No. 1080: Marinas shine, affordability reaffirms and data center debates rage (so cool off with a creamsicle)

 

99 percent perspiration: You’ve done it again, inspirational innovators – another humid workweek sweated out, another sticky Summer weekend queued up.

Just one busy Friday to perspire through before we can cool down with our two-day furlough – and of course, this educational and entertaining week-in-review newsletter to help you finish the week high and dry. Mop those brows and let’s get to it!

Back to school: Before we begin, a quick scheduling note from Innovation Command: There will be no newsletter next Friday (Aug. 21), as your favorite innovation-news hub takes a couple of days to shuttle future rockstars off to their college dorms. Please enjoy your regularly scheduled Monday Calendar Newsletter and Wednesday Newsletter (on Aug. 17 and 19, respectively), then pardon our short absence. Gentle reminders next week.

Affordability affirmation: Back here on Aug. 14, we take a monetary moment to salute National Financial Awareness Day, a balanced-budget bash with important implications for those us who don’t love inflation and do think about the cost of living.

Also talking the talk is Navajo Code Talkers Day, an annual commemoration of the invaluable contributions Native Americans made to the United States’ World War II efforts – specifically, transmitting vital military messages in unbreakable Navajo language-based ciphers.

Stick with it: Also very cool – and an ideal counterbalance on a muggy afternoon – is National Creamsicle Day, a perfect blend of fruity and creamy always served on a stick (and ice cold) on Aug. 14.

Eye eye: Serving a niche need was the New York Eye Infirmary, which became the Western Hemisphere’s first hospital dedicated exclusively to eye care when it opened in New York City on this date in 1820.

Hai hai: Also keeping his eye on the ball was sculptor and lacquerware craftsman Zuisho Hotta, who earned the first-ever Japanese patent – covering his anticorrosive paint for ship hulls – on Aug. 14, 1885.

What watt: Other firsts associated with this date include the AC ampere-hour meter, patented by Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse engineer Oliver Shallenberger 138 years ago today and hailed as the first-ever electric meter.

Insurance assurance: Also shocking the system was the Social Security Act, which was signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt on this date in 1935, creating (among other things) a social insurance program providing post-retirement income for Americans ages 65 and older.

Jiffle Wiffle: And it was Aug. 14, 1953, when Connecticut-based innovator David Mullany Sr. invented the Wiffle Ball, one of history’s all-time-great plastic playthings.

Much more than a street game with folding lawn chairs as strike zones and sewer caps as bases, Wiffle Ball is now a professional sport with sponsored franchises and ESPN broadcasts. (And for those keeping score, “jiffle” is an old-timey verb meaning “to wiggle or move restlessly.” Use it today!)

Payne in their side: American journalist, editor and foreign correspondent Ethel Lois Payne (1911-1991) – a commentator, lecturer and fearless civil rights activist hailed as the “First Lady of the Black Press” – would be 115 years old today.

Also born on Aug. 14 were Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted (1777-1851), remembered as the “Father of Electromagnetism”; American writer and poet Ernest Thayer (1863-1940), who penned the iconic baseball poem “Casey at the Bat”; American romance novelist Danielle Steel (born 1947), the third-best-selling fiction author of all time (behind Shakespeare and Agatha Christie); American cartoonist Gary Larson (born 1950), who took us to “The Far Side”; and American retired basketball superstar-turned-all-world-businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. (born 1959), still the most high-profile advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention.

What a “Jerk”: And take a bow, Stephen Glenn “Steve” Martin! The American actor, comedian, writer, producer and musician – a beloved performer who’s enjoyed award-winning success in motion pictures, on television, on Broadway and in literature – turns 81 today.

Send birthday notes for the wild and crazy guy to editor@innovateli.com, where we go wild for your news tips and crazy, of course, for your calendar events.

 

About our sponsor: New York & Atlantic Railway is the primary freight railroad for New York City and Long Island and has operated the Long Island Rail Road’s freight lease since 1997 on tracks shared with the nation’s busiest commuter rail system. Through its service connections, NYA links Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk to every major North American freight railroad – moving goods efficiently and affordably while reducing congestion and emissions across the region. Learn more here.

 

BUT FIRST, THIS

Psyched up: One of Long Island’s leading universities has been honored for its exemplary student mental-health initiatives.

Adelphi University has been named a recipient of the Insight Into Academia 2026 Excellence in Mental Health and Well-Being Award, a prestigious shout-out that measures institutional programming and initiatives aimed at advancing student and staff mental health and wellbeing. Counseling services offered at Adelphi’s Garden City campus – as well as the university’s Mindfulness Center (a quiet refuge for the campus community, featuring yoga classes and guided meditation) and the Achan Family Interfaith Center (supporting spiritual life across various religious denominations) – were among the efforts lauded by Insight Into Academia.

