GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK)- A Green Bay woman is continuing her work operating a refugee camp in Greece but says the recent crisis in Syria has presented some challenges. 

Diana Delbecchi tells Fox 11, many Syrians are in search of a better life, and that means they are fleeing the country.

"This year, between the start of the year to now, it’s going to be reported that almost 8,000 immigrants or refugees have arrived on the shores."

Funding is also running out, leading to big organizations pulling out of the game.

"What we're seeing is the funding of the camps is decreasing, so in Ritsona, we're seeing a lot of the big organizations that are pulling out."

David Coury, Humanities and Global studies professor at UW-Green Bay says the situation for Syrians is not good.

 "Syria is almost completely devastated, and these refugees, if they return, they have nothing but rubble to return to."

Delbecchi raised $2,000 dollars for the refugee program last year. She said decisions made should also be done while keeping the those impacted in mind.

Coury added that there is going to have to be many players in the game to find a solution.

"The solution will have to come collectively. It's not just going to be the U.S., it’s not going to be Europe, and certainly Russia, and Iran aren't going to be able to solve it."

Whatever the solution, Delbecchi says she hopes it's approached with the people affected in mind.

"I think it's important for us to remember, there are real people who are truly and deeply impacted by these decisions," she explained.

NORTHEAST WI, (WTAQ)- Sturgeon Spawning season will be starting extra late this year. 

The water needs to get warmer and DNR Biologist Ryan Koenigs says it is taking a long time for that to happen this year.

He says in past years, spawning as already been taking place.

"Normal spawning takes place between April 15 and May 1," Koenigs says.

He says a quick weather turnaround, could change things fast.

"Once that water temperature hits the range that they start spawning at, they are going to go."

The good news is each year is so weather dependent that next year could be the complete opposite.

Sturgeon Guard shifts are usually scheduled from April 15 through April 30, but the DNR has already said they will not be scheduling and guards until at least April 25.

FOX CROSSING, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - A union which represents workers at a Kimberly-Clark plant slated for closure is calling on the state Senate to vote on a tax subsidy package designed to keep the plants running.

Earlier this year, the consumer products company announced plans to close 10 plants worldwide and eliminate 5,500 jobs.

That includes facilities in Neenah and Fox Crossing and would result in about 600 local jobs being eliminated.

In response, legislators developed a package of tax incentives similar to what was used to lure Foxconn to build a plant in Racine County.

The Assembly passed it, 56-37.

However, without any commitment from Kimberly-Clark that passing the legislation would result in the jobs being saved, the Senate tabled the bill.

Now, local 2-482 President Dave Breckheimer, who is also a Kimberly-Clark worker, tells FOX 11 the union is calling for the Senate to act.

"We believe that there is a clear path to change the cost profile of the plants in a way that ensures that the high-quality workforce remains in place. It is unfair for the state Senate to continue to delay this subsidy package."

"What is happening in the Senate is an indictment on what is wrong with politics in America," said Michael Bolton, director of USW District 2.

"The GOP-controlled Senate is refusing to conduct a vote until the company approves the package and after they have used their Republican allies to help extract concessions from workers.

"The company's behavior since the announcement is disturbing," said Local 2-482 member Karmen Jones.

"Even as company officials are calling the plant a 'flagship' facility, they are asking workers to make concessions that would cut their average labor costs by more than $20,000 per person."

"We brought forth this bill to do what we can," said Senator Roger Roth.

"The union and KC are going to go through their negotiations, but when they're done, we want them to know that the state stands here ready to step in with an incentive package to fight and protect those 600 jobs."

FOX 11 contacted Kimberly-Clark last week about the union’s claims it was seeking those cost reductions, and to see if the company would commit to keeping the plants open if the legislation passed, the company provided this statement:

At this time, Kimberly-Clark is actively bargaining with union leadership at the Neenah Cold Springs facility, and we are committed to following this important process. We will not comment on any information until final decisions are made by the company after appropriate consultation with the union."

Mayor Dean Kaufert of Neenah said while the company and union are in negotiations, he'll remain optimistic.

"At the end of the day, I'm keeping my hopes up and fingers crossed that they're going to find a solution that's going to benefit the company and workforce."

For the state senate to vote on the package, they would have to be called back to Madison for what's called an "extraordinary session".

MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ) - Recovery efforts are underway for the SS Badger Car ferry dock in Manitowoc after it was badly damaged by Lake Michigan waters over the weekend.

Jason Ring, Executive Director of the Manitowoc Visitors and Convention Bureau, is keeping his fingers crossed that all plans go as scheduled.

"We calculate the economic impact of what visitors spend that come off the car ferry. And the impact of that is around $14 million....pretty significant."

