Jan. 28, 2021

Tonight will be mostly cloudy, with a chance of flurries. Lows will be from 7 to 15, although near zero along Lake Superior. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with highs in the 20s and a chance of freezing drizzle overnight tomorrow night. Find the latest from Updraft.

The state is vaccinating more people 65 and older today under a pilot program based on a lottery. This time, Gov. Tim Walz was on hand as shots went into arms at the Earle Brown Center in Brooklyn Center. He said it was a sign that the system was working, and also said a new national response is taking shape.

"This week is a change for I think the whole country — for the first time since this has started — we had a conference call with all the governors and the White House," Walz said Thursday. "We actually now know what we're going to get for the next three weeks."

Health commissioner Jan Malcolm said state education officials were trying to fix problems in vaccine sign ups for educators after vaccine supplies ran shorter than expected. Thousands of teachers and child care workers were being vaccinated today, including at a new site in downtown St. Paul.

In other COVID news today, the Health Department on Thursday reported another 1,335 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases — along with 16 more deaths.

The seven-day rolling average for new vaccinations topped 19,000, the highest point since vaccinations started in late December, and nearly double where that figure stood a week ago.

You can get more of the latest news, in just a few minutes, via the Minnesota Today podcast. — Tim Nelson | MPR News

Sharp divide over election law changes at Minnesota Capitol

House Democrats and Senate Republicans are presenting sharply different visions for the way Minnesota elections should work. Democrats want to expand voter registration and make it easier for Minnesotans to vote by mail. Republicans want to establish a photo ID requirement to vote, even though Minnesotans rejected that idea eight years ago.

Explainer: Why it's hard to make vaccines and boost supplies

With demand for COVID-19 vaccines outpacing the world's supplies, a frustrated public and policymakers want to know: How can we get a lot more, fast? But scaling up vaccine production is a slow and steady process. As one expert explains, it's not simply adding more water to the soup.

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'There’s this pent-up demand': Minnesota restaurants welcome the return of diners

Restaurant owners say Minnesotans are taking advantage of the return to in-person dining. The state's hospitality businesses got the go-ahead to reopen to limited indoor drinking and dining earlier this month. Though they might prefer opening at full capacity, they’re focused on avoiding a return to harsher restrictions.

Officer who quit Wisconsin police job under pressure joins nearby sheriff's dept.

In announcing the hire of former officer Joseph Mensah, Sheriff Eric Severson of Waukesha County acknowledged that "some have expressed concerns about Mr. Mensah's past uses of force."

Wisconsin Assembly cancels vote on repeal of mask mandate

Wisconsin's Republican-controlled Assembly on Thursday abruptly canceled a vote to repeal Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ mask mandate in the face of broad criticism from the state's health, school and business leaders and out of concern it would jeopardize more than $49 million in federal aid.

GameStop: How Reddit traders occupied Wall Street's turf

What the deal with GameStop? There's a good chance you have heard that question many times in the past few days. GameStop has seen its stock soar, driven higher by a group of amateur day traders on Reddit, who are taking on Wall Street hedge funds. The frenzy has gotten the attention of regulators and lawmakers.

Virus variant from South Africa detected in U.S. for 1st time

A new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa has been found in the United States for the first time, with two cases diagnosed in South Carolina, state health officials said Thursday.

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