GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A Green Bay man will sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday in a child pornography case.

63-year-old John Beauchamp also received 30 years extended supervision after he was charged in February 2015. 

According to investigators, Beauchamp uploaded over 7,000 images of child pornography. He also went by the name "Baby Emily" online, referred to his basement as a "nursery", which included dolls in provocative positions along with baby clothes and undergarments.

Beauchamp told investigators he would suck on a pacifier and drinks from a baby bottle while watching child porn.

Beauchamp apologized in court to his family and friends for what he had done.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A man who allegedly set fire to a building - and later allegedly tried to set a fire in a police interview room - was charged Tuesday.

35-year-old Michael Krohn allegedly set fire to Northtown Refrigeration, 837 S. Broadway on May 9th. He told police he was feeling stressed due to family problems, so he started the fire, using lighter fluid.

While in the interview room at the Green Bay Police Department, Krohn said he used the same lighter he used to start the building on fire to set a fire to facial tissue in that room.

He faces counts of arson and negligent handling of burning material.

Krohn is expected to make an initial court appearance Tuesday.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel announcing the next step of the "Dose of Reality" prevention campaign.

Schimel spoke at Wisconsin Public Service facilities in Green Bay Tuesday morning encouraging employers statewide to join in the fight against opiate abuse by addressing prescription drug abuse in the workplace.

"What if employers became a place where their staff members could find connections to help. What if employers became a place where we could start recognizing these signs of addiction earlier?"

Schimel says this will be the most important thing he'll do as attorney general because it will save lives.

He says there are reasons to believe this campaign is working.

"Just a couple of week ago, Wisconsin had our largest drug take back day collection ever. We collected over 64,000 pounds of medications that were taken out of people's medicine cabinets and safely destroyed," says Schimel. "That is three semi-trailers full of medications."

Employers are encouraged to work with their HR department to re-evaluate the company's drug policy.

Around 163,000 people in Wisconsin are currently abusing opiates.

Flyers and posters highlighting how to spot someone abusing opiates are now available for employers to download. 

Find more information at www.doseofreality.gov.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - It was a celebration Tuesday for a unique partnership between Green Bay Catholic schools.

Catholic Link began last June to create "world class" Catholic education. It's a partnership between Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE), Notre Dame Academy and St. Norbert College.

The collaboration announced that 4 St. Norbert graduates are on track for a $5,000 grant after teaching for three years at Notre Dame Academy or GRACE. There's also been a jump in enrollment.

"We announced the Center for Innovative Catholic Education. We are embarking on a task force to build and mount the center. The center will focus on the acquisition of grants and also on the ways we conduct research related to catholic education," GRACE System President Kim Desotell said, according to FOX 11.

Catholic Link leaders say they are also looking into ways to better reach out to their alumni base, by creating a unique alumni society.

CRIVITZ, WI (WTAQ) - A field day for Special Education students in our area was hosted by the Crivitz School District.

On Tuesday, more than 100 special education students from 10 schools took part in the event outside Crivitz High School.

Activities included bowling, soccer, jump rope, a photo booth and a petting zoo.

Wausaukee elementary school teacher, Georgi Kapalczynski, told FOX 11 that this event helps the students communicate and build new friends and compete in activities they otherwise wouldn't be able to, "I hope that they have enjoyed enough and learned enough that it'll keep them entertained in school and willing to give their best every single day."

It was hosted by the Crivitz School District after the original host, CESA 8 in Gillett, was unable to do so.

With only two weeks to plan the event, by the smiles on the student's faces, officials did an excellent job.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Charges were filed against the former Taco Bell employee who broke into the fast food restaurant Sunday night.

Avery King is charged with one count of burglary and one count of narcotics possession.

Police say King went into a Taco Bell in Ashwaubenon through the back door, got into a safe and fled the scene. King was later arrested at a hotel.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The man suspected of burglarizing a Green Bay mosque earlier this year has been charged.

19-year-old Guled Hirsi of Howard was charged with burglary on Tuesday.

Authorities say Hirsi stole $415 worth of electronics and money from the Islamic Society of Wisconsin, 1512 Velp Avenue, back on April 2.

Investigators credited an anonymous witness with helping them locate Hirsi. 

