Iowa women's basketball standout guard Caitlin Clark inked an exclusive multi-year partnership with Panini America, the company announced Wednesday. This deal marks the company's first exclusive contract with a female athlete, covering trading cards and autographed memorabilia.  Clark's groundbreaking achievements on the court, including becoming t...

There is just something different about fresh pasta. Some of us were lucky enough to have childhood memories of rolling out noodles with grandma at the kitchen counter, while others discovered this hidden gem of Italian cuisine when they paid a visit to an Italian market. But it’s not always easy to find on a restaurant menu – and this goes double...

There's a girl who is taking college basketball to a dimension reached only in distant eras, when national TV used to broadcast LeBron James games live from the small gym at St. Vincent St. Mary's. Caitlin Clark is the name that is changing the history of basketball made in the USA: 22 years old, the girl born in Des Moines, Iowa, is proving to be...

For the first time in 18 years, the Italian filmmakers Pupi and Antonio Avati will return this month to the Quad Cities, to shoot part of their ninth film project set in the QC, for a portion of their new thriller, “The Backyard.” The multiple award-winning Avati brothers (Pupi, 85, is director and Antonio, 78, is producer) will be arriving from Ro...

Have you been to Marengo, Iowa lately? A town of 2,500 situated just north of Highway 80, featuring a National Register of Historic Places listed courthouse, a Carnegie library, and a venerable cemetery with a Civil War memorial, it is intricately connected to French history, just like Iowa City, which developed out of a settlement named Napoleon....

Little Italy Foundation launches Little Italy Midwest and offers free memberships for all Italian Americans living in the Midwest. The Little Italy Foundation was founded in 2021 by founder Jennifer Caito-Ellingson for the purpose of saving the Little Italy enclave in the Des Moines Iowa area. However, in her leadership with other Italian American...

An Iowa State chemistry professor who grew up in Italy has turned a family recipe for limoncello into an award-winning business. Sara Pistolesi is co-founder of IA-Native Spirits, which produces Lemoncello 50010 based on her grandmother Maria Pia Murzi’s recipe. That recipe was passed down to her mom, Tiziana Bernotti, and then to Sara herself. “I...

Cedar Rapids Italian restaurant, Via Sofia's, announced Wednesday that it will be hosting a food drive this holiday season. The community can drop off non-perishable food items like canned goods, pasta, rice, and cereal to one of Via Sofia's two locations at 1125 1st Ave SE or 5411 Center Point Road NE.  All donations received from December 6 to De...

Consistency is the “secret sauce” behind the longtime success of A & A Pagliai’s Pizza, according to its founder, who is still involved in the family business after more than six decades. Armond Pagliai, who turned 90 this year, opened the doors to what was then the Pizza Palace in downtown Iowa City in 1962. At its current location at 302 E. Bloom...

If someone is looking for great Italian food in Iowa, it’s not hard to find a candidate! The land of pasta, tiramisu, and parmigiana has definitely exported many of its classics over to the U.S., and we’ve embraced it! But with so many options, it can be hard to find the right one – but going to a long-time family-owned joint rarely steers us wrong...