DOOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ- WLUK) - The Door County Sheriff's Office could add a four-legged officer to the force.

With the help of the Door County Community Foundation Inc, the department would like to establish a K-9 program.

The department says the program would help authorities track areas for missing people, suspects and drugs.

To help raise money for the program that would otherwise not be included in the budget, the Sheriff's Office and the Door County Foundation Inc. launched the Door County Sheriff's Office Crime Prevention Foundation.

The foundation estimates it will cost about $25,000 to establish a K-9 program. This includes cost of training for the dog and deputy at a certified kennel, outfitting a squad and travel expenses and certification.

Other programs and items the department wishes to add are a DARE program, Shop and Chop with a Cop, equipment to enhance officer safety, and specialized training for officers.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Seven of the 15 people arrested Tuesday in connection with an alleged Brown County cocaine ring had probable cause hearings on Wednesday.

Prosecutors referred to the seven as 'mid-level members.'

While they did not appear Wednesday, three men were identified in court as suspected ring leaders: Charles Howard, James Allen, and Joshua Cook.

Brown County Assistant District Attorney Bryant Dorsey says nine homes were searched following a six-month investigation that included 43 controlled buys since June 1, 2016.

Dorsey believes the main sales location was an unidentified home on Green Bay's Eastman Avenue. He stated the unnamed tenant was present for a number of the buys at that location.

The 15 arrests Tuesday were scattered throughout seven homes in Green Bay, one in Ashwaubenon, and one in Allouez.

Prosecutors say a kilo of cocaine was taken from one of the suspects.  We previously reported that three handguns, $10,000 in cash, and various drugs were also seized.

While no formal charges have been issued, the seven suspects that were in court Wednesday had bond set, ranging from $500 to $50,000.

MENASHA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - The good news is, the Wisconsin DOT says construction on the 441 Corridor is coming-along on schedule.

The bad news is the disruptions will continues for months to come.

Department representatives updated drivers Wednesday about changes and closures they'll see throughout the year.

Area residents like George Schroeder spoke to WLUK.

"I live right there on Oneida Street and they're up to here now and they're gonna be doing this part next"

Schroeder knows it's not going to be pleasant.

"I wanna get some time schedules, what to expect for dust and dirt"

Project manager Kurt Peters says drivers will see a lot of the same work continue that's already underway in areas like the bridge over Little Lake Butte des Morts and the 10-44-41 interchange.

"A lot of bridges being built and ramps, ramp work and that not a lot's gonna open or be completed this year. A lot of the work is carried over into 2018"

Peters said 2018 will be a big year for the project.

"By the end of 2018 the entire interchange of 10, 441 and I-41 will be complete"

He says a change drivers will need to be aware of this summer will be the closure of exits along Midway Road.

"Late July-early August we'll be closing three of the four ramps at the Midway Interchange"

According to Peters the work is on schedule and on budget, with money scheduled to keep coming in from the state.

"As far as we've been told 441 is one of the projects that the funding will continue to come in for and we'll keep building"

Meanwhile, Schroeder says he's looking forward to the end.

"The flow through here will be much better...day by day. You know, you can't stop progress. They're gonna do it no matter what!"

The DOT says the traffic will flow more smoothly and be much safer. It's just going to take time.

The entire project is on schedule to finish in 2020.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - High School students learning what it's like on the other side of distracted driving -- the enforcement side.

The students gained not only a different perspective, but also perhaps insight into a potential career.

High school students spent some time behind a police radar gun.

Appleton police officers showed them the ropes. Sgt. Dave Lund tells WLUK...

"To watch some traffic around the Appleton East school area, and start to see what we do on a daily basis as patrol officers."

It's all part of a program through Leadership Fox Cities, called Project RADAR.

Jessica Marhefke is with Leadership Fox Cities...

"They're either new drivers or going to be new drivers. With that, comes a responsibility of what distracted driving could do, as well as an awareness of how it could play into the career that they're interested in."

Wednesday's exercise was for students interested in criminal justice.

They were able to use a radar guns, and observe driver's speeds, and whether or not they were driving distracted.

Rylee Polman is a senior at Appleton East

"What we see versus what they see is a completely different story"

Lund says it's all about showing these students how important it is to drive safely, and what it takes to be an officer.

