FOX CROSSING, WI (WTAQ) - Check your maps, because there's a new community in Northeast Wisconsin.

Part of the Town of Menasha officially became the Village of Fox Crossing on Wednesday.

State officials approved the incorporation plan and residents west of Little Lake Butte des Morts approved a referendum in the April 5 election. 

For now, the town board is serving as the interim village board. An election has been set for June 7 for Fox Crossing residents to select a village president and six-person village board.

Land east of Little Lake Butte des Morts remains the Town of Menasha, for now, since the state Department of Administration determined that the entire town was not eligible to incorporate at one time. Those residents could be annexed into Fox Crossing, the City of Menasha or the City of Appleton. They could be attached to Fox Crossing by a border agreement process, as well.

Town chairman Dale Youngquist told FOX 11 the town board wants to reunite the remaining Town of Menasha with Fox Crossing by September.

Services including police protection and sewer and water continue to be provided with no change to residents on either side of Little Lake Butte des Morts.

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Police in Oshkosh need your help locating a suspect involved in a substantial battery incident earlier this month.

Oshkosh Police say a 20-year-old man was beaten by another man at the Jockey Club, 24 E. Gruenwald Avenue, back on April 8.

Authorities say the victim suffered facial injuries and was taken to a hospital.

The suspect, in surveillance photos above, is described as a tall white man with a partially amputated middle finger on his left hand. He was wearing a plaid jacket and last seen running toward N. Main Street from the bar following the attack.

If you have any information regarding this incident or recognized the man in the photos, please contact Detective Dean Artus at (920) 236-5726 or the Oshkosh Police Department at (920) 236-5700.

If you would like to remain anonymous, you can contact the Winnebago County Crime Stoppers at (920) 231-8477 and leave a tip or text IGOTYA and your tip to 274637 or online atwinnebagocrimestoppers.org. You may be eligible for a cash reward if your tip leads to an arrest.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - One of the men charged in a Green Bay murder will stand trial.

Richard Arrington appeared in Brown County court for his preliminary hearing Wednesday morning.

Arrington is accused of opening fire on a Day Street house earlier this month, killing 25-year-old Ricardo Gomez.

Bail for Arrington has been set at $750,000 cash. He's due back in court next month to enter a plea.

Police continue to search for a second suspect, Devin Landrum, who they say is an accomplice in the crime.

Electronic billboards have been put up around the community, asking for information on his whereabouts.

Anyone with information is asked to call (920) 448-3200.

BLACK CREEK, WI (WTAQ) - Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Seymour Police Department are investigating an illegal spearing of a sturgeon.

Authorities believe the 56-inch male sturgeon was speared during the overnight hours of Sunday April 17 into Monday April 18 in Black Creek, near Seymour.

A concerned citizen tipped off authorities to the incident.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the confidential DNR tip line at 1-800-TIP-WDNR or the Seymour Police Department at (920) 833-2366.

ALGOMA, WI (WTAQ) - The Kewaunee County Sheriff's Department has issued a release Thursday clarifying a misunderstanding at Algoma Elementary School on Wednesday.

According to the release:

"The woman in the photo was at the school legitimately to pick up her granddaughter. A misunderstanding of the student's name the grandmother was picking up led to the wrong student being summoned to the school office. The student that was summoned to the office did not recognize any of her family or family vehicles and the student was returned back to class. The lady in the photo, the grandmother, did locate her granddaughter after school when school was released for the day.

All children in this incident were never at risk of any type of abduction or abduction attempt. I would like to thank the grandmother for coming forward so quickly to resolve the issue. I would like to commend the parents for bringing this issue to the local Police Department's attention so that we could get this matter resolved in a positive light. I also would like to commend the Algoma School District for reporting this in a timely fashion and working with the Police Department for again a positive result."

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Police in Algoma are looking to identify a woman after they say she requested to pick up a student at school, claiming to be a distant relative.

Police say on Tuesday, at approximately 3:00 p.m. an unknown woman entered the Algoma Elementary School asking for a student by name.

The woman claimed to be a distant relative of the student.

The student did not go home with the woman and was later picked up by her mother.

