Illinois Quick Hits: Crypto Lawsuit Filed; Agency Sending Air Purifiers; Wildfire Haze Continues

By The Center Square Staff:

Crypto lawsuit filed

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has teamed up with other state regulators to take legal action against a digital currency exchange company for violations of securities laws.

The Illinois Secretary of State’s Securities Department is charging Coinbase Global, Inc., alleging a violation of securities laws in connection with the company’s staking offerings. Officials say Coinbase provided its staking offerings to Illinois residents without registering those securities.

Agency sending air purifiers

The Illinois Department of Public Health has announced that the state will be providing more than 1,000 air purifiers to Illinois Head Start and Early Head Start programs around the state to help reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses, including COVID-19.

In the coming weeks, IDPH will begin delivery of the air purifiers to 45 different Head Start programs throughout the state. Last month, the CDC released new guidelines that call for at least five air changes per hour, meaning the equivalent of all the air in a room is replaced five or more times within an hour.

Wildfire haze continues

Many parts of Illinois Tuesday will again see the effects of Canadian wildfires. A haze will be visible and for some, the smell of smoke will be present.

A weak cold front is expected to move through the state this week, which should clear out some of the smoke from the fires. Canada is experiencing one of the worst starts to its wildfire season with nearly 7 million acres already burned this year.

The focus of the work of The Center Square Illinois is state- and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility. For more stories from The Center Square, visit TheCenterSquare.com.