The day after Thanksgiving marks the traditional start of the all-important holiday shopping season. Two huge Minnesota-based retailers -- Target and Best Buy -- are hoping for better business than they saw last year.

Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is calling for more federal help for small businesses. Klobuchar said she plans to take up the issue when Congress returns to work next week.

Farmers in Minnesota and the Dakotas could benefit from new USDA rules allowing them to market their livestock as natural.

Recall letters are going out to workers atHibbing Taconite Co. in anticipation of a staged resumption of production.

A cooperative project between colleges in Minnesota and North Dakota is encouraging high school students to consider alternative energy careers.

As shoppers around the nation crowded stores and malls in thewee hours Friday to grab discounts and hard-to-find items, earlyreports pointed to some renewed spending vigor.

After a Northwest Airlines plane flew past Minneapolis lastmonth, air traffic controllers asked the pilots repeatedly forexplanations about why they didn't heed radio calls, according totranscripts released on Friday.

With Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com slashing book prices below wholesale levels, independent bookstore owners worry customers will expect them to follow suit.