By COLLEEN BARRY and LUCA BRUNO

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Multi-billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez arrived in Venice on Wednesday ahead of their star-studded weekend wedding, an event that has galvanized a wide assortment of activist groups protesting it.

Bezos waved from a water taxi as he and Sanchez arrived at the dock of the Aman Hotel, a five-star hotel on the Grand Canal, with two security boats in tow.

The event has drawn protests by groups who view it as a sign of the growing disparity between the haves and have-nots, while residents complain it exemplifies the way their needs are disregarded in the era of mass tourism to the historic lagoon city.

About a dozen Venetian organizations — including housing advocates, anti-cruise ship campaigners and university groups — have united to protest the multi-day event under the banner “No Space for Bezos,” a play on words also referring to the bride’s recent space flight.

They have staged small-scale protests, unfurling anti-Bezos banners on iconic Venetian sites. They were joined Monday by Greenpeace and the British group “Everyone Hates Elon,” which has smashed Teslas to protest Elon Musk, to unfurl a giant banner in St. Mark’s Square protesting purported tax breaks for billionaires.

On Wednesday, other activists launched a float down the Grand Canal featuring a mannequin of Bezos clinging onto an Amazon box, his fists full of fake dollars. The British publicity firm that announced the stunt said it wasn’t a protest of the wedding “but against unchecked wealth, media control, and the growing privatisation of public spaces.”

There has been no comment from Bezos’ representatives on the protests.

The local activists had planned a more organized protest for Saturday, aiming to obstruct access to canals with boats to prevent guests from reaching a wedding venue. They modified the protest to a march from the train station after claiming a victory, asserting that their pressure forced organizers to change the venue to the Arsenale, a more easily secured site beyond Venice’s congested center.

“It will be a strong, decisive protest, but peaceful,’’ said Federica Toninello, an activist with the Social Housing Assembly network. “We want it to be like a party, with music, to make clear what we want our Venice to look like.”

Among the 200 guests confirmed to be attending the wedding are Mick Jagger, Ivanka Trump, Oprah Winfrey, Katy Perry and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Venice, renowned for its romantic canal vistas, hosts hundreds of weddings each year, not infrequently those of the rich and famous. Previous celebrity weddings, like that of George Clooney to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin in 2014, were embraced by the public. Hundreds turned out to wish the couple well at City Hall.

Bezos has a different political and business profile, said Tommaso Cacciari, a prominent figure in the movement that successfully pushed for a ban on cruise ships over 25,000 tons traveling through the Giudecca Canal in central Venice.

“Bezos is not a Hollywood actor,’’ Cacciari said. “He is an ultra-billionaire who sat next to Donald Trump during the inauguration, who contributed to his re-election and is contributing in a direct and heavy way to this new global obscurantism.’’

Critics cite Amazon’s labor practices, ongoing tax disputes with European governments and Bezos’ political associations as reasons for concern.

Activists also argue that the Bezos wedding exemplifies broader failures in municipal governance, particularly the prioritization of tourism over residents’ needs. They cite measures such as the day-tripper tax — which critics argue reinforces Venice’s image as a theme park — as ineffective. Chief among their concerns is the lack of investment in affordable housing and essential services.

City officials have defended the wedding. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro called the event an honor for Venice, and the city denied the wedding would cause disruptions.

“Venice once again reveals itself to be a global stage,’’ Brugnaro told The Associated Press, adding he hoped to meet Bezos while he was in town.

Meanwhile, a Venetian environmental research association, Corila, issued a statement saying Bezos’ Earth Fund was supporting its work with an “important donation.”

Corila, which unites university scholars and Italy’s main national research council in researching Venetian protection strategies, wouldn’t say how much Bezos was donating but said contact began in April, well before the protests started.

Originally Published: June 25, 2025 at 8:39 AM MDT

It wasn’t as great as the fall sports, but honestly, it would be hard to match the amazing fall season by Journal-area prep sports teams.

The winter sports season still had some champions, but more individual compared to team titles.

Check back next week for the conclusion of this series with a look at the spring sports season that recently wrapped up.

Here’s a look back at top winter sports highlights in the Journal-area: 

Girls Basketball:

State Runner-Up: Fremd (lost 65-44 to Kenwood in Class 4A title game)

Fourth Place at State: Loyola Academy (lost 54-44 to Alton in Class 4A third place game)

Sectional Champions: Fremd (4A), Loyola Academy (4A), Willows Academy (1A)

Regional Champions: Prospect (4A), Fremd (4A), Maine South (4A), Loyola Academy (4A), Rolling Meadows (4A), Hersey (4A), Glenbrook South (4A), St. Viator (3A), Regina Dominican (2A), Willows Academy (1A)

Boys Basketball:

Highlights: Rolling Meadows advanced to the supersectionals, falling to eventual state runner-up Warren 60-48 to finish in the top eight at state in Class 4A. Fremd and Loyola Academy each fell in the sectional finals.

