Blogante News

This year marks 40 years that El Concilio (Counsel for the Spanish Speaking) has helped tens of thousands of people every year with programs such as its legal services.

As more Latinos call San Joaquin County home, there is an increasing need for such services. More than 35 percent of the county population is Latino, and that number is expected to reach nearly 50 percent by 2050, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and California Department of Finance.

The nonprofit group, started in 1968 by the human services Cursillo movement group from Catholic Charities, has more than a dozen programs, many of them intended for Latinos. They include child care centers for the children of migrant workers, free and low-cost health insurance enrollment, mental health services, English classes and immigration services.”*

Last month, all anyone could talk about in the marketplace was the rising cost of food. Now that a violent transportation strike has paralyzed the country for two weeks and prevented deliveries from getting to market, the conversation has shifted to food shortages.

”Things are going from worse to more worst,” said veteran market vendor Manuel Ramírez, inventing a superlative to describe his frustration with the unraveling situation in Nicaragua. ”Even the [produce] baskets look like they are on strike,” he said, nodding to the large market bins that are empty except for a few rotting tomatoes and what appears to have been lettuce.

In the streets, several protests continued Wednesday while a tense calm prevailed throughout most of the country. Striking bus and truck drivers have clashed with riot police in recent days and the U.S. Embassy in Managua warned U.S. citizens to take precautions in the face of the strike, which began May 5.”*

Sixty-one illegal immigrants, including three toddlers, were discovered at a house in South Los Angeles early Wednesday by federal immigration agents serving a search warrant as part of an investigation into a human smuggling ring, authorities said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered the single-family, two-story home in the 10000 block of South Normandie Avenue about 6:30 a.m. and found the Central and South American immigrants crowded into the house, with trash and rotting food piled 2 to 3 feet high in each room, agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice said. The immigrants told agents that they had been staying there since Friday.”*

Members of the only Latino women’s Republican group in the area gathered Wednesday for a lesson on media coverage and political spin, as they push for Republican candidate support this election year.

On the group’s agenda is promoting Republicans for office, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona for president and Stockton City Council District 4 candidate Diana Lowery.

“We need to know how to answer media questions the best way we know how,” said Carol Trujillo-Hadley, founder of Latinas United Republican Women Federated.”*

Gorgeous weather, large crowds and a fun-filled day of activities greeted attendees of Fiesta Atlanta ‘08, Atlanta’s largest outdoor Cinco de Mayo celebration held on Sunday, May 4th in the heart of downtown Atlanta. The approximately 45,000 attendees enjoyed Hispanic food, live music by national and local artists, arts and crafts, a live soccer tournament, and various sampling booths, making it one of the largest crowds assembled at Centennial Olympic Park since the 1996 Summer Olympics.

“Fiesta Atlanta ‘08 was a tremendous success,” said Ralph E. Herrera, President of Lanza Group, LLC. “An event like this isn’t possible without our many sponsors; our thanks go out to Bud Light, AT&T, State Farm, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Viva and El Patron Radio, Monster Energy Drink, Atlanta Latino, Hyatt Hotels of Atlanta, MARTA and the many others who supported Fiesta Atlanta. We also want to thank all the musical artists who participated and all of the many people who joined us celebrating Cinco de Mayo in the heart of Atlanta… this year’s attendance was diverse and a true reflection of present-day Atlanta! I was proud to see how many volunteers and supporters were present throughout our week long series of events. We are looking forward to expanding our successful track record of events with the inaugural Fiesta Georgia in September and again with Fiesta Atlanta ‘09!”

In addition to the food, art and music, this year’s event also featured a Soccer Challenge with 16 teams competing. The winning team, Alianza Soccer Club, defeated Boca Juniors with a final score of 6-1. The Soccer Challenge was sponsored by: Mundo Hispanico, El Pollo Loco, Azteca America TV, O’Reilly Auto Parts, and POWERade.

“Fiesta Atlanta, only in its second year, is amazing,” said Teresa Callava, Director Sales & Marketing for the Kiwanis Club of Little Havana. “It was truly impressive to see the organization, the large attendance, the mix of attendees including a large percentage of non-Hispanic festival-goers, the well-balanced flow of activities and the large amount of sponsors that participated in your event.”

For more information about Fiesta Atlanta ‘08 and ‘09, contact Caroline Elisabeth Peters at (404) 350-0200 or at cpeters@lanzagroup.com. You can also visit www.fiestaatlanta.com. Fiesta Atlanta is a Lanza Group, LLC production.