The woman is described as black, approximately 6 feet tall with red or orange highlights in her hair. She was driving a black car.

If you have any information on this incident or recognize the woman, please contact the Kewaunee County Dispatch Center at (920) 388-3100.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - De Pere businessman Ronald Van Den Heuvel is now wanted for new charges.  

He was indicted Tuesday on federal bank fraud charges and the arrest warrant issued out of Brown County yesterday (WED) is for a lawsuit involving the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

Van Den Heuvel is accused of defrauding the state in obtaining a loan from the WEDC for Green Box, his company that was supposed to turn fast-food wrappers and other paper into other paper products and synthetic fuel while having no waste.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette reporting that in addition to Van Den Heuvel, his wife and Appleton Banker Paul Piikkila have been charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Inside the walls of a 1920's hotel, crews are working to preserve history. President of KPH, Keith Harenda says work on Green Bay's Hotel Northland is on schedule.

"we are now doing floor layouts and we'll be then starting floor by floor with construction"

He says when it's finished it will have a fine dining restaurant, a sports bar and a luxurious ballroom. All with an eye on historic preservation.

The entire cost of the project rings in at $46 million, with a majority of that coming from a Historic Tax Credit.

Harenda says because of the tax credit, the rooms will be built to look like they did the in 1920's,

"whether it be the paint colors, or the stain colors, or the tile....the layout of the rooms, the layout of the hallways"

People like Jeff Mirkes, with Downtown Green Bay, Inc, says once the hotel is finished, it will bring more people to downtown Green Bay.

"you can already feel what it is going to fell like as it nears completion and I think the community is going to be thrilled with the finished product"

The goal is still to open the downtown landmark hotel this fall.

TWO RIVERS, WI (WTAQ) - About $20,000 in damage was done to a Two Rivers garage after a fire Wednesday night.

Fire crews were called around 8:15 p.m. to a home on 45th Street.

The fire was contained to a corner of the garage, firefighters say. 

The two women and a dog who live at the home were not hurt.

No word yet on what caused the fire.

LITTLE CHUTE, WI (WTAQ) - UPDATE: Fox Valley Metro police say the leak has been stopped but the pipeline still needs to be repaired. Parents should still pick up their students at Village Hall.

====ORIGINAL STORY====

A nearby gas leak has forced Little Chute Elementary School to close Thursday.

According to an announcement on the Fox Valley Metro Police Department's Facebook page:

"ALERT!!! The Little Chute Elementary School has cancelled school for the day due to a ruptured gas line on McKinley Ave and Grand Ave. The school has been evacuated and the students will be at the Little Chute Village Hall. Parents with children attending the Little Chute Elementary School should pick up their children at the Village Hall IMMEDIATELY. All residents in the area are being evacuated and we are being told that it could be 1 to 2 hours before the gas line is repaired. We will keep people posted on any updates."

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - ThedaCare wants to know how the community is feeling about the potential merger of two of its hospitals.

President and CEO Dr. Dean Gruner stopped by a Copper Rock Coffee Company in Appleton to speak with the public Thursday. He says combining their Appleton and Neenah campuses will dramatically improve the quality of care.

"We have services that are specialized at (both campuses). The general public may not be aware of that and if you're in a crisis situation and you're acutely ill, you're just going to go to the nearest place but you may not go to the place where we have our specialized services."

Gruner says there are several changing needs in healthcare that would be addressed by combining both hospitals.

"We have to have more of what we call negative pressure rooms; more ability to deal with sanitary waste issues, if it's an Ebola patient, than our hospitals currently have."

Another changing need is the lack of intensive care unit rooms.

He says the public's input on the hospital's future are very important.

"We want to understand all of their current concerns and ideas and then also all their hopes and dreams for the future."

ThedaCare is planning several more coffee house chats throughout the Fox Cities in the coming months.

UNDATED (WTAQ) - The American Red Cross held its 2016 Giving Day on Thursday as officials hope to rally donations from the public.

"We're asking all Americans to consider a gift to the American Red Cross so that we can continue on with our life saving mission," says Northeast Wisconsin Chapter Executive Steve Hansen. "Delivering services like blood collections and responding to disasters."

