It's a slightly different mission for a Minnesota National Guard unit heading to Afghanistan. KARE-11 reports 22 soldiers from the Guard's Agri-Business Development Team are going to the Zabul Province to help local farmers. An estimated 80 percent of Afghans earn their living from agri-business.

It's a beautiful addition to a fall wreath, but the Minnesota Department of Agriculture is telling state decorators and retailers to avoid using the vibrant Oriental bittersweet, a woody vine that can strangle trees and crowd out native plants.

Graduate students at the University of Minnesota are taking another shot at unionization. This time proponents of the idea have joined up with the United Auto Workers. A vote to organize would mean students would be obligated to pay dues (even non-members), and the school would be obligated to bargain in good faith.

The troops, part of the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division, returned Friday after serving in Kuwait and Afghanistan. They're among 3,000 service members, the largest deployment since World War II, to make their way home this month.

ABC 6 News reports members of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division are set to return over the next three weeks. The Minnesota Red Bulls have spent the last year serving in Afghanistan and Kuwait.