OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK)- An uncommon situation is becoming more common on nearby roads.

Law Enforcement in Brown County, Fond Du Lac County and Winnebago County have all experienced vehicles crashing into buildings in the last five days.  

"It's not very frequent but it does happen on occasion," said Assistant Police Chief Steve Thiry in Fond du Lac tells Fox 11.  

Thiry said his department dealt with two cases over the weekend.  

A pickup backed into a bank building and an elderly driver mistook the break for the gas pedal, hitting an apartment complex.  

"The car was trying to negotiate a curve so attempting to slow and mistakenly hit the accelerator instead of the brake causing it to lose control go off road and crashed into the apartment building," said Thiry.  

In Oshkosh, A driver ran into a home in Monday morning, causing a power outage. In that case, the vehicle was stolen.  

Oshkosh Police Lieutenant Andy Lecker said situations like this are preventable.

 "Oftentimes road conditions can be a factor, I don't believe that was a factor overnight. Sometimes alcohol and drugs can be factors," said Oshkosh Police Lt. Andy Lecker.  

Last week, a vehicle crashed into a building in Bellevue. Lecker says this can happen for various reasons.  

"Sometimes it's been inclement weather, sometimes reckless driving, sometimes impaired, it really is varied," said Lecker.  

Police say paying attention while driving, slowing down and watching out for what other drivers do can go along way to getting you to where you are going.

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ)- Oshkosh Police say two stolen cars crashed with hours of eachother on Monday morning.

The first call came in around 2:00 a.m for a car that crashed into a home and power pole on the 600 block of Jackson Street.

Police say that crash caused a temporary power outage in the area.

A 16-year-old passenger was taken into custody, but the 19-year-old driver escaped on foot.

Oshkosh police later determined that the vehicle in the crash was stolen.

Hours later, Oshkosh police received a second call from someone who said a vehicle was parked on the grass, but the driver was slumped over the wheel.

When officers approached the vehicle, the driver took off, resulting in a pursuit.

Officers say the vehicle crashed into a power pole on Bowen Street and East Irving Avenue.

The driver took off by foot, but was arrested a short time later and determined to be the same driver of the vehicle that crashed.

Police also indicated that the vehicle involved in the second crash was also stolen.

Police say they believe that alcohol or drugs could be a factor.

SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ)- Waterfowl enthusiasts want to make sure Shawano is doing everything they can to fix a geese problem, without putting them on death row.

It's not the geese, but the mess that they leave behind that is causing problems at Shawano Parks.

Hundreds of geese are leaving several hundred pounds of fecal mater on beaches and parks in Shawano, making it difficult for people to enjoy all the hard work that the city has done improving the parks.

A solution that the Park and Recreation Department is looking at, euthanize the geese this summer, that decision has stirred the pot in Shawano.

"There are options that I know that the city has not looked at yet, and they come with a price tag of less than $6,000 that the city is proposing spending to kill them" says Shawano Sportsman Jeff O'Brien.

He says the situation is tough because tax payers and citizens deserve a clean park to enjoy, but for the geese, this is the habitat they thrive in, and Shawano is what he calls "prime real estate."

Shawano Parks and Rec Director Matt Hendricks said they have tried many things, but everything that they have tried has worked for a short period of time, but failed.

O'Brien thinks there may be another way, and poses one big question.

"How well were these things implemented?"

O'Brien says they may have tried the non-lethal options, but if they were not being used the way they are designed, it would likely fail.

"They may have tried the non-lethals, but the question is how well were they implemented? That is something that we have to look at before jumping right to euthanizing.

He says he learned that the city put out decoys or cutouts of animals, but also learned if they are not moved around from time to time, the geese will stop being fooled.

"They are very adaptable, the geese are good at figuring it out, O'Brien says."If the city can prove that they went through those and none of them work, then I will change my tune. Until they can prove to me that they did that, I will be fighting to keep these birds from being killed."

O'Brien added that even killing all of the existing Canada Geese is only a short term fix.

"Even if you kill these, more are going to flock right to that area because it is on the river, it is prime real estate."

Ever since Canada Geese became endangered, waterfowl enthuisests have worked hard to get the population back up for everyone to enjoy, and said his groups could offer some strong insight.

DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - The state commission evaluating the way public school districts receive taxpayer money was in De Pere Monday afternoon.

Holding its third of six public hearings across the state, the Blue Ribbon Commission is looking to change the way public schools are funded.

“Hopefully we will rewrite the funding formula or at least make some major changes in it.”

State Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) is co-chair of the Commission, and tells FOX 11....

“I think there is pretty good consensus that there are some faults.”

Right now, the funding formula relies heavily on the number of students and property values in each school district.

Kitchens says it was created in the 70s and hasn’t been revised since the mid-90s.

“It's pretty impossible to explain it. It's very, very complicated. Then you have schools going to referendum and such and it’s really hard to explain it to the taxpayers what they’re paying for. It’s a very complex thing. We’d like to make it a little simpler.”

Area business leaders were invited as special speakers for Monday’s public hearing.

Schreiber Foods, Wisconsin Public Service, and Foth, the engineering consultant hosting the hearing, were among the businesses represented.

“When we think about our future employees, they're in K-12 today,” said Tom Hedge of Foth.

The commission is made up of members from both the Republican and Democratic sides of the state legislature, as well as K-12 and university levels of education.

Members of the business community asked to speak say their voice is missing from the panel.

“We think that there is a business side of this story that is critical, not only to the regions, not only to our current employee and customer groups, but critical to the state of Wisconsin as well,” said Hedge.

Among the factors business leaders and educators urged the commission to consider were changing demographics and that some student groups cost more to educate.

Green Bay, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Packers fans are still adjusting to the loss of wide-receiver Jordy Nelson and now there's another uniform fans won't see him in.

Nelson told ESPN Milwaukee Monday it is very unlikely he will play in the annual charity softball game at Fox Cities Stadium this year.

"Unfortunately I don't think I will be a part of it this year. I'm not saying there won't be one in other years," Nelson said. "They did one with Donald when he went into the Packer Hall Of Fame, so we'll see. It was an honor and fun; my family enjoyed to be a part of that softball game and everything. Hopefully the fans understand why I won't be able to make it back."

Nelson has been the face of the softball game for five years, taking over for Donald Driver in 2013.

Lammi Sports Management, which puts on the softball game, says the game will still go on as scheduled on June 2.

At this time, a successor has not been named.

 GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - The dredging season along the Fox River in Green Bay is underway.

For the 10th year, the equipment is back in the water, dredging PCB sediment left behind from decades of pollution by the paper industry.

Big red barges crept along the Fox River in Green Bay Monday morning, vacuuming up sediment.

"The dredging aspect of it is really to reduce the impact of PCBs on the environment and human health."

Fox River Cleanup Project spokesman Scott Stein tells FOX 11 much of this year's work will take place from Porlier Street and run north toward the mouth of the Fox River.

"There will also be activity early in the season out near the bay, as the bigger dredge, the 10-inch dredge, does work out in that area."

But the dredging isn't the only activity on the river.

Anglers are also on the Fox, looking for walleye, as part of the spawning run for that fish.

Stein says they need to pay attention.

"There are a lot of signs out there. We want people to treat it almost like a construction zone on the highway."

Some fishermen, like Pulaski's Tyler Bartz, say they are familiar with the river, and the changing conditions.

"If it is a slow no wake zone or not. Otherwise you can usually stay away from the buoys, and keep on going through. You'll see where they are, and you can see boats going through, they try to keep the channel open, so you can go through it."

Back on the shore, people are taking in the sights.

Tory Kemp says she will be able track the dredging each day.

"Something cool, some action along the river during at least the lunch hour, when we're out walking the trails."

Under the current work plan, dredging is expected to continue into 2019.

What are PCBs?

They're man-made chemicals that entered the river as run off from the paper mills.

Since 2009, more than 4.8 million cubic yards of sediment have been dredged.

More than 2.7 million tons of sediment has been processed and reintroduced to the river.

More than 117,000 truckloads have been taken to landfills.

Nearly seven billion gallons of water have been treated and put back in the river.

LANGES CORNERS, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - No one was hurt after an overnight house fire in Brown County.

It broke out around 1 this morning at a home in Langes Corners, which is near Denmark.

It started out as a garage fire, but Denmark Fire Chief Dave Bielinski says it quickly spread to the home on Steves Cheese Road.

"We have extensive damage to the first floor of the home and we have smoke and water damage extensively, second floor has a lot of smoke damage."

Firefighters say conditions weren't the best early Tuesday.

"Upon arrival, it was windy, visibility was really difficult," Said Chief Bielinski.

It's not known how the fire started.

Firefighters stayed on the scene for several hours.

COMBINED LOCKS, WI (WTAQ) - A third machine will soon be running at a previously closed Combined Locks paper mill.

That machine is expected to be turned on soon.

Appleton Coated closed last year, leaving 600 people without work.

