Stranger than fiction: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, and welcome to April, which officially began yesterday, as you probably realized from the preponderance of Internet hoaxes (no, Yahoo has not introduced a computer keyboard made from grass, William Shatner is not going to Mars with Elon Musk and President Trump has not fired 10,000 employees of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).
Oh, wait – that last one is true.
Crusts are optional: But the insides stand out on National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day.
Truth be told: Here on April 2, we shake off the silliness of April Fool’s Day to refocus on the important things, starting with World Autism Awareness Day, the 18th annual U.N.-sanctioned homage to people on the spectrum and the comprehensive systems working to support them.
Also keeping it real is International Fact-Checking Day, a yearly reminder that exaggeration, confabulation and outright lies might play at your typical cult rally, but no one else is buying it.
Simple pleasures: Today is also International Children’s Book Day, reminding us that reading – picture books, young adult novels and anything else between covers and geared toward kids – is fundamental.
And keep your inner child happy with the simplest and tastiest lunch of all (heck, make it breakfast or dinner, if you like): It’s National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, pleasing kids of all ages every April 2.
Get the lead out: More akin to writing than reading are lead pencils, which were first manufactured on this date in 1827 by Massachusetts-based inventor Joseph Dixon and do not contain lead.
Step on it: Unleaded fuel would come later, but it was April 2, 1872, when inventor George Brayton, also hailing from Massachusetts, earned a U.S. patent for the internal-combustion gasoline engine.
Where no woman had gone before: Jeanette Rankin convinced voters — and outlasted doubters — to become the first woman in the U.S. Congress.
Rankin member: Also hitting the gas was Montana Republican Jeanette Rankin, who – after being duly elected five months earlier – was finally sworn in as the first woman in Congress 108 years ago today (following a month-long debate about whether a woman was “fit” to be a U.S. Representative).
In range: Also on the radar today is … radar, actually, which was patented by British physicist Sir Robert Watson-Watt on April 2, 1935.
Ewing seen nothin’ yet: And before there was Bobby reappearing in the shower, “Who Shot J.R.?” and less-successful spinoff “Knots Landing,” there was prototype nighttime soap opera “Dallas,” which premiered on the CBS Television Network on this date in 1978.
The melodrama, a prime-time hit for 13 rollicking seasons, actually began as a five-week miniseries.
Fairy and balanced: Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) – a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels and poems, but remembered best for 150-plus stories across nine volumes of literary fairy tales – would be 220 years old today.
The Prince of Motown: Gaye helped put the label on the map.
Also born on April 2 were Frankish royal Charlemagne (747-814 AD), king of the Franks, king of the Lombards and the first Holy Roman Emperor; Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer and Jesuit priest Francesco Grimaldi (1618-1663), who shone new light on diffraction; American business magnate Walter Chrysler (1875-1940), a legendary automotive industrialist; British actor Sir Alec Guinness (1914-2000), a Royal Navy veteran and accomplished film star who brought significant gravitas to that galaxy far, far away; and American singer, songwriter and producer Marvin Gaye (1939-1984), a soulful Motown standout.
This is the way: And take a bow, Pedro Pascal! The Chilean American actor (born Pedro Balmaceda) – an NYU graduate who landed bit parts on numerous TV series, broke through on “Game of Thrones,” soared as “The Mandalorian” and will soon stretch himself out in Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” revival – turns 50 today.
Wish Mr. Fantastic well at editor@innovateli.com, where we think your news tips are fantastic – and it’s not a stretch to say we’d be lost without your calendar events.
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Liquid gold: Bohemia-based Sensaras LLC has made a major splash in the liquid-sensor business.
Sensaras and sensibility: A $500,000 tax credit for a Long Island manufacturer is part of the second approved-funding tranche stemming from Albany’s latest Regional Economic Development Council awards.
Announced in December, the 2024 stipends include hundreds of individual awards spread across New York’s 10 economic-development zones – including 63 for Long Island projects, ranging from $25,000 for technology upgrades at Deer Park-based United Way of Long Island to $5 million for the acquisition of 110 woodland acres in the Town of Brookhaven. All winning projects are investigated and approved by the Empire State Development Corp. before the rewards are finally issued.
