The president's budget plan includes money to help clean up pollution in the lakes and keep out the invasive Asian carp, among other environmental initiatives.

It's been nearly a week since the first of two windstorms swept through northern Minnesota. Crews working to restore power in the area of Grand Rapids and Deer River say there were still 1,000 customers without electricity Sunday, down from 14,000 at the peak of the outage.

The New York Times looks at how the invasive species is sometimes pitting neighbors against one another. For example, some states are pursuing legal action to build a barrier cutting off the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes, but Illinois is fighting back, saying that would leave Chicago unable to control floods and interfere with shipping.

Loons in Wisconsin, and walleye and northern pike in Minnesota are among the species showing increasing levels of mercury contamination. At this point, scientists don't know why the levels are rising.

Shipping on the Great Lakes brings thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars in income and more than a billion dollars in business revenue to Minnesota, according to a new study.

Minnesota is one of five states to sign on to a deal with White House officials that will speed up the regulatory process for offshore wind farms. The deal comes with some controversy: Critics worry offshore turbines would harm wildlife, lower property values and spoil scenic vistas. Supporters say they will mean new jobs, more homegrown energy and less pollution.

The Army Corps says they'll release the findings of their study on how to stop invasive Asian carp in 2015. State officials say they must move faster. Minnesota is leading the charge by filing a federal lawsuit.

Xcel Energy says a power outage affected an area of downtown Minneapolis near Block E Tuesday morning, but electricity was back for most areas after noon.