News (Noticias) Tagged ‘Durham’

Trustees at N.C. Central University established a new certificate program Wednesday to boost English proficiency.

The program is a response to a growing Hispanic population in Durham that has taxed a similar offering at Durham Technical Community College, officials said. The program will consist of five college-level, three-hour courses for students and members of the broader community.”*

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) announced today that Andrea Bazán, President of Triangle Community Foundation, has been elected as Chair of the NCLR Board of Directors. Ms. Bazán succeeds Monica Lozano, Publisher and CEO of La Opinión, the nation’s largest Spanish-language daily.

As president of the Triangle Community Foundation, a charitable foundation in Durham, North Carolina, Ms Bazán is responsible for leading the 25-year-old organization which has made grants of nearly $120 million to a wide rage of community nonprofits with a special emphasis on civic engagement and youth.

Ms. Bazán has served on the NCLR Board of Directors since 2002, most recently as Vice Chair. Before working with the foundation, Ms. Bazán co-founded and served as the first Executive Director of El Pueblo, a North Carolina statewide advocacy and public policy organization and an NCLR Affiliate, based in Raleigh. She holds a master’s degree in social work and a master’s in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. One of a hand full of Latina heads of philanthropic foundations in the county, she has had a career in academia and state government and serves on a variety of boards including BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina and several others.

“As a former Executive Director of an NCLR Affiliate, Andrea brings community-grown leadership and the valuable insight and perspective of our most important constituency to her work on the Board. I am especially excited that NCLR will benefit from Andrea’s guidance and direction in this important time in our organization’s development and our community’s history,” said Janet Murguía, NCLR President and CEO.

“Being elected to serve as NCLR’s Board Chair is truly a proud moment for me, both personally and professionally,” said Andrea Bazán, NCLR Board of Directors Chair. “NCLR is an historic and influential national organization. I am both humbled and honored to work with Janet and the Board as we move forward during the next three years.”

NCLR’s Board is a 26-member body made up of elected officials and representatives of community-based organizations, the corporate sector, and academia. Board members reflect the diversity of Hispanic nationality groups and geographic distribution of the Hispanic population and, by mandate, the Board must include equal representation of men and women.

NCLR also named four new members at the June 2008 Board of Directors meeting in San Diego: César Álvarez, Chief Executive Officer, Greenberg Traurig, Miami, FL; Linda Mazón-Gutiérrez, President, Hispanic Women’s Corporation, Phoenix, AZ; Dr. Clara Rodríguez, Professor at Fordham University, New York, NY; and Cid Wilson, Director of Equity Research, Kevin Dann & Partners, Leonia, NJ.”*

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), Raza Development Fund (RDF), Wachovia and The Wachovia Foundation today announced a five-year, $16.25 million partnership focused on economic development for the Latino community in the U.S.

The partnership will include:

• $5 million in grants over five years from The Wachovia Foundation for:
• Post-purchase homeownership counseling through NCLR’s Homeownership Network.
• Capacity building.
• Strengthening the NCLR Affiliate Network.
• Raza Development Fund’s community development efforts.

$1.25 million over five years from Wachovia to sponsor key NCLR events, including:

• National Annual Conference.
• Annual ALMA Awards®, which celebrate the outstanding artistic achievements of Latinos in motion pictures, television and music and are televised nationally.
• Annual Capital Awards, which recognize members of Congress for their outstanding support of public policies that are vital to Hispanic Americans.

· A $10 million loan to fund growth in Raza Development Fund’s lending activities, including property acquisition, community facility and charter school construction and affordable housing predevelopment and construction.

“Wachovia’s investment in NCLR will allow us to expand the successful programs we have developed with our nearly 300 community-based affiliates who every day strengthen America by promoting the advancement of Latino communities,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR. “Together with these organizations, NCLR has helped put hundreds of thousands of Latino children and families on the path to achieving the American dream, and we are honored that Wachovia shares our vision to build stronger communities.”

“We make loans to nonprofits to build community schools, health clinics and other community facilities — loans that commercial lenders often find too risky,” added Mark Van Brunt, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Raza Development Fund, NCLR’s lending arm. “With Wachovia’s support, we can expand our ability to make these critical investments in our community while at the same time ensuring that the deals are sound. We welcome the support and look forward to a long, mutually productive relationship.”

NCLR is the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S.