Lanza Group, LLC is Atlanta’s premier full-service Hispanic Market Advertising and Public Relations firm specializing in the growing US Hispanic market. The Lanza Group provides a full-line of bilingual & bicultural services.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Caroline Elisabeth Peters
(404) 350-0200
cpeters@lanzagroup.com”

Two Latinos who are the first in their families to attend college have taken student leadership roles at Harper College.

Miguel Hernandez, 25, of Hoffman Estates, was elected student senate president, while Alaine Garcia, 32, of Wheeling, is the Harper board’s latest student trustee.

Both said they’re excited to give Latinos, who make up 18 percent of Harper’s 25,300 students, proper representation within the college’s bodies of government.”*

After 25 years of assistance to the Metro area’s Latino community, El Programa Hispano, a leading social service organization, has moved to a larger Gresham facility and is expanding its efforts.

The mission of the nonprofit, which is part of Catholic Charities, is to increase self-sufficiency among Latinos. The bilingual and bicultural services it provides include advocacy, domestic violence and sexual assault assistance, mental health and addiction treatment and counseling, educational support for youth and adults, gang prevention, anti-poverty services, skill building and outreach to elderly Latinos.”*

Four UNM faculty and staff members will spend their summer learning how to write research grants for proposals funded by the National Institutes of Health. In turn they will act as a resource for faculty and staff members who are seeking grants from NIH.

It’s part of a joint Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services program to improve grant awards to Hispanic serving institutions like UNM.”*

Carlos Espinosa is the Director of Golf for the City of McAllen. The face of golf in the Rio Grande Valley for the last 20-plus years, Espinosa is a graduate of the University of Houston, which has produced golfers such as Fred Couples and Steve Elkington. Espinosa was an All-Southwest Conference selection in 1985 and helped the Cougars win the NCAA title before turning professional in 1986. Espinosa earned over $1 million dollars and won 23 Mexican PGA Tour events. He also qualified for the 1993 U.S. Open and was a member of Mexico’s World Cup teams in 1988, ‘90 and ‘92.

Espinosa has been the director of golf for the City of McAllen since May 12, 1999. He is based at Palm View Golf Course in McAllen, which will host this week’s Jalapeño Duramed FUTURES Tour Golf Classic.”*

Senators continued discussing a broad immigration bill after midnight Wednesday that includes a provision, which the measure’s sponsor says could kill the legislation.

But they stopped short of a vote because a slew of amendments tacked onto the bill added a price tag to the bill, which must be reviewed by a Senate committee before the immigration legislation can be voted on.”*

s the presidential candidates continue to fight it out for a home on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Dominican Republic is holding its presidential election this Friday, bringing Dominicans from across the city to the polls. NY1’s Dean Meminger filed the following report.

Dominican New Yorkers say they want to make sure that their voices are heard and that their votes count back home.

“We need to change the president for another no matter what,” said one Dominican New Yorker. “*

Miguel Tejada returned to where he began his career, ready to face many of his former fans with a clear conscience.

Last month, Houston’s star shortstop told the Astros he’s actually 33, two years older than what the Oakland Athletics and everybody else thought when he signed with the organization in 1993 to escape the poverty he grew up in back home in his native Dominican Republic.

Tejada, the 2002 AL MVP, will turn 34 on May 25.”*

Honduran farmers like Alvarez can’t compete in a global marketplace where the costs of fuel and fertilizer soared and rice prices doubled in the past year. The former breadbasket of Central America now imports 83 percent of the rice it consumes — a dependency triggered almost two decades ago when it adopted free-market policies pushed by the World Bank and other lenders.

The country was $3.6 billion in debt in 1990. In return for loans from the World Bank, Honduras became one of dozens of developing nations that abandoned policies designed to protect farmers and citizens from volatile food prices. The U.S. House Financial Services Committee convenes today in Washington to explore the causes of the global food crisis and possible solutions.”*

A hacker who identified himself as “Anonymous Coward” stole personal data of 6 million Chileans — reportedly including a daughter of the president — and posted it briefly on the Internet, authorities said Sunday.

“This is a serious and delicate issue,” said presidential spokesman Francisco Vidal.

Police Chief Jaime Jara confirmed that authorities were investigating the theft of the leaked data, which he said included identity card numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mails and academic background.”*

Nearly 14 years ago, when Hartnell College was in the process of selecting a new president-superintendent, Latino leaders in Salinas raised their voices and asked that a Latino candidate be chosen.

Now, as the process to select a new leader for the community college is coming to an end, several of those same leaders are raising their voices again. This time they assert the process has been tainted and is favoring Phoebe Helm, the interim superintendent and the only non-Latina among the three finalists.

