The Queens Gazette. State Senator George Onorato (DAstoria/ Long Island City) is urging local college-bound high school seniors and current college students to apply and compete for four $1,500 college scholarships that are being sponsored this year by the New York Conference of Italian- American State Legislators. The conference will select four students to receive two athletic scholarships and two academic scholarships, with winners to be announced on May 25. (Read the article)

The New York Times. The Mexican singer, Rolando Villazon, plagued by cancellations and vocal glitches since last year was replaced Tuesday by Italian tenor Massimo Giordano for the season opening night of Gaetano Donizetti's bubbly farce. (Read the article by Steve Smith)

The New York Times. Every year, tens of thousands of poverty-stricken people try to cross from Libya to Italy — a favored destination for migrants seeking to circumvent European immigration restrictions, often via a small Italian island called Lampedusa between the coasts of North Africa and Sicily. (Read the article)

The Hartford Courant. Benedetto Cipriani, defiant to the end, was sentenced to 200 years in prison today for masterminding the 2003 execution-style killings of three men at a Windsor Locks auto repair shop. (Read the article)

NIP-NEWS ITALIA PRESS.  “We want this initiative to be just the starting of a major effort to build a stronger relationship between the Italian restaurant industry and the country”, said Bartolo Ciccardini, the world President of Ciao Italia. “Italy is in a great need to enhance its economic situation and those working in the culinary field could greatly contribute.  This is why the motto of the 2009 edition of the event is: ‘Don’t ask what Italy can do for you, but ask yourself what you can do for your country”. The convention will be held in Bari (15th, 16th, and 18th of April, at the Sheraton Nicolaus) and in Lecce (17th of April, at the Chiostro dei Domenicani) The great public can watch the live broadcasting of the event and also actively participate to the activities and the debates scheduled by accessing the website of the convention (and of the media partners).

AFP. Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne headed for Detroit Tuesday hoping to seal an alliance with Chrysler and buoyed by a burst of national pride over the Italian icon's role as possible saviour for the failing US auto giant. (Read article)

COURANT.COM. Benedetto Cipriani learns this morning how many years he'll spend in prison for arranging the murder of three men at a Windsor Locks auto repair shop five years ago. Tuesday, he learned he would have to spend at least half of that sentence in a Connecticut prison when Judge Julia Dewey denied his request to serve his sentence in his native Italy. (Read the article by David Owens)