America's year of reckoning ... In the city where George Floyd was killed a year ago today, calls to defund and dismantle the police are being drowned out by new calls to throw even more resources at the beleaguered department, Axios Twin Cities reporter Nick Halter writes.

• A surge in Minneapolis violence in the first half of 2021 has altered the conversation about policing in the city where national protests against racism and police brutality began.
• Last summer's pledge by a veto-proof majority of City Council members to dismantle the department was thwarted by a citizen commission, leaving that matter to be voted on in November.

Minneapolis has reported 32 homicides so far this year, up from 15 at this point last year and just eight for the same period of 2019.

• In the past month, three children, ages 10 and under, have been caught in the crossfire of gun violence. Last week, 6-year-old Aniya Allen, the granddaughter of an anti-gang activist, died from a shot to the head. The two other children remain hospitalized.

Why it matters: Efforts at major policing changes in Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota have been blocked, sidetracked and watered down over the past year. The recent crime surge could further slow momentum.

• Keep reading.

Americans are rushing back out into life, despite profound distrust of strangers' honesty about being vaccinated, Axios managing editor Margaret Talev writes from the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

• CDC confusion: Only one in five adults said the CDC has been "very clear" in its updated guidance. Half said it's "somewhat clear," while nearly one in three said it's not clear.

Among those who've been vaccinated, 47% say they're still wearing a mask at all times outside the home, a steep drop from 65% two weeks ago.

• Keep reading.

From competitions to send ordinary people to space, to ambitious Mars landings and Moon missions, space is increasingly accessible, Axios Space author Miriam Kramer writes.

• Why it matters: The public has never been presented with so many space choices.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is auctioning off a seat on its first crewed flight to suborbital space, expected to launch in July.

• The current high bid is $2.8 million, after thousands of people put in their own offers for the seat during the initial phase of the auction.
• Two competition TV shows — Space Hero and Who Wants to be an Astronaut? — are in various phases of production, with plans to give away a seat to space to a lucky winner.

The big picture: NASA is just one of many international and commercial space players, giving the public new ways to understand and engage with the usually insular space industry.

• All of these efforts are bringing the dawn of a new space age.

Keep reading.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken, landing at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv today, is greeted by Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.

The cost of school closures reaches into the trillions when you factor in long-term economic damage, Axios Future author Bryan Walsh writes.

• Researchers at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania calculated that learning loss from school closures will reduce U.S. GDP by 3.6% and hourly wages by 3.5% by 2050.
• That's a result of lowered labor productivity in the workers of tomorrow, to disrupted education and inferior remote learning.

Keep reading.

In his new book out today — "Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats' Campaigns to Defeat Trump" — The Atlantic's Edward-Isaac Dovere tells the story of a 2018 Four Seasons dinner in D.C. featuring the Democratic Party's top power players.

• The dinner's topic: "How do we put guardrails on the primary?

The donors had brought these people together because they wanted to make sure the party didn’t stumble into choosing Bernie Sanders — or almost as bad, Elizabeth Warren — as the nominee. ... No one who represented anyone near the progressive wing of the party was put on the guest list. That’s who the donors who had organized the dinner wanted to stop. ...

The primary was going to be huge. Anything they tried to do to steer it would probably backfire, and they would probably be found out and embarrassed first. Maybe, [Senate Minority Leader] Schumer suggested, they could get the candidates to agree to a pact to not attack one another.

At the far end of the table [former Virginia Gov. Terry] McAuliffe stood up, as he did every time he spoke, and said, "Good f------ luck with that."

Read an excerpt.

Texas is set to remove one of its last major gun restrictions after the Republican-dominated legislature voted to allow people to carry handguns without a license, background check or training, AP reports.

• Gov. Greg Abbott (R) says he'll sign it, despite objections by law enforcement groups, which say it'll endanger the public and police.
• Gun control groups note the state’s recent history of mass shootings.

The big picture: Texas will become the 21st state, and by far the most populous, to allow some form of unregulated carry of a handgun, the NRA — which strongly supports the measures — told Reuters.

• Gun-rights advocates call it a "constitutional carry" law.

Tribune Publishing shareholders approved a $630 million takeover of the newspaper company by Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for cutting journalists at local papers to maximize profits, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer writes.

• Alden, which owned one-third of Tribune, will control the Chicago Tribune, N.Y. Daily News, Baltimore Sun and other prominent local papers.
• Through its Digital First Media chain, Alden owns the Boston Herald, Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News. (AP)

"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on CBS will return June 14 to episodes with a full studio audience, AP's David Bauder writes.

• Audience members will have to provide proof that they have been vaccinated against COVID before attending shows at New York's Ed Sullivan Theater. Masks will be optional.

Colbert, the top-rated late-night performer, has produced 205 episodes without a live audience since the COVID shutdown in March 2020.

• He taped his first monologue from the bathtub of his South Carolina home. In August, he moved to a small studio at the Sullivan Theater offices, usually only with the show's executive producer, stage manager and occasionally Colbert's wife.

Jimmy Fallon has taped NBC's "Tonight" show before a partial studio audience (40% capacity) at Rockefeller Center since March 22. NBC says Fallon plans to have a full audience, fully vaccinated, in early June.

• ABC's Jimmy Kimmel has been doing shows back in his regular studio. At least some people are in the audience, but it isn't clear how many and who they are.
• Comedy Central's Trevor Noah has been recording socially distant versions of "The Daily Show" from his home. The show, currently on hiatus, plans to keep taping from Noah's home when it returns June 7.
• Fox News Channel's Greg Gutfeld started a late-night comedy show during the epidemic, with a small audience of about 15 people.

As our masks come off, The Wall Street Journal is calling it "The Great American Cleanup" (subscription):

Deodorant, teeth whitener and condoms are in high demand. Sales of perfume, nail polish, swimsuits, sunscreen, tuxedos, luggage and alarm clocks are climbing fast ... Beauty products ... were big sellers during the most recent quarter at Walmart Inc., finance chief Brett Biggs said.