OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - Oshkosh officials are trying to figure out what to do with up to $1 million in federal money.

The Pentagon said Oshkosh qualifies for at least three-quarter million, in the wake of layoffs to least 950 people this year at the Oshkosh Corporation.

The layoffs were caused by a 30 percent drop in the military vehicles made by Oshkosh, due mainly to the near-ending of the Iraq-Afghanistan war.

City Manager Mark Rohloff tells the Oshkosh Northwestern he had no idea the area qualified for such federal aid until the military contacted him about it last month. The purpose is to get communities moving again, after they lose at least one-percent of their total workforce to defense cuts.

The funds will be spread out over several years.

The East Central Regional Planning Commission is trying to get ideas on how best to use the money. Among the possible recipients are Fox Valley Technical College, the Oshkosh industrial development group, and municipal governments. 

ALLOUEZ, WI (WTAQ) - The investigation into the cause of a massive Allouez apartment fire is picking up steam Monday.

"We have a team of investigators taking a second look at the building and then start dismantling the building piece by piece with heavy equipment," says Green Bay Metro Fire Department Lt. Nick Craig. "The hope here today is to get into the basement, they believe the fire did start in the basement and they will examine every piece of equipment that's down there and any potential cause of fire."

Craig says they will focus on the area near the chimney, but it may move to other heavily-burned parts of the building.

It could take up to a few days to go through the wreckage and try to positively identify the cause, as between 30 and 35 people look on.

"Everyone from fire investigators to legal representatives, insurance companies, anyone who has touched the building," said Craig.

At the end of this step, Craig says they could be back where they started.

"Unfortunately we could still be at that state of we don't know for sure what caused it," said Craig. "And if we don't know without a doubt what caused this fire, and the event that led up to it, we have to put it down as undetermined."

The fire back on May 23 caused more than $3 million in damage and put over 100 people out of a home.

GREENVILLE, WI (WTAQ) - A customer service company plans to add 125 jobs in Greenville.

Convergys offers customer service functions for other businesses – along with technical and sales support.

Sales account managers are among the new jobs that are being added.

KEWAUNEE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) - An investigation continues into a highway crash that killed a 20-year-old Kewaunee woman.

Tiffany Drouse died at the scene. Kewaunee County authorities said a pickup truck was towing two farm wagons when it stopped a stop sign, then collided with a car coming from the right.

Drouse was driving the car, and witnesses said she was speeding and drinking just before the crash.

Her female passenger was taken to a Green Bay hospital with serious injuries.

The driver of the pickup truck was not hurt. 

NEW LONDON, WI (WTAQ) - The National Weather Service has confirmed a sixth tornado from last Tuesday night’s storms.

The new tornado was another EF-1 and was on the ground about five miles southwest of New London and ended about one mile south of Hortonville.

The NWS says there were two reported injuries that occurred at Huckleberry Campground, where camping trailers were blown over. About 100 trees were damaged. Peak winds were between 90 to 95 mph.  

Five tornadoes struck in the Fox Valley area, including one EF-2.  An EF-1 was on the ground for a short time near the Pilsen area along the Brown and Kewaunee County line.

New storm damage assessments for Outagamie County came out Monday.  They include around $25 million in private property damage and another $6 million in public property damage. 

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson says the damage estimates from last week's tornadoes and storms have jumped to a combined $31 million.

According to Nelson, private residences and businesses have suffered $25 million in damage, while county-owned property damage comes in at $6 million.

Nelson says that number is significant because the threshold for FEMA disaster assistance is $7.9 million in municipal damage.

So far, several towns and villages in the county have yet to report damage totals and Nelson expects that number to climb.

According to FOX 11, Nelson says they're awaiting word from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on whether the National Guard will be mobilized to help with cleanup and recovery efforts.

One of the hardest hit areas is Hortonville. Village leaders will hold a community meeting at 5 p.m. at the high school to update the cleanup efforts there. 

OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ) - A woman from Oshkosh will spend two years in prison after being convicted in a fatal drunk driving crash that killed a pedestrian.

On Monday, 46-year-old Tina Trepanier was also ordered by a Winnebago County judge to also spend three years on supervision.

Authorities say Trepanier was drunk when she struck Gina Michelin at Eighth Avenue and Ohio Street in Oshkosh last September.

According to witnesses, a second vehicle hit Michelin after the first crash. But police have been unable to locate that second vehicle.

DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) - Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation say they will have a full overnight closure for northbound Highway 41 under the Scheuring Road overpass, along with the southbound 41 off-ramp to Scheuring Road from 8 p.m. Tuesday, August 13th to 5 a.m. Wednesday, August 14.

According to the Wisconsin DOT:Detour:

• Northbound US 41 traffic will be diverted up and down the ramps of the Scheuring Road interchange.
• Southbound US 41 traffic wanting to exit to Scheuring Road can exit at Main Street and take the frontage road to Scheuring.

Last September, a truck that exceeded Scheuring Road bridge clearance limits struck the underside of the bridge, damaging four girders that support the bridge surface and need to be repaired.

The DOT is replacing three of the girders and applying a protective surface coat to the fourth, along with repairs to the bridge deck and parapets.  

The repair is expected to be complete by mid-October.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A full overnight closure for the northbound Highway 41 off-ramp to Highway 29 in the Green Bay area has been announced by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Officials say the closure will be from Tuesday, August 13 at 7 p.m. through Wednesday, August 14 at 6 a.m. to set tub girders.

According to the DOT, the following detours will be in place:

• Northbound US 41 traffic wanting to exit at WIS 29 will be detoured to exit at Mason Street
• Eastbound WIS 29 traffic will take Mason Street east to Military Avenue and follow Military Avenue north to eastbound WIS 29
• Westbound WIS 29 traffic will take Mason Street west to Packerland Drive and follow Packerland Drive north to westbound WIS 29

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - Formal charges have been filed against a Green Bay man accused of causing a crash with a Green Bay police officer.

For the first time, 25-year-old Ryan Rivard appeared in Brown County Court on multiple alcohol-related charges.     

That includes his fourth OWI in five years and injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle. 

According to the criminal complaint, Officer Tracy Liska was pulling out of the Kwik Trip parking lot on Lombardi Avenue on Sunday, August 4, when her squad car was hit by a Cadillac driving at a high rate of speed.

Witnesses told police that Rivard was driving between 70 and 90 miles per hour.

FOX 11 reports that according to the complaint, Liska was released from the hospital Sunday. The report says she suffered a number of injuries including a broken collar bone, a broken rib and punctured lung. 

Rivard's bond was set at $10,000 cash and he's due back in court August 22. 

TOWN OF ONEIDA, WI (WTAQ) - Two teens have now been charged in connection with the shooting death of a Town of Oneida man over the weekend. 

24-year-old Kamewan Salzman was shot during a fight outside the Benderz bar in Oneida around closing time. He later died at the hospital. 

18-year-old Alejandro Silva is charged with first-degree intentional homicide. 

Silva allegedly gave the gun used in the incident to 17-year-old Benjamin Evans, who was charged with aiding a felon and possession of a firearm. 

Outagamie County District Attorney Carrie Schneider told Fox 11 that there is still no clear motive in this case.

"There isn't anything that we've been able to determine that's specifically clear cut at this point other than just alcohol and other factors coming into play, like the use of a firearm," said Schneider.

Silva's bail is set at $200,000 cash. Evans' is $25,000.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The Neville Public Museum is asking Brown County for $100,000 in seed money to begin a master plan for the museum. 

The request is to use the county’s excess reserves in the general fund.

Neville Executive Director Rolf Johnson says their two big goals are to attract more visitors and bring more private donors to the table. It will all be part of a new master plan for the museum’s future.  

