RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Resisting widespread calls for his resignation, Virginia’s embattled governor on Saturday pledged to remain in office after disavowing a blatantly racist photograph that appeared under his name in his 1984 medical school yearbook.

In a tumultuous 24 hours, Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday apologized for appearing in a photograph that featured what appeared to be a man in blackface and a second person cloaked in Ku Klux Klan garb. In a video posted on Twitter, he said he could not “undo the harm my behavior caused then and today.”

But by Saturday, he reversed course and said the racist photo on his yearbook profile page did not feature him after all. The governor said he had not seen the photo before Friday, since he had not purchased the commemorative book or been involved in its preparation more than three decades ago.

“It has taken time for me to make sure that it’s not me, but I am convinced, I am convinced that I am not in that picture,” he told reporters gathered at the Executive Mansion in Richmond, calling the shot offensive and horrific.

While talking with reporters, Northam admitted that he had previously worn blackface around that time, saying he once had used shoe polish to darken his face as part of a Michael Jackson costume he fashioned for a 1984 dance contest in San Antonio, Texas, when he was in the U.S. Army. Northam said he regrets that he didn’t understand “the harmful legacy of an action like that.”

His refusal to step down could signal a potentially long and bruising fight between Northam and his former supporters, which includes virtually all of the state’s Democratic establishment.

After he spoke, both of Virginia’s U.S. senators said they called Northam to tell him that he must resign. In a joint statement Saturday night, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and the dean of Virginia’s congressional delegation, Rep. Bobby Scott, said the recent events “have inflicted immense pain and irrevocably broken the trust Virginians must have in their leaders.”

Since Friday, groups calling for his resignation included the Virginia Democratic Party and the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring, a Democrat, and top Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly also urged Northam to resign, as have many declared and potential Democratic presidential candidates.

“He is no longer the best person to lead our state,” the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus said in a statement.

If Northam does resign, Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax would become the second African-American governor in the state’s history. In a statement, Fairfax said the state needs leaders who can unite people, but he stopped short of calling for Northam’s departure. Referring to Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax said he “cannot condone actions from his past” that at least “suggest a comfort with Virginia’s darker history of white supremacy, racial stereotyping and intimidation.”

Northam conceded Saturday that people might have difficulty believing his shifting statements.

He was pushed repeatedly by reporters to explain why he issued an apology Friday if he wasn’t in the photograph.

“My first intention … was to reach out and apologize,” he said, adding that he recognized that people would be offended by the photo. But after studying the picture and consulting with classmates, Northam said, “I am convinced that is not my picture.”

Walt Broadnax, one of two black students who graduated from Eastern Virginia Medical School with Northam, said by phone Saturday he also didn’t buy the class’s 1984 yearbook or see it until decades after it was published.

Broadnax defended his former classmate and said he’s not a racist, adding that the school would not have tolerated someone going to a party in blackface.

The yearbook images were first published Friday afternoon by the conservative news outlet Big League Politics. An Associated Press reporter later saw the yearbook page and confirmed its authenticity at the medical school.

In an initial apology about the photograph on Friday, Northam had admitted to being in the photograph but did not say which of the two costumes he had worn.

That evening, he issued a video statement saying he was “deeply sorry” but still committed to serving the “remainder of my term.” Northam’s term is set to end in 2022.

The scars from centuries of racial oppression are still raw in a state that was once home to the capital of the Confederacy.

Virginians continue to struggle with the state’s legacy of slavery, Jim Crow and Massive Resistance, the anti-school segregation push. Heated debates about the Confederate statues are ongoing after a deadly 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. A state holiday honoring Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson is a perennial source of discontent.

Northam spent years actively courting the black community in the lead-up to his 2017 gubernatorial run, building relationships that helped him win both the primary and the general election. He’s a member of a predominantly black church on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, where he grew up.

“It’s a matter of relationships and trust. That’s not something that you build overnight,” Northam told the AP during a 2017 campaign stop while describing his relationship with the black community.

Northam, a folksy pediatric neurologist who is personal friends with many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, has recently come under fire from Republicans who have accused him of backing infanticide after he said he supported a bill loosening restrictions on late-term abortions.

In a tweet late Saturday, President Donald Trump called Northam’s actions related to the photo and abortion debate “unforgiveable!”

Last week, Florida’s secretary of state resigned after photos from a 2005 Halloween party showed him in blackface while dressed as a Hurricane Katrina victim.

____

By ALAN SUDERMAN , Associated Press

Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.

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Florida Republican Congressman Gus Bilirakis has written Greek Prime Minister and Radical Left SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras urging him to stop supporting Venezuelan strongman President Nicolas Maduro and instead support democracy for that country.

Greece broke with the European Union which demanded new, free and fair elections with Maduro being one of the world leaders most admired by Tsipras, whose idols include other noted Leftist leaders, the late Fidel Castro and rebel Che Guevara.

Bilirakis, who’s been in Congress since 2007 and is Chairman of the Chair of the Hellenic Caucus, told Tsipras “to put Greece at the forefront of Europe’s efforts to help restore democracy in Venezuela”, noting that “any perception that Athens supports the Maduro regime undermines Greece’s reputation in both US and (Latin America),” the letter said, according to Kathimerini.

“I am particularly proud that Greece is democracy’s birthplace and that at a time where countries in Greece’s vicinity are becoming increasingly authoritarian Greece has remained a steadfast western democracy. All this gives Greece both special standing and a particular responsibility to promote democracy worldwide,” Bilirakis wrote.

“I … urge you to put Greece at the forefront of Europe’s efforts to help restore democracy in Venezuela,” Bilirakis stressed although SYRIZA has already strongly aligned itself with Maduro, who’s critics said has become dictatorial and tried to crush protests with violence, causing deaths and injuries and millions to flee to other countries.

As Tsipras is also moving to defuse tensions with Russia and Turkey – both of which support Maduro’s oppressive regime, Bilirakis told him this is an opportunity to be on the right side of history.

“At a time where Greece’s standing in the United States as a steadfast western ally committed to democracy, human rights and the rule of law is at a high, any perception that Athens supports the Maduro regime undermines Greece’s reputation in both the United States and Latin America. Greece has again and again stood on the right side of history, and now is not certainly the time to stand on the same side as Iran, Russia, and Turkey,” he said.

He concluded: “The United States and Greece share democratic values and the same interest in promoting democracy worldwide. I ask you to honor those shared interests and values by calling for free and fair elections in Venezuela.

“The people of Venezuela have suffered enough at the hands of the Maduro regime. To have the birthplace of democracy support their call for true democracy and not merely sham elections will give them a morale boost and help their country’s rebirth, which will stabilize the region,” the letter finished.

While the European Union, United States and a growing list of countries denounced Maduro, Tsipras said he preferred more dialogue as protests raged.

SYRIZA earlier said it recognized Maduro as the legitimate President although he had barred opposition from running against him in elections and as the US said opposition leader Juan Guaido should be declared President.

Alternate Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos declared Greece’s support for democracy – without explaining why Venezuela is a democracy as critics said elections are rigged  – and called for “the restoration of social peace,” also with the help of EU mediation.

“We do not want Venezuela to become yet another Libya in South America,” Katrougalos said.
“We want it to enjoy democracy and prosperity, and for its people to be united and indeed able to exercise their democratic rights within a republic that is exclusively for their own benefit,” he said without mentioning millions have fled to other countries because there isn’t enough food or other essentials.

The Greek Foreign Ministry – Tsipras is also Foreign Minister – said in a statement that, “Greece stands in solidarity with the people of Venezuela, it supports democracy, and endeavors to the restoration of social peace in a very polarized society, in a very polarized political system. And our long-standing belief is that the sole method whereby these differences can be overcome is through political dialogue,” despite ongoing violent protests against Maduro.

Guaido had called on Tsipras and SYRIZA to join with the EU in pressuring Maduro to hold free and fair elections and sad he couldn’t understand why Tsipras keeps backing the Venezuelan leader although the website Politico in 2017 declared the Greek leader one of the strongman’s six die-hard fans.

The Greek government said it had locked arms with Maduro. “SYRIZA expresses its full support and solidarity with the legitimate President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, after … (the) move by opposition leader and President of the National Assembly of the country Juan Guaido, to declare himself the interim President of the country, thus challenging the result of last May’s Presidential election,” said Panos Skourletis, the Secretary of SYRIZA’s central committee

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WASHINGTON – A man who murdered four people -three members of the Savvas Savopoulos family and their housekeeper –  in their home in an upscale neighbourhood of Washington DC has been sentenced to life in prison without parole, wrote BBC.

Daron Wint’s “conduct was heinous, atrocious and cruel,” said Judge Juliet McKenna during his sentencing hearing.