Among the latest group of approved awardees is Bohemia-based Sensaras LLC, a state-of-the-art manufacturer of ultrasonic liquid-level sensor systems used in U.S. Navy submarines and across the semiconductor industry (a $500,000 Excelsior Jobs Program tax credit, helping Sensaras invest $5.5 million to acquire and stock a new 16,000-square-foot headquarters, with 20 new full-time jobs on the way). “These strategic investments demonstrate our commitment to community-driven economic development across New York,” noted Empire State Development Board Chairman Kevin Law. “The Sensaras expansion … highlights the economic momentum we’re building on Long Island, creating new manufacturing jobs and strengthening our regional innovation economy.”
Lacking sense or sensibility: Count Long Island labor leaders among those blasting President Donald Trump’s decision to terminate union bargaining rights for federal workers.
Criticizing “hostile” unions, Trump – who wooed the working class during the 2024 election by repeatedly promising to fight for American laborers – signed an executive order March 27 eliminating collective bargaining for 1 million federal workers and scrapping federal union contracts for nearly a million others. Critics lamented an unprecedented anti-union move and lawsuits, predictably, are already piling up.
Labeling the President “anti-union, anti-worker and anti-democracy,” Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO President John Durso and Executive Director Ryan Stanton issued a joint statement this week invoking George Washington (who “warned the nation of the dangers of political factions that place party loyalty above the public good,” according to the duo) and taking Trump to task. “This is more than a policy dispute,” the labor leaders said. “It is a fundamental threat to the balance of power and the very principles that have safeguarded our republic since its founding. The labor movement has always been a bulwark against the abuse of power … we do not take lightly any effort to circumvent the foundational rights enshrined in our Constitution – rights fought for by generations of working Americans.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Scary good: Two frightening flicks will kick off the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame’s new Local Filmmaker Series, highlighting Island-based writers, directors and locales.
Listening library: The respected judge, the brilliant author, the revered academician, the flamboyant attorney, the innovative bank executive … which enlightening and entertaining episodes of “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” have you missed? (Good news: They’re all right here.)
VOICES
Housing discrimination, healthcare spending, nuclear energy, artificial intelligence, DEI hiring, opioid addiction, public-relations mega-mergers … these are just some of the ripped-from-the-headlines topics – all leveraging Long Island angles – surfacing recently in Innovate Long Island’s educational, indelible, incredible Voices column.
The powerful Voices rotation welcomes a new heavy-hitting expert this Friday – another genius straight from the innovation economy’s front lines, packing best-practice solutions to today’s most vexing socioeconomic issues. Before our new slugger swings away, catch up quick on lessons already learned!
Something to say? Welcome to The Entrepreneur’s Edge, Innovate Long Island’s new promoted-content news feature platform – a direct link from you to our innovation-focused audience. Progressive product to promote? Singular service to sell? Sociopolitical position to push? Shine a bright light on the big picture, the little details and everything in between with The Entrepreneur’s Edge. Living on the edge.
STUFF WE’RE READING
V for “victory” (and “veggies”): Once a wartime necessity, victory gardens return to battle high grocery bills. Salon grows its own.
L for “liberation” (and “losses”): “Liberation Day” has finally arrived – and the economic insanity is just beginning. Vanity Fair braces for impact.
T for “torpedo” (and “trouble”): Behold, the MIT-designed “torpedo bat” that’s threatening to blow up Major League Baseball. ESPN swings for the fences.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ GridPoint, a Virginia-based tech firm focused on energy management, raised $45 million in funding led by Marunouchi Innovation Partners.
+ Layer Health, a Massachusetts-based health-tech focused on machine learning, clinical medicine, engineering and commercial execution, raised $21 million in Series A funding led by Define Venture.
+ Hakimo, a California-based, artificial intelligence-powered security-monitoring innovator, raised $10.5 million in funding led by Vertex Ventures and Zigg Capital.
+ Lucky Energy, a Texas-based energy drink manufacturer, raised $14.2 million in Series A1 funding led by Maveron.
+ BuildVision, a North Carolina-based commercial construction procurement platform, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Norwest Venture Partners.
+ Brisk Teaching, a California-based artificial intelligence-powered teaching and learning agent for K-12 schools, closed its $15 million Series A funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know (just ask New York Tech). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (Ear, Nose And Throat Edition)
Can you repeat that: He’s not ignoring you, ladies … he might not hear you.
Seasoned: Yes, your seasonal allergies are getting worse.
Conditioned: Stuffy nose? Scratchy throat? Could be your AC.
Deafened: Science finally proves it – women do hear better than men.
Ear to the ground, nose for news, full-throated innovation: Please continue supporting the innovative institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including the New York Institute of Technology – trend-savvy, issues-oriented and always out in front of the next big thing. Check them out.
