🌱 Judge Upholds Vaccine Mandate + Black History Month

Good morning, Minneapolis! Let's get to the news for this Tuesday.

First, today's weather: Colder; breezy in the morning. High: 34 Low: 0.

Here are the top 5 stories in Minneapolis today:

1. Minneapolis public school students are back in the classroom after the omicron surge forced a shift to remote learning. The closure lasted more than two weeks. (CBS)

2. The Minnesota Department of Health reported 29 COVID-related deaths Monday. More than 11,400 people in Minnesota have died after contracting COVID-19 since early 2020. (KARE11)

3. A Hennepin County judge upheld the Minneapolis proof of vaccine mandate Sunday after restaurant owners sued the city for alleged loss of business. Judge Laurie J. Miller said blaming the mandate was speculation and "the City cannot be held responsible for general pandemic-related business losses." (AP)

4. The federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers entered its second week yesterday. Police inspector Katie Blackwell testified again Monday about whether Thomas Lane, Thou Tao and J. Alexander Kueng violated George Floyd's civil rights in May 2020. (KARE11.com)

5. The Minnesota legislative session began yesterday at the capitol. The state's $7.7 billion surplus is likely to dominate the session agenda, in addition to sports betting and public safety. (Business Journal)

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Today in Minneapolis:

• Join "Frozen" Family Fun Night as part of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival. (5 p.m.)
• Trivia Tuesday at Lakes & Legends Brewing Company. (7 p.m.)
• Hippie Sabotage performs at the Fillmore. (8 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• In honor of Black History Month, a new exhibit called "Resilience in Action" is on display at the John B. Davis Educational Service Center. (MPS)
• Twin Cities PBS will also air programming honoring Black history, including documentaries about Muhammad Ali, Chuck Berry and the history of America's Black churches. (PBS)
• Mayor Jacob Frey's "political debut" is featured in this month's Vogue. (Vogue)
• Kirk Cousins will replace Aaron Rodgers in this year's Pro Bowl. (CBS)
• The Minnesota Book Awards announced this year's finalists. (Paid source: Star Tribune)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

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That's all for today! See you tomorrow for the Wednesday edition.

— Georgi Presecky

About me: Georgi is a Chicago-based newsletter writer and partner content curator. 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.