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On Monday night, the Board of Alders met to discuss concerns over the Board of Education’s redesignation of Columbus Day as Indigenous People’s Day and unanimously voted to establish Italian Heritage Day as an official city holiday on the second Monday of October. Local community members and activists around the country have long called for the ren...

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Good-bye, Columbus Day. Hello, Italian Heritage Day. Starting this year, the city-recognized holiday on the second Monday in October will no longer be named after the 15th-century European explorer whom many Italian-Americans celebrated as a heroic, cultural icon, and whom critics lambasted as an enslaver of Indigenous peoples and an emblem of viol...

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The recent controversy surrounding the taking down of varied statuary around the country in the climate of hyper-political correctness is developing a nasty tone. What is troublesome is the mob rule mentality and its vandalic approach. Rather than differentiating between right and wrong, the debate has become about ending all monuments to the past...

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The celebration of Columbus Day next month could be Hartford’s last, as a community task force is taking shape to address growing concerns about memorializing the Italian explorer. Two city councilors had sought to rename Oct. 12 as Indigenous Peoples' Day, as Bridgeport, West Hartford and other U.S. cities have done in recent years in recognitio...

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The statue of Christopher Columbus stood in Wooster Square Park for more than 100 years as a symbol of the Italian-American presence in New Haven. After its removal on June 24, a decision was made to replace it with an appropriate memorial to the Italian-American experience. Mayor Justin Flicker appointed a Wooster Square Monument Committee to deci...

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The man restoring Waterbury’s beheaded Christopher Columbus statue gave News 8 an exclusive behind the scenes look at his workshop and the process Thursday. Randall Nelson has restored many statues and monuments across the country over the last 30 years. He tells News 8 he has never been involved in a project that carried so much controversy and po...

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The rededication of the Italian heritage monument near Chelsea Parade and Norwich Free Academy originally planned for Saturday will be delayed, because a key new piece, sculpted in Italy, is stuck in transit due to coronavirus restrictions. The Norwich Italian Heritage & Cultural Committee in June removed or covered all references to Christopher Co...

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Support the efforts of the Italian-American Community Organizations to repair the Christopher Columbus Statue located in front of City Hall in Waterbury. Damaged from a criminal act of vandalism on July 4th, an architectural restoration artist has been commissioned to facilitate the restoration. Estimated costs are just under $10,000 with the proje...

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Everyone knows Frank Sinatra, but no one knows about his agitation for leftist causes in the 1930s and ‘40s. Fiorello La Guardia got an airport, but Sacco and Vanzetti got a march and a folk song. Italian-Americans are known for their cultural contributions to American society and, of course, New Haven in particular — look no further than Wooster S...

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For more than 30 years, financial institutions have dominated the beautiful circa 1827 building at the junction of Route 83 and Route 140 in Ellington under various incarnations: Tolland Bank, New Alliance Bank, Enfield Federal Savings and United Bank. Vacant since late 2017, the 3,424-square-foot structure is in the final stages of an amazing t...

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