Kickstart: Felony balloon popping

Intentional mass balloon releases and popping has been the target of warnings from environmental groups, cities and states with new laws to ban the activity to reduce the chance of wildlife being harmed by the trash.

For two people in Florida, balloons led to arrests for willful/reckless disregard for the environment while 10 people and companies have been issued $25,000 in fines.

On May 10, the Miami Herald writes, yacht broker Esteban Bruna was moving a client's vessel at a marina on Biscayne Bay. He saw a group including David S. Torres-Bocanegra, Martina Gaspoz and others popping 50 balloons on the bow of another yacht, allowing the debris to fall into the water and float away.

Bruna took a video and posted it to social media, where it got local officials' attention.

The balloons were apparently part of a marriage proposal. Miami-Dade police fined event planners, the yacht maintenance and charter companies and individuals.

"As a community, we share the responsibility to protect our environment," Miami-Dade police interim Director George A. Perez said in a news release. "Our coastal waterways are the natural beauty of our county, and our marine life depend on us to keep them safe."

Across the country on the Nevada-California border, volunteers have completed a "72-mile scuba cleanup" of Lake Tahoe, collecting more than 25,000 pounds of rubbish from depths of up to 72 feet.

Unlike a typical beach cleanup, the volunteers of Clean Up The Lake combed the lake floor far beyond the beach. The divers also documented carefully what they found and, using GPS, exactly where they found it. That will help scientists get a more detailed view of trash.

Among those found items: plastic and aluminum containers, tires, sunglasses, phones, hats and even a few engagement rings. There were a total of 4,614 pieces of plastic, weighing in at 1,924.92 pounds; 8,153 pieces of metal, weighing more than 6,000 pounds; 5,252 pieces of glass and ceramics weighing in at 2,304 pounds; and 171 tires.

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This is one for folks who have resumed a heavy diet of business travel: Your next airport meal may be priced a little more reasonably.

Our sister paper Crain's New York Business writes that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees LaGuardia Airport, JFK International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, has a new policy that sets concession food and drink prices at a maximum of 10 percent above the prices at similar businesses beyond the airport terminal.

The authority's look into pricing began in 2021 when several passengers reported paying $25 or more for a single beer.

"Nobody should have to fork over an exorbitant amount for a beer," said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O'Toole.