Good morning. Here's a Wednesday edition of your Trail Mix.
It's just a few days until Nik Wallenda performs his Niagara Falls wirewalk stunt - and the town is abuzz.
The date has been set for Kodak's patent sale.
And: Two upstate cities - Ithaca and Syracuse - are moving forward with waterfront development projects.
Kodak
A crucial sale of Kodak patents - which the company is banking on to stave off liquidation - is set for August 8 (Matthew Daneman, Democrat and Chronicle).
Rochester lawmakers say they expect a bill to pass that will help Kodak retirees get new health insurance if need be (Joseph Spector, Gannett).
Development
A developer is trying to convince the Watertown city council to build a road he says will lure in a major retail chain (Craig Fox, Watertown Daily Times).
There are two projects that get Rochester officials excited: Midtown and filling in the Inner Loop, says journalist Rachel Barnhart.
Big things are being planned for the Cayuga inlet waterfront in Ithaca, including new homes (Andrew Casler, The Ithaca Journal).
The developer hoping to get the go-ahead to build up Syracuse's Inner Harbor has the plans done and will present them to the city this morning (Tim Knauss, Post-Stardard). The Innovation Trail will have more on this later today.
Russell Sage College in Troy will host a two-day conference this fall on neighborhood revitalization (Larry Rullison, Times-Union).
Nik Wallenda
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected in Niagara Falls Friday night to see Nik Wallenda attempt his death-defying wirewalk. And that has the police out in full force (Nancy A. Fischer, Buffalo News).
It's the risk of injury or even death (even though Wallenda has agreed to wear a tether) that is bringing out those crowds, a professor tells WBFO's Jim Ranney.
The wire Wallenda will walk on is in place, thanks to some crafty engineering (P.J. Pignataro and Charlie Specht, Buffalo News).
Oops
There aren't too many people driving electric cars in central New York. There are more than enough charging stations for them. But they're already being ripped out and replaced after just a few months, reports the Post-Standard's Teri Weaver.
Jobs
Close to 65,000 New Yorkers could lose their jobless benefits months earlier than they expected (Marnie Eisenstadt, Post-Standard).
Business
Small business optimism inched down during the month of May (Rick Seltzer, CNY Business Journal).
New York State is giving a Buffalo company a $50,000 grant to keep its workforce trained (Matt Glynn, Buffalo News).
Tech
A cyber conference in Utica attracted more than 100 scientists and engineers (Dave Tobin, Post-Standard).
Thanks to a proliferation of entrepreneurship programs on college campuses, more young people are becoming CEOs (Ryan Delaney, Innovation Trail/WRVO).
