APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - For fans of the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, the cat's out of the bag. The 2017-2018 season line-up has been unveiled.

The Broadway series will be a mix of classic and modern musicals.

Through 2017 and 2018 the Fox Cities PAC president Maria Van Laanen tells WLUK there will be the usual mix of smaller, intimate shows to big, Broadway musicals.

"People are going to have an opportunity to see a lot of brand new performances for the very first time in the Fox Cities"

Some of the Broadway musicals headed here will be new ones like 'Waitress' and 'School of Rock,' as well as classics like 'The King and I.'

This year's season announcement is also a very important milestone for the PAC. This is the 15th anniversary of the season line-up announcement.

"Goes to show the arts community around here, what we've been able to do over the last 15 years," said Appleton Common Council member Curt Konetzke.

The venue has been a host to about 30 Wisconsin premiers of Broadway shows.

Konetzke credits visionaries of the PAC for dreaming big 15 years ago.

"It was their vision and now it's carrying on and it's gonna be phenomenal for years to come"

Van Laanen says the community has shown its support.

"What we've been able to accomplish by being a top touring destination for the best artists around the world is so much because of how loyal our audiences are" Even performers who make most of their appearances on New York City stages, like Broadway performer Daniella Dalli, say the Fox Cities PAC is impressive.

"The sound in this space is incredible. It was truly built like an opera house and being up on this stage is unlike any other place I've actually performed and I honestly, I find the audiences here to be so warm and they just love musical theater"

A full rundown for the 2017-18 season can be found at http://foxcitiespac.com/

ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Among the three anchor buildings being built on the east end of the development, one is getting ready to open next month.

On Monday, Hinterland held a job fair with the goal of almost doubling its downtown Green Bay work force.

Owner Bill Tressler tells WLUK the company says is looking to hire about 40 people for various positions at the new brewery.

"Everyone is excited to get over there and start working"

Tressler said work on the Lombardi Ave. brewery is almost complete.

"There are some interior finishes to be done and a few extra exterior touches as well"

Hinterland's current location is on Dousman Street, downtown Green Bay.

Tressler said with the new address comes some changes.

"A little bit of a different operation from what we currently do, we've add quite a few new services, including a lunch service everyday"

Another big difference..... being opened on Sundays.

"Currently we've been closed on Sundays because it is quieter in the downtown neighborhoods during game days"

With opening day about a month away, brewing at the new location is already underway.

"Cherry Wheat is the first beer that will come out of that new brewery," said Tressler.

"Because of the position Hinterland put us in, we'll be able to brew day-one in the building," said Ben Jaeger with Copper Rock Coffee Company.

Copper Rock Coffee Company will be moving into Hinterland's downtown location, starting a new venture as Copper State Brewing Company.

"We're going to have a bar that's going to be on the ground floor that will make it feel more like a tap room"

Aside from beer and food, Copper State will also have a Copper Rock coffee shop inside. Copper State expects to open this June.

As for Hinterland, its job fair will continue today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its downtown location.

ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) - Ashwaubenon Public Safety have taken the man into custody they believe stole wallets from teachers last Thursday while they were in parent-teacher conferences.

Surveillance video shows a man, identified as 29 year old Albert Pugh, going into empty classrooms at Pioneer Elementary School and taking wallets out of teachers' purses.

Witnesses have also described the same man at the school.

Officers say the suspect left the school in a red Chrysler car.

Pugh is being held in the Brown County Jail on a probation/parole hold.  Charges are pending.  

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN (WTAQ) - Vehicle break-ins were reported at two local campuses Monday.  

Green Bay Police are investigating reports of six vehicles that were broken into at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College.  School officials say the break-ins took place in a parking lot off West Mason Street and Country Club Road.

They are also looking into a pair of break-ins on the UW-Green Bay campus, with items stolen valued between $50-$200.  

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN (WTAQ) - An 18-year-old Green Bay man will stand trial on charges that he accidentially shot his friend.

Bryant Ellis waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday on felony counts of First Degree Reckless Homicide and Possessing a Firearm and one misdemeanor count of Operating a Firearm with a Controlled Substance.

Ellis reportedly did not know the gun was loaded when he shot and killed Andrew Tohulka at a home on Green Bay's east side on February 20.

