2025 green spikes awarded to 90 rural Italian towns
The 2025 Spighe Verdi (Green Spikes) awards for rural Italian municipalities have been announced. This tenth edition includes 90 towns—an increase from last year’s 75—with 17 new entries and 2 towns dropping off the list. Spighe Verdi is a national program by FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education), the same organization behind the internation...
Italy tops Europe in freight volume
A new report finds that Italy leads Europe in freight transport volumes, driven by a dense road infrastructure and a dynamic trucking industry. However, official EU figures appear to undervalue Italy’s actual road freight activity: estimates suggest the real volume ranges between 30.4 and 37.4 billion vehicle-kilometers—nearly twice the numbers rep...
Columbus Piave Club to Host Car & Motorcycle Show to Benefit Italian Festival Parade and Student Musicians
The Columbus Piave Club is revving up for its annual Car & Motorcycle Show, returning Saturday, August 16, 2025, to the historic Valley Dale Ballroom. This much-anticipated community event combines classic cars, family fun, and cultural celebration—all in support of the Columbus Italian Festival Parade and High School Marching Band Competition. Ope...
Chuck Mangione, Italian American smooth jazz icon and flugelhorn legend, dies at 84
Chuck Mangione, the Italian American Grammy-winning flugelhornist and trumpeter whose unmistakable sound helped bridge jazz and pop in the 1970s and beyond, died July 22 at the age of 84 in his hometown of Rochester, New York. Best known for his 1978 crossover hit “Feels So Good,” Mangione leaves behind a legacy that reshaped how jazz could live in...
Festa Italiana in Mokena, IL
Saturday, July 26, 2025 at 11:00 AM. Yunker Park, 10824 W La Porte Rd, Mokena, IL. Live music, a large selection of food, beverages, children's entertainment, games, magic, ballons, a splash pad, a spaghetti eating contest, an Italian car show, and more, all at the Fest. Special prayer service for Our Lady of Mount Carmel and procession at 10:30, s...
New Jersey's Italian American Scott Riccardi wins 14th straight 'Jeopardy!' to push earnings near $400,000
New Jersey native Scott Riccardi has now won 14 straight games on "Jeopardy!" Riccardi, an Italian American engineer from Somerville and 2021 Rutgers graduate, began his winning streak on July 3 and has career earnings of $390,902. On Tuesday, July 22, he defeated Adriene Holland of Powder Springs, Georgia and Paul Ryan of Weymouth, Massachusetts....
U.S. Army Garrison Italy Marks 60 Years of Army Community Service
Sixty years ago, Lt. Col. Robert Elkowitz’s parents had just married, his mother was four months pregnant, and his father was preparing to deploy to Vietnam. It was the summer of 1965 — the same year Lt. Col. Emma M. Baird helped launch Army Community Service, now a cornerstone of Army life around the world. Elkowitz, the garrison chaplain for U.S....
Huge Italian Festival To Take Over Southington, CT
If you're hungry this weekend, there's an annual festival in Southington that will most definitely appease the need. If you're hungry for good eats, good music, and a good time, the Southington Italian-American Festival hosted by UNICO National's Southington Chapter (an Italian-American civic group) is where you need to be from Friday, July 25, to...
NIAF mourns Italian American Wrestling Legend Hulk Hogan
The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) mourns the passing of wrestling icon Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea, who died at age 71 at his home in Clearwater, Florida. Born Terry Gene Bollea to Pietro "Peter" Bollea and Ruth Moody, Hogan proudly carried forward his Italian heritage through his paternal grandfather, also named Pietro, who immigrated...
Impressing the Natives
We don’t usually associate Italians with the “winning” of the West. But some 828,000 sq. miles of middle America, known as the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, had Italian connections. The area was claimed by France starting with the voyage of Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 when he reached the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. Later French explorers and...
Escape To Baia Cannone: Italy’s Secret Beach With Free Access And Breathtaking Views
As tourists crowd popular spots such as Portofino, Italy, few spare a thought for a hidden gem on the Italian Riviera — Baia Cannone. Just outside Portofino lies this sparkling cove, which provides visitors a peaceful escape from the normal tourist masses and a tranquil vibrancy all its own. Visitors proclaim this place is indeed “worth it” for any...
Early construction begins on reimagined Little Italy food hall
As early construction begins, the vision for the reimagined Little Italy food hall is coming into focus just months after its abrupt closure. Tucked away in the European-inspired Piazza della Famiglia on Date Street–between India Street and Columbia Street–is a quiet corner. After it closed in February, the lively food hall that once occupied the...