Good morning, Minnesota, and welcome to Monday! This week, MPR News will be carrying live coverage of the Republican National Convention held in Charlotte, N.C., and Washington D.C. for four nights starting tonight. More on what to expect at the RNC, after weather. 

Tropical Monday: highs in 90s, severe storms later. There is a chance of severe thunderstorms later this afternoon for the Twin Cities metro and southeastern Minnesota. Stay informed on the latest weather updates via our weather live blog and Updraft. Highs today will range from the upper 70s in northern parts of the state to the mid-90s in the south.

It’s all about Trump: What to know about RNC this week. How will President Trump “Make America Great Again, Again” when the country continues grappling with the coronavirus and tens of thousands of Americans have taken the streets to demand racial justice? We’ll know more as the Republican National Convention unfolds this week. Stay tuned for our live coverage of the RNC starting 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 

Minnesota GOP: “Our priority is to deliver Trump another four years.” Four years ago, the Minnesota delegation to the RNC wasn't exactly a Donald Trump fan club. But today, as the largely virtual convention for the president's party kicks off, Minnesota’s Republican ranks are pretty much closed behind the incumbent. Nowadays, the state’s GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan says, Minnesota’s delegates are all in sync.

School’s starting in 2 weeks, while virus cases keep rising. Uncertainty, rising COVID-19 case rates and pushback from teachers mean many districts have already scaled back plans for in-person learning. A lot of Minnesota schools have already announced their decision on how they plan to start the upcoming school year. According to a survey out from 46 metro-area schools, the most popular choice for those districts is hybrid schooling followed by distance learning . 

Another weekend of steep case increases: 1,474 new cases reported over the weekend. Minnesota’s COVID-19 numbers continued to send a mix of hopeful and concerning signals over the weekend. Daily death counts remained in the single digits both on Saturday and Sunday, but new cases continued to climb steeply.

Here are the latest coronavirus statistics in Minnesota:

• 69,584 cases confirmed (728 new) via 1,374,536  tests (16,941 new)

• 1,767 deaths (six new)

• 6,151 cases requiring hospitalization

• 301people remain hospitalized; 137 in intensive care

• 62,373 patients no longer needing isolation

Join the conversation: What’s your hope for the future of policing? Through a series of conversations with community leaders and our curious, engaged audience, we hope to encourage new connections and relationships that will help Minnesota communities make progress toward equity and inclusion. Join us as we hold a virtual event this Wednesday that will focus on the conversations about what policing should look like following George Floyd’s killing and how far to go with changes to the system.