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HealthWatch: Getting back to life after a pediatric Crohn’s diagnosis

Green Bay, Wis. (WFRV) – For De Pere’s Brandon Krueger, the symptoms started showing when he was 10.


“He was not a picky eater, he would eat everything that was put in front of him, just extremely small portions,” recalled Molly Krueger, Brandon’s mother. “He was 10 years old and was probably eating portions of what a traditional toddler would eat. He wasn’t taking in any nutrition; I feel like we were watching him starve,” she said.


Low appetite, bloody stool, trouble gaining weight, and...

Collective Impact | Issue 2 2024

The job seeker’s journey comes with
twists and turns. It is dynamic and
as unique as each individual that
embarks on the path to finding the right fit.

The Greater Green Bay Chamber offers
innovative solutions for talent attraction
and retention. While we are committed
to helping area businesses secure highly
skilled individuals to fill job openings, we
also partner with those individuals to make
their transition smooth and seamless. Our
community partners play an instrumental
role in showcasin...

HealthWatch: A PSA for prostate cancer

Green Bay, Wis. (WFRV) – No signs, no symptoms: That’s often how prostate cancer starts. The warning signs often come when it’s too late.


“Really it’s a boring story, I didn’t have any symptoms, I went to a yearly exam, and my primary doctor suggested maybe this year, I need to start doing a yearly PSA test,” Andrew Moore recalled.


Moore lives in Ephraim, and after one of those PSA tests, his life would change.


“That’s the really important thing about prostate cancer screening, is that...

Shopko Optical acquired by Fielmann

For the Press Times


GREEN BAY – The Fielmann Group announced on June 10 that it has entered into a definitive agreement in which its U.S. subsidiary, Fielmann USA, will acquire 100% equity ownership in Shopko Optical, based in Green Bay, from Monarch Alternative Capital LP.


The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.


Shopko Optical has been providing eyecare to Midwest communities for over four deca...

German Fielmann Group Set to Acquire Green Bay’s Shopko Optical

(WTAQ-WLUK) — A German family business is acquiring Green Bay-based Shopko Optical.

The Fielmann Group, a global eyewear provider, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement in which its US subsidiary, Fielmann USA, will acquire 100% equity ownership in Shopko Optical from Monarch Alternative Capital LP.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

The transaction marks another mileston...

German eyewear provider buys Shopko Optical five years after it emerged from liquidation

GREEN BAY - A German eyewear provider has purchased Shopko Optical five years after it was the sole piece of Shopko to survive the Green Bay-based general merchandiser's liquidation.

Hamburg-based Fielmann Group AG's American subsidiary, Fielmann USA, announced Monday that it will acquire Ashwaubenon-based Shopko Optical from Monarch Alternative Capital, the private equity firm that bought the optical business as part of Shopko's 2019 liquidation.

Terms of the purchase were not provided. The d...

HealthWatch: Project SEARCH helping graduates land jobs

Green Bay, Wis. (WFRV) – Scotty Willyard just celebrated two achievements: Graduating from the Project SEARCH internship program and landing a job in the pharmacy at Aurora BayCare Medical Center.


But for the 29-year-old, who is on the autism spectrum, finding a job hasn’t always been easy.


“I couldn’t find a job; I wasn’t ready for it yet. But then again when I came here, I noticed I was getting ready for a job. It’s very hard,” said Willyard.


‘Here’ is the Project SEARCH program, a tr...

HealthWatch: Fixing a hole in your heart

Green Bay, Wis. (WFRV) – A pounding headache and slurred speech sent Brian Holewinski to the emergency room in 2011.


“(My wife) woke me up. When she walked into the bedroom, she told me I was trying to push my head through the mattress, the pain was so bad,” Holewinski recalls. “She woke me up and she goes, ‘What’s going on?’ And I started slurring my words, then I threw up. She goes, ‘Oh my God, you’re having a stroke,'” he said.


Holewinski was indeed having a stroke. Doctors couldn’t fig...

HealthWatch: Colorectal cancer before age 40

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV)- At just 34 years old, Kyle Scofield never expected he would be diagnosed with colon cancer.


“I didn’t think it would be cancer, I thought it’d be some sort of bowel disease or colon disease,” Scofield recalled.


His symptoms started as a full feeling after eating and pain while bending over, but he shrugged it off.


“I think you kind of have the angel and the devil on your shoulders. Your gut instinct is telling you, ‘Hey something is wrong, this isn’t right.’ But...

Element celebrates 20th anniversary

Mickey Schommer


Contributing Writer


DE PERE – After two decades, on Sept. 21, Element, a local marketing agency, celebrated its twentieth anniversary.


Lance Peroutka started Element as a small local business in 2003 of just four people in the basement of a daycare center.


Now, the company has significantly grown in size, partnering with not just local companies but nationally-known companies as well, such as Kaytee brand pet products and OH SNAP! single-serve pickles.


“It’s not on...

BayCare Clinic Foundation Announces New Officers - Door County Pulse

The BayCare Clinic Foundation board of directors recently appointed Ann Seidl, director of marketing and public relations for BayCare Clinic, as president, succeeding Dr. Joseph Hodgson, whose leadership tenure spanned two decades.

