When Minnesota House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson grabbed his lunch order from the west doors of the Capitol on Thursday, he realized he wouldn’t be able to do that in a week, because that entrance would no longer be open to the public.

“Obviously, not a big deal. It’s just particularly this year, that will be a constant reminder,” he said, pausing. “Because you can’t think about that without thinking about the why.”

“So, yeah, it’s a very, very different world that we are living in now,” Stephenson said.

State Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, talks to colleagues at the Capitol on June 9. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

The closure of public entrances and the addition of weapons detectors are among the security changes to the Capitol in response to the June 14 assassinations last year of Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the attempted assassinations of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, and their daughter, Hope.

The Hortmans’ dog, Gilbert, also died of wounds from the attack.

The 2026 session, starting Tuesday, is the first in decades without Melissa Hortman at the Capitol.

“All the things that people say about grief are true, but the firsts are hard,” said Stephenson, who met Hortman when he was 17.

She was his friend and mentor for over half his life. The two were frequently seen side by side around the Capitol.

On Thursday morning, lawmakers gathered for the first pension breakfast, an annual event with public sector unions to talk about pension issues. Stephenson said Hortman cared a lot about that issue.

“There were a lot of damp eyes in the room as we kind of reflected on how it was the first time we were gathering for that breakfast without her. And session will be obviously a much more significant first than the pension breakfast,” Stephenson said. “So it will be a big challenge.”

‘A fixture and a giant’

When Gov. Tim Walz delivered the news of Hortman’s assassination, he called her a “fixture and a giant” in Minnesota.

Her presence in the Capitol grew large in the 20 years she was there.

“She wasn’t a camera hog at all. Being in the limelight was not her favorite part of this job by any stretch of the imagination, but like, when she would walk into a room, people noticed,” Stephenson said.

After the 2024 election brought the House to a tie, Stephenson said Republicans told him they spent the bulk of their post-election caucus discussing “How do we make sure Melissa Hortman doesn’t outmaneuver us in the power-sharing negotiations?”

“They always thought she was playing 3D chess, and, I mean, sometimes she was, but a lot of the time she was just going about her day,” Stephenson said.

Who she was, as a lawmaker and a leader

“She put the work above the flash of politics. So I think a lot about that when I think about how Melissa would approach problems — she cared about doing the right thing,” Stephenson said.

She could get into the weeds, he said.

Hortman never sponsored the bill for permanent daylight saving time, but she always had her name on it.

“She hated the switch. She was not a morning person, and the switch was rough, and she thought it was stupid. I mean, she’s very practical, no-nonsense,” Stephenson said.

Her former adviser in the room added that she’d go to bed earlier or later to prepare for it.

But there was a woman from the west metro — a French woman who would write really long emails to everyone listed on the bill — saying the state shouldn’t be in permanent daylight saving time, it should be in permanent standard time.

The woman would cite health and other impacts, with several footnotes and citations.

“I wrote it off as, like, not a serious person, right? Like, not her constituent, not even a citizen of Minnesota. Not only does she [Hortman] read the thing, she was convinced by it. She then thought we should be on permanent standard time from then on,” Stephenson said.

At some point, Hortman grew to not care which time the state was on, just that there wasn’t a switch.

“It says a lot about who she was,” Stephenson said. “She could get into the weeds on anything and everything. Cared about just doing it the right way, even on stuff that most people would not care about.”

After the 2024 election delivered a tie in the House, the speakership was one of the shiny bargaining chips for lawmakers during power-sharing negotiations before the 2025 session.

Everyone close to Hortman said after the fact that she was ready to give up her speakership long before her caucus was.

Stephenson said Hortman was “pretty quick to elevate other people,” and that she didn’t need credit for “hardly anything.”

“And give other people credit, even if it was credit for things that she had accomplished,” Stephenson said. “I think a lot of leaders would think that that made them weaker … I don’t know if she just thought it was the right thing to do, or if it was more strategic, but it made her stronger, actually — elevating other people.”

Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud, left, and Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, right, talk as Rep. Danny Nadeau, R-Rogers, center, makes a case for a yes vote on the Health and Human Service Policy and Appropriation Bill during a special session at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on Monday, June 9, 2025. The Minnesota Legislature convened for a special session Monday to finish work on the 2026-2027 state budget. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

At the end of the 2025 session, Walz and Democrats agreed after weeks of negotiations with Republican leadership to repeal MinnesotaCare for undocumented immigrant adults in order to reach a budget deal and avoid a government shutdown.

Stephenson said he didn’t think Hortman should have to vote “yes” to the repeal alone.