Wint, 37, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the killings of the sisters’ father, Savvas Savopoulos, 46; their mother, Amy, 47; their 10-year-old brother, Philip; and Veralicia “Vera” Figueroa, the family’s 57-year-old housekeeper, wrote Washington Post.

The sentencing followed several emotional statements read in court from the family members of the victims, including from the two Savopoulos daughters who were away at boarding school at the time of the killings, wrote Wtop.com.

In letters read in court, the two sisters described how their lives were shattered by the killings.

“We toured cemeteries instead of colleges and searched for the perfect coffin instead of the perfect prom dresses,” Katerina Savapoulos wrote in her letter, which was read by a victim’s advocate. She did not attend the sentencing.

The sisters also read deeply personal anecdotes about their mother, father and little brother.

“My parents were my best friends. I came to them in the good and the bad times,” Abigail Savopoulos said. “They were my biggest supporters and my strongest advocates. My parents loved each other more than any other couple I ever met. They taught me what true love looked like.”

The post Man Convicted for the Killings of the Savopoulos Family Gets 4 Life Sentences appeared first on The National Herald.

AGNOS, JAMES

NEW BERLIN, WI (from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, published on Jan. 20) – James G. Agnos (Anagnostopoulos) Passed away on January 15, at the age of 83. Loving husband of the late Angie Agnos (nee John), devoted father of George Anagnostopoulos, Constantine Agnos (Erin), Christ Agnos (Christine). Proud grandfather of Dimitrios Anagnostopoulos, Vasilios Anagnostopoulos, Aggeliki Anagnostopoulos, Dimitrios Agnos and Nikolas Agnos. Brother of Peter Agnos (Eugenia), the late Theodore Anagnostopoulos (Angie), the late George Kostopoulos (Mary), the late Christ Kostopoulos (Fotini) and Vasiliki Paras (Angelo). Also loved by nieces, nephews, many other relatives and friends in this country and in Greece. Dimitri (Jim) came to this country in 1956, settled in Milwaukee, learned English, got married and raised a family. He quickly made many friends and was involved with AHEPA for more than 50 years. In lieu of flowers, memorials appreciated to Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church.

APOSTOLOU, PERICLES

FALLS CHURCH, VA (from The Washington Post, published on Jan. 23) – Pericles George Apostolou, 93, of Falls Church, Virginia, passed away tragically on Friday, January 18, 2019. Perry was born May 25, 1925 in Epiniana, Evritanias, Greece, a small mountain village tucked away in the central mainland. He was the beloved son of the late George and Sofia Apostolou. The second of five children, he immigrated to the United States in the mid-fifties where he lived and worked in Chicago, San Francisco and Coos Bay, Oregon. He eventually returned to Greece in the early sixties where he met and married Eleftheria Gournelos and soon returned to the United States. After a few years in Welch, WV they would finally settle in the Washington DC/Northern VA area. Perry nurtured, cared for, and loved his family with great compassion and great generosity. He extended his love to everyone he encountered throughout his life. He was an avid chef and baker and you would always find him in the kitchen. He had such a zest for life and was always ready with a kind word, quick wit, and a loaf of bread. He leaves son, Chrisostomos Apostolou, daughter, Sofia Kehayias and her husband Anastasios; granddaughter, Eleftheria, his dear brother, Panos Apostolou and sister, Litsa Xaniotis, and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded by his wife of 40 years Eleftheria, his son George, his brother Lambros and his sister Rena. In lieu of flowers family asks that donations be made in his name to St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church. Online condolences and fond memories may be offered to the family at moneyandking.com.

CATACALOS, SOTIRIA

RANDOLPH, NJ (from the Star-Ledger, published on Jan. 24) – Sotiria “Rita” Catacalos, 91, family matriarch with Greek roots, “lived fearlessly, selflessly,” passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family at Boonton Care Center on Monday, Jan. 21, 2019. Rita was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, on May 23, 1927. She came to America in 1947, without speaking English, leaving everything she knew for a better life. Planting her Greek roots firmly, she was never ashamed of her culture and didn’t try to Americanize herself to fit. She became a matriarch, dedicating her life to her children and grandchildren, always helping others. She lived in Maplewood, NJ, for more than 50 years, prior to residing in Boonton, NJ. Rita was a working mother, a seamstress, often crafting her own original designs. She had many other talents. She became a proud U.S. citizen – her American dream. Rita is survived and loved by her four children, Charlie and his wife, Patti; Ernie and his wife, Maria Angela; Cathy Barrett and her husband, Michael, and John and his wife, Linda; seven grandchildren, Sophia and her husband, Ian Greenberg; Nikki, James, William, Thomas, Cassie, and Athena; her three great-grandchildren, Alexander, Isabella, and Isaac. Rita was predeceased by her husband of 66 years, Bilis, in 2014. She lived fearlessly and selflessly, a part of her that will always be carried on. She will be truly missed by all who knew her. Interment was at Rosedale Cemetery, Orange, NJ.

FOUSEKIS, PAFSANIAS ATHANASIOS

ARLINGTON, VA (from The Washington Post, published on Jan. 24) – Pafsanias Athanasios Fousekis, 83, of Arlington, VA, died on Monday, January 21, 2019, of Arlington, VA. Mr. Fousekis was born in Nostimo, Greece and is survived by his sisters, Evangelia Paspalis, Spiridoula Papaspirou (Rev. Dimitaios Papaspirou), and Golfo Scilaris (Anastasios). Also survived by many nephews and nieces. Memorial contributions may be made to the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George in memory of Pafsanias Athanasios Fousekis.

KOMIS, LEMONIA

SANTA FE, NM (from the Albuquerque Journal, published on Jan. 22) – Lemonia Komis, born March 22, 1922 died on January 18, 2019 at home with her son by her side. Lemonia was born in Greece and grew up in the village of Panopoulo. She immigrated to the United States in December 1947, greeted by her two sisters Lela and Poulia at the Albuquerque airport. She met John Komis in Santa Fe. They were married in 1948 and were the proprietors of the Ship Ahoy Cafe which later became the El Patio Cafe in downtown Santa Fe across from the Lensic. Throughout her 43-year career in the restaurant business, Lemonia with her husband acquired commercial properties on the Plaza and other real estate holdings in Santa Fe. She was the Greek matriarch whose strength guided her family in happy and somewhat difficult times with love, compassion, and uncanny business acumen. Lemonia was preceded in death by her husband John Komis and her son Nick Komis, who both died in 1994. She was the second youngest of 10 siblings, all of whom preceded her in death. Lemonia is survived by her son Peter Komis and his wife Dorinda and their son Ianandra of Santa Fe; her daughter Chrissy Komis of Albuquerque; her granddaughter Nicole Kapnison; and her son-in-law Nick Kapnison of Albuquerque. She is also survived by her nephew Stamati Giannakopoulos and his wife Argyro “Ritsa” Vihou and their son Yannis of Rafina, Greece; and nieces Connie and Helen Chalamidas of Albuquerque both of whom as children met their dear aunt Lemonia when she arrived in America. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews in Greece and the United States; and her devoted caretakers, Lorena “Diana” Estrada, Roxanna Lopez, Glenda Perez, and former caretakers Margarita Sanchez, Blanca Zambrano, Dora Maria Campos, Teresa Lezama, and Lorena Tafoya. The family would like to thank Wendy Jenner RN, Rachel Whitney RN, David Gonzales MD, Gary Giblin MD, and all the dedicated staff at PMS Hospice. Funeral by Berardinelli Family Funeral Services were held at St. Elias the Prophet Greek Orthodox church. The pallbearers were Nikos Fotiadis, Jerry Archuleta, Brayan Arras, Cory Lyle, Jimmy Vigil, Jorge Armijo, and Zealleauss-Eli Archuleta.

MANTIS, ELEFTHERIOS

CHICAGO, IL (from the Chicago Tribune, published on Jan. 22) – Eleftherios Mantis, born in Edipsos Greece, passed away on Sunday, January 20, 2019. Beloved husband of Panagiota, nee Karavaselas and loving father of Stelios (Jessica Duffin) Mantis, Eleni (Scott) Sommerschield and Sofia Mantis. Devoted son of the late Stelios and the late Eleni, nee Pourgiotou, Mantis; proud grandfather of Alexis, Jacob and Denise; dear brother of Margaritis (Cassandra) Mantis and Ariadne (the late Panos) Fragos; brother-in-law of Katerina (Fotios) Melegos, Christine (Kostas) Psyhogios and Athanasios Karavaselas. Respected uncle of many nieces and nephews and their families.