The car ferry also adds or impacts a total of 700 jobs.

Ring says if no setbacks occur, it is believed that they won't have any lost time.

"The goal is to keep the car ferry sailing season on pace for the May 11th start of the season."

While the SS Badger has a major impact on the local economy, Ring says the damage has drawn attention from all over the state.

"Everything is being expedited. Many people at high levels in state government are looking to see this project completed."

Ring likens the ferry dock damage to what it would be like for another community when a major highway into town is shut down.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ)- The NFL has released the Packers 2018 schedule. Green Bay will play three of their first four games at home and three of their last five games at Lambeau. The middle of the season will be spent on the road, with three of those games being played against playoff teams of last year. 

The Packers will kick off their 100th season at home against Chicago on Sunday Night.

1. Sunday Sept 9- 7:20 PM - vs Chicago Bears

2. Sunday Sept 16- Noon- vs Minnesota Vikings

3. Sunday Sept 23- Noon- at Washington Redskins

4. Sunday Sept 30- Noon- vs Buffalo Bills

5. Sunday Oct 7- Noon- at Detroit Lions

6. Monday Oct 15- 7:15 pm vs San Francisco 49ers

7. Bye Week

8. Sunday Oct 28- 3:35 pm at Los Angeles Rams

9. Sunday Nov 4- 7:30 pm- at New England Patriots

10. Sunday Nov 11- Noon- vs Miami Dolphins

11. Thursday Nov 15- 7:30 pm- at Seattle Seahawks

12. Sunday Nov 25- 7:30 pm- at Minnesota Vikings

13. Sunday Dec 2- Noon- vs Arizona Cardinals

14. Sunday Dec 9- Noon- vs Atlanta Falcons

15. Sunday Dec 16- Noon- at Chicago Bears

16. Sunday Dec 23- Noon- at New York Jets

17. Sunday Dec 30- Noon- vs Detroit Lions

GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ)- The new Fox Valley Meijer store will include a walk-in-clinic.

ThedaCare announced that they will open a FastCare clinic at the Grand Chute store.

The care will be for common conditions and different immunizations will be available.

Some lab tests such as pregnancy, rapid strep and urinalysis will be able to be performed, but more extensive lab tests such as X-rays and ultrasounds will not. 

People do not have to be ThedaCare patients to use the facility, but they do have to be at least 18 years old.

No appointments are needed.

FastCare accepts many insurance plans; the cost per visit is $69 for those without insurance.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ)- Former Packer Running Back Ahman Green was convicted of a lesser charge in court Thursday, even though he says he is innocent.

Green entered an Alford plea to damage to property and disorderly conduct.

He was originally charged with felony child abuse.

Green was sentenced to 18 months of probation and ordered to attend anger management and parenting classes. Along with that, Green was fined $500, and ordered to write an apology letter to his 15-year-old daughter.

Last June, a neighbor reported Green after his daughter went to her house and reported that Green abused her because she did not want to wash dishes. 

Green told police that he physically pulled her into the kitchen, ripping her shirt and punched her in the face.

KIMBERLY, WI (WTAQ)- Plans to "Loop the Locks" were unveiled Thursday at Sunset Park in Kimberly. 

The plan is for a new trail that would link much of the Fox Valley.

Outagamie County Planning Director Kara Homan says municipalities and the county are coming together to provide the joint trail venture.

"Recreationally, I think it is amazing that people will be able to walk or bike 15 miles. I think many will be using it for transportation."

The trail would allow people to travel to five different municipalities without having to fight vehicle traffic.

"We are connecting downtown Appleton to the commercial corridor in Kimberly to downtown Little Chute and looping back to downtown Kaukauna."

 The estimated cost is 6 million dollars.

Homan says the county is covering about 25 percent of it and the municipalities are putting together plans to cover the rest.

She says all of the municipalities were working on plans to form a trail or greenway segments to open up their riverfront. She says they realized that they all had the same goal, and decided to work together to make it bigger and better.

"The stars just aligned I guess they say."

She says it will take some time to construct, but each community wants to start things as quickly as they can.

LITTLE SUAMICO, WI (WTAQ)- The engine failure of a Southwest flight this week hit close to home for a Little Suamico man.

Brad Veeser says just two weeks ago, he was on a plane that had to be landed due to engine failure.

He said ten minutes into the flight from Chicago, he heard a loud boom and the plane shaking.

"The captain came on the loudspeaker and said he could not land because we were too heavy," he said. "I was sitting by the engine, and I could see sparks flying out of the back of it."

Vesser says the pilots had to rely on their training and experience.

"We started circling around Lake Michigan for about 45 minutes, and I don't know if he was dumping fuel or what he was doing.