"It's not just pointing the radar gun and pulling someone over for a ticket. We have to estimate speeds, we have to make sure the equipment is properly cared for."

And Polma says the students appreciate the opportunity to learn.

"I'm definitely considering this as my #1 major right now, and this is definitely going to be a huge help in making that decision factor for myself."

Little Chute High School also plans to participate in the Leadership Fox Cities Project RADAR.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - A local college recently completed a $1,300,000 expansion of its IT program.

Fox Valley Technical College unveiled the changes at its Appleton campus this week.

In addition to consolidating the entire IT program into one wing, a number of new lab spaces and classrooms have been added.

Officials say a new student maker lab space will allow students to work collaboratively on projects.

Dean of Information Technology and Learning Innovations Doug Waterman says practical experience with teamwork projects was one of the top qualities identified as desirable by area employers in a study that was conducted prior to the expansion.  

Waterman says some of the lab spaces were designed for students to sit in 'pods' of four.  While each student has a computer at their desk, there is also a computer on the wall next to the pod that allows students to project their work onto the wall for peers to review and provide feedback.

A new faculty maker space was also added.  Waterman says that has already allowed for some innovative projects.

In a private project, Waterman says one professor used a single board computer called a 'raspberry pie.'  The professor then wrote an app that hooked up to a web service that the raspberry pie was monitoring.  From his smart phone app, the professor was able to open and close his garage door.

To ensure his students could have a similar experience, the professor bought an old slot machine. The students hooked the raspberry pie up to the slot machine and wrote a smart phone app that allowed them to control the slot machine's lever with the phone.

The school's construction project also yielded an expanded student help desk, expanded network lab and data center, new computer support lab, versatile lecture rooms, and a new commons area.

Waterman believes this expansion will better prepare students for professional careers in IT.  He says data shows 28 full-time IT positions are posted in the region each month, with the average starting salary ranging from $40,000-$51,300.  

KIMBERLY, WI (WTAQ) - Two Kimberly High School students could face criminal charges for a pair of Instagram posts made Wednesday.

Fox Valley Metro Police say the first photo depicted one of the students holding an assault style rifle that was later determined to be an air soft gun and the second picture was of Columbine High School.

Officers were notified of the posts by school administrators.

Police met with the two students and searched their homes and vehicles.  They determined there is no credible threat to the high school or community.

The investigation is ongoing, and discussions are being held with the District Attorney's Office.

BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - The Wisconsin DNR says nearly 100,000 gallons of manure spilled at a farm in Brown County Monday.

Officials say the spill occurred at the James Kroll Farm on Finger Road and County Road V in the Town of Humboldt, after a valve was left open by a farm employee.

The manure flowed 3.5 miles reaching the Luxemburg Road crossing and into School Creek.

School Creek is a tributary of the Kewaunee River.

Cleanup began early Tuesday and has been ongoing.

The DNR is working with Brown County Land and Water Conservation staff and the farm owner.

Officials advise the public that the water in the creek may not be safe for people or animals and says the groundwater may be at risk as well.

Any changes in water color or odor should be immediately reported to the DNR and county health department.

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - A 20-year-old Oshkosh man is headed to trial on charges that he inflicted multiple injuries on his two-month-old child.  

Richard Root is facing one felony count of Child Abuse, Recklessly Causing Great Harm.

According to the criminal complaint, Root admitting to snapping due to stress and a lack of sleep when he attacked the child, causing a brain bleed, bruising to her face and head, a broken arm, and a broken leg.

If he is convicted, Root faces up to 15 years in prison.

An arraignment is set for April 20.  

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - The two men accused of stealing more than 1,700 cases of diapers from a charitable organization are headed to trial. 

Jason Havel and John Forbes both waived their preliminary hearings Thursday for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars' worth of diapers from the Fox Cities Diaper Bank.

The diapers were being stored at Valley Packaging, where both men previously worked.  

Investigators believe the two planned to resell the diapers.

Havel, who had his bond dropped from $2,500 to $1,000 to match Forbes' bond, will be arraigned March 27.

Forbes will enter a plea on May 15.

HORTONVILLE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - For the second time since he returned from suspension last month, a complaint has been filed against Hortonville's police chief.  

