The newly installed Park Board elected Meg Forney as its President and Alicia D. Smith as its Vice President on Monday.

The board will be meeting today (agenda here) to discuss a few items, including a construction contract for the Minnehaha Park Refectory Building, an additional $67,000 for Cale America Inc. to install 56 new parking meters, and more. You can sign up to submit a comment here before 12 PM or watch the meeting here.

One interesting item on the new Administration & Finance Committee's agenda: they'll be voting on reauthorizing the State Patrol's office space agreement at Park Board headquarters through 2025. The previous board voted to suspend that arrangement before Mayor Frey vetoed their action last year.

Marion Greene, our representative for Southwest Minneapolis on the Hennepin County board,was reappointed as board chair yesterday. She's been the board's chair since 2019, and has served on the board since 2014.

Applications for the Step Up summer jobs program are now open. Step Up is a great program that pairs young people in Minneapolis with local employers. If you know a student or young person that's interested (anyone 14 - 21 years old that's not enrolled in college is eligible), they can apply here.

If you or your employer are interested in hosting a Step Up intern this summer, information on how to get involved or apply are here.

LINK ROUNDUP‍

Officials from Hennepin County and Avivo talk about what they're doing to help unhoused people sleeping outside as we face dangerously low temperatures. If you meet someone that needs help, Simpson Housing Services encourages you to call Adult Shelter Connect at 612-248-2350. (WCCO)

A story about the special Qur'an used to swear in three Minneapolis city council members, including new Ward 10 representative Aisha Chughtai. (Sahan Journal)

A tour of the Minneapolis composting program. (Mpls.St Paul.Magazine)

How Hennepin County was able to transition one man from homelessness to permanent housing, one of the 400 people they've done this for since 2020. (Minnesota Reformer)

In-person Reiki energy work is back at LynLake. Details on how to sign-up are here. (Instagram)

GET INVOLVED ‍

The Park Board is hosting another open house to discuss the draft Cedar-Isles Master Plan on Thursday, Jan. 6 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Here's a Zoom link to join then, and here's a refresher if you want to review the draft plans.

Want to play music in the parks this summer? Applications are now open across the city, including for events at Bryant Square Park and the Lake Harriet Bandshell in Southwest.

OUT & ABOUT ‍

Minneapolis artist Amina Harper and Anika Schneider will be hosting an artist talk about identity, process, and creativity on Instagram Live with SooVAC from 5-6 PM tonight.

A few local restaurants, including Pizzeria Lola (until Thursday) and Tilia & St. Genevieve (until Friday) announced they're briefly pausing operations this week amidst of the COVID surge.