When will it end: Hang in there, intrepid innovators – Friday is upon us, the weekend beckons and Election Day is less than three weeks away.
Ending another busy workweek is fine and dandy. Ending this brutal election season – lousy with repetitive rhetoric, cloying commercials, deceit, delusions and whackadoodle dance-a-thons – can’t happen fast enough (although the baseless claims of election-fixing and empty legal challenges sure to follow won’t do much to soothe our national angst).
Loafing around: No, no, no … meatloaf, not Meat Loaf.
Gives us pause: Fortunately, there are just a few hours to go until Friday night – but before we get to that, we take a moment to salute World Menopause Day, an annual Oct. 18 global spotlight shined on the health and wellbeing of women experiencing the natural end of their menstruation cycles, usually in their late 40s or early 50s.
Like they were made for each other: There’s a truly classic dinner menu on tap tonight, as we dig into both National Meatloaf Appreciation Day and, perhaps not entirely coincidentally, National Mashed Potato Day.
And for desert, enjoy National Chocolate Cupcake Day, also baked fresh and sweetly frosted every Oct. 18.
That’s just $153.4 million, in 2024 dollars: Also sweet was the $7.2 million deal the United States struck to purchase the Alaska territory from Russia, a virtual steal – completed on this date in 1867 – that ended Russia’s North American presence (at least, its physical presence).
Pop art: The pop-up toaster was patented 103 years ago today.
Pop goes your breakfast: Sweetened Pop Tarts would come later, but Minnesota-based inventor Charles Strite was the toast of the town on Oct. 18, 1921, when he patented the classic pop-up toaster.
Broadcast news: Speaking of toasts, raise your glass to the British Broadcasting Corp., the world’s leading public-service multimedia broadcaster, which was established 102 years ago today (as the British Broadcasting Company).
Texas radio: Carrying some early BBC programming was the world’s first commercial transistor radio, Texas Instruments’ Regency TR-1, which was introduced on this date in 1954.
It’s just part of his DNA: And it was Oct. 18, 1962, when American molecular biologist James Watson, British neuroscientist Francis Crick and New Zealand-British biophysicist Maurice Wilkins won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for determining the molecular structure of DNA – what many consider the most important scientific achievement of the 20th Century.
The big win unfairly stiffed British chemist and X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin, who was later recognized for her essential work – and of course, things would get ugly for Watson, with the longtime Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory director ultimately undone by his racist, misogynistic and homophobic beliefs.
Chuck be good, too: American singer, guitarist and songwriter Chuck Berry (born Charles Edward Anderson Berry, 1926-2017) – the undisputed “Father of Rock and Roll,” who refined rhythm and blues to develop a distinctive, guitar-heavy genre that has echoed through modern music history – would be 98 years old today.
Puncher’s chance: Tommy Hearns (right, socking the great Sugar Ray Leonard) battled all of his era’s greats.
Also born on Oct. 18 were English botanist, herbalist, physician and astrologer Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654), his era’s leading source of pharmaceutical and herbal lore; German chemist Christian Schönbein (1799-1868), credited with discovering ozone; Ivorian politician and physician Félix Houphouët-Boigny (1905-1993), the first president of independent Ivory Coast and revered “Sage of Africa”; American novelist Terry McMillan (born 1951), the bestselling author of “Waiting to Exhale”, “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and other hits encapsulating the African American experience; and Czech-American professional tennis legend Martina Navratilova (born 1956), who still holds the record for modern-era major titles.
The Hitman: And take a bow, Thomas Hearns! The retired American boxer – the first to win world titles in five weight divisions and veteran of some of history’s most savage slugfests, including his explosive three-round war with “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler in 1985, considered by many the greatest fight of all time – turns 66 today.
Give the Motor City Cobra your best at editor@innovateli.com, where we champion your news tips – and your calendar events are always main events.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
House money: Sagaponack is the second-most-expensive place to live in the United States, based on median home-sale prices.
ZIP it: Heartfelt congratulations to our readers in Sagaponack (11962) and Water Mill (11976), who live in the No. 2 and No. 3 most expensive ZIP codes, respectively, in the United States.
That according to our friends at PropertyShark, the online real estate database that has released its annual rundown of the nation’s highest-priced neighborhoods, based on 2024 median sale prices – and found that the Town of Southampton’s wealthiest communities rank second and third behind the Town of Atherton in California’s toney San Mateo County. With a $2 million MSP advantage, Atherton ($7.9 million) comfortably rules the roost, but Sagaponack ($5.95 million) and Water Mill ($5.89 million) are neck-and-neck in the two and three slots, well above such swanky locales as Miami Beach, Fla. ($5.75 million), and Santa Barbara, Calif. ($5.05 million).
