Green Bay News

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Thursday condemned those who seek to use religion as a rationale for carrying out violence around the world. “No god condones terror,” he said.

“We are summoned to push back against those who would distort our religion for their nihilistic ends,” Obama said at the National Prayer Breakfast.

He singled out the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, calling the militants a “death cult,” as well as those responsible for last month’s attacks in Paris and deadly assault on a school in Pakistan.

Obama offered a special welcome to a “good friend,” the Dalai Lama, seated at a table in front of the dais among the audience of 3,600. Earlier Obama, from the head table, pressed his hands together in a prayer-like position and bowed his head toward the Dalai Lama, then gave him a wave and a broad smile.

It was the first time the president and the Tibetan Buddhist leader attended the same public event.

China objects to foreign leaders meeting with the Dalai Lama because of his quest for greater Tibetan autonomy from Beijing. Obama’s three previous meetings with the Dalai Lama have been private because of the sensitivity of the situation.

But in a show of White House support for the Dalai Lama, he sat at a table with Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. Actor Richard Gere, a friend and follower of the Dalai Lama, was nearby. Outside, hundreds of demonstrators banged drums and waved Tibetan flags under heavy police presence.

The Dalai Lama fled to exile in India after a failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. Obama called him “a powerful example of what it means to practice compassion and who inspires us to speak up for the freedom and dignity of all human beings.”

The president joked that it’s a rare event that can bring together the Dalai Lama and NASCAR, after retired driver and commentator Darrell Waltrip gave the keynote address. Waltrip told how he had accepted Jesus Christ as his savior after a 1993 crash left him wondering what would happen if he died.

“If you’ve never gotten on your knees and asked him to forgive you of your sins, you’re just a pretty good guy or a pretty good gal? You’re going to go to hell,” Waltrip said.

Obama had a more nondenominational message for the audience that also included prominent leaders of non-Christian faiths. The president said that while religion is a source for good around the world, people of all faiths have been willing to “hijack religion for their own murderous ends.”

“Unless we get on our high horse and think that this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ,” Obama said. “In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.”

“So it is not unique to one group or one religion,” Obama said. “There is a tendency in us, a simple tendency that can pervert and distort our faith.”

Obama called for all people of faiths to show humility about their beliefs and reject the idea that “God speaks only to us and doesn’t speak to others.”

Jordan’s King Abdullah II canceled plans to attend the breakfast after Islamic State militants released a video this week showing a captured Jordanian pilot being burned to death.

In his place, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., offered prayers for Jordan and read the New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan who saved a stranger who had been beaten and left for dead.

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) – A 911 recording was released Thursday in which a shaken witness reported seeing two men run over in Compton after a fight – an incident that led to murder and other charges against former rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight.

The brief recording, supplied to The Associated Press by the Compton city clerk, was made on Jan. 29 after Knight’s pickup truck struck the men in the parking lot of a burger stand and sped off.

“The car ran over two guys, there was fighting and then he just pulled back and pulled forward and run ‘em over,” a woman told the emergency dispatcher in a shaken voice. “Two guys are laying down.”

“We tried to follow the truck and we took pictures,” she added.

Knight surrendered the next morning. He is accused of killing his friend, Terry Carter, 55, and trying to kill Cle “Bone” Sloan, 51.

Michael R. Shapiro, an attorney who represents Sloan, has said his client has a mangled left foot and some neurological issues.

Knight, 49, complained of chest pains Tuesday, about an hour after he pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run charges.

He was released from a hospital Wednesday and again taken into custody.

Prosecutors contend that Knight deliberately struck the men shortly after another confrontation in a different part of the city where filming was underway for a promotional video for the movie “Straight Outta Compton,” about the rise of the rap group N.W.A.

Knight’s former attorney, James Blatt, has said Knight was attacked by four people – including Sloan – as he pulled into the burger stand parking lot after Carter asked him to come for a meeting. Knight hit the gas as he fled in fear, Blatt said.

Knight’s current attorney, David Kenner, said his client is remorseful about Carter’s death but that does not mean he’s guilty of the crimes.

Knight is scheduled to appear for a hearing Monday to determine whether he can be released on bail or must stay in custody. He could face life in prison if convicted.

Knight founded Death Row Records, a label that helped solidify West Coast rap and attracted the likes of ex-N.W.A. member Dr. Dre, Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.

