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Governor Tony Evers is opening the door to more state help for Chippewa and Dunn counties after Tuesday’s tornado. The governor was here in our area yesterday afternoon and got a firsthand look at the damage. He also declared a state of emergency. Some numbers are coming out and forecasters say the tornado that hit near the Town of Wheaton was an EF3 storm, with top winds of 165 miles-per-hour. HOW TO HELP If you want to lend a hand,

A woman involved in a high-profile child sexual assault case in Eau Claire dating back to last year is going to prison in a different case.  Reports say Michelle Mayer pleaded guilty Tuesday to a delivery of meth charge and was sentenced to five years in prison.  A criminal complaint filed in June claims Mayer was in a parked car with a man near an auto body shop for hours at a time and police found meth in the car. 

A new report says the number of Wisconsin students enrolling at University of Wisconsin-Madison is dropping.  According to the University, only 50-point-three percent of this year’s freshman class is made up of Wisconsin natives, down over 16 percent from 1995.  However, there are nearly 38-hundred Wisconsin students enrolled at the school, the fourth-most in the last 30 years.  Total enrollment is also up by nearly 25-hundred in the last 25 years.

Prosecutors in Eau Claire are pushing ahead with charges against four people who they say went on a spending spree with counterfeit money. All four are from Chicago. Eau Claire police say they spent counterfeit money at nearly a dozen shops and restaurants in Eau Claire last week. Police arrested them after a traffic stop turned-up some marijuana and a lot of phony money.

Wisconsin could soon get tougher on people after their fifth OWI or if they kill someone. A state Senate panel yesterday approved a handful of proposed laws that will now head toward a vote in Madison. Among them is a mandatory minimum 18-month sentence after someone’s fifth or sixth OWI, and a minimum five years sentence if a drunk driver kills someone. Lawmakers also are sending along a plan to essentially erase someone’s first OWI conviction after 10 years.

Western Wisconsin’s congressman is the latest to ask the federal government to protect cheese. Democratic Congressman Ron Kind on Wednesday introduced the Codifying Useful Regulatory Definitions, or what he’s calling the CURD Act. Kind wants Congress to define cheese as something that comes from real milk, not something that comes from vegetables or anything else. It’s the latest attempt from a dairy state lawmaker to push back on the increasing number of vegan cheeses being sold across the country.

Hunters in Wisconsin are going to have a bit less time to bag some grouse this season. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is cutting this year’s ruffed grouse season short. The season usually runs through the end of January, but will now end January 5th. DNR says they are worried about shrinking grouse numbers.

The scene is starting to come together and the details are unfolding after the tornado touchdown.  The tornado, which was a F3 occurred Tuesday evening and caused extensive damage to structures in the west portion of the Town of Wheaton in the vicinity of State Hwy 29 in Chippewa County.  A semi driver was injured following a crash on Hwy 29 which resulted from the tornado. A mobile home in the area was overturned and an occupant was reportedly transported

Chippewa County Emergency Management wants people to stay out of Wheaton following a report of a tornado touching down last night.  Eau Claire County Emergency Management posted on Facebook on behalf of Chippewa County early this morning saying they want people to hold off on volunteering because of downed power lines and debris.  Only a few minor injuries have been reported. Hundreds of people are still without power to the north and west of Eau Claire.  According to Dunn Energy

Two homeless men are accused of sexually assaulting a homeless woman in Phoenix Park in Eau Claire.  A criminal complaint claims Kenneth Minck and Steven Mwangelwa pulled the woman into a men’s bathroom and forced her to drink from a cup on September 18th.  She claims Mick and Mwangelwa then assaulted her throughout the night.  They’re both charged with second-degree sexual assault.