The Sentinel

Yet to tackle big problems in the state, Illinois House passes bill to regulate balloons

by Brad Weisenstein, Editor
Illinois Policy

It was 1984 when a German pop group made "99 Red Balloons" the No. 2 song on the Billboard charts, but by 2022 they might face a fine for releasing so many balloons in Illinois.

The Illinois House on April 21 voted to make it illegal to release 50 or more balloons in Illinois. Do it once, get a warning. Twice, a $500 fine. A third time, a $1,000 fine.

And that's for each group of 50 balloons: "The release of more than 50 balloons shall constitute a separate violation for every 50 balloons," according to House Bill 418, which passed the Illinois House 90-23. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2022, if it passes the Illinois Senate and is signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Grayslake, said balloons are an environmental threat and recently caused a power outage for over 1,000 customers in Champaign. After released balloons come down, they create problems for farmers and wildlife.

Interestingly, government agencies and universities are exempt from these rules, according to the bill.

Illinoisans face the highest state and local tax burden in the nation and the No. 2 property taxes. There’s a $317 billion public pension deficit eating away at state finances.

Springfield has yet to tackle those big problems. But at least Illinoisans will be safe from too many balloons, if HB 418 becomes law.

Welcome home, Flesch delivers two-run magic

Hailey Flesch receives welcome at home plate after hitting a home run

Members of the Unity softball team prepare to smoother Hailey Flesch after she steps on home plate in yesterday's home game against Westville. Flesch crushed the ball for a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning to give the Rockets a 2-0 advantage. Unity piled on an additional four runs, two in the fifth and a pair in the sixth, to beat the visiting Tigers, 6-0. The Rockets face Bloomington Central Catholic today at 10am for their second Illini Prairie Conference game of the season.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Prep Sports Notebook: Henry records shutout for Unity, SJO gets no-hitter

Rockets light up new scoreboard with 11-1 win over Bombers

The Unity baseball team improved to 2-0 on the season after rolling to another mercy win on Thursday. With Blake Kimball on the mound, the Rockets hammered visiting Argenta-Oreana, 11-1.

Kimball earned his first win after giving up 3 hits and an earned run. The junior hurler didn't walk a batter and struck out five Bombers in the five-inning affair.

Unity put five runs on the board in the second inning breaking a 1-all tie. Thanks to a solid defensive outing by the Rockets, A-O was denied every opportunity to score the remainder of the non-conference contest.

Meanwhile, in their second game on their home turf, Unity christened their new scoreboard by putting runs on in every inning of play, including a 4-run rally in the bottom of the fourth to go up 11-1.

Tyler Hench went 2-for-2 and led the team with 3 RBI. Kimball finished 2-for-4 and chipped in a pair of RBI for the Rockets.

Thomas Cler was 1-for-2 with a triple on the day.

Martinie, Altenbaumer team up for Charleston shutout

SJO's Zach Martinie and Tyler Altenbaumer combined efforts for a 3-0 shutout victory over visiting Charleston on Thursday.

The Spartans scored four runs on four hits from Keaton Nolan, Isaiah Immke, Ty Pence and Altenbaumer.

Hayden Brazelton and Andrew Beyers padded their season stats with one RBI apiece.

Altenbaumer earned the win after tossing 95 pitches and striking out 11 Trojan batters. Martinie closed out the game with 16 pitches, nine of them strikes.

Unity softball picks up conference road win

Taylor Joop led her team's offense effort going 3-for-3, including a double on a pop fly to left field in the top of the second, in the Rockets' conference road game at Rantoul.

Taylor Henry, who struckout 13 batters, went the distance from the circle in Unity's 11-0 shutout over the Eagles. She gave up just three hits, including a triple to Eagles' Bella Shields.

Up 6-0 at the top of 6th inning, Unity manufactured a 5-run rally starting with a line drive to right field from Henry scoring Joop from second and Ruby Tarr at first.

Grace Frye stepped up to the plate next and crushed the second pitch she saw from Rantoul's Emily Curtis over the fence for a two-run homer.

Despite striking out nine batters from the Rockets, Curtis surrendered 11 runs on 10 hits.

The Rockets, now 3-0, face Paris this afternoon at home and Bloomington Central Catholic in an Illini Prairie Conference showdown on Saturday.

House bill passes allowing Blockchain financial services

by Patrick Andriesen, Communications Intern
Illinois Policy

The Illinois House unanimously passed a bill to allow financial service companies that operate using cryptocurrency to apply for a charter in Illinois. If the bill becomes law, Illinois will be the second state to allow the practice.

"Our state has the opportunity to lead the way on blockchain technology and cryptoassets, which could make Illinois a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship for future generations – and all the jobs that come with it," said the bill’s chief sponsor, state Rep. Margaret Croke, D-Chicago.

