A Republican attempt to expedite an ethics investigation of a Democratic Minnesota state senator who's facing a felony burglary charge failed on a tie vote Wednesday. Sen. Nicole Mitchell was absent as the Senate met for the first time since her arrest early Monday at her estranged stepmother's home in Detroit Lakes. Mitchell told police she broke into the northwest Minnesota home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father including his ashes, according to a criminal complaint.