Sweet reunion: Hello again, dear readers! After our short-but-sweet Spring break, your favorite innovation-economy newsletter is back on the beat.
We missed you, too! But here we are, reenergized and ready to rock … and thrilled to put some icing on your busy workweek.
Like butter(scotch): Go ahead, have two … nobody’s counting on National Butterscotch Brownie Day.
Sweet freedom: Today is Friday, May 9, and a very good morning to our many readers in Guernsey and Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands! America celebrated our Liberation Day on April 2 – bravely freeing ourselves from the last vestiges of economic sanity – but you celebrate your far more commendable Liberation Day today, marking the end of the islands’ occupation by Nazi forces in 1945.
Speaking of occupations, your kids and their friends will be commandeering the TV room tonight – it’s National Sleepover Day, an annual homage to sleeping bags, PG-13 flicks and intentional insomnia.
Sweet tooth: Don’t forget the snacks – soda, chips and especially warm and gooey brownies, star of the show on National Butterscotch Brownie Day.
With the kids making a racket all night, adults may want to keep a bottle handy – thank goodness it’s also National Moscato Day, raising a glass to the sweet Italian white every May 9.
Sweet deal: Also making concessions was the world’s oldest international accord – officially, the oldest diplomatic alliance still in force – which was ratified on this day in 1386, when the leaders of Portugal and England inked the Treaty of Windsor.
Sweet mother: Mother’s Day became a thing on May 9, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that a new national observance would take place on the second Sunday of every May. (This year’s observance is this Sunday, for those keeping score.)
The queen of outer space: Cannon overcame obstacles both mathematical and misogynistic.
Sweet victory: The International Astronomical Union finally overcame its lesser gender-discrimination nature 103 years ago today, passing a resolution that formally adopted American astronomer Annie Jump Cannon’s highly accurate stellar classification system. (For the record, it’s still in use today.)
Sweet shot: Elsewhere in space, it was this date in 1962 when MIT scientists successfully bounced a laser beam off the Moon for the first time, calculating the satellite’s precise distance from Earth and confirming that it’s pulling away at an annual rate of about 4 centimeters.
Sweet goodbye: And it was May 9, 1992, when eternally popular NBC sitcom “The Golden Girls” ended its seven-season run with a tearjerker finale.
The snappy show’s clever writers, sharp producers and talented cast accumulated plenty of gold along the way, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards.
Indiana Jones and the Valley of the Kings: British archeologist, Egyptologist and all-around adventurer Howard Carter (1874-1939) – who discovered the intact tomb of the 18th Century Pharaoh Tutankhamun and was the archetype that inspired Indiana Jones – would be 151 years old today.
Real swinger: Gwynn’s .338 lifetime batting average is just the start of his remarkable accomplishments.
Also born on May 9 were Japanese feudal lord Minamoto Yoritomo (1147-1199), the shogun who started it all; German entrepreneur Adam Opel (1837-1895), who founded bicycle/sewing machine manufacturer Adam Opel AG but didn’t live to see production of the automobiles that still bear his name; Swedish scientist, engineer and inventor Carl Gustaf Patrik de Laval (1845-1913), who pioneered high-speed turbines; British American electrical engineer and industrialist Edward Weston (1850-1936), who was outshined by Edison but still lit it up; and American baseball Hall of Famer Anthony Keith “Tony” Gwynn Sr. (1960-2014), arguably the greatest to ever swing a bat.
The longest time: And take a bow, William Martin “Billy” Joel! Long Island’s favorite son – a megastar musician, singer, songwriter and composer known best for his romantic ballads, suburban studies and Rock genre mainstays – turns 76 today.
Wish the Piano Man well at editor@innovateli.com, where We Didn’t Start the Fire – you did, with your news tips and calendar events. (No Pressure, but This is The Time to send them. Or maybe later, Big Shot … You May Be Right.)
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BUT FIRST, THIS
Nursing them through it: The Stony Brook School of Nursing has received a major shot in the arm.
The school has been named one of three State University of New York Regional Nursing Simulation Centers and will receive a $10 million SUNY award – to be paired with a fresh $10.5 million Stony Brook University outlay – to create a technologically advanced simulation center that enhances nursing education and increases student capacity. The school projects a 19 percent increase in baccalaureate-level nursing enrollment in the first year after project completion, and a 27 percent increase over the ensuing five years.
The Stony Brook School of Nursing joins the SUNY Canton Nursing Program as Regional Nursing Simulation Centers, with the University at Buffalo School of Nursing crowned the SUNY System-Wide Nursing Simulation Center of Excellence. “This designation … reflects our longstanding commitment to preparing the next generation of nurses,” noted Stony Brook Medicine Executive Vice President William Wertheim. “Through this important partnership with SUNY, we will expand access to high-quality, hands-on clinical training – helping to address the critical nursing shortage, grow the healthcare workforce and ensure our communities have the skilled professionals they need to thrive.”