The Latino population is the fastest-growing minority population in the U.S. It is projected that Latinos will account for more than one in four U.S. residents by 2050.

“For 40 years, NCLR has been a vital support network for thousands of Latino families across the country,” said Mike Rizer, director of Community Relations for Wachovia and Executive Vice President of The Wachovia Foundation. “Through this partnership, Wachovia and The Wachovia Foundation will help NCLR become an even bigger force for positive change across the country —building more charter schools, preparing more families for success in homeownership, providing greater and more robust support services.”

In addition to its partnership with NCLR, The Wachovia Foundation has established national philanthropic partnerships with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund to provide college scholarships for young Latinos.

Last year, The Wachovia Foundation joined with the MacArthur Foundation to create a $47 million award program for community development. The first recipient of the $5.5 million “Wachovia NEXT Award for Opportunity Finance” was the Latino Community Credit Union based in Durham, N.C.

Wachovia partners with local Hispanic organizations to deliver financial literacy training in English and Spanish and offers seminars to Latino-owned small businesses.

In addition, Wachovia:

• Is the only major financial institution to offer statements in Spanish for all of its deposit accounts.
• Has nearly 800 designated Hispanic financial centers throughout the U.S. capable of delivering a full in-language customer experience, including bilingual Spanish-speaking employees, bilingual merchandising and financial product information in Spanish.
• Offers Spanish-language personal assistance seven days a week through a multilingual call centers and at hundreds of bilingual ATMs.
• Offers a Spanish-language Web site, www.wachovia.com/espanol, which allows customers to open new accounts, locate the nearest financial center or ATM and look up information in Spanish.

.”*

n her native Puerto Rico, Rosalie Bocelli-Hernández grew up calling kites “cometas.” When she started working for Durham City Parks and Recreation, she was surprised that other Latin Americans have at least 10 different words for kite: “Papalote, chiringa, cometa … I have a list. That was so funny,” says Bocelli-Hernández.

This experience of linguistic and cultural diversity within their own ranks is common for Latinos, she says. And as she spearheads Durham’s 4th annual Latino Festival, she invites Durham residents to learn a lesson in diversity from the city’s Latino residents.”*

Durham Judge David Q. LaBarre recently ordered a second trial over whether or not a twelve-year-old Hispanic boy should be forced to travel, against his will, to Colombia, South America. The judge will decide whether or not Alejandro Ramirez will be forced to visit relatives there. Alejandro is an unconditional Lawful Permanent Resident of the U.S. He has a “green card” issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He will become a full-fledged U.S. citizen a few months from now.

Alejandro’s relatives in Colombia have threatened to keep him there if he visits them. The boy has made it known in both newspaper interviews and on television that he doesn’t want to travel to Colombia because it is too dangerous for him. He has lived in the U.S. with his mother, stepfather, and grandmother for the last six years. He is a honors student at the James E. Shepard Magnet School in Durham.

There is an official U.S. State Department Travel Warning in effect for Colombia. Kidnapping, narco-terrorism and lawlessness are rampant there. Kidnappings for ransom are common in Colombia. Both guerilla armies and common criminals use kidnapping as a major source of income. The kidnappers often kill their victims and then ransom the dead bodies of their victims back to their families.

Two law enforcement experts, an FBI agent stationed in Colombia and a colonel from the Colombian army and DAS (Colombian FBI), have testified that travel to Colombia would be life-threatening for Alejandro. The case has received media attention in Colombia, making Alejandro known to the many kidnappers there. Despite this expert testimony and the official U.S. government Warning, LaBarre has ordered another trial over whether or not Alejandro should be recklessly endangered by being forced to travel to Colombia. LaBarre also ruled that the official U.S. government Warning and Alejandro’s green card are not “objective evidence.”

Last August, a very expensive and tumultuous big show trial was held in the Durham court over the issue of forced travel to Colombia. A previous judge on the case, Craig B. Brown, publicly announced his intention midway through the trial to force Alejandro out of the U.S.

Brown made his decision known before the trial was finished and without hearing all of the testimony. He made his decision public in the course of an interview published in the Durham Herald-Sun newspaper. This was the first publicity the case received. Subsequently, Brown retreated from his decision and resigned from the case. He felt the sting of mounting public criticism of his handling of the case and of his decision. He was also informed of an investigation by the NC State Bureau of Investigation that was ordered by the Judicial Standards Commission.

