SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ) - An undisclosed amount of cash was stolen during a Thursday night armed robbery at a Shawano clothing store.

Officers say a man forced his way into the front door of Maurice's while an employee was locking the doors at closing time.

The robber then pulled out a handgun, ordering the employee to give him money.

Nobody was in the store, and no injuries have been reported.

Investigators say the suspect is a white male in his late 20’s or early 30’s, approximately 5’8” with an average build. 

He was wearing a dark colored hoodie sweatshirt and dark denim jeans along with a ski mask.

Anyone with information is asked to call police headquarters at (715) 524-4545.

BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - A Green Bay man has pleaded no contest in a Brown County courtroom to four counts connected to sexually abusing multiple horses.

Sterling Rachwal's cases have been combined, with the 54-year-old having been accused in Brown County of having inappropriate sexual contact with a horse at a Town of Eaton farm in February 2017 and a similar crime in Manitowoc County from last April.

A judge sentenced Rachwal to time served and put him on probation for two years.

Rachwal has also been convicted of abusing horses multiple times in the past.

APPLETON,WI (WTAQ)- An Appleton School District history class assignment on slavery has led to concern from parents and students in the district, and an apology from the school district.

According to the instructions of the assignment, first reported by Media Trackers,  High School history students were asked to "Write instruction on what a person would expect to do if they were a slave."

In a statement posted to the district website, Superintendent Judith Baseman said they are looking into the matter after many expressed frustration with the assignment.

Mediatrackers.org reported that the assignment resulted in strong reaction from parents and students, posted a screen shot of one students response to the teacher.

"First of all, no black student should EVER be asked to imagine that they are a slave" the student responded.

The instructions asked to students to include physical, mental and social requirements of the job, along with relationships, hours, beneifits and treatment.

Superintendent Baseman said in her response that "it was immediately addresed with the educator, and steps were put into place so that this will not happen again. Although we believe that the educator's choices were not intended to cause harm, we understand that is essay prompt was and is hurtful and offensive to all of our students."

Baseman stated that slavery is a necessary part of the US History curriculum, but that are committed to ensuring that materials remain respectful.

The district will also continue to provide district-wide coaching and training.

"We sincerely apologize to our families and to the students who were asked to complete this assignment. The material included in the essay prompt does not reflect our values as a district, and how we want to serve our students and families."

This is the second situation like this in Wisconsin this month.

Last week, Our Redeemer Lutheran school in Wauwatosa apologized for a 4th grade homework assignment that asked students to identify and list three good reasons and three bad reasons for slavery.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ)- A man who made threats, causing a 2016 evacuation of the Fox River Mall, was sentenced Friday.

Christopher Hawkins was sentenced to 13 months in prison and extended supervision for two years, after pleading no contest to charges of making a terrrorist threat. Hawkins was also sentenced to 30 days in jail after his prison sentence for disorderly conduct.

Back in December of 2016, Hawkins got into an argument with a woman in Appleton. Hawkins left and called his girlfriend saying he was going to shoot up the hotel, shoot her and then shoot himself. 

Police say Hawkins called back and said he was heading to the mall. Police ordered an evacuation o the Fox River Mall.

Police were unable to determine if Hawkins ever went to the mall.

ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ)- Ariens Hill in the Packers Titledown District are offering tubers more bang for their buck.

A new unlimited pass has been made available.

The unlimited ride option is $10 dollars for three hours.

Single rides are still $3 dollars each. Prices will go up during Packer home game days in the winter. Prices on those days will be $12 dollars for unlimited and $7 dollars for a single ride.

A combined tubing and ice skating package is also available.

The hill drops 46 feet over a 300-foot-long run.

GREEN BAY (WTAQ-WLUK) – The man who allegedly smashed cars and drove into the Lambeau Field loading dock last month tells FOX 11 he was upset about his job situation, and did not intend to hurt anyone.

Chay Vang, 40, faces seven charges -- two felony counts of recklessly endangering safety, five misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property for the Dec. 22 incident. He returns to court Thursday for a preliminary hearing.

In a 10-page, handwritten letter to WLUK-TV, Vang recounts a similar version to what police have said: that Vang got into an altercation with other co-workers from Delaware North, which provides food services to the stadium. Vang was arrested moments after the police arrived on scene.

