A former associate pastor at an East Grand Forks church has been charged with stealing a wedding ring left on a kitchen sink by a parishioner. Rev. Carlos Felipe Velez Rivera, 45, has a variety of legal problems.

Marisa Nelson was shattered when she lost her wedding and engagement bands on the muddy bottom of Lake Minnetonka. But a quick Internet search put her in touch with recreational scuba diver Denny Geffre, who found the rings in about 10 minutes.

People still love the catchy old phrase that corn ought to be "knee-high by the 4th of July." But it doesn't apply in a modern-day farming age of genetically modified plants. These days, an elephant's eye is closer to the mark.

For years, Vivian Olson of Lanesboro, Minn., would check the nooks and crannies of her dresser whenever she cleaned it, hoping to find her diamond engagement ring. She’d taken it off while pregnant with her fourth child in 1971 and put it in the dresser, but she never saw it again, and the loss left her empty. Then 41 years later, the ring reappeared -- but not in her dresser.

It's not too early for corn mazes. A few are already open with lots more on the way. As for fall colors, peep early. And be quick about it. A short, early leaf season is forecast.

In the midst of the nation's worst drought in decades, farmers in Wheaton, Minn. struck gold. The area was blessed with one of its largest corn crops ever while dry conditions crippled harvests around the country, driving up corn prices.