This tumultuous week ended with Illinois political giant Michael Madigan getting 7 1/2 years in prison for corruption. The historic sentencing is the latest chapter in the long story of corruption in Illinois politics. Unrelated to Madigan, Senate President Don Harmon faces more than $9.8 million in fines for allegedly breaking an Illinois election law.
Gov. JB Pritzker traveled to Washington, D.C., to testify with the governors of New York and Minnesota in a U.S. House hearing on state sanctuary laws. The hearing was a key moment in the nation’s ongoing unrest over the White House’s immigration policies. When protests against ICE raids in Los Angeles turned violent this week, President Donald Trump ordered National Guard and Marine troops to go to California to quell the unrest. Gov. Gavin Newsom and other blue state governors saw this move as an overstep that only made the situation worse. Chicago’s own protests this week stayed relatively peaceful and are expected to continue over the weekend.
The City Council and the mayor’s office were busy this week. Aldermen advanced an ordinance that would allow them to block short-term rentals such as Airbnbs when voters in a specific precinct call for it, the Board of Education voted to approve a new interim schools chief and the city could be on the hook for $24 million to settle three wrongful conviction cases.
Thursday was a bad day for air travel. A JetBlue flight from Chicago rolled off the runway at Boston’s airport and an Air India flight crashed minutes after takeoff, killing 241 people on board. A single passenger survived.
In the world of sports, the Cubs bullpen has been hot this month. The White Sox made a trade this week, and one of their biggest fans, the pope, was seen donning a White Sox hat. The pontiff will deliver a virtual message at Rate Field on Saturday. Plus, Chicago Sky star Allie Quigley recently announced that she is retiring. The WNBA legend remains one of the best shooters in the history of women’s basketball.
Now for the fun stuff. Test your knowledge of who said what this week with the Tribune’s Quotes of the Week quiz, this time with excerpts and utterances from June 8 to 14.
Missed last week? You can find it here or check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week.
