Half full: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, as this latest busy workweek reaches the precipice of another well-earned winter weekend.
Slightly less than half of you may celebrate with a three-day blow; the rest will have to make do with the standard version. Still ain’t half-bad.
Open wide: Get your brisket on today.
On a mission: Either way, it’s Jan. 14 out there, known best (?) as Take a Missionary To Lunch Day, when we’re asked to honor the memory of proselytizing crusader Albert Schweitzer (see below) by feeding a modern missionary.
Right in step, today is also National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day.
Aren’t they all? It’s also the annual Feast of the Ass, which is not a moment-on-the-lips/lifetime-on-the-hips cautionary tale but a medieval Christian observation of baby Jesus’ donkey-borne escape from King Herod.
Cut to the chase: Speaking of babies surviving close calls, Elizabeth Bennett became the first U.S. mother to live through a cesarean section on Jan. 14, 1794 – both Elizabeth and baby Maria survived the risky operation, performed in a Virginia log cabin by dad/physician Jesse Bennett.
Phone bill: Other calls associated with this date include three long-distance connections inventor Alexander Graham Bell made from the Isle of Wight 144 years ago today, demonstrating the telephone for English Queen Victoria (who offered to buy the thing).
Morning person: Garroway, on point.
“Today” is the day: With Dave Garroway strolling leisurely around the studio, the “Today” show debuted on this date in 1952 on the NBC Television Network.
Other network firsts associated with Jan. 14 include sitcom “Sanford & Son” (NBC, 1972), adventure spinoff “The Bionic Woman” (ABC, 1976) and dreamy drama “Fantasy Island” (ABC, 1977).
Make a day of it: Those who do enjoy a paid holiday on Martin Luther King Day can thank Jimmy Carter – on this date in 1979, the president called on the U.S. Congress to designate a new national holiday.
Titan-ic achievement: And it was Jan. 14, 2005, when the European Space Agency’s Huygens space probe – named for 17th Century Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens – landed on the surface of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.
According to official records, the probe transmitted data – including photos of Titan’s rocky surface – for roughly four hours before shutting down.
Prince Albert: Schweitzer, life well spent.
Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben: (German-speaking) French polymath Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) – a theologian, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher and physician who earned a Nobel Peace Prize for his reverence for life – would be 147 years old today.
Also born on Jan. 14 were industrious American innovator David Wesson (1861-1934), who invented and sold Wesson Oil; American toxicologist and biochemist Rolla Harger (1890-1983), who invented the Drunkometer, the world’s first alcohol breathalyzer; influential British geologist Arthur Holmes (1890-1965), who significantly advanced understanding of how Earth works; American radio and television writer Andy Rooney (1919-2011), remembered best for 30-plus years of cranky commentaries on “60 Minutes”; and American actress Dorothy “Faye” Dunaway (born 1941), a Broadway veteran who captured a closetful of prestigious awards.
Record-holder in spaaaaace: And take a bow, Shannon Matilda Lucid! The American biochemist and astronaut – the first woman to travel into space four times and one-time champion of both space shuttle flight time and consecutive days living on the Russian space station Mir – turns 79 today.
Wish the astro-ace well at editor@innovateli.com, where there’s always space for your news tips and calendar events.
About our sponsor: Presberg Law P.C. is Long Island’s premier “IDA” and business-law firm for businesses locating, relocating and expanding on Long Island. Founded in 1984, this multigenerational practice focuses on the purchase, sale, leasing and financing of commercial and industrial real estate, SBA and other loan transactions, construction projects and business sales and acquisitions.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Making it workforce: Dozens of New York-based organizations, including 12 on Long Island, will share a seven-digit award made through the second funding round of Albany’s Workforce Development Initiative.
The United Way of Long Island, the Nicholas Center, We Connect the Dots, Catholic Health Services of Long Island, St. Francis Hospital and the Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation were among the 42 statewide organizations named Round Two winners. The organizations will funnel a total of $7 million – ponied up by the New York State Department of Labor, the State University of New York and the City University of New York – into critical job-training and employment opportunities in high-demand industries.
Nassau Community College, the Developmental Disabilities Institute, East End Disabilities Associates, Suffolk County Community College, Independent Group Home Living and Family Residences and Essential Enterprises also scored through the WDI’s rolling-application process. “These workforce awards will provide critical skills training … and create harmony between education, business and public investment,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday, adding the workforce initiative is key to “accelerat[ing] our state’s economic recovery.”