The hip-hop figure was at the center of one of the most notorious rap conflicts of the 1990s, pitting Shakur against Biggie Smalls in an East Coast-West Coast rivalry.

Knight was sent to prison for nearly five years for badly beating a rival with Shakur at a Las Vegas hotel, just hours before Shakur was fatally shot while riding in Knight’s car in 1996.

Knight has survived two shootings, the latest last year when he was shot six times at a West Hollywood nightclub.

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Associated Press writer Christopher Weber contributed to this article.

GREEN BAY – Nearly two years after visions of a Hotel Northland re-birth were borne, three long-awaited financial pieces to the project appear to be settling into place.

With costs for renovating the 90-year-old historic structure now floating at about $44 million, the financial means for restoring the large downtown structure to a boutique, 160-room hotel have been a priority for the developer, Frantz Community Investors.

“The numbers don’t add up without the proper incentives in place and the tax credits are a big part of that,” said Steve Frantz, the Iowa-based company’s chief financial officer.

Frantz says the state and federal historic tax preservation credits make up about one-quarter of the project, which will gut, restore and renovate the imposing brick and mortar building at 304 N. Adams St. City tax reimbursements, a state grant, cash, private and federal loans make up the rest.

Frantz and the building’s current management team gave FOX 11 a brief tour of what some of the building, and rooms look like – for now.

A Hotel Northland room, number 803, is seen in this photo taken on Feb. 5, 2015. (WLUK/Bill Miston)

“There’s going to be about 60 suites in the property, overall,” said Frantz.

But no work is currently being done on the project. So what’s been the hold up? Frantz says it’s mostly been the federal government, as historic tax credits are involved.

“There’s been a lot of back and forth just clarifying, they ask us a question, is that going to be the restored tile, or is it restorable?” said Frantz, “Then we respond back.”

That means anything from removing of walls, to the original tile floors and the possible rugs that might cover them.

“The crystal ballroom is in relatively good shape, compared to its original condition,” said Frantz as we stood in the old hotel’s crystal ballroom, “But of course there are changes like this parquet flooring was put over the existing tiles, so we’ll be removing this.”

Keep in mind, the building is eight stories tall.

A chandelier in Hotel Northland’s crystal ballroom is seen from the third floor in this photo taken on Feb. 5, 2015. (WLUK/Bill Miston)

“So a 168,000-square-feet of things to communicate with the federal government about?” I asked of Frantz about the amount of work involved with the National Park Service’s preservation officers.

“Precisely,” he replied. “But thankfully, we’ve cleared that very important step and that just allows us to advance the ball with finishing the financing and moving on to demolition and construction.”

Frantz says a mortgage term sheet with a local bank has been signed. This after the National Park Service says it approved the tax credits late last month.

To receive tax credits, developers must show projects will have a positive impact on communities. Frantz says the hotel will employ 160 people, full time and will have a yearly economic impact of $25 million.

More federal money waiting in the wings

As far as the $4.7 million HUD loan submitted last fall, the city says it received regulatory approval from the federal government in early January.

“Meaning that our application meets HUD requirements,” said Kim Flom, the city’s planning and community development director.

Flom says, once completed, the hotel will have an estimated assessed value of about $12 million. According to online records, the land and building are worth a little more than $3 million.
The city hopes to have a final decision on the HUD loan in the next week.

“It’s currently in the underwriting phase, which means HUD is looking at the financial strength of the developer to ensure they can pay back this loan.

Frantz says the hope, now, is to close on the building in within the next several weeks, if everything goes according to plan. Construction would then start shortly thereafter. The plan is then to have the public spaces of the hotel open by the NFL season.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A 9-year-old Indianapolis girl wounded by gunfire as she was heading off to her weekly Girl Scouts meeting to pick up cookies she planned to sell door-to-door is now racking up sales in an online cookie drive intended to send her troop on a trip.

Sinai Miller was standing outside her family’s apartment Tuesday afternoon, eager to get to its nearby clubhouse to pick up her boxes of cookies, when gunshots rang out. Her mother, 29-year-old Shanita Miller, raced outside and found blood gushing from her eldest daughter’s left calf.

