Editorial:

It was a wonderful Christmas! It was wonderful watching the children enjoy the season and of course the presents. It was wonderful being with family! We rejoiced in celebrating the birth of Jesus!

This Christmas was a little more wonderful in that for the first time in several years the economic stress had lessened and we were able to enjoy this year without the nagging strain of being overburdened, and for this, we are very thankful for!

Now we look forward to the New Year as we say adios to 2013!

As we look back at 2013, we have some wonderful memories of an exciting year for the Hispanic community. At the top of the list was immigration reform that consumed a lot of space and time, yet in the end we were disappointed by the lack of action, but motivated by the Hispanic coalition and involvement with the moving forward on this much needed reform.

Immigration stories were closely followed by the downfall of Mayor Bob Filner. For the Hispanic community this was a great disappointment in that for once Hispanic communities were receiving some needed attention. The “Don Quixote” like campaign of Mike Aguirre during this special election added a little extra spice to this shortened campaign season. Then there is the silver lining to the mayor’s tragedy in that City Councilman David Alvarez now has the opportunity to become the next mayor of San Diego. Lastly, this mayor’s race has put a spotlight on Barrio Logan and their community plan, which will be a major topic in 2014, beyond the race for mayor.

This past year we highlighted many special people within our local community and covered their issues and topics, none of which wouldn’t, couldn’t have been possible without a group of hard working freelance writers that contributed their talents to our publication for the benefit of the community. These writers include, Pablo Sainz, Augie Bareno, Paco Zavala, Michael and Jennifer Klam, Juliana Rico, Berenice Rocío Taboada, Citlalli Rodriguez, and our newest reporter, Yolanda Ramirez. Moreover, we wouldn’t be complete without all the contributors who send us their stories weekly for publication, stories that provide our readers with news from various parts of the world and their unique perspective on the issues of the day.

As we look back at 2013 we would not be here if it wasn’t for our friends who leant us moral support and encouragement to continue on, in particular during the difficult times. We can not name all the people who have supported La Prensa during the year, but we want to acknowledge a few individuals: Jill Galvez, Gracia Molina de Pick, Herman Baca, again Augie Bareno, Tony Millan, Josie Hamada, Ursula Martinez, Charlie and Angie Vasquez, Veronika Munoz, Pearl Martinez, and countless others who at one time or another offered their support.

Lastly, we would like to thank our long time employee of 27 years, Maria Delgado who has been the backbone of the newspaper, hard working, dependable, with us through thick and thin Maria was the type of person we are proud to call a friend. After 27 years at La Prensa she has retired. We wish her a blessed new life.

As we look forward to the New Year, 2014, we anticipate an even better year of economic healing, political growth that was demonstrated locally with David Alvarez moving forward in his quest to become mayor on the strength of the Hispanic vote. We look forward toward a resolution on immigration reform, it won’t be easy but it needs to be done. We look forward to our 38th year of publishing La Prensa San Diego and continuing to bring the news that makes a difference to our readers.

Peace be With You All and Happy New Year!

Daniel H. Muñoz
Editor