900 number: Nine hundred? Good golly, that’s a big number.
Welcome, intrepid innovators, to Issue No. 900 of the Innovate Long Island Newsletter – which is not actually Issue No. 900 (more on this below), but nonetheless symbolizes a remarkable achievement (if we don’t say so ourselves).
John Kominicki: What’s the big idea?
First, the math: This is Issue No. 900 but not the 900th issue for several reasons, starting with the Myth of the Missing 22. As many of you know, our informative and entertaining newsletter archive mysteriously begins with Newsletter No. 23, with no trace of the early editions. There are also the unnumbered soft-launch proto-newsletters beloved founder John Kominicki floated to friends and business associates, plus hundreds of Monday Calendar Newsletters – a big hit with subscribers, but not part of our numbered archive.
Next, a history lesson: When he launched Innovate Long Island in 2015, Kominicki – in his infinite wisdom – envisioned a part news website/part regional socioeconomic toolbox. When he passed away on that sad and dark day in December 2017, the groundwork had been laid … but would anyone have believed that we’d still be at it all these years later, without John’s massive shoulders lifting us up?
Well, Innovate Long Island President Marlene McDonnell certainly believed. Closer to John than just about anyone, Marlene bravely took the reins – and has ably guided the ship through recessions, pandemics and other difficult challenges. Great ideas have a way of persisting, but fledgling businesses tend to belly-up fast without quality leadership; hats off to Marlene, who’s kept this dog hunting against incredible odds.
Our incredibly loyal sponsors also believed. Some have been with us from the very beginning, some have joined our program already in progress, but all of them recognized a good thing when they saw it. Without their support, we’d be cooked.
Then there are our amazing contributors – the A-list guests who’ve joined our podcasts, the dozens of big thinkers who’ve shared their perspectives on our Opinion Page, and of course the incredible talent fortifying our mighty Voices rotation, the ultimate manifestation of our “toolbox” mantra.
(With that, a special round of applause, please, for current heavy-hitters David Chauvin, Terry Lynam, Tom Mariner, Jeffrey Reynolds, Michael Sahn and Allison Singh, and for past Voices columnists Harry Aurora, Eugene Barnosky, Ambrose Clancy, Rosalie Drago, Kate Fullam, Robert Glazer, Jeff Guillot, David Hamilton, Mitch Maiman, Nancy Pak, David Pennetta and Phil Rugile. Geniuses, one and all.)
And you obviously believed, dear readers – you, the inventors and investors and entrepreneurs and executives fueling the Long Island innovation economy. You understood what we were trying to do and embraced it. Without your faith, without your comments and newsletter subscriptions and frequent visits, we simply couldn’t deliver these newsletters or populate our website.
Well past 1,000 newsletters and 10,000 website articles, it’s fair to say Kominicki’s advocacy-journalism experiment is working. Thank you, sincerely, for your part in that, and for helping us achieve this latest milestone.
Here’s to 900 more! Please keep reading … and keep on innovating.
– Gregory Zeller
July 24, 2024
Coming soon … 901! But first, a well-earned break – and this quick reminder about Innovate Long Island’s short summer hiatus, which begins immediately after today’s historic Issue No. 900.
We’ll be back Aug. 12 with your regularly scheduled Monday Calendar Newsletter and fresh website content. Until then, stay cool and stay safe. See you soon.
To go: The lines might be slightly longer on National Drive-Thru Day.
Would you care for a Whopper? We’re already running long and we don’t want to break your eyes or anything, but it wouldn’t be your favorite innovation newsletter without a review of today’s holidays and observances – so on this warm Wednesday, please embrace International Self-Care Day (brought to you by the Global Self-Care Federation) and/or National Drive-Thru Day (all about fast food and, arguably, the antithesis of self-care).
After you park, raise a glass to National Tequila Day, also taking its shot every July 24.
