Kickstart: Taking a safer hit

Enough coronavirus. Let's talk something calmer. More soothing. Like professional hockey.

This week is the third "Rethink the Rink," a project coordinated by materials supplier Covestro, Carnegie Mellon University and the Pittsburgh Penguins to consider new approaches to safety equipment at hockey rinks as well as within safety equipment worn by players.

The first year focused on safer boards alongside the rink. The second looked at goalie helmets. This year, the spotlight is on shoulder and elbow pads.

And for 2020, sports equipment supplier Bauer Hockey is joining the program, adding its expertise in what the sport and helping CMU students also understand what players need.

"The game is faster, and we have to have a different approach," Dan Bourgeois, vice president of product innovation, Bauer Hockey, said in a video posted as part of the program. "How can we provide good equipment for pro players? The key for them is to understand that protection is important but movement is also very important."

You can check the hashtag #rethinktherink to follow the project on social media.

Add the New York auto show to the list of events postponed by the coronavirus update. (Along with the Plastics Recycling Show Europe, which was set for late March in Amsterdam.)

Organizers had hoped the event, originally set to open to the media April 10, would go on as scheduled. The Javits Center installed 70 hand sanitizer stations to help battle the spread of any virus, but with the number of cases on the increase in the state of New York, conditions changed.

The New York show will now have its press preview Aug. 26-27 and open to the public on Aug. 28.

Speaking of hand sanitizers and the state of New York, Crain's New York Business has a story on the state creating its own brand of sanitizer, branded NYS Clean, produced by Corcraft, the manufacturing arm of the state Department of Corrections, which is staffed by inmates.

The intent is to undercut any price gouging by private brands such as as Purell, made by Gojo Industries Inc. of Akron, Ohio.

NYS Clean won't be sold to the general public, though. It's mostly aimed at use in public spaces. So you'll need to keep looking for your own personal bottle of sanitizer on store shelves, if one is available.

Maybe you're just looking for a chance to think about something other than the coronavirus.

Frank Esposito has a story on plastics recycling business owner Michael Domino, who produced and directed the independent film "Mott Haven: Cash for Keys."

Domino also co-wrote the film along with Robert Mladinich, a former New York Police Department detective. Next month, "Mott Haven" will be screened at the Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Fla.

"It's a story of redemption that also looks at the gentrification of the neighborhood," Domino said.

Check out the story, along with a trailer for the movie.