A record 15 nationwide ZIP codes rated by the property-statistics aggregator boast MSPs of at least $4 million, while new highwater prices were set this year in ultra-wealthy communities across Arizona, Florida, Maryland and New Jersey, flipping 2023’s declining-prices trend and marking a year of “cautious growth for luxury real estate,” according to PropertyShark. For the record, New York City – where the most expensive ZIP code (TriBeCa’s 10013) ranked 23rd nationally ($3.36 million) – defended its title as the nation’s most expensive city.
Speedy trial: The University at Buffalo School of Law and SUNY Old Westbury will quicken the education of future lawyers with a new joint-degree effort.
The schools have signed an agreement creating a 3+3 joint degree program that will allow students to earn a bachelor of arts degree at SUNY Old Westbury and complete their juris doctorate at the UB School of Law in just six years, as opposed to the seven it would normally take to earn both degrees. The program is highly selective (qualifying SUNY Old Westbury students must carry a minimum 3.5 GPA, for starters) and open to undergrads studying for a BA in Philosophy and Religion, English, American Studies or Politics, Economics and Law (a single degree program).
The combined pathway, which kicks off with the Fall 2025 semester, will do more than simply eliminate a full year of tuition costs, according to SUNY Old Westbury Provost David Lanoue. “This is an opportunity for academically strong students to maximize their educational opportunities while benefitting from the support and expertise of outstanding faculty and staff on both campuses,” Lanoue noted. “We’re excited to collaborate with UB Law to offer SUNY Old Westbury students the ability to earn both bachelor’s and juris doctor degrees in just six years.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Pulling the right thread: The New York Institute of Technology has opened “Tech Threads” facilities on its Long Island and New York City campuses to help students attending job fairs and interviews look their professional best.
That’s right: Remember to check out Innovate Long Island’s Monday’s Calendar Newsletter for a rundown of the latest events and … what? You don’t receive the Monday Calendar Newsletter?? Because you’re not a subscriber??? You know subscriptions are always easy, always free, right? RIGHT?!?
ICYMI
Enhanced training facilities, better mental-health resources and a new museum/learning center honoring the work of volunteer Long Island firefighters are all on tap, thanks to major financial support from Albany.
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 California: San Francisco-based online “lottery courier service” Jackpot.com tempts customers in Massachusetts, Ohio and Texas with digital “scratcher” tickets.
From New Jersey: Bayonne-based frozen-foods innovator Dorot Gardens transforms kitchens with revolutionary “Pop. Drop. Done.” culinary concept.
From Canada, eh: Toronto-based legal-practice digitizer RunSensible enhances practice management with empowering legal-technology software platform.
ON THE MOVE
Deborah Washington
+ Deborah Washington has been hired as chief program officer at East Meadow-based EPIC Family of Human Service Agencies. She was senior vice president of Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Services at Brooklyn-based Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York City.
+ Thomas Mueger has been appointed to the Melville-based Friends of Karen Long Island Advisory Board. He is an associate private wealth advisor at Strategic Planning Associates in Melville.
+ Dean Zambelli has been appointed to the Melville-based Friends of Karen Long Island Advisory Board. He is a portfolio CFO at Imperial Advisory in West Hempstead.
+ Stephen Weiss has been hired as senior vice president/director of specialty deposits at Valley Bank in Jericho. He was senior vice president and regional manager at Webster Bank in White Plains.
+ Kemel Ishmael has been hired as director of nursing at East Meadow-based EPIC Family of Human Service Agencies. He was director of nursing at Queens-based SCO Family of Services.
+ James McGowan has joined the Long Island Advancement of Small Business Board of Directors. He recently retired from his position as associate dean of professional programs in the College of Professional and Continuing Studies at Garden City-based Adelphi University.
+ Victor McNulty has joined the Advisory Board of the Long Island Food Council. He is a former instructor at The Culinary Academy of Long Island and the founder and CEO of The Cook’s Studio.
+ Matthew Brevetti has been hired as a senior performance strategist at Austin Williams in Hauppauge. He was a search marketing manager at Springtide Child Development in Manhattan.
+ David Wilck has been elected to the Florida-based USLAW Network’s Board of Directors. He is a partner at Uniondale-based Rivkin Radler.
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BELOW THE FOLD (It’s The Economy Stupid Edition)
Debt financing: One of these candidates promises to explode the national debt, warn leading economists.
Overburdened: Economists say plans presented by both Presidential candidates will raise consumer costs – but one is way worse.
Overinflated: Don’t believe the hype – the U.S. inflation rate has already returned to normal.
Overindulging: A healthy economy could push 2024 holiday spending near $1 trillion.
Overachievers: Please continue supporting the fantastic firms that support Innovate Long Island, including Nixon Peabody, where clever collaboration, dynamic diversity and an enthusiastic entrepreneurial spirit always set the right overtones. Check them out.
