MARKET WATCH COLUMNIST
“LI’s Bright Spots Shine Despite Bleak Times,” Ellis Henican Column, Newsday, May 30, 2010
The jobs are slow in returning. The Long Island economy’s still bleak. The weather people are predicting a treacherous riptide season off the beaches here. 
Is there anything to be cheery about as summer unofficially begins?
I mean besides the fact that “Long Island Princesses Unleashed” is anchoring the Sunday schedule on E!
OK. Fair point. File that one under “depressing news,” too.
But good things keep happening even in bad times. Not all the silver linings have disappeared. So don’t be too bummed as “Long Island Man Pleads Guilty in Wife’s Killing,” “Long Island’s Favorite Magician Admits Kiddie Porn” and “Thunderstorms May Mar LI Holiday” grab the headlines.
We’ll just work a little harder to smile.
The beaches are still safe, despite that missing whale dart. And Dr. Beach says Long Island has the best one in America. (It’s crowded enough already, so no more publicity, please!)
People still want to live here — look at the housing prices! People still want to drive here — look at the traffic! People still want to shop here — look at the mall parking lots!
We’re absurdly overrepresented — Rick Lazio, Kathleen Rice, Steve Levy, the list goes on — on the state ballot this year. Do-good groups — from Literacy Nassau to rockCANroll — are do-gooding everywhere. Sometimes, even the politicians stumble onto something smart. The Nissequogue River and Brookhaven state parks — and many others — will remain open despite the dire budget-cutting. “The legislature has made the tough choices to my satisfaction,” Gov. David A. Paterson was saying, even before the details were ironed out.
He just couldn’t stand any more frowns.
Oh, and those limited-edition Jones Beach Nikes? They’re back again. So run, don’t walk, to enjoy yourself this weekend.
Monday’s a holiday, as you might have heard.
ASKED AND UNANSWERED
Is “princess” really ever a term of flattery any more? Not on E!’s “Long Island Princesses Unleashed,” it isn’t . . . Why aren’t bank robbers, like the one who hit the Bank of America on Sunrise Highway on Wednesday, more specific in their notes about HOW MUCH money they’d like? . . . When Syosset dentist Barry Cohan got three years in prison for “reprehensible” overcharging, how many other dentists asked: Where’s the legal line between “overcharging” and “reprehensible overcharging?” . . . Is the $1.15-million asking price for the “Amityville Horror” house higher — or lower — because of the movie fame? The Ocean Avenue home sold for $55,000 after the 1974 DeFeo murders . . . Anybody find a whale dart near Wyborg Beach? It’s 2 1/2 feet long! How hard could it be to find? . . . Was one vacuum cleaner the only piece of school district property Edward Catalano and George Maggio Jr. sold on eBay? The two Bethpage employees are charged with slapping $13,000 on the district’s UPS account to ship 1,610 other items.
SUMMER BRIGHT SPOTS
1. “Jersey Shore” is in Jersey
2. At some point, there’s no more budget to cut
3. No big CK logo on Calvin Klein’s new Bridgehampton house
4. Air conditioning was invented
5. Brave people fought and died for our freedom
ELLIS’ LONG ISLANDER OF THE WEEK: Olivia Bouler
The sixth-grader from Islip spent summers with her dad’s family on the Alabama Gulf Coast. So when Olivia heard about the BP oil spill, she wanted to help. “I’m no [John] James Audubon, but I can draw,” she said. On her Facebook page, “Save the Gulf: Olivia’s Bird Illustration,” she’s offering original watercolors to anyone who makes a donation to the National Audubon Society or several other wildlife-protection groups. Quickly, her fans are into the thousands, as are the dollars she’s helped to raise. Little hands, big help.
E-mail ellis@henican.com. Follow him at twitter.com/henican.
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