May 16, 2012

Packers rookies fall for turkey prank again

Green Bay Packers players fell for the Thanksgiving Turkey prank again. 

The players received a note in their locker after practice on Wednesday that said “You can pick up your turkey” at a local supermarket just blocks from Lambeau Field between 3:30pm and 5pm.  Veterans then hand their memo over to the nearest rookie and tell them to go get their turkey for them. 

AUDIO: Bill Scott on Packer rookies falling for prank again 3:17

Rookies then walk into the supermarket with orders to pick up anywhere between 7 to 10 turkeys for themselves and their teammates. 

The players think they’re just picking up the turkey’s and not being hit with the bill.  So there’s a few surprising moments at the cash register and they’re all caught on camera and shown on the head coach’s television show.

The prank seems to get a little earlier every year but the organizers of it don’t want word of the deal to leak out to the players from fans and media.

Packers lose 2008 2nd round pick

2008 second round draft pick, QB Brian Brohm out of Louisville, was plucked off the Green Bay Packers practice squad and signed to a 2-year deal by the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday night.

The Packers had an open roster spot after waiving WR Jake Allen earlier.  They offered Brohm the same 2-year deal that Buffalo offered, but Brohm elected to go to the Bills, where he’ll actually have a better chance to compete for the top spot in Buffalo.  Brohm knows his chances of playing in Green Bay are slim with Aaron Rodgers locked in as the teams top player for several years to come.

Tax dollars go to non-existant districts

Six Wisconsin House districts that don’t exist are listed as getting over $2 million from the federal stimulus package. The state has eight House districts. But the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity said a phantom Ninth Congressional District got stimulus money and so did the 10th, 14th, 39th, and 55th Districts. Even a district labeled double-zero was said to get stimulus cash.

Government agencies have been criticized for over-stating jobs that were claimed to be saved-or-created. Wausau House Democrat David Obey, who helped create the package as the chair of the Appropriations Committee, called the inaccuracies “outrageous.” He said the administration should work night-and-day to correct “ludicrous” mistakes. Obey said credibility counts in government, and mistakes like this undermine it.

The White House said the mistakes were caused by human errors, and they should not detract from the effort to be open about where the stimulus money is going.

Accused wife stabber fights extradition from Wisconsin

A Minnesota man who is charged with trying to kill his wife in the Twin Cities is fighting extradition from Wisconsin.  Yer Thao is charged with second-degree attempted murder for stabbing his wife in the head and leaving her for dead in their suburban Twin Cities home late Monday.

Marathon County prosecutor Ryan Wetzsteon said Thao repeatedly stabbed the woman, threw her down the stairs locking her in the basement. She escaped out a window and ran covered in blood to a neighbor’s house for help.  Meanwhile, the accused fled the scene and police arrested him en route to see some family in Wausau early Tuesday.

Prosecutors believe Thao is a flight risk. He is being held on a quarter-million dollar cash bond pending a governor’s warrant for his extradition.

The motive of the attack remains unclear.

Matt Lehman reports (MP3 :34)

Contributed by Matt Lehman-WSAU

Putting a stop to backyard dumping

Household waste could no longer be dumped on your own property, under legislation being considered at the Capitol.

Current state law allows waste produced in your own home to be dumped on your property. State Representative Louis Molepske (D-Stevens Point) says that has resulted in people burying everything from old batteries to household chemicals in their backyards.

Molepske says that can result in harmful toxins leeching into the soil, which can pollute groundwater supplies. It could also leave future property owners dealing with the aftermath if they find a hidden dump underneath the soil. [Read more...]