Racing legend Mario Andretti visits OKC for grand opening of karting facility
Andretti Indoor Karting & Games opened its doors Tuesday in northern Oklahoma City with racing icon Mario Andretti attending the grand opening event. The facility, located off Interstate 235 and Wilshire Boulevard, offers an 84,000-square-foot space, featuring a high-speed go-kart track, arcade, bowling, and various food and beverage options. "We h...
D’Andrea helps Oklahoma National Guard plan Thunderbird Trail to honor WWII vets
Eighty-two years ago, the Allied invasion of Italy began in Sicily. The operation preceded landings at Salerno in the Campania region, and with it the push to take Rome. In May, leaders of the Oklahoma National Guard revisited that same terrain along with Oklahoma State University Department of History professor David D’Andrea. Stopping at sites i...
Italian Consul General visits New Mexico to strengthen cultural and scientific ties
In recent days, Italian Consul General in Los Angeles, Raffaella Valentini, made her first official visit to New Mexico, accompanied by Emanuele Amendola, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute. Consul General Valentini expressed her gratitude to New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for hosting a “fantastic reception” at the Governor’s Ma...
From Italy to Arkansas, the buried archives unearthed in film
America is a melting pot of people — and today — more than one million Italian Americans can trace their history back to colonization in Arkansas. That’s according to historians with the Italians of Sunnyside. On this Independence Day, many are happy to call the natural state home — but they haven’t always felt so free. Anthony Borgognoni — raised...
Houston: Consul General Lorenzini visits ENJJPT Air base with Colonel Parmitano
Mauro Lorenzini, the Consul General of Italy in Houston, recently visited the 80th Flying Training Wing at the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) program, the world’s only multinationally manned and operated flight training program, based at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas. He was accompanied by Italian astronaut Colonel Luca Parmitano, a...
Italian firm plans to invest $500M at McKinney electric wire manufacturing facility
The Italian owners of a McKinney copper and aluminum electrical wire manufacturing facility plan to invest $500 million to expand operations. Prysmian held a groundbreaking ceremony at the Encore Wire Plant on Thursday. The investment centers on a new medium-voltage cable production facility, totaling more than 650,000 square feet. The new plant is...
Owner of Mandola’s Italian Kitchen Celebrates 50 Years Since Opening First Restaurant
Amongst the loud chatter of families and the comforting smell of freshly-cooked pasta, Damien Mandola floats from table to table, cheerfully greeting his many customers at Mandola’s Italian Kitchen in Bee Cave. International sports team flags drift down from the rafters and old family photos decorate the walls of the charming restaurant, which feel...
Calabretta-Sajder Named Chief Reader of AP Italian Language and Culture Program
Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, associate professor of Italian and director of International and Global Studies, was named chief reader of the College Board's Advanced Placement examination in Italian Language and Culture. Calabretta-Sajder first joined the AP Italian team as a development committee member in 2018. He served as a higher education member un...
Pane Nostro brings classic Italian charm to Bishop Arts
Pane Nostro has moved into the CocoAndré house at 508 W. Seventh St. CocoAndré vacated the space in September 2023 after a 15-year run. “We originally wanted to be down in this area to begin with,” Pane Nostro co-owner Dion Gazzaruso says of Bishop Arts. “All the development that’s been going on, all the new restaurants, I think it’s a good communi...
Italian-focused restaurant Centro on the Square to debut in downtown McKinney
Centro on the Square is readying to open its doors to downtown McKinney diners. The new McKinney restaurant is a concept from George Stergios, owner of Knife Steakhouse, and Brian Dunne, owner of Mexican Bar Company—both restaurants located at Willow Bend Mall in Plano. The duo, both being life-long restauranteurs, met through their neighboring res...
Language, legacy and la dolce vita: Shepherd School students explore the roots of opera in Italy
For a group of Shepherd School of Music graduate students, summer 2025 offered more than just a change of scenery. It reshaped how they see their art, their craft and themselves. Thanks to the Margaret C. Pack Language Institute for Singers, vocal performance students going into the second year of the master’s program spent three immersive weeks in...
American Airlines' seasonal schedule includes first-ever flights from Dallas/Fort Worth to Venice
American Airlines is soaring to new international heights this summer with the launch of its inaugural nonstop flight from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Venice Marco Polo Airport and the return of daily seasonal service to Germany and Ireland. The new route offers travelers direct access from North Texas to one of Italy’s most iconic a...