This week on Spotlight On Maryland, Gina Crash was joined in studio by Joe Papa, President, Society of Italian American Businessmen, (SIAB), & Maryland Italian Festival Co-Chair, to talk about their mission and largest fundraiser of the year- the Maryland Italian Festival, coming up Friday, September 26th-Sunday, September 28th at the Ripken Stadiu...

Andrew Anthony Lioi, a decorated World War II veteran who landed at Anzio, Italy, and returned to fighting after being severely wounded, died of heart failure July 25 at the Oak Crest Senior Living Community. He was 100. Born in St. Andrea, Calabria, Italy, Mr. Lioi was the son of Bruno Lioi and Rosaria Addino. After immigrating to the U.S. as a ch...

Motorcycle enthusiasts who want the return of Italian-American statues rallied on June 1 for a ride that included stops in Wilmington, Del., Media, Pa., and Port Deposit, Md. The purpose of their ride was to show their support for reinstating the statues of Christopher Columbus and Caesar Rodney in Wilmington. The Columbus statue once towered over...

Umberto Rispoli took quite a path to make history. Rispoli became the first jockey from Italy to win a Triple Crown race Saturday in Baltimore (MD), squeezing between horses around the top of the stretch and then riding Journalism to a tremendous rally in the stretch run of the Preakness.  Rispoli's colt was the even-money favorite, but this was n...

Rosetta x Best Buddies, an Italian bakery that plans to employ people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is set to open in downtown Bethesda later this year, according to a press release from the business. Rosetta x Best Buddies will open in the former space of Pitango Gelato & Coffee at 4901 Fairmont Ave. in Bethesda’s Woodmont Tria...

Leonora "Peachy" Dixon, an authentic Baltimore jewel, is hanging up her uniform after serving customers at Little Italy's Sabatino's for nearly 50 years. The longtime waitress will work her final shift on Saturday before retiring and moving to Havre De Grace to be with her grandchildren. Peachy has greeted hungry patrons for about 70% of the 70 yea...

The American tour of guitarist Paolo Angeli covers a dozen states. It started on March 6 in Cleveland, continuing to New York (at the legendary “The Public Theater”), then Baltimore and Philadelphia. On March 13 and 14, Angeli will perform four sets at SFJazz, the most prestigious jazz club in San Francisco thanks to the support of the Italian Cult...

We're excited to announce that the Italian Choir of Washington D.C. is about to begin, and spots are filling up quickly! If you have a passion for Italian music and enjoy singing, this is a wonderful opportunity to connect with other enthusiasts while developing your vocal skills. Starting Monday, March 10th, this 10-week choir will bring together...

St. Vincent de Paul Church, a familiar downtown landmark and one of the city’s oldest Catholic churches, will no longer house a parish as of July 1 but will continue as an additional worship site, according to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Archbishop William E. Lori said in a decree issued over the weekend that the archdiocese is moving forward wit...

To escalate safety and security within Baltimore's Little Italy, neighborhood leaders have heralded the inception of a new network of surveillance cameras. According to WMAR2 News, these cameras have been strategically mounted and linked to a centralized hub, designed to be easily accessible to local law enforcement and the community to bolster the...