The plant is now owned by Industrial Assets.

The general manager at the plant says they currently have 230 employees.

And they say over the next few weeks, they intend to increase that to 300 employees.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ)- The suspect in a Green Bay hit and run crash with a bicycle last weekend, was charged in Brown County Court on Tuesday.

Bond was set at $100,000 dollars cash.

29-year-old Barry Watters is facing six counts, including hit and run causing bodily harm, using a vehicle with a controlled substance and eluding an officer.

A witness reported seeing a bicyclist get hit from behind by an SUV on the corner of Oakland and Walnut Street. According to the testimony, the victim ended up on the hood of the vehicle and fell on to the road.

The witness reported the vehicle drove over the bicyclist's legs, two people got out of the car, got back in the car and then drove off.

Police reported the vehicle led officers on a short pursuit.

Watter's passenger reported that he had smoked marijuana prior to the crash.

Officials say the victim Russell Owen suffered a severe brain injury, and may not survive.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ)- The Green Bay Area School District has rolled out a survey to get feedback on safety and school environment.

The survey will also be given to students.

Lori Blakeslee of the Green Bay Area School District says a survey that was sent out last spring only had about 25 percent parent participation and they are hoping for more this year.

• To access the survey, click here

School officials say the survey takes about 15 minutes to complete, and will be available until May 2.

NORTHEAST WI (WTAQ)- Beginning this weekend, ThedaCare is lifting flu restrictions for visitors at all medical facilities.

The restrictions were put in place during the nationwide flu outbreak. 

Hospital officials say it is still important for visitors to take precautions when visiting by wearing masks and washing hands, even though the peak of the flu concern has passed.

Restrictions will officially be lifted on Saturday.

MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ)- Marinette County Sheriff officials are warning of "swatting" calling it a waste of time and resources.

Over the weekend, Sheriff deputies say they received a report from a man who said he stabbed his wife to death, and then thought they heard gunshots over the phone.

Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the call.

When they arrived at the residence in Florence county, the person did not know about the incident.

Sheriff officials addressed their concerns on the department's Facebook page.

GREEN BAY (WTAQ-WLUK) - Wastewater will soon put to a new use with a 169 million dollar project.

It's called R2E2. New equipment will start turning Green Bay wastewater into resources.

“So now our solids process will be generating electricity and reducing the amount of electricity we need to purchase,” said Nathan Qualls, Director of Technical Services for NEW Water tells Fox 11.

Metropolitan Sewerage District takes in 38 million gallons of waste water. For decades, the water has been treated, the solids processed and incinerated. But what was once seen as just waste, is now being viewed as potential resources.

That methane bio gas can then be converted into electricity. The separated liquid will also undergo a process to extract a mineral that can be sold for use in fertilizer mixtures.

Project manager Bill Angoli gave FOX11 a personal tour of the new operation.

“The whole industry keeps changing,” said Angoli. “What we're trying to do is look at waste water as a resource, not just as a waste that goes out.”

It is estimated that this project could result in residents saving around $2 million dollars a year, which would lower residents bills.

"The 2019 budget will be the first year all the enhancements will be taken into account."

NEW Water, the brand name for the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, serves 15 municipal customers and 232,000 residents. The municipal customers include: Green Bay, De Pere, Allouez, Ashwaubenon, Bellevue, Hobart, Howard, Luxemburg, Pulaski, Suamico, Ledgeview, Lawrence, Pittsfield, Scott, Dyckeville San. District, New Franken San. District, Royal Scot San. District, and the Bayshore San. District.

SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ)- Lots of questions surrounding safety are being asked in Shawano, as students entered the building one day after a shooting threat was discovered.

With extra security in and around the Shawano School District buildings, students entered class on Tuesday with concerns, and questions.

"Students came in and were anxious, nervous and scared," Shawano Superintendent Gary Cumberland said. "We worked with pupil services, counselors and social workers."

Cumberland says the district plans to make use of a school safety grant that was just signed by the governor, but the board will have to decide what the district can improve on.

"We believe that we are doing a really good job now, but can you do better, you always can and that is why those funds are being made available.

Shawano County Sheriff Adam Bieber wants the community to ask an important question when it comes to safety.

"Is any child being hurt by a gun or knife or any weapon in a school acceptable. If that answer is no, then we need to steps to prevent that."

He says if the community really wants a safe school, it would result in policy changes that are costly and in some cases, out of the ordinary.

"Make sure that all the kids come in one door, and make sure that all the kids are screened before they come into the building. Make sure everything is checked, then you will have a safe school, because just having a cop in the school is not going to promise safety."

