GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Men and women around Green Bay came out in solidarity Wednesday shedding light on injustices happening around the world.

A group of roughly 60 people marched a 4 1/2 mile route around the city to highlight "A Day Without a Woman."

Event organizer Stephanie Ortiz explains why the march was so important.

"Ending gender violence, social provisioning, there's many platform areas that the women's march put forth for this Day Without a Woman," said Ortiz.

Ortiz says these issues are happening within our community.

"It's important for us not to pretend as if it's issues over there, in other cities and other states," Ortiz said. "We are going to continue to resist and we are continuing to stand up in situations of injustice."

The march started at the City Deck, down University Avenue and back to the YWCA downtown for a resource fair, music, and speakers.

The demographic of the march was mainly high school and college age individuals.

Wednesday was also International Women's Day.

Written by FOX 11's Eric Peterson.

TOWN OF VANDENBROEK, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Another day of wicked wind in Wisconsin made a mess for some, as trash from a landfill was blown all over.

The Outagamie County landfill is one of the largest operations in Wisconsin, handling about a 500,000 tons of garbage each year. The facility takes in trash from three counties: Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago.

But as high winds continue, some of that garbage was sent blowing in the wind.

Bag after bag, and plastic rattling in the breeze. The Elm Grove Apartments in Little Chute were in the line of fire Wednesday morning.

"I see obviously like a spare bag once in a while, but, like I see right here, this is ridiculous," said Levi Van Stappen of Little Chute told FOX 11.

Van Stappen says this week's flying garbage from the Outagamie County landfill in the nearby Town of Vandenbroek is the worst he's seen.

"You can see all the stuff that just gets built up over time. But yeah, it's been crazy weather," he said.

"Well, it's kind of been making a mess a lot," said Julie Sanger of Little Chute.

Sanger lives just across the street.

"The bags are everywhere. They collect on everything. I know the shingles are falling off the roof too," she said.

"Well, it's windy. It's really windy," said Tom Nelson, Outagamie County Executive told FOX 11.

Nelson says due to the high wind, the landfill stopped taking garbage at 11:00a.m. Wednesday.

"We're kind of fighting a losing battle in the sense that we're trying to contain the trash that's already there," he said.

Some of the garbage littered the area along I-41 near Little Chute. County crews were out in force trying to clean it all up.

"This is one of those all hands on deck efforts. So not only do we have staff from solid waste and recycling, we also have our workers from highway who are coming together, and doing what can be done," said Nelson.

Meanwhile the bags continue to blow around.

Van Stappen says it's all part of spring.

"I hope this weather kind of cools down just a little bit. It's nice with the lack of snow, but I think comes with that, is the crazy Wisconsin weather," he said.

Landfill leaders are monitoring the wind, and evaluating any changes.

The landfill is scheduled to open Thursday at 7 a.m. Whether nature cooperates remains to be seen.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A total of 2,303 different cheeses, butters, and yogurts are being judged in the Lambeau Field Atrium this week.

That's an increase of 22% from the last biennial U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in 2015, according to Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association Communications and Policy Manager Rebekah Sweeney.  

Cheese makers from 33 different states have made the trek to Green Bay to enter their dairy products into this year's 104 categories.

Event organizers invited a total of 50 judges to work the competition, which began Tuesday. Sweeney says the judges are people who are highly respected in the field of either dairy science, research, or cheese grading.

Stan Dietsche, one of four assistant chief judges, has been associated with the event for three decades and has held a leadership position since 2005.

Dietsche says judges must consider a variety of factors when grading a cheese including: packaging, presentation, body, texture, and flavor.

In each category, medals are awarded for the top three finishers.

Roger Krohn, the head cheese maker at Agripour of Luxembourg, Wisconsin, has been in the industry for 40 years.  He's a third generation cheese maker whose facility focuses on mozzarella and provolone cheeses.

On Tuesday, Agripour took home the gold and silver medals in the 'part-skim mozzarella' category and also notched top honor in the 'mild provolone' competition.  

Krohn believes his experience and desire to continue winning awards has allowed he and Agripour to consistenly produce high-quality cheeses.

