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On Friday, most in the Spanish speaking world marks Three Kings Day, an ancient celebration that commemorates the visit of Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.

Each country in Latin America has its particular customs, many of which have been transported — and somewhat adapted — to Latino homes across New York. Dominican and Puerto Rican children leave dry grass for the camels under their beds; in Argentina and Mexico, they leave their shoes — with grass or a letter — ou

The number of Latinos who own and operate small businesses in Minnesota is booming. This state-wide trend is spreading to Moorhead.

Express Janitorial Services owner Jesus Gutierrez is making sure Fargo's Family Healthcare is squeaky clean.

Jesus Gutierrez – Express Janitorial Services: "I want to provide to my family whatever they need."

Gutierrez is pretty busy. He's got accounts all over the F-M area, including Moorhead's Menards.

Jesus Gutierrez: "I was an employee a couple years ago, and I

A new survey says that Hispanic spending on mobile devices over the holidays may have reached up to $5 billion.

Zpryme Research and Consulting surveyed over 500 Latinos on their mood as consumers and intentions to spend money during the holidays and overwhelmingly found a desire to spend.

One out of four Hispanics intended to spend $251 to $1,000 on mobile devices and Latinos surveyed as the most likely to buy tablet devices (19 percent) and smartphones (19 percent).

Ariel Coro, founder of TuTec

We have good news for tens of millions of Spanish-speaking Americans. For years, Social Security has been at the forefront of providing online services for Americans, and we’ve provided a wealth of information in Spanish. Now, you can do even more with the expanded suite of services offered in Spanish at www.segurosocial.gov.

The most exciting enhancement: you can now apply online for both Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare in Spanish!

If you are ready to apply for Social Security

While there can be debate about what it means, the unassailable fact is that Latino -owned businesses in the United States are growing at a blistering pace — in fact more than twice the national average. This trend has been sustained for at least the last decade and manifests itself both in the growing number and size of Latino- owned businesses. During the latest 5-year period for which information is available from the census bureau, Latino owned business’ revenue jumped by an astonishing 55%

2011 is almost gone. For Latinos in the United States, it was primarily a year to forget.

Life hasn't been good, and Hispanics have suffered the same fate as the much of the general population: persistent unemployment, political uncertainty and a deep sense of dejection. But as a group, their fate was worse: according to the Department of Labor, last month, when the national unemployment rate was 8.3 percent, for Latinos it reached 11.4 percent.

Among veterans returning from Iraq unemployment re

Obviously Janice Min, editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter (THR), never got the memo. My memo, that is. The one I wrote to Xana Antunes, editor of Crain’s New York Business, after the magazine published its list of “50 Most Powerful Women in New York” and only featured a total of three non-white women and not one single Latina.

The current THR “Women in Entertainment: The Power 100” lists a wonderful group of accomplished women of which a total of nine are non-white, including two Latin

As Yolanda Martinez-Schneider made her way through the Spanish-labeled aisles of El Ahorro grocery store on Monday afternoon, she filled her basket with ingredients for some of her favorite meals.

With celery and oregano for her chicken and dumplings, a can of fruit cocktail for a healthy yet tasty snack, crushed red pepper and a pig's head for her tamales, Martinez's shopping cart looked like that of a growing number of U.S. consumers - a mixture of both traditional American and ethnic foods.

W

Just in time for the holidays, the flower experts at FTD(R) have launched a Spanish language version of the FTD.COM website making it easy for Spanish speakers to find the perfect gift for everyone on their gift lists. The website is now live at http://es.ftd.com .

"We have long recognized the importance of the Hispanic market to the flower and gift business. FTD wants to ensure that Spanish-speaking customers have the opportunity to send beautiful flowers and gifts to friends and family around

The government's decision to reinforce its rules for one birth control pill is causing controversy among the Latino community.

The Plan-B pill, otherwise known as the "morning after pill,” can lower the chance of a pregnancy by nearly 90-percent if taken 24-hours after unprotected sex. But some say keeping this pill prescription-based will only add to a growing problem.