Both men were allegedly drinking and smoking marijuana the night of the incident. 

Ellis is scheduled to be arraigned on April 3.  

MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) - Two students have been taken into custody after a loaded gun and ammunition was found in the students' backpacks at a Manitowoc High School.

A Wilson Junior High School Resource Officer received tips from students that there was a gun in the school.

The officer found .22 caliber ammunition in a student's backpack and later found a loaded .22 caliber revolver in the second student's backpack.

The police department and the Manitowoc Public School District are working together as the investigation continues.

No one was hurt in the incident.

BROWN COUNTY, WISCONSIN (WTAQ) - Fifteen people have been arrested in connection with a Brown County cocaine distribution ring.

The county's Drug Task Force went into nine homes on Tuesday: seven in Green Bay, one in Ashwaubenon, and one in Allouez.  

In total, fifteen arrests were made.  

Officers say they also seized three handguns, $10,000 cash, and various drugs including: cocaine, cocaine base, marijuana, and psilocybin.

No names have been released as the investigation is ongoing.

OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN (WTAQ-WLUK) - Groundbreaking has been set for a new arena in Oshkosh.

Fox Valley Professional Basketball says a ceremony will be held from 3-4 p.m. March 29 at the site of the new arena. The Oshkosh Arena is being built at the corner of S. Main Street and W. South Park Avenue, the former site of The Buckstaff Company.

The arena will be home to a Milwaukee Bucks affiliate in the NBA Development League. The league will change its name to the Gatorade League by the time the Oshkosh team takes the floor next winter.

According to the arena's website, it will have 3,500 seats on the main floor, a second level with 250-300 seats and a 180-person club area.

The arena is being built with private money.

FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN (WTAQ) - Police are investigating a threatening note that was found in a Fond du Lac High School bathroom late Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities say the note referenced a threat that would take place on Wednesday.

Neither law enforcement nor school officials believe the threat is credible but as a precaution, there will be an increased police presence at the school on Wednesday.

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN (WTAQ) - Over the last couple days, Wisconsin tourism officials have been touting the strength of recent statewide statistics at the Governor's Conference on Tourism in Milwaukee.

Brad Toll of the Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau believes Brown County has certainly played its part.

Toll says the county accounts for $1,000,000,000 of the $19,000,000,000 impact tourism has on Wisconsin's economy.  

He also notes that Brown County makes for 11,000 of the 190,000 tourism jobs statewide.  

Toll says tourist spending in Brown County has increased between 2-4% each year since 2009 and expects similar numbers when the 2016 report is made available this spring.  

Governor Scott Walker this week told attendees of the 30th annual conference that the Badger State has seen a 30%, or $4,500,000,000, growth in touirsm from 2010 to 2015. 

Just as Walker expects 2017 will be another strong year for Wisconsin tourism, Toll believes Brown County will thrive.  He predicts increases in both business travel and domestic travel.

However, Toll says the county, and others, will likely see a drop off in international travel as the current strength of the dollar may make it difficult for other countries to afford U.S. vacations.

As in previous years, Toll expects Brown County will benefit from the new statewide tourism adds that were unveiled Monday.  The ads can be seen at: http://www.travelwisconsin.com/travel-resources/wisconsin-tourism-commercials.

DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) - The two "mane" attractions of the Green Bay Police Department's Mounted Patrol Unit have a new home.

Male horses, Casey and Little Joe, arrived at Exceptional Equestrians in De Pere on Monday where they will be boarded and utilized as therapy animals as part of the partnership.

Lisa Kafka, executive director and riding instructor at the non-profit organization, is excited about the collaboration.

"We are going to offer the use of our horses for training of officers for public events and then, in return, Casey and Little Joe will be used as therapeutic riding horses as well," said Kafka.

Exceptional Equestrians helps people age 2 and up with a wide spectrum of conditions such as cerebral palsy, paralysis, Down syndrome, among other conditions to families throughout Northeastern Wisconsin.

Lt. Dave Wesely says the partnership is perfect.

"You couldn't have dreamed of a better scenario where two partners come together, with like-minded goals and that with helping with kids."

The mounted patrol unit consists of 10 officers and 2 horses but the department would eventually like up to 6 horses.

Wesely says the public's reaction to the patrol has been overwhelmingly positive.