MARAGOUDAKIS, ARISTOTLE

BOCA RATON, FL (from the Sun-Sentinel, published on Jan. 22) – Aristotle John Maragoudakis, born January 28, 1931 in Chania, Crete Greece and the last of 9 siblings, passed away peacefully from double pneumonia on January 19. He is survived by his wife Thula (married 63 years), two sons John & George and 4 Grandchildren Rachael, Aris, Thanasi, and Aria. Aristotle was employed in New Jersey at Singer Kearfott and Burns & Roe in Oradell, NJ as an electrical engineer. Upon retirement at age 55, he opened a real estate and brokers office and sold many famous restaurants in the New Jersey area. Aristotle has been a long-standing member of the St Mark Greek orthodox church community in Boca Raton. He will be missed by so many.

MASKALERIS, GUS

CHICAGO, IL (from the Chicago Tribune, published on Jan. 20) – Gus Maskaleris, U.S. Army Veteran; Born in Stadion, Tegeas, Greece; Beloved husband of Chrysoula (nee Koutsogiannis); Loving brother of Dimitrios (Becky) Maskaleris and Maria (Konstantinos) Svolopoulos; Dearest uncle and cousin to many here and Greece. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory to St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church appreciated.

MATANGOS, HELEN

HARRISBURG, PA (from The Patriot-News, published on Jan. 22) – Helen Matangos, 86, of Harrisburg, fell asleep in the Lord Monday, January 21, 2019 at her home. She was born February 15, 1932 in Perithori, Arcadia, Greece; she was the daughter of the late Panayiotis and Yeoryia (Bicos) Bentevis and was preceded in death by her husband, Harry C. Matangos; brother, Stavros Bentevis; and sister, Antigone Soumakis. Helen is survived by 3 sons, Christopher Matangos (wife Penny), Pete Matangos and George Matangos (wife, Elaine); daughter, Erine M. Matangos (Joseph Goncalves); and her much loved 6 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren; 3 sisters, Ismini Bouzalas, Diamanto Charisopoulos, and Despina Panou; and brother, John Bentevis. She was owner and operator of Matangos Candies of Harrisburg; a member of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral and the Philptochos Society. May her memory be everlasting.

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When her husband Christos Siderakis died last April, his wife Irene moved from staying at home with their children to running the iconic Williamsburg, Brooklyn Kellogg’s diner they bought in 2013 from Anthony, Frank, and Fotis Fiotodimitrakis, three brothers from Crete that ran it since the 1970s – and who still own the building today.

The final breakup scene in Girls, the HBO show that is most associated with the gentrification of Williamsburg, takes place in one of its booths. Kellogg’s is also a remnant of the disappearing all-day, all-night Greek diner, Bedford + Bowery wrote in a report on how popular it is.

With the neighborhood’s gentrification now fully satirized, people keep coming to Kellogg’s to eat. “I’m probably the only woman who owns a diner in New York,” she said. “But I can do nothing except go forward.”

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FEBRUARY 2
CLIFTON, NJ – The Hellenic Musical Society presents “O Elios tha Xanafanei,” a concert directed by Yannis Magiros, on Saturday, Feb. 2, 7 PM at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 818 Valley Road in Clifton. The concert features Chris Papson on bouzouki and David Stolarz on piano. Tickets are $15 per person. Your welcome donations will support the “Dr. Tzanakos Scholarship Fund.” For more information contact Yannis Magiros by phone: 973-214-3848 or email: yannis52@verizon.net or Sophia Logothetis by phone: 973-216-9574 or email: slogothetis68@gmail.com.

FEBRUARY 7-10
SARASOTA, FL – St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, 7671 N. Lockwood Ridge Road in Sarasota holds its 35th Annual “Glendi” Greek Festival, February 7-10. Enjoy Greek food and pastries, guided church tours, marketplace, and Yiayia’s Attic Treasurers. Entertainment includes live Greek music and dancing and Kids Adventure Zone. Raffle for Mercedes Benz GLC300 or C300. Admission: Adults: $4, Children under 12: Free. Free parking on-site and off-site with shuttles available from Church of the Trinity, 7225 N. Lockwood Ridge Rd (1 mile. north of St. Barbara’s). Hours: Thursday, Feb. 7; Friday, Feb. 8; and Saturday, Feb. 9, 11 AM-9 PM, Sunday, Feb. 10, noon-8 PM. More information is available by phone: 941-355-2616 and online: stbarbarafestival.org.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 815 N.E. 15th Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, holds its annual Greek Festival, February 7-10. Enjoy traditional Greek foods, Greek music, traditional Greek dancing by all our “Palazakia” and “Kamaria” dancers; an indoor marketplace full of vendors and an outdoor area for kids with carnival rides, games, and other children’s activities, and much more. Hours: Thursday, Feb. 7, 5-10 PM; Friday, Feb 8, 12-11 PM; Saturday, Feb. 9, 12-11 PM; and Sunday, Feb. 10, 12-7 PM. More information is available by phone: 954-467-1515 and online: fortlauderdalegreekfestival.org.

FEBRUARY 8
MANHATTAN – The Hellenic Initiative invites New York City New Leaders for some cocktails, nibbles, and networking with a purpose on Friday, Feb. 8, 7-10 PM at Amali, 115 East 60th Street in Manhattan. All proceeds will benefit The Hellenic Initiative’s programs for crisis relief and economic development in Greece. More information is available on Facebook and online: eventora.com, search THI New Leaders Cocktail Party.

FEBRUARY 8-10
PEORIA, AZ – St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church’s Annual Peoria Greekfest, 7950 W. Pinnacle Peak Road in Peoria, takes place February 8-10 with delicious traditional Greek cuisine, live music, folk dancing, shopping, children’s activities, and more. Admission is $3 for adults, children and active military are free. Credit and debit cards accepted. Greek music by Sinthesis. Hours: Friday: Feb. 8, 4-10 PM; Saturday, Feb. 9, 11 AM-10 PM; and Sunday, Feb. 10, 11 AM-7 PM. More information is available by phone: 623-486-8665, on Facebook, and online: peoriagreekfest.com.

NAPLES, FL – St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church, 7100 Airport Road North in Naples, holds its annual Greek Festival, February 8-10. Enjoy delicious food, authentic Greek Taverna, Greek music and dancing, church tours, artists, and more! New Drive-Thru take-out also! Come and be Greek for a day or a weekend. OPA! Free Parking. Admission is $5 for adults the entire weekend. Children under 12 admitted free. Hours: Friday, Feb. 8 and Saturday, Feb. 9, 11 AM-9 PM; and Sunday, Feb. 10, 12-7 PM. More information is available by phone: 239-591-3430 and online: stkatherine.net.

FT. PIERCE, FL – St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Ft. Pierce, holds its 40th annual Greek Festival, February 8-10. Enjoy Greek foods, pastries, gift shops, and church tours as well as Greek music, Greek dancing with daily dance performances. Free parking. Admission $3/person, 12 and under free. Free admission Friday until 4 PM. Hours: Friday, Feb. 8 and Saturday, Feb. 9, 11 AM-10 PM; and Sunday, Feb. 10, 11 AM-7 PM. More information is available by phone: 772-464-7194 and online: fortpiercegreekfestival.com.

FEBRUARY 11
MANHATTAN – Philo4Thought holds its Mentoring Monday Roundtable on Monday, Feb. 11, 6:30-8:30 PM at Holy Trinity Cathedral Library, 337 East 74th Street in Manhattan, 2nd Floor Conference Room. Philo4Thought hosts monthly roundtable discussions designed provide philosophical perspectives and advisement on a variety of topics to enhance and refine professional skills. More information is available on Eventbrite, search Mentoring Monday Roundtable.

FEBRUARY 15-17
LECANTO, FL – Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church, 4705 W. Gulf to Lake Hwy SR44 in Lecanto, holds its Spring Greek Festival, February 15-17. Enjoy Greek bakery items, food platters (dine in or take home,) jewelry, clothing, arts and crafts, religious items, live Greek music and dancing. Festival hours: Friday, Feb. 15 and Saturday, Feb. 16, 11 AM-8 PM; and Sunday, Feb. 17, 11 AM-5 PM. More information is available by phone: 352-527-0766 and online: stmichaelgoc.org/festival.html.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL – St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church, 110 Southern Blvd. in West Palm Beach, holds its 44th Annual Greek Festival, February 15-17. Enjoy Greek foods, pastries, vendors, Greek jewelry, art, live Greek music band, and Greek Folk Dancing with the Heart of Greece Dance Group. Kids zone also available. Admission: $5 Donation (Friday, Noon-4 PM, Admission is free). Paid Parking: Festival grounds, $10 for main lot and $5 for grass lot. Free parking with shuttle service from St. Juliana’s, south of Southern Blvd. on Olive Avenue. Hours: Friday, Feb. 15, Noon-11 PM; Saturday, Feb. 16, 11 AM-11 PM; and Sunday, Feb. 17, Noon-9 PM. More information is available by phone: 561-833-6387 and online: greekfestwpb.com.

