WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ) - A former Waupaca County man is not sure when he’ll be sentenced, after he admitted raping a 20-year-old woman in Iola back in 1990.

41-year-old Glendon Gouker has struck a plea deal in which he was convicted of first-degree sexual assault.

Gouker was charged in late January, about the time when authorities said he was a person-of-interest in the killings of a man and a woman in Weyauwega in 1992 – two years after the sex assault.

State and local authorities are still looking into the slayings of Tanna Togstad and Tim Mumbrue.

They’ve taken several steps to ask the public what it knows about the case – including a billboard on Highway 10 in Waupaca County with photos of the two murder victims.

Gouker appeared in court on Friday to settle his sexual assault case.

A sentencing date was not immediately set.

Gouker lived in Oklahoma and was extradited to Wisconsin a month-and-a-half ago.  He is facing a homicide charge in Oklahoma in the death of a 19-year-old man.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Green Bay police have released a video surveillance of a person of interest in a Westside shooting that injured four people. 

The shooting happened on just after midnight on January 5^th in the 100 block of North Ashland. 

Police say four victims were injured when a male open fire at a vehicle with five occupants. 

Authorities have been tight lipped about the investigation.  Police have never released any of the shooting victim’s names because it’s not known if the shooting suspect knew all of the victims. 

Police released video surveillance from an area convenience store that show a person of interest they are looking to identify. 

ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) - Preparations are in full swing for this weekend's WIAA Girls State Basketball Championships at the Resch Center.

On Monday, workers began transforming the arena from a hockey rink to a basketball court to meet the specifications of the WIAA. Staff members also covered up any signs promoting alcoholic beverages before the high school tournament tips-off on Thursday.

Meantime, hotels in the Titletown Development District say they’re seeing a boost in room occupancy at a time of year that’s usually slow.

The Best Western says it’s completely booked for Thursday and Friday nights, and expects a busy day on Saturday for the teams that advance to the finals.

Cambria Suites says it’s mostly booked for Thursday and Friday, and many guests are asking for options for Saturday. The manager at Cambria Suites says his hotel isn’t hosting any of the teams or coaches, but many of the WIAA officials are staying with them.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Oneida Seven Generations Corp. has filed a notice of appeal in its lawsuit against the city of Green Bay for revoking its conditional use permit to build a new kind of trash to energy incinerator.  

OSGC lost its challenge back in January after Brown County Judge Marc Hammer sided with the city in its right to pull their permit over misstatements about smokestacks and emissions. 

Both sides agreed on a bench ruling in the lawsuit. 

Mayor Jim Schmitt says they expected the appeal.

“That’s the legal process, and it will be heard by a judge outside this community” Schmitt said Monday night.   

OSGC filed two lawsuits that were ruled on together. One of the lawsuits sought to hold the city liable for expenses incurred, which at the time of the filing OSGC claimed exceeded $4 million.

“I’m always concerned when we go to court, always, we won in the lower court and we are taking a look at the appeal it’s in the city attorney’s office right now”  Schmitt said. 

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The initial thumbs up was given for Donald Driver Way Monday night by the Green Bay Plan Commission. 

The proposal calls for renaming North Pearl Street that runs in front of Titletown Brewing Company. 

Mayor Jim Schmitt says he talked with Driver a long time ago about doing something special when he retired. 

Schmitt says he let Driver decide on the street name. 

Driver originally settled on Donald Driver Lane, as in a receiver’s lane.  Schmitt says he even had signs made up.  But the day before his offical retirement announcment at Lambeau Field, number 80 changed his mind to Donald Driver Way.  

Schmitt says he had to scramble to get public works to make new street signs for the street honor announcement at the event.

The Plan Commission’s recommendation change now heads to the city council. 

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - UW-Green Bay has received a very notable gift from a philanthropist in Italy – a 500 pound bust of Leonardo da Vinci.

The white bust was created last year, and it’s still in a crate while campus officials decide where the statue should go.

The donor was said to be well aware of UW-Green Bay, after five groups of students traveled to Florence Italy over the past decade.

Music instructor Sarah Livingston calls the bust “breathtaking.” She tells WBAY-TV she’s excited that the Green Bay campus can share the gift with the community.

Officials expect to unveil the da Vinci bust in August. 

KEWAUNEE, WI (WTAQ) - The Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant will stop making electricity on May 7th.

The date was announced Monday, after the plant’s owner – Dominion Resources – first announced the shutdown last fall.

About 650 jobs will be phased out during the next couple of years – many this summer – while the nuclear plant undergoes a detailed closure.

Dominion said it could not find a buyer for Kewaunee, because the utilities that buy the power have contracts running out at the end of the year. And they won’t renew them, because it’s cheaper for the utilities to get power from plants fired by natural gas.

In a filing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Dominion said it has adequate funds to cover the plant’s decommissioning, a plan to manage spent fuel, and a restoration of the site. 