House Bill 3968 has the support of the Illinois Bankers Association, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and other banking organizations that signed on in support of the bill. It is now before the Illinois Senate.

Illinois would be the second state in the nation to allow special trusts to hold digital assets after Wyoming, which drew digital asset bank Avanti and cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to the state with a similar measure in 2019.

The digital asset industry has grown steadily in recent years with the skyrocketing value of cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin.

An Illinois Blockchain Business Development report produced by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation in December stated worldwide investment in blockchain technology startups jumped from just $1 million in 2012 to $4.15 billion dollars in 2018, enticing thousands more to enter the market. The market value of all cryptocurrencies stands at about $758 billion, according to Statista.

But many digital asset companies have found banking with traditional institutions difficult given the significant cost to startups.

HB 3968 would lend stability to the industry by allowing financial technology companies to offer the same financial products as existing trusts, such as banking and payment services, in addition to other digital asset services, sponsors said.

Traditional financial institutions in Illinois have also voiced support for the bill, stating consumers will benefit and that boosting fintech and cryptocurrencies will drive positive economic growth.

"Illinois has every right to win in blockchain, given that we are a unique intersection of financial hub and real-economy hub (manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, etc.)," Outlier Ventures partner Rumi Morales told Payments Dive. "If we connect digital payments innovation to those sectors, the potential is huge."

Patrick is a communications intern with the Illinois Policy Institute. In this role, he focuses on creating and analyzing content to support our published research and experts in the media. Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organization that promotes responsible government and free market principles. This story was originally published on March 9, 2021.

St. Joseph village board meeting agenda updated

Three additional items were added to tonight's St. Joseph village board meeting for discussion and possible approval by trustees.

In addition to discussing the new village administrator position and taking care of routine budget duties, the board will also listen to a presentation from Roch's on outdoor dining and discuss moving lighting to accommodate potential out dining space.

The board will also discuss and approve the final draft of a new, long-awaited food truck ordinance.

The third addition to the agenda is a discussion on the county's upcoming redistricting options. An informational webpage at http://www.co.champaign.il.us/countyexecutive/redistrictingadvisory.php offers five possible plans under consideration. The mapping application compares redistricting proposals created by or submitted to the Champaign County Redistricting Advisory Group.

Prep Sports Notebook: Unity baseball wins opener, softball coach gets 100 wins

Knoll RBI forces 11-1, 5 inning decision

Damian Knoll went 2-2 and drove in the game-winning run sealing Unity's 11-1 opening day win over visiting Hoopeston Area. The junior right-hander notched 3 RBIs in the Rockets' first game since 2019.

Tyler Hensch pitched 5 innings for Unity, giving up one hit and one run while striking out seven batters.

Dillon Rutledge, who scored the runs, along with Dylan Moore and Thomas Cler were also 2-for-2 for the Rockets.

Unity coach gets 100th win

Head coach Aimee Davis picked up career win 100 after her Rockets beat visiting Mt. Zion on Saturday in their season opener, 13-3. The milestone happened a year later than anticipated thanks to COVID and the resulting gameless season last year. Davis, now in her sixth season at the helm, and the Unity softball team started the season with a #7 Class 2A preseason ranking by the Illinois Coaches Association.

SJO softball holds off Fisher's 7th innning rally

SJO pitcher Maggie Ward

Maggie Ward earned yesterday's win after the St. Joseph-Ogden softball team held off a seventh inning momentum shift from the Fisher Bunnies to win 5-3. The pitcher surrendered three runs on nine hits over seven innings, striking out six and walking zero. Ward allowed three runs on nine hits while going the distance in the circle.

Striking out six batters and allowing not a single walk in the non-conference road game for SJO, Ward recorded 79 strikes out of the 118 pitches she put across the plate.

The Spartans put 11 hits in the book. Kennedy Hudson, Peyton Jones, Shayne Immke, Kelsey Martlage, and Audrey Short had two apiece and Alyssa Acton rounded out the offense with one of her own.

SJO improves to 5-3 on the season and faces Villa Grove at home on Wednesday.

Knott wins two of four firsts for Spartans

Last Thursday, field event specialist Hayden Knott won both throwing events in dual meet competition against Eureka.

Knott won the discus throw by just over 10 meters throwing the platter 47.93 meters further than runner-up Brock Trimble. The senior won the shot put competition with his best throw at 16.56 meters.

The Spartans also received first place performances from Brandon Mattsey in the 1600-meter run and Logan Wolfersberger in the 800.

Mattsey completed his four laps in 4 minutes and 43.62 seconds, moving closer to achieving the all-elusive sub-four-minute mile. Teammate Carson Maroon finished behind him second at 4:48.94.

Wolfersberger set a new personal record in the 800, finishing the two loops around the track in 2 minutes and 8.65 seconds.