The first straw: With all the high-stakes political noise swirling about, you might need more than one tequila – it’s also a good time to note that the first-ever newspaper opinion poll was published on this date in 1824 by the Harrisburg Pennsylvanian, giving war hero Andrew Jackson a solid lead in the forthcoming presidential election. (Jackson did narrowly win the popular vote, though the House of Representatives handed the presidency to opponent John Quincy Adams.)
Meet the press: Speaking of newspaper innovations, inventor Richard Hoe’s “Improvement in Rotary Printing Presses” – a quantum leap for periodical publications – earned a U.S. patent on July 24, 1847.
No whip?: Nope … and “Indiana Jones” prototype Hiram Bingham III didn’t need one on this date in 1911, when he found the lost city of Machu Picchu.
Indiana Jones and the Lost City: Also making headlines was American explorer/adventurer Hiram Bingham III, who re-discovered the “lost” Incan citadel Machu Picchu 113 years ago today.
Rocket league: The front-page news on this date in 1950 came from Florida, where NASA launched its first two-stage rocket, marking the first-ever blastoff from Cape Canaveral.
Finger on the pulsar (not): And it was July 24, 1991, when the discovery of the first-ever exoplanet was proudly announced by University of Manchester astronomer Andrew Lyne – who got it all wrong.
Turns out the modulation of radio waves coming from Pulsar PSR 1829-10 was not caused by the presence of a planet, but by the Earth’s motion around the Sun. (Lyne later withdrew his claim, and for those keeping score, the first confirmed exoplanets were finally announced in 1992.)
All Earhart: Pioneering American aviator Amelia Earhart (1897-????) – who wrote several bestsellers about flying and was the first president of international women-pilot organization the Ninety-Nines, before becoming one of history’s greatest unsolved mysteries – would be 127 years old today.
Ain’t that America: For the record, Wonder Woman was an undocumented immigrant.
Also born on July 24 were Venezuelan military and political leader Simón Bolívar (born Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco, 1783-1830), who led several South American nations to independence from Spain; French novelist and playwright Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), who thrilled readers with historical adventures including “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Three Musketeers”; French mathematician Charles-Émile Picard (1856-1941), whose next-level geometric equations significantly advanced analysis and mechanics; American chemist Alice Ball (1892-1916), an African American prodigy who invented the first successful treatment for leprosy; and American actress, singer and model Lynda Carter (born 1951), a real wonder.
J.Lo and behold: And take a bow, Jennifer Lynn Lopez! The American actor, singer, dancer and businesswoman – who is divorcing husband Ben Affleck, or isn’t, but was definitely partying without him in the Hamptons this weekend – turns 55 today.
Give the prima donna prototype your best at editor@innovateli.com, where we could write 900 more newsletters and not care one iota whether Lopez divorces Affleck (but we care very much about your news tips and calendar events, in the Hamptons or elsewhere).
About our sponsor: St. Joseph’s University has provided a diverse population of students in the New York metropolitan area with an affordable education rooted in the liberal arts tradition since 1916. The independent, coeducational university provides a strong academic and values-oriented undergraduate and graduate-level education, preparing each student for a life characterized by integrity, intellectual rigor, social responsibility, spiritual depth and service. Through its Long Island, Brooklyn and online campuses, the university offers degrees in 100 majors, special course offerings and certificates and affiliated and pre-professional programs. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Laying down the law: Prominent attention to community-related concerns – combined with stronger and stricter law-enforcement efforts – appears to be working on Long Island, which has recorded a precipitous drop in violent crime.
That’s the word from Albany, which is reporting a 15 percent overall decrease in index crimes (serious infractions including murder, rape, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft) and a 16 percent reduction in property crimes during the first quarter of 2024. The Nassau, Suffolk and Hempstead police departments – which all participate in the state’s nationally recognized Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative – also reported a combined 44 percent decrease in shooting incidents with injury between January and March.
