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.

The invasion of privacy suit argues there was no reason for officers from 18 different agencies to look up the woman's driving record hundreds of times. And she kept getting asked on dates by men who already knew what kind of car she drove.