STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Police say a Sturgeon Bay man was arrested over the weekend after attacking officers.

Police sent to a residence on the west side of the city Sunday night for a verbal disturbance call.

As officers walked up to the home, police say a 34-year-old man attacked them.

During the attack, police reporting the man kicked one of the officers in the head with a steel toe boot.

Once the suspect was handcuffed, police say he continued the assault by headbutting the other officer in the face.

Both officers wound up with minor injuries.

The suspect was also taken to the hospital for treatment and once medically cleared, he was taken to jail.

OCONTO, WI (WTAQ) - An Oconto man charged with killing his friend when he drunkenly crashed his vehicle pleaded not guilty on Monday.

54-year-old Guy Maras faces three charges, which includes homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle, that stem from the July 29 crash that killed 54-year-old Joseph Gallagher.

Maras was allegedly driving 100 mph and his blood alcohol level was .169, which is more than twice the legal limit.

Officials say the vehicle went offroad and hit a tree stump past the intersection of County Highway V while traveling north on Klatt Road. 

Court records indicate that Maras will be back in court on December 3 for a pre-trial conference and no trial date has been set.

According to the complaint, Maras made several statements saying his alcoholism was the reason behind killing his friend. 

STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Monday at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Sturgeon Bay to celebrate the completion of a year-long renovation project.

Some of the highlights include new work areas and interactive classrooms for students and also a welding lab.

NWTC Campus Manager Cheryl Tieman explains the benefits for students.

"It helps them to be supported," she explains. "There are so many things that can happen in life."

Tieman describes the already available resources the improvements will enhance.

"We have things like an emergency fund, we have a food pantry," she says. "There's a lot of different services we're able to offer."

Hopes are that the $3 million project will increase student engagement and better accommodate community groups. 

PENSAUKEE, WI (WTAQ) - On Monday, September 24, 2018, at 8:03 AM the Oconto County Sheriff’s Office received a call of a vehicle crash on US Highway 41 in the area of Brookside Cemetery Road in the Township of Pensaukee.

Reports stated that the vehicle had left the road and ended up in some trees.

The Oconto County Sheriff’s Office along with Wisconsin State Patrol and emergency services from Oconto Fire and Rescue and Pensaukee Fire Department responded to the scene.

Once on scene rescue personnel found a 58-year-old male from the Manitowoc area unresponsive in the vehicle.

Oconto Rescue transported the male to a local hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.

The crash is still under investigation, at this time speed and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the crash.

The name of the victim is being withheld pending notification of family.

DOOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - Aa man who slipped and fell from a cliff at Peninsula State Park on Sunday has died.

Door County Sheriff's officials say the 70-year-old man was from Elkhart, Indiana and was hiking with his wife Sunday afternoon.

The man fell from a 100-foot drop and was pronounced dead prior to being evacuated to the hospital.

The case remains under investigation and foul play is not suspected. 

DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) -  An alleged assault at an area university has students concerned and school officials changing their approach.

The alleged incident took place on September 14 on 3rd street in De Pere.

That location is technically off St. Norbert campus, but close enough for student Isabelle Robertson to be concerned.

"I think it definitely has affected how I feel on campus safety wise, I definitely don't feel as safe as I did before," she says.

St. Norbert has been working with De Pere Police to find who is responsible. Senior Director of Campus Safety Steve Jakups says the school has been proactive since that terrible occurrence.

"We've increased campus patrol, and doing a social media campaign to present opportunities for self-defense classes," he explains.

Isabelle Robertson lists what's important for her as a student.

"I think just making sure that campus safety is always looking out for us, compliant, and kind," she explains. "I think that's a thing I've noticed and they should be quick too."

While campus safety officials have attempted to do more, they still face some challenges.

"It's hard to be proactive in this," says Jakups. "You can have a patrol car on one end and something happens on the other."

If anyone has information pertaining to the September 14 assault they are strongly encouraged to contact the De Pere Police Department.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - With election day nearing, votes have already started being cast in Green Bay. 

Absentee voting has started, and Green Bay City Clerk Kris Teske says it is becoming more popular.

"Absentee voting started on Thursday, and we had people vote on the first day."

Teske says the rules for absentee voting recently changed, and the voter requesting an absentee ballot does not need to provide a reason for voting before election day.

"We can't even ask them why."