FEBRUARY 16-17
PALM DESERT, CA – St. George Greek Orthodox Church of the Desert, 74109 Larrea Street in Palm Desert, holds its 23rd annual Greek Festival on Saturday, Feb. 16 and Sunday, Feb. 17, 11 AM-8 PM. Enjoy authentic Greek food, appetizers, heavenly pastries, Greek wine, Greek beer, Greek coffee, souvenir Agora Market with over 20 unique vendors, complimentary Church Tours with Byzantine Art and Mosaic Iconography, Greek Grocery, Book Store, and Greek Novelties, live Greek music and Greek dancing demonstrations of traditional and folk dances, and Hercules Kids Zone. Admission $3, Active U.S. Military, Police, Firefighters, and kids under 12: Free. More information is available by phone: 760-568-9901 and online: pdgreekfest.org.

FEBRUARY 17
TARPON SPRINGS, FL – Music of the Dodecanese Islands, instrumental performance and dance, takes place on Sunday, Feb. 17, 7-11 PM at 42 W. Morgan Street in Tarpon Springs. Levendia Dance Troupe and the City of Tarpon Springs present an evening of lively music and dance from the Dodecanese with Michalis Kappas from Kalymnos, Greece, on violin, and Panayotis League on laouto (Greek lute) playing nisiotika, the music of the Aegean islands. $10 Admission, $10 mezedes (appetizers plate), cash bar. For more information, contact Tina Bucuvalas by phone: 727-937-1130 or email: tbucuvalas@ctsfl.us.

FEBRUARY 22-24
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – St. Stefanos Greek Orthodox Church, 3600 76th Street N. in St. Petersburg, Friday, Feb. 22, and Saturday, Feb. 23, 11 AM-11 PM; and Sunday, Feb 24, 11 AM-6 PM. Enjoy the food, music, and culture of Greece! Homemade Greek foods and pastries, church tours, Kids Zone, raffle, silent auction, vendors selling various hand-crafted art and jewelry, and so much more. Greek DJs spin lively beats amid other live performances by Greek musicians. Free Greek dance lessons from seasoned instructors. More information is available by phone: 727-345-8235 and on Facebook.

The post Going on in Our Community appeared first on The National Herald.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — American Legion officials are calling on New York lawmakers to request the Pentagon exhume the Long Island graves of sailors killed in a World War II ship explosion in an attempt to identify the fallen servicemen.

The American Legion’s New York state organization approved a resolution in early January that seeks the state Legislature’s and New York congressional delegation’s help in persuading the Department of Defense to exhume remains buried as unknowns in Long Island National Cemetery in Farmington.

“You don’t leave a former comrade behind. To me that’s what they did. They didn’t identify these people and get them home,” Gary Schacher, commander of the American Legion New York Department, told The Associated Press Thursday.

Four graves are known to contain the remains of some of the 136 sailors killed when the USS Turner exploded and sank near the entrance to New York Harbor on Jan. 3, 1944. The total number of sailors buried in each grave isn’t known. Each gravestone is engraved with the words “Unknown U.S. Sailor” and the date of the sinking.

Navy officials said internal explosions of unknown origin sank the destroyer, which had just returned from convoy duty in the Atlantic Ocean. An exact cause for the explosion was never determined. About 150 sailors survived the blast.

The Pentagon’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is tasked with recovering and identifying the nation’s war dead from previous conflicts. In February 2017, DPAA officials told the AP that dental records and other documents that could help identify the remains buried in the Long Island graves were missing. The agency said at that time the officials said an effort was being made to find those documents.

It couldn’t immediately be determined from DPAA officials if the records were found.

Schacher, a retired Navy chief petty officer, said he had never heard of the Turner until a fellow legionnaire whose relative died in the disaster mentioned it to him two years ago. Schacher vowed if he became state commander he’d launch an effort to have the Turner unknowns exhumed and identified.

“We take care of our shipmates,” he said.

—
By CHRIS CAROLA , Associated Press

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NEW YORK – Complimentary coffee all night at Brooklyn Central Library can mean only one thing: it’s time for the Night of Philosophy and Ideas.

From 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 2nd to 7:00 a.m. the following morning, New Yorkers joined 50 thinkers and artists from around the world for music, performances, readings, and philosophical discussion.

The Night of Philosophy and Ideas, for which the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has provided support, is co-organized by Brooklyn Public Library and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. Last year’s event welcomed around 8,000 people, in addition to thousands more who viewed online. This year’s lineup of speakers and performers included thinkers and artists from the United States, Greece, France, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Poland, Lithuania, and elsewhere.

Source: SNF

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NEW YORK – Caglayan Arkan, Global Lead of the Manufacturing and Resources Industry at Microsoft, and Nick Tsilas, Senior Attorney for the Manufacturing and Growth Industry at Microsoft, discussed six ethical principles to guide the development and use of artificial intelligence.

In this video, you will also learn how Microsoft is focused on ensuring that AI is designed, used, and governed responsibly.

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By: Mike Catalini, Associated Press

ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey became the latest state on Monday to boost its hourly minimum wage to $15 after Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law a measure phasing in the higher rate over five years.

Murphy signed the bill alongside Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver and Democratic legislative leaders at a raucous event in Elizabeth where advocates cheered, “Ready for 15,” carried banners with their union affiliation and applauded loudly once the bill was signed.

“It is a great day to make some history for New Jersey’s working families,” Murphy said. “And that’s just what we’re going to do. We’ve talked long enough about putting New Jersey on a responsible path to $15 an hour minimum wage. Today we start our way on this path.”
New Jersey joins California, Massachusetts, New York and the District of Columbia in phasing in the higher rate. The $15 wage is a prominent policy goal of left-leaning groups, as well as the fulfillment of a key campaign promise by Murphy.

The governor, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin announced a deal on the higher wage last month following yearslong efforts by left-leaning groups and unions in the state to raise the wage.

Republican Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a similar bill in 2016 to raise the wage.

Republicans and many businesses testified during hearings that the higher wage will increase costs and hurt commerce. On Monday, Republican senators raised concerns that it would lead to businesses laying off workers and moving to automation.

Others worried that if a recession hits, the high wage could be untenable for businesses.

“The amount of job loss that we are going to see among small businesses will be tragic,” state Sen. Declan O’Scanlon said in a statement.
In an interview, Murphy, the former Obama administration ambassador to Germany, dismissed concerns over automation and said he hasn’t seen evidence a higher minimum wage correlates to jobs lost because of artificial intelligence or automation.

He also acknowledged that raising the minimum wage too high too fast could hurt the state’s economy, which is why the measure phases it in, he said.

“I start from the basis that you’ve got full-time work earning poverty wages in 2019 in New Jersey,” he said. “There’s no excuse that could justify this.”
The bill raises the current $8.85 minimum wage to $10 an hour in July, and then increases the rate by $1 in subsequent years until it reaches $15 in 2024 — but not for all workers.

Farm workers’ wages will climb to $12.50 over five years, for example. Workers for small businesses and seasonal employees will see their minimum wage reach $15 an hour only in 2026. Tipped workers, who currently have a minimum hourly wage of $2.13, will see it climb to $5.13 an hour by 2024.

The new law comes as the 2020 presidential contest begins to take shape, with Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey announcing last week his plan to compete in the Democratic primary next year.

Oliver, the lieutenant governor, implored those assembled Monday to push for a higher minimum wage as part of the next election, eliciting one of the loudest applauses of the day.

“I don’t want you to forget 2020 because we need a federal minimum wage (increase),” she said.
A constitutional amendment that raised the minimum wage and requires it to climb with inflation went into effect in 2013 in New Jersey. Once the wage reaches $15 in 2024, it will continue to climb based on the consumer price index because of that amendment.

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NEW YORK – Pyrros Dimas, the most decorated Greek athlete in the modern Olympics with three gold medals and one bronze, and Rep. Gus Bilirakis, the champion of Greek issues in the U.S. Congress, will headline the Panepirotic Federation of America convention to be held in Clearwater, FL, February 21-24.

Dimas, who was born in Himara in Northern Epiros, is considered the greatest weightlifter of all time, having been three times World Champion and won three Olympic gold medals for Greece. In his fourth Olympiad, a severe knee injury notwithstanding, he won a bronze medal before retiring to serve a term in the Greek Parliament, where he spoke out for protection of the ethnic Greek minority in Albania. He currently serves as technical director of the USA weightlifting team preparing for the next Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2007, is chairman of the 130-member Congressional Hellenic Caucus, which supports issues of concern to Greek Americans. Under the leadership of Rep. Bilirakis, whose wife Eva hails from Northern Epiros, the Hellenic caucus has taken strong stands in support of basic human rights for the Greek minority in Albania, an end to the occupation of Northern Cyprus by Turkey, protection of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and re-opening of the Halki School in Constantinople.