Alejandro’s mother, Claudia P. Krehbiel, filed suit in late April in federal court against LaBarre, Roy Cooper (NC Attorney General) and other state officials. The federal lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting LaBarre from forcing Alejandro out of the U.S. against his will. If the permanent injunction is granted by the federal district court, it will be a landmark decision of national importance to all immigrants, particularly to those who have green cards.

The federal government has granted Alejandro his status as a Lawful Permanent Resident. As a Lawful Permanent Resident, Alejandro is legally entitled to remain safely in the U.S. and under the continuous protection of U.S. law. The federal lawsuit alleges that North Carolina lacks the authority to revoke or infringe Alejandro’s Lawful Permanent Resident status because federal immigration law supersedes state law. Mrs. Krehbiel said: “What good is a U.S. government green card or U.S. citizenship if a state court judge can take them away from you on a whim, without even a trial by jury?”

The lawsuit also asks for a federal injunction against anymore expensive big show trials in the state court over this issue. Mrs. Krehbiel said: “My husband and I have already had to spend everything we had saved for Alejandro’s college education defending his life and trying to keep him safely in the U.S. North Carolina, of course, has unlimited financial resources to finance its effort to railroad him off to Colombia. We hope we can avoid yet another expensive kangaroo court trial in state court.”

Even in life-threatening cases, children in North Carolina are not allowed to have their cases heard by juries. Every accused murderer, rapist and thug is entitled to a jury trial, but not mothers and their innocent children.

Alejandro’s family recently made complaints against Judge Brown to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The complaints allege that Brown willfully violated Alejandro’s constitutional rights. The willful violation of a person’s civil rights under color of law (while acting as a government official) is a serious federal offense. Judge Brown recently resigned from office, stating his intention to retire because of stress and chronic ill health.

Mrs. Krehbiel said: “I really hope we can win the permanent injunction in federal court. It will set an important national precedent. If we do win the injunction, then it will help make it clear to everyone that us Hispanics aren’t cheap, expendable goods to be treated like dirt by North Carolina.”

The complete text of the federal lawsuit and other additional information is available at: www.savealejandro.com

Contact:
Claudia P. Krehbiel, Director
Concerned Mothers of Durham Inc.
P.O. Box 51183
Durham, NC 27717
919-302-3479
support@cmothers.com
support@cmothers.org

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), celebrates the richness of Spain’s magnificent artistry with El Greco to Velazquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III, highlighting works by the great Spanish masters; and Antonio Lopez Garcia, a retrospective of this contemporary realist. The exhibitions were opened on Saturday by Her Royal Highness Dona Cristina de Borbon, Infanta of Spain, and His Excellency Don Inaki Urdangarin, Duke of Palma. Also in attendance were United States Senator Edward Kennedy, His Excellency, D. Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza, Ambassador of Spain to the United States, and Antonio Lopez Garcia. El Greco to Velazquez is on view April 20 through July 27 and Antonio Lopez Garcia from April 13 through July 27.

El Greco to Velazquez features 60 paintings and sculptures, including 11 works by El Greco and seven by Velazquez. The late works of El Greco and the early works of Velazquez are considered within the context of the court of Philip III, a vibrant artistic period of 23 years (1598-1621). Key masterpieces from international museums, including the Prado, are included in the exhibition. An audio guide is available in both English and Spanish.

Organized by the MFA and the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in Durham, NC, the exhibition is sponsored by Bank of America. Additional support is provided by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Homeland Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and WCVB-TV 5. El Greco to Velazquez is presented with the collaboration of the State Corporation for

Spanish Cultural Action Abroad (SEACEX), supported by the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and the Ministry of Culture. Generous support for the catalogue was provided by Scott and Isabelle Black and SEACEX.

Antonio Lopez Garcia showcases 55 paintings, drawings, and sculpture highlighting the artist’s career from 1955 to the present. A special feature is the debut of Day and Night, monumental sculptures of baby heads flanking the Museum’s front entrance. The exhibition is sponsored by United Technologies Corporation.

For more information, or for the MFA Press Room, visit www.mfa.org. “*

*From: http://www.hispanicprwire.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) began offering Spanish classes in October 2007. A contractor was hired to teach 18 employees–six bus operators, six street supervisors and six station managers-who work in areas with large Hispanic populations. They attended 2.5 hour sessions with the contractor twice a week.

