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Early voting is underway in Chippewa Falls.  In-person absentee balloting began earlier this week and the city clerk’s office says its already received over 550 ballots as of yesterday.  The city clerk is reminding residents that they don’t need a special reason to absentee vote.  Any registered voter can request a ballot by November 1st and have it returned by November 2nd.

State health officials are confirming two Wisconsin cases of the rare, paralyzing illness affecting children in America.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this week that its confirmed over 60 cases of acute flaccid myelitis[[ FLAS-sid my-uh-LIGHT-us ]] in 22 states.  About 90 percent of the cases in the country have involved children, but one of the cases in Wisconsin involves an adult.  The Department of Health Services says another six cases are being investigated in the state. 

A New York Times best-selling author is premiering a reading of his upcoming book at the Chippewa Valley Book Festival.  Nickolas Butler will be reading from Little Faith on the evening of October 22nd at the ballrooms of the Memorial Student Center at University of Wisconsin-Stout.  Admission to the event is free.  Butler is an Eau Claire native and already has three other published books. *On a personal note, I have to say his books are great. Pour a cold beer,

LATEST UPDATES FROM THE BARRON COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE: Today, October 19th is the fifth day that Jayme Closs has been missing. Barron County continues to with our local, state and federal partners. We have received over 1000 tips and want information to continue to come in using the tip line (1-855-744-3879). We also have added an email address, jaymetips@co.barron.wi.us which will accept any photos or videos related to possible sightings. We have conducted hundreds of interviews and are aggressively following

Officials in Barron County are calling a hundred volunteers to help in the search for missing 13-year-old Jayme Closs.  Closs has been missing since Monday morning, when a suspicious 911 call led law enforcement out to her house.  Upon arrival, officials found the bodies of Closs’s parents, who had been shot to death.  Deputies believe the girl was in the home at the time of the killings, but they don’t consider her a suspect in the case.

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