Stop sign: The well-organized resistance to Rechler Equity Partners’ Sayville development plans is not impressed with the builder’s newest proposal.
The battle of Sayville: Reflecting a “stark contrast” to its initial plan, Rechler Equity Partners has presented a “community-inspired” update of its South Bay Village proposal – but the community seems unimpressed.
The Plainview-based developer’s initial Sayville Greybarn vision for Sayville’s former Island Hills Golf Club generated stiff resistance, with local civic groups protesting required zoning changes (current zoning permits just 98 single-family homes) and the loss of precious green space. Presented at the MacArthur Business Alliance’s April 27 meeting, Rechler Equity’s “reimagined” proposal includes a 35 percent reduction in total residences (now 890), with 314 single-family homes (age restricted to 55 and up) and 576 rental units (173 of which are age-restricted), plus multiple environmental and community enhancements: greenway buffers, cottage-type architecture, cutting-edge stormwater management, new sewage capacity for downtown Sayville and more.
The opposition, however, remains unmoved. Noting that “residents … want single-family homes or green space on that property,” the Bohemia Civic Association lamented a revised proposal that still “does not fit the character of the surrounding area,” while the Greater Islip Association, in conjunction with sister group Stop Island Hills, blasted a proposed 908 percent increase in housing density (compared to current zoning) and warned that “traffic congestion will explode.” Stay tuned.
TOP OF THE SITE
Brand new: Hurtling toward its 100-year anniversary, Hofstra University has unveiled an all-new logo – and strengthened its overall brand.
Lost in cyberspace: You know how you felt on Monday and Wednesday, when you opened your email and didn’t find an educational, entertaining innovation-economy newsletter? That empty, kinda lost feeling … like you weren’t entirely sure what was going on around you? That’s how your innovation team feels without their own individual Innovate Long Island Newsletter subscriptions. Ease their suffering.
ICYMI
Voices Healthcare Anchor Terry Lynam, former senior vice president and chief public relations officer for Northwell Health, praises the vast health system for its bold merger with Nuvance Health – and Northwell President/CEO Michael Dowling for making it happen.
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.
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 Washington State: Seattle-based, ecologically friendly energy-solutions provider EcoFlow powers apartments and condos with plug-and-play home solar system.
From Ohio: Canton-based environmentally conscious chemical manufacturer Midwest Industrial Supply debuts U.S. Forst Service-approved Class A firefighting foam.
From Texas: Austin-based gastrointestinal-health go-getter Wonderbelly challenges Pepto Bismol with national launch of dye-free, FDA-regulated pro-digestive products.
ON THE MOVE
Susan Lee
+ Susan Lee has been elected to the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians. She is a professor of clinical medicine in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, medical director of Stony Brook Primary Care and deputy chief of Stony Brook Medicine’s Medical Information Office.
+ Sean Lane has been appointed senior vice president and provost of Farmingdale State College. He was dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
+ Lauren Marron has been hired as of counsel in the Design Professionals Practice Group at Melville-based L’Abbate, Balkan, Colavita & Contini. She was a senior litigation attorney at the Law Offices of John Trop in Garden City.
+ Rivkin Radler has announced two new hires:
- Beyza Killeen has joined the Trusts & Estates Practice Group in the firm’s Uniondale office. She was of counsel at McCoyd, Parkas & Ronan in Garden City.
- Rawson Jahan has joined the Insurance Fraud Practice Group in the firm’s Uniondale office. She was assistant corporation counsel for the New York City Law Department.
+ Robin Lane has been promoted to chief program officer at United Cerebral Palsy of Long Island in Hauppauge. She was director of quality management and corporate compliance.
+ Rose Scammell has been hired as director of special education and student support services in the North Bellmore School District. She was director of pupil personnel services in the Harborfields Central School District.
+ Amanda D’Auria has been hired as an associate account executive at Hauppauge-based Austin Williams. She was a marketing coordinator at Hauppauge-based National Business Capital.
+ Wilson Suzuki has been hired as a project engineer II at Oyster Bay-based Walden Environmental Engineering. He was a staff engineer at Dover Plains-based Rennia Engineering Design.
+ Kiera Lehr has been promoted to senior associate at Hauppauge-based Nawrocki Smith. She was a staff associate.
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 (Mother’s Day Edition)
Mommy issues: Norman Bates wasn’t the only one.
The mothers of the mother of all days: Wilson signed the proclamation … but who really invented Mother’s Day?
Flowers shmowers: Last-minute gifts that will sweep Mom off her feet.
Maternal menace: Why mothers make great horror film heavies.
Parental guidance: Please continue supporting the innovative institutions that support Innovate Long Island, including the New York Institute of Technology, which nurtures the academic and social wellbeing of each and every student. Check them out.
