The day after: Welcome to Friday, dear readers, as we digest last night’s historic – and deeply upsetting – televised hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
Whether you watched or not, whatever side you’re on, it’s clear this country desperately needs to find a moderate middle ground – and to start developing innovative solutions to the vexing socioeconomic issues causing all the friction. Fortunately, we’re on the case.
Tea it up: And keep your cool today, fellow Americans.
Anonymous sources: We start this June 10 with a sober salute to one of history’s most important and successful innovations – today is Alcoholics Anonymous Founders Day, recalling the 1935 meeting between Bill W. and Dr. Bob S. that started it all.
We’ll raise a glass to that – make it a sweet raspberry tea, please, ideal for National Iced Tea Day.
Spices of life: Maybe jazz up that tea with some cloves or a sprig of mint – good choices on National Herbs and Spices Day, also adding a pinch every June 10.
Take a flier: Founding Father Benjamin Franklin may have stumbled across some herbs on this date in 1752, when he’s said to have flown a kite in a thunderstorm as part of a famous electricity experiment.
Take a brake: Well, don’t just take it, because African American uber-inventor Granville Woods patented his “automatic air-brake” for trains on June 10, 1902.
Now you see it: Americus Callahan’s inside edition.
Take a look: Other innovations associated with this date – actually, that exact same day in 1902 – include the first paper envelope with a see-through window, patented by spectacularly named inventor Americus Callahan.
Take a Poly: But again, you should think twice, since DuPont trademarked “Mylar” as the name of its super-strong polyester film 70 years ago today.
Mylar would steadily replace cellophane across industrial manufacturing operations, working its way into videotapes, advanced batteries, new packaging materials and much more.
Take a walk: And speaking of thinking things through (or not), it was June 10, 2000, when the artistic Millennium Bridge – an innovative footbridge crossing London’s River Thames – opened to pedestrians, perhaps a bit prematurely.
The Queen applauded. Thousands crossed. And then … the wobbling.
Pole positions: American physician and explorer Frederick Albert Cook (1865-1940) – who insisted he reached the North Pole a year before fellow adventurer Robert Peary, a highly disputed claim – would be 157 years old today.
Oh, Mammy: McDaniel paid a steep price for her Oscar.
Also born on June 10 were American clockmaker Chauncey Jerome (1793-1868), whose magnificent timepieces soared in popularity (until he fell in with a bad crowd); American journalist Rebecca Felton (1835-1930), the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate (for one day); American actress, singer and comedian Hattie McDaniel (1893-1952), the first African American to win an Academy Award; American heliophysicist Eugene Parker (1927-2022), who rode the solar winds; and American illustrator Maurice Sendak (1928-2012), who showed us “Where the Wild Things Are.”
They grow up so fast: And take a bow, Natasha Marian “Sasha” Obama! The younger Obama girl – who, at age 7 in 2009, became the youngest White House resident since the Kennedy kids – turns 21 today.
Give Barack and Michelle’s youngest daughter your best at editor@innovateli.com, where everyone who shares news tips and calendar events – or just says hi – is part of our First Family.
About our sponsor: Whether it’s helping with site selection, cutting through red tape or finding innovative ways to meet specific needs, businesses that settle in the Town of Islip soon learn that we take a proactive approach to seeing them succeed. If your business wants to locate or expand in a stable community with great quality of life, then it’s time you took a closer look at Islip.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Come again another day: And when you do, New Hyde Park Memorial High School’s innovative rain gardens will be ready.
Soaking it up: Three Long Island high schools have landed financial awards from the Long Island Regional Planning Council as part of a regional contest designed to mitigate groundwater contamination.
The 2021 Long Island Water Quality STEAM Challenge, developed in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, dared students to design and execute projects that would reduce rainwater-enhanced nitrogen pollution on school grounds (more specifically, beneath them). Nitrogen is the “leading cause of water-quality deterioration on Long Island,” according to the LIRPC.