Police officials in various parts of the United States are also being encouraged to become bilingual.

In Tuscan, Texas, police officers are offered an extra pay incentive if they become bilingual. New police recruits in Des Moines, Iowa are required to earn 45 hours of Spanish before receiving their badges, and in Durham, N.C., five levels of Spanish are available for officers. “*

*From: http://media.www.thehilltoponline.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

A Durham County survey reported that Latino high school students are twice as likely to attempt suicide as their black and white peers, but no similar trends have been reported in the Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school systems.

The study, which anonymously polled 392 Durham County high school students, found that 32 percent of the Latino students who responded had attempted suicide in the last year, while 15 percent of black and white students attempted suicide in the same time period.”*

*From: http://media.www.dailytarheel.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Everyone has something to say (don’t you?): Read more quotes

Source of quote: http://www.newsobserver.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Will their immigration status influence the police service they receive? Must they speak English when dialing 911?

These were concerns voiced by the estimated 60 Latinos who gathered in the rain Tuesday night for a community meeting with Durham Police Chief Jose L. Lopez Sr.

The group, residents of Duke Villa Apartments, just west of downtown Durham, gathered under two tents near the complex’s pool.”*

*From: http://www.newsobserver.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

After a Durham County study found that Latino students are twice as likely to attempt suicide as black and white students, local school officials say they haven’t noticed such a trend in the Orange County area.

The study anonymously polled 392 high school students in Durham County and found that 32 percent of Latino students responding had attempted suicide in the past year.

Black and white students reported a 15 percent rate of suicide attempts, the survey found.”*

*From: http://media.www.dailytarheel.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Latinos tend to identify more with whites than with blacks, according to preliminary findings of a Duke University study. This dynamic may affect the upcoming Democratic primaries, said political scientist Paula McClain.

“What you may see is that Latino voters, despite conservatism on issues of gender, will feel more comfortable voting for Hillary Clinton than Barack Obama,” said McClain, a professor of political science, public policy and African and African American Studies at Duke. “They can quickly get over the gender issue with Clinton — because she is white.”

McClain said Obama is running “a very good campaign” on a platform of multiracial and multicultural coalition-building, but in the end “there is a question about how many Latinos will go into a voting booth and pull a lever for a black.”

McClain is the lead author of two previous studies exploring the relationship between blacks and Latinos in the South: “Racial Distancing in a Southern City: Latino Immigrants’ Views of Black Americans” and “Black Americans and Latino Immigrants in a Southern City.”

A third study, which is ongoing and surveyed Latinos in Durham, N.C., Little Rock, Ark., and Memphis, Tenn., found that Latinos tend to identify more with whites than with blacks. Despite skin color, for example, 72 percent of Latinos surveyed in Little Rock consider themselves to be white, according to preliminary findings. Because of racial hierarchies in Latino communities in the U.S. and their native countries, it is advantageous for Latinos, from their perspective, to identify with whites, McClain said.

“Clearly they are not situating themselves close to blacks. So why would we expect there to be a natural affinity between Latinos and blacks? There is this notion in the mainstream media that all minority groups have a lot in common. Actually, in some communities the groups are more likely to engage in competitive, as opposed to collaborative, behavior,” McClain said.

Although her research focuses on the South, McClain said states with large Latino populations like Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California will pose a challenge for Obama.

“I do not know if Obama recognizes that there are some real tensions between blacks and Latinos, especially recent immigrants,” McClain said. “If he is going to make inroads, he will have to take these tensions into account in his approach. In the end, he does not need the majority of the Latino vote in the Democratic primaries, just a healthy share. That healthy share may come from higher-income, highly educated Latinos — who are also more likely to be registered voters than recent immigrants.”

- - - -

CONTACTS: Paula McClain can be reached for additional comment at pmcclain@duke.edu or at 919-660-4303. For media assistance, contact Camille Jackson, Duke University Office of News & Communications, 919-681-8052,

*From: http://newswire.ascribe.org
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Latino Community Credit Union said yesterday that it has started an online service called Latino DirectNet at www.latinoccu.org. The service is available in English and Spanish.

The credit union, based in Durham, is one of the nation’s largest minority credit unions, with more than $55 million in total assets and 51,000 members at five branches.”*

*From: http://www.journalnow.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The Latino Community Credit Union has won a $5.5 million award to expand its business, it said Thursday.

