APPLE VALLEY (AP) - Schools across Minnesota are gearing up for a tougher reading test this spring, an exam that will reflect new literacy standards the state adopted as part of a national initiative called Common Core.

? Legislators hear from forestry interests ST. PAUL (AP) - Representatives of the forestry industry in Minnesota want to make sure legislators know the importance of their contributions to the state economy.

...Keefe wants to be reinstated to his nursing program as well as damages from the defendants, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press (http://bit.ly/YrLJJL). Keefe's attorney, Jordan Kushner, said school officials never gave the...

BURNSVILLE, Minn. (AP) - A Burnsville woman is accused of assaulting her husband with a hammer and trying to strangle him with a telephone cord. Seventy-one-year-old Sharon Ann Ripka is charged in Dakota County District Court with attempted domestic assault by strangulation, making terroristic threats and interfering with a 911 call. A criminal complaint says police were called to the couple's home Monday where they found both covered with blood. The complaint says the husband, identified only as L.R., also had a telephone cord around his neck.

? Salvation Army to conduct disaster training classes The Brainerd Salvation Army will be conducting free disaster training classes on April 5-6.

or four years, Nikki Anderson was one of the most dominant individuals on the lakes area sports scene. She may have been one of the most dominant athletes in lakes area sports history.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Search warrants say a hacksaw, reciprocating saw, bleach and pistol are among 33 items collected by police investigating a dismemberment homicide case in Ramsey County. An affidavit filed in Ramsey County District Court this week says the 34-year-old defendant, Steven Roger Johnson, told investigators they would find the gun he used to shoot Manya Jewel Johnson in their basement.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - St. Paul police are investigating whether a policeman was photographed dressed as a Muslim woman. The St. Paul Pioneer Press (http://bit.ly/XjvGLZ) reports the St. Paul police Twitter account received a Tweet Sunday asking if the person in the photo is one of its officers. The Tweet came from Mukhtar Ibrahim, who identifies himself as a journalist and editor in the Washington, D.C. area. Ibrahim received a reply from the police Twitter account Monday thanking him for bringing the photo to the department's attention and saying "We take this seriously."

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Buildings that sat vacant for 40 years at a historic military fort in the Twin Cities could be getting new life. The state Department of Natural Resources is seeking redevelopment proposals for a 32-acre portion of the Upper Post at Fort Snelling, completed in 1825. Buildings on the property include a hospital, morgue and barracks. "This is one of the most historic sites in the state of Minnesota," said Chuck Liddy, of Miller Dunwiddie Architecture, a Minneapolis firm that studied the fort's redevelopment potential.

(Eds: APNewsNow.) ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The family of a 9-year-old boy who died from a rare infection after swimming in Lily Lake in Stillwater plans to sue the city, county and state for $1.5 million.