In Wisconsin, the Red Cross responds annually to nearly 900 disasters a year. 

But volunteers in Wisconsin aren't limited to just the Badger State. They get deployed to disasters nationwide, including the historic flooding happening in the Houston, Texas region.

"So far in Wisconsin we have 5 volunteers that have already left," Hansen says. "This is such a large, massive disaster that will be going on quite some time unfortunately. So if we don't have volunteers going out now, we'll like have them going out into May."

Volunteers will spend two to three weeks working in a given area, handling everything from mental health services, to delivering meals and assisting victims sign up for other services.

BROWN COUNTY SMOKE ALARMS

As part of a nationwide effort, the Red Cross is teaming up with multiple fire departments and community partners to reduce deaths and injuries due to home fires in Brown County on Saturday.

Volunteers will go door-to-door teaching people how to be prepared for home fires and install smoke alarms where needed. 

"Our goal on Saturday is to install 1,000 smoke alarms in Brown County homes on a single day," Hansen says. "We have about 150 volunteers that have signed up to do this. They'll go out in teams, in designated higher risk areas in our communities."

The effort is part of an ongoing, five-year campaign by the American Red Cross to reduce deaths and injuries caused by home fires by 25 percent. Home fires are the most common disaster to which the Red Cross responds - in fact, they respond to an average of nearly 70,000 home fires each year nationwide. Seven times a day someone in this country dies in a fire.

"Each smoke alarm has the potential to save a life," says Hansen. 

You can pre-register to get a free smoke alarm and tutorial here.

The teams will be out in Brown County from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday with ladders and drills, 10-year lithium battery smoke alarms and information on how to prevent fires and how to make a family escape plan.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - Appleton's Common Council this week approved a contract to allow drivers to use credit cards to pay for parking in downtown ramps.

The $650,000 contract is for technology for using credit cards in the red, green and yellow ramps. It will also provide intercoms where drivers can contact attendants for help.

• Click here to see a map of Appleton parking ramps

The city-owned blue ramp, which is behind City Center will not have the new technology installed. The ramp is scheduled to be demolished by 2020 as it reaches the end of its lifespan.

The Soldier's Square ramp, which is owned by the YMCA, is also not part of the contract.

Tapco has been selected to install the pay stations. City leaders say the company submitted the lowest of three bids.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - Friday is Earth Day, and to mark the occasion Appleton's Stone Cellar Brewpub has announced they will switch to wind energy to power its brewery and restaurant.

"We decided to do this a few months ago, we had a lot of pieces to put together to make it happen and we thought it would be a great day to announce it," says Steve Lonsway, president and brew master for Stone Cellar Brewpub, Inc. and its Stone Arch Brew House. "It's a big change for us."

Stone Cellar finalized that plan to buy all of the power from wind farms through a partnership with national clean energy provider Arcadia Power. 

"We're always looking for ways to improve our community and our footprint on the environment while growing our business, so moving to wind power and becoming a leader in the clean energy movement is news we're very proud to announce," Lonsway says.

By making the switch, Stone Cellar now meets the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership requirements, joining national brands such as Whole Foods, Google and Starbucks that also purchase clean energy.

"It's a little bit more expensive for us on our end, we're not going to turn that cost over to the customer," explains Lonsway. "It's a cost that we'll absorb because we feel it's the right thing to do."

Arcadia will source power from wind farms and send "energy certificates" to WE Energies on Stone Cellar's behalf. Lonsway notes the transition will be seamless and completed on April 30.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A former Green Bay school district employee has been formally charged with stealing students' medication from school offices.

Court records show that 25-year-old Cameron Drake is facing misdemeanor counts of theft and drug possession. Drake was released on a signature bond following a court appearance earlier this month. No court date is currently listed in online court records.

District officials say they first noticed student's pills were missing from one school in February. An internal investigation morphed into a police investigation, and pills were eventually found to be missing at 8 elementary schools.

According to prosecutors, hidden cameras were setup on the medicine cabinets at the elementary schools once the district discovered pills were missing. Medication was missing from Keller, McAuliffe, Webster, Eisenhower, Tank, Jefferson, Baird, and Fort Howard elementary schools. A variety of pills were taken; however, Adderall was one of the primary medications missing.