“This will help transform and re-imagine the Neville Museum as we get ready to enter out second century of service,” Johnson said.

Come 2015, the Neville will be celebrating its centennial anniversary. 

Some ideas for the museum include incorporating more technology to have a more engaging experience, adding more versatile space for larger events, update permanent exhibits, and to get the museum on a national stage. 

“Great cities have one thing in common, they have great musuems" Johnson said, "We have a wonderful museum, but we still have a long way to go to really help the community in the way we would like to.” 

LEDGEVIEW, WI (WTAQ) - Two people are hurt after falling over a cliff at the Fonferek Glen Park in Ledgeview.

Witnesses tell authorities an 18-year-old man was trying to get a hat that had fallen over the cliff. That man lost his balance, and fell about 20 feet. He suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Authorities say a 34-year-old woman ran for help, but she ended up falling 40 feet down the cliff. She was critically injured.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - A former firefighter has been convicted of burning three more buildings, bringing his total number of arsons to six.

28-year-old Drew Christensen of Suring pleaded no contest Monday to a pair of arson charges in Oconto County, plus one Marinette County charge of arson with the intent to defraud.

In May, Christensen struck a plea deal in federal court that convicted him of starting fires at the Klondike Community Church, the Jaded Bar in Suring, and the Everbreeze Resort in Mountain, all between 2009 and 2011.

Christensen is scheduled to be sentenced in November for all of his state and federal convictions.

First, Federal Judge William Griesbach wants to find out how much Christensen takes part in helping prosecute two alleged co-conspirators in his federal cases.

37-year-old Jessica Miller and 32-year-old Donald Halbur, both of Crivitz, are scheduled for federal court trials in early November. They and Christensen were accused of burning down Miller’s home so he could get insurance money.

Ten years of prison have been recommended in Christensen’s federal case. It’s not known if additional prison time would be sought for his state convictions.

Christensen had spent six years on the Brazeau Fire Department. He was released in 2011 for missing department meetings due to his job. 

ALLOUEZ, WI (WTAQ) - Investigators have concluded their dig into the cause of a 74-unit Allouez apartment fire. 

Officials with the Green Bay Metro Fire Department tell WTAQ that investigators, insurance officials and others have finished their closer look into what may have caused the Hilltop Place Apartment fire. 

It's taken months to get all stakeholders on board with entering the property to further explore an area of interest that could have been the cause of the fire.

Nothing new was discovered over the past two days at the site, and an official ruling from the State Fire Marshal's Office will be issued in the coming days.

The blaze back on May 23rd caused over $3 million in damage and left more than 100 people out of their homes.

APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) - Financial assistance from the federal government will not be an option for Outagamie County’s storm clean-up efforts. 

Five tornados hit the Fox Valley area and another in far western Brown County.  

Tornado and storm damage from last Tuesday’s storm is estimated to be around $31 million in Outagamie County. 

Damages to public infrastructure totaled more than $6 million. However, to qualify for FEMA assistance, that number needs to be closer to $8 million. 

County Executive Tom Nelson told Gannet Wisconsin Media the county doesn’t plan to apply for the federal aid because it will not meet the threshold for FEMA assistance.

The county is looking at getting assistance from the Wisconsin Disaster Fund and other means like Community Developer Block Grants. 

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The parking lot of Lambeau Field played host to a different kind of training ground.

It was local law enforcement officials teaching kids about bicycle safety, during the Bike Safety Rodeo. It was hosted by the Green Bay Packers, Bellin Health and the Center for Childhood Safety.

The first 500 kids who attended the event got fitted with a free bicycle helmet.

"When the kids are on those bikes and they're out in the community, have those helmets on, because then if an accident does happen, the risk of injury lessens by a dramatic percentage," says De Pere Police Officer Jedd Bradley.

Children had the chance to ride their bikes through a safety course provided by the De Pere and Green Bay Police Departments. 

