Sean Rifenberick will receive $160,000 and full retirement benefits. The city isn't giving a reason for the settlement, but the City Council suspended the chief in March after several complaints. Rifenberick was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct last summer.

Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Thomas Sorel is leaving the 5,000-worker agency that he has guided since April 2008, and on Dec. 1 will become the new leader of AAA Minneapolis, a 200,000-member auto club.

The Duluth News Tribune reports the $297 million deal could bring anywhere from 200 to 400 new jobs to northern Minnesota.

The next closest full-size store is in Ely, about 17 miles away, and some residents of Babbitt are elderly and would have trouble making the trip. Local groups are trying to organize ride-shares. Other suggestions include home delivery or installing a temporary store in City Hall.

Members of the United Steelworkers union and Cliffs Natural Resources have agreed on a new three-year labor contract, the Duluth News Tribune reports. The deal covers about 1,100 workers at ore plants in Eveleth and Hibbing. Both sides failed to reach an agreement by the Sept. 1 deadline, but agreed to a contract extension that kept the northern Minnesota plants operating while negotiations continued.

John Harrington, a former St. Paul police chief who retired after just one two-year stint as a DFL state senator, will become the new chief of police that enforces the law on Metro Transit buses, light rail and commuter rail. He'll oversee law enforcement on a rapidly growing network of light rail and bus transit in the Twin Cities.