“We are extremely pleased and very proud to have such distinguished individuals as Pyrros Dimas and Congressman Bilirakis, who both have strong ties to Epiros, be the main speakers at our convention,” said author Nicholas Gage, the president of the Panepirotic Federation of American for the past five years.

He said other distinguished guests attending the convention will be Chris Alahouzos, the mayor of Tarpon Springs; Konstantina Beziani, the executive director of the State Committee for Minorities in Albania, and two prominent political leaders from Northern Epiros— Achileas Desikas, the mayor of Dropoli, and Leonidas Christou, the mayor of Foiniki.

Many letters have been received from religious and political leaders for the success of the convention, according to Mr. Gage, including one from His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America. His Eminence wrote in part: “I hope and pray that your aim be realized of bringing investments and tourism to free Epiros and to draw attention to the plight of ethnic Greeks in Northern Epiros. May your prayers be fulfilled to secure for them equality and justice at last.”

The convention will be held at the Edge Hotel, a new resort on Clearwater Beach, and will culminate with a gala dinner dance on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Matheos Hall of Holy Trinity Church. The night before a welcome reception will be held for all delegates and guests at the Clipper Cove Yacht Club, a short distance from the hotel.

All arrangements for the convention are being directed by the Society of Epirotes of Florida led by Nora Mihopoulos, a native of Himara in Northern Epiros.

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NEW YORK – Alexander Patsos is an actor, musician, writer, cinematographer, model, and director of Greek and Italian descent. Born in Freeport, NY, he moved, at age 18, to the East Village and gradually became immersed in the New York rock music scene. Patsos’ work behind the camera began with directing music videos and short films, but more recently, he began to focus on his work in front of the camera. He spoke with The National Herald about his work and his heritage.

When asked if he always wanted to go into the arts, Patsos told TNH, “I would consider myself a student of both music and film, as they were a huge part of my life growing up. Being a teenager in the late ’90s and early 2000s, I had MTV, VH1, and all the diverse radio stations that New York City had to offer. Whatever extra money I had was spent buying CDs or DVDs at Tower Records and going to movies and concerts with my friends. I meant it when I said that I was a ‘student,’ too. If a song, movie, or performance resonated with me, I would do my own research on the band, actor, or director. I wanted to know their entire creative process and research who their influences were, what the subject matter meant to them, and their own personal backstories. I was really interested in the process of how they got there and how the final product came to be. The history behind it all was important to me, it was my own personal way of connecting with the work.”

Of his family background, Patsos said, “My father, Dimitri, and his family are from Kalamata, Greece, by the Messenian Gulf. There is no place like Kalamata in the world. My mother, Cheryl, is Italian-American and her family is from Rome and Calabria.”

He continued, “Both sides of my family are incredibly hardworking and passionate people. Specifically from my parents, I get my “pound-the-pavement-hard-driving-never-take-no-for-an-answer” quality from my father, and my love for music and film from my mother. She was in the New York music and film scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s before she met my father in Greece.”

When asked about his latest roles, Patsos told TNH, “I recently booked a part on an episode of an HBO show that’s in its third season. Unfortunately, I cannot disclose the name of the show due to my contract, but I will say that I play a Greek. In the fall of 2018, I finished up a movie entitled Vedic Nights by an up-and-coming film director named Jean-Michel. It’s a feature film about the New York City art scene and I play an art dealer that knows how to ‘toe the line’ to be successful in the modern art world. It was an interesting project to be a part of.”

“I will keep you posted when it all officially comes out. I’m new to working in front of the camera but I have learned that the actor’s life is a test of patience and fortitude, especially in TV and film. You do the work and wait for the final product to come out,” Patsos noted.

Of his band Lotus Wolf, he told TNH, “I’m currently heading into the studio for a 2019 release. I sing and play guitar and will possibly be doing a mini doc about the ‘making of the record.’”

A clip of the music is available online: https://vimeo.com/292157022/84d5bdc43b.

More information about Alexander Patsos and his work is also available online: alexanderpatsos.com.

The post Actor Alexander Patsos Talks to TNH about His Latest Role appeared first on The National Herald.

NEW YORK – Greek-Cypriot composer Aris Antoniades took time out of his busy schedule to talk with The National Herald about his latest project, the world premiere of his Toccata & Fugue for Organ on February 5 at St. Michael’s Church in Manhattan. Organist Shannon Murphy will be performing the piece which was commissioned for Fresh Pipes: A Concert of World Premieres for Organ a project created by organists Austin Philemon and Murphy. Admission to the concert is free.

Born and raised in Limassol, Cyprus, Antoniades, 27, is already building an impressive resume of compositions.

When asked if he always wanted to pursue music, Antoniades told TNH, “I was one of the lucky ones because I knew it since I was four. I was in preschool and we had our little kindergarten show and while we were waiting backstage they put this video on for us to watch, The Snowman, an animated film of the 80s, about a boy who builds a snowman that comes to life, they fly through the air to visit Santa Claus… and the music was by composer Howard Blake, and it has this famous song, Walking in the Air, the song was playing while they were flying and at the very end, the song plays again but this time it’s sad… I started crying and couldn’t stop and I went to my dad and asked ‘Why does this make me cry?’ and he said, ‘Oh, it’s music, it’s magic’ and I said ‘I want to be able to do that magic, too,’ and ever since I dreamed to be able to work magic through sound.

“I started piano lessons at age five back home in Cyprus, but I always knew I wanted to be a composer, although I did study seriously piano, I never wanted to be a performer, I always had composition in my heart. Forward to many years later, I was planning on applying to schools in Europe because the U.S. was a faraway dream, too expensive, so it came out of the blue, my parents insisted that I apply for the Fulbright grant. They have the Cyprus-America scholarship program, so I applied and I got it, that was the first time I considered American schools because they were out of my price range, then I found my dream school which was Manhattan School of Music (MSM).”

When he arrived for the audition, he found that the others auditioning had more experience through specialized music programs in middle and high school which at the time, Cyprus did not have, but is now implementing.

Antoniades noted that “during my time, I had to do everything after school, by myself, so I definitely didn’t have the experience my peers had in terms of achievement, so when I found out that the acceptance rate was very small for composition, I said to my dad, ‘Well, we saw New York, it was fun, we might come again some time,’ and then it happened. They chose me, I’m very grateful, I found the best professor I could have dreamed of, J. Mark Stambaugh, literally changed my life, a great mind, very bright man, very supportive, and after I finished my bachelor’s degree, upon graduation I received the Provost’s Award for Academic Excellence, so then they offered me a full scholarship for my master’s and I was very glad to take it because it was my first choice, and here we are. I graduated in May and now I’m looking to the future to see what I can do with music.”

He said of the premiere of his composition for organ, “The organ is a very weird instrument to write for if you are not an organist, like writing for the guitar if you are not a guitarist, the idioms are very, very specific for the instrument, so this is something new for me. I’m grateful I had the opportunity, and that they [organists Austin Philemon and Shannon Murphy] liked my music and entrusted me with a commission.”

The organ is “fascinating,” Antoniades said, noting that “great composers for organ, like Bach or Messiaen, were also excellent organists themselves… in my case, it was a lot of studying to do and back and forth with the performers who would give me feedback and they were very supportive.”

Antoniades’ concert music is heavily influenced by his Greek heritage: merging Hellenic folk dance rhythms with Byzantine ritual chants. His works have been performed in Australia, Canada, China, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His recent symphonic work, Chiaroscuro, was recorded by the National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Greece (ERT) and will be broadcast by the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation throughout the season. The piece was first performed at the historic Riverside Church in New York City under the baton of Portland Opera music director, George Manahan. His new chamber work Nostos, for Saxophone and Piano, commissioned by the Australian chamber ensemble HD Duo, was performed by the group in their 2018 World Tour.

He composed the original soundtrack for the Cannes listed short-film Not Now (2013), as well as five other films. His latest soundtrack for the film Ophelia by Katalina Gutierrez is currently in audio post-production.

Antoniades’ arranging credits include a variety of different styles and genres. His arrangement of Lalo Schifrin’s famous “Mission Impossible” theme has been performed by the multi-Grammy nominated MSM Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, led by Bobby Sanabria, at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in Manhattan. His concert and marching band arrangements are often performed by the Military Music Corps of the Cypriot National Guard. As an orchestrator, he has recently collaborated with Broadway music-director, composer and pianist Andrew Gerle, providing some of the orchestrations for MSM’s production Tony Awards: The Early Years directed by Joe Locarro (NYC, 2017).