He's due to make an initial court appearance June 2.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - It's part of a week-long series of events called "Envision Appleton." It's an opportunity for Appleton residents to get creative.

Monica Stage, the city's Deputy Director of Community & Economic Development

"It's really about dreaming, we want to hear people's vision. What's your dream for downtown Appleton, and how do we turn those dreams into plans."

Those plans are being formulated this week through open houses and workshops.

One of the major focuses of the Envision Appleton design plan is to improve safe walk-ability of the downtown area.

The ideas that have been pitched this week, could be turned into actual plans.

The city hired several consultants to come up with the concepts.

Nathan Weyenberg owns a business downtown. He says that increase in housing and access is crucial for attracting customers.

"It's the lifeblood. I mean those people that are actually going to be living downtown can work downtown."

Weyenberg has attended all of this week's Envision Appleton meetings, and says he's impressed with what he's seen.

"It's so good to see ideas from the whole community brought together"

Ideas that can one day result in big changes. The ideas pitched over the past couple of days will get one more review tonight.

That'll be at the City Center Plaza board room at 5 o'clock.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) -  Green Bay's city council has made its first decision on how to spend part of the $5.4 million it received in excess Lambeau sales tax money.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to spend about a fifth of the money, $1.2 million, to pay off debt.

While the council made the vote without any discussion, council members had a lengthy debate on whether to pursue a referendum on how to spend the remaining money, about $4.2 million.

Alderman John Vanderleest had wanted to ask voters whether they wanted the excess sales tax money to be returned through property tax relief.

"I'd want my question to be stated that the money would be returned back through the 2017 property tax relief"

But a majority of council members, like Barbara Dorf, agreed they have already heard plenty of feedback from the public.

"I think that we have a heard the voice of the people through the process of being elected to our offices"

The council voted to not pursue an advisory referendum, which would have been on the November ballot.

Alderman Bill Galvin has proposed coming up with a system to weigh the 30 or so economic development projects that have asked for a portion of the excess tax money.

Galvin's proposal will likely be taken up on a committee level next week.

GREEN BAY, WI (METROSOURCE) - Wisconsin's penchant for drinking is reflected in a list by 24/7 Wall Street of the nation's drunkest cities.  

Twelve of the top 20 cities are in the state.  

Appleton comes in on top, followed by Oshkosh-Neenah, Green Bay and Madison in fourth, while La Crosse-Onalaska is sixth, Fond du Lac is seventh and Eau Claire is ninth.  

The report looked at the percentage of adults who drink to excess, premature death rate, percentage of driving deaths due to alcohol and median household income.

FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ) - A teenage runaway who led authorities on a high speed chase through two counties overnight has been arrested.

The Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Department says deputies tried to pull over a vehicle around 12:15 a.m. Wednesday on State Highway 23 in the Township of Empire when the vehicle kept going.

The vehicle reached speeds of 105 miles per hour.

The chase then entered Calumet County where it eventually stopped.

There were at least 3 people in the vehicle. Two girls from the Menasha area were caught. Authorities say they were runaways.

Officials say a 16-year-old boy, who's also from the Menasha area, fled on foot. Authorities confirm that he was taken into custody before 9 a.m. Wednesday.

No one was injured.

Cops say the chase was about 28 miles long.

TOWN OF NEENAH, WI (WTAQ) - The Winnebago County Board voted down a proposal Tuesday that would have put temporary traffic lights for an intersection some people believe is dangerous.

County officials say a few dozen crashes have taken place at the intersection of County Road CB and Oakridge Road in the Town of Neenah. Three of them have been fatal crashes since 2000.

Recently, a petition to make changes at that intersection got nearly 2,000 signatures. 

Carol Joubert lost her daughter Moriah Munsch last March in a crash at that intersection.

"I know it sounds funny, but I feel that's a good thing, because we want to look at the intersection as it is, as it was when Moriah's accident was there, when she died there, so that it can be fixed, so that we can find out the right thing to do for that intersection," Munsch told FOX 11.

A study started a few days ago to find a permanent solution to making the intersection safer.

County board member Bill Roh proposed the temporary lights. He says the intersection has undergone 2 studies in the past with no changes.