Eventually, the plane landed back in Chicago where they started.

He said in his case, he is thankful that the pilots were able to rely on their training.

"They did handle it very very well."

Engine failure has been a topic of discussion this week after a tragic situation Tuesday.

The CFM56 engine on Southwest flight 1380 blew apart over Pennsylvania on Tuesday, about 20 minutes after the Dallas-bound flight left New York's LaGuardia Airport with 149 people on board. The explosion sent shrapnel ripping into the fuselage of the Boeing 737-700 plane and shattered a window.

Bank executive Jennifer Riordan, 43, was killed when she was partially pulled through a gaping hole next to her seat as the cabin suffered rapid decompression. Fellow passengers were able to pull her back inside but she died of her injuries.

"My concern is that it is happening more than people know."

Veeser and his wife were flying American Airlines, and were able to board a different plane to get to their destination.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ)- Thursday night marked the start of the Packers season for Green Bay area hotels.

Lodge Kohler experienced their first schedule release booking marathon Thursday night.

"Guests, as soon as they see leaks, they start calling right away to book a room."

General Manager Dilan Van Ryn says the calls started coming in the afternoon hours.

"A lot of the leaks come out and we try to figure the schedule out ourselves as well."

Many of those leaks turned out to be the actual schedule, but he once the schedule becomes official, the phones start ringing.

"It kind of allows Packer fans and football fans in general to schedule the rest of their year."

Van Ryn says staying at a hotel completes the whole Lambeau Field and Green Bay Packer game experience.

DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Blizzard Evelyn is still causing problems for at least one school district in the area.

Gyms at two De Pere schools are closed because the roofs are sagging from heavy snow.

De Pere School District superintendent Ben Villarruel tells FOX 11 a structural engineer was called in Thursday to look at the roofs of Foxview Intermediate and De Pere High School.

"Right now we're waiting on the structural engineer to do what he needs to do to make sure the integrity of the roofs."

Crews removed snow from the intermediate school Thursday.

The snow was put in a dumpster and a crane carried the dumpster to the ground.

Crews cleared most of the snow from the high school's roof Wednesday.

As for the high school, someone noticed Wednesday morning that the curtains in the gym were lower than normal.

The gym and weight room are closed.

Foxview Intermediate School's gym is also closed.

Post-prom was supposed to be held in De Pere High School's gym.

There's still no word on where post-prom will be held but the superintendent says it will go on as planned.

The district also announced it will extend the school year by one day, Monday, June 11th, to make up for canceled classes on Monday of this week.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The Office of the Mayor says the software the city bought will make all things Green Bay ready at users' fingertips.

The new website complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and can be used with Google Translate.

It will also feature a portal for Open Data, allowing people to search for information by address.

Also new is the addition of closed-captioned videos of meetings, and documents pertaining to the city going back as far as 20 years.

People have access to all agendas, minutes and attachments for all City of Green Bay meetings.

An allocation of the Excess Stadium Tax allowed the city to buy the necessary software to upgrade their website.

The mayor says the website now allows the city to be more transparent and engaging, improving communication between government and residents or businesses.

FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - A reclaimed historic part of downtown Fond du Lac is set to reopen this Fall.

A $25 million renovation project is underway for Hotel Retlaw.

The eight-story hotel on North Main Street suddenly closed in December of 2015 due to financial troubles.

About six months later, the hotel was purchased by Legendary Hotels.

The project will restore the hotel back to its original 1923 state with 127 guest rooms and suites, including a lobby bar, second-floor outdoor patio and grand ballroom that can accommodate up to 300 people.

The hotel will also have a farm-to-table restaurant, espresso cafe and wine bar and luxury spa.

“Hotel Retlaw will attract world-class travelers to Fond du Lac and will serve as a premier destination for residents,” said Dennis Doucette, principle-partner at Legendary Hotels along with Steve Frantz.

“We’ve received extraordinary support from the community so far. Hotel Retlaw is poised to bring a vibrancy back to downtown Fond du Lac that many say it has lacked for years.”

President and CEO of Fond du Lac Visitors Bureau, Craig Molitor, tells FOX 11 the opening is a big event.

"When this property's back on the light, that means we're going to have life, vibrancy, vitality, right back in our downtown."

It is estimated Hotel Retlaw will have an economic impact of $25 million per year and bring an additional 35,000 people.

Hotel rates will vary by season, with anticipated rates starting at $109 per night.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ)- Appleton Police say they have located the subject of a large amount of blood that found on a car door earlier this month.

The incident has been under investigation since April 5.

Police say they tracked down a 19-year-old woman who told officers that she was attempting to slash the vehicle tires with a knife, but it broke, and cut her finger.

The woman said she did not come forward at first, because she was on probation.

