Emergency medical providers in Northern Minnesota are looking at ways to keep expenses down in order to keep ambulances running, reports Janna Goerdt of the Duluth News-Tribune.

A judge allowed a modest rate increase for Minnesota Power, but the $7.7 million overall is still much less than the $45 million the company was seeking, writes Marshall Helmberger of the Timberjay.

A Minnesota company, Rational Energies, is hoping to build a plant in Empire township that could convert garbage and other waste products into high-quality diesel fuel by 2012, reports Nathan Hansen of the Hastings Star-Gazette.

Although Rochester is much smaller, its air pollution levels are equal to those of the Twin Cities, reports Matthew Stolle of the Post-Bulletin.

Essar Steel is having trouble getting the funding it needs to build a $1.6 billion taconite-to-steel industrial complex near Nashwauk and may now be looking to the government for help, writes Mike Jennings of the Hibbing Daily Tribune.