The most common reason voters chose to vote absentee is because they won't be able to make it to the polls on election day.

"We send out a lot of absentee ballots to "snowbirds" or people who move out of state for the winter."

Teske says voting absentee is designed to be no different than voting on election day. 

Voters can request a ballot in the mail or can come in and vote in office. She says there is one thing to keep in mind when voting absentee. Any mistakes cannot be corrected.

"When you vote on election day, a poll worker can let you know if you made a mistake on your ballot and you have three chances to correct it. Mistakes on absentee ballots can't be corrected, so we remake the ballot and leave the race that has the mistake blank."

Absentee voting in Green Bay is available at the City Clerk's office Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm until November 2nd.

NEENAH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) - Missing mail in the Neenah-Menasha area earlier this month could soon become an even bigger problem, involving the city of Neenah’s new automated waste system.

The city decided earlier this year to switch to automated refuse and recycling collection, and residents had a chance to pick their cart sizes.

“They’re the taxpayers, they’re the ones who ended up paying for these in the first place but, because of this unfortunate timing of the mail missing, some people might not get what they ordered,” said Neenah Mayor Dean Kaufert.

Owners had to mail out the postcards, choosing one of three different sizes before Sept. 14.

The problem? It appears what was mailed out on the Sept. 4 through the U.S. Postal Service never reached its final destination.

Kaufert tells FOX 11 that means people who sent out their postcards on that day may be in for a surprise.

“A lot of people had sent them back around that time period, and we didn’t receive them. We don’t know what size they want, so they’re going to get a default size, which is going to be the 95 gallon can.”

The city of Neenah said hundreds of postcards are nowhere to be seen, but can’t say whether it’s because of the missing mail issue or simply because those residents chose not to fill out the survey card.

Either way, for those who do receive the incorrect cart, the city will allow a one-time exchange, free of charge.

Which, Kaufert says, could be costly for Neenah.

“We’re going to have to send a crew out with people to get them the right cart, send a truck out, pick up the old one, bring in the new one, which has labor costs implications to the city of Neenah.”

While this could end up being a Public Works nightmare, department Director Gary Kaiser is optimistic.

“From an overall numbers standpoint, I don’t see it being a terrible load for us to take on.”

Carts are expected to be delivered in mid-October.

Residents who don’t get what they asked for should contact the city.

In a statement, the USPS Corporate Communication Center in Illinois handling this region said they are aware of the issue and are looking into it.

FOND DU LAC COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - A Berlin man is dead after he crashed a milk truck in Fond du Lac County on Monday at around 2:00 PM.

Deputies are saying that the 56-year-old man suffered a medical condition while driving on County Highway AS, which is west of State Highway 49 and near Waupun.

The milk truck went approximately 40 yards into a cornfield and officials were notified after a passerby called 911.

CPR was performed at the scene, but the man was pronounced dead. 

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - The Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce announced a new president and CEO on Tuesday.

Becky Bartoszek, who currently owns an insurance agency in Little Chute, will assume the position.

In the past, she has held leadership positions with AIA Corporation, The QTI Group, and Alltel.

She replaces Bob Mundt who left for a position in his hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and will take over on October 15th. 

"I'm so proud and thrilled to be joining the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce's talented team," Bartoszek said in a news release. "Listening is something I value strongly, so I first plan to do a lot of listening – to the staff, to our members and to our stakeholders. Together as a community I know the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce will continue to do great things and pave a successful path for generations to come."

“Becky is an inspirational leader who has repeatedly motivated and developed thriving successful teams,” Kathi Seifert, chairperson of the Fox Cities Chamber Board of Directors, said in a news release. “She truly understands how to grow a thriving membership organization and she exudes passion and energy for all that she believes in. We’re thrilled to welcome Becky to the Chamber and excited to see her bring her passion to the Fox Cities business community.”

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A sequel to a popular Netflix series will be available next month.

Making a Murderer - Part 2 will look into updates in the 13-year-old Wisconsin murder case and will be available on Netflix on October 19th.

The series covers the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County.

The first part of the series looks into the arrest and convictions of Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey.

Part two examines the appeals that both men have pushed for since 2015.

The new series will feature ten episodes and will show the men's fight for justice and will feature both men's post-conviction lawyers. 

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The federal government will get a chance to weigh in a dispute between the Village of Hobart and the Oneida Tribe of Indians.

