Good morning. The weekend is nearing, but we march on with a Thursday Trail Mix.
A fiber optics company is staying in Albany, despite having suitors.
NASA's Mars rover is carrying a little piece of Rochester with it.
And: Elmira is getting back on its feet after last week's tornado.
Technology
An Albany area fiber-optics firm, courted by New Hampshire, is expected to announce this morning that it plans to stay in the state and double its workforce (Larry Ruilison, Times-Union).
A Utica firm, Quanterion Solutions Inc., has won a $27 million contract with the U.S. Air Force to operate a cyber-security center (Kevin Tampone, Mohawk Business Journal).
A newly launched cell phone early warning system worked, and gave some people with smartphones 30 minutes notice of the tornado (G. Jeffery Aaron, Gannett).
NASA's latest Mars rover is carrying technology from a Kodak spinoff (Matthew Danemann, Democrat and Chronicle).
Business
U.S. consumer confidence is down in August, with concerns about rising food and gas prices (Kathleen Madigan, Wall Street Journal).
Work is resuming at a $130 million Seneca casino in Buffalo (Denise Jewell Gee, Buffalo News).
Several Elmira businesses have reopened after last week's tornado (Jeff Murray, Gannett).
Government
Gov. Cuomo has signed a law that will allow health insurance companies to compete to provide coverage for Kodak retirees, should their plans be dropped (Jon Campbell, Jessica Alaimo and staff, Gannett).
Carlet Cleare from WXXI News has more.
Fracking opponents are putting pressure on Gov. Cuomo's top donors (Associated Press).
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is warning that local governments across the state are facing a grim fiscal reality (Karen DeWitt, NYS Public Radio).
Sen. Chuck Schumer is pushing for new legislation to give R&D tax credits to startups (Thomas Adams, Rochester Business Journal).
Higher ed
Several Rochester area colleges and universities have landed on the Forbes list of America's Top Colleges (Nate Dougherty, Rochester Business Journal).
The Student Sandbox, a startup incubator for college students in Syracuse, has been named the third best in the country (Charley Hannagan, The Post-Standard). Here's a story we did on the Sandbox earlier this summer.