The nonprofit credit union, based in Durham, said the money from the Wachovia Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will enable it to open three new branches. It already has locations in Durham, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro and Fayetteville.”*

Executive Summary

Over the past five years, ten states have implemented legislation extending in-state tuition rates to undocumented immigrants. While the policies have experienced low participation rates and been subject to legal challenge, they remain a valid alternative in the void created by lack of federal action regarding this growing segment of the United States population. Introduced in April 2005, North Carolina House Bill 1183 (HB1183) proposed offering in-state tuition rates within the UNC and North Carolina Community College systems to those undocumented immigrants meeting specified good-faith eligibility requirements. This analysis projects the initial program participation to be 432 students (0.4 percent of the total university and community college population) and recommends implementation based on projected net social benefits of $118,208 in the first program year. Projected net social benefits for a five-year analysis period (2007-2011) are $800,167. In addition, substantial secondary benefits of personal income ($2.8 billion) and state tax revenue ($197 million) would be realized should HB1183 or similar legislation be passed and signed into law.”*

The full document can be downloaded at the site as a PDF
From: brownmedia.org :: Politics & Culture | w/ Robert Stromberg of Durham, North Carolina

No matter how sensitive, the earth sensors placed in the desert to detect human footsteps cannot shake the imagination of Latin American immigrants.

“In the life of their families, America stands for reinvention and prosperity,” said Héctor Tobar, a second-generation Guatemalan immigrant and Mexico City bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times.

Tobar spoke as part of a Nov. 10 community dialogue in Chatham County on Latino issues. Presented by the Hispanic Liaison, a nonprofit group based in Siler City, the two-day event featured Tobar, documentary photographer José Galvez, a Tucson, Ariz. native now living in Durham and several other Latino leaders. They described the socio-economic and cultural factors that drive immigrants to risk their lives to come to America—and North Carolina.”*

“Instead of focusing on Hispanic immigrants’ fiscal cost to the state, look at their contributions to the economy, a local demographer says.

James Johnson, the William Kenan Jr. distinguished professor of entrepreneurship at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler business school, discussed his research regarding Hispanic demographic and economic impacts on the state during a forum Wednesday hosted by the League of Women Voters of Orange-Durham-Chatham. “*

“The Latino Community Credit Union, based in Durham, has been named a semifinalist for a national award that would enable it to open three new branch offices, including one that would most likely be in Wake County.

The nonprofit organization, which caters to Hispanics, is one of six semifinalists for an award that includes a $500,000 unrestricted grant and a $5 million loan at below-market rates.”

“Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the global leader in the breast cancer movement, has appointed Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, of San Antonio, to its Scientific Advisory Board.

Ramirez joins a group of five other leading breast cancer researchers and clinicians who comprise Komen’s Scientific Advisory Board. The group’s leader is Dr. Eric P. Winer, internationally known medical oncologist, researcher and educator from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical Center, who is Komen’s chief scientific advisor. Komen’s Scientific Advisory Board lends insight and guidance to Komen in its grantmaking and health education initiatives. Komen’s Scientific Advisory Board members also provide expert perspective and commentary on breaking news and emerging developments in breast cancer research and treatment.

Ramirez, who also serves as chairman of Komen’s National Hispanic/Latino Advisory Council, is a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA), where she also is founding director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research. In 2006, Dr. Ramirez received two endowments to support her research and that of the Institute. At UTHSCSA, she was named the Dielmann Chair in Health Disparities Research and Community Outreach. At the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) in San Antonio, Dr. Ramirez was given the Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Endowed Chair in Cancer Healthcare Disparities and Outreach. Dr. Ramirez is director of outreach and health disparities at the CTRC.

Over the past 25 years, she has directed numerous state-, federal- and privately funded research programs focusing on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease and cancer health disparities affecting Hispanics/Latinos and other populations. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and is frequently invited to speak at scientific meetings.

Ramirez is a former member of the National Cancer Advisory Board and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health.

“Dr. Ramirez’s unique expertise and keen insight has proven invaluable to Komen identifying and addressing breast health disparities among specific population groups, including Hispanic and Latino people. As a member of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), Dr. Ramirez will be instrumental in Komen’s ability to reach even more deeply into areas of our society that remain medically underserved,” said Dr. Winer.