“I called her and talked to her about it, and she was like, ‘You will not vote yes on this bill’ … ‘I’m the leader … It’s my job,’ ” Stephenson recalled, adding that he thinks sending a clear message to the public that the House DFL did not support the repeal was important to her.

That vote has since been the subject of false theories about her death. Her children, Sophie and Colin, have since come out to say how difficult the vote was for their mom, and that her “struggle with that vote makes this conspiracy all the more painful for me,” Colin said.

“We worked very hard to try to get a budget deal that wouldn’t include that provision, and we tried any other way we could to come to a budget agreement with Republicans, and they wouldn’t have it,” Hortman told the press with teary eyes after the vote, just days before her death. “So, you know, I did what leaders do, I stepped up and I got the job done for the people of Minnesota.”

Stephenson said Hortman would tell a story from the last time there was a significant shutdown, about a government worker who died by suicide after not being able to pay the mortgage.

“It weighed on her, like, if we have a shutdown, people are really gonna suffer,” he said.

Lawmakers looking to honor her

Hortman’s senior adviser said Hortman would fixate on the little trees along the path from the Capitol to the Centennial building.

“There’s not enough shade here, right?” she’d ask.

Planting more trees is one of the ways lawmakers are looking to honor her this session.

“Melissa really cared a lot about trees,” Stephenson said. “She loved trees. Wanted more trees … I think every committee chair is going to be trying to figure out a way. ‘Can we have trees in the education budget to put trees around the playgrounds, and trees in the transportation budget next to roads?’ ”

Stephenson said there will be many more bills to honor Hortman, such as proposing naming buildings or a highway after her. Lawmakers are also looking for avenues to honor Mark and Gilbert this session.

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said that as she gets closer to the start of the session, people are sending her photos of her and Hortman together.

“I think because they miss her. I miss her, too,” Murphy said. “And I guess she would say, ‘Roll up your sleeves and get to work.’ And maybe the best thing I can do to honor her is to bring what she taught me into the work, and focus on what we need to do for the people of Minnesota.”

Minnesota State Patrol members carry the casket of DFL Rep. Melissa Hortman before a funeral ceremony at the Basilica of Saint Mary on June 28, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Law enforcement agencies captured Vance Boelter on June 15th in connection with the killing of Rep. Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were shot at their home on June 14th. DFL State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot and hospitalized in a separate incident. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said during a press conference that the shooting “appears to be a politically motivated assassination.” (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

State lawmakers, Gov. Walz and others are expected to hold a remembrance for Hortman at the Capitol on the first day of the session.

Her photo and flowers will remain on her desk in the House Chamber for the whole session — along with the memorial outside the entrance to the chamber that is scattered with notes, flowers and photos from the public.

After June 14, politicians made a collective call to tone down the rhetoric in an effort to combat political violence. Stephenson said there have been so many unprecedented events since then, it could be harder to do that.

“It’s hard to compare to the baseline, because so much has happened, right? There’s June 14 itself, there’s Annunciation school shooting, there’s ICE, there’s a million other things going on, that all have amped up the emotion and the stakes that people feel right now,” he said.

“Even like the murder of Charlie Kirk has a lot of Republicans really amped up and amped up about things that Democrats said about that, right? All of this stuff raises people’s blood pressure in a way that would counteract that desire to tone down the rhetoric.”

The Minnesota House of Representatives Chief Clerk’s Office set flowers, a portrait and a gavel on Rep. Melissa Hortman’s desk in the House Chamber on June 14, 2025. Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home early June 14, 2025. (Andrew VonBank / Minnesota House of Representatives)

But one thing does give Stephenson hope: Melissa Hortman’s desk.

“Her desk will be a reminder, both quiet and loud; by which I mean, I hope that people … will see it and think about her, and think about that,” Stephenson said.

“But I also think that, if things get out of hand in the chamber, members will probably point to the desk, like actively in debate, ‘Hey, wait a minute.’ I expect there will be moments like that. So I have hope about that, about her desk in the chamber being a real, visceral reminder about this.”

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By MATTHEW LEE and JUSTIN SPIKE

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in the Hungarian capital on Monday for meetings with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government during which they plan to sign a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement heralded by President Donald Trump.

Trump has been outspoken in his support for the nationalist Orbán in the Hungarian leader’s bid for reelection in two months. Orbán and his Fidesz party are facing their most serious challenge in the April 12 vote since he retook power in 2010.