Bieber said many do not like the idea of having their kids being checked at the door, but it is already being done at sporting events and airports. He added that eliminating backpacks and not having students bring anything to and from school would also help.

"Should we even bring backpacks home? Should anything be brought in and out of school? I personally think this is something that we can change. It would be a big change, but that is something that we have to think about and talk about."

Regardless, Bieber says he is proud of the response that law enforcement and school officials had on Tuesday, and said this will be helpful in the long run.

"It is a bad thing that happened, but there is a lot of good that could come from it. It is going to make our community better and it is going to make us better prepared.

Bieber says that is because situations like this are common in the aftermath of a nationwide occurrence.

The school board is expected to take up school safety at their next meeting.

ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ- WLUK)- Starting in April, Green Bay's Austin Straubel Airport will be starting new flights. 

Airport Director Tom Miller tells Fox 11 that the flights are being offered because passengers wanted more options to fly to Chicago and Atlanta out of Green Bay.

"The airlines are responding to increased demand for flights at GRB," said Miller. "The increase in service is also a great indicator that airlines are recognizing the importance of serving smaller communities."

Starting April 9, United Airlines will begin its fifth roundtrip from Green Bay to Chicago. 

Delta will fly its second daily flight from Green Bay to Atlanta beginning April 12, and American Airlines will add a flight from Chicago to Green Bay starting in October.

ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) - Dozens of people were evacuated last night (TUE) after a water main break at a nursing home.

Ashwaubenon Public Safety Captain Jody Crocker says it happened around 8:45 p.m. at the Maple Ridge Nursing Home at 2305 San Luis PIace.

"Ashwaubenon Public Safety was dispatched over to this nursing home for a report of water flow through the building, from the upstairs portion of the building. That water was running down into the lower level through some ceiling tiles and it was determined the building was unsafe for residents to stay inside of there while this activity was going on."

Several surrounding rescue units from across the area, including Door County, Oshkosh and Shiocton assisted with moving patients.

Crocker says 51 patients were taken to Bay at North Ridge Nursing Facility in Manitowoc.

"It’s a very big process, we are moving 51 patients, everyone has an individual need. So we have to treat like them as 51 individual rescue calls if you will and having all of these people triage them, treat them and make sure they are comfortable all the way for the trip down to Manitowoc County."

Officials say it's too early to know how long these people will be in Manitowoc.

NEENAH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Almost every weekend, David Dillon tells FOX 11 he goes fishing from trails around Little Lake Butte De Morts in Neenah.

"A lot more people have been coming out and enjoying this trail, it seems."

But with the trails soon to be all connected, Dillon said he can't wait to switch out his rod for a bike.

"Oh yeah, I'm going to ride my bike all over that trail."

Menasha Parks and Recreation director, Brian Tungate, said the trail circles around the southern part of Little Lake Butte de Morts.

It also connects Menasha and Neenah through bridges, which are currently still under construction.

"I think the unique thing about this project is, it fills the gap."

Tungate said the completion of the trail is about a month ahead of schedule. He estimates the trail is about two-thirds done.

"We have a little parking lot that we need to put in here yet and a little green space. We have an overlook and canopy that we need to build on the bridge yet and we have archways that have to go in."

A state grant, Future Neenah donations and the cities of Neenah and Menasha will pay for the $3.5 million project, which has been in the works since 2015.

"There's always people out here watching the construction and I think there's a lot of people really looking forward to getting on the entire trail system," said Tungate.

Residents said hopefully the new pathway will also connect those using it.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Green Bay’s Finance Committee left out the Colburn Pool project when it approved 2018-19 bonding requests at its meeting Tuesday night.

Committee members say they want to wait until Monday's full city council meeting before debating whether the project should be included in the bonding requests.

Green Bay's city council has gone back and forth the last six years on what to do with the deteriorating west-side pool.

The current project is $2.3 million more than what the city council agreed to spend on the pool last July.

Instead of renovating the aging Colburn Pool, Mayor Jim Schmitt tels FOX 11 he'd rather spend $100,000 to put a three to five year Band-Aid on it and come up with a better plan for area swimmers.

“I think in that time we start saving money, we start looking at other options for the competitive Olympic-sized pool, and we look at a better plan for a neighborhood pool.”

The current Colburn Pool renovation project has a $6.8 million price tag.

The pool would have eight 50-meter lap lanes, a well deep enough for swim meets, and a zero-depth entry.

A new 46-stall parking lot and storm water management area would also be installed to the west of the existing pool.

