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SALT LAKE CITY -- Formally known as the El Observador de Utah, the publication's name has been changed to OKEspanol.
With continual growth in the Utah Latino community came the need for a change in the state's largest Spanish language newspaper, says Editor Patricia Quijano Dark.
OKEspanol is the state's most widely distributed Spanish language newspaper with a circulation of 100,000. Its new mission and expanded distribution prompted the change.
The paper, the focus of which is on helping Latino families, will be delivered twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturdays with more in-depth and longer stories. The publication will remain free across the Wasatch Front.
"We ensure that everybody knows how health insurance works, why you have different insurance for a car, the importance of supporting your kids in school," Dark said.
According to Dark, the Latino community in Utah is growing, and on average from Ogden to Provo, Hispanics make up 20 percent of the population.
Oscar Ramos, an owner of a restaurant in the Latino Mall, says he know where the people are coming from.
"I have been here since Latino Mall opened and there are people from California and Arizona is coming to Utah," Ramos said. "I have a lot of customers that come from that place."
Guadalupe Rodriguez owns a clothing shop there, and she sees a continuing need for this publication in the mother tongue of its readers.
"We all do need to know about what's going on in our community, our own community in our own language, which is Spanish. And many people, I'm pretty sure they'll be really, really happy to have one-of-a-kind newspaper like that."
With more than 50 million Latinos in the U.S., OKEspanol will now expand its print presence into other markets and nationally and internationally through its website.
