One year ago today, we sent out our first email. You can read it here. There was a mayoral forum, bike path paving, and an article about a Southwest football player. Which is all very familiar.

Thank you for reading, for your support, for telling your friends, and for making this all happen. If you all hadn't subscribed, we wouldn't still be around. We appreciate you, no matter what your relationship is with us. If you feel so inclined to give us a birthday present, consider becoming a paying member or making a donation to help support our work today.

We're throwing a birthday party on Thursday night at Williams. Yes, there will be cake. We would love to see you there. We'll also be swinging by the start of the Lake Street Bash down the street at the Granada Theater, which kicks off an hour before ours, if you want to do the same.

You should get to know the MPLS Piecycle Cluband their great website URL, pie.bike.

They have been organizing a casual group bike ride that is especially welcoming to families that are looking to get out on their bicycles more often. They were founded because they know that bicycling with kids (especially as part of a group ride) can be an intimidating thing, so they're creating an environment that is welcoming to people that are looking for more ways to ride. They want you to join them, and they're going to be integrating baked good into their rides, so you don't want to miss that.

If you want to join their next ride, the Lake of the Pisles: Group Ride kicks off from Bread & Pickle at the Lake Harriet Bandshell at 9 a.m. this Saturday.

Melissa's latest story for us is about ongoing staff vacancies at Patrick Henry High School and the incredible educators who are helping fill the gap while sounding the alarm about the need to address the problem with a long-term, structural solution.

The labor shortage is hitting a number of city departments at once, from the Parks department to the Police Department to schools to bus drivers and a whole lot else. This isn't unique to Minneapolis, as it's an issue facing governments at all levels across the country.

This piece gets at two key things that are needed – long-term solutions, and a sense of appreciation for the people that go to work every day to help our city function, many of whom are having to take on extra work and responsibilities. If you're reading this and that applies to you, thank you for doing what you do!

LINK ROUNDUP

Hennepin County recently helped fund its 10,000th affordable housing unit. (Star Tribune)

An insiders' guide to a few local restaurants including Kingfield's Apoy. (Heavy Table)

Get to know your neighborhood's trees with Tree Bingo. (Hennepin County)

Mental health workers are launching a three day strike at Allina's hospitals in the Twin Cities. (Minnesota Reformer)

Here are a few of the city's worst bike lanes. (Racket)

A lawsuit against the City of Minneapolis over police staffing levels has been dropped. As context, the city has increased funding for the police department every year, creating surpluses beyond what the department could actually spend, and the staffing shortage has been created by officers leaving the department. (Star Tribune)

Meet Terence Brown, a bus operations professional with Metro Transit. (Spokesman Recorder)

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

The Lowry Tunnel cleaning is ongoing through Wednesday. The tunnel will be closed from 10 p.m. - 5 a.m. each night during the cleaning.

Housing/Rent Stabilization Work Group meets for the second time at 11:30 a.m. at the Minneapolis Central Library. There will be a presentation on the group's roadmap by real estate firm NEEO Partners and another presentation from the city's Community Planning & Economic Development department.

Dunwoody College of Technology is holding a career fair today.

The Committee of the Whole meets at 1:30 p.m. and will discuss the executive mayor-legislative council government structure, colloquially known as the "strong mayor" system.

The school board is holding a special meeting at 5 p.m. regarding the superintendent search. This will be a regular monthly meeting through the school year.

OUT & ABOUT

Rad show alert: Ozone Creations, an Afrofusion group of first-generation Americans, performs with Kokou Kah, a Liberian-American artist tonight at Icehouse.

As a special birthday gift to Melody, Emo Night is happening at Up-Down tonight. DJs from Nashville who DJ an emo night there, are on tour (?!).

Dominic's Trip is playing at Driftwood, as they do every Tuesday at 7 p.m.

At Lakewood tonight, Processing Grief: A Sound Meditation at 6 p.m. "We will facilitate a meditative experience that can connect you with the emotions that may be just under the surface."

If you've ever wanted to try bringing your dog to Unleashed Hounds & Hops, tonight is the night. It's Newbie Tuesday!