🌱 8 Homicides In Minneapolis + Vikings Name Head Coach

Good morning! Here's your daily guide to what's making news in Minneapolis.

First, today's weather: Mostly sunny and colder. High: 7 Low: -5.

Here are the top 3 stories in Minneapolis today:

1. A man was shot to death Tuesday night in an alleyway in the McKinley neighborhood, police said. The shooting in the 3600 block of Fourth Street North is the city's eighth homicide this year. (CBS)

2. Former Minneapolis police officer J. Alexander Kueng testified Wednesday that George Floyd "just went to extreme measures" upon his arrest in May 2020, and a struggle ensued when Keung tried to push Floyd into a squad car. Kueng is on trial for violating Floyd's civil rights along with two other former city police officers. (Paid source: Star Tribune)

3. Kevin O'Connell was officially named the next head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. The team announced the hiring of the former Rams offensive coordinator Wednesday. (ESPN)

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Today in Minneapolis:

• Minneapolis Central Library hosts a "Connect and Play" session. (10 a.m.)
• Stop by Open Houses at Corcoran Recreation Center (3 p.m.) and Audubon Park. (5 p.m.)
• Learn to curl on the Nordic Plaza. (5 p.m.)
• The Twin Cities Jewish Humor Fest screens "Good Timing with Jo Firestone." (7 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• A COVID-19 vaccine clinic will be held Saturday in the Northrop neighborhood. (Patch)
• Minneapolis' Centro restaurant is expanding to two more locations. (BMTN)
• Several pets are up for adoption at Safe Hands Animal Rescue. (Patch)
• The Phyllis Wheatley Center is using a Microsoft Corp. community skills grant to "close digital gaps for people of color." (KARE11)
• State Fair superintendent and American Swedish Institute curator Curt Pederson died Feb. 3 at the age of 72. (Paid source: Star Tribune)

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Events:

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That's all for today, Minneapolis. See you tomorrow for more local stories.

— Georgi Presecky

About me: Georgi is a newsletter writer and partner content curator from Chicago. She spent five years on the entertainment beat for FF2 Media covering film festivals across the U.S. Her feature articles have been recognized with awards from the Illinois Women's Press Association and National Federation of Press Women. As editor-in-chief of the Lewis University newspaper, she and her staff earned honors from the Associated Collegiate Press and American Scholastic Press Associations. She began working for Patch in 2019.