"What happens in August if this study comes in and says, 'Nope, you don't need a roundabout, nope you don't need traffic signals, nope you don't need four way stops signs,' What are we gonna do, say, 'well the study says we don't need anything? Anybody else ready for an accident? It's just, in my opinion, ridiculous to sit here and do nothing," Roh told FOX 11.

County Highway Commissioner Ernest Winters says this is a more in-depth study than those in the past. He explained temporary traffic lights could do more harm than good and possible skew the study's results.

"Putting up signals sort of as an all of a sudden reaction, sometimes you don't get the desired results," said Winters.

Joubert won't rest until the right solution is found to make this spot safer.

"I don't want another family, another mother, parents, somebody to hear words from the county coroner, words that echo through my mind," she said.

According to Winters, the study will be done sometime in August. He said depending on the outcome, the county could get federal funding to improve the intersection. Winters adds the study can also suggest temporary solutions to help in the meantime.

MADISON, WI (Wisconsin Radio Network) - Faith groups and low-income advocates are shining light on the payday loan industry in Wisconsin and elsewhere.

In advance of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s expected presentation of a new administrative rule that could rein in high-interest lenders and encourage more responsible lending practices, the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group Foundation has released a new fact sheet on the impact of predatory high-interest loans on Wisconsinites.

During a media conference call on Tuesday, Peter Skopec with the WISPERG Foundation calls them “debt traps by design.”

The average payday loan in Wisconsin is $320 and carries an APR of 589 percent. The same loan would carry finance charges of more than $866.

State Representative Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) said that while greater transparency and consumer education are needed, “a lot times people are taking outs loans because they have bad credit. They have to get by. They have to pay rent, they have to put food on the table.”

Hintz said keeping pace with the industry through legislation is often a challenge.

“In fact, very few companies do what are defined as payday loans in Wisconsin. Like they’ve done in other states, they’ve morphed into different products.”

According to the WISPIRG Foundation fact sheet, “high-interest lenders’ business model relies on borrowers’ inability to repay an initial small-dollar loan and then trapping consumers in a spiral of growing debt, piled-on fees and skyrocketing interest rates.

These loans are routinely targeted at low-income Wisconsinites and at people of color, with devastating impacts for already vulnerable communities.”

Pastor Marian Boyle with Green Bay’s West Side Moravian Church said she knows people impacted by the “predatory” loans. “Friends, family and members of my congregation who turn to these out of desperation. It’s a short term fix that creates a bigger problem long-term.”

UNDATED (WTAQ) - A barber shop owner and bait shop proprietor was sentenced to six years in federal prison for inducing and enticing minors to engage in prostitution.

36-year-old Brian L. Kelley was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release.

Prosecutors say Kelly used his position as a business owner on the Menominee Indian Reservation to hire minors for the purpose of paying them in return for sexual activities.

MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - Wisconsin has its first confirmed case of the Zika virus.

The state Department of Health Services announced Wednesday that a woman who recently traveled to Honduras, where Zika-infected mosquitoes are present, tested positive for the virus infection.

Officials say there have been no locally-acquired cases of Zika virus in Wisconsin or the continental United States.

“Wisconsin is one of the last states to have a confirmed case of Zika virus infection detected in a resident, but we have been actively preparing for the likelihood that this day would come,” said State Health Officer Karen McKeown in a statement. “Together with partners we have been working to prepare our Zika virus response plans. This includes testing more than 300 people who have traveled to countries with known Zika virus transmission, and monitoring for the presence of mosquitoes that may carry Zika virus. We will remain vigilant in our response to ensure the safety and health of all Wisconsinites, particularly pregnant women and unborn babies, who are most at risk.”

Wisconsin health officials have been working on this issue with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local health departments, health care professionals, the Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene, and the University of Wisconsin – Madison Entomology Department.

Because Zika virus poses the greatest risk to pregnant women and their unborn babies, DHS has targeted outreach to health care providers caring for pregnant women, because an infected mother may pass the Zika virus to a baby during pregnancy.

Zika virus may cause microcephaly in the infant, which is a medical condition in which the size of the head is smaller than normal because the brain has not developed properly.

About 80 percent of people who are infected with Zika virus do not have any symptoms. Illness may develop in 20 percent of infected people within 3 to 7 days after a bite from an infected mosquito. Symptoms are generally mild and can last for several days to a week. Common symptoms of Zika virus infection include fever, rash, joint pain, conjunctivitis (red eyes), muscle pain or headache. Serious complications are extremely. There is no medication to treat Zika virus disease and no vaccine is currently available.

