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July 25 was the one-year-and-one-day anniversary of the removal of the Christopher Columbus statues by the City of Chicago. It was also the day Chicago’s Italian-American community turned out in droves to show unity and strength at the JCCIA’s “Pack the Park Italian Unity Day Rally.” “After all that has been going on with the Columbus issue and the...

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A cup of hot cocoa in front of a crackling fire in the fall. Peacefully floating on a raft on a small river in Tennessee. Sundown over the mountains of Colorado. As soothing, comforting and embracing as those things are, the voice of radio legend Dick Biondi is just as special to me. Which is ironic, because he is referred to as one of the original...

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The Italian American Baseball Foundation and National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame have formed a partnership based on their collective interests in promoting and building Italian American heritage through sports. Both organizations have agreed to a partnership founded in education and community. The immediate goal will be to host youth base...

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Onesti Entertainment, The Dick Biondi Film and Reel Stories Productions will host The Dick Biondi Big 89! Birthday Bash, a birthday celebration and fundraiser on Sunday, September 19th starting at 2pm at the Arcada Theatre in Saint Charles.  Headlining the event is 1960’s rock and roll music icon Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals. Additional performan...

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An annual festival in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood has been canceled for a second straight year, largely to avoid further stressing vendors already struggling to find workers, organizers said. The Taylor Street Little Italy Festa, which typically draws tens of thousands of people to the neighborhood in mid to late August, was canceled last y...

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We all have those legendary performers we wish we could have met in person. For me, the list begins with Jackie Gleason, Jimmy Stewart and James Cagney. But one name resonates as being at the top of my "Wish I woulda met" list: "The King Of Cool," Dean Martin. Dean passed away Christmas Day 1995, so I thought I would share my experience with the Ma...

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Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Woo, woo, woo. What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson? Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away. Hey, hey, hey.” Simon & Garfunkel sang those words more than half a century ago, and DiMaggio died in 1999. But the words have taken on a literal meaning again – as a statue of Joltin’ Joe...

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Hundreds of people gathered at a park in Little Italy on Sunday afternoon to demand that the three Christopher Columbus statues that were removed last summer be put back. During the rally at Arrigo Park, Italian American leaders called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to return the statue that was removed from the park one year ago. A second statue was rem...

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An Italian American organization is suing the Chicago Park District to restore the Christopher Columbus statue removed from Little Italy after protests last year. The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans (JCCIA) want city officials to reinstall the statue at Arrigo Park, which dated back to 1966 before it was taken down. The Columbus statues...

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Chicago aldermen agreed Wednesday to designate October as “Italian American Heritage and Culture Month,” thanks to a resolution one civic leader said is sorely needed to begin a “healing” process. Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian-Americans, made no mention of the specific wounds he believes need to be healed. But member...

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