The tribe and village are battling in federal court about the village’s “special events ordinance” to determine if and how the village can enforce it.   The village issued the tribe a citation after the 2016 Big Apple Fest for not having a special events permit.   The tribe sued in federal court, seeking a ruling the municipality doesn’t have the authority to do so.   After the motion was filed Monday, on Tuesday federal Judge William Griesbach granted the federal government’s request to file a ‘friend of the court’ brief, offering its views on the case.

The government explains its interest in the case:

“The Village brought counterclaims and asserted affirmative defenses, including an allegation that the Treaty of February 3, 1838, 7 Stat. 566, to which the United States is a party, did not establish a reservation for the Nation, and that even if there had once been a reservation, it was either subsequently diminished or disestablished, and therefore is subject to the Village’s jurisdiction. The United States has a substantial interest in the interpretation of federal treaties, statutes, and agency determinations regarding Indian interests… Because of its special relationship with Indian Tribes, the United States has a strong interest in protecting the integrity of reservation boundaries and promoting tribal self-government within those boundaries,” wrote Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Wood.

Judge Griesbach gave the Department of Justice until Oct. 12 to file its brief.

No trial date or oral arguments have been set in the case.

The village maintains the tribe needed to have a permit for an event with more than 50 people. The tribe disagrees, arguing the village ordinance does not apply to an event on land held in federal trust. According to the ordinance, organizers of certain events without permits could be jailed up to 90 days and fined up to $10,000.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Green Bay's Police Chief has been busy this week....meeting with members of the city's Latino Community after ICE agents swooped down over the weekend, and arrested people believed to be illegal aliens, posing a threat to national security.

Chief Andrew Smith says he wasn't there when the arrests were made.

In fact, he didn't even know the Feds were in town.

"In the past, when immigration officials would come to Green Bay, in a large scale event like this, they would give us a call."

In some places around the state, ICE agents identified themselves as police. That appears to be the case in Green Bay.

"A loud knock on the door and someone identified themselves as police, and then, when they opened the door it was immigration officials."

While co-operating with federal agencies is something Green Bay Police typically do, Smith says his officers don't routinely check people's immigration status.

"A lot of people feel very strongly that we, as a police department, should be out there enforcing immigration laws. I think the courts have said that's not the role of local law enforcement."

He says the job for his officers is to prevent crime

The neighborhood meetings are meant to answer questions and reaffirm the department's position.

CHILTON, WI (WTAQ) - The suspect in a drunk driving crash that killed a motorcycle passenger and injured a boy on a bicycle pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on Monday.

Court records show that no trial date has been set for 22-year-old Codi Miller and he will return to court on January 15 for a status conference.

He faces seven counts, which include homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle.

The deadly crash happened on August 19 in the town of Harrison. 

53-year-old Kim Anderson, the passenger on Miller's motorcycle, was killed in the crash. 

Miller was traveling east along Highway KK when his motorcycle clipped a boy on his bicycle. 

At the time of the crash Miller's blood alcohol concentration was .210, which is well over his legal limit of .02 due to three previous drunken driving convictions. 

DOOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - A 70-year-old man who slipped and fell from a cliff at Peninsula State Park on Sunday has died.

Door County Sheriff's officials have identified the man as Philip Miller from Elkhart, Indiana and say he was hiking with his wife Sunday afternoon in the Eagle Bluff Lookout area.

The man fell from a 100-foot drop that overlooks the water, but his body fell into rocks below.

He was airlifted from the scene and died a short time later.

The case remains under investigation and foul play is not suspected. 

VINLAND, WI (WTAQ) - The Winnebago County Sheriff's office announced that two people died in a crash this morning.

The accident happened around 8:00 AM at the intersection of State Highway 76 and County Road GG in the town of Vinland.

The cause of the crash is not being released yet, but deputies are saying the vehicles involved were a large commercial truck and a sedan.

The driver and passenger of the sedan died, while the driver of the commercial truck was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. 

As officials investigated, the intersection was closed for more than five hours. 

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The community is being invited to tour the most recent home development built in an up-and-coming Green Bay neighborhood.

NeighborWorks Green Bay is a home-owner organization that offers services like homebuyer education and pre-purchase counseling, but that's not all they do.

"One of the things that we've branched out to is actually building new constructions," says company spokesperson Jenny Chevalier.