In addition to Dr. Winer and Dr. Ramirez, the SAB includes the following physicians and researchers:

– Melissa L. Bondy, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and director of the Childhood Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Center, a collaborative program between M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital. — Powel Brown, professor of medicine, Baylor College of Medicine; associate director of cancer prevention and director of cancer prevention and populations studies program, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center; and associate director of research at the Breast Care Center Baylor-Methodist. — H. Kim Lyerly, M.D., George Barth Geller Professor of Research at Duke University, Durham, N.C.; director of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center and principal investigator of the Duke Specialized Program in Research Excellence (SPORE). — George W. Sledge, M.D., Ballve-Lantero Professor of Oncology and co-director of the breast cancer program at the Indiana University Cancer Center. He is also professor of medicine and pathology at Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Sledge was awarded the Komen Brinker Award of Scientific Distinction in 2006. — Sara Sukumar, Ph.D., professor of oncology and pathology and co- director of the breast cancer research program at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. About Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, we have invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org/ or call 1-800 I’M AWARE. “

“Azteca America, the fastest-growing Hispanic television network in the United States, is proud to announce the launch of “Issues: Caras y Voces,” a political forum hosted by veteran Latino journalist Armando Guzman. The weekly forum will begin airing October 1 and continue every Monday during the national newscast of Noticiero Azteca America at 6:30 pm EST and PST/ 5:30 pm CST and 11:00 pm EST and PST / 10:00 pm CST. The forum will also be transmitted on broadcast television in Mexico through Proyecto 40.

The broadcast premiere will feature Governor Bill Richardson, the first Latino Democratic presidential candidate with real possibilities of being part of the Democratic ticket in 2008. His public service history includes US Congressman, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Secretary of Energy and currently Governor of New Mexico.

“The birth of this forum is the result of a dialog with bipartisan members of Congress, who expressed the need for our Latino communities to have issues in Washington communicated in simple, straightforward language through a broadcast television network in both the United States and Mexico,” said Luis J. Echarte, Chairman of Azteca America.

The focus of the segment is the projection and analysis of top leaders that impact the Hispanic community through one-on-one interviews, which will be conducted by Armando Guzman. Covering the White House and the Capitol for almost two decades, Mr. Guzman is one of the most veteran and respected correspondents in Washington.

During ten years as senior anchor and producer of the weekly political news program “Temas y Debates,” Mr. Guzman interviewed numerous heads of state and U.S. political figures. He has interviewed the last four U.S. presidents and vice presidents, as well as world figures such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, Lech Walesa, Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and countless Latin American presidents.

As a war correspondent, he was the first Latino journalist to ever broadcast from the USS Air Carrier Theodore Roosevelt during the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

He has been recognized by numerous organizations for his journalistic contributions, including the Edward R. Murrow award in 1996 and the “Premio Nacional de Periodismo,” Mexico’s National Journalism Award, for his coverage of the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Mr. Guzman will also be moderating an immigration forum as part of the activities of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute on October 2. The Plenary Session is titled “Achieving Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Where Do We Go From Here?” and will include participation by Congressman Luis Gutierrez.

About Azteca America

Azteca America is the fastest-growing Hispanic network in the United States. The network is a wholly owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V., one of the two largest producers of Spanish-language television content in the world. Azteca America currently has presence in 60 Hispanic markets, including: Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Chicago, Dallas, San Antonio, San Francisco, Phoenix, Brownsville-McAllen, Sacramento, Albuquerque, Fresno, San Diego, Denver, El Paso, Orlando, Philadelphia, Tampa, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Austin, Las Vegas, Boston, Tucson, Corpus Christi, West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Seattle, Bakersfield, Hartford-New Haven, Portland, Salt Lake City, Monterey-Salinas, Laredo, Yuma, Ft. Myers-Naples, Palm Springs, Raleigh-Durham, Odessa, Colorado Springs, Milwaukee, Santa Barbara, Lubbock, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Wichita, Reno, Greenville-Spartanburg, New Orleans, Omaha, Tulsa, Boise, Abilene, Chico, Toledo, Chattanooga, Victoria, Twin Falls, Charleston and Sherman.

www.aztecaamerica.com/corporate Azteca America is a Grupo Salinas Company. Visit: www.gruposalinas.com Grupo Salinas Media Contact: Daniel McCosh 011 (5255) 1720-0059 dmccosh@gruposalinas.com
Website: www.aztecaamerica.com/
“

Alejandro Manrique, managing editor for Rumbo Spanish language newspaper in San Antonio, Texas, has been selected as the new executive editor of Que Pasa Newspapers across North Carolina. Manrique was part of the team of journalists and business executives that developed and launched Rumbo in 2004. Rumbo has been widely acclaimed for its journalistic excellence and is recognized as one of the top three Spanish language newspapers in the United States.