"It gives the officers the chance to interact with people in our community as well," Wesely said. "Last year we tried hitting all of the high schools at the lunch period. So, we would just show up at lunchtime and the kids would come out of the school and they'd come up and engage with the officers. That's what we're looking for...building those relationships."

Before the officers "get back on the horse," they will be in training, as will Casey and Little Joe, after a long winter.

The public will see the unit strut their stuff on Green Bay streets starting in May.

SHAWANO, CO, WI (WTAQ) - One person is dead after a crash in Shawano County.

The crash happened around 9 last night (TUE) near the intersection of Highway 29 and County Road U, in the Township of Herman, near Gresham.  

The sheriff's department says the person who died is a male.  

They say he was pronounced dead at the scene.

No other details about the victim or cause of the crash has been released.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - There is a plan to bring new life to a vacant elementary school on Green Bay's east side.

A Milwaukee development group wants to turn the former Whitney School on Webster Avenue into 23 apartment units.

Right now the group is restoring some of the historical features of the school in hopes of the school being added to the National Register of Historic Places.

That designation would pave the way for historic tax credits to help fund the apartment project.

Anuj Rastogi of Milwaukee View LLC spoke to WLUK.

"We saw a beautiful historic structure that nobody else had kind of, maybe didn't know how to tackle and we saw an opportunity"

In addition to the apartments, the developers want to build 17 townhomes along the perimeter of the school property.

Green Bay's redevelopment authority gave preliminary approval to a term sheet Tuesday afternoon.

The term-sheet for the Whitney School project still needs city council approval, which could come next week.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Some Appleton high school students had the opportunity to practice for their potential futures.....and have a little fun at the same time.

Boldt Construction hosted a hands-on learning experience for students Tuesday.

Lauren Lietzky, a junior at Appleton West, tells WLUK, "It's stuff that I wouldn't be able to do normally."

At The Boldt Company, around 150 students from the Appleton School District saw what the construction field had to offer.

Kara Otte is with The Boldt Company

"We're definitely looking at a declining workforce in construction, so we're just trying to get people excited and interested, and show them there's many opportunities for them."

Through demonstrations, and trying it for themselves...The students got to learn about different segments of construction, such as iron-working and carpentry.

Lietzky said, "I like the aspect of putting stuff together, because I'm a very hands-on person. I really enjoy using my hands."

Those in charge of the event say that they hope these hands on experiences get these students thinking about different options for their future careers.

Amy McAloon is a teacher at Appleton East High School.

"They think they have to go to college to get a good job, and they just don't know what's out there."

Trying to show students there's much more to consider.

"Before, I was kind of hard set on the medical field, and now I'm kind of questioning if I want to do something else," Lietzky said.

The students are part of the Student Leadership Program in Appleton.

The group goes to different workplaces to see what the community has to offer.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Green Bay Police are on the lookout for a 17-year-old possibly connected to a series of armed burglaries.

Jordan D. Murdock is 5-foot-8, 150 pounds and may have shorted hair in his mug shot. He also have a distinctive tattoo on his right hand.

Murdock is believed to be driving a stolen blue 2006 GMC Sierra pickup truck. It may have license plate number KT4953.

Police considered him armed and dangerous.

Over the past week officials have been investigating burglaries involving the theft of guns and other items.

19-year-olds Tyler R. Wilhelm and Dominic J. Lucht of Green Bay have been arrested in connection with the burglaries.

Investigators believe more victims of burglaries and theft from autos will come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to call Green Bay police at (920) 448-3208; or contact Crime Stoppers by phone at (920) 432-7867, or by texting GBTIP to 274637.

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN (WTAQ) - Brown County officials are explaining how nine 17-year-olds were able to vote in the 2016 spring presidential primary election.

County Clerk Sandy Juno says some of it was likely oversight on the part of poll workers.

However, she also heard that multiple teens challenged the poll workers, claiming they saw messages on social media or those put out by the Bernie Sanders campaign that stated they were eligible to vote.

While some states allow 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they are 18 by the time of the general election, Wisconsin does not.  Messages like those the Sanders' camp put out promoting that rule for eligible states are likely the ones the teens had seen.

Juno says the poll workers likely did not want to disenfranchise any voters in case the teens were correct and allowed them to cast ballots.