In addition to receiving a medal, winners are allowed to put the competition's logo on their packaging, something Krohn jokingly said has made his marketing department's job 'a bit easier.'

While all of the individual category winners will have been determined by the end of Wednesday, the overall 'best cheese' winner will be announced at an event-culminating gala at the Hyatt Regency on Thursday night.   

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - In recent years, ticket sales have pushed 40,000 for the WIAA Girls State Basketball Championship.

Officials hope that mark will finally be surpassed in 2017.

Greater Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau President/CEO Brad Toll believes it's a realistic possibility since there are multiple area teams amongst the 20 that will compete for state championships between Thursday and Saturday.

The girls' high school basketball playoffs began last month, and the field has been narrowed to four teams in each of the state's five divisions.

The three-day event used to be held in Madison but in 2013, the WIAA began hosting the girls' finals at Green Bay's Resch Center.

WIAA Associate Director Deb Hauser feels they've found the perfect home for the state playoff, calling it an "intimate venue" with seats close to the playing floor.  She says that is particularly important for girls' basketball since they, moreso than boys, "play off emotion."

Hauser says one new element of this year's finals is an off-the-court competition between the remaining schools.  

In each of the five divisions, the team that sells the most presale tickets will receive a $2,000 check for its school.

While basketball fans in Northeast Wisconsin get to have the live action in their backyard, Toll says they're not the only ones who benefit from the tournament being in Titletown.

He says local businesses typically thrive from the increased tourism.

Over the past four years, Toll says those who travel to Green Bay for the event have spent an average of $2,500,000 and have filled roughly 2,300 hotel rooms.

RIPON, WI (WTAQ) - An American Flag with a special connection to 9-11 made a special visit to Ripon this week.

U.S. Honor Flag Founder Chris Heisler brought the flag to Ripon College where his son is a student and took it to the Ripon Police Department.

He was able to get a hold of a flag that flew over 9-11 recovery efforts in New York City and has made a mission of making it available at events across the country.

Ripon Police Captain Bill Wallner says over the years the flag has made many stops.

"The flag has traveled millions of miles and it's been part of special events. Tt's been to numerous Super Bowl and World Series games"

And that's just on earth.

"It actually has flown and was taken up in the last space shuttle flight"

It has also been draped over coffins and been present at hundreds of law enforcement, firefighters, and military personnel funerals.

Wallner says because of the special meaning attached to the flag it's handled with dignity and respect. ....

"So the officer salutes the flag, removes the flag from the case, has on his hands white gloves to hold the flag and then salutes the flag once its put back in the case"

The flag also visited Milwaukee this week.

BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - The family of a missing woman is extending the $17,000 reward leading to any information on her location.

Victoria Prokopovitz was 60-years-old when she was last seen at her residence at 5118 Kunesh Road in the township of Pittsfield on April 25, 2013 around 10 p.m.

She was discovered missing the next day leaving behind her purse with its contents including her ID, money and cell phone.

The reward expires on June 4.

This is an on-going investigation by the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.

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 Stopper Hotline at (920) 432-STOP [7867].

Persons who wish to remain anonymous can do so through the Crime Stoppers hotline.

MANITOWOC, WI (WRN) - A company that makes food flavorings plans to expand its operations in Manitowoc.

The Kerry group says it plans to buy a plant vacated by Foster Needle, and expand and renovate the facility.

Kerry acquired four other buildings in Manitowoc in 2015 when it acquired Red Arrow Products.

Officials say they plan to move production from three of those buildings into the Foster Needle building.

Kerry says it will produce more of its liquid smoke products.

No word yet on how many jobs the expansion could create.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The number of Wisconsin Public Service customers without power is less than 1,000.  

As of 11 am Thursday, WPS Senior Communication Specialist Matt Cullen says roughly 900 people were still in the dark.  

Since efforts began Monday night, Cullen says power has been restored to over 113,000 customers.

The outages were caused by damaging winds that swept through Northeast Wisconsin for a span of roughly 48 hours from late Monday to Wednesday night.

