pig wrestling. It cited animals being punched in the face, kicked, jumped on, and thrown into buckets.
Two dozen people protested the actual event.
Now, the parish is announcing a replacement event which it calls a "human foosball tournament in the mud." It will be part of a church fundraiser August 8th and 9th that also includes a Mass, dinner parade, and polka music.
Deacon Bill Bilgrien said the church is excited about the new competition.
The animal protesters, meanwhile, declared victory. Bilgrien wouldn't call it that. In his words, "We're just moving to a new area. We just want to have a good festival."
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A woman who was a food service worker at the Green Bay Correctional Institution has been charged with allegedly having sex with inmates and trying to deliver drugs.
51-year-old Gayle Saldaris made an initial court appearance Wednesday. Saldaris is facing four counts, including second-degree sexual assault by a correctional staff member and delivering illegal articles to an inmate.
Saldaris has bond set at $5,000 cash and her preliminary hearing is set for next month.
Inmates told authorities that Saldaris had sexual relationships with at least two inmates, according to the criminal complaint. Saldaris also allegedly tried to have a third party deliver drugs to another inmate.
In a statement from Wisconsin Department of Corrections spokesperson Joy Staab, Saldaris worked as a "food service leader 2" from April 7, 2014, to July 22, 2014. She was, "terminated during her original probational period."
(Additional reporting from FOX 11).
OCONTO, WI (WTAQ) - Charges have been filed against an Oconto truck driver accused of sexually assaulting multiple children during road trips.
Authorities say 45-year-old Rodney Enneper took five different children on trips in his truck. According to the criminal complaint, the ride-alongs were approved by Enneper's employer.
The complaint goes on to detail a variety of sexual assaults over the course of several years. It doesn't, however, indicate how Enneper knew the victims.
Enneper's bond was set at $250,000 cash during an initial court appearance Wednesday. He's due back in court Friday.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The former pastor charged with multiple sexual assaults involving underage girls has been convicted.
On Wednesday, Jerry Fletcher Jr. pled no contest to two counts of repeated sexual assault of the same child, second-degree sexual assault, child enticement and child exploitation.
Online court records indicate that Fletcher will be sentenced June 16.
Prosecutors say Fletcher, who was a minister at Crossover Ministries in Black Creek, admitted to investigators he had sex several times with a 14-year-old girl. More charges were added later involving another victim.
MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) - A man who was forcibly arrested near the funeral for a slain Wisconsin State Trooper has pleaded not guilty to several charges.
On Wednesday, Michael Mangan waived his preliminary hearing and then entered not guilty pleas to 4 charges. They include resisting an officer and disorderly conduct at a funeral.
No trial date was set, according to the Manitowoc County Clerk of Courts office.
On March 30, police saw Mangan walking through the publicly closed cemetery just before the burial for Trooper Trevor Casper. Officers approached Mangan because they were concerned about an object he was carrying.
Police say Mangan refused to leave the cemetery grounds and physically resisted officers' attempts to escort him from the property. Mangan was taken to the ground, and carried into a squad car.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A free Thanksgiving dinner has become a tradition at the Lambeau Field Atrium in Green Bay.
But that won't happen this year, after the NFL scheduled a Thanksgiving Night match-up between the Packers and the Chicago Bears.
Now, the Christian Outreach Ecumenical Ministry is looking for a new place for the holiday dinner, which normally feeds hundreds of people.
The ministry will meet with Packers' officials next month to discuss options to make sure the annual meal continues somewhere this fall.
Ministry president Jessica Zeitler tells FOX 11 that the group has always realized that a Thanksgiving game would be a possibility at Lambeau -- even though the team has not hosted once since 1923.
The Packers say they'll keep supporting the annual dinner.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) - U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin has taken a lot of heat for not doing anything for months about a critical report into problems at the Tomah VA Medical Center.
However, the controversy does not seem to be hurting the Wisconsin Democrat in the polls.
A new Wisconsin Public Radio-St. Norbert College survey shows that Baldwin has a 49 percent approval rating, while 36 percent disapprove of her job performance and 15 percent are not sure what to think.
Baldwin was given a 39 percent approval rating among registered Wisconsin voters in last week's Marquette Law School poll -- and that was two points higher than her 36 percent approval last October.
However, almost a quarter of the voters surveyed said they didn't know enough about Baldwin's job performance to make a judgment.
Baldwin has admitted mistakes in her office's handling of an unreleased 2014 VA inspector general's report into drug over-prescriptions at the Tomah veterans' hospital.
The agency never publicized its findings, but the early results of a recent VA probe confirmed over-prescriptions of painkillers and punishment for employees who tried exposing it. A whistleblower tried to have Baldwin take action in Congress -- but that didn't happen until after the Center for Investigative Journalism blew the lid off the subject in January.
The St. Norbert survey interviewed 600 Wisconsin adults from April 8th through last Friday. The error margin is plus-or-minus 4 percent.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - A swarm of federal, state and local authorities spent Thursday at an Appleton apartment complex due to some suspicious chemicals found inside a south side apartment.
It began as a routine call for a break-in to the apartment in the 2600 block of S. Kerry Lane at 12:03 a.m.
Upon arrival, officers found a 32-year-old man had broken into a neighbor's apartment and grabbed a woman inside. The woman was not hurt, but the man identified by police as Steven A. Meyer said an episode with oxycodone caused him to act the way he did.
“He was not fully clothed, he was in boxers. His behavior indicated that he had taken some type of controlled substance prior to the incident taking place,” said Appleton Police Sgt. David Lund.