Doctors treated her leg wound and sent her home. On Thursday, she sat teary-eyed and wordless on a living room couch, swaddled in a pink and purple heart-covered blanket, her left leg propped up on a pillow.

While Sinai is on the mend, her mother said the girl is traumatized, in pain and crushed that her plans for selling cookies door-to-door for the second year in a row have been sidetracked.

“She woke up early that morning, right before she went to school, and said,’Mommy, today’s Girl Scouts. We’re getting our cookies today!’ And I told her, ‘Wonderful, but we’ll do that this afternoon,'” Miller said.

Although Sinai won’t be able to go door-to-door anytime soon, she’s still selling cookies. An aunt has promised to buy 20 boxes from her, and Sinai’s teacher at Fox Hill Elementary has also promised to buy some. Also, Girls Scouts of Central Indiana has launched an online cookie drive called “Cookies for Sinai” that spokeswoman Deana Potterf said has generated significant sales.

“Sinai’s never been outside of Indianapolis, and so she’s really excited about maybe being able to take her whole troop of about 15 Girl Scouts somewhere, on a trip,” Potterf said.

Police are investigating the shooting but have no suspects and nothing new to report since Tuesday, Sgt. Kendale Adams said Thursday. According to a police report, the shots may have been fired from a sport-utility vehicle, sending bullets toward Sinai and her 8-year-old sister, Erica, as they stood on their front porch, waiting for their mom to bundle up another sibling for the trip to the Scouts meeting.

Shanita Miller’s boyfriend, 31-year-old Mark Chander, said he and his family have no idea who would target them.

“When (Sinai) got home from the hospital, she asked me, ‘Why did this happen to me? Did I do something wrong?’ I didn’t have answer for her because she didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.

“She needs all the hugs, all the kisses, all the sweet names that you can say to her – and all the comfort,” he said. “Whoever did this needs to come forward. They hit an innocent child and they should feel some guilt.”

GREEN BAY – Green Bay’s downtown will soon see the opening of a business with a look that includes pieces from the past.

Near the corner of Adams and Walnut Streets in downtown Green Bay, a leadership development company is preparing to open its doors.

“We feel that we found a treasure,” said Fred Johnson, Initiative One founder and CEO.

Johnson is a self-described history buff. So he was delighted when he found pieces of a former prominent Appleton hotel’s facade.

Inside the Green Bay project, workers are installing the two copper walls which measure 18 feet tall by 16 feet wide.

“We brought these into the building they were lifted off of a truck and when we rolled them into the building about a month ago,” explained Johnson.

There is no question the pieces of architecture come from the Sherman House Hotel built in 1886, which was later renamed the Conway Hotel.

The historical windows have been around for awhile. However, just how long is unclear. We asked the Outagamie County Historical Society.

“In 1924 there was a six story addition built, and it was added 60 rooms to the hotel and that is the addition that the window for this building comes from,” said Emily Rock with the historical society.

That would make the facade 90 years old.

However, Johnson says his research shows his treasure is part of the original hotel, which would put the window pieces at 130 years old.

Regardless of the date, the company’s spirit is in preserving history.

“As you can see we’re putting a brick structure around the facades because we wanted to emulate what this exterior looked like in 1886,” Johnson explained.

Coppersmiths say it’s exciting to take on a project from a long ago era.

“The craftsmanship back then was amazing, we’re losing that art and we’re trying to bring it back in historical values,” said Terry Whitefield, owner of Whitefield Roofing.

Green Bay’s mayor says Initiative One’s initiative helps keep the city competitive,”

“If you have quality buildings that have unique features to it with the quality services that are surrounded by other amenities I think that can really make for an entertaining and high energy environment,” said Jim Schmitt.

The Howard-based company plans to move in March 10th. Initiative One says its first leadership event is scheduled for April.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – An advocate of open information sounded an alarm Thursday over a provision in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal that could shield university research from public view.

It’s the third attempt in recent years at blocking public access to research before publication. Previous efforts have failed at the Capitol.

“This is a bad idea on the rebound,” said Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. “The public is paying for this research and it has a right to know about it.”

Current law allows state universities, like any state or local public authority, to deny access to records if they can make the case that the harm from release outweighs the presumption that the public is entitled to access. Walker’s proposal would allow those involved in university research on a commercial, scientific or technical subject to withhold information about their projects until they are published or patented.

