DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) - A new specialty paper business that involves the combination of Thilmany Papers and Wausau Paper Corporation’s specialty paper division has announced a new name for the forming company.
KPS Capital Partners say the new company will be called Expera Specialty Solutions.
Thilmany has mills in De Pere and Kaukana. The Wasusa Paper mills are in Rhinelander and Mosinee.
KPS says it will keep all four mills open and will not be cutting any of the 18-hundred workers.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Details of the city of Green Bay’s redevelopment agreement for the vacant Schauer & Schmacher building have been released just hours before the city council votes tonight.
A closed door meeting with the Redevelopment Authority last week provided little clues on what the city was proposing, which city officials said involved $300,000 in city funds.
According to the Press-Gazette, the plan would have the city or the developer, Benklin Group, LLC purchase the buildings for $275,000 from HPC Loan Servicer.
The downtown buildings have been vacant since 2001.
The developer would invest $2.6 million to turn the buildings at 227 E Walnut and 109 N Adams Street into a mixed use development.
The property would be turned into eight to 12 loft apartments or condominiums with indoor parking spaces and about 3,000 sqft of retail space.
If the city buys the building, it would sell the property to Benklin for a $1.
The redevelopment agreement is on the city council agenda for tonight.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The tragic, deadly tornado which struck Oklahoma Monday afternoon have area schools thinking about their own safety plans.
Seeing the destruction at Plaza Tower Elementary in Oklahoma, Chappell Elementary School's principal says her concerns turned toward the 380 little ones who walk through its halls each day.
“It would be devastating and I thought immediately of our school and how it would be quite scary to have to go through that and hoping our kids would be prepared,” Principal Kris Worden told FOX 11.
Green Bay public school officials say while safety is on their minds, no further tornado drills are planned. Schools last held drills during Severe Weather Awareness Week in April.
“Classes go into the hallways and to the safe areas of the schools, basements if we have them and if it's appropriate. So, all of our schools did participate in that last month,” Al Behnke, director of facilities for the Green Bay Area Public School District, told FOX 11.
Every classroom in Chappell Elementary has its tornado emergency plan posted, so students know what to do. But teachers also use cards. A red card means a child is missing. And that can help with keeping people accounted for.
Green Bay schools say much of its district wide plan focuses on knowing where the children are during a disaster.
Worden says her staff is ready and willing to do whatever it can to ensure student safety. But the staff hopes it is a plan they never have to enact.
School officials add safety plans aren't just for school. They say it's also important for parents to talk to their children about what to do at home in case severe weather strikes.
ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) - A rash of recent vehicle and garage break-ins in Ashwaubenon were made even easier for the thieves, because nothing was locked.
Public Safety officials say the thefts involved unlocked cars, along with unlocked or open garages on the west side of the village.
Authorities are reminding people to lock up whether at home or in a business parking lot.
Here are some more tips from Ashwaubenon Public Safety to help prevent vehicle break-ins.
1. Keep your car visible in well-lit areas if possible. Try not to park too close to concealed locations such as shrubs and bushes or behind larger vehicles. 2. Make it difficult by keeping windows and sunroofs closed and your doors locked. 3. Keep valuables out of sight. 4. If you have GPS units or other electrical accessories, remove them and hide the power cables and mounts. 5. Remember that your open car is as good as an open garage or house if the garage remote is in it. Some thieves will simply record the access code to the garage opener to come back at a later time.
Ashwaubenon Public Safety says if you see anything suspicious call the police to have it checked out.
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - The Wisconsin State Patrol says aerial patrols helped catch speeders on Highway 41 near Oshkosh on Tuesday.
Teaming up with the Winnebago County Sheriff's Department for a three-hour detail, the State Patrol's Air Support Unit watched drivers along the highway.
During that time, officers made 18 traffic stops and issued nine speeding citations. The highest speed was 96 mph.
During a typical patrol, a plane circles overhead and lets troopers on the ground know when someone is speeding. The officer on the ground makes the stop.
The State Patrol and area law enforcement agencies are planning more unannounced aerial enforcement details, particularly near work zones, throughout the summer.
OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - Farmers in the Fox Valley say their spring planting is falling behind schedule.
And the outlook isn't too good, as some are making a gamble on getting corn in the ground before it's too late.
Ervin Van Camp is the envy of many farmers in Northeast Wisconsin.
"The sooner the better right," the 83-year-old town of Center farmer told FOX 11. Van Camp is planting corn at a time when few of his fellow farmers have even been in the fields.
The latest USDA crop report shows about 43% of corn around the state was planted as of last week. That's 25% behind the normal average.
But in Northeast Wisconsin, less than 30% of corn has been planted due to the wet spring, making Van Camp and his 150 acres of corn an exception.
"I've got a lot of patience, I'm used to farming the old way with horses where we used to do a lot of the planting in June," he said.
The problem now is that farmers are losing corn and money with each passing day these fields aren't planted.
"We're a long ways from where we should be," Kevin Jarek, UW-Extension ag agent, told FOX 11.
The UW-Extension says as of May 15th, farmers began losing one-half bushel per acre per day. That works out to about $25 per acre. And with 90,000 acres of corn to be planted in Outagamie County alone, the lost income adds up quickly.