The stop in Hungary’s capital follows Rubio’s visit to Slovakia on Sunday, after he previously attended the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

Led by euroskeptic populists who oppose support for Ukraine and vocally back Trump, Slovakia and Hungary represent friendly territory for Rubio as he pushes to shore up energy agreements with both Central European countries.

Widely considered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most reliable advocate in the European Union, Orbán has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin despite its war against Ukraine while currying favor with Trump and his MAGA — short for the 2016 Trump campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” — movement.

Many in MAGA and the broader conservative world view Hungary as a shining example of successful conservative nationalism, despite the erosion of its democratic institutions and its status as one of the EU’s poorest countries.

In a post on his Truth Social site earlier this month, Trump endorsed Orbán for the coming elections and called him a “truly strong and powerful Leader” and “a true friend, fighter, and WINNER.”

Trump has praised Orbán’s firm opposition to immigration, exemplified by a fence his government erected on Hungary’s southern border in 2015 as hundreds of thousands of refugees fled Syria and other countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Other U.S. conservatives admire Orbán’s hostility to LGBTQ+ rights. His government last year banned the popular Budapest Pride celebration and allowed facial recognition technology to be used to identify anyone participating despite the ban. It has also effectively banned same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage, and disallowed transgender individuals from changing their sex in official documents.

Orbán has remained firmly committed to purchasing Russian energy despite efforts by the EU to wean off such supplies, and received an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy after a November meeting in the White House with Trump.

Apparently trusting that his political and personal affinity with the U.S. leader could pay even greater dividends, Orbán and his government have sought to woo Trump to Hungary before the pivotal April 12 elections — hoping such a high-profile visit and endorsement would push Orbán, who is trailing in most polls, over the finish line.

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More than ever, videos expose the truth. And cloud it, too.

Budapest has hosted several annual iterations of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and another was hastily rescheduled this year to fall in March, just before Hungary’s elections.

Details of the civilian nuclear deal were not known ahead of Monday’s signing in Budapest.

During his White House visit in November, Orbán had agreed to U.S.-Hungary cooperation in the civil nuclear industry, including the purchase of compact nuclear reactors — known as small modular reactors or SMRs — and spent fuel storage.

Hungary signaled it was ready to support construction of up to 10 SMRs with a potential value of up to $20 billion. Orbán also said Hungary would enter a nuclear fuel deal with U.S.-based Westinghouse to supply nuclear fuel for Hungary’s Russian-built Paks I nuclear plant.

Today is Monday, Feb. 16, the 47th day of 2026. There are 318 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 16, 1923, the burial chamber of King Tutankhamen’s recently unearthed tomb was unsealed in Egypt by English archaeologist Howard Carter.

Also on this date:

In 1862, the Civil War Battle of Fort Donelson in Tennessee ended with the surrender of some 12,000 Confederate soldiers; Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s victory earned him the moniker “Unconditional Surrender Grant.”

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In 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as premier of Cuba, six weeks after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown and fled the country into exile. Castro’s rise to power marked the start of Cuba’s transformation into a communist nation.

In 1960, the nuclear submarine USS Triton departed New London, Connecticut, on the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe by a vessel.

In 1996, 11 people were killed in a fiery collision between an Amtrak passenger train and a Maryland commuter train in Silver Spring, Maryland.

In 2018, special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russians and three Russian companies on charges of staging an elaborate plot to disrupt the 2016 U.S. presidential election via a social media trolling campaign, aimed in part at helping Donald Trump win the presidency.

In 2024, Russia’s prison agency announced that Alexei Navalny, activist and Russian opposition leader, had died in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism; Navalny’s death brought outrage and criticism from world leaders toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Today’s birthdays:

Businessman Carl Icahn is 90.
Author Eckhart Tolle is 78.
Actor William Katt is 75.
Actor LeVar Burton is 69.
Actor-rapper Ice-T is 68.
Tennis Hall of Famer John McEnroe is 67.
Football Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis is 54.
Olympic track and field gold medalist Cathy Freeman is 53.
Actor Mahershala Ali is 52.
Rapper Lupe Fiasco is 44.
Democratic Sen. John Ossoff of Georgia is 39.
Actor Elizabeth Olsen is 37.
Singer-actor The Weeknd is 36.
Actor Chloe East is 25.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Anthony Edwards won the Most Valuable Player award while leading his “Stars” team past their fellow Americans on the “Stripes” team 47-21 to win the final of the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday.

The Minnesota Timberwolves star claimed his first All-Star MVP award with a tying 3-pointer in the first round-robin game followed by eight points in the final, which was the only chapter without a dramatic late finish in this mini-tournament comprising the main event of All-Star weekend at the Los Angeles Clippers’ Intuit Dome.