Raising the lid: Red Hat will bring its unique brand of Linux instruction to the New York Institute of Technology.
Sign on the Linux: The New York Institute of Technology is collaborating with an IBM software subsidiary to introduce new curricula centered on the Linux open-source operating system.
North Carolina-based Red Hat – the world’s leading supplier of open-source enterprise solutions, including “turnkey curriculum materials” designed to help academic institutions launch and sustain Linux curriculum programs – is lending its expertise to the New York Institute of Technology Red Hat Academy. Instructors will initially offer Red Hat System Administration 1 and 2 courses, preparing New York Tech students to become Red Hat Enterprise Linux system administrators.
Linux has become what New York Tech calls “the de facto standard for running critical workloads in the cloud,” aligning the Red Hat Academy with Old Westbury-based New York Tech’s mission to “provide career-oriented education to future makers, doers and innovators,” according to College of Engineering and Computing Sciences Dean Babak Beheshti. “Our collaboration … provides yet another opportunity for our students to gain practical, real-world experience to help secure sought-after and industry-recognized skills and certifications,” Beheshti added.
TOP OF THE SITE
Two for the price of one: Not one but two Long Island downtowns snagged $10 million awards in Albany’s (kinda, sorta) annual Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
Going once…: The New York Bight will become the center of the U.S. offshore wind-energy industry next month, when the feds auction off six prime oceanic parcels.
Class act: SUNY Old Westbury President Timothy Sams joins Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast to discuss the art of strategic change, the importance of inclusive innovation and the immense responsibility of shaping young minds.
ICYMI
Fast approval for a new Omicron detector; slow burn for the promising hydrogen economy.
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 North Carolina: Mebane-based fire-safety pacesetter Kidde adds WiFi and mobile app control to leading smoke/carbon monoxide alarms.
From Nevada: Las Vegas-based service-robotics innovator ECOVACS powers up new family of advanced cleaning robots.
From Canada, eh: The University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre and the Montreal Diabetes Research Center announce new therapeutic enzyme that controls fat and sugar in the body.
ON THE MOVE
Rosemary Harnisher
+ Rosemary Harnisher, counsel in the Trusts & Estates Group at Hauppauge-based Farrell Fritz, has been named a fellow of the New York Bar Foundation.
+ Peter Silver has been appointed senior vice president and chief quality officer of New Hyde Park-based Northwell Health. He previously served as medical director of Cohen Children’s Medical Center.
+ Woodbury-based D&B Engineers and Architects has announced several new hires:
- Christine Arena is a senior proposal coordinator in the White Plains office; she previously worked as a business development analyst at STV in White Plains.
- Alison Cataldo is director of marketing; she recently served as director of marketing at GdB Geospatial in Melville.
- Michael Chase is an engineer I in the Electrical Engineering Group; he previously served as an electrical technician at Flagship One in Lynbrook.
- Jack Hartigan is an engineer I in the Water Supply Division; he was previously an apprentice at Kavel Construction in East Islip.
- Steven Patak is a senior engineer in the Water Supply Division; he was previously a system safety specialist at New York City Transit in Manhattan.
- Joseph Quinn is an engineer I in the Electrical Engineering Group; he was a student intern at H2M architects + engineers in Melville.
- Alex Schwartz is an engineer I in the Water Supply Division; he was an intern for Tiderunner Engineering & Design in Bay Shore.
- Jonathan Schwartz is an engineer I in the Water Supply Division; he was previously an environmental specialist at Arcadis US in Melville.
+ Lorraine Botti has been elected to the board of the Association for Mental Health and Wellness in Ronkonkoma. She is the marketing lead at Stony Brook University’s Neurosciences Institute.
+ Hauppauge-based HIA-LI has elected three new members to its board: Edward Bonahue, president of Suffolk County Community College; Paule Pachter, president and CEO of Long Island Cares; and Dominick Pernice, chief operating officer at Saint Catherine of Siena Hospital in Smithtown.
BELOW THE FOLD
Calling the plays: Do you need a career coach to win?
Just the tax, ma’am: A dozen places to find free tax advice.
Put me in, coach: The X’s and O’s of hiring a career coach.
New resolve: Science helps with those hard-to-keep New Year’s resolutions.
Deal with it: Please continue supporting the amazing firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Presberg Law, where wheeling and dealing is done right. Check them out.