"We could recover quite quickly but we need the right conditions from Mother Nature in order for that to happen and any rain that falls between now and then is just going to be an impediment," said Jarek.
Jarek says if farmers don't have corn in the ground by June 1st, they will start losing more than two bushels per acre per day.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The Green Bay city council has approved buying two pieces of downtown property for $275,000 at the corner of Walnut and Adams for a mixed-use development.
But questions were raised about what the public knew about the agreement that wasn’t disclosed until hours before the meeting.
Alderman Andy Nicolson was the lone vote against and expressed concern about the situation, saying he and other alderman were only given a copy of the agreement just prior to the meeting. Nicholson says there was no information provided to the public.
"They had public hearings, but on what, they never shared the subject" Nicholson said.
Mayor Jim Schmitt apologized for keeping the agreement confidential, and says the RDA should have been forthright last week at their closed door meeting. Schmitt says they listed the parcel numbers in the agenda.
Schmitt says for competitive reasons they have to keep the deal underwraps.
The city plans to buy the vacant Schauer and Schumacher building and a former funeral parlor, with the intent to sell the property to a developer for one dollar.
In return Benklin Group, LLC would invest $2.6 million.
The development plan calls for 8-12 loft apartments or condominiums with eight indoor parking spaces along with 3,000 sqft of commercial or retail space.
Schmitt says an agreement with the seller needed to happen by May 31st.
MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ) - A northeast Wisconsin man will spend 21 years in prison for causing a drunk driving crash that killed a 13-year-old boy and injured the victim’s mother and two sisters.
When he gets out, 29-year-old Timothy Christ of Wausaukee will spend 15 years under extended supervision. He won’t be able to drive for 5 years – and for 5 years after that, he must use a sobriety tube to start his vehicle.
Also, Christ must pay $1,400 in restitution to his victims.
Marinette County authorities said Christ drove his pickup truck head-on into a car last October 5th on Highway 141 at Middle Inlet. His blood alcohol level was 0.262 about three hours after the crash. That was more than three times the legal limit.
Christ pleaded no contest to drunken homicide and three counts of causing injury by drunk driving. Four related charges were dropped in a plea bargain.
MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) - Police in Manitowoc say two boys were arrested Wednesday after leading officers on a chase in a stolen car.
Cops get the call to the 2100 block of South 17th Street just after 5 a.m. for a report of a stolen car. About an hour later, authorities spotted the car driving through the city's north side. The officer followed the car without trying to pull it over, reporting the location to officers coming to help.
When the other officers were in position, police tried to pull the car over. The driver refused to stop, leading police on a brief chase.
The driver lost control of the car on North 8th Street/Highway B, just north of Woodridge Drive. The car veered off the roadway, side-swiped a telephone pole and crashed into the ditch.
Both boys were taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
The boys’ names and ages were not released.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The local unemployment rate improved last month in the Green Bay metropolitan area.
According to a household survey, April’s jobless rate fell three tenths of a percent to 6.7%.
The Department of Workforce Development says an estimated 1,200 jobs were created, a majority of them in the private sector.
Monhtly jobs numbers come from a small survey of businesses that are preliminary and not seasonally adjusted.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Police are looking for suspects in a robbery at a Green Bay apartment building.
It happened about 11 p.m. Wednesday at 728 Mather Street.
Cops say they were called to the report of a disturbance, but when they arrived, they discovered it was a robbery.
There was a report of a weapon involved, with one of the victims held at gunpoint, and as many as four suspects.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call Green Bay Police at (920) 448-3200.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The Wisconsin State Crime Lab is hosting a week-long training as part of an Evidence Technician School.
The DOJ holds regional trainings several times a year in different communities. The goal is to train officials to identify, collect and process crime scene evidence.
All week, officers have been doing classroom work. But on Thursday, they will process a mock crime scene.
Agencies from our area taking part include the Green Bay, De Pere and Oshkosh police departments.
The training is free to law enforcement officers and each department receives a crime scene kit worth $250 at the end of the class. Five to six courses will be offered this year. The cost to put on each course, paid by the justice department, is about $10,000-$15,000.
SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ) - A Shawano man who sold precious metals has been sentenced to four years in a federal prison for evading taxes.
69-year-old Kalmar Gronvall must also pay over $433,000 in restitution.
Federal prosecutors said he did not file income tax returns, after he made over $1.3 million in The Gold and Silver Exchange. It was an Internet business which took in a total of $7 million from 2006 through ’08.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said Gronvall converted his profits to cash, and placed it in a bank account he created in his son’s name.
A federal jury convicted Gronvall in February on three counts of tax evasion.
MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) - Officials in Manitowoc say they’ve been given a “great opportunity,” after the federal EPA awarded the city a million dollars to help clean up polluted business and industrial sites.
Manitowoc is the only Wisconsin city to receive a federal Brownfield grant.
Only 13 places throughout the country were given similar awards.
Manitowoc plans to create a revolving loan fund, from which business sites can borrow money for their cleanups. When it’s paid back, the city will loan it out to other projects – and in the meantime, the cash in the revolving fund will keep generating interest.