Chief Michael Sullivan was suspended for two weeks for violating department policies in February. Sullivan was accused of harassment, discrimination, threatening officers if they file grievances, disclosing confidential information, and lying about the facts of an investigation into his conduct.

Last week, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association filed a complaint, accusing Sullivan of continuing to violate employment law through coercive tactics.

The new complaint filed Thursday by the village administrator and all of the police department's full-time officers accuses Sullivan of submitting a false affidavit to the village's police commission as it was considering his misconduct charges in January.

The complaint says Sullivan misled an investigator from the Wisconsin Department of Justice about the village's finances and falsely accused village officials of wrongdoing.

The complaint asks the police commission to conduct hearings whether Sullivan should be disciplined or terminated.

MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) - The owner of the gun that was brought into a Manitowoc school this week reportedly will not face criminal charges.

The owner was a relative of one of two 14-year-old Wilson Junior High School students who allegedly had a gun and ammunition in their backpacks Tuesday.

School administrators were tipped off to the gun by other students and notified police.  

The boys were taken into custody and told officers they had the gun for protection for another student group.

Both boys are facing charges and are expected back in juvenile court on Monday.  No names have been released.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Green Bay Police say a series of burglaries involving three suspects arrested this week, were fueled by a $1,200 a day meth addiction.

Authorities arrested 19-year-olds Tyler R. Wilhelm and Dominic J. Lucht of Green Bay on Tuesday.

The third suspect, 17-year-old Jordan Murdock of Green Bay, was turned in by his father on Wednesday night.

"We think these three are high school drop outs that began hanging around together and at some point began using methamphetamine," said Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith.

The most recent string of burglaries started on March 10th and progressed. But Lt. Rick Belanger says this recent rash of burglaries isn't the teens first run-in with the law.

"A lot of this activity began in November of 2016 when these three were involved in a burglary over on Packerland that they're currently charged out on."

The three friends have been connected to at least 10 incidents and authorities say they knew many of their victims.

Police say hundreds of items were stolen including 3 vehicles, rifles, handguns, purses, tools, among others.

At this point, officials calculate around $100,000 dollar’s worth of property has been stolen with 80 percent being recovered.

Smith says the teens could be facing up to 10 years in prison for their crimes.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Friday is St. Patrick's Day...a day known for having the luck of the Irish on your side and drinking green beer or Guinness.

But if you drink too much and then drive, your luck may run out.

Green Bay Police say they will have extra patrols out in full force on city streets Friday and Saturday because the popular holiday.

Captain Kevin Warych says be sure to have a plan of action before you start celebrating.

"It's the people that don't have a plan and make decisions when they are intoxicated, that really get themselves into trouble."

Warych says with the potential for wintery weather, the NCAA tournament going on, and the Irish holiday, it could be the perfect storm.

"We have the OWI Task Force being deployed, as well as specific officers designated for directed patrol for all call enforcement."

Officials suggest using public transportation, public transportation, Uber or call a cab, if you choose to consume alcohol.

LITTLE CHUTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Last week's wind storm continues to impact the area.

Clean-up is still going after trash was blown around from the Outagamie County landfill.

While the high winds have died down, in Little Chute you can still see the remnants of what had blown over from the Outagamie County Landfill.

Mike Kangas tells WLUK..... "It was a nightmare, it was really a mess."

Kangas says all these days later, he's still dealing with the headache... with plastic bags still in his trees.

"It's pretty sad, there's like two bags there… I don't know whats going on over there"

Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson says... "This really was an exceptional situation."

Nelson says the high sustained winds caused the landfill to be shut down.

The clean-up started right away, and is still going on.

"We're almost there, were not quite yet there yet though. Certainly that was a lot to clean up."

Thursday, county crews cherry-picked plastic bags out of the trees around the landfill.

Nelson says they've also been working to get rid of the bags remaining in the surrounding neighborhoods.

"We're hoping that everything can be finished up this week"

As for the future, Nelson says if winds ever do get that bad again, there are protocols for temporarily shutting down the landfill.

But he says there are also other things that can be done ahead of time.

"What we can do now is we can promote recycling those plastic bags"

Kangas says he hopes it doesn't happen again, but for now, is anxious for his home to be trash-free.

"It's terrible. I've been picking up stuff for a couple days"

The clean-up has no additional cost to taxpayers. Nelson says the costs were already part of the county's budget.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Pack your patience....and maybe some aspirin.