While losses of power were seen throughout WPS's service area, Cullen says the northern communities of Eagle River, Minocqua, and Rhinelander, and the western municipalities of Stevens Point and Wasau saw the largest number of outages.

Cullen says crews have faced multiple obstacles in restoring power to the area including: downed power lines, downed trees, and broken power poles.  

However, he says the greatest challenge came from the length of time that the strong winds stuck around. 

On Tuesday, recorded gusts reached 45 miles per hour in Green Bay and peaked in the area at 55 miles an hour in Omro.  

Cullen encourages people to stay at least 25 feet away from any downed line or wire and encourages them to immediately notify both WPS and local law enforcement.

According to Cullen, crews are continuing work to restore power to the remaining residents.  He hopes most of them are out of the dark by late Thursday or early Friday.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Catholics in Northeast Wisconsin will be able to enjoy corned beef while celebrating St. Patrick's Day on March 17. 

Catholic Diocese of Green Bay Bishop David Ricken has issued a dispensation allowing those in the diocese to eat meat next Friday.

Ordinarily, Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent.

"I encourage all who make use of this dispensation to engage in another sacrificial or charitable act that day,” Ricken wrote in his decree.

St. Patrick's Day honors the patron saint of Ireland, who is traditionally credited with bringing Christianity to that country. 

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - Crews hit the streets of Outagamie County Thursday to begin cleaning up residential properties and highways littered with garbage by this week's intense winds.

County Executive Tom Nelson says four groups were sent out to collect the waste from the county's landfill that was blown into the Little Chute neighborhood to its east.  

From late Monday to Wednesday night, winds gusts hovered around 50 miles per hour in Outagamie County and much of Northeast Wisconsin.

Nelson says the winds were so intense that the decision was made to shut down the landfill at 11 am Wednesday; something he notes has not happened in recent memory, or possibly ever.

By the time it reopened Thursday morning, Nelson says roughly five hours of work time was lost.

However, he believes it would have cost more to keep the facility open during the period of intense winds as they were losing as much garbage as they were taking in, thus adding to cleanup costs.

Nelson hopes the community can learn something from this week's winds by being more considerate of one of the items most commonly scattered along Outagamie County highways: plastic bags.

While the county does not colect plastic grocery bags in its curbside recycling pickup, Nelson says many stores that offer those bags to shoppers also take them back.

Nelson encourages people to start recycling those bags to keep them from entering the landfill.

BELLE PLAINE, WISCONSIN (WTAQ) -  A Wittenberg man has been arrested for allegedly using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime.

Shawano County Sheriff's deputies say the 49-year-old was taken into custody Thursday after meeting up with an undercover informant, who posed as a 15-year-old girl online.

The man reportedly had online chats, that were sexual in nature, with undercover officials for roughly three months.

Charges have been recommended to the District Attorney's Office. 

GREEN BAY (WTAQ-WLUK) -- The United States has a new champion in cheese.

After two days of judging at Lambeau Field, the 2017 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest winner was announced Thursday night at the KI Convention Center.

After decades of entering the championship cheese contest, Antigo's Sartori Compay won for its Reserve Cheese Black Pepper BellaVitano.

“Oh my god, this is insane,” said Mike Matucheski of Satori Company to FOX 11. “I’ve never felt like this before.”

48 judges picked 20 finalists out of a field of more than 2,303.

The cheeses came from 33 states, and as you might expect, Wisconsin led the way in both entries and spots in the top 20 with 14.

“Well if you get to the top 20, you really got to feel really good about it because it's not easy to get to that position,” said Terry Lensmire to FOX 11, the product development manager for Agropur, which took first runner up for its one to two-year aged cheddar.

The judges use a 100-point system, deducting points for defects.

“The criteria or the elements we evaluate are appearance and makeup, then we'll pull a sample, a plug usually using a cheese trier,” said Jim Mueller, a judge from Bellevue.

“We'll flavor it and we multi-task. While we're flavoring it, we're also checking the body and texture, and then the final element that we evaluate is the color.”

The contest is held every other year.

