A look back at the people and events that made news the past week. Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In…

HEROES OF THE WEEK

Steve Scalise

Staff Sergeant Cory Hinkle

Jack Taschner

VILLAINS OF THE WEEK

O.J. Simpson

Librarian

Jesse Williams

Angela Putman

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“As much as some people want us to just shut up and play football and keep the politics to politics, sports and politics have always intersected. And If we can help continue a conversation through demonstration of unity I think that’s a good thing.”
Green Bay Packer Aaron Rodgers after the Packers beat the Chicago Bears Thursday night at Lambeau Field

“Fans who attack players for protesting (a right which I fought to defend) but who are simply not interested in understanding why, is the reason I am resigning.”
Joey Odoms, combat veteran and national anthem singer at Baltimore Ravens home games, on his resignation as pre-game singer

#NFL players should be down on both knees thanking god they live in country allowing them to make millions while showing such disrespect.
Tweet by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey

“Every man, woman, child in this country should stand for the national anthem. That should go without question. If we were able to reinforce the fact that we all should stand and delve into the challenges that have some players kneeling, we’ll be in a better place as a country. We should all seek for unity and equality in this nation.”
Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the only black Republican in the Senate

Dear Mr. Goodell:

You are responsible for the polarization in the NFL. Had you invoked the NFL rule regarding inappropriate apparel, you would have sanctioned Colin Kaepernick for wearing socks depicting the police as pigs. And you could have enforced the rule requiring players to stand during the national anthem. But you did neither, hence the protests.

Accordingly, I am sending you my Giants lawn flag as a token of my disgust for you; as a veteran I am particularly incensed over your delinquency. I no longer support the NFL and hope that professional football takes a nose dive. Then you should be fired.

Sincerely,

William Donohue
Letter sent by Catholic League President to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

“We have a rule that requires our players to stand for the anthem. It’s been a rule as long as I’ve been involved with the league, and my expectation is that our players will continue to stand for the anthem.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver

“I went on national television to do my best to defend it. In the end, I didn’t know what the hell I was defending. Health care is a fifth of our economy and, duh, there is a wide disagreement in our caucus about what a bill that big should contain. Since January, I’ve been hearing about the outline of the bill. This is September. I’m ready to move past outlines. It’s dead. It’s dead as a doornail. We’re not going to get it done. We need to go do tax reform and then come back to healthcare.”
Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana on another failed GOP attempt to repeal Obamacare

“…in its zeal to oppose Trump at every turn and create a backlash to his excesses, the Left is fighting a losing battle here. I understand anthem protesters’ argument that it’s not about the flag, the anthem, or even the country; it’s about drawing attention to disproportionate police brutality against people of color.  But when the national anthem is deliberately selected as the occasion for these protests, the story becomes about the anthem. It just does. And a lot of people see that as deeply disrespectful, and justifiably so, in my mind.”
Conservative columnist Guy Benson

“It’s like a jolt of sugar and they can’t put it down. If you want to convince a semi-regular voter to show up on Election Day, you need to find something else.”
Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons said Democratic activists relish the attacks on Trump, but questioned whether it will help the party win over the centrist and independent voters they will need to win races across the country

“I worry there’s a bit of amnesia happening. It’s almost like we didn’t learn our lesson in November, and it can really come back to haunt us a little over a year from now when it really, really matters.” 
A senior aide on Capitol Hill who spoke to The Hill

“Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country.”
Ri Yong Ho, the foreign minister of North Korea, stating that President Donald Trump’s comments suggesting he would eradicate North Korea and its leaders is an act of war

“If, in fact, 50,000 jobs paying $100,000 materialize, it is huge. But we need to be very, very demanding of verification before any substantial tax concessions or other incentives are given to Amazon. My first blush is that it sounds too good to be true. We shouldn’t be negative, but we should be inquisitive. As Ronald Reagan put it: Trust, but verify.”
Mark Iris, a lecturer in Northwestern University’s Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences Program, on Amazon’s pitch for HQ2

“I’m of age. It’s obviously something you want to be responsible about, but I haven’t set the rectory on fire or anything like that.”
The Rev. Jeff Poirot, who along with his brewing partner Nicholas McCoy won the 2017 Ninkasi Award at this year’s National Homebrew Competition, but was told by the bishop of the Fort Worth diocese to stop brewing

OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK

The outrage being expressed by NFL fans

MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK

School choice students outperform their peers…again

MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK

The media’s ongoing defense of NFL player protests

STRANGEST, MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK

“Free rent for a girlfriend”

This may be the strangest of all-time