Manitowoc City Planner David Less says several properties have been identified for cleanups. They include a vacant mall, an old junkyard, and a manufacturing site that used to make coatings for metal.
That industrial site is being taken over by the city.
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Score another one for the Wisconsin Innocence Project.
The UW-Madison group helped dig up the DNA evidence that convinced a judge in Oshkosh Wednesday to drop a 20-year-old rape conviction.
53-year-old Joseph Frey remains in jail while prosecutors decide whether to re-try him. He was sentenced to 102 years in prison for breaking into the apartment of a UW-Oshkosh student in 1991, and sexually assaulting her at knifepoint.
But recent DNA evidence was discovered at the crime scene that was linked to James Crawford, who was convicted of molesting two teens in Fond du Lac after the Oshkosh attack in 1991.
Crawford died in 2008.
Prosecutors said the new similar evidence is similar to the evidence that convicted Frey, except that Crawford’s DNA was co-mingled with the victim’s.
Officials say they’re checking DNA test results two previous sexual attacks in Brown County in which Frey was suspected.
ALLOUEZ, WI (WTAQ) - Green Bay Metro Fire Department along witth the assistance of 21 other area fire departments continue to battle a fire at a 74-unit apartment building in Allouez.
The fire call came in around 11:30 a.m. to Hilltop Place Apartments.
Fire Department Lt. Nick Craig says all the residents got out safely. Craig says it took some time to clear all of the units because the building stretches a block long.
Three firefighters suffered minor injuries and were hospitalized as a precaution.
Fire crews initially responded to a fire in the basement, but Craig says it quickly spread up to some of the units and spread further through a shared attic space.
The fire was mostly contained to the center section of the building.
To prevent the fire from spreading, crews did what’s called trench cutting, which essentially cut the building into three sections. Firefighters then sprayed large amounts of water in the spaces to prevent the fire from jumping to the other areas.
Craig said they changed tactics towards a defensive strategy and began tackling the fire from the outside only. By the afternoon, firefighers could no longer use the fire hydrats, as it was becoming a strain on the resource. Tanker trucks had to be brought in.
The American Red Cross is on scene to help residents find shelter for the night and provide them with other amenities.
A temporary shelter has been set up at Langlade Elementary School located at 400 Broadview in the Village of Allouez.
It' not known how many people are displaced from the fire.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Just when you thought winter was finally over, you might see more of the white stuff early Friday morning.
In this case, the white stuff is frost.
The National Weather Service has issued frost advisories from midnight until 7 a.m. Friday for the northern half of Wisconsin away from Lake Superior.
Lows Thursday night are expected in the 20’s and 30’s statewide. Some places could get new record lows for the date.
Dry weather is expected for most of the Memorial Day Weekend, with only a slight chance of rain Saturday and Sunday and a greater chance on Monday.
The bad news for campers is that the mercury might not hit 70 all weekend. After Thursday night, the weekend lows are projected to be in the 40’s and 50’s.
Flood warnings continue on the Chippewa River at Eau Claire and Durand, and the Trempealeau River at Dodge.
New flood warnings were issued this morning for the Black River at Black River Falls and the Yellow River in South Wood County. All those rivers are expected to be back within their banks over the next 2 to 3 days, with only minor flooding expected.
GREENVILLE, WI (WTAQ) - Authorities in Outagamie County are investigating reports of people believed to be watching young girls near two schools in Greenville.
According to the Outagamie County sheriff's department, two males have been seen parked in an SUV between Greenville Middle School and Elementary School. The vehicle was last seen on Monday or Tuesday.
The SUV is described as newer, with metallic paint, travel racks on the roof and dark tinted windows.
The sheriff's department has squad cars patrolling the area, but anyone who sees the SUV is asked to call 911. Anyone who has information that can help in the investigation is asked to call the sheriff's department at (920) 832-5500.
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Formal charges have been filed against a man police shot at during a robbery investigation in the Town of Menasha.
24-year-old Samuel Upthegrove has been charged with attempted robbery, second-degree recklessly endangering safety and two counts of bail jumping.
Officials say he didn't appear in court Thursday due to an unspecified medical issue.
Upthegrove was arrested Sunday evening after police shot at him during a robbery investigation at the PDQ Food Store on Racine Street.
Police say he showed a gun, forcing officers to shoot. He was not hit by gunfire.
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Nearly two dozen cases of counterfeit money being passed are being investigated by Green Bay police over the last two months.
Since April 1st, police say they've gotten 23 reports of fake money being used. Victims include convenience stores, gas stations, church groups and retail stores. The suspects pay for a small purchase with a large counterfeit bill, then receive real money in change.
Police say they are working with other area agencies to develop a crime pattern and work to identify the suspects.
Officers in Oshkosh, Ashwaubenon and Bellevue have also reported counterfeit money being used since April 1.
Green Bay police plan to distribute a “Know Your Money” guide to help businesses spot counterfeit money. Copies are also available in the lobby of the police department. Information is also available online.
Anyone with information about these crimes is asked to call Investigator Terry Tyler at (920) 448-3168 or Crime Stoppers at (920) 432-7867.