Governor Kathy Hochul, who visited Glen Cove last week to trumpet the improvements, credited the crime crackdown to GIVE and other regional and statewide efforts to address soaring post-pandemic crime rates, including her administration’s $347 million investment in license-plate readers, body cameras and other new technologies for local law enforcers. “And we will not let up, will not take our foot off the gas,” the governor added. “We’ll continue investing in crime-fighting strategies that we now know will actually work.”
Crystal woman: Linda Breitstone was a rock for Long Island’s food-insecure residents.
Breit spark: Long Island’s leading hunger-relief and social-service organization is mourning the passing of its forward-thinking founder.
Linda Breitstone – who relocated to Kauai, Hawaii, after founding Melville-based Island Harvest Food Bank in 1992 – passed away July 16 after a brief battle with cancer. The former Rockville Centre resident was a busy activist and entrepreneur who created the nonprofit food bank after witnessing food shortages at a Long Island women’s shelter and later launched Crystal Woman, a Honolulu-based business dealing in crystal art designed to inspire peace and creativity in homes and studios.
Longtime Island Harvest President and CEO Randi Shubin Dresner, who took the food bank’s reins in 2001, credited the founder as the driving force behind an organization expected to distribute nearly 20 million pounds of food this year, while providing supplemental support to 220,000-plus less-fortunate Long Islanders. “Linda Breitstone was a woman with a true sense of making things right,” Shubin Dresner said in a statement. “She cared deeply about Island Harvest, and even after she moved to Hawaii she kept an eye on our progress. I am deeply honored to have worked with her and continue her legacy.”
TOP OF THE SITE
On the rocks: Voices Healthcare Anchor Terry Lynam pours it on as new data reveals the true dangers of drinking alcohol – and the national booze industries (and their Congressional enablers) fret new consumption recommendations.
Friendly advice: Everyone and their grandmother has a podcast these days – but only Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast introduces you to the leaders of the regional innovation economy (and shares their success secrets). Make some new friends.
VOICES
Artificial intelligence can only learn what’s been digitized, but not all of human knowledge and experience has been programmed into history, notes Twomey, Latham, Shea, Kelley, Dubin & Quartararo attorney and Voices IP/Patents Anchor Allison Singh, who says AI will always be incomplete if only the rich and powerful have their say.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Food for thought: Science vs. politics has complicated the short history of nutrition labels. The Conversation digs in.
Deep thought: Science rallies to protect newly discovered “dark oxygen” on the ocean floor. The BBC dives in.
Forethought: Good habits that can save you from scammers. NPR goes all in.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ GRO Biosciences, a Massachusetts-based biotech focused on synthetic biology, raised $60.3 million in Series B funding led by Atlas Venture and Access Biotechnology.
+ Cell BioEngines, a New York City-based developer of new stem-cell therapies, raised an additional $2 million in funding from SOSV, the Partnership Fund and Empire State Development’s NY Ventures.
+ Monarch Tractor, the California-based creator of a fully electric, driver-optional smart tractor, raised $133 million in Series C funding co-led by Astanor and HH-CTBC Partnership.
+ Saronic, a Texas-based defense-tech, raised $175 million in Series B funding led by Andreessen Horowitz.
+ Stax Engineering, a California-based maritime emissions capture and control pioneer, raised $40 million in funding led by Upper90.
+ Arvo Tech, an Ohio-based tax-strategy platform for small business, raised $2.5 million in Series A funding led by Bandon 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 St. Joe’s). Marlene McDonnell can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (No. 900 Edition)
NOT a healthy choice: If this is a medical emergency, please hang up and dial 9-1-1.
It’s a dry heat: It’s 900 degrees Fahrenheit, but that’s not why Venus lost its water.
Nine-hundred pages of bonkers: The scariest lines in the Project 2025 manifesto.
Dial-a-fad: Exploring the tawdry, campy and otherwise cuckoo history of 900 numbers.
And counting: Please continue supporting the amazing institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including St. Joseph’s University, where roughly 900 undergraduate students are getting a running start on their best personal and professional lives. Check them out.