Vang says he was unhappy that he was fired while the other man was not. He went to Lambeau because “I never got a chance to tell my side of the story” to supervisors. He saw his former co-workers in the parking lot and they “came running at me like they were going to gang up on me so I got angry & started to ram his blue Nissan. I was not there to hurt anybody, just scaring them.”

“Show that I’m innocent in all this. Tell my friends & family & all of the people I know I love them & miss them,” he writes.

According to a criminal complaint, one of the former co-workers told police he felt scared for his life and thought that Vang was going to start shooting at people, but he never saw him with a weapon.

SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ) - Shawano Police are investigating an armed robbery at Maurices on Woodlawn Drive.

"Our investigation showed that when the store was closing, a male forced his way into the doors, displayed a handgun and demanded money."

Police Chief Dan Mauel said the man left with the money and nobody was hurt. He confirmed that two employees were in the store at the time.

An undisclosed amount of cash was stolen during a Thursday night armed robbery at a Shawano clothing store.

Investigators say the suspect is a white male in his late 20’s or early 30’s, approximately 5’8” with an average build. 

He was wearing a dark colored hoodie sweatshirt and dark denim jeans along with a ski mask.

"We can't say that the public is not in danger, but for the most part, the public is not in danger. More importantly, people need to be aware of their surroundings."

Mauel said he encourages business owners to have two people on a shift in the evening hours and at closing times, but understands money plays a large factor.

Mauel said at this point, they do not see any type of pattern.

"This is our first armed robbery since last year" he said.

Mauel said recent armed knife robberies in Green Bay does have people on edge, he says the best thing people can do is look around, and don't be afraid to call police if something looks suspicious.

Anyone with information is asked to call police headquarters at (715) 524-4545.

BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - A Green Bay man has pleaded no contest in a Brown County courtroom to four counts connected to sexually abusing multiple horses.

A judge sentenced Rachwal to time served and put him on probation for two years on Friday.

Sterling Rachwal's cases have been combined, with the 54-year-old having been accused in Brown County of having inappropriate sexual contact with a horse at a Town of Eaton farm in February 2017 and a similar crime in Manitowoc County from last April.

The case has left quite a few questions.

"Mr. Rachwal, I don't really know what happened here. I mean, it's clearly very sick and very depraved what you're charged with and what you pled to. It's just an awful thing for cruelty to the animals. It's a horrible offense to them," said Judge Timothy Hinkfuss before sentencing Rachwal.

Rachwal has also been convicted of abusing horses multiple times in the past, that was highlighted by the prosecution.

"In 1983 he had a case in Waupaca County for the mistreatment of animals....1984 Waupaca County mistreatment of animals," said prosecuting attorney Dana Johnson.

The son of the owner of one of the abused horses, Kyle Kaponis, said this whole process has been tough.

"That horse was a great horse and while we had him, he never did anything wrong until this past year. He didn’t deserve what happened to him and nor did I," said Kyle Kapinos.

Rachwal's attorney said time served still sends a message.

"I think that there's this sort of aura or idea that when you get credit for time served, it's somehow not a real sentence or not an actual punishment and it has been," said Shannon Viel, Rachwal's attorney.

The situation has gotten some legal focus. Recently, state Rep. Andre Jacque started circulating a bill to make sexual assault of an animal a felony. 

KAUKAUNA (WTAQ-WLUK) -- Cold weather may be a factor in a large fish die-off on the Fox River in Kaukauna.

Thousands and thousands of gizzard shad are dead and anglers in the area are wondering why. Fish experts say this kill is just part of winter.

"Ooh, millions of dead shad," said Tom Radtke of Kaukauna.

Dead gizzard shad.

"It's not 50. It's not 100. It's in the thousands. Tens of thousands, maybe a million. There's a lot," he said.

Quinn Countney and Sean Coppersmith headed out on frozen river Friday morning.

"We were going to do some ice fishing. But I'm not sure how the auger will get through three feet of fish," said Coppersmith, of Appleton.

So what caused all these shad to die?

"The fish that are dead below, frozen with the ice are all adult gizzard shad," said Ryan Koenigs, senior fisheries biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Koenigs says 2016 was a good year for the shad. A strong hatch combined with a relatively mild winter last year allowed the fish to grow. This year's ice proved deadly.

"We're at the northern edge of the distribution -- native distribution -- of gizzard shad. So they do experience these large die-offs during winter months. Typically, when we do see the die-offs, when there's a lot of shad out there, it's a lot of fish," Koenigs said.

