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The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is unveiling its revamped Garfield Avenue.  An on-campus celebration yesterday included the Blugold Marching Band.  The over 12-million redevelopment project has more than 15-thousand bricks and 110-thousand square feet of concrete, along with over 200 trees and nearly 80 new lights.  The chancellor is calling the project the new front porch for the university.

Upon a star…This weekend will be a good time to make a wish on a falling star.  The Orionid (or-RYE-oh-nid) meteor shower will peak on Sunday night.  Astronomers say we could see around 15 to 20 meteors an hour. The meteor shower is caused by the Earth moving into a field of fragments left behind by Halley’s Comet.

The Little Free Library nonprofit is asking people to remember their founder Todd Bol.  Bol died yesterday from cancer.  He originated the idea of the Little Free Library in 2009 with a dollhouse-sized case in the shape of a one-room school house made from a recycled garage.  He filled it with books and set it up at the end of his driveway, where he noticed it was more popular than the garage sale items that attracted people to his house. 

A former homeless veteran’s mural is revealing the journey of soldiers, including heading into civilian life.  The mural unveiling was held yesterday at Klein Hall in Chippewa Falls.  Klein Hall provides housing and programming for homeless veterans and Veteran and Housing Recovery Program James Heber wanted to give back to the facility.  Heber says the work of art took more than 800 hours.

A fourth former Walker administration official is blasting the governor ahead of the election.  Paul Jadin and two other former Walker officials released a letter recently that urges voters to support Evers for governor because Walker’s administration lacked integrity.  They also accused Walker of being more interested in advancing his own career at the expense of taxpayers.  And in the Senate scene: Assemblywoman Kathy Bernier is squaring off with physician Chris Kapsner for the open 23rd Senate District seat.  Republican

A Wisconsin Rapids man faces sentencing later this year after pleading no contest to killing his ex-wife’s husband.  Gary Bohman entered his plea in the shooting death this spring of Christopher Race at The Higher Ground Bakery Cafe.  Bowman shot Race as he worked at the cafe, where his two young children were also present at the time of the killing.

The nationwide search for a missing Barron teen continues, while comfort dogs and counselors are being sent to the area school district to provide support.  Classmates, friends and staff are being helped to cope with the anxiety surrounding missing 13-year-old Jayme Closs.  Closs disappeared shortly after her parents were murdered early Monday morning in their home in Barron.  She is considered endangered and the Barren County sheriff is asking hunters to check out their cabins and property and report if

The state unemployment rate remains at three-percent or less for the eighth straight month.  The Department of Workforce Development released preliminary estimates for September showing the state added about 36-thousand private-sector jobs from September 2017 to September 2018.  There were about 23-thousand manufacturing jobs added over the same 12-month-period.   The record low for state unemployment was set in April at two-point-eight-percent.  

A bump in funding could send money to mental health. Some Dunn County supervisors are concerned about drug and mental health costs in relation to the 2019 county budget.  The budget was presented at a meeting last night and the Health and Human Services Department is considering a two-million dollar increase over last year’s budget to cover growing expenditures.  The potential two-million increase would raise the budget from ten-point-eight-million dollars to twelve-point-eight-million dollars.

Now we’re cooking…literally! Chippewa Valley Technical College’s Culinary Management teaching kitchen is now a certified practical test site.  The American Culinary Federation approved the state of the art kitchen to certify culinarians on over a dozen different levels based on education, experience, and exam scores.  Previously, students had to travel to either Minnesota, Madison, or Fox Valley to get their certification.  The kitchen’s first test date was last weekend.