Virtual learning to stick around beyond the pandemic

Good morning! Here are top headlines you should know to start your Tuesday.

Finally, the news we've all been waiting for: A warmup is coming this week, after more subzero hours today. Wind chill advisories is in effect for Minnesota through 9 a.m. this morning, for wind chills in the minus 25 to minus 35 range: Then temperatures advance slowly upward later this week into the weekend. Highs today will range from 2 below to 6 above zero across the state, with sunny skies. Get the latest from the Updraft weather blog.

After a year upended by the pandemic, some Minnesota schools consider leaving online learning as an option this fall.

February is usually a time when school leaders start planning their budgets and new hires for next year. While they hope for a return to in-person leaning come fall, many districts are planning to keep virtual learning a part of their regular life even after the pandemic -- due to the budget restraints caused by COVID-19-related enrollment decline, or simply because some students actually do better with online learning. The state's Education Department says the number of districts and charters applying to become a state-approved online learning provider has doubled this year. In Minnesota currently only about a quarter of schools have returned to full in- person teaching. Read more here.

COVID-19 vaccinations are up week over week in Minnesota, leading to a gradual upward trend.

More than 12 percent of Minnesotans have received at least their first COVID shot, according to the latest available data from Saturday. The increase in vaccinations are overwhelmingly concentrated among older Minnesotans, of whom nearly one-third have received at least one shot. With nearly 915,000 doses administered so far, the state is just short of its goal of 90 percent of doses within three days.

Other key metrics also remain hopeful: 97 percent of total cases have recovered; only two deaths newly reported Monday.

Congress will establish an independent commission to look into the U.S. Capitol insurrection, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says.

After former President Donald Trump's acquittal at his second impeachment trial, bipartisan support appeared to be growing for an independent commission to examine the deadly insurrection. In her letter Monday, Pelosi said, "It is clear from his findings and from the impeachment trial that we must get to the truth of how this happened," adding that she had asked retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré to lead an immediate review of the Capitol's security process.

At the Minnesota Capitol, Gov. Tim Walz’s plan to create a $35 million fund to pay for security around the upcoming Derek Chauvin hits a roadblock.

Democrats in the House couldn’t round up enough votes to pass the measure and divisions over who should pay and what standards police should be held to as they respond to protests continue in both the Senate and House chambers. Walz 's office says other law enforcement preparations for the trial will continue but officials will adjust plans accordingly if no bill is passed into law.

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— Jiwon Choi, MPR News MPRNews.org.