Koenigs said this was the third reported die-off this week.

"There was one on Little Lake Butte des Morts yesterday, then one on Lake Winnebago earlier this week. and all three of them are just exclusively these these adult gizzard shad," Koenigs said.

Koenigs said it's a good sign other fish species aren't found too.

"It has nothing to do with water quality, low dissolved oxygen, any sort of non-point pollution or anything like that," he explained.

In the meantime, ice fishermen in the area will have to choose their spots carefully.

SHEBOYGAN, WI (WTAQ)- One person is injured after a garage fire in Sheboygan.

Crews were called to the scene on the 1500 block of North Avenue Friday evening.

Officials on scene said the fire spread so fast that by the time they arrived, it was already starting to threaten damage to the neighbors home.

Two homes had significant damage

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ)- Four people were displaced after a kitchen fire in Appleton.

Crews were called out to the 3300th block of East Canary Street around 7:45 Friday night.

The duplex was filled with heavy smoke and no injuries were reported.

MANITOWOC COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - A 45-year-old Kiel woman has died as the result of a two-vehicle accident.

It happened Saturday evening on Highway 151 in Eaton.

Investigators say Ananda Hughes' southbound vehicle crashed with a northbound one driven by a 25-year-old Chilton woman.

Both the Chilton woman and her 26-year-old passenger were injured.

NEW HOLSTEIN, WI (WTAQ) - A 19-year-old man is dead after being shot late Saturday night. 

Calumet CountySheriff's officials say it happened in New Holstein, with the man dying after he was flown to the hospital. 

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Chaos throughout Hawaii Saturday, as an emergency alert stated the threat of a missile attack.

Megan Hout of Green Bay is staying at a hotel in Kapolei, "It was kind of a little bit of chaos, people were crying trying to find each other."

Hout is in Hawaii for her cousin's wedding.

She says, through widespread panic, hotel workers directed guests to take shelter, "It was like every minute that went by you were kind of bracing yourself, because it was so specific, that this is not a drill."

The message, sent by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, was later deemed a false alarm.

But that correction took time. 

"There wasn't any information on the TV and we didn't have a radio, till 40-minutes later," explained St. Norbert Geology Professor, Tim Flood.

Flood, and a group of St. Norbert students are in Hawaii for a school trip, "We decided the garage was the best place to be. We had all our bags around us for protection, our travel bags."

With some students, like Nicholas Agen of Kaukauna, calling their loved ones for what he thought may be the last time, "A little part of my heart sank, and I decided I have to probably call my parents."

Both, Huot and Flood say it's an experience they'll never forget.

"My mom, and I immediately started hugging each other," said Hout.

"It brought prospective to life for all of us, in terms of how fragile life can be, and how quickly it can change," said Flood.

The St. Norbert students are scheduled to be back in Wisconsin Monday.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - Work getting underway on two major downtown projects that were approved last month tops the City of Appleton's plans for 2018.

One of those efforts is the new U.S. Venture headquarters, which will be located on the Bluff Site.  

"Working on the design of their buildings.  You'll probably see some demolition over there and the beginning of excavation, because the project calls for underground parking."

Mayor Tim Hanna notes the nearby Skyline Bridge will be converted to allow for northbound travel through the downtown. 

As for the Zuelke Building, Hanna says work will get underway on "major renovations on the inside of that building: residential units on the top three floors, refurbished office units on 3-9, and other changes on the first two floors."

Also, Hanna says residents will see the continuation of a major road construction project.

The city has scheduled above ground work on Oneida Street for this year, with the state planning on tackling the Oneida/441 interchange.

"Getting that all done at the same time, it's going to be another mess on South Oneida Street, as well as a mess on the north end of the bridge."

Hanna also expects the newly-opened Fox Cities Exhibition Center will pay huge dividends in the coming year.

"More activity, more people coming in from outside the area.  That's going to generate all sorts of new excitement for downtown." 

SUAMICO, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - A frigid Sunday morning couldn't stop hundreds of people from hitting the local trails for a 21-mile bike race.

Travis Bangart of Milwaukee said his beard was frozen, possibly due to the exhaust, sweat, snot, and a little bit of beer.

Bangart, along with 200 other fat-tire bike riders, took to the trails at the Brown County Reforestation Camp as part of the Snow Crown Bike Series.

"It wasn't too bad, fingers and toes were cold a little bit but once you get moving, you get alright," said Bangart.