“Alejandro will be a key member of the Que Pasa management team as we continue to enhance the overall quality of our newspapers and radio news reporting to Hispanics across North Carolina. His leadership, experience and journalistic excellence will be a cornerstone in our future growth.” said Jose Isasi, Que Pasa Media Network CEO.

Manrique comes to North Carolina and Que Pasa with impressive credentials and significant journalistic experience. Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, he established and ran the investigative reporting unit for that country’s leading national newspaper, El Tiempo, where he and his team focused their investigative reporting on Colombian drug cartels and their influence on national and local politics as well as corruption and the Colombian war.

He is a graduate of the prestigious Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City where he was both a Cabot and a Colfuturo fellow. In addition, he has won numerous awards for his investigative news reporting over the years. Manrique also has undergraduate and graduate law degrees from the prominent Andes University in Bogotá with a focus in constitutional law.

“Journalism is my passion. I have been involved in journalistic endeavors that serve the Spanish speaking consumer continuously since my high school days. And, I have been fortunate to have Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the great journalist , as a teacher at workshops organized by the Fundación Para un Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano in Cartagena.” said Manrique.

“I am excited to join the Que Pasa team and to assist in elevating the quality and tenor of news reporting in the Spanish language media in North Carolina. I want Que Pasa products to be the best, most credible, and most interesting source for news, information, entertainment, and sports for Hispanics in our state.” said Manrique, “And, I want to establish strong working relationships with the English language media across the state to help strengthen the fabric of our shared communities with a full understanding of the issues and opportunities as we explore win-win solutions for our state and all of our people.”

“Francisco Camara, the previous Executive Editor, has left Que Pasa to pursue other career opportunities. We wish him well in his future endeavors. Francisco has made many contributions to Que Pasa and we are deeply appreciative of his time and efforts on our behalf” Isasi said.

About Que Pasa Media Network
Que Pasa has corporate offices in Winston-Salem, NC with regional offices in Charlotte, NC serving the Charlotte Metro; Raleigh, NC serving the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill Metro; and Winston-Salem serving the Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point Metro. Que Pasa has a staff of over 80 Hispanic communications professionals from more than 10 different Spanish speaking countries. Que Pasa estimates that they serve over 80% of the state’s 800K Hispanic consumers daily through their newspapers and 6 Spanish language radio stations.

The Que Pasa Media Network is comprised of Que Pasa Newspapers and Radio Stations, Makin’ It Work - Pronto!, a Hispanic marketing and communications company that assists international, national, and regional organizations in their marketing communications with Hispanic consumers, and LatinoKing Productions, a Hispanic entertainment and events production company.

Additional information is available at www.QuePasaMedia.com.

Mssrs. Isasi and Manrique are available for interviews, upon request. Please call Jane Martin, Makin’ It Work Pronto!, at (cell) 336.462.1126 or (office) 336.714.2837 for assistance.

“-In “He’ll Take El Alto” (page 150), Dominican-American writer Junot Díz undertakes a tour of his neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, profiling restaurants and street food that are well worth a trip uptown. Diaz, a professor of creative writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of the soon-to-be-released The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, writes: “We Domos have Upper Manhattan on lock. Hard to walk anywhere without being tempted by something delicious.” A recipe for Dominican Sancocho is on page 159. A glossary of Dominican food terms is on page 158. “Address Book” (page 198) lists Díz’s favorite Dominican restaurants.

Salvadoran Los Angeles: In “His City of Angels” (page 160), professor, political commentator, and musician Rubén Martí­nez offers an intimate look at his native Los Angeles. A recent census estimate shows that there are “more than 600,000 Central Americans in Los Angeles, the majority from El Salvador.” “Salvadorans (along with their Guatemalan, Honduran, and Nicaraguan counterparts) are an integral part of a demographic revolution that has remade Los Angeles in the last generation.” Recipes for Pupusas (Salvadoran Stuffed Masa Cakes) and Encurtido de Repollo (Salvadoran Coleslaw) are on page 163. “Address Book” (page 162) recommends Salvadoran restaurants in L.A.

