Here are some of the top stories of the week from Chicago and beyond (Sunday, July 9 through Friday, July 14).
Cubs deal four prospects to Sox for Jose Quintana
In a move that shocked baseball, the Cubs sent four prospects, including two of their top ones, across town to the White Sox for left-handed starter Jose Quintana, reports Mark Gonzales.
Quintana, who has been the subject of trade rumors since the offseason, was a 2016 American League All-Star who struggled early in the season but has a 2.70 ERA over his last seven starts.
The Cubs will have control of Quintana’s contract through 2020, which helps as they could lose starters Jake Arrieta and John Lackey after the season
The White Sox got a hefty return with the Cubs’ top two prospects — outfielder Eloy Jimenez and pitcher Dylan Cease — along with infielders Matt Rose and Bryant Flete.
With the addition of Jimenez and Cease, the White Sox have added seven prospects in Baseball America’s Top 100 since last year, reports Colleen Kane.
The last time the teams had made a trade was 2006 and before Thursday had made only 14 deals, reports Chris Hine. The Quintana talks began Sunday and escalated during the All-Star break when Sox general manager Rich Hahn ducked behind an exhibit at the All-Star Game Fanfest to take a call from Cubs President Theo Epstein, Kane reports.
Both sides got exactly what they needed, writes Paul Sullivan.
In other sports news:
Lone Cub: Only one Cubs player made it to the All-Star Game in Miami on Tuesday. Closer Wade Davis entered the game in the 10th inning and gave up a homer to Robinson Cano as the National League fell to the American League 2-1, writes Sullivan.
All-Star Game at Wrigley?: Major League Baseball is considering Wrigley Field to host an upcoming All-Star Game for the first time since 1990, writes Sullivan.
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GOP operative from Chicago who sought Clinton emails committed suicide, records show
Peter W. Smith, a Republican donor and operative from Chicago’s North Shore, who died days after talking to The Wall Street Journal about his efforts to obtain Hillary Clinton’s missing emails from Russian hackers, killed himself in a Minnesota hotel room, according to public records, report Katherine Skiba, David Heinzmann and Todd Lighty.
Smith, 81, prepared documents, including a suicide note in which he said he was in poor health and his $5 million life insurance policy was expiring soon.
Smith was found with a bag over his head with a source of helium attached.
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Hospital visit nearly leads to wrongful conviction for Chicago man
Nafarris Patrick went to Jackson Park Hospital to be treated for pain in his left ear last year.
That same night, a South Shore man was robbed at gunpoint in the lobby of his apartment and was taken to the same hospital by paramedics.
The robbery victim saw Patrick signing in and, thinking he was the same man who robbed him hours earlier, called police.
Patrick was arrested, spent a month in jail and several more on house arrest and faced 21 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, even though video existed (he was shorter than the suspect and had longer hair) to clear him, which it eventually did, reports Gregory Pratt.
Storms swamp Chicago area; river towns brace for floods
Relentless rains that fell Tuesday night and Wednesday morning flooded streets and basements, knocked out power and wreaked havoc on commutes, report Robert McCoppin and Leonor Vivanco.
Residents of the north and northwest suburbs were hardest-hit, with some homes reporting basements flooded with 8 feet of water and widespread street closures reported.
Six Flags Great America amusement park in Gurnee closed Wednesday due to flooding in the area, and Metra’s Milwaukee North Line service was suspended.
River towns in Illinois are bracing for more flooding as officials say unprecedented water levels flowing from Wisconsin are expected to cause problems on the Chain O’Lakes and the Fox River, reports McCoppin.
“Flooding of this magnitude has not been seen before,” a statement from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources warned.
In other Chicago-area news:
Fixing Lake Shore Drive: The Oak and Lake Street beaches would be shifted, parkland would be added and the Oak Street curve would be straightened under possible concepts unveiled Wednesday for a Lake Shore Drive redevelopment plan, writes Tony Briscoe.
“Black widow” murder: A Chicago man who was 19 when he conspired with his sister to murder her boyfriend is seeking clemency from Gov. Bruce Rauner this week, reports Christy Gutowski. About 100 supporters came to Suh’s clemency hearing in Chicago on Tuesday, urging officials to give him a second chance, Gutowski reports.
Pricey parking: A new study says Chicagoans pay more for metered parking than any other major city. Ten years after the city’s meters were privatized, two hours of parking downtown cost $13, a dollar more than San Francisco and $6 more than in New York City, reports Mary Wisniewski.
Falling bullet death: A 13-year-old Hammond boy who was struck by a falling bullet that was fired into the air on July 1, died of his injuries on Saturday, reports the Post-Tribune’s Michelle L. Quinn.
