The number of jobs held by teens in Minnesota has declined during the past decade, with fewer than half of them holding jobs. But it's better than last year, said an official with Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development. And it's better for Minnesota teens than teens in the rest of the nation, where only 25 percent are employed.

Job vacancies were up nearly 50 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with the same period a year earlier. Employers reported nearly 50,000 job openings, according to the latest figures from the Department of Employment and Economic Development.

An analyst says the start-ups will have "a very, very difficult time" competing with established companies amid the global glut of solar panels. Last month Silicon Energy of Mountain Iron joined TenKsolar of Bloomington in making the panels.

From now through September law enforcers will focus on the counties that in recent years have accounted for nearly half of the alcohol-related deaths on the roads. That includes Hennepin, Ramsey, Anoka, St. Louis, Dakota, Wright, Olmsted, Rice, Washington, Stearns, Sherburne, Scott and Carver.