Lueders said researchers might be more likely to break rules if they were allowed to operate privately.

“If there are not abuses occurring in university research in Wisconsin now, there will be if this is allowed to pass,” Lueders said. “People who operate under secrecy are more prone to bend the rules.”

Marsha Mailick, a spokeswoman for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Thursday that more than 20 states currently protect some public university research from public access. She said the exemption would allow the university to operate on “a more level playing field” with those states. Mailick said the provision could also benefit Wisconsin researchers as they compete for funding.

“We’re not trying to hide anything with this provision,” Mailick said. “It gives us time to have our ideas pursued.”

Walker’s spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Representatives at UW-Madison first asked the state’s Joint Finance Committee in 2013 to add language to the state budget that would keep university research out of view. They said the university spends significant time and effort responding to requests. Mailick said the university has two full-time employees to field requests. The committee denied the University’s request for exemption at that time.

Lawmakers again took up the issue in 2014. Rep. Mike Kuglitsch, R-New Berlin, introduced a bill that would have provided a blanket exemption for university research. Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, objected to the exemption and killed the bill.

Nass said in a statement Thursday that he still opposed an exemption because the university could not provide appropriate justification for it.

Lueders said he finds the past reaction encouraging about how lawmakers might respond to Walker’s new suggested provision.

Walker’s budget proposal is not final. Lawmakers will work on it and will submit a final version this summer.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Just days before the Jordanian pilot was savagely murdered, a Japanese freelance journalist was beheaded by ISIS members.

This recent atrocity last weekend was committed against those who are usually armed only with a laptop or camera.

“In the war against radical Islam, journalists are sometimes extorted and their lives are extorted and they’re used as principles in order to make money from the organization,” said Richard Vatz, professor of communication at Towson University.

Extreme Jihadists are using these gruesome videos to send a clear communique to the west: that if you’re a westerner fighting a battle or possibly just covering it, you are a very inciting target.

“I think the public beheadings are ISIS’s way of saying to the President Mr. Obama, you do not intimidate us,” Vatz said.

Bridgette Gabriel, Act for America, says, “They want Islam ruling over all the world because they are driven by supremest ideology.”

Post 9/11, westerners have witnessed the gruesome deaths of journalists Daniel Pearl, James Foley, Steve Sotloff and other reporters at the hands of extreme Jihadists.

In January, a dozen people were murdered in Paris in response to their magazines controversial Muhammad cartoons.

ISIS terrorists are taking the battle for freedom of the press to the heart of western cities and changing the worldwide landscape for the Fourth Estate.

Consequently, they really can not report exactly what they want to report because there’s too much danger and it’s understandable.

For some perspective, according to the Freedom Forum:

• 11 journalists died covering World War I
• 69 were killed during World War II
• 62 died in the jungles of Vietnam

But according to the latest numbers from The Committee to Protect Journalists, 247 were deliberately hunted down and murdered since 1995 by terrorists or those associated with them. Seven of those were beheaded on video by ISIS in the last 18 months alone.

Retired Admiral James “Ace” Lyons, U.S. Navy, said, “They are the Fourth Estate, that’s what keeps everything about, that’s how you keep the American pubic informed.”

It’s a chilling reminder that in the modern day coverage of global conflict, the so-called “rules of engagement” have clearly darkened.

Jeff Barnd will moderate a National Town Hall, round-table discussion on Monday, Feb. 9 at 6:00 p.m. You can watch this event on our website at that time.

 

 

SAN DIEGO — In his only his second tournament of the year, Tiger Woods has widthdrawn from the Farmers Insurance Open because of an apparent back injury.

Before putting on the 12th hole — the par-3 third on the North Course at Torrey Pines — Woods had caddie Joe LaCava pick up the ball. He was 2 over through 11 holes Thursday.

Woods has said in his last two events at Isleworth in December and the Phoenix Open last week that his health was good. He had back surgery at the end of March and took four months off at the end of the year.

Woods shot a career-high 82 in the second round of the Phoenix Open and missed the cut by 12 shots.

A young girl is making a difference, in the fight against diabetes.

A lot of people have heard of the disease, but aren’t familiar with the daily challenges.

When you see Cara Gabriel glide across the ice, her moves look effortless and beautiful. But, like a spin, sometimes Cara’s life can feel like it’s twirling around in circles. When she was 11 years old, she got the news that she had type one diabetes.