A recipient of the Fulbright award, Antoniades completed his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Classical Composition at MSM, where he studied with Dr. J. Mark Stambaugh, receiving the Provost’s Award for Academic Excellence upon graduation. Antoniades is honored to have been the recipient of the Manhattan School of Music International Advisory Board and the A. G. Leventis Foundation scholarship awards.

Among his upcoming projects, Antoniades will be composing the music for a documentary film about the life of renowned Cypriot photographer Tony Moussoulides. Antoniades told TNH, “He actually heard my music on the radio back home, he asked for my phone and called me, he’s such a sweet man, he said, ‘Would you be interested in doing this film?’ and I said, ‘It would be my honor and pleasure to do it.’”

Though he is the only member of his family pursuing music professionally, Antoniades’ parents have always been supportive, and his father, a pharmacist, plays the violin. Antoniades’ younger brother George is studying pharmacy to eventually join the family business. The brothers are very close in spite of being opposites in many ways, Antoniades told TNH, noting that he dedicated his composition Chiaroscuro to George.

More information about Antoniades and his music is available online: arisantoniades.com.

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Federation of Hellenic American Societies of Philadelphia and Greater Delaware Valley presents the 198th Anniversary of Greek Independence with its Annual Greek Independence Day Parade on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Sunday, April 7.

Formation will start at 1 PM at 16th Street and Eakins Oval, and the official start of the parade will be 2 PM. It will end at the reviewing stand at Logan Circle. Participation of this historic event will include local, national, and international organizations. Representatives from the Republic of Hellas (Greece) government and military, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, folk dance troupes, local Greek Orthodox churches, cultural and educational organizations, will all take part at this historic event.

An elite contingent of the Presidential Guard from Greece, known as the “Evzones,” who are trained to perform various ceremonial duties such as guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Presidential Mansion, will be participating. The Evzones are known for their distinctive uniform, which evolved from the clothes worn by the klephts who fought the Ottoman occupation of Greece. Their unique marching cadence and uniforms will bring a colorful and visual display to the historic Parkway, and the grandeur of the Evzones commands a great sense of pride for Greeks and guests.

In addition to celebrating the 198th Anniversary of Greek Independence, this year’s parade theme holds special significance. The Federation will commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Genocide of the Pontic Greeks. Under the Ottoman Empire the Greek community of the Black Sea was murdered and expelled from its homeland. One hundred woman dressed in black representing each the 100 years and various cultures from around the world will line the Parkway in memory of the lost homeland and people of Pontos.

Finally, the prestigious Eleftheria Medal (Freedom medal) recipient and Grand Marshal, Consul General of Greece in New York Konstantinos Koutras, Honorary Parade Marshal Kyriakos Mossaides, and local Pontian Society Chapter “Akritai,” will lead the parade following the ceremony under the flag of Greece which stands along the Parkway.

Following the parade procession that will conclude near the Art museum, a theatrical and musical dance will close the parade commemorating the historic day.

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BROOKLYN – New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes released the following statement on February 3 after visiting the Metropolitan Detention Center:

“For too long, inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center have gone without the most basic of necessities, access to counsel, or medical care. Simply put, it is unacceptable and inhumane. Today, I went to the facility and have been assured that conditions will improve by tomorrow. Although we are all thankful that this issue will be fixed there are significant, persistent issues at the facility that must also be addressed with a sense of urgency. This has been a massive and public failure of federal officials. In the coming days, I will be working with my colleagues in the State Senate to ensure that such an egregious miscarriage of justice never happens again. When we allow people to go for weeks without even a minimum standard of services, we’re telling them that they don’t matter.”

A weeklong power failure at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn spawned a humanitarian crisis that left inmates shivering in the dark and without access to visitors on some of the coldest days of the year, advocates said in a lawsuit filed on February 4, the Associated Press reported.

The Federal Defenders of New York, a public defender organization, sued the Bureau of Prisons, alleging it violated the constitutional rights of inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn by denying legal visits during the outage.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and a group of Democratic state lawmakers from the city also chimed in, saying they were also considering suing over conditions at the jail, where more than 1,600 inmates are held.

“We need answers, and we’re going to do our damnedest to get to the bottom of what happened,” said Sen. Jamaal Bailey, who toured the facility Sunday and said there was no heat on the fourth floor.

The Justice Department said that power was restored around 6:30 PM Sunday and that it was working to prevent future problems. The failure resulted from a Jan. 27 fire in an electrical room, the department said.

Just as things were starting to get back to normal, a bomb threat Monday morning led to the evacuation of visitors and contractors, authorities said. No devices were found.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the lawsuit, which named the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Warden Herman Quay as defendants.

Inmates reported little or no heat, little or no hot water, minimal electricity, and near-total lack of access to some medical services, telephones, televisions, computers, laundry or commissary, the Federal Defenders lawsuit said.

Defense lawyers were not able to visit inmates during the ordeal. Lawyer visits had also been significantly curtailed during the recent 35-day partial government shutdown, inmate advocates say.

Correctional officers wore scarves and layers of clothing, while inmates had short-sleeve shirts and light cotton pants on, the lawsuit said. Inmates also reported smelling noxious fumes and seeing corrections officers wearing masks even though none were supplied to inmates, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit called for the appointment of a special master to inspect the lockup and for unspecified damages.

The Bureau of Prisons disputed allegations that inmates didn’t have access to hot water. The agency said that the facility’s boiler was not affected by the power failure and remained functional, and that inmates had hot water for showers and in the sinks in their cells.

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, who toured the jail over the weekend, said problems arose because the boiler is old and antiquated and couldn’t keep the entire facility warm on the coldest of days. The temperature in the city hit a low of 2 degrees (-16 Celsius) on Jan. 31.

Protesters gathered outside after news reports that inmates had been without heat or power for a week. On Sunday, guards drove demonstrators attempting to enter the facility back with pushes and shoves. Witnesses said they also used pepper spray.

A Justice Department spokesman said the Bureau of Prisons is aware of the pepper spray allegations and is looking into it.

The Federal Defenders lawsuit also accused the federal government of making misleading statements to the public and courts about conditions inmates faced. And it said jail officials were largely unresponsive when lawyers sought information about “troubling reports” by inmates.

The New York Civil Liberties Union, which has advocated for inmates but is not involved in the lawsuit, criticized federal officials for a lack of “honesty and transparency as to what happened.”

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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NEW YORK – Just as people face differing challenges in their battles with cancer, they draw strength, comfort, and hope from different sources. For Katie Theodorou, it’s cooking magazines. “I find that a waiting room with cooking magazines can be comforting,” she said in a Stavros Niarchos Foundation news release.

One source of support that everyone should be able to rely on, though, is access to the very best tools and technique available in the fight against the disease. Unfortunately, in Greece, access to these resources can be uneven. Patients may travel for hours to receive examinations, surgery, and treatment, and may have to wait for months to begin radiotherapy treatment.

These cases are not far removed from our reality—they can affect our parents, our husbands, our wives, our sisters, our children, our friends, me and you. The philosophy that guides our efforts to strengthen the health sector is that everyone has the right to high-quality diagnostic and treatment services. We saw a great opportunity to act on this belief when we were approached by two hospitals in January 2014, first by the General Hospital of Athens Alexandra, and then by the General University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, asking for our support for the replacement of radiotherapy equipment. The meetings with representatives of these two hospitals provided the first seed from which the idea for whole program for the replacement of radiotherapy equipment grew.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation assembled a team of Program Officers and members of our Technical Department to focus on assessing the needs in radiotherapy equipment throughout Greece. In collaboration with specialized consultants, we studied international projects of similar scope, and got in contact with the relevant authorities, namely the Hellenic Society for Radiation Oncology and the Hellenic Association of Medical Physicists. We then visited hospitals across the country and got a better picture of the situation on the ground in terms of deficiencies in radiotherapy, and, by extension, in terms of the consequences for treating patients.

In Greece, each year, more than 28,000 people require radiotherapy. Approximately 4,000 of these people fail to enter a radiotherapy program, due to shortage of equipment and long waiting times. Furthermore, in Greece, there are 3.8 linear accelerators per million people, compared to an EU average of 6.5-7. “We saw doctors doing their best to help patients, even though they did not have the proper radiotherapy technology in their hands,” said Dr. Heini Murer, Professor of Physiology at the University of Zurich and SNF Advisor, who participated in visits to public hospitals.

