FROM COAST TO COAST
HOLLYWOOD, CA – Actress JAMIE LYNN SIGLER, who is Greek on her father’s side and is best known for her role as MEADOW, daughter of mob boss TONY on the HBO smash hit series THE SOPRANOS, revealed that she has multiple sclerosis and was diagnosed with the illness in 2002, when she was 20 years old, People magazine reported.
She kept the illness a secret all these years, she told People, but the recent new chapters in her life inspired her to come forward. In August 2013, she gave birth to BEAU KYLE DYKSTRA, whose father, CUTTER DYKSTRA, she married on January 16. Cutter is the son of former NEW YORK METS outfielder LENNY DYKSTRA.
In her years on the Sopranos – the series ran from 1999-2007, “sometimes all I needed was like five or 10 minutes to sit and recharge but I wouldn’t ask, because I didn’t want them to be suspicious,” she told People. “I’m at a point in my life with my son, with my new marriage, it’s a new me. I don’t want to hold a secret where it feels like I have something to be ashamed of or have something to hide,” Sigler said. “It’s part of me, but it’s not who I am.”
Sigler said she didn’t want her son “to get to an age where he felt like he had to keep this secret for me as well. I wanted to be an example to him of strength and courage.”
WHITESBORO, NY – In the center of New York State sits a village with about 4000 residents called Whitesboro. On and off for the past half century, Whitesboro was mired in controversy about its official logo, and thanks to a charge led by GREEK ORTHODOX PRIEST STEPHEN HARCHER and other religious leaders, the logo will now change.
The controversy is over a logo reflecting the town’s founding, by settler Hugh White, and the legend that he challenged the Oneida Native American Indian tribe’s chief to a friendly wrestling match in the spirit of good relations, and won the tribe’s respect and acceptance when he defeated the chief.
But the original logo appeared to show White with his hands around the chief’s neck, choking him. Amid protests, the logo was changed in the late 1970s showing White’s hands clearly on the chief’s shoulders, not neck. Nonetheless, the protests continued.
In addition to Karcher, other religious leaders included RAJAN ZED (Hinduism), MATTHEW T. FISHER (Buddhism), ELIZABETH WEBB BEYER (Judaism), BRADLEY S. CORBIN (Baha’i), and BRIAN E. MELENDEZ (American Indian Spirituality). The group noted that while the emblem may depict a historic moment, it is not fit to represent a 21st century community, the New York Times reported.
The religious leaders responded to a recent vote in Oneida, whereby the citizens chose to retain the emblem as is. But on January 21, the village reversed course, the Times reported, opting to work with the ONEIDA INDIAN NATION to discuss creating a new emblem. The Nation’s representative RAY HALBRITTER told the Times that “we are happy to work with anyone who wants to make sure the symbols they are promoting are honoring and respecting all people. We applaud the village leaders’ willingness to evaluate their own symbols and how to make sure they accurately reflect their community’s core values.”
Karcher is presiding priest at ST. ANTHONY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH in San Francisco. He studied at the PASTORAL THEOLOGY SCHOOL of ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY in Thessaloniki.
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