“With sports and being a teenager, it’s really hard sometimes. My pancreas doesn’t work. So I need to use my pump, or you can use injections, to get insulin. And you need insulin to live, and that’s what your pancreas does,” said Cara Gabriel, Howard.

Every day, before she eats, the Bay Port High school sophomore has to test her blood sugar level. If her numbers are high, she needs insulin. If they’re low, she needs sugar.

To keep her levels in check, she uses this pump, that is attached to her body near her stomach. It delivers the insulin that her body doesn’t make.

“As a parent, it can be challenging at times,” said Candace Gabriel, Cara’s mother.

Cara’s mom says her daughter has to check her levels four to six times a day. Every day. And there are nights, when Cara’s levels need to be checked every hour.

“Diabetes doesn’t take a vacation. It’s 24-7, around the clock, every single day. For her and other kids to just live a normal life, would be great,” said Candace.

That’s what the 15-year-old is trying to do. Cara doesn’t let her disease stop her from doing what she loves, which is skating. But it does present some challenges during training and competitions.

“It plays a role into their training. And they have to keep monitoring it and keeping everything in check. And mentally, they have to be on top of their game, just to keep everything in line,” said Amy Brolsma, Cara’s figure skating coach.

“That’s the tough part that a lot of people don’t understand. It’s like she in her mind is ready to go, and positive and ready to tackle everything. But her body won’t let her,” said Candace.

However, just like with skating, Cara makes managing her diabetes look easier than it is.

“You have to manage your time, but it’s just one extra thing you have to think about,” said Cara.

She’s hoping that one day soon she won’t have to think about it. Because someone has found a cure.

This weekend there is a fundraising event for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. FOX 11 is a proud sponsor.
For more information on the event, click here.

PULASKI — It appears De Pere and Sheboygan North have control of the top of Fox River Classic Conference in girls basketball but below those two powers there’s a battle for third place.

OK, third place doesn’t get you a trophy, but it’s better than anything lower.

Tuesday, Pulaski and surging Notre Dame met with ideas on finishing in third place but the Red Raiders put the Tritons in their place early and often. Pulaski opened a 27-14 halftime lead and coasted to a 56-41 win, moving within one-half game of Bay Port for third place in the conference.

“We just came out and we were able to get stops on the defensive end and we were able to score on offense,” Pulaski coach Jeff Charney said. “We were able to limit them to one or two opportunities. We were able to run our offense.”

Pulaski (13-5, 8-4) beat Notre Dame, 41-24, earlier in the season but the Tritons (9-8, 7-4) entered Tuesday winning six of seven games with the only loss coming to De Pere (50-45). Notre Dame’s run moved into the race for third but Pulaski was ready for an improved Notre Dame team.

“We pretty much threw that game out the window,” Charney said of the teams’ first meeting. “They’ve been playing real well. They played De Pere to a five-point game, they just beat Manitowoc. In the first half, that was about we have played all year defensively.”

Pulaski is three games behind De Pere and North in the conference, so third place is the target. The Red Raiders have four games left, including one at Bay Port (Feb. 17).

Tuesday, Pulaski showed it will be a contender for Bay Port’s spot.

“It is a very good win,” Charney said. “We think about how the calendar turns to February and the intensity in games go up. You hope you can take a win like this and build off it.”

FRCC Standings
De Pere………….10-1
Sheboygan North……9-1
Bay Port………….8-3
Pulaski…………..8-4
Notre Dame………..7-4
Green Bay Southwest..7-4
Manitowoc…………6-6
Green Bay Preble…..5-6
Sheboygan South……4-8
Ashwaubenon……….3-9
Green Bay East…….1-11
Green Bay West…….0-11

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

CLEVELAND, OH – The owner of a De Pere company that supplied thousands of video slot machines to bars, restaurants and other businesses throughout Ohio, entered a guilty plea for distributing gambling machines in a state where it is illegal.

Erin Nelson of 8 Line Supply pled guilty to eight counts, including one count of attempted money laundering, two counts of possessing criminal tool and five misdemeanor counts of gambling.

Prosecutors say the company had been distributing the machines since 2008 without telling business owners the machines were illegal in Ohio.

The company was charged following a series of raids and investigations aided by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Sentencing has been set for March 12.