Officers on scene performed a safety check of Meyer's apartment, as part of their investigation. That's when they found chemicals, some labeled and some unknown, inside the residence.
“Part of the worry is there is a large number of containers that have been found some of them that don’t have clear markings to indicate what they are,” Lund said.
Police called for the Wisconsin National Guard Unit from Madison to help with identifying the substances. The 54th Civil Support Team is trained to help identify toxic industrial chemicals.
"Many of the chemicals can be easily obtained off the Internet, but the reality is many households are not going to have these types of chemicals," Lund said.
No one in the apartment complex had to be evacuated.
Lund says that Meyer is familiar to law enforcement agencies throughout the Fox Cities. What his intentions were for the collection of chemicals he had is part of their current investigation.
Meyer is behind bars in Winnebago County on recommended charges of attempted burglary, criminal damage to property and trespassing. More charges could be added.
The lesson according to Lund, however, is for Meyer's neighbors. If you see something, say something.
"We've talked with people throughout the day who gave us statements to indicate they thought something was going on in that apartment, yet to a person, no one gave us a call," says Lund. "This is the reason why we ask people to call us, to have us go check things out, because their instincts are probably correct."
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - A Fox Valley woman convicted of shooting her Wal-Mart co-worker will spend 30 years in prison.
Justine Boyd pled no contest in February to attempted murder charges for the 2013 incident at the Neenah Wal-Mart. The victim, Sharon Goffard, was wounded but survived.
During her trial, Boyd argued she should be found not guilty by reason of mental disease. The jury, however, rejected that argument.
In court Thursday, a judge also sentenced Boyd to 10 years extended supervision.
OCONTO, WI (WTAQ) - The woman charged in connection with a fatal heroin overdose has pleaded not guilty.
Online court records indicate that Tiffany Gerrits of Oconto Falls entered that plea Tuesday. A trial date has not been set, and she returns to court July 8.
Gerrits is charged with first-degree reckless homicide by delivering drugs, manufacturing or delivering heroin and possession of heroin with the intent to deliver.
21-year-old Donald Hudson died last August 29 at his home. Authorities say an autopsy showed he died of a heroin overdose and Gerrits is suspected in the case.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - 97.5/1360 WTAQ News Talk Sports is proud to announce the winning of a 2015 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Feature Reporting.
The story was entitled, "Reflections In The Wall," about traveling to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. with nearly 140 Vietnam veterans from Northeast Wisconsin.
The Edward R. Murrow Awards are presented by the Radio Television Digital News Association.
"It's great to have our work recognized," says WTAQ News Director Robert Kennedy. "I think it reflects the job that we strive to do in the WTAQ newsroom every day."
In recent years, WTAQ has won several regional Murrow Awards, including a 2012 national Murrow Award for Audio Newscast.
The RTDNA will announce the 2015 national Murrow award winners in June.
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - A man convicted of in the death of a Town of Menasha man after breaking into his apartment will spend 30 years in prison.
Sean Oehlke was also sentenced Thursday to 15 years of extended supervision, according to online court records.
Police say Oehlke broke into an apartment, argued with the resident and choked him to death on October 24. He was charged with second-degree reckless homicide in the death of William Summers and burglary.
The criminal complaint says Oehlke placed Summers in a headlock until the victim went limp.
MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - It's only been a day or two since most of Wisconsin had soaking rains and light snow.
But the risk for wildfires is growing in most of the state -- and Wisconsin's drought conditions are unchanged from a week ago.
The state DNR said Thursday that only six far northern counties have low fire dangers between Ashland and Florence and south to Rhinelander. About the southwest quarter of Wisconsin has high risks for wildfires, and the rest of the state has a moderate risk.
The U.S. Drought Monitor said Thursday that over 48 percent of the state's land area remains in a moderate drought, covering most of the northern half of the state. About 43 percent of the state is abnormally dry.
Only parts of west central Wisconsin do not have drought conditions, close to a line from Alma to Wisconsin Dells.
Earlier this week, Governor Scott Walker issued a state of emergency for the ongoing drought conditions. It authorized the National Guard to provide help when needed.
Sunny skies were reported throughout most of the state at mid-day, with temperatures mainly in the 40's. A slight chance of rain or snow returns to the Badger State Friday and into Saturday. A dry day is forecast for Sunday, with the mercury rising to near 60.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ) - Grand Chute police say five people were arrested during a prostitution bust.
Also found inside the hotel on Thursday during the bust were two area teenage girls. A 14-year-old Appleton girl and a 17-year-old Green Bay girl, both of whom police say were released to safe environments.
Acting on a tip, the Grand Chute P.D. got warrants to search several hotel rooms.
A 29-year-old Green Bay woman was arrested on suspicion of prostitution, child enticement and soliciting a child for prostitution. Four other adults were jailed on probation violations.
ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) - The Brown County Sheriff's Department says three people were injured in a chain-reaction crash Thursday night on Highway 172.
Deputies say it happened over the Fox River around 9 p.m. A vehicle driving westbound rear-ended another vehicle, crossed several lanes, struck the center median rail and bounced back into traffic. That vehicle then hit another westbound vehicle and flipped over.
According to a release, the driver of the first vehicle is a 21-year-old Green Bay man. He was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the second vehicle, a 60-year-old Greenville man, was also hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
A 56-year-old Ashwaubenon woman, who was driving the third vehicle, suffered minor injuries but was not taken to the hospital.
Authorities believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.