“Fifty-two percent of Latinas in this country are going to experience a pregnancy before the age of 20,” said Vince Hall with

The Hispanic market in the U.S. is growing at an impressive rate. The U.S. Census reports that Hispanics are the fastest-growing demographic segment in the U.S . By 2050 Hispanics will account for 30% of the nation’s population. It’s no wonder that companies are putting a significant amount of their budgets towards engaging them in a meaningful way. Companies like Old Navy with their interactive Telenovas, T-Mobile and Lowe’s are all examples of big brands looking to reach the Hispanic populatio

Enrique Aguilar recently opened a new accounting business, hoping the coming tax season will be the key to his startup's success.

After a career working as an accountant for other firms, Aguilar, 61, has another reason to be optimistic. In the 14 years that he's lived in southwest Minnesota, he's watched Worthington's Latino population grow to some 4,500 residents now, more than a third of the town's population.

"Many people know me in the town," said Aguilar, who was born in Mexico City. "So, I

Just two months after striking a major content partnership with Univision, Hulu is now doubling down on its Spanish-speaking audience within the U.S.: The site announced this morning that it has brokered deals with 11 Spanish-language content partners. Content from these new partners, as well as existing partners, will be presented in a dedicated Spanish-language section on Hulu’s home page. Targeting the Latino audience make a lot of sense for Hulu, as it is much more engaged with online video

With the Census Bureau counting nearly 25 million Latin women in the United States, marketers and media companies have started getting excited about the potential to reach them.

Among the most recent initiatives is a new publication, Cosmopolitan Latina, that will start publishing in May and will be aimed at American-born Latin women who are bicultural and bilingual.

“A lot of marketers understand that they need to invest with the Latino market,” said Donna Kalajian Lagani, the senior vice presi

Social Security Administration is announcing new services that will benefit our Spanish-speaking community in applying for their Social Security benefits.

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, announced that the agency’s most popular online services, the applications for retirement and Medicare and for Extra Help with Medicare prescription drug costs, are now available in Spanish. The new online services are available at www.segurosocial.gov, the robust Spanish version of Social Se

As the principal of Nobel Elementary School in Chicago, Manuel Adrianzen had no trouble recruiting 16 girls in sixth to eighth grades to attend a recent Saturday workshop aimed at inspiring math- and science-loving Latinas.

But, to Adrianzen, getting their male classmates fired up about math and science remains a far more formidable challenge.

"The young ladies are more easily engaged in their math and science classes," said Adrianzen, a former math teacher who visited Elmhurst College last mon

In a room full of highly engaged and motivated entrepreneurs, Nely Galan, former Telemundo President and media powerhouse, proclaimed, "Latinas are starting more businesses at a faster rate than they are getting married!" This was one of the most resonating phrases of the Coca-Cola Adelante Tour which took place this past Saturday in Santa Monica, California.

The first stop in a national tour, Coca-Cola in conjunction with Galan and Count Me in for Women's Economic Independence, Saturday served

The number of babies born to Hispanics dropped below 1 million in 2010, a nearly 11 percent drop since 2007 that reflects the tough times.

Fewer people of all backgrounds are having babies because of economic concerns, but the sharpest drop is among Hispanics, a booming population that contributes almost a quarter of all U.S. births and half of its population growth.

"Hispanic fertility is dropping like a stone," says Kenneth Johnson, demographer for the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Ins

Latino immigration is reshaping entire neighborhoods throughout the country, and sparking new community trends. The vibrant culture of many of these neighborhoods-- their rich music, art and traditional food from all over Latin America-- has become a lure for thousands of tourists.

Take Visit el Barrio , a campaign promoting Spanish Harlem, also known as El Barrio, as a tourism destination. In promotional video, host Victor Cruz visits restaurants that offer traditional Latino food, art venues

Unemployment among Latinos remained the same between October and November, while for the general U.S. population it fell to a two-year low, according to the Labor Department.

The Latino jobless rate held at 11.4 percent in November, the same it was in October. The national unemployment rate, however, dropped 0.4 percentage points to 8.6 -- from 9 percent the previous month -- the lowest it's been since March, 2009, during the depths of the recession.

The decline occurred as employers stepped up