By Terry Poulos, Special to the Hellenic News of America
EVERYONE KNOWS SHE’S WINDY: Chicago born and raised Alison Victoria is embarking on the latest chapter in her successful television career. The lead star and producer of the hit HGTV show `Windy City Rehab’ is flipping her brand to start a new show in 2025 titled ‘Sin City Rehab’ which will focus on real estate rehabilitation and flipping projects in the greater Las Vegas region. WCR had a five-year run and now it’s time for Allison to give her media properties a makeover. Ms. Gramenos (her last name) is 100% Greek and she’s been vocal about being a proud Greek American. She will maintain a home in Chicago, where she serves on the board of the no-kill animal shelter PAWS Chicago, co-founded by Paula Fasseas. In 2024, Allison launched her own production company, ‘Briefly Gorgeous,’ which promises to “introduce you to people you’ve never met, and make you feel things you’ve never felt,” she said in a recent exclusive with Parade’s Home & Garden magazine. Yours truly had a chance to meet Allison at the 2016 gala for the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago, held at the Field Museum. That’s us in the photo.
DOING GOOD DEDES FOR CUBS: Chicago’s own Jennifer Dedes Nowak in July had the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Chicago Cubs home game at Wrigley Field during “Women in Baseball Week.” A longtime Cubs staffer, Jen currently serves in the role of Assistant Director in Community Relations where lately she’s been working closely with the group `A League of Their Own’ through Cubs Care Charities, helping raise funds for female athletic opportunities. Jen is also Executive Director of Sculpture Chicago, a not-for-profit which helps to place large-scale art installations across the city.
POLITICS: Illinois Democrats ramp up their campaigns…Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas has served in that capacity since 1998. A flamboyant leader who marches to the beat of her own baton (she’s accomplished at twirling too and leads many parades from the front), she’s now signed to a modeling deal with Lily’s Talent that will help increase awareness of office operations and better inform the public. She also announced she’s running for reelection and there have been rumors she’s keeping open the option of running for Chicago Mayor, a job that political observers believe is being eyed by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias…Champaign, IL county auditor George Danos announced his candidacy for Illinois comptroller…Krist Callas is running for an open congressional seat…Niles, IL Mayor George Alpogianis is running for a central committeeman post…Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Mariyana Spyropoulos was elected in November, 2024 and hit the ground running.
POLITICO SCIENTIST: Lest our readers think this columnist really is that wired into the Illinois political scene, full disclosure – some of the above items were culled from the Politco.com column of veteran Chicago journalist Shia Kapos. Shia’s column is a daily must-read not only for politics, but the way she seamlessly merges business and civic scuttlebutt with a touch of the entertainment world. In July, Shia led one of her columns with news she’d be cooking and serving Greek food at her beloved St. Andrews GO Church Greek fest. Her column is next-level `Politico science.’
OVER THE MUON RETURN: Physicist Yannis Semertzidis returned to the states in early 2025 to rejoin the team working on the breakthrough Muon G-2 experiment at FermiLab in Batavia, IL. He’s currently writing a book “reflecting on my decade-long journey building a high-risk research center in Korea from scratch,” he wrote.
BIZ WHIZZES: Chicago native Maria Davlantes, a former BP executive, is now CEO and board member at Dentive, a network of private practice partners in the dental industry. She also serves as the Lead Independent Director on the Board for Life Floor. In July, she was named one of the 2025 “50 Women to Watch for Boards” by 50/50 Women on Boards…Wurkwel Ventures associate Patty Gountanis was recently named a committee member of the Chicago-Athens Sisters Cities International program through World Business Chicago.
DIGITAL CREATIVES: Chicago-area digital creator and sales guru Susan Katsenes Kouchis recently released the motivational, self-improvement book “Get Into The Sales Game,” available on Amazon…Another digital creator, Pete Kastanes, has grown quite a following at his “Vanished Chicagoland” Facebook group page. He’s gathered a ton of material over the years and is being encouraged to turn it into a book…Photographer John Vlahakis of Zia Gallery had his “Winter Light” images exhibited at the 8th Chania International Photo Festival in July. He also recently had his first solo exhibition in Athens centered on his book “Enduring City.”
PITCH-WOMAN ON THE RISE: Chicago-area actor Cassie Liveris is upping her profile. You may have seen her in commercial spots for Insure On The Spot and Ace Hardware, among others. She also has a growing portfolio in stage and film productions.
SPORTS: Former Lewis University softball star Laurie Markatos, who won a number of AHEPA awards while in high school and college, is now an assistant coach for the Greek National Softball Team. Now a teacher in England, Laurie accompanied the team to play in a qualifying tournament this Summer in Canada…Lockport HS and Michio Academy club volleyball player Kyla Mitchell, just now beginning her junior season, agreed to a full ride student-athlete scholarship at the University of Virginia. She’s ranked #1 in Illinois’ 2027 class at the middle blocker position and 4th or 4th among all players. She also maintains as 4.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
Until next…
Terry Poulos is a writer, entrepreneur (TheSportsIndex.com), and geometer-artist (Scientiquity.com) who has also covered Greek America for decades for various outlets. He’s co-founder of Chicago’s Greek Media Club and a member of the AHEPA Athletics Hall of Fame selection committee
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