NEW YORK (AP) – Struggling electronics retailer RadioShack has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and says it will sell up to 2,400 stores.

The Fort Worth, Texas company has suffered from years of losses.

RadioShack Corp. introduced the first mass-market personal computer and used to be the go-to stop for consumers’ home electronics needs. But it struggled as shoppers increasingly shifted to making purchases online and growth in its wireless business slowed.

The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of its shares on Monday and sought to delist it.

RadioShack had warned of a possible bankruptcy in September, but received rescue financing that kept it afloat. Still, its CEO recently cautioned the chain might not be able to find a long-term plan to stay in business.

NEW YORK (AP) — Amid concerns that Harper Lee was not involved in the decision to publish a second novel, HarperCollins issued a statement relayed by her attorney in which the author says she is “happy as hell” about the response to her upcoming book, “Go Set a Watchman.”

In the statement given to the publisher by Lee’s attorney, Tonja Carter, the author says “she is alive and kicking and happy as hell with the reactions of ‘Watchman.'” Lee stunned the world this week by agreeing to the release of her first book since the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” came out in 1960. But ecstasy has been tempered by speculation about her condition. Lee, 88, has been in poor health in recent years.

The publisher has acknowledged that they haven’t dealt directly with Lee on the new book, but communicated with her through Carter and literary agent Andrew Nurnberg.

“Watchman,” to be published in July, already is No. 1 on Amazon.com.

OSHKOSH – A former’s teacher’s aide pleaded guilty Friday to charges she had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy.

No sentencing date has been set for Lindsey Quednow, according to a Winnebago County court official.

Quednow pleaded guilty to repeated sexual assault of the same child, and to child enticement. Three other counts were dimissed.

Prosecutors say Quednow met the boy in 2012 at Merrill Middle School, where she worked. Both the boy and Quednow told investigators their relationship turned sexual last year. The criminal complaint alleges that, after starting to work together at an Oshkosh restaurant, they sent naked photos of themselves to each other. The complaint says Quednow and the alleged victim began having a sexual relationship in mid-July at Quednow’s home in Oshkosh and that they met at her home four or five times through the rest of the summer to have sex.

MADISON (AP) – The University of Wisconsin System regents are pushing back against Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget cuts.

The governor’s plan calls for cutting $300 million from the system while freezing tuition. In exchange, the system would be subject to less state oversight.

Regents contended during a meeting at UW-Madison on Thursday that the system has been losing the battle for state dollars for years.

Regent Charles Pruitt called Walker’s plan a toxic combination of cuts and a tuition freeze. Gerald Whitburn suggested obtaining an opinion from Attorney General Brad Schimel on the constitutionality of decoupling from state oversight. Mark Bradley urged regents to dispel what he called a misconception that that system is grossly inefficient and so huge it can absorb the cuts, drawing a round of applause.

GREEN BAY – Lambeau Field is adding some red to its green and gold color palette during the month of February to promote American Heart Month.

The Bellin Health gate will be replaced with red lighting this month as part of the Titletown Wellness Initiative to further awareness in the community on heart health and disease.

Bellin will also be offering a special screening test in February that helps measure the risk of heart disease.

“The $50 calcium screen test will go a long way toward easing people’s concerns about their heart health,” said Andrea Werner, vice president, Bellin Heart, Lung and Vascular Center. “We want members of the public to clearly understand the status of their cardiovascular health.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year about 720,000 Americans have a heart attack and around 600,000 of those people die.

For more information about the calcium screening, you can call Bellin Health at (920) 445-7373.

 

Oakland visited UW-Green Bay in a women’s basketball game Wednesday at the Kress Center.

Oakland upset the Phoenix, 70-67.

FRANKFORT, Mich. (AP) — A lucky Labrador has been rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard after falling into an icy northern Michigan channel.

The Grand Rapids Press reports that staffers at the Frankfort Coast Guard station saw the dog go into the waterway Tuesday morning between Betsie Lake and Lake Michigan.

Boatswain mate Tim Putnam and others quickly tossed on ice rescue suits and went in after the dog, which by that time was struggling to stay afloat.

Putnam says he was able to push ice away and move forward in the water. The crew used a rope and had the dog out in about 24 minutes.