This first survey confirmed our initial assessment that the replacement of radiotherapy equipment in only two of the country’s hospitals wouldn’t be enough to help address this situation as much as we could, and that a more radical approach was needed. Following discussions, we decided, in collaboration with the Hellenic Society for Radiation Oncology and the Hellenic Association of Medical Physicists, to bring in an external consultant with extensive experience in the latest cancer treatment and an objective external view of the situation.

Our search for this consulting partner was directed at the largest hospitals for cancer care in Europe and America. Meetings were held with hospital representatives in Switzerland and the U.S., and finally we decided to work with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. A team of four specialized professionals from Johns Hopkins University—the Directors of the Departments of Oncology, Radiotherapy, Radiophysics and Radiotechnology—was formed for the planning and implementation of the program.

Together, representatives of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the team from Hopkins traveled throughout Greece. We visited a total of 15 hospitals with radiotherapy units, from Heraklion to Alexandroupolis, and from Athens to Ioannina. Todd McNutt, a radiologist from the Hopkins team of consultants, summed up the prevailing situation: “There were hospitals that could not serve patients, due to inadequate maintenance and damage to the equipment. As a result, the patients were being diverted to other ‘overloaded’ hospitals.”
Following our field trips and discussions, we jointly decided to focus our attention on hospitals whose equipment had exceeded its recommended lifespan and required immediate replacement. In total, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation grant includes the procurement and installation of 10 linear accelerators in seven public hospitals in Greece: Attikon University General Hospital (Athens), the Athens Alexandra General Hospital, Theagenio Cancer Hospital in Thessaloniki, and the University General Hospitals of Alexandroupoli, Larissa, Patras (Rio) and Heraklion.

Based on the research conducted, we selected radiotherapy equipment that offers more features than older technology. In the words of Giorgos Pissakas, radiation oncologist and president of the Hellenic Society for Radiation Oncology, “we are now able to administer a greater dose for tumors, which translates to greater tumor control. At the same time, we are able to reduce side effects, which translates to a better life for patients, both during the treatment period and in the years to follow, since the main goal is the cure.”

However, radiotherapy equipment does not work by magic, at the touch of a button. They include complex functions and require training and expertise to fully utilize their capabilities. Therefore, part of the grant was directed toward the training of scientific staff who would use the equipment. One training program involved demonstration of the capabilities and functions of linear accelerators by representatives of the suppliers. Another three-year training program is being offered in collaboration with the Department of Radiotherapy Oncology of the University of Texas in San Antonio, directed by Professor Nikos Papanikolaou. Two employees from each public hospital that received a grant, one radiotherapist and one radiophysicist, travel to Texas to train on new treatment protocols and new machine capabilities, in order stay abreast of developments in the field of radiotherapy.

Today, all 10 of the linear accelerators are in clinical operation, and the program supports the maintenance of each accelerator for at least two years. “Access to the best possible health care and latest technology should be a given for anyone who needs it, not restricted to a lucky few,” said SNF Co-President Andreas Dracopoulos. “Following this belief, we wanted to do what was within our means to strengthen the ‘arsenal’ of tools available to any patient in their battle against cancer. Today, the radiotherapy technology of seven public hospitals in our country is comparable to that of leading hospitals in Europe and America. This effort is one small step, but we hope that it will help many who are battling cancer.”

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BOSTON – Elder Ephraim, Abbot of the renowned Vatopedi Monastery of Mt. Athos, was transported to Switzerland from Kiev, Ukraine where he suffered a minor heart attack on February 1. Elder Ephraim had traveled to Ukraine as a member of the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate headed by Metropolitan Emmanuel of France for the enthronement of the recently elected Prelate Epiphanios of the new Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine.

Elder Ephraim was taken to a hospital in Kiev where he received medical care and went through a series of tests, but on February 2 he was transported to Switzerland.

Before his departure, he was visited by Metropolitan Epiphanios at the hospital, who comforted the Elder and spoke with his doctors.
Elder Ephraim wished him a blessed and fruitful arch-pastoral ministry as Primate of the Autocephalous Church of Ukraine.

The National Herald communicated by phone with close associates and spiritual children of Elder Ephraim at the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos who told us that “the heart attack that the Elder suffered was mild and his condition is under control.” They also said that he continues to undergo medical tests are specialized for his condition.”

TNH was told, “Elder Ephraim needs special care because in the past he had stents placed in his arteries.”
Asked when he will be returning to Greece and to the Monastery, they said “we don’t know at this moment.”
The Ecumenical Patriarchate issued an official announcement on Saturday afternoon stating that “Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent a letter to Fr. Ephraim with his warm wishes for speedy and complete recovery.”

The Patriarchal announcement also stated that “Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery, had traveled to Kiev as part of the four- member Patriarchal Representation to the enthronement of the Prelate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.”

It is reminded that Elder Ephraim had visited the United States last October, when he brought a copy of the historic icon of the Mother of God named Vimatarissa to the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta, which was installed permanently in the newly erected nave at the Diakonia Center of the Metropolis in South Carolina.

Elder Ephraim had also visited the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and New York’s Mayor Bill de Blasio, Archbishop Demetrios of America, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at Ground Zero in New York, as well as the parish of St. Demetrios Cathedral of Astoria, where he spoke to the pupils of the Greek day school. At the Church of St. Nicholas in Flushing he preached at during the vespers service, and he also visited the Church of the Kimisis of the Theotokos in Southampton, Long Island.

Elder Ephraim was received everywhere with reverence and honors.

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NEW YORK – Simplicity, coherence, and the promotion of Greek culture are the basic principles of the new aesthetics imposed by the Consul General of Greece in New York Konstantinos Koutras from the day he took office. On January 28, we were impressed once again by the opening of the doors of the Consul General’s residence as a classical chamber music venue. The recently-tuned, years-old Steinway piano, which decorates the living room of the residence, was played by pianist Lowell Liebermann, one of the world’s most important composers of classical music, announcing the cooperation between the Consulate General of Greece in New York and Chamber Music Hellas (CMH) a non-profit organization based in New York and organizing classical chamber music festivals in areas outside of Greece’s main tourist destinations.

CMH President and CEO Vasos Papagapitos together with his brother George Papagapitos, CMH Vice President, are well known for their company Travel Dynamics, which since 1960 has been organizing themed tourism, including cruises organized for affluent and cultured Americans, scientists, historians, and archaeologists from Harvard and Yale to spread the Greek spirit. Their innovation this time was orchestrated in 2018 with classical chamber music, led by pianist Lowell Liebermann and an outstanding group of musicians from Lincoln Center, establishing the first International Classical Music Festival in Thessaly, which was christened Chamber Music Hellas in June 2018. Thessaly, the blessed “Land of the Gods,” was chosen for the second year again this year as a tourist destination with a ten-day stay and visits to its most beautiful villages and towns, such as Volos, Larissa, and Trikala, concerts at archaeological sites and museums in these regions.

Performances taking place within the framework of cultural tourism will be gradually extended to the rural areas and to the remote islands of Greece. In this way, a unique opportunity is given to the Greek audience to connect with classical music. On the other hand tourists who will participate in the chamber music cultural tours organized in Greece will have the opportunity to visit antiquities and museums in the day, while in the evening they will enjoy, under the starry Greek sky, western European classical music. A unique and intelligent combination that enhances the lives of not only individual listeners, but also entire communities, which, by enhancing the musical experience, builds bridges for the passage of classical music education to the next generations of Greeks.

As Vasos Papagapitos said when he started this effort, “we need perseverance and patience on our part, as well as fruitful cooperation from all the actors who are interested in the sustainability of such ventures and pave the way for the development of their country. We are looking for cities ready to accept big events and not necessarily with a public trained in classical chamber music. The common language of music unites people and acts as a cure for the souls of all.”

The host of this special night, Consul General Konstantinos Koutras told TNH he is excited that Chamber Music Hellas and the outstanding Lincoln Center soloists through classical music will help and stimulate quality tourism, since the artistic presence of Lowell Liebermann and William Hobs, the well-known pianist of Lincoln Center, attracts many European and American lovers of classical music and cultural tourism.

Through the collaboration of this consulate with Chamber Music, the Greek community of New York will have the unique opportunity to hear classical chamber music from time to time, as time allows the famous artists.

The chamber orchestra, composed of Lowell Liebermann on piano, William Hobs on piano, Yoonan Kim on clarinet, Chiu-Chen Liu on viol, and Blythe Gaissert Mezzo Soprano, presented a repertoire by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ioannis Constantinides, Johannes Brahms, and Lowell Liebermann. The concert concluded with three songs by Mikis Theodorakis, interpreted consistently in the style and message of the composer by the mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert.

