Happy Wednesday, Minnesota! With just 125 new cases reported yesterday, known, active caseloads hit their lowest point since April last year. The vaccination pace, however, is also crawling, with over 60 percent of Minnesotan adults fully vaccinated. Read the latest on COVID-19 in Minnesota.
The record-long heat wave forces schools to end school year early, some pivot to distance learning
The last few days of the school year have been canceled at St. Paul public schools due to the hot weather. Starting today, there's no school through Friday, which was supposed to be the last day of the year. Students won't be switching to distance learning, but they will be able to turn in assignments.
Some schools in Minneapolis are switching to distance learning to end the year in a similar fashion that the school year began due to COVID-19.
So when are we going to cool down? Well, not till the weekend.
It looks like our string of 90-degree days will run through tomorrow and possibly Friday. That might put our current 90-degree day streak at nine days -- the third longest streak of 90-degree days in the Twin Cities history.
Good news: The weekend will be slightly cooler and noticeably less humid. Highs will be in the 80s to around 90 this weekend and dew points will fall into the more comfortable 50s.
Read more from the Updraft weather blog.
Best way to celebrate a longtime Humane Society volunteer's 100th birthday: Cupcakes and, of course, kittens
Charlotte Beegle has spent 33 years volunteering at the Golden Valley Animal Humane Society. Despite her last name, Beegle is more of a cat person. So for her 100th birthday this week, the staff brought out cupcakes, and kittens.
Read more about the purrr-fect birthday party from reporter Peter Cox.
What else we're watching-
Three young people are challenging Minnesota's age restrictions on handgun permits. The current state law prohibits anyone under 21 from obtaining a permit to carry. -
The city of Minneapolis has made another effort at reopening the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, clearing so-called George Floyd Square for traffic for the second time in a week. Federal agents will now be required to wear body cameras when executing search warrants or making pre-planned arrests, according to a new policy outlined Monday by the Justice Department's second highest-ranking official. -
After her husband injuries, the pandemic and a delayed Olympics, Minnesotan BMX racer Alise Willoughby is preparing for her third Olympic games, after receiving silver in the Rio Olympic Games in 2016. Listen to her interview with MPR News host Tom Crann here.
— Jiwon Choi, MPR News | Find me on Twitter @ChoiGEE1 | 
