A southern Minnesota farmer took his girlfriend on a plane ride she will never forget. KARE 11 talked with the mother of Chelsea Nowak, who's been in a relationship with 24-year-old Tyler Winger for nearly eight years.

Livestock farmers and ranchers seeing their feed costs rise because of the worst drought in a quarter-century are demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency waive production requirements for corn-based ethanol. The Obama administration sees no need for a waiver, siding with corn growers – many of them in presidential election battleground states Iowa and Ohio – who continue to support the mandate.

Even though Election Day is more than three weeks away, Minnesotans who can't vote in November are getting proactive about casting their ballots. According to Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, more than 100,000 voters in the state have requested absentee ballots, and about 41,000 have already returned them.

Ramsey City Council Member David Elvig owes the state $100,000 in sales tax, according to an agreement Elvig reached with the Department of Revenue, the Star Tribune reports. The good news for him is that it's less than the $649,000 officials previously said he owed. He's the founder of E-Street Makers Inc. of Anoka, which produces custom furniture and cabinets. He separately faces 24 counts of theft and is accused of embezzling from his employees' 401(k) and group health and dental plans.

HealthPartners, Medica and other health care providers will return $35 million to Minnesota and a similar amount to the federal government. The HMOs agreed to a one percent cap on profits from patients enrolled in public programs.