Drake worked in facilities and related services, according to the Green Bay Area Public School District. He was originally placed on leave, but the district has since terminated his employment, according spokeswoman Lori Blakeslee.

BELLEVUE, WI (WTAQ) - Governor Scott Walker has declared April as Missing Persons Awareness Month, and local officials and advocates will take part in an event in honor of all missing persons in Wisconsin on Sunday.

The Brown County Sheriff's Department will host the event from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. at their office, 2684 Development Drive in Bellevue.

"After researching several databases I found that Wisconsin has 164 missing persons," says Marsha Loritz, who's become an advocate for this issue in the years since her mom, Victoria Prokopovitz disappeared. "Every one of these people has a face and a story."

Guest speakers on Sunday include Wisconsin State Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay), Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt and Jenni Thompson from the Polly Klaas organization. Crime Stoppers is co-sponsoring the event and will talk about how people can contact them anonymously with information to help solve crimes. 

Parents can take part in free fingerprinting and getting Child ID Kits and will conclude with a balloon release for all those people still missing.

"Having little previous knowledge of the frequency of missing persons I have since become acutely aware of the difficulty families face when a loved one goes missing," Loritz says. "Throughout this ordeal I have become a voice for the missing as well as a source of support for their loved ones. I have found my voice and I am using it to the best of my ability to help others."

UPCOMING ANNIVERSARY

On April 25, 2013 at approximately 10 p.m., 60-year-old Victoria Prokopovitz was last seen at her Town of Pittsfield home at 5118 Kunesh Road. Monday will be exactly three years to the day.

"I can't believe we're here with still no answers," Loritz says. "You just think about that day, what we've done so far and not letting people forget, just trying to remind people that she's still missing. She's still out there, somebody knows something."

Prokopovitz left behind her purse with its contents including ID, money and cell phone. The family is offering a $17,000 reward for information leading to her location. It will expire in 90 days.

"I hope that one day we do have answers," says Loritz. "And that we aren't sitting her like this."

Anyone that may have seen Victoria after the date of her disappearance or knows of her whereabouts are asked to call any of the following: the Brown County Sheriff's Investigative Division at (920) 448-4230; Text to "GBTIP" plus your message to 274637 (CRIMES); or Crime Stoppers Hotline at (920) 432-STOP (7867). Persons who wish to remain anonymous can do so through the Crime Stoppers hotline.

NATIONAL ADVOCACY

This experience has pushed Loritz to become an advocate for a national missing person's database.

"These faces are almost like my family…I care about them all and want them to find the answers that they deserve," Loritz explains. "Some of these people have been missing for decades and don’t have family left that is searching, and they should not be forgotten."

Loritz is among many urging lawmakers in Washington D.C. to pass Billy's Law, also known as the Help Find the Missing Act. 

Among the highlights of the proposal are:

• Authorizing, and therefore helping to ensure funding for, the National Missing Persons and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), which was created in July 2007 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide a missing persons/unidentified database that the public could access and contribute;
• Connecting NamUs with the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) in order to create more comprehensive missing persons and unidentified remains databases and streamlining the reporting process for local law enforcement;
• Expanding current law by requiring missing children be reported to NamUs (they already must be reported to NCIC);
• Creating an incentive grants program to help states, local law enforcement, and medical examiners and coroner's report missing persons and unidentified remains to NCIC, NamUs, and the National DNA Index System (NDIS); and
• Calling on the DOJ to issue guidelines and best practices on handling missing persons and unidentified remains cases in order to empower law enforcement, medical examiners and coroners to help find the missing. 

This bill is named after Billy Smolinski of Waterbury, Connecticut who went missing on August 24, 2004 at the age of 31. Billy’s family knows all too well the systemic challenges in trying to find the missing. They quickly learned that while federal law mandates law enforcement report missing children, there are no such requirements for adults – or unidentified bodies.

Compounding this problem is the fact that local law enforcement agencies, medical examiners, and coroners, often don’t have the resources or training to voluntarily report these cases.