She says eight of the teens voted at the polls and said all nine filled out their paperwork correctly, with the exception of checking 'yes' to the question 'Are you at least 18 years of age?'

According to Juno, three of the 17-year-old voters were in the City of De Pere while two were in the Village of Ashwaubenon.  There was also one underage voter apiece in the villages of Allouez, Howard, Pulaski, and Wrightstown.

Since voter registration is done at the municipal level, Juno is not aware of what training the poll workers received or any repercussions they could face.  

De Pere's city clerk's office told us that the information provided to poll workers statewide prior to Election Day told them to use a photo I.D. to verify the person's identity but mentioned nothing about checking the age listed on that I.D. 

Juno says her office learned of the fraud when the voter registration information was entered into a statewide website.

According to Juno, the clerk's office notified the sheriff's office, who investigated the matter. 

Those findings were turned over to the Brown County District Attorney's Office, who does not plan to prosecute the teens.  After receiving statements from the teens, District Attorney David Lasee says he believes they were under the impression they could vote and were not intentionally trying to commit voter fraud.

Lasee says the teens believed they were referring to the November 2016 election when they checked 'yes' to the question that asked if they were at least 18 years of age.

In an effort to prevent the problem from reoccuring, Juno says starting with last August's primary, signage was placed at all Brown County polling locations that stated which date people needed to be born before to be eligible to vote in that election.

Statewide, between 60-70 17-year-olds are believed to have voted in as many as 29 counties. Lasee says whether or not the teens are prosecuted is up to each county's D.A. 

WINNEBAGO COUNTY, WISCONSIN (WTAQ) - A Neenah woman will spend four years in prison for filing false federal income tax returns in other people's names. 

Billie Jo Bottine was sentenced on Wednesday for filing more than 70 false returns in 32 different names between 2009 and 2014.

The 39-year-old sought more than $340,000 in tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service through the false returns.

Bottine created fake W2 and Schedule C forms to receive the refunds and used the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of various adults and children.

She was also given three years of extended supervision and ordered to pay $186,414 in restitution to the IRS.

STURGEON BAY, WISCONSIN (WTAQ) - Police are looking for a Sturgeon Bay teen who was reported missing on Monday.

Seventeen-year-old Louis Amelinckx reportedly left Sturgeon Bay with two men and spent several hours in a Green Bay apartment complex before traveling to Oshkosh.

Amelinckx was last seen wearing a black jacket and red sneakers but may now be wearing something different.

The Sturgeon Bay Police Department is investigating the case along with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Divison of Criminal Investigation and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Anyone with information should contact Sturgeon Bay Police at 920-746-2450.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - There's a possibility that Green Bay's mayor could still be subject to a recall election.

Alderman Guy Zima says the a petition with 9,000 signatures would have to be completed within 60 days of the city council's decision not to remove the mayor, which happened on February 20.

Zima thinks it still might happen.

"I think they're waiting for weather to break, you know. They don't want to start something that you might have a bunch of blizzards that would hamper the efforts of people," said Zima.

Zima says there are several people interested in the position, even possibly himself.

"Well, I'm a little long in the tooth but I'm pretty scrappy yet. I would give it a consideration but I'd be about a 50-50 deal with me."

Zima says, he's heard that State Representative Eric Genrich is also interested in the position.

"The rumors I hear is that he wants to run. I definitely hear that. I don't know much about him...he doesn't impress me very much. He seems like a lightweight."

The council voted 8-4 on February 20, 1 vote short of removing Jim Schmitt from office.

If the recall doesn't happen, the mayor's term is up in the spring of 2019.

FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ) - An electronic-reading device exploded at a Fond du Lac elementary school Tuesday afternoon.

Fire Chief Peter O’Leary says thankfully the device wasn’t being used at the time of the incident.

"This e-reader spontaneously combusted. It was not being used, it was not plugged into a charging system. It was just sitting out on a counter and it caught fire."

A teacher at Roberts Elementary was the first to smell smoke.

Officials checked to make sure there wasn’t a recall for the device.

"We talked to the manufacturer which is Acer and also we called the Consumer Product Safety Commission to alert them of it. We couldn't find any specific recall," said O'Leary.

The e-reader was manufactured in 2014.

"Some of these malfunctions are no fault of the consumer. They just have a defect," O'Leary said.

No one was injured.