Minnesota legislators will meet Thursday for action on COVID-19 relief

Minnesota legislators who have been working outside the public eye to reach a deal on COVID-19 relief say they will convene Thursday at the Capitol to approve the aid.

While lawmakers have essentially recessed until mid-April because of the COVID-19 emergency, members of the state House disclosed details Tuesday of meetings they have been holding for the past week to discuss bills ranging from driver's license expiration forgiveness to child care policy proposals related to the coronavirus.

They are also reviewing Gov. Tim Walz's proposal to spend an additional $356 million on COVID-19 response.

Walz's supplemental budget proposal would include money to help child care centers, food shelves, homeless shelters and veterans weather the pandemic. It would create a $200 million COVID-19 fund in the state treasury that state agencies could use broadly to respond to the pandemic. The fund could be used to pay for increased staff and health care needs in prisons, or overtime for people working with direct care and treatment programs that serve people with developmental disabilities, mental illness and addiction.

"Legislative leaders have agreed to reconvene on Thursday. We are continuing to work closely with the Walz Administration on urgent COVID-19 matters to protect the health and well-being of Minnesotans. We will publicly release details on specific legislation on the House and Senate websites as soon as we can," Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Senate Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said in a joint statement.

For lawmakers to pass the relief bills on Thursday and send them to Walz for his signature still requires the politically divided Legislature to strike a deal.

Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said in a statement that Minnesotans are facing significant medical concerns and financial hardships and the House's goal is to pass legislation to safeguard people's health and economic well-being.

She released an outline Tuesday of informal working group meetings that have taken place via conference calls that were not open to reporters and the public. She said the House is trying to create opportunities for people to engage in the process, possibly by making committee hearings available to the public online. For now, people can submit comment forms on the state's website or reach legislators to share their thoughts.

Thousands of people have contacted DFL House members and heard back in the past week, Hortman said.

As lawmakers gather this week, Hortman and Gazelka said they will follow Minnesota Department of Health guidelines to keep legislators, staff and the public safe.

Jessie Van Berkel • 651-925-5044

ANKARA, Turkey — A fire raged through a 12-story hotel at a popular ski resort in northwestern Turkey early Tuesday during a school holiday, killing at least 76 people — at least two of them when they jumped from the building to escape the flames, officials said.

At least 51 people also were injured in the fire at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province's Koroglu mountains, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Istanbul, said Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The fire occurred near the start of a two-week winter break for schools, when hotels in the region are packed.

''Our hearts are broken. We are in mourning, '' Yerlikaya told reporters outside the hotel. ''But you should know that whoever is responsible for causing this pain will not escape justice."

Atakan Yelkovan, a hotel guest staying on the third floor, told the IHA news agency there was chaos on the upper floors as other guests tried to escape, including by trying to climb down from their rooms using sheets and blankets.

''People on the upper floors were screaming. They hung down sheets ... Some tried to jump,'' Yelkovan said.

Yerlikaya said 45 of the 76 people killed have been identified while efforts to identify the other victims were continuing.

''Forty-five bodies were delivered to their families. We could not (immediately) identify the others,'' Yerlikaya said, adding that the emergency response teams would conduct a final search for victims on Wednesday.

Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said at least one of the injured was in serious condition, while 17 other people were treated and released.

The hotel had 238 registered guests, Yerlikaya said. The fire was reported at 3:27 a.m. and the fire department began to respond at 4:15 a.m., he told reporters.

The government appointed six prosecutors to lead an investigation into the blaze, which is believed to have started in the hotel's restaurant section. Nine people have been detained as part of the investigation into the fire, Yerlikaya said. Earlier, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said the hotel's owner was among the people detained for questioning in the probe.

At least two of the victims died when they jumped from the building in panic, Gov. Abdulaziz Aydin told the state-run Anadolu Agency earlier. Those killed included Nedim Turkmen, a columnist for Sozcu newspaper, his wife and two children, the newspaper announced.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a day of national mourning to be observed on Wednesday. All flags at government buildings and Turkish diplomatic mission abroad would be lowered to half-staff, he said.

Necmi Kepcetutan, a ski instructor at the hotel, said he was asleep when the fire erupted and he rushed out of the building. He told NTV television that he then helped some 20 guests out of the hotel.

The hotel was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult for guests to locate the fire escape, he said.

''I cannot reach some of my students. I hope they are OK,'' the ski instructor told the station.

Television images showed the roof and top floors of the hotel on fire.

Witnesses and reports suggested that the hotel's fire detection system failed to operate.

''My wife smelled the burning. The alarm did not go off,'' said Yelkovan, the guest interviewed by IHA. ''We tried to go upstairs but couldn't, there were flames. We went downstairs and came here (outside),'' he said.

Yelkovan said it took about an hour for the firefighting teams to arrive.

NTV television suggested that the wooden cladding on the exterior of the hotel, in a chalet-style design, may have accelerated the spread of the fire.

Part of the 161-room hotel is on the side of a cliff, hampering efforts to combat the flames.

''Because the rear side is on a slope, intervention could only be made from the front and sides,'' Yerlikaya confirmed.

Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told reporters that the hotel underwent inspections in 2021 and 2024 and that ''no negative situation regarding fire competence'' was reported by the fire department.

Earlier, in an address in Ankara, Erdogan said: ''Unfortunately, we received very sad news this morning from Bolu, Kartalkaya. Our brothers and sisters were killed and injured in a fire that broke out in a hotel.''

''All necessary steps will be taken to shed light on all aspects of the incident and to hold those responsible accountable,'' he added.

NTV showed a smoke-blackened lobby, its glass entrance and windows smashed, its wooden reception desk charred and a chandelier crashed to the ground.

Aydin's office said 30 fire trucks and 28 ambulances were sent to the site.

Other hotels at the resort were evacuated as a precaution and guests were placed in hotels around Bolu.

Meanwhile, a gas explosion at a hotel at another ski resort in central Turkey injured four people.

The explosion took place at the Yildiz Mountain Winter Sports Center in Sivas province. Two skiers and their instructor were slightly injured while another instructor received second-degree burns to the hands and face, the Sivas governor's office said.