The most important 2006 event for Latino/Hispanic professionals in the Midwest will be the 17th Annual NSHMBA National Conference coming to the Cincinnati Convention Center on October 26-28, 2006.

The NSHMBA Cincinnati Chapter is working hard to ensure that this event is a full success. At this year conference in Anaheim there were over 6,500 participants, so it is definitely a big challenge, but also an incredible honor to host such a conference right here in Cincinnati.

This Saturday, the Executive Board and several member of the local chapter met to discuss preparation for the conference.

As with every such an event, there will be need for volunteers. If you would like to join NSHMBA and help, please contact the local chapter at: http://cincinnati.nshmba.org/home.asp

For the first time Plaza del Sol was hosting a R&B performance and it was a great success. Brotha Soul is a very impressive singer and has delivered a top notch performance! If you are curious about the concert, check out the videos!



For more pictures and videos please visit Plaza del Sol's Photo Gallery

Sgt. Sylvia Morales of the Cincinnati Police Department has received today, Dec. 6, 2005, the 2005 FBI Director's Community Leadership Award. She is a twenty-five year veteran of the Cincinnati Police Department, and the only female Hispanic police officer there.


Sylvia Morales with Tony Simms (Vice Chairman of Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs), Stanley Borgia (Special Agent in charge of Cincinnati Division), Capt. Andrew Raabe (Cincinnati Police)

Sgt. Morales got the award because of her work creating liaisons between law enforcement and the Hispanic community, the FBI said. She has helped the community and law enforcement by using her talents and language skills in assisting fellow officers in the field with the needs of the Hispanic/Latino community.

Sylvia regularly volunteers her time to explain the work of police officers and to tell Hispanics how to avoid being victims of crimes. She has also worked with the Regional Community Policing Institute at Great Oaks to create a basic Spanish language curriculum for police and fire personnel.

This is not the first recognition for Sgt. Morales. The Puerto Rican native received the 2002 Ethelrie Harper Humanitarian Award for her efforts to bridge the gap between Cincinnati's diverse constituencies.

MidwestLatino would like to congratulate Sylvia to this well deserved award!

As you might know from previous news, when "Latin Underground" and "Tienda Azteca" switched their Websites to MidwestLatino, Grupo Xela (EscapeLatino) started to claim copyright to the Web design elements, trying to prevent "Latin Underground" and "Tienda Azteca" from hosting their existing Websites on MidwestLatino.

In order to help its clients in this unfortunate situation, MidwestLatino created for them free of charge new Websites with new logos, new design, and more functionality.

"Latin Underground" and "Tienda Azteca" learned the hard way: when you pay money for something, make sure that you have a written contract because you might not be getting what you believe you're paying for.

Members and friends of LULAC Dayton gathered the past Friday in a local Mexican restaurant Las Piramides to get together and celebrate.

It has been a very successful year for LULAC in Dayton, with some of the most important accomplishements being establishing a computer learning center at the East End Community Center as part LULAC's Empower Hispanic America with Technology Initiative and providing scholarships for local Hispanic students.



In order to support LULAC Dayton scholarships for young Latinos/Hispanics, MidwestLatino was proud to donate $1,000 to their scholarship fund.



Since it was a social get together, there was also music and dancing, with DJ Pico Salsoul spinning the hottest Salsa and Merengue.

More pictures are at the Dayton section of our Photo Library

If you would like to join LULAC Dayton, please email Rosa Caskey at LULAC Dayton

MidwestLatino, The Spanish Journal, and Radio en Español, were invited by Mark Mallory to his Swearing-in ceremony as the new Mayor of Cincinnati.

It was a big honor for us to be part of this historic moment. This is the first time in 70 years that the new Mayor comes from outside of the City Council. With four members of the City Council also being elected for the first time, this definitely creates a lot of opportunities for Cincinnati to take a fresh start and a new direction. The new Vice Mayor is the very well known and respected Jim Tarbell.

We all wish Mayor Mark Mallory all the best in implementing his vision for a better and stronger Cincinnati!

For his short address to the Latino community in Cincinnati, please listen to Radio en Español on Sunday, from 6 -11 PM at 1230AM.



For more pictures and videos from the ceremony, please visit the Cincinnati section of our Photo Gallery (click here)

MidwestLatino is very proud to announce that Michael Beck, the founder of MidwestLatino, has received the prestigious

2005 "Nuestra Familia Award"

from the Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs (OCHLA).

The "Nuestra Familia Award" is Ohio's highest award for non-Hispanics in Ohio. It is given every year to "individuals and groups that have shown exemplary accomplishments and valued service to fellow Hispanics in Ohio".

Past recipients of this award include Ohio senator Ray Miller and US Senator Mike DeWine

We at MidwestLatino are very proud of this award, and our thanks go to all members of the Latino/Hispanic community who have supported us over the past few years. We couldn't be where we are today without your support and your trust. Our special thanks go also to our Board of Advisors, for their help and guidance.

It seems like Grupo Xela is not happy with the "escape" of "Latin Underground" and "Tienda Azteca" from their "EscapeLatino" Website.

