The UK COVID variant has arrived in Minnesota

Good morning Minnesota,

While this week's forecast looks as cloudy as the first 10 days of 2021, we'll get some brief sunshine on Tuesday and it'll be pretty mild until the weekend. Today will be cloudy, with highs in the upper 20s to the mid-30s. Get the latest on the Updraft weather blog.

Round 2 of the impeachment saga is on: The House is poised to proceed with options to remove President Trump from office.

Calling the president a "threat" to democracy, Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she and other House leaders will first urge VP Mike Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment on Monday, and if that fails, the House would move to consider the articles of impeachment. Meanwhile, two Republican senators, Pat Toomey and Lisa Murkowski, are calling Trump to resign immediately over the Capitol violence last week.

Trump, now muzzled by Twitter and Facebook, is looking for a new online megaphone, but the search won't be easy.

The president said in a statement Friday that he's talking to various other sites after being banned from Twitter. The far right-friendly Parler was considered a likely alternative, but the app has been banned by Google and Apple, and Amazon decided to boot it off its hosting service. Another potential candidate, an app called Gab, is also banned on both App Store and Google Play, and has similar hosting problems, too. Trump may start his own platform but launching one would take quite a long time and much resource, experts say.

Pro-Trump and anti-fascist rallies took place in Minnesota over the weekend, remained largely peaceful.

About 100 Trump supporters gathered at the Minnesota State Capitol on Saturday, while a larger group of “anti-fascist community organizers,” self-identifying as “antifa,” marched down St. Paul’s Summit Avenue to the governor’s residence. There were no reports of violence at either protest, or clashes between the two groups.

Assume the new COVID-19 variant is circulating among cases in Minnesota, officials warn.

The new, more contagious coronavirus variant was first detected in Minnesota on Saturday. The five cases of the variant were reported in the Twin Cities area, and the onset of their illnesses was between Dec. 16 and Dec. 31. Health officials say the current vaccines seem to be effective against the variant, which was first detected in the U.K. in September.

In the meantime, case and death numbers over the weekend were relatively stable.

Minnesota reported 2,489 new cases on Saturday and 2,165 on Sunday. The latest data brought the state's test positivity rate down to 5.4 percent, below the average for the past week.

Starting today, restaurants and bars in Minnesota can reopen their doors to dine-in patrons, again.

Do you run a business or work for an establishment that's resuming indoor service? How are you feeling as you get ready for reopening? At 11 a.m. today, host Angela Davis will hear from the head of Minnesota's hospitality business association as well as owners and workers like you. Call 651-227-6000 or tweet @AngelaDavisMPR. during the live show to join the conversation.

🎧 Tune in to stay informed and connected. Here's what's coming up on MPR News today.