Now that Gov. Tim Walz has laid out a plan for a full reopening, businesses across the Twin Cities are gearing up for full operations.

• But don't expect life to immediately return to normal on May 28, when all COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and gatherings are lifted.

State of play: Reopening takes time for restaurants, music venues and sporting events. And some business owners say they wish Walz would have given them more lead time to get ready.

Restaurants: The good news is that they will be unfettered by restrictions on May 28, but the bad news is that many are having a hard time finding enough workers.

• With staffing shortages, Northbound Smokehouse can't open for lunch and Saint Dinette is not open on Mondays and Tuesdays, the two restaurants said on Twitter.
• Look for some exciting newcomers that opened recently, including Jorge Guzman's Petit Leon in Kingfield and Ann Kim's Sooki & Mimi in Uptown. Daniel del Prado opened two new spots: Sanjusan in Minneapolis and Josefina in Wayzata.
• The Butcher's Tale, from the owners of Crave restaurants, is opening in the former Butcher & The Boar spot on Hennepin Avenue on Wednesday.

Office buildings: Companies are finally bringing workers back to the office. Just last week, 23.3% of downtown Minneapolis employees went into the office. That's up from about 15% over the last several months, according to the Minneapolis Downtown Council.

Sports: The Twins can now hold up to 40,000 people at Target Field and will gradually up their capacity. The Wild will have 4,500 fans for a while and could go as high as 20,000 if they stay alive in the playoffs.

• The July 22-24 3M Open in Blaine will no longer have to limit its attendance to 10,000 and can fill up its pricey VIP tents.

Concerts: Music venues were happy to see the restrictions lifted, but First Avenue GM Nate Kranz told the Star Tribune that he wishes the announcement came earlier because the company's venues need time to staff up and book shows.

• For the rest of the summer, First Avenue will focus on booking local and regional acts and then in September the touring acts will be back.

Theater: It takes a long time to ramp up to put on a play or musical, so theaters don't have shows booked until the fall.

• Hennepin Theater Trust brings back Broadway shows in October and the Guthrie starts “A Christmas Carol” in November.
• In the meantime, Hennepin Theater Trust is trying to book bands for this summer in hopes that it will make sense for some touring acts to add a Minneapolis stop, said spokesman Dale Stark.

Bottom line: The Twin Cities is coming back to life, but slowly.

Lawmakers at the state Capitol are once again scrambling to puzzle together a massive two-year budget, ahead of a May 17 adjournment deadline.

• With a week to go, Democrats in the House and Republicans in the Senate remain fairly far apart on what to spend, who to tax and a number of major policy issues.

The state of play: If they don't reach a deal by the 17th, they'll have to return for a special session to get it done. But the real deadline is June 30 — after that, state government would shut down without a deal.

Between the lines: It's not unusual for legislators to wait until the last minute to reach accord.

So what should you expect? Here's a look at when a final agreement passed in recent sessions (Note biennial budgets are passed in odd-numbered years).

• 2019: About 7am on May 25, five days after the May 20 adjournment.
• 2017: At 2:42am on May 26, four days after the May 22 adjournment. An agreement that passed earlier in the session was vetoed by then-Gov. Mark Dayton.
• 2015: June 12, nearly a month after the May 18 adjournment. Like in 2017, a special session was held after Dayton vetoed part of a deal that passed in May.

A home that was part of Mayo Clinic co-founder Dr. Henry Plummer's massive estate has hit the market for the first time in 34 years.

The details: Built in 1926, the home was a pump house for the Plummer family and now has modern touches, four bedrooms, three bathrooms and 3,000 square feet of finished space.

• It's listed at $550,000 by Julie Glass-Yares and Michael Korby of Edina Realty.
• As of Sunday it had over 160,000 views on Zillow.

The intrigue: The Rochester home comes with 3,600 square feet of caves nestled under a hillside behind the house.

• Water was pumped (hence, pump house) down to the tunnels and up to a nearby water tower to service the Plummer estate, according to Korby.

🏀 The deadline for Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore to sign a deal to buy the Timberwolves is this week. In a long profile of the two, The Athletic says the deal is still on track. (The Athletic)

⚖️ Long focused on consumer protection, Keith Ellison is making the Minnesota Attorney General's office into a major player in criminal justice. (Star Tribune)

🍽 The former Mission Kitchen space in IDS Center will soon be home to Noa, which will serve seasonal California cuisine. (Star Tribune)

🚨 An unarmed traffic enforcement division is part of the Brooklyn Center mayor's proposed overhaul of the city's police department. (KSTP)

Our Axios Twin Cities family has grown: Torey and her husband Chase welcomed a baby boy into the world last week! She sent along this update. 

Jack, born Tuesday, is doing great so far. He enjoys eating and snoozing, just not necessarily in his bassinet at night. 

• Torey and Chase are totally smitten and drinking a lot of cold brew as they adjust to the new sleep-deprived state of being. 
• Their dog Kirby is ... still processing (and working on his babysitting skills). 

Torey's thought bubble: Labor and delivery pros — especially nurses and anesthesiologists — are my new heroes! Shoutout to the team at the Mother Baby Center for taking excellent care of our entire family.

What's next: Torey's on maternity leave until mid-July.