FOX CROSSING, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) -- Thousands of dollars’ worth of items stolen, then turned around and sold.

We've seen it in our area. Most recently, in Fox Crossing where diapers stolen from a charity.

Diapers, white strips, razors...products like these are stolen and resold on the black market.

Police tell FOX 11 News it's a multi-billion dollar industry.

"High-value, small items that are easy to grab and go," described Aaron Zemlock, a criminal justice instructor with Fox Valley Technical College.The items are ones that some struggle to afford.

For example, the stolen diapers in Fox Crossing cost about 30 dollars a pack, they would have sold for ten. We're told thieves generally make 25 cents on the dollar.

"It might be something that's newer to people in this area. It's quite common, especially in larger cities," Zemlock told us.

Larger cities like Chicago. That's where police say the items Lovea Moore was allegedly stealing, would have ended up. She is charged with stealing white strips and razors from area stores.

But officers told FOX 11 the goods aren't always taken from stores.

"From a warehouse like our location, or they'll hit trucks, you know, any type of cargo theft, or trains," explained Fox Crossing Police Officer Jason Weber.

Officers told us once stolen, the stolen goods can end up in many different places.

"Flea markets or any other type of discount stores, liquidating stores," said Weber.

"Sometimes it's actually taken back to warehouses and it's repackaged and even re-sold back to the retailer it's stolen from in the first place," added Zemlock.

And then there are online marketplaces like Craigslist.

"A lot of it is through the internet," said Zemlock.

Officers explained if you're searching on a site like Craigslist and you find some of these products for sale for a price that seems too good to be true, they're probably stolen.

"It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to try and notify your local PD about," Zemlock advised.

But officers did tell us once the items go on sale, it's hard to trace the theft back to the thief.

"Because once they get it they move it fast," Weber explained.

So law enforcement advises reporting the crime as soon as it happens.

"It ends up back on the consumer to end up paying the prices," said Zemlock.

Making already pricey products even more so.

The police officers say they work with retailers directly to try to prevent these crimes and if they can't prevent them, at least solve them.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - The Brown County Sheriff's Office is looking for ways to deal with overcrowding in its county jail.

Sheriff John Gossage tells FOX 11 the jail is filled and with more inmates coming every day.

“First and foremost it's the safety of my staff that are working in that facility, as well as the inmates that are in there, that is certainly a concern,” explained Gossage.

Gossage said because of the overcrowding, inmates have moved to other counties.

“Right now we have 40 inmates that are shipped out to another facility, that being Outagamie County that we contracted with to take care of our overflow inmates. We are currently at 92 percent with those 40 inmates out,” said Gossage.

Gossage added that sending those inmates out of Brown County is costly for taxpayers.

"I’ve budgeted $182,000, which was a conservative estimate for this year for contracting with other jails,” he said.

"At some point in time there is going to be a financial decision," Brown County executive, Troy Streckenbach told FOX 11.

Streckenbach added that there are several options on the table, including expanding the current jail.

“If we don’t see a major change in terms of the population trend of what's happening in the jail system, then we'll be planning and looking to build an expansion on the jail," Streckenbach said.

He added partnering with another county is also an option.

"We know that we have some jails that are being currently built in the area and the district, so there's conversations on how to partner with other counties,” explained Streckenbach.

In two weeks the National Institute of Corrections is going to tour the Brown County Jail and then give suggestions to the county on what it can do to ease overcrowding.

"They may see something that they saw in another community that we're not seeing right now, whether it's an alternative to incarceration or another type of treatment course," said Gossage.

The public will have a chance to voice their concerns at a town hall meeting. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 23 at 8:30 a.m. at the Brown County Jail.

SHEBOYGAN, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - A two-year-old boy suffered non-life threatening injuries after getting hit by a school bus in Sheboygan.

It happened Thursday afternoon, after a Sheboygan County Head Start bus dropped off students at a townhouse.

As the bus pulled away, the boy ran toward it.

The driver never saw the boy and hit him.

Police don't believe the driver was negligent.

BELLEVUE, WI (WTAQ) - No one was injured in an early morning house fire in Bellevue.