“Exiles on Main Street” (page 180): Ana Menéndez, a columnist for The Miami Herald and the author of In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd, introduces us to Miami’s Cuban food scene. Recipe for Tamal “en Cazuela” (Tamale Pie) is on page 185. “Address Book” (page 184) lists Menéndez’s favorite Cuban restaurants in Miami.

Food Lover’s Guide to Mexican Chicago: In “Chicago Mexicano“ (page 108), David Tamarkin, food and wine writer for Time Out Chicago, notes that half a million Mexicans call Chicago home and takes us on a tour of Chicago’s vibrant Mexican culture and delicious regional specialties. “Address Book” (page 112) recommends more than 20 Mexican restaurants.

In “As the Taco Turns” (page 54), Robb Walsh, author of The Texas Cowboy Cookbook and writer of The Taco Truck Gourmet blog for Houston Press, finds that taco trucks, already a fixture in Houston and Los Angeles, are bringing great Mexican food to other parts of the country. Walsh’s “Address Book” for the mobile kitchens on a roll in New Orleans, New York City, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon, is on page 66. For information about well-known chefs’ favorite taco trucks, visit www.gourmet.com.

“Advanced Latin Studies” (page 60): Gourmet editor Jane Daniels Lear sits down for a Q&A with Maricel Presilla, chef, author, historian, restaurateur, and a leading authority on the cultures and cuisines of Latin America.

In “The School that Salsa Built” (page 114), Patricia Sharpe, a regular contributor to Texas Monthly, looks at San Antonio’s Center for Foods of the Americas (CFA), the branch of the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) dedicated to Latino food. Texas entrepreneur Kit Goldsbury has given the school a large grant to expand the Center with a view to changing the face of the nation’s restaurant kitchens.

In Menu: “Carolina Cocina” (page 31), Colman Andrews finds that a wave of Mexican immigration is changing the definition of southern cooking in Durham, North Carolina, where you’ll find the fastest-growing Hispanic community in the country. More than 570,000 Hispanic people are living in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Andrews recommends six great Mexican restaurants in North Carolina on page 36.

In “Kitchen Notebook” (page 189), Latino-food expert Seth Kugel, author of Nueva York, a travel guide to Latino New York City, offers a glossary of the Latin American specialty ingredients in this issue.

Roadfood: In “Plains Dandy” (page 40), Jane and Michael Stern eat at Rosita’s and Taco Town, authentic Mexican restaurants in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, which has been a Mexican-food destination for nearly a century.

Gourmet Entertains features a Mexican menu and a Puerto Rican menu: “From the Heart (page 142) offers a Pueblan meal: Sangrita; Mini Tortilllas with Corn Mushrooms and Fresh Tomatillo Salsa; Zucchini Soup; Beef with Guajillo Sauce Baked in Banana Leaves; Mexican White Rice; Tomatillo Guacamole; “Sighs of the Bride” Fritters; and Mixed Fruit in Cinnamon Lime Syrup. “Caribbean Dreams” (page 168), our Puerto Rican–inspired menu, includes: Pineapple Rum Cocktails; Shrimp in Escabeche; Garlic-Roasted Pork Shoulder; Yellow Rice with Pigeon Peas; Roasted Calabaza; Avocado Salad; Guanabana Sherbet with Tropical Fruit; and Coconut Rum Cake.

Seasonal Kitchen: Chicken and Corn. “In Every Pot” (page 73) offers chicken recipes with the regional flavors and cooking techniques of Latin America: Pollo a la Brasa (Peruvian Grilled Chicken); Tlatonile de Pollo (Veracruz Chicken with Sesame-Seed and Red-Chile Sauce); Ajiaco (Colombian Chicken, Corn, and Potato Stew); Arroz con Pollo (Cuban Chicken with Rice). And “Maize of Glory” (page 95) showcases corn’s remarkable versatility in recipes for Grilled Tamales with Poblanos and Fresh Corn; Pozole Rojo (Pork and Hominy Stew); Colombian Arepas; and Zucchini-Blossom Quesadillas.

The Last Touch: “Don’t Call It a Condiment” (page 204) offers five salsas that can each be prepared in 20 minutes or less: Chipotle Tomato Salsa; Guajillo and Tomatillo Salsa; Colombian Avocado Salsa; Ecuadoran Tamarillo Salsa; and Tomatillo Salsa. “