A two year construction project is set to start Monday in Appleton and it will lead to closures on one of the city's busiest streets.

The city will be doing a complete re-construction on Oneida Street.

Appleton's communications director Chad Doran spoke to WLUK. "Essentially we're going to completely tear up and rebuild the road from the Skyline Bridge all the way, basically all the way to Lake Winnebago"

Construction is set to start Monday, a little behind when the city had originally planned. Doran says the complete new schedule is still being hammered out.

"We thought we had a schedule. We had some setbacks with some of the contractors"

Through the project, different parts of the street will be closed at different times.

According to Doran access will stay open to all local businesses and St. Elizabeth Hospital.

"But people might need to take an alternate route to get to that business"

But Doran says the best bet is alter your travel plans to avoid the area altogether.

"If you're really just trying to commute from the south to the north, find a different route"

The city is recommending Memorial Drive as the main detour during construction and city leaders say now is a good time to start planning your routes for getting to downtown Appleton.

Appleton Police Sergeant Dave Lund has some advice.

"Exercise restraint. Be calm, be cool. You're going to experience more traffic"

Doran said it will be a tough two years for drivers and businesses, but he said the end result will be a much smoother ride.

"The road's rough. We know it's rough. There are a lot of potholes and a lot of rough spots and it's just time for it to be replaced"

The entire project will cost $8 million. Appleton will be paying for $5 million, and the state will fund the rest as part of the 441 expansion project.

STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Sturgeon Bay PD is reporting a missing Door County teen has been located, safe, in Chicago.

17 year old Louis Amelinckx was reported missing on Monday.

He had been spotted in Green and and Milwaukee previously.

He was located in Chicago and taken to a hospital by law enforcement.

Sturgeon Bay Police issuing a statement.

"He was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation and then released to his mother. The Sturgeon Bay Police Department would like to thank all the agencies and individuals involved in the search for Louis. It was the combination of everyone's efforts that lead to Louis' safe return"

On Thursday, an 'endangered missing person alert' was issued.

Family had told police that without his medication the teen had little common sense, no impulse control, very easily exploitable, and will engage in risky behavior without thought.

No details provided on how police found Amelincx.

TOWN OF WILSON, WI (WTAQ) - A teen was injured after an early morning crash in Sheboygan County.

Officials got 9-1-1 call around 7:45 a.m. for a single vehicle accident on County Highway V, east of Shircel Rd. in the Town of Wilson.

The 16-year-old boy was trapped in the vehicle. Officers were able to get him out and he was transported to Froedert Medical Center with serious injuries.

Authorities say speed and winter road conditions were a possible factor in the crash.

The Sheboygan County Sheriff's Office continues the investigation.

BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - The Brown County Sheriff's Office report is in and investigators say it does not appear foul play is a factor in a fatal house fire last month.

Autopsies show 49 year old Allen Reiner, and 41 year old Molly Brockman, died of thermal injuries and smoke inhalation.

Their bodies were found after a fire destroyed their home on Tamarack Drive in Pittsfield, February 17th.

Investigators say the fire had burned for a while before it was discovered and put out.

They could only determine that the fire started in the eastern three-quarters of the house, because it destroyed so much evidence they typically use to figure out where a fire started.

That evidence included the water heater, furnace, electronics and refrigerators.

That means the cause of the fire is now listed as "undetermined," and the investigation will be closed unless there's new evidence.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A 29-year-old Green Bay man has been accused of stealing wallets from teachers' purses.

Albert Pugh is facing two counts apiece of felony Burglary and misdemeanor Theft for allegedly taking the wallets from empty rooms at Pioneer Elementary School on April 9 while the educators were in parent-teacher conferences.

Pugh is expected to make his inital appearance in a Brown County courtroom on Friday.

SEVASTOPOL, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) -- The School District of Sevastopol has named its next superintendent.

Kyle Luedtke will start the job July 1, the district announced Friday.

Luedtke has been superintendent of the Benton School District in southwestern Wisconsin for the past six years.

He has 24 years of experience in education overall.

Luedtke replaces Steve Cromell, who is serving as interim superintendent for the 2016-17 school year.

District leaders say they will announce a date for a public meet-and-greet with Luedtke.