Santos Martinez Jr., vice president of student services at Coastal Bend College in Texas, was interviewed Monday, and Cecilia Cervantes, president of the College of Alameda, was interviewed Tuesday. Helm is scheduled for today.”*

Called the Board of Early Education and Care, the 13-member group will be charged with the coordination and consolidation of a range of education and human services focused on youth.

Isaza, who is in the process of moving to Holyoke, is the senior program officer and manager for grant-making initiatives at the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts in Springfield, and is the second Western Massachusetts resident named to the board.”*

Educators and business professionals hope to use their own stories of struggle and success to motivate male Latino students at Rialto Unified School District’s inaugural Latino Male Youth Summit.

The Saturday event, to be held at Wilmer Amina Carter High School, will include workshops and panel discussions on navigating high school and preparing for college.

Speakers will include Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto; state Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Anthony Monreal; and San Bernardino City Unified School District Superintendent Arturo Delgado. The keynote speaker will be Manny Medrano, journalist and legal correspondent for ABC News.”*

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has selected Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) to serve as Assembly Majority Floor Leader.

Torrico, the son of immigrants from Bolivia, is in his second term. He represents the 20th Assembly District, which includes parts of Alameda and Santa Clara counties. He previously served as chair of the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee. “*

Like her, many Mexican nationals have found traveling to the consulates in New York and Philadelphia too costly and time-consuming, especially for the hundreds of laborers in Lakewood whose daily wages depend on their steady presence on the Clifton Avenue street corners. An appointment with the New York consulate can take about six to eight months to make. And transportation to Philadelphia’s consulate can cost as much as $200 on top of the application fee.

Because of these obstacles, on Tuesday, the consulate came to people in Lakewood. Hearing of its arrival through Spanish-language newspapers and Hispanic advocacy groups, several Mexicans camped out the night before, awaking in the morning to be the first in what would be a line of several hundred at St. Anthony Claret church.”*

The University is currently reviewing a proposal to offer a Latino studies program, an issue that has been on the administration’s table for more than 10 years.

If approved, the Latino studies program may be available to students as soon as two years from now. The program, which will now focus on the experience of Latinos in the United States, would be different from the existing program in Latin American studies.”*

Mills College will present its 120th Commencement on Saturday, May 17, 2008 with an address given by award-winning actress Rita Moreno. During the ceremony, honorary doctorates will be conferred upon Moreno, Renel Brooks-Moon, a Mills alumna (Class of 1981) who is the public address announcer for the San Francisco Giants, and Glenn Voyles, a Mills Trustee and investment management expert.

Mills’ graduating class includes 245 undergraduate women and 220 graduate women and men, as well as students receiving certificates and credentials in a variety of fields. The College’s 120th graduation begins at 9:45 am on the campus’ Toyon Meadow.

Rita Moreno is an extraordinary actress with more than six decades of achievement including appearances in nearly 50 films. Born Rosita Dolores Alverío in Humacao, Puerto Rico, Moreno began her acting career with a Broadway debut in Skydrift at the age of 13. She has crossed racial barriers ever since as a singer, dancer, and actress.

She is renowned for her performance as Anita in the film version of West Side Story, for which she won the Academy Award for best supporting actress in 1961. Moreno was the first actress and the first Hispanic to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony, and a Grammy.

Renel Brooks-Moon is a pioneering sports announcer and media personality who has broken through formidable gender and racial barriers throughout her multifaceted career.

The only female public address announcer in major league baseball, the exuberant Brooks-Moon is known as “the voice of the San Francisco Giants” at AT&T Park. This year marks her ninth season with the Giants. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown recognized Brooks-Moon as the first female announcer of a championship game in professional sports for her role in the 2002 World Series.

Completing more than two decades as a Bay Area radio personality, she is the host of the “Renel in the Morning Show” on KISS FM 98.1. Brooks-Moon has also been an entertainment reporter for CBS TV 5 since 1998.

Glenn Voyles is an expert in investment markets with more than four decades of experience in his field. During his career, he provided three investment management firms with executive leadership: Loomis, Sayles & Company (vice president, 2003-07), Jurika & Voyles (chair, 1981-2003), and Scudder, Stevens & Clark (vice president, 1965-1981).

Voyles has been a vital member of the Mills College community since 1996, serving as a Trustee, mentor, advisor, fundraiser, and donor. A four-term member of the Mills College Board of Trustees, he is instrumental in stewarding Mills resources to ensure the College’s vibrant future.

Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering a dynamic progressive education that fosters leadership, social responsibility, and creativity to approximately 900 undergraduate women and 500 graduate women and men. Since 2000, applications to Mills College have more than doubled. The College ranks as one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report and one of the Best 366 Colleges by the Princeton Review. For more information, visit http://www.mills.edu/.”*

Integrating milk and dairy products into one’s daily diet is important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But for the roughly 75% of Latinos who experience stomach discomfort, diarrhea, and bloating from dairy products, incorporating milk into their diets couldn’t be further from their minds. In fact, a recent survey found that 63% of Hispanics who experience stomach discomfort or other symptoms of lactose intolerance as a result of consuming dairy products reduce or stop integrating dairy into their diets altogether. But that worries doctors and nutritionists because eliminating dairy could increase the risk for inadequate calcium and vitamin D intake. Additionally, consuming proper levels of calcium and vitamin D can help reduce the risk of osteoporosis later in life and calcium plays an important role in helping with blood clotting, nerve signaling, and muscle contraction and relaxation. Therefore, to help educate lactose intolerant Hispanics about easy solutions for their symptoms that won’t leave them at risk for inadequate calcium, actress Angelica Vale shares her story.

“My cafe con leche provided the first clue that I was lactose intolerant — I would feel bloated and uncomfortable after my first cup. A friend suggested I may be lactose intolerant and asked me to consider trying lactose-free milk,” said Vale. “The switch made a tremendous difference. Now I can enjoy my cafe con leche, my favorite cheeses and all of the foods I love without worrying about stomach discomfort. LACTAID(R) Milk and LACTAID(R) Fast Act Dietary Supplements brought the foods that were formerly ‘off limits’ back to my table.”

What is Lactose Intolerance? How Can I Get Relief?
Lactose intolerance is a condition where the body is deficient in the lactase enzyme, which breaks down lactose, the milk sugar in dairy foods and beverages. The inability to break down lactose contributes to the physical symptoms of stomach irritability. People who suffer from lactose intolerance may have trouble enjoying those favorite dishes and beverages, such as enchiladas suizas or even a simple cafe con leche, so much so that they may skip them entirely.

However, simply switching regular milk to lactose-free milk or taking supplements can help lactose intolerance sufferers bring their favorite foods back to their table without eliminating dairy from their diet. LACTAID(R) Milk is real milk that is 100% lactose-free and can be used in any recipe that calls for milk. LACTAID(R) Dietary Supplements contain a natural lactase enzyme to break lactose down and make it easier to digest, when taken with the first bite of dairy.

“There’s no longer any excuse for lactose-intolerant individuals to avoid dairy products,” explained Vale.

“And, because of the importance of adequate calcium intake, there’s never been a better time to increase milk and dairy consumption.”

For recipes and to take a free dairy digestion test, visit http://www.lactaidenespanol.com.

1) American Gastroenterological Association. Lactose Intolerance. February 27, 2008. http://www.gastro.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=854

2) The lactose intolerance survey was conducted by Yankelovich, Inc. on behalf of McNeil Nutritionals from February 28 - March 3, 2008 using online interviews among a sample of 200 African American adults 18 years of age or older.”*

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, author and former Commander of Coalition Ground Forces in Iraq, was online Tuesday, May 13 to discuss Wiser in Battle, his new memoir, which was reviewed in the Washington Post on May 13. The book covers his Army career, his experiences in Iraq and his views on the ongoing war.

Sanchez served as commander in Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004. At the time of his retirement in 2006, he was the highest-ranking Hispanic in the U.S. Army. In Wiser in Battle, he speaks candidly about Saddam Hussein’s capture, the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, and the tensions between the White House, the Pentagon, and commanders on the ground over war policy and strategy.”*

A two-year study released Tuesday shows older Arkansans, the young and Hispanics making up larger parts of the state population 12 years from now.

The Arkansas 2020 study, released by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, projects demographic changes over a 20-year period, including shifts in age, gender, race, ethnic, rural and urban populations.

Click here (Word doc) to see a summary of the study. Click here (PDF) to see the full study.”*

Thousands of Mexicans dressed in white marched silently Sunday through the streets of Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas to protest drug-related violence. that killed more than 100 people, including about 20 police officers, during the past week in Mexico. VOA’s Greg Flakus has been following the situation from our Houston bureau.

Ordinary citizens in Mexico are reacting with alarm as the war between rival drug smuggling groups erupts in city centers and residential neighborhoods. Law enforcement experts say drug gangs are reacting violently to efforts by police and the army to break up their operations.”*