The Associated Press

Legislation mandating that Minnesota's big utilities get some of their electricity from the sun is moving closer to becoming law. The solar energy mandate will mean cleaner energy, less burning of coal and probably higher utility bills for many Minnesotans.

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The driver of a semi that collided with a freight train in western Minnesota last week has died. St. Cloud Hospital spokeswoman Jeanine Nistler says Eric Westin, of Pine City, died early Monday morning.

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A new study finds that chemicals from household products, prescriptions and illegal drugs are common in Minnesota lakes. MPCA scientists chose 50 lakes at random and tested the water for 125 chemicals.

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The bill to make gay marriage legal in Minnesota is taking its last step in the legislative process. The Senate is scheduled to take up the bill Monday at noon for a debate and vote.

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Minnesota lawmakers are bearing down for the legislative session's homestretch. Monday marks one week until the mandatory adjournment deadline. Much is left to do

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A Bloomington man walking his two dogs was injured after falling into a sinkhole.

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Two Minneapolis police officers who were wounded in a shooting are in satisfactory condition at a local hospital. The Minneapolis Police Department released the officers' condition Saturday on Twitter, and said no additional information would be released until Monday.

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A Minnesota businessman convicted in 2009 of running a $3.5 billion Ponzi scheme is now trying to get his 50-year prison sentence thrown out. Tom Petters is claiming his defense attorney never told him that prosecutors had offered a 30-year prison sentence in exchange for a guilty plea.

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Volunteers are continuing to search for an Eden Prairie woman who has been missing since May 1. The search for Mandy Matula continues after a week in which the bodies of two other missing Twin Cities-area women, Kira Steger and Danielle Jelinek, were found.

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Authorities in eastern Minnesota say a body pulled from a small lake is that of an Oakdale woman missing for five months. The Chisago County sheriff's office says crews recovered the woman's body from the water Friday.

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