Vicki L. Friedman

1 month ago | whro.org | Vicki L. Friedman

Roger Loria remembers. He recalls fleeing his home in Antwerp, Belgium, as a toddler with his mother, who carried a lone suitcase and a toothbrush. His recollection is vivid of joining another family to walk miles at night to reach the border with Switzerland. Though just 3 1⁄2 years old, he was assigned the task of keeping their baby quiet by putting sugar cubes to his lips every time he made a sound. They couldn’t let the Gestapo, the Nazi police, hear them.

1 month ago | whro.org | Vicki L. Friedman

School ended hours ago at Carver Elementary in Newport News, yet more than 100 students head for classrooms rather than the bus. They’ve got instruments in hand. Third-grader Zaylah Allen has a recorder, while fourth-grader Kiahni Lindsey plays clarinet and fifth-grader José Lopez-Gomez, a cello. They’re some of the more than 200 city students who participate in a free daily after-school program through the local nonprofit Soundscapes.

1 month ago | whro.org | Vicki L. Friedman

Sixty-seven years ago, Richard and Mildred Loving committed a crime that Virginia Opera and Richmond Symphony will spotlight in a world premiere. He was white and she was Black and Native American, and their interracial marriage was illegal in Virginia. Their eventual 1967 Supreme Court case ended race-based restrictions on marriage in the United States and is the basis for “Loving v. Virginia,” which opens at the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk on Friday.

1 month ago | whro.org | Vicki L. Friedman

Bob Aguilar was at the Happiest Place on Earth doing one of his favorite things on Earth when he started feeling warm. It was New Year’s Eve 2023, and it wasn’t hot in Anaheim, California. The Hampton Roads resident felt winded as he played the bagpipes and marched roughly a half mile down Main Street as part of a band in Disneyland. He continued moving, though he stopped playing. His fingers mimicked the movements without the sound.

1 month ago | whro.org | Vicki L. Friedman

For Gershwin’s co-owner Tim Mullane, supporting the annual Dining Out for Life fundraiser is a no-brainer. The Norfolk bistro and piano lounge is among 54 restaurants that will donate a percentage of proceeds from every diner’s bill on Thursday to the LGBT Life Center. Most restaurants give 33%; Gershwin’s is among a handful donating 50%. “The money is going to people you know, people in your community, people that work in your restaurants and your stores,” Mullane said.