Ten-year-old Ava Sanderson of Darboy agreed, saying, "At first it was really cold but as you get into it, it gets warmer."

When the race started, the weather felt like three degrees. But racers weren't braving the cold, instead they were embracing it.

Race director, Sarah Kapitz said, "We are happier with the cold weather, it's better for the trail and the race."

Kaptiz explained that the trails are hard packed. If the temperature goes over 32 degrees, the trails will get softer making it more difficult to ride on.

Riders told us that fat bikes, with its extra wide tires, are able to float on the groomed snow. 

"Fat bike is kind of like a tractor or monster truck, you just go over everything, always way more fun for me," Bangart said.

Kaptiz explained, "The course loop is 7 and a half miles, so if you're doing beginner level, you're doing it once, if you're intermediate twice, advanced three times."

Winners received cash prizes. But the real prize was having the cold temperature show up just in time.

"The warmer weather was scary for us, we didn't know how that was going to play out but it's been perfect," said Kaptiz.

The next fat bike race will be held at Snowkraft Nordic in Sturgeon Bay next Saturday.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - Officers are looking for the man who dropped off two suspicious packages at the post office on Appleton's Franklin Street.

A postal worker reported that the man left the packages with him around midnight Monday, calling police when he saw wires inside one package.

While employees were moved away, no residences were evacuated.

The bomb squad determined one box was empty, with the other containing electronic items (a DVD player and cords from the DVD player).

MARION, WI (WTAQ) - One person has died in a Marion mobile home fire. 

Crews were called to the Marion Hillside Mobile Home Park around 12:30 pm Sunday, finding that the home's occupant and pets were already dead.  

The victim's name had not been released at last word.  

SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ)- January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, but one local sheriff is doing more than just making people aware.

Shawano County Sheriff Adam Bieber is not afraid to make Shawano County the ending location for sex predators.

"We want to be well know for arresting sex predators that prey on our children" he said. "Prevention is our goal and safety of our children and families is number one in Shawano County."

Bieber said it is similar to what Rosendale did with speeding. Officers started pulling over and ticketing drivers for going even one mile over the speedlimit there, and now almost everyone knows not to speed in Rosendale, and the numbers of speeders have gone down with strict enforcement. Bieber says the same idea can work here.

"If there are predators that are interested in juveniles in Shawano County, we want them to think twice about coming here. There is a high likelyhood that if you will be arrested if you come to Shawano County to prey on children.

Since 2014, when he became Sheriff, Bieber says they have lured and arrested over 60 traffickers. He said the number of predators is high, but not surprising.

"It is a symptom of a lack of a moral code that we have in society today. I think if we get back to our family values, we can reduce that."

The Sheriff's Department offers classes for parents on how to protect their kids, and they continue to be transparent with their efforts in making arrests.

"I really think that the best way to solve this problem is to educate the public and to work with them" Bieber said.

Bieber said they will continue to do what is necessary to keep sex predators out of Shawano County.

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Since becoming Sheriff, Bieber and his staff have lured and arrested over 60 predators. The Sheriff's Department makes their success efforts known through social media, and takes time to offer classes to parents on tips to protect their kids from online predators.

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January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, but Shawano County Sheriff Adam Bieber says his staff is working extra hard to not just spread awareness, but making Shawano County an online trafficking arrest capitol. He says along with luring and arresting predators, his department has additional responsibilities when it comes to fighting this monster.

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Bieber said he is surprised just how many online predators are out there, and how easy it is to lure them. Since he became Sheriff in 2014, the county has lured and arrested over 60 predators, and looks to continue to increase that number. He says he wants predators to be afraid to come to Shawano.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Two men believed to have played a role in a Phoenix homicide have been taken into custody by Green Bay Police.

Police arrested 21-year-old Charlie Miller and his 16-year-old brother, who police believe had a hand in the crime.

The department was contacted on Friday by Arizona law enforcement, who believed the suspect was heading to a residential address in Green Bay.

Green Bay Police says it provided resources to assist with surveilling the residence and attempting to locate the suspect/suspect's vehicle.

Once the man was located, the U.S. Marshals executed an arrest warrant from the Phoenix Police Department, with Green Bay Police maintaining a perimeter outside the location.

Both, one of whom is a juvenile, are expected to be extradited to Arizona.

Possible charges include: First Degree Murder, Armed Robbery, Kidnapping, and Theft of a Motor Vehicle.