Schmitt says his issue is the pool currently loses $96,000 per year.

“When you do the expansion, it actually loses more because the expansion requires additional lifeguards and so it will lose over $100,000 a year. That is a lot for the city of Green Bay to take every year.”

Swimming advocates believe the ability to hold competitive swim meets would help.

“If we can get the meet going the way I want to get the meet going, you're probably looking at a $40,000 meet,” said David Korst, a coach with the Green Bay YMCA Swim Club.

“Why can’t that money, or some of that money go back to the city to help pay for the pool?”

Alderman Mark Steuer says he is leaning toward adding in Colburn Pool when the city council takes up the city's yearly bonding requests next week.

“My thought is over a 50-year period that bond will be paid off and we'll see some good things. The problem is that it's this year and we're looking at specifics. It's going to be that extra kick right now and we have to worry about our debt ratio and such.”

City finance officials warn Moody's has said the city's bond rating could be impacted by any additional bonding. However, no specifics were given.

In December 2016, Schmitt vetoed a $6.8 million plan for a new pool at Colburn Park.

At that time, Schmitt said 20 years of interest payments and operational costs would have upped the price tag to $11.2 million.

Private donors contributed $1 million for the previous pool replacement.

According to the city about $825,000 of that money is available for the current plan.

STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Spring on the Great Lakes means freighters can get back to work, hauling everything from coal to iron ore.

More than a dozen ships spend the winter at Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay.

Over the next few weeks, they'll be heading out to ports in the U-S and Canada.

These are moving days on the waters of Door County. The first of the Great Lakes Freighters set sail Friday in Sturgeon Bay.

And the 767-foot long Cason J. Callaway was the first to go. Others will follow over the next few weeks.

Julie Koch (cook) is Contract Services Manager at busy Bay Shipbuilding.

She says moving day for these steel giants usually revolves around the opening of the Soo Locks. That means traffic can flow to a busy port like Duluth, Minnesota.

"They need to go up there and get their first cargo and start making money."

For the months that they're here, work on the ships can range from a simple paint job to an engine rebuild.

"We try to keep our crews together and stay on boats until the work is done. Then they can move on to something else."

In the office...decisions are made on where to put the ships when coming in for work, some of them up to 1-thousand feet long.

Julie Koch says getting these steel giants in and out is a bit like moving the pieces on a big chess board.

"We start laying out boats and which boat will fit here and what makes sense for the work in front of them."

Back to the schedule. And that's where Stew Fett comes in.....he's the Production Manager.

"You're asking the production manager if everything will be done on time? The answer is yes."

It's his busy time....and a busy time for the 11-hundred employees hard at work. That's double what you might find here for 9 months of the year.

"All shipbuilders have great pride in their work. They're craftsmen....they take great pride in their craft."

And for many of them at Bay Shipbuilding....they're almost like part of the ship's crew.

Julie Kock says it's a small fleet of freighters that cruise the Great Lakes. And a lot of them are frequent visitors to Sturgeon Bay when winter closes in.

"Those vessels come here every year for layup. We've got guys that have worked on those boats for their entire career here."

Now that the freighters are heading back out, Sturgeon Bay becomes popular for another reason.

People like Lois Depouw...who made the drive up from Green Bay to watch what they call the winter fleet set sail.

"I've seen the ships, footage, on Facebook. And it's just awesome. I just wanted to witness it up close."

They call these people....'boat nerds'. It's a tag Lois Depouw has no issues with. In fact, she wears it proudly. You might even call her a boat stalker.

"I have my...it's all planned out. How I'm going to travel and follow the ship when it leaves."

The Michigan Street drawbridge is a popular spot to watch the boats head out to Lake, Michigan.

Time to relax at Bay Shipbuilding. But Julie Koch says no one gets too comfortable.

"We like all the excitement and then for about two weeks we enjoy the downsizing and relaxing a little bit. Then we start right back up again and plan for the next year."

When the days get short....the ships will return.

GREEN BAY (WTAQ) - A New London man who supplied a deadly dose of fentanyl to another man in 2017 has been sentenced.

27 year old Tyler Kuhnke was sentenced to 17 years in federal prison and eight years of supervised release.

Prosecutors say in June 2017, Kuhnke traveled with the victim to his drug source in Oshkosh to get heroin.

The heroin was, unbeknownst to Kuhnke and the victim, a potent form of fentanyl.

During the hearing, officials say Kuhnke had previously supplied drugs to the same victim a year earlier that resulted in a non-fatal overdose.