The three bedroom, single family unit on Quincy Street in the Navarino Neighborhood that will be showcased on Wednesday is an example of this component.

The home, which already has an accepted offer to purchase, will be toured from 5:00 to 6:30 PM.

Chevalier explains what community members will have an opportunity to see tonight.

"Get a good look at what NeighborWorks has done to change the neighborhood a little bit," she says.

In addition to the newly constructed home, the organization built townhomes in the same area earlier this summer.

And the success of projects like this allows the company to better serve the community. 

"Money made from some of these sales in construction goes right back into our programs that we offer to help people with," says Chevalier.

The new home was constructed in part by Green Bay High School students through the Bridges Construction and Renovation Program.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A disturbing statistic is showing Wisconsin is just outside the national top-ten in addiction numbers.

Law enforcement officials are hoping to reverse a trend that has Wisconsin registering 11th nationally in opioid addiction.

It can go unnoticed, but often times it's the family of an addict that's hit the hardest.

"It's not unusual for officers to go into a home and discover that there's no food in the house or that the child hasn't eaten that day," says Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith.

He says children suffer when an addicted parent becomes solely consumed with their need to get high.

"That becomes the focal point of someone's life, all they want to do is continue getting high using those drugs," says Chief Smith.

The new focus to slow and hopefully stop this trend is to extend help into the home of an addict and to educate younger children about the pitfalls of drug addiction.

"In order to have an impact on the child, we have to embrace the family," says Sue Vincent, the executive director at Encompass Early Education and Care. "What we do here is only as good as what happens when they go home."

The not-for-profit organization recently created a family advocate position that will help attack addiction problems at home and work to protect families.

Chief Andrew Smith agrees that the fight on this front will be won by educating and developing good habits in our youth.

"The real answer is stopping that next generation of children from falling into that same trap that this generation has fallen into," he says.

The Wisconsin opioid overdose death rate is more than twenty percent above the national average, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. 

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - The city of Appleton is about to be the tale of two cities this weekend.

Octoberfest weekend begins Friday night with the License to Cruise car show on College Avenue.  

"Thousands of collector cars and antique vehicles that come in and it is an alcohol-free event that is really geared towards those families that want to come down."

 Sergeant Dave Lund of the Appleton Police Department says the success of the event is weather dependent.   

"Hopefully have a nice fall evening to enjoy all of the older vehicles and to see the special vehicles that are on display."  

On Saturday, Lund says Appleton has a change of scenery.   

"It picks up a little bit with that Octoberfest theme which you will see a lot more drinking," Lund says.

Even though the drinking is a big part of the event, they usually have very few problems and credits the organizers for designing a wonderful event.

"By and large it is a crowd that is having a lot of fun celebrating the end of summer as we move into fall."  

Lund says officers will be in heavy patrol and says they are asking people to have a good time and remember to be safe and comply.   

Alcohol sales on Saturday end at 5:30. Octoberfest begins at 9:00 a.m.   

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Howe Elementary School in Green Bay is now Howe Elementary Community School. Officials say it's more than just a name change. 

Better focus in the classroom starts at home, teachers say.

"Unfortunately not everybody comes with the same set of circumstances," said Amy Kallioinen, Howe Elementary Principal.

With a new approach at Howe Community School, staff will focus on what families need outside of the classroom. The new partnership aims to make it easier for families to get basic needs.

"Mental health, medical, dental services, it could be expanded learning--extra opportunities kids might not have like after-school programs," said Amy Kallioinen.

Howe Community Resource Center and United way will assist the school in tackling the root of learning and behavioral issues, to better prepare students for high school and beyond.

"The new commitment is really to wrap around Howe school again and provide comprehensive services to them," said Amanda Johnson, The Howe Resource Center executive director. One new concept is offering extracurricular activities at lunch.

"They're looking for extended learning opportunities within the school day because we know that it's often hard for parents to come back to after-school activities," said Johnson.

Howe Community School's goal is to have "10 thousand people on the path to stability in 10 years," but they say immediate effects will be noticeable too.

"Not only do the kids graduate and find careers and college, but the families also improve their family well-being as well," said Johnson.

Howe Community School is the flagship project. Green Bay Area Public Schools say it hopes to adopt the same layout in other schools as well. 

Green Bay district leaders point to districts in Baltimore, Chicago, and Ohio as having success with the community school model.