Zika is typically transmitted to people by a bite from an infected mosquito, however, it can also be spread from mother to unborn child, through sexual contact, and through blood transfusions. According to DHS, surveillance has not identified mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus in Wisconsin.

Working with the CDC, DHS has been providing guidance to clinicians for management and testing of possible cases of Zika virus infection. The CDC recommends pregnant women not travel to areas where the Zika virus is present.

The best way to prevent Zika virus infection is to avoid travel to areas where active transmission is present. Zika is only one of several diseases that can be spread by mosquitoes. To protect yourself from mosquito bites, consider the following:

• Wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, socks, and shoes.
• Use EPA-registered insect repellants and apply according to the label instructions.
• Stay and sleep in places with air conditioning and screened-in windows.
• Avoid being outside during times of high mosquito activity, specifically around dawn and dusk.
• Prevent standing water in your yard by disposing discarded tires, cans, plastic containers; draining standing water from pool or hot tub covers; turning over plastic wading pools and wheel barrows when not in use; keeping drains, ditches and culverts clean of trash and weeds so water will drain properly; and cleaning gutters to ensure they drain properly.

See a health care provider if you develop a fever, rash, joint pain, or red eyes during a trip, or within two weeks after traveling to a place with Zika virus, or if you have had sexual contact with an individual who has traveled to a place with Zika virus.

Pregnant women without symptoms that have traveled to an affected Zika virus area should contact their physicians for possible Zika virus testing.

FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ) - Three teenage runaways are now in police custody after leading cops on a high speed chase in 2 Wisconsin counties.

The Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Department has released dash cam video of the chase (see above) which began on State Highway 23 near County Highway UU in the Township of Empire around 12:15 a.m. Wednesday.

Sheriff's say they tried to initiate a traffic stop for a speed violation, when the car refused to stop or obey the deputies signal to stop.

The car led authorities on a chase from westbound Highway 23 onto northbound U.S. Highway 151. Police say the chase reached speeds of 105 miles per hour.

Eventually, the suspect car entered Calumet County on Highway 151 and then continued onto northbound Highway 55. Then, the car left Highway 55 south of Faro Springs Road. 

Two juvenile girls were arrested at the scene, while a 16-year-old boy who was driving ran off.

Around 8:30 a.m., that boy was arrested by Calumet County authorities and taken to the Fond du Lac County Secure Detention Facility.

In all, the chase went for 27.5 miles. No one was hurt and no property was damaged.

The incident remains under investigation.

(UNDATED) - Millions of American workers will now be eligible for overtime pay under a new federal rule finalized Wednesday.

The Labor Department now allows full-time salaried workers to earn overtime if they earn up to 47-thousand-476 dollars a year.

Jayme Sellen, Director of Government Affairs with the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce, says the increasing the overtime exemption will have a dramatic impact on employers as well as their workers.

"That means that anybody who doesn't make that salary is, most likely, going to have to go from a salary position to an hourly position and then be paid overtime if they go over that 40 hours."

Sellen says that could mean a loss of productivity or result in a compression between supervisors, managers and other workers.

"Some salaried individuals are going to have to go back to being hourly, and that's kind of demoralizing for some individuals.

The current over time threshold is $23,660.

The Labor Department plans to update the threshold every three years to ensure that it keeps pace with inflation.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A Green Bay man is scheduled to enter a plea Monday to charges he punched a teenage girl during a drunken rage.

44-year-old Jerald A. Cook is charged with child abuse/intentionally causing harm, false imprisonment, disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer. All counts have repeater enhancers.

According to the criminal complaint, Green Bay police were called to an apartment building in the 1600 block of Christiana Street on April 18 for a disturbance.

Dispatch notified officers that callers could overhear a female screaming, "Let me go!" 

Officers entered the hallways and several residents said they heard a girl crying and screaming. A knock at the door was met with hard strike of the door and a man yelling obscenities. 

The cops announced their wish that the man open the door, but he yelled obscenities again. Backup was requested and weapons were drawn because of the tense, yet unknown situation inside the apartment.