Sectional Champion: Rolling Meadows (4A)

Regional Champions: Rolling Meadows (4A), Loyola Academy (4A), Fremd (4A), Hersey (4A), Stevenson (4A), St. Viator (3A)

Boys Bowling:

Highlights: Rolling Meadows is new in boys bowling, but Jayden Ramel has been bowling for a while and it showed at state as he finished third overall individually. Only Notre Dame’s Justin Sanetra (2010; 3rd place), Notre Dame’s Tom Ochal (2015; 2nd), Stevenson’s Zach Singer (2016; 1st), Stevenson’s Richy Zenner (2016; 2nd) and Stevenson’s Lucas Pinkus (2018; 5th) have finished top five at state before. Stevenson’s Jude Snider finished 82nd at state this year as well. No Journal-area team qualified for state.

Girls Bowling:

Individual State Champion: Elk Grove’s Julia Korzen won the wheelchair division at state for her first career state title.

State Team: Hersey finished 22nd with Annalyse Johnson, Abby Stonequist, Lizzie Waltz, Audrey Neill, Freedom Toll and Angela Colletti.

Also of note: Hersey won a regional title and a sectional title, the only Journal-area team to do so in 2025 for girls bowling.

Boys Wrestling:

Individual State Champions: Niles Notre Dame’s Ray Long won the 106 lbs. state title in Class 2A. Fremd’s Evan Gosz (47-2 record) won the Class 3A title at 144 lbs.

State Team Trophy: Hersey finished a program-best fourth at state in the dual competition (Hersey won state in 1970-71 and 1971-72 under the old format that ran from 1936-83). Hersey beat Edwardsville 40-27 in the state quarterfinals for their first ever dual state win, before falling 55-15 in the semifinals to eventual state champion Marmion. In the third place match, Joliet Catholic won 46-22 over Hersey.

Team Sectionals: Northridge qualified for the team sectionals for the first time ever in Class 1A. Niles Notre Dame qualified for sectionals in Class 2A, while Hersey qualified in Class 3A.

State Individual Medalists: Loyola Academy’s Niko Ordiotti (2nd at 106 lbs.), Loyola’s Kai Calcutt (2nd at 215 lbs.), Hersey’s Elijah Garza (4th at 132 lbs.), Buffalo Grove’s Oleksandr Havrylkiv (4th at 113 lbs.), Maine South’s Tyler Fortis (4th at 485 lbs.), Hersey’s Maksim Mukhamedaliyev (5th at 144 lbs.), Fremd’s Owen Jakubczak (5th at 285 lbs.) and Fremd’s Drew Fifield (6th at 138 lbs.) in Class 3A. Notre Dame’s John Sheehy (4th at 126 lbs.) also medaled in Class 2A. Northridge’s Adam Haddad (3rd at 165 lbs.) in Class 1A became the first Knights’ wrestler to medal in program history.

Also of note: There were additional individual state qualifiers from Elk Grove, Fremd, Hersey, Maine South, Maine West, Niles Notre Dame, Northridge, Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Stevenson and Wheeling.

Girls Wrestling:

Individual State Champion: Loyola Academy’s Harlee Hiller won her second career state title, claiming the 115 lbs. championship two years after winning the 105 lbs. title.

Also of note: Wheeling’s Elise “Leaf” Burkut (125 lbs.) and Prospect’s Viola Pianetto (135 lbs.) were state runner-up finishers this season. Maine West’s Lillian “Lilly” Garrett (34-7) picked up the first IHSA state medal for the program with a fifth place finish at 170 lbs. Leyden’s Zoey Dodgers (5th at 105 lbs.) and Sabrina Bono (5th at 120 lbs.) earned the first state medals ever for the Eagles. There were also state qualifiers from Elk Grove, Conant, Stevenson and Fremd.

Competitive Cheerleading:

State Runner-Up: Buffalo Grove (coed division)

Also of note: Stevenson finished fourth in the coed division, while Hersey grabbed seventh. Elk Grove finished 11th, while Palatine (15th) and Conant (17th) also competed at state in the coed division. Prospect finished 15th and Maine South was 16th in the large division at State. St. Viator was 24th in the medium division.

Competitive Dance:

State Runner-Up: Stevenson placed second in Class 3A with 95.88 points.