Police say the incident stemmed from an argument, but the vehicle owner was not going to press charges.

ONEIDA COUNTY, WI (WTAQ)- A deer that tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease in Oneida County, has prompted the DNR to renew the existing baiting and feeding ban for an additional three years.

The finding will also renew a two-year baiting and feeding ban in nearby Langlade County.

A CWD-positive one-year-old doe was harvested within ten miles of Lincoln County, which has already had a positive detection. The doe in Oneida County is the counties first CWD-positive wild deer.

DNR officials say the deer was found in the Crescent Township.

The DNR said they will continue to work with Deer Advisory Council members in surveillance around the location, conduct surveillance activities and establish additional CWD sampling locations prior to the 2018 deer hunting seasons. 

The DNR is taking those additional steps to assess the potential geographic distribution of the disease.

MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ)- Manitowoc Police say a suspicious death investigation led to a high-speed chase Friday afternoon.

Police responded to the 900 block of South 11th street and started pursuing a vehicle about an hour later.

The suspect was taken into custody by the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department and is being held on a probation/parole warrant.

Police say the public is not in any danger at this time.

More information is expected to be released on Monday.

RACINE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK)- A Green Bay woman, who Sheriff Officials say was able to escape from the Ellsworth Correctional Facility may have stolen a pickup in her getaway.

Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling says 36-year-old Christine Abel was missing during a headcount at the Town of Dover facility Thursday night.

"We used a canine and tracked her footprints from the prison yard area, from the fence, through the snow, through the mud, and to that evidence. We firmly believe that it is her."

Abel has a criminal history of burglary, theft, criminal damage to property and resisting arrest.

DE PERE, WI (WTAQ)- De Pere School District is still investigating to see if they ended up with roof damage from the weekend storm, but they are keeping a positive attitude as they make adjustments.

Shoveling snow, checking the structure and looking through blueprints, De Pere Superintendent Ben Villarruel says it is all being done this week to find out if the roofs are damaged.

"There are calculations regarding how much of a load the roof can take, and it is designed for it."

The question is if this last weekend's blizzard was too much snow.

"It is built to deflect or bend when there is a heavy amount on it."

He said this week, the trusses moved back up in place, which he believes is a good sign.

In the meantime, the gym is not useable, and he says that means staff and students that use the gym have had to audible through the week.

"It is good for us to learn how to be flexible and meet the challenges that face us."

He says physical education classes have had to adjust to not being able to be outside and not being able to use the gym. This week, ping pong tables were set up in the commons. 

De Pere has moved Saturday Night Post Prom to the Middle School to keep all activities going.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK)- A popular children's author was in Green Bay Friday night.

"Goosebump" author R.L. Stine tells Fox 11, everywhere he goes he hears that kids discovered a love of reading through the popular series.

"What a wonderful thing to affect a generation like that. Goosebumps is 25-years old."

Stine was in Green Bay for the "UntitledTown Book and Author Festival" and spoke at the Weidner Center.

He says his goal was to make sure that they were easy to read could keep kids attention.

"You don't have to watch a movie or do something else to be entertained. You can read a book, and that is the whole point of Goosebumps."

Stine says he liked to end each chapter in a certain way and said he added a lot of humor to books since they were geared for kids.

"Every chapter ending has a cliffhanger or some big surprise to keep them reading."

Stine says he would add something humorous if he felt the story was getting too scary."

His technique worked, since he started, Stine has sold more than 400 million books and according to his website, 2017 marked the 25th anniversary of "Goosebumps" with more than 130 titles in the series.

"It's so nice. They say, 'thank you for getting me through a hard childhood' or 'I wouldn't be a librarian today if it wasn't for you' or 'I learned to read on your books."

The popular books were also turned into a television series and a movie.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK)- The snow is causing more concerns at Bay Beach Wild Life Sanctuary.

As if the weekend snow did not cause enough problems for Wildlife, Curator Lori Bankson says now they are concerned about flooding

"We are a low line area, and we are already seeing a lot of melting occurring. We have the flooding that we normally see in the spring, but we still have 3 to 5 feet of snow in the areas. 

The conditions that flooding leaves behind for the animals can also be dangerous.

"All of our animals that live here have some injury, and can't go back into the wild. If they trip of fall in some standing water, that can result in some serious consequences for them."

Bankson says they have taken in quite a bit of wildlife since the blizzard.

"We are at 100 already. Our cages are very limited because with the snowfall, we are pushed back two or three weeks. We have rehab animals still in those cages, so we are moving things around."

Lori Bankson says the need is still strong a week later.

"They are still in crisis mode"

She says people can still make a big difference by helping with food and shelter until the snow is gone.