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A state appeals court has refused to let a Green Bay man withdraw his no-contest pleas to stabbing two men in a gang-related incident 16 years ago.

Shane Gressel, who’s now 35, is serving a 50-year prison term in Portage for killing Jeffrey Neosh and injuring Damon Schwartz.

The two were reportedly gang members, and the stabbings were part of Gressel’s initiation into a rival gang.

Two years ago, Gressel asked that no contest pleas be dropped. He said his lawyer was ineffective by not fully explaining possible penalties, among other things. And Gressel said he was under medication during his plea hearing.

A circuit judge would not re-consider the pleas. And Tuesday, the state appellate court said Gressel should have made his arguments earlier. 

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Wisconsinites spend more money on binge drinkers than in educating their children.

That’s according to the Health First Wisconsin group.

It says the total price tag for binge drinking is $6.8 billion a year – which includes the drinkers’ health care, premature deaths, lost work time, traffic crashes, and court cases. The group says 40 percent of those costs are covered by taxpayers.

Health First did not say how it came up with its cost figures – but their total price tag is about $600 million more than what the state Department of Public Instruction spends. And a host of public institutions support those numbers.

Public health and criminal justice officials, health care leaders, business owners, and others joined Health First Wisconsin members during simultaneous Tuesday morning news conferences in Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, La Crosse, and Wausau.

It’s been said for years that Wisconsin has the highest rates of binge drinking in the nation. That’s defined by men who have 5 or more drinks at one sitting – and women who have 4 drinks or more at a time.

Maureen Busalacchi of Health First Wisconsin says it’s always been known that the state has a serious problem with alcohol but, “Until today, most of us could only guess about the scale of the problem, and the cost we all pay.” 

STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Wisconsin has 13 of the nation’s 100 best rural hospitals.

The firm of “I”-Vantage Health Analytics based its annual rankings on market conditions, clinical and operational performance, and financial and quality outcomes.

Wisconsin had the country’s largest number of what “I”-Vantage called the nation’s best rural safety net institutions.

They are Red Cedar Medical Center in Menomonie, River Falls Area Hospital, Good Samaritan Health Center in Merrill, Richland Hospital in Richland Center, Upland Hills of Dodgeville, the Hudson Hospital, and Memorial centers in Tomah, Sturgeon Bay, Waupun, Medford, Prairie du Chien, Hayward, and Black River Falls.

Almost a-third of the Top-100 rural hospitals are in the Upper Midwest. Neighboring Minnesota and Iowa have 9 each. 

TOWN OF ALGOMA, WI (WTAQ) - Winnbebago County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a bank robbery in the Town of Algoma.   

Sheriff’s say a heavier set white man in a tan baseball cap with a camouflage  rim and sunglasses walked into the BMO Harris Bank at 2100 Omro Road after 11 a.m.

Sheriff John Matz handed the teller a note demanding money.  He did not show a weapon. 

The man was wearing a blue or black sweater with red and white rectangles on the front, darker windbreaker pants with white stripes and possibly hiking boots. 

He also had a mustache. 

The man was last seen walking on towards the west. 

MUKWA, WI (WTAQ) - A crash in Waupaca County leaves two people injured.

Authorities say it happened on Highway 54 East of Otto Road in the Township of Mukwa Tuesday afternoon.

Sheriff's officials say a woman driving an SUV was trying to cross the highway from her driveway but couldn't get traction because of ice.

The vehicle then started going and went on the highway where it was hit by an oncoming car.

The woman was ejected from the SUV.

Both drivers were not wearing their seatbelts.

The woman was flown to Theda Clark Hospital and the other driver was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

Their conditions are unknown.

GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ) - The final push in the construction of Fox Cities Stadium is ongoing.

It began last September, but will the upgrades be finished in time for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers' home opener on April 8?

"Roughly 95 percent complete, just a couple weeks to go, it's a lot of fine-tuning," Timber Rattlers President Rob Zerjav told FOX 11 during a sneak peek Tuesday.

Zerjav says work is on schedule to finish April 1 and he said the cost should come in at about it's $6 million budget.

But winter construction has been challenging at times.

"It was a little bit more difficult, because we got some odd rains in the middle of January," explained Nick Mueller, the project manager with the Boldt Company.

Mueller told FOX 11 the stadium provided difficulties too. The 75-95 workers on a daily basis can only access it from one direction. 

"It's been a challenge getting everybody in through one major artery," said Mueller. 

Zerjav said some of the highlights for fans are expanded concession areas and restrooms. He said that will cut down wait times. 

The team also added a new level with suites and club seating. 

One of the most important additions is a banquet hall on the club level, which will enable the Timber Rattlers to do year-round business. 

"The west side of Appleton, there's not a whole lot out here, from a banquet standpoint, so we kind of fill that niche," says Zerjav. 