"We're teaching the kids hand and eye coordination, really drive home that they need to have both hands on the wheel," says Bradley. "And they need to have their heads up and eyes in front watching because they need to be defensive drivers."

Bradley adds that drivers of motor vehicles need to be on the lookout for bikes, both in your neighborhood and near schools when classes start up in just a few weeks.

GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The Wisconsin Department of Justice is giving the Green Bay Police Department a $25,000 grant to help fight heroin abuse across Brown County.

The Green Bay P.D. is the first local law enforcement agency of four which will earn the grants through an application process, after sending the DOJ a plan to deal with this growing issue.

"Our initiative is collaboration between public agencies, private businesses and entities to develop and implement comprehensive community responses to the problem associated with opiate and heroin abuse," says Green Bay Police Chief Tom Molitor. "We will use the framework on a four-pillar model, prevention, treatment, enforcement and reduction of harm."

With resources and representatives from each of the “four pillars”, the department has created an action plan to address heroin abuse and its impact, and is hiring a project coordinator to spearhead its implementation and ensure its success.

For the last several years, heroin trafficking and heroin use have risen dramatically throughout Wisconsin. 

According to the DOJ, 22 counties in 2005 submitted heroin cases to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab.  By 2011, the number of counties submitting heroin cases increased to 37.  In 2012, 56 counties – representing every part of Wisconsin -- were making heroin submissions to the lab.

“I’m proud to stand with the people of Green Bay as they proactively confront heroin abuse. This grant is the first of several that will be awarded throughout the state," says Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. "Through these grants, and a public information campaign to be launched in the fall, the Department of Justice is committed to reducing heroin use and heroin deaths in Green Bay and every other community in Wisconsin.” 

BUSINESS IMPACT

Northeast Wisconsin businesses are concerned about the rise in heroin abuse and addiction.

"We have a very vibrant workforce, a growing workforce and heroin addiction and prescription drug abuse works against us," says Marinette Marine Corporation Vice President of Human Resources Steve Baue. "What addiction means is a loss of productivity, absenteeism and most importantly, we have unsafe employees who are putting others at risk."

Baue says that the "Heroin Response Initiative" will help businesses deal with addiction for employees and their families. It'll allow them access to programs in order to avoid firing someone who fails a drug test.

"There isn't an employer I have spoken to that has not had to deal with addiction one way or another," says Baue. "Sometimes a small employer doesn't have the resources the larger employers do, so part of this initiative is to arm them with the tools, give them the techniques to have those conversations with employees."

Baue reiterates their goal, as being part of the overall community, is to stop this epidemic and prevent it from happening.

PLOVER, WI (WTAQ) - A 32-year-old Plover man who was arrested for killing his neighbor was ordered to be held in jail on a $1 million cash bond Tuesday. 

Jose Luis Flores Aca is being held in Portage County for allegedly strangling to death 36 year-old Jamie Koch. 

Her body was found in an abandoned car in a Town of Harrison farm field. 

Investigators believe Flores Aca entered Koch’s Chestnut Arms Apartment unit on August 7^th, sexually assaulted her and then killed her.  He then placed Koch’s body in an abandoned car and lit it on fire. 

The $1 million bond was requested because of the seriousness of the crime, and that Flores Aca is not a citizen of the United States. He is a Mexican citizen here on permanent legal status. 

Investigators are still gathering evidence for a criminal complaint which should be ready by Flores Aca’s next court appearance scheduled for September 3^rd. 

MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ) - Wisconsin had one of only three national second-prize winners Tuesday night in the Mega Millions’ drawing.

A ticket sold in Marinette won $250,000, as did players in neighboring Michigan and Ohio. They matched all five regular numbers, but not the Mega Ball. The numbers were 2, 31, 32, 37, and 41. The Mega Ball was 40, and the Megaplier was 4.

Nobody won the jackpot, so it goes up to $43 million for the next drawing on Friday night.

In Powerball, the jackpot for Wednesday night stands at $50 million.