


22 years for 6th DUI:
A Hoffman Estates man convicted of his sixth DUI was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Jose Cruz, 53, was arrested in April 2016 after Elk Grove Village police observed him making an improper left turn at Elmhurst and Higgins roads. According to prosecutors, officers smelled alcohol and noted Cruz had bloodshot, glassy eyes. Cruz was convicted during a jury trial last month. Jurors also found Cruz guilty of driving on a suspended or revoked license. He received a six-year sentence for the conviction, which he will serve concurrently. He must complete at least 50 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. Cruz must also pay $1,884 in fines.
Schools try for more funds:
Chicago Public Schools officials on Monday said the nation’s third largest school system will end the academic year three weeks early if the state of Illinois does not provide enough funds to close a deficit and provide teacher pension fund release. The school district has gone to court to accuse the state of creating separate and unequal systems for funding public education. They contend one is for Chicago, whose students are 90 percent nonwhite, and one for the rest of Illinois, which is predominantly white. The district filed a motion Monday in Cook County circuit court seeking a preliminary injunction barring the state from disbursing education funds until it adequately funds Chicago schools.
Body found in river:
Authorities say a body has been recovered from the Chicago River near downtown Chicago. Chicago police say Marine Unit officers retrieved the body Sunday evening after somebody reported seeing it in the water. No information about the gender or age of the body has been released. An autopsy was expected Monday.
Rauner talks Medicaid:
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration is seeking to offer more Medicaid services through managed-care programs. Rauner and two cabinet members announced the plan in Chicago Monday. It involves choosing a vendor that’ll provide managed-care services to 80 percent of Medicaid clients. That’s up from 65 percent now. It’ll also be expanded to all Illinois counties and children in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services. Rauner’s Department of Healthcare and Family Services says the program will encourage prevention and offer services backed up by evidence of success. Illinois began moving Medicaid patients to managed care in 2011. Managed care pays insurers and health networks fixed per-patient fees instead of paying separately for each treatment or test. Nearly two-thirds of the state’s 3 million Medicaid clients are on managed-care plans.