The venue has already booked about a dozen weddings.  Zerjav told us the area also has seating during games and will stay open as a sports bar two hours after the games end.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Green Bay city leaders are planning five public meetings to talk about the future of the University Avenue corridor.

City planners will create a vision for the east side street for the next 30 to 40 years.

“The area has a little bit of mixed uses all over the place, so we wanted to take this opportunity to create a cohesive vision from the University all the way downtown, so you can see it runs the entire length of the street,” Dan Lindstrom with the Green Bay Planning Department tells FOX 11.

Lindstrom says the plan is for redevelopment, not street construction. One of the goals is too fill a growing number of empty storefronts.

“What we've seen throughout the United States and Green Bay is no exception, over the past couple decades, suburban development plans have shifted and as a result we've seen once vital corridors and vibrant corridors start to thin out a little bit,” said Lindstrom.

The catalyst for change could be the Veterans Administration Clinic set to open this summer. It will add 250 jobs and could serve up to 20,000 veterans a year.

The first public meeting is next Thursday at Nicolet Elementary School from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The nation’s “big cheese” will be determined Wednesday night in Green Bay.

The U.S. Championship Cheese Contest began Tuesday in the Lambeau Field Atrium.

A record 1,700 cheeses were being judged in 82 categories – and the top ones in each group are advancing to this evening’s championship round.

John Umhoefer of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association says there’s an increase in spicy cheeses this year.

The competition is held every two years.

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Wisconsin’s economic and job training institutions will get an extra $15 million to help train workers for available jobs in the Badger State.

Governor Scott Walker approved the funding Wednesday, when he signed a bill to provide matching grants for the job training groups.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously, and the Assembly by a vote of 94-4.

It also allocates $5 million for a new state computer system to keep track of available jobs, to help officials keep up with what employers need.

Walker calls it a, “concerted effort to connect workers with jobs.”

TOWNSHIP OF ALGOMA, WI (WTAQ) - Winnebago County Sheriff's say an arrest has been made in a bank robbery earlier this week.

Authorities say the BMO Harris Bank at 2100 Omro Road in the Town of Algoma was robbed just after 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Sheriff's say the suspect was arrested for violating his probation. His identity isn't being released until charges are filed.

Officials say it is possible that one or more additional arrests will be made in connection with this ongoing investigation.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Catholic Diocese of Green Bay Bishop David Ricken is reacting to the selection of a new pope.

Once the white smoke emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, churches around the Green Bay diocese welcomed the new pope with the ringing of church bells.

Wednesday afternoon, Bishop Ricken and others from the diocese applauded as the new pope emerged on the balcony in St. Peter’s Square. 

Afterwards, Ricken talked about Pope Francis I, saying he's not sure why the cardinals selected an older pope. But he added they possibly chose Pope Francis because he is from Latin America, which has one of the strongest numbers of Catholics throughout the world.

"So having someone from Latin America is very significant. Secondly he's a Jesuit named after a Jesuit missionary. So that may be another reason, as well that in this era of the new evangelization, we need to reach out once again, as did Francis, to take the gospel to places that haven't heard it, or to reintroduce it,” said Most Rev. David Ricken, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay.

Bishop Ricken will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving for the new pope this Sunday at 9 a.m. at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay. 

All are welcome to attend.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - If a new parking meter pilot program continues to see the success it has in downtown Appleton, it will be out with the old and in with the new. 

A pair of electronic pay stations replaced 35-single spot parking meters in a city block in September.  That move resulted in parking revenue have more than doubling. 

Appleton Parking Manager Paul Debraal says the block used to take in around $150 a week, now they are collecting between $340-$400 a week.

Debraal accredits the increase to the fact that the machines can takes cash, unlike traditional parking meters.  The pay stations also accept pre-paid cards. 

Another reason is that every parking spot starts fresh.  You won’t be able to know what is left for paid time for a spot, so you have to put money in. 

Debraal says if the success continues, he expects that more traditional meters will be removed and electronic pay stations will take their place. 

TOWN OF LUXEMBURG, WI (WTAQ) -The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is throwing $50,000 to Kewaunee economic developer leaders to help map out strategies to bounce back from the Kewaunee Power Station closing.  

The state is helping out with a Capacity Building Grant.  It will also be part of a pilot program for other regions across the state that suffer a blows to its local economy, like a major local employer laying off 650 workers.     The roadmap for redevelopment will create an action plan and supply a framework for other regions. 

The grant will also fund a trip to other areas of the country that were affected by a nuclear plant shutdown.  It will allow for economic development leaders to learn from what they took for action to get their economy back on track.

Kewaunee County Economic Development Corporation’s Executive Director Jennifer Brown says they will be creating a vision and roadmap over the next 6 to 12 months.

The agency will also look at assets of the site and area, while also looking into the possibility of repurposing some of the buildings.   

For instance, Dominon’s Mike Kanz says a few years ago they built a $10 million training facility that could be repurposed for something else.