Liebermann told TNH he is excited about the Greek warmth, hospitality, the beauty of the country, and the unsurpassed Greek cuisine. He was particularly impressed during the concerts he gave last summer by the audience in Kalambaka, which he said “had fallen silent… so we did not understand if they were asleep or listened. At the end of the concert, we were sure that they loved the music, because they broke into warm applause.”

The Board of Directors of Chamber Music Hellas is made up of prominent personalities, such as Gregory Nagy Professor of Classical Studies at Harvard and Director of the Hellenic Studies Center, Ambassador Loucas Tsilas, Carlos Picon, curator and former director of Greek and Roman Art at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Andrew Sacks, Louise Smith, and Richard Weinert. The worthy secretary and communication consultant of the organization in Greece is Maria Christina Baklava.

The concert was attended by Stavros Niarchos Foundation co-President Andreas Dracopoulos, Ambassador Loucas Tsilas with his wife Penelope, Yale Public Health Professor Vasilis Vasiliou, Professor of International Relations Andreas Gofas, Karen Goulandris, the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce President Markos Drakotos, and many American and Greek friends of Chamber Music Hellas and the Consulate General.

Those who are interested in traveling to the “Land of the Gods” can call 866-633-3611 and go to www.chambermusichellas.org.

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TAMPA, FL – The official signing ceremony of the Sister Cities Agreement between Mayor of Tampa Bob Buckhorn and Mayor of Heraklion, Crete, Vasilis Labrinos, was held on January 31 in the Sister Cities Room of the Tampa City Hall. The event was free and open to the public.

Important figures of the Greek community attended the formal signing, including the Consul General of Greece in Tampa and Advisor to the Committee Dimitrios Sparos, the Chairman of the AHEPA Family Tampa and founding member of the Sister Cities Committee Gus Paras, Tarpon Springs Mayor Chris Alafouzos, AHEPA officers and members, Daughters of Penelope officers and members, as well as representatives and members of the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine Academic Alliance and Dermatology, University of South Florida-College of Arts and Sciences, the Pancretan Association of America, the Pancyprian Association of Florida, and the Panhellenic Federation of Florida.

After the ceremony, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn spoke exclusively with The National Herald. He said, “The official signing ceremony means a lot to us because we have lots of friends and neighbors of Greek descent, there is a huge Greek population at Tarpon Springs. The Chairman of AHEPA Family Tampa Gus Paras and the Consul General of Greece in Tampa were asking me if there is something we could do and I said let’s do it. It was a great opportunity to establish this relationship with the country of Greece and particularly with this city which is so similar to Tampa. This is the last event I’m doing because I’m leaving office in 90 days. The reason we chose Heraklion and not other cities were many, reasons such as similar size, port city, cultural purposes, for educational exchange, we already have relationships with the city and the University of South Florida at the medical school and I’m looking forward to that growing. The foundation was already there, we just had to formalize it today.

“Now we are going to see more residents of Tampa traveling to Greece and Crete in particular. Tampa has in the recent years expanded in global perspective. I want Tampa to have a presence on the international stage, we want to build bridges, not walls. Tampa is a very vibrant and energetic city and I think in ten years it is going to be the financial engine of the Southeast. We have the largest port in the state of Florida, we speak multiple languages, we have multiple cultures, and we are proud of that. This is not the typical Southern city, we have a lot of benefits. Everybody knows about Miami and Orlando, but they don’t know a lot about Tampa. It has all the amenities of a big city culturally, the restaurant scene started to grow, people are accessible, the government is close to people. We also have the biggest media market in the State of Florida and the eighth largest in the country,” he said.

When the ceremony ended, a formal banquet was held to honor and commemorate the signing of the Tampa-Heraklion Sister Cities Agreement and it was followed by speeches from the mayors and other dignitaries, authentic Greek cuisine and a Cretan dance group performed traditional Cretan dances.

The Tampa-Heraklion Sister Cities Committee is currently working on possible cooperation between Tampa Museum Antiquities Department and Heraklion Museum and Knossos Museum, as well as cooperation with the University of South Florida with the College of Liberal Arts, developing cooperative programs with the USF Medical School, an exchange program between USF Morsani College of Medicine and the Medical School in Crete, exploring an exchange program as part of the Education Abroad USF World, a program to bring Greek culture to the public-school systems of the area, establishing a Hellenic Chamber of Commerce for Florida, and establishing a Robotics program for middle schools jointly with American and Cretan schools.

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It used to be that movie stars would shun TV, the small screen, but that could be path for Jim Gianopulos to resurrect one of Hollywood’s most venerable studios, Paramount, that threatens to become like one of the old movie palaces of yesteryear faded into oblivion.

The Brooklyn-born Greek-American entertainment businessman, who was part of a team at Fox that brought blockbuster revenues to movies they produced, is almost two years into an attempt to save Paramount, which made classics such as The Godfather and Chinatown, but has struggled after a disastrous management by Viacom, which is joining in helping him.

If so, the turnaround could be the stuff of movies, the ultimate insider look at a movie within-a-movie about Gianopulos hoping to use original TV series such as Jack Ryan and the Alienist, on streaming services like Amazon and TNT, to provide a money stream to bankroll blockbuster global audience films, rolling the dice twice at once.

“I knew it was challenged,” Gianopulos, a veteran film executive who took over as Paramount’s Chairman in 2017 told The New York Times as it featured the comeback role. “I  didn’t know how much,” he added.

He has the savvy to get it done and, he said, the right strategy in a digital age of streaming movies and TV shows and social media that blindsided Viacom when it won a battle in 1993 to acquire the studio, the symbol of old-time Hollywood.

Gianopulos started his career by working at Paramount and Lorimar. He then worked in the International Distribution department of Fox Filmed Entertainment with an insider’s knowledge of international distribution, video and pay TV.

But Paramount is fighting for its very survival after having watch the future fly by while looking backward through dusty-colored glasses and missing what was coming in entertainment, services such as Netflix, Hulu, and on the horizon, Apple’s multi-billion dollar TV and movie offerings and Facebook jumping into the game.

It is TV production that provides much of the money for the big films to be made and Gianopulos hopes to put the two together to get Paramount back in the game before the studio finds itself watching The End.

THE BIG UNEASY

The studio lost $900 million between 2016-18, part of that period under his command even as he moved boldly to chart a return after Viacom moved the TV arm of Paramount to CBS, cutting off a key source of money.

At least 495 original scripted programs aired in 2018, up from 288 in 2012, the result of new buyers like Netflix and Hulu, the report said, driving Gianopulos and a key partner, Nicole Clemens to rebuild the studio’s TV operation, hoping the small screen – if now on computers and even on cell phones – will bring revenues to produce the kind of films that make even money in places like China and India, with bigger audiences.

Gianopulos said he hoped to have 20 series in production by the end of the year. Viacom said Paramount Television generated $400 million in revenue last year, a figure he said is expected to double in 2019.

He’s building a group of veterans with not just experience but who are working together instead of the kind of internecine warfare usually seen at studios where jockeying for power and prestige can get in the way of production.

“It sounds trite, but you are only as good as your team,” Mr. Gianopulos said. “And all of the key people that I have brought in are accomplished, experienced executives.” He told the Times of the new hires: “None of them are screamers. None of them are hyperbolic. They’re all grown-ups. They’re all collaborative.”

THE A-LIST TEAM

That includes respected producer Wyck Godfrey of the Twilight series who told the paper that, “This place had become very fear-based, and so my first job was to try and change that. I’ve said to anyone who will listen, ‘We are going to start taking real chances on things we believe in.’ I will take the responsibility, the heat, when we miss, which is inevitable. But just go for it.

“We have to make more movies and also movies that stand the test of time,” he continued. “We have no choice. It’s the only way,” he said, so the studio hopes to make 17 movies in 2020 and is thinking bid, with a Top Gun sequel and eyes on international audiences.

Mission: Impossible — Fallout got great reviews and brought in $791 million in global ticket sales and, along with a quiet hit, A Quiet Place, brought losses down from $280 million in 2016 to $39 million in 2018, but Gianopulos expects a return to profitability in 2019, which sounds like a movie itself. “In a four-quarter game,” he said, “we’re halfway through the second quarter.”

So what’s left in his game? Rocketman, a musical about Elton John’s and career, arrives from the studio in May on the heels of the giant success of Bohemian Rhapsody – not from Paramount – but the mercurial story of rock singer Freddy Mercury of Queen that proved a box office hit despite mixed reviews.

Paramount is also bringing out director Ang Lee’s Gemini Man, starring Will Smith as an aging hit man who must fight a clone of his younger self, and Gianopulos has kept big bucks producers who were going to bolt and, unlike his predecessors who missed the boat on streaming services, is going to provide Netflix with a handful of original movies annually.

Action! Don’t Cut!

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