Putnam described the dog as being “pretty shook up.” It was taken to an animal shelter and is expected to recover from its chilly ordeal.

WASHINGTON (AP) – As they begin to shape their prospective bids for president, a group of ambitious Republican governors is eager to seize on voters’ contempt for that most dirty of political words: “Washington.”

“As much as I like coming here, I love going home even more,” Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said during a recent speech delivered just a block from the White House.

Yet those same governors, even as they profess to loathe the nation’s capital, have become regular visitors. They come to woo veteran policy advisers, experienced operatives and savvy donors who would serve as the backbone of their nascent White House campaigns. At least four potential candidates – Walker,  Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry – have been in town in the past week alone.

“If you want to participate at the federal level, you have to be here in Washington,” said Adam Brandon, executive vice president of libertarian-leaning lobbying group FreedomWorks.

Pence’s visit started this week with a closed-door fundraiser for the Republican Governors Association and private meetings with former colleagues in Congress. He then went on to jab Washington while testifying before a House committee.

“I would say, with the deepest respect to my former colleagues, that I am persuaded, having spent 12 years in Congress and two years as a governor, that the cure for what ails this country will come as much from our nation’s state capitals as it ever will from our nation’s capital,” Pence told the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Pence was more aggressive in a brief interview, charging that Washington leaders seem “incapable of solving” major problems.

Pete Seat, an Indiana-based Republican strategist who worked in President George W. Bush’s White House, said “there’s an appetite out there for a contrast between Washington and the states.”

It’s an idea that has existed for some time, and a message that previous candidates – even those with day jobs in Washington – have used before.

Barack Obama, then a first-term senator, won in 2008 with a promise to change the nation’s politics. Then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush won in 2000 by promising to bring heartland values to Washington and turn the page on the scandals of Bill Clinton’s presidency. Then-Arkansas Gov. Clinton won his 1992 campaign with his pledge, “It’s time to change America.”

Walker is little different. His campaign-in-waiting is called “Our American Revival,” and its message to voters and donors begins, “government closest to the people is the most responsive and accountable to the people,” and scorns “federal overreach” that “infringes on our American freedoms and values.”

Yet Washington is where Walker was last week, spending Saturday night at the annual dinner of the exceptionally exclusive Alfalfa Club, an invitation-only affair for Washington’s most well-connected. His trip largely amounted to three days of job interviews – both with those he is seeking to hire, as well as for himself before deep-pocketed donors.

Case in point: Walker’s political action committee in recent days has hired the Republican National Committee’s press secretary, Washington-area polling firm the Tarrance Group and former RNC political director Rick Wiley.

Perry attacked Washington in an early television ad produced by his political action committee: “Conservative leadership is putting people back to work, and families are building their futures,” he said. “We need more of that and less of Washington.”

Perry arrived in Washington on Tuesday night and leaves Friday morning, although with only one public event on his schedule: the keynote address at the annual gala of the conservative think tank American Principles Project. The rest of the time was largely devoted to private meetings with political operatives.

Perry on Thursday named more than 80 major donors to his political action committee’s advisory board, a significant show of strength in the midst of his Washington swing. The group includes some of the biggest donors in Republican politics, a group spread across the country, but with extensive ties in the nation’s capital.

Jindal addressed the American Principles Project’s Thursday luncheon at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel, charging that Washington has expanded federal programs and that lawmakers from both parties have shifted power to Washington at the expense of states.

Railing against “government elites,” the Louisiana governor pointedly criticized Common Core education standards, adopted voluntarily by many states and loathed by conservatives.

“I have more faith in the moms than I do in any collection of bureaucrats,” Jindal said, overstating Washington’s role in the standards. “They think they know better than you. They think you’re not smart enough to educate your children.”

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – University of Wisconsin-Madison’s chancellor says Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget cuts her institution too deep.

Walker’s plan calls for cutting $300 million from the UW System over the next two years. UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank told regents on Thursday the cut will translate to a $114 million loss for school over the biennium.

She says she would have to raise out-of-state tuition until its second or third highest in the Big Ten and raise the cap on out-of-state students. She says she’s also pondering leaving open faculty positions unfilled, reducing student programs, reducing financial aid and laying off staff. She says all those moves would send the university spiraling backward.

She says the cuts are simply too big for the university. Blank got a standing ovation from the regents.