"I need you to open the door," yelled one of the officers. "We are not going away, we need to make sure everyone inside is okay."

Moments later, the door swung open but no one was in the doorway. The man was ordered to come out with his hands up, warning that he risked being bit by a K-9. After some rummaging heard inside the apartment, the man said something to the effect of, "I'm coming out."

A man walked into the hallway with his hands at his side, only holding a cigarette. Officers yelled at the man to put his hands in the air, but he turned to glare at one of the cops, dropped his cigarette and said, "I'm not afraid of you."

Once again the man was ordered to place his hands in the air, but the man said, "@#$% it," and refused. He just continued to stare hard in the direction of that officer. 

Given the situation, believing the man had assaulted someone based on numerous people telling him they heard, "Blood curdling screams yelling for someone to get off of them and crying," he deployed a Taser to the man from about 8 feet away.

That allowed officers to place handcuffs on the man, and enter the apartment to verify no one else was inside. 

Officer then attempted to locate the girl people heard screaming, and someone mentioned that she may have gone upstairs. Authorities went to an upstairs apartment where a female voice was heard whimpering in one of the apartments.

They knocked on the door, and inside was a little girl crying, her face red and very scared. She confirmed to officers that she was involved in the altercation downstairs.

An elderly woman occupied that apartment, and said the girl pounded on her door so she let her in. The woman indicated she didn't know what happened, but told the victim she could stay there until her mom got home.

The girl told police that she wasn't feeling well that morning and decided not to go to school. She says that the man they tased, identified as Jerald A. Cook, was intoxicated after having been drinking non-stop for the past 4 days. 

Later in the day, the girl heard Cook verbally abuse her mom, reportedly slapping her once and calling her names.

Around 4 p.m., the girl's mom left for work and she was sitting on the couch when Cook walked into the living room falling on top of her legs. She pushed Cook off of her and squirmed away from him. 

As she began walking towards her bedroom, Cook quickly followed. The girl tried to get the radio in the bedroom to turn on music in hopes it would calm Cook down.

Cook appeared upset and overheard last evening that two of her mom's friends tell him that if he continued to assault them (meaning the girl and her mom), "They would handle the problem."

The girl tried to get to the phone to call her mom, when Cook took the phone away and punched her several times in the face and right arm. She tried to get out of the apartment, but Cook prevented that by blocking the door and pulling her hair. 

Per the complaint, the girl was able to yell, cry and grab the door hard enough to pull it open to sneak out and run upstairs.

Officers took Cook to the hospital for his alcohol intoxication after he blew a 0.31 on a preliminary breath test and due to him getting tased.

Jerald A. Cook previously was convicted of disorderly conduct-domestic abuse in January 2014 and possession of THC-repeater this past January.

Cook is due in Brown County Circuit Court on Monday for his arraignment. If convicted of all charges, Cook faces about 20 years in prison.

FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ) - State Trooper Trevor Casper’s name was added to the Police Memorial in Fond du Lac’s Hamilton Park giving this year’s Police Memorial ceremony Wednesday afternoon more meaning.

Fond Du Lac Police Chief Bill Lamb....

"your son, Trooper Trevor Casper, stopped pure evil that day. had he not, the violence and carnage would have moved into a densely populated neighborhood or busy retail area, where I'm quite certain others would have been killed or put in extreme peril"

Trooper Casper was killed in a shoot out with a bank robbery suspect in Fond du Lac in March of 2015.

Fond Du Lac County Executive Al Buechel says ceremonies like this help families of law enforcement officers who are coping with their loss.

"while words can not take away the feeling of loss, it is my hope that tributes like this will help the families cope with their loss. we ask God to bless these families and hold these young officers close"

Trevor Casper's name is now listed under the names of Officer Craig Birkholz and two other Fond Du Lac police officers who gave their lives protecting the city over the years.

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - The apparent overdose death of an inmate at the Oshkosh Correctional Institute is being investigated.

State Corrections and Oshkosh Police are investigating the May 5th death of 31-year-old Daniel Tanner.

Police are investigating his death and the Department of Corrections is doing its own internal investigation.

Tanner had completed most of a 10 year sentence for cocaine and marijuana trafficking.

Part of the investigation will focus on security at the prison.

It’s not known how Tanner obtained the drugs that led to his death.