Is this guy for real?: Chicagoan Bill Hillmann, who was gored for the second time while running with the bulls in Spain recently, this time in the buttocks, had a few choice words for his American critics, who he called “idiots,” reports Kim Janssen.
Sentence in baby’s death: An Uptown woman who admitted dropping her baby from a high-rise apartment after hiding her pregnancy from her parents in 2015 was sentenced to four years’ probation.
Chicago photos in the news
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Emails: Trump Jr. was offered Clinton info to show Russia’s support
Donald Trump Jr. eagerly accepted a meeting where he was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton as part of a Russian government effort to aid his father.
News of the emails was first published by The New York Times on Monday evening. On Tuesday, Trump Jr. released emails between him and publicist Ron Goldstone on Twitter.
In the emails, which you can read here, Goldstone who was working to connect Trump Jr. to Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, who later met with Trump Jr. in New York at Trump Tower, promised information that “would be very useful to your father.”
“If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer,” Trump Jr. responded.
“My son is a high quality person and I applaud his transparency,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday in a statement read to reporters by White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Trump Jr. released the emails after several days of changing accounts about the meeting. He shared the emails only after they were obtained by The New York Times.
On Thursday, President Trump in Paris called his son’s meeting standard campaign practice. “Most people would have taken that meeting.”
On Friday, Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist, confirmed that he was also at the meeting, a fact that Trump Jr. did not disclose. Akhmetshin has been reported to have ties to Russian intelligence agencies, a characterization he denies.
In other nation and world news:
New Senate health care plan: Senate Republicans released a new version of the Better Health Care Act, trying to appease concerns of conservatives and moderates, but still retaining cuts in Medicaid. Within hours it became clear the bill didn’t have the votes to pass.
Military plane crash: A refueling plane crashed into a field in the Mississippi Delta on Monday, killing all 16 military members aboard.
Massive iceberg: A break in the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica unleashed an iceberg more than 2,200 square miles in area — among the largest in recorded history. Researchers said its volume is twice that of Lake Erie.
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Sun-Times sold to former Chicago alderman and labor-led group
Former Chicago Ald. Edwin Eisendrath and the Chicago Federation of Labor on Wednesday bought the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Reader and other assets from Wrapports, reports Robert Channick.
The sale was for $1, backed by $11.2 million in funding to keep the tabloid afloat for 30 months.
Jorge Ramirez, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, will serve as chairman of the Sun-Times and said the union doesn’t plan to get involved in the editorial content of the newspaper.
The company will move employees to the Near West Side offices of the separately acquired digital production company, AnswersMedia.
The sale ended a bid by Tronc, the owner of the baiduhai, to acquire its rival.
Cook County could lose more than half its jobs to automation
A new report focusing on which counties are most at risk of job loss found that Cook County could see 54.5 percent of jobs at risk due to automation and 28.7 percent at risk to offshoring, reports Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz.
While that seems high, none of Illinois’ counties are in the top 25 ranking of most at risk for automation or offshoring, but seven Indiana counties are in the top 25 for offshoring and LaGrange County is one of three from Indiana in the top 25 for automation.
In other business news:
Amazon expands in Chicago: The online giant doubled the size of its Chicago Loop office, making room for another 200 workers, reports Lauren Zumbach.
Lakeshore East project: The developer of the Vista Tower, which will be Chicago’s third-tallest skycraper, is also planning to build four new buildings near the Chicago River and Lake Michigan with more than 2,000 apartments and more than 500 hotel rooms, reports Ryan Ori.
Their cheese was moved: A Wheaton company alleges in a lawsuit that a “rogue importer” diverted a shipment of Mexican artisan cheese worth $68,000 to an Alsip firm in order to pay off a debt, reports Becky Yerak.
Hard Rock Hotel changing: The hotel on Michigan Avenue, which took over the Carbide & Carbon Building in 2004, will be replaced by a rebranded hotel run by Chicago’s Aparium Hotel Group, reports Lauren Zumbach.
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Several Chicago actors land Emmy nominations
Actress Carrie Coon of “Fargo” and actor Bob Odenkirk of “Better Call Saul” were among several performers with current and past Chicago ties to earn Emmy nominations on Thursday, reports Nina Metz.
Chicago performers Chance the Rapper and Common also got nominations for best song and a number of shows led by Chicagoans, including “This is Us,” earned nominations.
“Saturday Night Live” and HBO’s “Westworld” tied for most nominations with 22 each. Find the complete list of nominations here.
In other entertainment, lifestyles and dining news:
New Navy Pier venues: Navy Pier added two new outdoor performance spaces along the lakefront, one seating 750 and the other 1,700, reports Steve Johnson.
‘Morning Joe’ ditches GOP: Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” said on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” that he is leaving the Republican Party and becoming an independent.