Honoring The Kansas City Hispanic News On Their Tenth Anniversary

HONORING THE KANSAS CITY HISPANIC NEWS ON THEIR TENTH ANNIVERSARY -- (Extensions of Remarks - September 21, 2006)

SPEECH OF HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER OF MISSOURI
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2006

* Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, during this Hispanic Heritage Month, I proudly rise today to pay tribute to Americans of Hispanic descent in my District. Joe and Ramona Arce, owners of Arce Communications, Inc., which publishes the Kansas City Hispanic News, are celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the start of their local Hispanic publication. On September 16, 1996, the Arce family: Joe, Ramona, their daughters, Lisa and Rachel, along with the assistance of family friends, Jesus Ortiz and Kathleen Cruden, set out on their journey of providing informative local news on topics of interest for the growing Latino community in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area with their first ten page bilingual newsprint.

* Mr. Joe Arce--a product of Kansas City, Missouri's Westside neighborhood, a proud long-standing Mexican-American neighborhood--has a long history of civic involvement and long been known as an advocate of the Latino community, having served on the Boards of many local non-profit organizations, such as the Guadalupe Centers, the Hispanic Media Association, and the Center for Management Assistance. He has also served on Advisory Boards, including with the Cabot Westside Clinic and Heart of America United Way. With over 25 years of news experience, both as a cameraman and reporter at WDAF-TV Channel 4, Joe and his family envisioned the formation of a new vehicle by which they could ``transmit'' the stories of local people as opposed to those carried in the mainstream metropolitan papers. I am proud of the Arce family's accomplishment, by reaching their goal of providing in-depth stories to the readership of the Greater Kansas City Area. The Kansas City Hispanic News has emerged as an important link between the local Latino community and the general public. Joe and Ramona Arce have demonstrated how a passion to obtain newsworthy information and a motivation to distribute valuable information can improve a community.

* Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and our colleagues in the 109th Congress please join me in saluting the Arce Family and the Kansas City Hispanic News for their years of dedicated service to the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area. Joe and Ramona, thank you for all your hard work in providing a quality newspaper for our community and congratulations on your 10th Anniversary.

http://thomas.loc.gov/