Other State Teams: Fremd (6th; 93.48 score), Maine South (11th; 90.26), Glenbrook South (18th; 85.16), Loyola Academy (21st; 84.12), Conant (24th; 82.72) and Prospect (26th; 82.47) in Class 3A. Buffalo Grove (19th; 81.41) and Maine East (25th; 79.1) both competed in Class 2A, while St. Viator finished 22nd in Class 1A.

Boys Swimming:

Individual State Champions: Glenbrook South’s Ryan Eidelman won the 50-yard free for Athletes with Disabilities (AWD), 100-yard free for AWD, 200-yard free for AWD and 100-yard breaststroke for AWD. Conant’s Trevor Hanson was competing in a different level for AWD events and he won the three events he competed in, winning the 50-yard free AWD, 100-yard free AWD and 100-yard breaststroke AWD.

State Teams: Loyola Academy (5th place; 133.5 points), Stevenson (6th; 127 pts.), Glenbrook South (7th; 124 pts.), Niles West (14th; 74 pts.), Buffalo Grove (18th; 35 pts.), Maine South (24th, 18 pts.), Maine East (26th; 16 pts.), Fremd (31st; 9 pts.), Hersey (33rd; 7 pts.), Prospect (35th; 6.5 pts.), Conant (36th; 6 pts.) and Rolling Meadows (40th; 4 pts.).

Individual/Relay State Highlights: Loyola’s Velizar Filipov, Devon Bone, Gus Koh and Luke Helm finished third in the 200-yard medley relay, while Glenbrook South (5th) and Stevenson (6th) also finished in the top 10. Glenbrook South’s Taylor Isaac was runner-up in 1-meter diving, while Maine South’s Caleb Lakin (4th), Buffalo Grove’s Michael Surowaniec (8th) and Hersey’s Nathan Mabry (10th) all finished in the top 10 behind Isaac. Niles West’s Ethan Chung was third in the 100-yard fly, while Loyola’s pair of Velizar Filipov (5th) and Gus Koh (6th) also finished top 10 at state. Glenbrook South’s Lucas Fernandez-Geddes was fourth in the 100-yard free and he was part of the 200-yard free relay team that finished fourth, just ahead of Stevenson (5th) and Niles West (6th). The Journal-area had five swimmers in the top 10 in the 100-yard back with Stevenson’s Kasper Lee (3rd), Loyola’s Filipov (4th), Loyola’s Koh (6th), Niles West’s Chung (8th) and Fremd’s Marcus Wirkowski (10th). Glenbrook South’s Noah Chen finished fifth in the 100-yard breast. Loyola also picked up a third place finish in the 400-yard free relay. Maine East’s David Rozenbergas finished 10th in the 200-yard IM and ninth in the 100-yard free to earn the Blue Demons their first state medals in 53 years.

Girls Gymnastics:

Highlights: Palatine’s Jolee Waddington finished sixth in all-around at state with a 36.975 score. Waddington was runner-up at state in parallel bars (9.55) and fifth on floor (9.4). Hersey’s Maria Reyes took third on floor. Prospect, Stevenson and Glenbrook South were among the schools with state qualifiers as well.

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Woodward Park City General Manager Gar Trayner shares details about the past winter season, their summer camp and X Games partnership.

The successful winter season experienced challenges with weather but overall good visitation. Local numbers are growing, while destination numbers are stable.

The summer season has opened with five mountain biking trails and various camps, including a growing mountain bike summer camp.

Woodward will also participate in the Summer X Games, offering skateboard and BMX clinics.

The Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City invites the community to experience an afternoon of basketball, hometown pride and family fun at the Legacy and Legends Alumni Basketball Game. 

The event will run from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 28 at Evolution Arena, 317 N. Pennsylvania Ave.

It will showcase the friendly rivalry between alumni from Pleasantville High School and Atlantic City High School, a matchup sure to spark memories and celebrate the athletic talent that has shaped local sports history. 

Proceeds from the event will support the club’s mission to inspire and enable all young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.

“This game is an opportunity to honor the legacy of our schools, celebrate the power of community, and uplift the next generation,” Boys and Girls CEO Tracey Triniwell said. “By supporting this event, you’re helping us continue to provide life-changing programs for the youth who need us most.”

The event will feature a halftime show by the ACHS Cheerleading Team. 

Attendees also can enjoy snacks and refreshments from the concession stand, staffed by youth leaders from the Torch Club and Keystone Club, two of the Boys and Girls Club’s premier character and leadership development programs.

Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

Liverpool, N.Y. — Athletes, coaches and families from across Section III had a blast on Tuesday night at syracuse.com’s 2025 All-Central New York High School Sports Awards Show.

There were laughs, smiles, free ice cream and even a dancing cow inside the Liverpool High School auditorium.