Finally, even when missing adults and remains are reported, the wide-range of unconnected federal, state, local, and non-profit databases to help match the missing with unidentified bodies, makes finding a match an often insurmountable challenge.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - Appleton Downtown Inc. has announced the lineups for two free concert series this summer.

The Lunchtime Live series will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Houdini Plaza, while the Heid Music Summer Concert Series will happen from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Houdini Plaza, with the concerts moving to Jones Park once a month.

LUNCHTIME LIVE:

• June 2: Tom Winch
• June 9: Street Music Week feature artist
• June 16: Russ Reiser
• June 23: John Lambert
• June 30: Dr. Dobbe
• July 7: Tim Dorsey
• July 14: Patchouli
• July 21: Erin & Jeff Duo
• July 28: Blake Welhouse
• Aug. 4: Peridot
• Aug. 11: Miss Molly
• Aug. 18: Eddie Biebel
• Aug. 25: Kyle Megna
• Sept. 1: TimberMoon Bluegrass

HEID MUSIC SUMMER CONCERT SERIES:

• June 2: RPM
• June 9: The Jimmy's
• June 16: Grand Union
• June 23: "Symphony On the Rocks" by Vic Ferrari (at Jones Park)
• June 30: Unity the Band
• July 7: Go Ask Your Mother
• July 14: The LoveMonkeys
• July 21: Cool Waters Band
• July 28: Boogie & the Yo-Yo'z (at Jones Park)
• Aug. 4: Mile of Music
• Aug. 11: Mistrial
• Aug. 18: Road Trip
• Aug. 25: Boxkar (at Jones Park)
• Sept. 1: Spicy Tie band

In case of bad weather, the concerts will move inside to Mill Creek, 417 W. College Ave.

• Click here for more information

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Green Bay Metro Fire took time Friday to hone in on their training skills at a special facility located at Georgia-Pacific's Broadway Mill location.

The facility is normally used to train the paper company's Fire Brigade.

Battalion Chief Steve Sellin says they're focusing on the discipline of confined space rescue.

"What we're doing is simulating that something's gone wrong inside the space and we have to go in and get them."

Sellin says air quality is a problem while maneuvering within such a small area.

"A lot of times you'll find decreased oxygen levels. A lot of times that's what causes the person inside to go down. That's one of the biggest risks, so we always air monitor before we got in."

He says lowering fire crew via rope down a 30 foot hole is dangerous as well.

"These are the holes that we would be entering. They simulate the exact spaces that these guys go into here," says Sellin.

The Green Bay Metro Fire Department completes quarterly training on other specialties including collapse rescue, high angle rope rescue, and trench rescue throughout the year.

OCONTO, WI (WTAQ) - Motions to dismiss charges against two Gillett teens accused of putting cleaning solution in their teacher's drink were denied by a judge Friday.

The judge also scheduled separate trial dates for Hailey Brock and Gavin Gilbertson. Both are charged with recklessly endangering safety and placing a foreign object in an edible. 

Prosecutors say the teens put white board cleaning solution in the drink belonging to Ray Johnson. Johnson went to the hospital for treatment and was released the same day.

According to police, Brock admitted to spiking the soda and called it a prank. Police also say Gilbertson helped.

Brock is scheduled to stand trial August 2, while Gilbertson is set for trial September 27.

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Oshkosh police say they have located the suspect in connection with a beating at a tavern earlier this month.

Police had released surveillance photos of a person suspected in the incident earlier this week.

The incident took place on April 8 at Jockey Club, 24 E. Gruenwald Avenue. The 20-year-old male victim was hospitalized for facial injuries.

Authorities say they received several tips on Friday leading them to the suspect. He is cooperating and police say no further help is needed.

No charges have been filed in the case.

FREEDOM, WI (WTAQ) - A man is in critical condition after a single-vehicle crash in Outagamie County Saturday morning. 

It happened just before 3 a.m. near the intersection of State Highway 55 and County Road UU in Freedom.

Authorities say the vehicle hit the shoulder and rolled multiple times before landing in the ditch.

Two men in the vehicle were transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.

One is in critical condition.

Their names have not been released.