The NBA’s fourth format in four years matched two teams of American All-Stars against a team representing the World, hoping to stoke nationalistic passion from players and fans during an Olympic year.

USA Stars guard Anthony Edwards lifts the MVP trophy after the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The slightly older Stripes had beaten the slightly younger Stars on De’Aaron Fox’s 3-pointer at the buzzer in the second 12-minute, round-robin game. But Edwards led the Stars to victory in the rematch with the Stripes, who appeared to run out of gas while playing in their third straight mini-game.

“We chose to compete today, and we came out on top,” Edwards said. “I ain’t going to lie, Wemby set the tone. He came out and played hard, and we had to follow that.”

Indeed, Victor Wembanyama effectively challenged his fellow All-Stars to take this game seriously, and they largely appeared to do it. Despite going 0-2, Wembanyama led the World team in scoring in both games with 14 points in the opener and 19 in the third game.

Along with the late-game theatrics, the event generally appeared to be played at a higher level of competitiveness than most All-Star Games in recent years, suggesting the league might have finally cracked the code on the long-standing question of how to make this midseason showcase more entertaining.

“It was a pretty good display of basketball,” Wembanyama said. “Better than last year, in my opinion. It was fun. … I think being honest with ourselves is good. It’s a game we love, it’s a game I personally cherish, so being competitive is the least I can do.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver thanked the All-Stars for playing hard when he presented the championship trophy to the Stars.

Kawhi Leonard thrilled his home crowd with a 31-point barrage for the Stripes in the final round-robin game, but he managed just one point in the final. Tyrese Maxey led the Stars with nine points in the clincher.

Scottie Barnes won the opening 12-minute game for the Stars with a game-ending 3-pointer in overtime, beating the World 37-36 after Edwards forced OT.

After Fox’s dagger in the second game, Leonard utterly dominated the third game before hitting a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left in the Stripes’ 48-45 victory.

The World team was loaded with talent, but NBA scoring leader Luka Doncic and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic both sat out its second game, likely to preserve the health of two superstars who have struggled with injury in the past month.

John Tesh took the court with his band before the game for a live rendition of “Roundball Rock,” the iconic 1990s theme song of “NBA on NBC,” to mark the league’s return to the network this season. That network partnership is also the reason the All-Star Game was an afternoon affair on the West Coast, because NBC airs the Winter Olympics at night.

The Intuit Dome crowd included former President Barack Obama, who received a standing ovation pregame.

First game

Edwards scored 13 points and forced overtime on a 3-pointer with 13.3 seconds left in regulation to begin the mini-tourney.

Edwards hit a 14-footer to begin the first-to-five-points overtime period. Wembanyama made a 3-pointer, but Raptors star Barnes ended it by draining his only shot of the game.

Karl-Anthony Towns added 10 points, but Norman Powell — a born-and-raised Californian who represents Jamaica internationally — missed a potential winning shot for the World at the regulation buzzer.

NBA scoring leader Doncic played the first 5:05 for the World in the opening game before sitting down. The Lakers superstar hadn’t played since Feb. 5 due to a hamstring strain, but he was determined to play after receiving his sixth All-Star nod.

Second game

Donovan Mitchell took a pass under the net from LeBron James and kicked it out to Fox on the perimeter for the winner.

Jaylen Brown led the Stripes with 11 points, and James scored eight to begin his record 21st All-Star appearance.

Edwards and Cade Cunningham scored 11 points apiece for the Stars.

“Old heads 1-0,” James said with a laugh. “We’ve got a lot of guys that have played a lot of basketball, so no matter what’s going on, we know how to keep our composure and execute.”

A few hours beforehand, the top scorer in NBA history said the game’s presence in the Los Angeles area meant “nothing, because this is not our building. This is a road game.”

Indeed, the Clippers fans in Intuit Dome booed James and Doncic whenever they touched the ball in the first two games.

Third game

Leonard thrilled his home crowd with a dynamic effort, going 11 of 13 and 6 of 7 from beyond the arc. The seven-time All-Star made his first seven shots with five 3-pointers amid raucous cheers from the extra-steep supporters’ section called The Wall behind one basket at this futuristic 18-month-old arena.

He was unstoppable despite a reasonable defensive effort from the World team led by Wembanyama, who scored 19 points before missing a tying 3-pointer attempt at the buzzer.

James put the Stripes ahead with 31 seconds left on a putback dunk, but Wembanyama hit two free throws to tie it before Leonard called game.

Jokic and Doncic didn’t play, leaving the World with just seven players.

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