Merrick’s Calhoun High School (a “rain garden” with natural plant filters), Commack High School (rain-collection barrels surrounding the school’s greenhouse) and New Hyde Park Memorial High School (multiple rain gardens and extensive student outreach) each earned a $2,500 challenge grant. “The health and sustainability of our ground and surface waters depends upon all of us taking small but significant steps,” noted LIRPC Chairman John Cameron. “It is essential for students today to recognize the challenges our region faces in protecting the quality of our water systems.”
Standards issue: A quantum leap in construction and electronic-appliance energy-efficiency standards awaits Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature.
Sponsored by State Sen. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn), the Advanced Building Codes, Appliance and Equipment Efficiency Standards Act of 2022 and a New York State Assembly companion bill cosponsored by Assemblyman Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor), among others, have passed both chambers of the State Legislature and require only Hochul’s Hancock to become law. The bills create stronger efficiency standards for household and business electronics including computers, printers and televisions, while aligning state construction codes with the latest carbon-reduction technologies – critical steps toward lowering New York’s greenhouse-gas emissions.
Statewide environmental watchdogs applauded the approvals. Alliance for Clean Energy New York Operations Director Deb Peck Kelleher noted the new regs “will save New Yorkers billions of dollars on their electric bills … and reduce our climate emissions,” while Lisa Dix, New York director of the national Building Decarbonization Coalition, cheered “foundational legislation” from Albany. “Buildings are the largest source of climate pollution in New York,” Dix said this week. “This common-sense step will reduce energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions … for decades to come.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Coloring outside the (front) lines: A group exhibition at a prestigious Hamptons art gallery will attempt to reclaim things lost in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
What have we here: An already-promising anticancer drug may be even more effective than first thought, according to Stony Brook University researchers.
Thriller theater: Can Michael escape Ireland? Can Renee rescue the girls? What brilliant invention is Brian cooking up next – and can Adrienne really save the world? Answers to these and other exciting questions can be found on Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast … now streaming!
ICYMI
Top ecological honors for Shinnecock Bay; critical public input on EV infrastructure.
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 Georgia: Atlanta-based logistics leader Norfolk Southern Corp. launches OceaNS Bridge Express, a continental collaboration connecting Atlantic shippers and West Coast markets.
From New York: Greene-based materials-handling master Raymond Corp. alters the reality of forklift-operator education with VR-enabled advanced training simulator.
From California: Los Alamitos-based automation ace Epson Robots answers manufacturing demand with flexible, powerful GX Series.
ON THE MOVE
Deborah Hunt
+ Deborah Hunt has been named dean of Adelphi University’s College of Nursing and Public Health, effective July 25. She is currently the associate dean of nursing and a professor of nursing at Mercy College.
+ Jed Shivers has been appointed senior vice president for finance and administration at Stony Brook University. He was previously vice president for finance and operations for the University of North Dakota.
+ Frank Leone has been hired as senior vice president and team leader for commercial banking at BankUnited in Melville. He was previously head of government banking for Capital One Bank in Melville.
+ Patrick Lloyd has been named dean of Stony Brook University’s School of Dental Medicine. He was previously dean of the College of Dentistry at Ohio State University.
+ Diana Walker Kubic has been promoted to chief operating officer of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County in Riverhead. She previously served as a finance officer.
+ James Riggert has been hired as a senior planner at Hauppauge-based VHB. He previously held the same position at AKRF in Manhattan.
+ Jad Sayage has joined Garden City-based Jaspan Schlesinger LLP as an associate in the Real Estate Practice Group. He was previously a law clerk at Brown Altman & DiLeo LLP.
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 the Islip IDA). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD
Cosmic cuddle: Comet, a super-rare male tortoiseshell, has landed in Las Vegas.
The ‘unicorn of cats’: A very rare kitten has found a new home.
Puppy love: How therapy dogs are assisting Uvalde first responders.
Pet rock: The Perseverance rover has picked up a persistent Martian hitchhiker.
Short leash: Please continue supporting the amazing organizations that support Innovate Long Island, including the Town of Islip Office of Economic Development, which always has your business’ best interests close at hand. Check them out.
