Egg-cellent: It’s April out there, dear readers, and not just April but the first Friday in April, delivering unto you another well-earned weekend.
And not just any weekend, but a holiday weekend – to those so inclined, please enjoy a blessed Easter celebration.
Less puzzling: Shining a light across the spectrum.
Groundbreaking: It’s April 2 out there, and that’s close enough to April 1 to note the start of National Safe Digging Month, an annual springtime red flag urging landscapers of all stripes to call 811 and state their intentions before digging in. (Thanks to our friends at National Grid for the note.)
Today is also the 14th annual World Autism Awareness Day, kicking off World Autism Month, when the international community aims for increased understanding and acceptance.
Pumped full of lead (not): Massachusetts innovator Joseph Dixon first manufactured lead pencils – which are filled with carbon-based graphite, not lead – 194 years ago today.
Curveball: Seventeen-year-old Jackie Mitchell, one of the first women ever awarded a professional baseball contract, struck out New York Yankee legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig – on six successive pitches – in an exhibition game played April 2, 1931.
Pulling Rankin: The trailblazing congresswoman, unabashed and unafraid.
Busy first day: Jeanette Rankin of Montana, the first woman to hold a U.S. federal office, was sworn in as the first female member of Congress on this date in 1917.
Rankin, who marked a number of firsts in that historic session, was in the gallery later that day when President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany. (She ultimately voted against entering World War I.)
Blip: British physicist Robert Watson-Watt patented his proprietary method of “radio detection and ranging” for tracking aircraft – you know it as RADAR – on April 2, 1935.
Better with age: And still a visual marvel and enduring AI cautionary tale, director Stanley Kubrick’s “2001 A Space Odyssey” premiered on this date in 1968.
While it’s now considered one of cinema’s great achievements, the film’s debut did not go well.
Uniform approach: Guinness was a military man, onscreen and off.
Ben? Ben Kenobi? Two days after we honored “Star Wars” successor Ewan McGregor, we salute the original Obi-Wan Kenobi, multitalented English thespian and Royal Navy veteran Sir Alec Guinness (1914-2000), on what would have been his 107th birthday.
Also born on April 2 were Danish fairytale master Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), who was Disney before Disney was cool; American industrialist Walter Chrysler (1875-1940), who founded the Chrysler Corp.; American mathematician Edward Kasner (1878-1955), who invented the word “googol” to describe very large numbers (and kinda, sorta named “Google”); American botanist Dennis Hoagland (1884-1949), an authority on plant and soil interactions; and American actress Linda Hunt (born 1945), an Academy Award-winner known for her dynamic range and classic voiceover work.
Poetic justice: And take a bow, Anne Waldman! The internationally acclaimed versifier, editor, teacher, collaborator, political activist and stirring advocate of American poetry turns 76 today.
Give the renowned poet and all the other April 2 innovators your best at editor@innovateli.com, where we love your news tips and calendar events even if they don’t rhyme.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Let’s be blunt: You still can’t legally cultivate, process or distribute it in New York, but this is cool.
Pot of gold: Smoke ’em if you got ’em, New Yorkers over the age of 21 – adult-use recreational marijuana is now legal in New York.
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday signed legislation legalizing adult-use cannabis – a key component of his 2021 State of the State Agenda, estimated to create as many as 60,000 manufacturing, distribution and retail jobs across the state while generating some $350 million in annual tax revenues. The governor’s signature came one day after state legislators voted to make New York the 15th state to legalize recreational marijuana, with retail sales expected to commence in early 2022 and “an industry that will grow the Empire State’s economy” in the offing, according to Cuomo.
The new law also establishes the New York State Office of Cannabis Management, outlines a distributor-licensing system and expands Albany’s existing medical-marijuana programs. “I’m proud these comprehensive reforms address and balance the social equity, safety and economic impacts of legal adult-use cannabis,” the governor said Wednesday. “This is a historic day in New York.”
It’s a LEAP: Fiscal management has never been Nassau County’s strong suit – but a series of new reports by the Nassau County Comptroller’s Office offers a comprehensive strategy for growing the county economy and saving taxpayer money.
That’s the goal of the Local Economic Acceleration Plan, a three-part saga of innovative programs, new efficiencies and potential revenue streams, all focused on reversing Nassau’s longstanding financial woes. Released this week, Part 1 zeroes in on Economic Drivers, highlighting specific actions like expanded public-transportation investments (the long-simmering Nassau Hub Innovation District could generate $2.5 billion in annual economic activity, according to the report) and reduced redevelopment-project red tape (encouraging projects that lessen residential tax burdens).
Created by the comptroller’s Policy and Research Unit, the LEAP series offers “a menu of options for policymakers and presents real opportunities to help drive our economy for the better,” notes Nassau County Comptroller Jack Schnirman. “We need to prioritize innovative, proven solutions that can help supercharge our local economy and help the local government reduce expenses.”
TOP OF THE SITE
On the right Acupath: This Plainview biotech’s Pandemic Pivot stretches into multiple lucrative industries – and way beyond COVID-19.
Honors from abroad, and beyond: Two Long Island professors have earned rare distinctions from the European Academy of Sciences and the SETI Institute.
Innovation in the Age of Coronavirus: Vaccinations are on a roll (literally and figuratively) this week in the world’s only Long Island-focused pandemic primer.
ICYMI
Why regional rainmakers are hailing the Biden Administration’s comprehensive offshore-wind strategy as a major score for Long Island.
BEST OF THE WEST (AND SOMETIMES NORTH/SOUTH)
Innovate LI’s inbox overrunneth with inspirational innovations from all North American corners. This week’s brightest out-of-towners:
From Maryland: Baltimore-based health-screening platform WellCheck switches on VaccineCheck, a “secure digital passport” for the inoculated.
From California: San Francisco-based interpreting-technology solutions provider Boostlingo adds multilingual interpreting software to live Zoom meetings.
From Texas: Plano-based aviation-technology manufacturer Martin UAV releases the rapid-tactical, enhanced-payload V-BAT 128 drone for government and private users.
ON THE MOVE
Dion King
+ Dion King has been appointed southeast region strategic accounts representative for Farmingdale-based TiniFiber. He previously served as a communication systems engineer with Alabama-based Mayer Electric Supply Co.
+ Shari Lubeck has been appointed assistant vice president of children’s mental health and wellness for the Garden City-based Family & Children’s Association. She was previously director of children’s case management for New York State at Massachusetts-based Beacon Health Options.
+ The Suburban Hospital Alliance of New York State has announced three senior staff promotions: Stacy Villagran is now chief operating officer; she previously served as senior director of health insurance programs. Janine Logan is now vice president, communications and population health; she previously served as senior director, communications and population health. Kate McCale is now senior director of policy and member services; she previously served as director of quality and member services.
+ Peter Klein, chief investment officer and founder of Melville-based ALINE Wealth, and Alan Sasserath, partner at Melville-based Sasserath & Zoraian, have joined the Ronkonkoma-based CMM Cares Board of Directors.
BELOW THE FOLD
Prove it: Vaccine passports are more complicated than they sound.
Going: How to land that job in another state.
Going: The ups and downs of traveling with a vaccine passport.
Gone: Stop using a to-do list and try this instead.
Home run: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate LI, including New York Tech, where they always swing for the fences on educational innovation. Check them out.