After the owners of "Latin Underground" and "Tienda Azteca" have switched their Websites to MidwestLatino (read more about this here), Grupo Xela (EscapeLatino) is now threatening MidwestLatino with a $150,000 legal suit, trying to prevent "Latin Underground" and "Tienda Azteca" from using any of the original Web design elements, they believed they've paid for, on the new Web host.

MidwestLatino, the #1 Web portal for Latinos/Hispanics in the Midwest, has been committed from the very beginning to support the Latino community. And since many of the small Hispanic businesses don't have the computer know-how to build their Web presence, we are making it easy and cost effective for them.



Customers vote with their feet, and MidwestLatino is very proud of the fact that in addition to several new customers who have selected MidwestLatino for their Websites, there are already three small Hispanic businesses (incl. Plaza del Sol) who have switched from EscapeLatino to MidwestLatino. We very much appreciate it as it shows that MidwestLatino provides a good value to our customers.

MidwestLatino will do everything to help its customers, but we are not lawyers, so if anybody from you knows any attorney who would like to help these two small Hispanic businesses to continue using their original Web design they believe they've paid for, please contact us...

And if you think that you're also paying too much for your Website, we would like to extend our original Web hosting offer till December 31, 2005 (click here...)

ImpactoLatino, Columbus' leading Latino newspaper celebrated on Saturday its 1st Anniversary! With 3 live bands, excellent food, and tons of free gifts for invited guests, it was a great evening for the Columbus Latino commmunity.



More pictures in the Columbus section of our Photo Gallery

LULAC Members and their friends are Urged to Contact their Members of Congress and Ask for their Support



Washington, DC The League of United Latin American Citizens is launching a nationwide campaign to pass the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. All LULAC members are urged to contact their Senators and Representatives and request their support of this important legislation. It is critical that members of the US Congress hear that their constituents wholeheartedly support the DREAM Act and that they want it passed now. LULAC members and friends can go to the LULAC Legislation Action Center at www.lulac.org/action.html, enter their zip code, and send a pre-drafted message to their Senators and Representative urging their support of the DREAM Act.

On Friday, November 18th, a bipartisan coalition of senators re-introduced the DREAM Act as S. 2075. The bill is a continuation of the S. 1545, originally sponsored by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Richard Durbin (D-IL). The current sponsors of S. 2075 are Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Richard Luger (R-IN). The other cosponsors include Norm Coleman (R-MN), Larry Craig (R-ID), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), John McCain (R-AZ), and Barack Obama (D-IL).

If passed, this bill would allow U.S.-raised undocumented immigrant children the opportunity for in-state college tuition as well as provide them with an opportunity to regularize their immigration status. This bill would become a law if passed by both houses of Congress and the President before the end of 2006.

The DREAM Act will provide an opportunity for thousands of very bright children in this country who have the potential of being tomorrow professionals,・said LULAC National President Hector M. Flores. The Act would also permit long time resident immigrants, of good moral character who have stayed in school to receive conditional status, which will be lifted after completing college or two years of military service. It is only after completing one of these requirements that the conditional relief would become permanent.

The passage of the DREAM Act will increase the educational attainment among Latinos in the United States, and in turn, our nation economy will thrive. Brought here by their parents, having grown up in America, most of these students consider themselves American,・ added Flores. This legislation is an investment in our future and will actually help the economy through higher tax revenues in the long run. If more students go to college then that means a stronger workforce which can only help our nation,・concluded Flores.

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization in the United States. LULAC advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health, and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.

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Enjoy!!!!

Cincinnati's top rated Havana Martini Club had another hot Wednesday night with its weekly "Havana Night"!

With FREE admission, FREE dance lessons, hottest Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata music in town by DJ Rudy Alvarez, and exciting give-aways, this is the hottest place to be on Wednesday nights...



This Wednesday we enjoyed music played by DJ Jesús and Adrián from Latin Underground



More pictures are in the Cincinnati section of our Photo Gallery (click here)

Now the party starts at 5:00 PM with "Latino Happy Hour"!!! Stop in and try one of the new Summertini’s and Cocktails!

Plaza del Sol has organized another great concert for Tri-State aficionados of Latino music!



What a great concert!!!! Sonora Dinamita is an awesome group, and if you missed them last night, you've missed a lot!



More pictures and videos are in Plaza del Sol Photo Gallery (click here)

Pictures from the November 21 Salsa with Tropicoso @ Cincinnati's hottest Latino spot - "The Mad Frog", are on the Web (click here)



Don't forget the weekly Reggaeton Party @ Mad Frog every Tuesday and "Cumbia Nights" on Wednesdays! Next Cumbia Nights is November 30.

It was another week of hot Latin nights in Columbus, OH, full of Salsa dancing, thanks to Columbus' own Ritmo Productions.



Club Seven is the definite place to go dance Salsa on Thursdays. Then on Saturday there is La Clave.

This weekend there was also a special Salsa event at Liu Pon Xih organized by Shezronne Zaccardi from Salsa Chezotic.



More pictures from these events are in the Columbus section of our Photo Gallery