Items

• 2020

  How I first heard about Covid virus.

  When I landed from Italy back in Los Angeles on Feb. 22,2020. I was greeted with concern and told that my group probably should go into quarantine because of a virus they were then calling Corona. I was confused. I had just had a wonderful 12 day tour of Italy with a group of 30 of my students and their parents. I was able to show them beautiful, historic places and art that they had been studying. We knew when we left for the trip that there was a virus in China but we had no idea that it was spreading through Italy like wildfire while we were there. The only thing that should have tipped us off was when we first arrived and landed in Naples, getting off the plane we had to get our temperature tested. But, that was the last time any of us had any inkling that a virus was spreading dangerously through the streets we were walking. Until we landed back in Los Angeles! I had to check the news and when I did, I saw that we had gotten out of Italy just in time because the country was shutting down. At that point there were no reported cases in the United States but people were fearful that my group brought the virus back with us. We did not. But soon enough, it arrived and began to spread. And that's when my world changed.
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  2020-07-15

  Making Mafia Stronger

  When most families and business owners were wondering how to pay the bills, for Gaetano Vitagliano the period of lockdown was the perfect time to strike a deal. On raiding cafe's the police found something which seemed suspicious! On investigating it was found that the business was allegedly bought by mafia money, linking to Camorra, an organized crime syndicate in Italy. Read this article by VICE to find out what happened in Naples, Italy where Raffaele Gallo was killed in the streets by Camorra ambush.