Welcome to 2021's first week under day light saving time! Here's top news headlines to start your Monday with:

Too early to say bye to the winter yet: Heavy snow for southern Minnesota today. Forecast snow amounts are highest in southwestern and south-central Minnesota, where some 5 to 8-plus-inch inch totals are possible; 1 to 3 inches are expected for the Twin Cities area. The snow may be mixed with drizzle/freezing drizzle. Highs today will range from the lower 30s to the mid-40s. Find the latest on Updraft.

Starting noon today, you can get together with your friends and family in a larger group, without the limit on the number of households.

Among other changes that take effect today to Minnesota's COVID-19 restrictions: 

• Bars and restaurants will be allowed to serve customers at 75 percent capacity, up to 250 people

• Salons, barber shops and churches won’t have capacity limits at all

• Gyms, fitness centers and indoor entertainment venues will be open up to 50 percent capacity, up to 250 people.

• Larger outdoor venues, like Target Field, will open at 50 percent capacity, with a cap of 250 people

We answer more of your questions on Minnesota's latest, more lenient virus rules in this FAQ piece (good to bookmark it as we continue to update it with more questions and answers!) And if we’ve missed something: Let us know. Share your questions here, and we’ll track down the answer. 

At 9 a.m. this morning, a physician and an immunology expert will sort through the latest news on COVID-19 and take audience questions on MPR News with Kerri Miller. Call in at 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828 during the live show to share your questions with us. 

Minnesota reached a new record pace of vaccinations over the weekend.

The state now administers more than 43,000 doses daily on average, according to the latest data from the Health Department. But that welcome news was accompanied by an uptick in the number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Here are Minnesota’s latest COVID-19 statistics: 

• 6,746 deaths (five new)
• 497,392 positive cases; 97 percent off isolation
• 22.3 percent of Minnesotans with at least one vaccine dose
• 74.9 percent 65 and older with at least one vaccine dose

With half the needed jurors seated, Week 2 of the Derek Chauvin trial begins.

Five men and two women have been seated, and seven more people need to be selected to round out the jury of 12 plus two alternates. Jury selection continues Monday in the trial, but more arguments over pretrial motions are expected first this morning. Chauvin's attorney has said  he's still planning to argue in favor getting a 2019 arrest of George Floyd admitted as evidence in the trial. The presiding judge has previously ruled the incident irrelevant to Chauvin’s trial. 

You can watch today's court proceedings live on MPRNews.org or our Facebook page, starting at 8 a.m.

A recap of Week 1: Catch up with what's happened so far in the Chauvin trial, in just a few minutes.

Over the weekend, we launched a new Saturday edition of Minnesota Today to bring you the highlights and takeaways from the trial of Derek Chauvin. You can listen to the first episode of the special edition here to learn more about the latest developments in the trial so far. 

The cold snap last month was too cold for many people -- also for invasive emerald ash borers 

A month ago, Minnesota was locked in temperatures well below zero. A silver lining of that February cold snap may be that it caused a big setback for the destructive emerald ash borer's spread across Minnesota forests.

Your $1,400 direct payment is on your way, if not received already. 

IRS said on Friday that processing of the new round of stimulus payments had already begun, with the aim of having the first payments start showing up in bank accounts over the weekend. The latest round of relief payments will provide households with $1,400 for each adult, child and adult dependent, and the amount goes down for an individual once adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000.

Correction: In Friday's newsletter, I mentioned that the governor's State of the State address was this past Sunday. It's actually scheduled for this coming weekend, on the evening of March 21, Sunday.

— Jiwon Choi, MPR News | Find me on Twitter @ChoiGEE1