Julie Duckett, controller, is a new director and secretary/treasurer. Dr. Alexander Foster, an ophthalmologist with BayCare Clinic Eye Specialists; and Mike Roach, the practice manager for Aurora BayCare General & Vascular Surgery, are new directors as well.

The boa...

Orbeez guns, used in TikTok challenge, pose serious risk to eye health, BayCare Clinic Eye Specialists doctor says

There’s a new, must-have toy that poses potential danger to anyone who plays with it.

As the “Orbeez” toy gun grows in popularity, it grows in notoriety. The non-lethal toy shoots water gel pellets using a spring-loaded air pump mechanism. They can be great fun if used properly — with eye protection, close adult supervision and using the toy as recommended by the manufacturer — but that hasn’t always been the case, lately, in Manitowoc.

The toy is being marketed to children as a safe way to pl...

Green Bay-based BayCare Clinic appoints chief medical officer Ashwani Bhatia as doctor-owned clinics' next CEO

GREEN BAY - BayCare Clinic's chief medical officer will take over the role of CEO in June. Dr. Ashwani Bhatia will succeed outgoing CEO Chris Augustian, who has led the physician-owned specialty care clinic since 2012. Bhatia joined BayCare in 2019 and has worked as a liaison between leaders and care providers."I am supremely confident in Dr. Bhatia’s ability to lead BayCare Clinic,” Augustian said in a media release. “He has my full, unequivocal support. I trust his ability to continue to ensur...

BayCare Clinic Eye Specialists, a Lakeshore fixture | Manitowoc Chamber Notebook

The eye experts at BayCare Clinic Eye Specialists in Manitowoc have provided top-quality care for the Lakeshore region for more than 70 years.

It’s a trend the local fixture intends to continue well into the future.

Located at 4801 Expo Drive near Highway 151 and Interstate 43, the clinic (formerly known as The Eye Clinic of Manitowoc) changed its name after its 2015 partnership with BayCare Clinic, but the decades-long focus on providing patients with first-class eye care never changed.

Dr....

Show your own heart some love on Valentine's Day

GREEN BAY (WLUK) -- On this Valentine's Day, the day of hearts, why not show your ticker some love! Interventional cardiologist Dr. Scott Weslow of Aurora BayCare Cardiology joined Rachel Manek on Good Day Wisconsin to talk about heart health. Weslow says there are numerous ailments that can negatively affect the heart. The ailments most people likely are aware of include heart attack, cardiac arrest and heart failure. Heart attack: Flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle sudde...

Orthopedic surgeon talks recovery time after broken collarbone

ASHWAUBENON (WLUK) -- After Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone in Sunday's game, FOX 11 asked orthopedic surgeon Dr. Shawn Hennigan about the injury and how long it takes to heal.Hennigan works for BayCare Clinic and says, "Recovery for a fractured collarbone, typically about six weeks for the bone to heal. He may be able to return back to some activities prior to that, but typically six for the bone to heal. He goes on to say, "There are some advantages to surgery to fix the...

Man who accidentally shot himself in the heart with a nail gun lives — and tells about it

Nail guns are powerful devices, firing off metal projectiles at speeds of 90 mph. Those using them, warns the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may face injury or death from double-firing, for example, or from wielding the tool while in an awkward bodily position.Doug Bergeson, of Peshtigo, Wis., checked both of those boxes at once, a double-firing nail gun wielded while he was in an awkward position.He had to reach up, standing on his tiptoes, wrap his left arm around and behind the w...

Man who accidentally shot himself in the heart with a nail gun lives — and tells about it

Nail guns are powerful devices, firing off metal projectiles at speeds of 90 mph. Those using them, warns the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may face injury or death from double-firing, for example, or from wielding the tool while in an awkward bodily position.Doug Bergeson, of Peshtigo, Wis., checked both of those boxes at once, a double-firing nail gun wielded while he was in an awkward position.He had to reach up, standing on his tiptoes, wrap his left arm around and behind the w...

Man Whose Heart Was Pierced by 3-Inch Nail Drives Himself 12 Miles to Hospital

A Wisconsin farmer is on the mend after driving himself to the hospital earlier this summer with a nail sticking out of his chest.Doug Bergeson said it "didn't really hurt" when he accidentally fired his nail gun at himself in June while refinishing a fireplace in his home. Watch: Former Olympian Walks Bride Down Aisle After Being Paralyzed in Freak AccidentBut Bergeson knew something was definitely wrong when he saw the 3-inch nail beating along with his own heart.“When I saw [the nail] moving...

Man accidentally shoots nail into his heart, and lives

A Wisconsin man working on his house accidentally shot a nail into his heart and lived to tell about it.Doug Bergeson was trying to finish framing up the fireplace on the home he's building."I was just bringing the nail gun forward and I was on my tip-toes and I just didn't quite have enough room and it fired before I was really ready for it," Bergeson said.The three-and-a-half inch framing nail fired straight into his heart at the speed of a .22 bullet."It didn't really hurt. It just felt like...