Minnesota briefs: Bois Forte Band's mobile clinic delivers vaccines

The Bois Forte Band's "mobile vaccine machine" made trips to Duluth and Minneapolis on Thursday and Friday to administer doses to tribal members living throughout the state.

The northeastern Minnesota tribal government used CARES Act funding to purchase an ambulance rigged with a small freezer to transport vaccines.

"It's very important that we try to reach everybody," Tribal Chairwoman Cathy Chavers said in a weekly COVID-19 video update.

Band members had to preregister for a shot at one of the Bois Forte urban offices. Their descendants and household members were also eligible for inoculation at the mobile sites.

The "vaccine machine" will return to Duluth and Minneapolis in mid-April to distribute second doses.

Chavers said Thursday that Bois Forte had distributed 2,100 vaccines, which the federal Indian Health Service agency allocates to the band.

Katie Galioto

One of downtown's main drags will close to traffic again this spring to allow for expanded outdoor dining.

Last year, St. Cloud closed one block of S. Fifth Avenue between St. Germain Street and S. First Street, just north of Minnesota Highway 23, as restaurants reopened for outdoor dining after being shut down at the start of the pandemic.

The city will again close that stretch of Fifth Avenue beginning April 1 to allow more space for patrons as the weather gets warmer.

"We intend to do this every year," said Dave Kleis, St. Cloud mayor. Earlier this month, Gov. Tim Walz loosened restrictions to allow restaurants to open at 75% capacity.

Restaurants along St. Germain Street, which will remain open to traffic, will be allowed to expand outdoor dining on sidewalks or into parking spaces to allow for more tables and for those tables to be more spread out.

Kleis said the city is working with the businesses to spruce up the barriers that surround the dining areas. So instead of just concrete blocks with strings, expect fencing painted by local artists or wraps donated by sponsors.

Searles on Fifth Ave owner Darin Agnew said the extra space expanded his outdoor capacity from 12 seats to 50.

"It was amazing last year," Agnew said. "It kept what wasn't normal kind of normal."

The road is slated to be closed to traffic through Nov. 1, but the city could reopen Fifth Avenue earlier if a cold October keeps patrons from eating outside, Kleis said.

JENNY BERG