Adelphi and 37 other colleges will be highlighted in the September 2026 issue of Insight Into Academia magazine. “The culture of care we have built at Adelphi goes far beyond academic and professional development,” noted Adelphi University President Michael Balboni. “It requires fostering a community that recognizes the mental-health challenges students face and actively supports them at every level.”

Pumped up: New York State is stepping up its support of Long Island marinas and waterways via the Environmental Facilities Corp.’s Clean Vessel Assistance Program.

A new round of grant funding has been made available through the program, which helps marinas and municipalities affordably install and upgrade boat-sewage pump-outs that reduce pollution and protect water quality – a big win for coastal ecosystems and the recreation, tourism and fishing industries, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office. The new grant program adds to Albany’s $14 million investment in the statewide Pump-out System Network, which targets marinas along ocean coasts, inland rivers and upstate lakes.

It also builds on the state’s $1 billion investment in Long Island-based water-infrastructure projects, according to the governor, who visited the Tanner Park Marina in the Town of Babylon on Aug. 4 to announce the new grants. “New York’s waterways are among some of our greatest assets,” the governor noted. “This funding will help marinas strengthen the waterfront infrastructure that keeps sewage out of our bays, protects marine habitats and preserves the clean water that communities depend on.”

 

TOP OF THE SITE

Damned if you do…: With strong opinions on both sides, Voices Law Anchor Michael Sahn dives deep into the raging data center debate.

…damned if you don’t: Please swing by Innovate Long Island’s safe-and-secure pledge page, where every donation – big ones, little ones and every pledge in between – helps us keep these newsletters and our entire website free from paywalls and subscription fees. (Hey, times are tough, and of course we’re not damning anybody … but if you can help, well, thank you in advance!)

 

ICYMI

Albany’s new “Let Them Build” law directly addresses New York’s housing crisis, according to a prominent Long Island developer, and could go a long way toward rectifying the Island’s desperate rental-housing shortage.

 

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 Utah: Provo-based YouTube educational series Lulubug’s Garden advances its mission with an advice-packed, clinically supported podcast for parents and caregivers.

From Delaware: Wilmington-based tech-accessory titan ESR enhances protection and refines style with its first-ever vegan leather iPhone case.

From New York City: Bug-based biotech Tick Solutions Global introduces the world’s first at-home diagnostic device built to test removed ticks for the Lyme disease bacteria.

 

ON THE MOVE

+ Deepa Malineni has been hired as a primary care physician at New York Health in North Massapequa. She was a clinician at Premier Internal Medicine Associates in Richmond Hill.

+ Smithtown-based Brightway Living & Learning has announced two promotions:

• Courtney Scully has been promoted to assistant director of development. She was a development manager.
• Patrick Van Rossem has been promoted to institutional giving and government relations associate. He was an institutional giving associate.

+ Bestin Kuriakose has joined Long Island Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, a practice of the Stony Brook Medicine Community Medical Group. He is a board-certified, fellowship-trained physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

+ Woodbury-based D&B Engineers & Architects has announced several new hires:

• Jillian Bayoneto has been hired as an accountant. She was a tax associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Manhattan.
• Michael Flores has been hired as an engineer 1 in the Wastewater Division. He is a recent graduate of Manhattan University in the Bronx.
• Ava Gross has been hired as an engineer 1 in the Water Supply Division. She was a research assistant in Stony Brook University’s Chemical Engineering department.
• Tyler Maslak has been hired as an engineer 1 in the Wastewater Division. He is a recent graduate of Purdue University.
• Emily Riha has been hired as an environmental scientist 1 in the Civil Engineering Division. She was a conservation education presenter at Walt Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida.
• Trevor Wallace has been hired as an engineer 1 in the Water Supply Division. He was an engineer/drafter at Howard I. Shapiro & Associates in Lynbrook.

 

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 – on Long Island, and soon, across New York State (just ask New York & Atlantic Railway). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.

 

BELOW THE FOLD (Baba Vanga Edition)

Global gossip: She died 30 years ago Tuesday, but the legendary clairvoyant continues to influence propaganda and conspiracy theories.

Stay tuned: Banga has so far nailed two of five dramatic 2026 predictions – and the rest aren’t pretty.

Coming soon: The first feature film about the blind Bulgarian mystic is heading to theaters.

Past is prelude: Please continue supporting the future-focused companies that support Innovate Long Island, including New York & Atlantic Railway, which embraces historically proven transportation tactics while envisioning a socioeconomically stronger tomorrow. Check them out.