Big stories of 2012 in Wisconsin

One of the biggest news stories of the year happened on February 3rd, involving a murder-suicide on the east side of De Pere.

"I just don't know the answer,” said De Pere Police Chief Derek Beiderwieden.

Police can only speculate why on that day Denis Bay shot and killed his wife Michelle and their two young children, 14-year old Andrea and 10-year-old Daniel. He then shot and killed himself.

"I think if you look at the big picture and you see all of the stress in their life and the different aspects and then you have maybe an ultimatum perhaps...it's time to leave, and maybe that's what it was,” said Beiderwieden.

There were two deadly mass shootings in the state that we covered. In both cases, the gunman shot himself.

One happened August 5th in Oak Creek at the Sikh temple.

Wade Michael Page, 40, went on a shooting rampage killing six people. He also injured three others before turning the gun on himself.

The second mass shooting happened at a salon in the Milwaukee area.

Radcliffe Haughton, 45, was the gunman.

His estranged wife worked there and died in the shooting. Seven others were injured.

In Campbellsport, three young women were killed in a car crash.

Sabrina Stahl, Katie Berg and Caitlin Scannel were all friends and out with others for a night of fun.

The SUV they were all traveling in authorities say was going about 100 miles per hour, lost control and crashed.

The driver, Carly Ottery, was sentenced to a year in jail, but will be allowed to go to school and work.

The year also brought some major changes for the downtown Green Bay area.

Schreiber Foods announced it would be moving its corporate headquarters and global technology center there. A new $50 million building is currently being built on the site of the former Port Plaza mall.

"We're hopeful this will be a catalyst for the redevelopment of downtown Green Bay, and bring additional businesses and amenities to downtown,” said Andrew Tobisch, Schreiber communications director.
Green Bay leaders also became tangled in a lawsuit with the Oneida Nation, involving a proposed trash to energy plant.

Originally, it had been okayed by city leaders.

But after a year an a half, council members voted again and revoked the permit.

And maybe the strangest or most talked about story came out of Clintonville.

Booms had residents and others buzzing about what the rumblings could be.

"It's like somebody's blasting water holes with dynamite. It really shook the house,” said Gerald Smith of Clintonville.

The United States Geological Survey confirmed that a 1.5 magnitude earthquake did hit Waupaca County on March 20th. But reports of the booms began before and continued after that date.