Gov. Tim Walz has ordered all U.S. and state flags to be flown at half-staff for two days this week to honor and remember the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., who died Feb. 17. He was 84.

All U.S. and state flags on state buildings will be flown at half-staff from sunrise Wednesday to sunset on Thursday.

“Reverend Jackson spent his life pushing America to live up to its highest ideals,” Walz said in a news release. “His fight for civil rights, dignity, and fairness changed our country and will inspire generations to come. Gwen and I extend our deepest condolences to the Jackson family and to all who mourn his passing.”

Related Articles

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who led the Civil Rights Movement for decades after King, has died at 84

Jackson rose to national prominence in the civil rights movement, becoming a protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and joining the voting rights march King led from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.

He will lie in repose this week at the Chicago headquarters of his Rainbow PUSH Coalition. His body will then travel to South Carolina and Washington, D.C., for more celebrations of his life. A public service will be held in Chicago at House of Hope on March 6, followed by private homegoing services the next day at Rainbow PUSH, which will be livestreamed.

“His work touched Minnesota through efforts like advocating for farmers, encouraging voter registration, and standing with communities after the killings of Philando Castile, George Floyd, and Daunte Wright,” according to the release from the governor’s office.

The governor’s office encouraged individuals and organizations to join in lowering their flags.

Related Articles

Minnesota police department to use AI to generate reports

Small-town Minnesota wine gets international attention

MSP flights to Puerto Vallarta impacted following cartel-related violence

‘It felt like a foreign invasion’: How St. Paulites are defying Metro Surge

Joe Soucheray: We keep electing people who merely intend to be important. Which stinks.

NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA told the players’ union that it needs to get a deal in place by March 10 to start the season on time at a virtual collective bargaining agreement negotiating session Monday, a person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.

With an expansion draft for two teams needed to get done, as well as 80% of the league free agents, there’s plenty to get accomplished and little time to do it. A delay would hurt both sides.

The season is supposed to start May 8 and every game missed is lost revenue, sponsorships, television money and fan support. Monday’s meeting was the first between the sides that involved players and the league since they met at the WNBA offices on Feb. 2. Because of the winter storm that hit New York, it was decided to hold the meeting virtually.

Over 50 players were on the call, which lasted nearly two hours, the person said.

The two sides are still far apart on revenue sharing and housing, and the clock is ticking. The league said in the meeting on Monday that it would need to have at least a handshake agreement by March 10 for there not to be a delay to the start of the season.

The league, in its latest proposal that was sent Friday, offered 70% net revenue for the players. That came after the union had asked for an average of 27.5% of the gross revenue over the course of the CBA, beginning with 25% in the first year of the new deal. In its previous offer, the union had asked for an average of more than 30%.

The league at that point said in a statement the revenue sharing percentage remained unrealistic and would cause “hundreds of millions of dollars of losses for our teams.”

Also on Monday, the union confirmed to the AP that the WNBA will give its players $8 million from revenue sharing from last season as the league generated enough to trigger revenue sharing for the first time in league history. ESPN was the first to report the move.

The players will decide how much each player will receive from that distribution. The union has 60 days from Feb. 9, when it was officially notified of the revenue sharing money, to come up with how it will disperse the funds.

That money will be distributed by the teams, which will then be reimbursed by the league. Under the 2020 CBA that has since expired, players received 50% of shared revenue — defined in the CBA as the amount of revenue that’s above a predetermined threshold amount minus 30% for expenses.

Neither the league nor the union would say what that threshold is. The league has had in nearly all of its proposals that it would do away with the threshold needed to be reached for revenue sharing.

In its latest offer, the league said teams would continue to pay for housing for all players this season, another person familiar with the negotiations told the AP on Saturday. The person also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.

After that, franchises would pay for housing for players on minimum salary contracts, rookies in their first season and the two developmental players teams would be allowed to have.

The union had asked for teams to continue paying for housing for players in the first few years of the new agreement, but in the last two years of the CBA the franchises would no longer have to pay for housing for players who are making near the maximum salary.

Related Articles

2-time WNBA champion Kara Braxton dies at 43 after being in a car crash

In the Land of 10,000 Sports Heartaches, who left to win a championship?

Lynx guard Kayla McBride tears quad

Paige Bueckers pledges $50,000 to help children and families in Hopkins

WNBA, players’ union agree to moratorium, halting initial stages of free agency

By JOHN WAWROW and MELISSA GOLDIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. women’s hockey gold medal-winning team has politely declined an invitation from President Donald Trump to attend his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Related Articles

US military strikes alleged drug boat in Caribbean Sea, killing 3

Education Department hands off more of its responsibilities to other US agencies

ICE officer training is ‘deficient’ and ‘broken,’ former agency lawyer tells congressional forum

RFK Jr. fought pesticides for years. Now he’s backing their production

France moves to bar US Ambassador Charles Kushner from direct government access

“We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal–winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” the U.S. women’s team said in a statement released Monday. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate. They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment.”

Trump also invited the U.S. men’s gold medal-winning team.

