A City Council-staff retreat is closed to the public, officials said, because it is being classified as a “training” and is therefore exempt from Open Meeting Law.

Newly planted saplings are growing in a small lot in The Port neighborhood where an affordable-housing developer cut down mature trees a year ago to make room for bike storage, after telling city zoning regulators there were no trees there.

New City Manager Yi-An Huang would like to add City Hall leadership positions by the end of the year, and got little pushback Monday on the plans even from hesitant city councillors. Instead, councillors reminded him of the body’s wishes for adding a potential fourth position.

The elimination of parking minimums citywide took another step Monday toward becoming law. It got an 8-1 vote by the City Council to go to a second and final reading despite the addition of two amendments.

After extensively upgrading school ventilation starting in 2020 to prevent Covid-19 transmission, Cambridge Public Schools have changed how it’s monitored.

A 34-year-old Cambridge man was shot early Monday in Central Square, police said. It was the year’s 12th gunfire incident, but only the second with a victim.

The optimism over a reopening of the Cambridge Birth Center shown at a Wednesday rally was overblown or at least premature, according to a letter sent to city councillors.

Public meetings this week look at reshaping City Hall with new positions and changing how developer “linkage” fees pay for affordable housing; plans for The Middle East nightclub and restaurant complex; deciding the days for “Riverbend Park”; and much more.

Attend meetings on a new public safety building, protected bike lanes on Holland Street, high school policing, land being turned over by Boynton Yards and more.

The number of new Covid-19 infections continues to mount in some Cambridge nursing homes and assisted-living centers, where residents face high risk because of age and poor health. after months when there were few in long-term care facilities here.