With vaccinations declining in Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz is dangling fishing licenses, amusement park passes and gift cards to sweeten the pot.

By the numbers: The number of people receiving at least their first vaccine dose declined from a weekly peak of more than 280,000 in mid-April to fewer than 67,000 in mid-May, according to the Star Tribune.

• Walz is trying to increase our 61% vaccination rate for those 12+ past 70% by July 1.
• He's taking a different approach than some other governors, who are holding lotteries with prizes of $1 million or more.

How it works: The first 100,000 Minnesotans to receive their first dose between May 27 and June 30 can take their pick of:

• One entrance pass to the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth.
• A 30-point ride pass at Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America.
• A Minnesota resident annual fishing license.
• One Minnesota State Parks annual pass.
• One adult admission at the Minnesota Zoo.
• One reserved ticket to attend a Northwoods League baseball game in Mankato, Duluth, Rochester, St. Cloud or Willmar.
• Two admission tickets to the State Fair.
• One Valleyfair admission ticket, plus additional tickets at a discount
• A $25 Visa Card.

Beginning Tuesday, Minnesotans can verify their first dose and indicate their preferred vaccine reward at mn.gov/covid19/summer.

• Walz said the prizes will be paid for by federal COVID relief funds. He didn't rule out another round of perks.
• And you might want to act fast. At our current vaccination rate, all of the prizes will be gone within a week and 40% of them will go to teenagers, according to MPR's David Montgomery.

Minneapolis City Council did a rare thing this month: It subsidized market-rate housing.

Driving the news: The city will provide $3.9 million in tax-increment financing for developer Tim Baylor's Satori Village project on the 800 block of West Broadway Avenue.

• 80% of the project's 112 housing units will be market rate.

Why it matters: Baylor, a former Vikings player, said previously that too much low-income housing has been concentrated in North Minneapolis, arguing the area desperately needs a mix of housing for people with a variety of incomes.

The state of play: The $60 million project is part of a $125 million boom in construction on West Broadway, which is still rebuilding from last summer's unrest, when nearly 100 businesses were damaged and nine were destroyed.

• The corridor's cultural hub, the Capri Theater, recently completed a $12.5 million renovation and expansion. It will officially reopen in October but it has begun holding events, including a plaza performance by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra on Thursday at 6pm.

In the food desert of North Minneapolis, the Cub Foods store that was damaged and looted reopened in April with a new model for dealing with shoplifting, as KARE 11 reported.

How it works: Cub has hired community group We Push for Peace to greet customers and respond to shoplifting, rather than call the police.

• "In the past, you know, you had grocery stores calling the police because somebody was stealing a bag of potato chips," We Push For Peace CEO Trahern Pollard told KARE. "That’s not necessary."
• Cub has expanded the program to four more urban locations.

On Monday, the nation will pause to honor and grieve the military men and women who died while serving their country.

• The toll of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice includes tens of thousands of Minnesota natives.

Here's a look at how many Minnesota residents died during major conflicts throughout U.S. history:

• The Civil War: More than 2,500. At least 200 were killed or wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg alone.
• World War I: More than 3,600, including about 1,400 in battle.
• World War II: About 6,000 of the 326,000 who served.
• Korea: Roughly 700, though 171 more were declared missing.
• Vietnam: More than 1,070 died in combat.
• Afghanistan and Iraq: 29 died in Afghanistan and 68 in Iraq, according to the Minnesota Department of Veteran's Affairs.

Of note: The Minnesota VA will observe the holiday virtually again this year, with a 30-minute program scheduled to air on TPT at 8pm Monday.

Minneapolis has been dethroned by Washington, D.C., atop the Trust for Public Land's annual index of park systems in the U.S., which was released yesterday.

• To add insult to injury, Minneapolis fell to third place after getting passed by rival St. Paul, which inched from third to second.

How it works: 100 park systems are ranked on metrics like accessibility, amenities, acreage, investment and equity.

• See the full results.

🖥 Best Buy had worried about a post-pandemic sales slowdown, but the retailer posted a strong first quarter and raised its outlook for the rest of the year. (Star Tribune)

🐣 Blue Door Pub quietly decided not to reopen its Lyn-Lake location, but the good news is that star chef Justin Sutherland announced on Instagram he is opening a fried chicken joint, Side Chicks, in the old space. (Instagram)

🍗 Raising Cane's, whose drive-thrus have a seemingly never ending line of cars, is opening five more Minnesota restaurants — in Minneapolis, Brooklyn Park, Roseville, Maplewood and St. Cloud. (Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal)

🔥 More than 1,000 buildings were burned or damaged in last summer's riots. Criminal charges have been filed in connection with just 11 of them. (Minnesota Reformer)

Kevin Act will play Minnesota native and author Matt Logelin in the  movie "Fatherhood," set for a June 18 release on Netflix.

Context: Logelin's wife, Liz, also a Minnesotan, died 27 hours after delivering the couple's daughter Maddy, according to a KARE 11 feature on the family.

• Logelin, who lives in Los Angeles now, blogged about raising his daughter without his wife, and then wrote a book about it, which is the basis for the movie.