Firefighters were called to 3076 Essen Road around 5:45 for the report of a structure fire.

When crews arrived, they found smoke throughout the first floor of the home.

It was determined the fire was coming from the furnace in the basement and the blaze was quickly controlled.

Everyone got out safely.

No word on damage estimates.

The fire is under investigation.

ASHWAUBENON, WISCONSIN (WTAQ-WLUK) – One person was taken to the hospital after a vehicle crashed into an Ashwaubenon business Friday morning.

Ashwaubenon Public Safety says the 78-year-old De Pere woman's foot got caught between the pedals of her SUV as she was leaving the Plato's Closet at 2605 Oneida Street.

The 24-year-old customer sustained non-life threatening injuries.

The front area of the store sustained a large amount of damage.

GREENVILLE, WISCONSIN (WTAQ-WLUK) – A major airline is starting service to Appleton International Airport this summer.

American Airlines will have two flights per day to and from Chicago O’Hare International Airport beginning in July, the airport announced Friday morning.

“The reason this is so important is that many of the companies coming into this community each and every day have agreements with American Airlines,” airport director Abe Weber said. “Passengers who are loyal American Airlines flyers now have access to Appleton on their preferred carrier, which is good for the community and good for this airport.”

Weber said the airport had been working for several years to attract American Airlines to the Fox Valley. Support from the business community was key to bringing the airline to the area, he added.

Airport leaders say American’s flights should add competition and may reduce costs for travelers.

The full flight schedule is expected to be loaded into American’s website by Monday morning.

“Their first flight will depart in the morning around 5:16 a.m. That will be able to provide access into that Chicago hub, access across the U.S. aboard American's domestic network to anywhere in the U.S. by lunchtime,” Weber said. “The first flight into Appleton -- very similar -- will be here by lunchtime, so anyone from the East Coast can arrive in Appleton and have half a day of work meeting with the businesses here.”

American Airlines flights to Chicago are scheduled to begin July 5.

MADISON, WISCONSIN (WTAQ) - Three Wisconsin municipalities will receive state loans to replace lead pipes in their communities.  

Governor Scott Walker announced Friday that the DNR reached agreements with Clintonville, Florence, and Racine.  The three will receive a combined total north of $1,000,000 in state subsidies through its lead pipe replacement program.

Those loans do not need to be paid back.

Clintonville will receive $310,000, with the city paying plumbers $2,000 on behalf of each participating homeowner.

The DNR is giving Florence $325,000, with the township covering 90% of the project cost.  The current plan is to replace 156 private lines as well as those that service two day cares and two schools.  

Racine will receive $500,000, with homeowners eligible for $2,500 rebates when the work has been completed.

SHEBOYGAN, WISCONSIN (WTAQ-WLUK) -  Lakeland University announced a $12,000,000 fundraising campaign on Friday.

It focuses on the areas of campus center renovations, new athletic facilites and scholarships.

The university has already received an anonymous $3,000,000 donation to upgrade the Younger Family Campus Center.

“Once this work is completed, the Younger Family Campus Center will be a jewel for our main campus,” Lakeland president David Black said in a news release. “The Campus Center has been altered and adapted several times since its construction in 1964. The current facility is dated and lacks the social vitality and sense of place to be a true social hub for Lakeland.

Plans call for the new campus center to:

• Address healthy lifestyles through new dining options and setups that promote healthy eating and socializing
• Offer additional space for Lakeland’s Student Success & Engagement program, including hosting coaching sessions, workshops and small events to support students in achieving their goals
• Provide an enhanced environment for community-building, camaraderie and personal growth
• Provide commuters with a place to “touch down” between classes so they can feel more connected to the campus community
• Provide spaces to host a variety of events and activities  

University leaders hope to finish the campus center work in fall of 2018.

Meanwhile, work is scheduled to begin this spring on a previously announced $2,800,000 new outdoor athletic facility. The new facility, which is expected to be ready by this fall, will house the school's football and soccer teams, and will also be available for community use.

The fundraising campaign also has a goal of raising $4,000,000 for student scholarships.