Scheduling will be a challenge as the NHL regular season resumes with five games on Wednesday and the PWHL resumes on Thursday.

Logistics played a role in the decision, as many of the women players were not scheduled to arrive in North America until Monday evening. The men’s team flew by charter to Miami earlier Monday. The women took a commercial flight and were scheduled to land in Atlanta.

A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that the women’s players didn’t learn of the invite until late Sunday night, making it difficult to change their travel plans. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the team’s travel plans.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of both teams.

When extending the invitation to the men’s team on Sunday night, Trump said, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that.” Trump joked that if he did not also invite the women’s team, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”

United States players and coaches stand during the playing of the national anthem after winning the women’s ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The Olympic tournament featured two thrilling medal finals, both ending in overtime, with the American women beating Canada 2-1 in the gold medal game on Thursday. The U.S. men beat Canada on Sunday.

“It’s been a whirlwind, it’s been amazing. It’s a dream of ours, it was such an amazing way to unite the country,” Matthew Tkachuk of the U.S. men’s team said after arriving in Miami.

“We felt the support being across the Atlantic and now being back on home soil we could feel it the second the wheels hit the ground. So excited to be back in the greatest country in the world and so excited to celebrate.”

Tkachuk said it was an honor to hear from Trump after the win. “And so we are definitely honored to represent him and the millions and millions across the country.”

Vice President JD Vance attended two of the U.S. women’s preliminary round wins with his family over the first week of the Games.

AP writers Stephen Whyno, Charles Odum in Atlanta, and Freida Frisaro in Miami contributed to this report.

AP Winter Olympic: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

By Dana Hull, Bloomberg News

Jeffrey Epstein attempted to bring three women who were foreign nationals along with him for a tour of SpaceX’s headquarters in 2013, emails released by the U.S. Justice Department show, an effort that raised security concerns within the Elon Musk-run company.

Related Articles

US military strikes alleged drug boat in Caribbean Sea, killing 3

Education Department hands off more of its responsibilities to other US agencies

ICE officer training is ‘deficient’ and ‘broken,’ former agency lawyer tells congressional forum

RFK Jr. fought pesticides for years. Now he’s backing their production

France moves to bar US Ambassador Charles Kushner from direct government access

The women, described in various emails as Epstein’s “assistants” or “girls,” included two Russians and a South African, according to correspondence between Lesley Groff, Epstein’s longtime executive assistant, and Mary Beth Brown, Musk’s former aide. While Epstein went on the tour, which included lunch with Musk, the emails suggest the women were not allowed past the lobby.

The visit is another example of the ways Epstein sought to ingratiate himself and his associates with high-profile people, pushing boundaries even after the convicted sex offender was released from jail in 2009. While Epstein died behind bars in 2019 in what authorities ruled a suicide, the recent release of millions of pages of his personal correspondence has pulled back the curtain on how he operated.

There have been prior reports that Epstein visited SpaceX’s Hawthorne, California, facility, but the circumstances surrounding his planned entourage add a new wrinkle.

SpaceX, which ferries astronauts to and from the International Space Station for NASA and launches satellites for commercial customers and the U.S. military, is subject to strict rules under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Access to SpaceX facilities is often restricted to U.S. citizens because the company’s rockets and spacecraft are considered defense-related technology.

The company did not respond to requests for comment from Bloomberg News and has previously denied that Epstein had ever visited. Musk posted on social media in July 2020 that Epstein “never toured SpaceX” to the best of his knowledge.

The new trove of emails, released Jan. 30 of this year, shows more than 20 emails over multiple days involving Epstein’s and Musk’s assistants — and some involving the men themselves — to plan the February 2013 visit. In one, Musk advised Epstein on the best airport to fly into to get to SpaceX’s headquarters quickly.

After Epstein’s assistant reached out directly to Musk on Feb. 19 of that year, Musk’s assistant responded the next day, “Shall we organize a lunch for Elon and Jeffrey to get together at SpaceX in the coming weeks?” They settled on lunch on Feb. 25 and traded several more emails discussing whether Musk would like to visit Epstein’s ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico (Musk was busy and declined the invitation); dietary restrictions for the planned lunch; and details of who would accompany Epstein to SpaceX.

“Jeffrey is a U.S. citizen but he will have assistants with him who are not,” Groff wrote in one email. “They all have passports and proper paper work. I’m pretty sure he will bring them all with him. Will this be ok?”

Musk’s aide requested scans of their passports for security clearance and asked whether they would all dine with Musk. Later that day, after confirming receipt of the passports, she followed up to say that they would not be able to clear the foreign nationals for a full tour.

“They are welcome to come into the lobby area/conference room adjacent to the lobby,” Musk’s aide wrote. “I’m happy to provide lunch but they will be unable to enter the main facility.”

The emails suggest Epstein did bring the women to SpaceX — one sent the day of the visit said Epstein and three of his assistants would be attending — but it’s not clear how far into the facility they went.

On Feb. 26, the next day, Epstein emailed Musk directly: “thanks for the tour, you would have had fun at xmas.”

Musk responded, “I see,” with a smiling face emoji.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.