Teresa Brice-Heames, a Hispanic woman known for her activism and strong community ties in Mesa, filed paperwork Monday challenging incumbent Keno Hawker for mayor.

Mesa Riverview will celebrate the traditions and contributions of the city's growing Hispanic community with its first annual Hispanic Heritage Festival.

The face of the Mesa Unified School District has changed — and Superintendent Debra Duvall knows it. Many of her schools that were predominantly white just 10 to 15 years ago are now more than 50 percent Hispanic, and some are more than 90 percent Hispanic.

July 2, 2004

Phil Austin hopes that in 20 years there won’t be an organization like the Mesa Association of Hispanic Citizens.

An Hispanic citizen group announced Tuesday the formation of a committee that wants to establish a public review board to investigate police shootings in Mesa.

Two conservative, white City Council candidates received an overwhelming majority of votes in a Mesa council district election that was targeted by Hispanic activists as a golden opportunity to finally elect one of their own.

“How can you relate to the Hispanic community?” “What can you do to solve the illegal immigration problem?” “Why isn’t there a larger exhibit at Mesa museums reflecting Hispanic heritage?”

It was the same room, same tables, same stage, some of the same speakers. But the audience was younger. This wasn’t the Mesa Latino Town Hall, but rather a springtime spinoff of the annual October gathering for the city’s Hispanics, devoted to helping the youngest among them develop ideas on creating a better future for themselves and those around them.

It was the same room, same tables, same stage, some of the same speakers. But the audience was younger. This wasn’t the Mesa Latino Town Hall, but rather a springtime spinoff of the annual October gathering for the city’s Hispanics, devoted to helping the youngest among them develop ideas on creating a better future for themselves and those around them.

Carmen Guerrero knows the traditions of Dia de Los Muertos are not always easy for an outsider to understand.

Arms folded tight across his chest, Juan Lopez hesitates to share his family’s story. It’s difficult, he tells a translator, because he is proud of his origins in Mexico.

Day Eight of Series

Arms folded tight across his chest, Juan Lopez hesitates to share his family’s story. It’s difficult, he tells a translator, because he is proud of his origins in Mexico.

Day One of Series

Mesa schools will reach a milestone this decade that Hispanic activists have long predicted.

October 2, 2004

Mesa college student Dana Reeve embodies the kind of breakthrough that Hispanic civic groups have been seeking for decades.

October 24, 2004

More than 30,000 Mesa residents have already cast their vote in the city's mayoral and District 5 runoff elections. The city clerk's office reports that as of May 1, 30,078 had returned their ballots. East Mesa's District 6 residents account for 30 percent of those who have voted ahead of the May 20 election, followed by District 5, at 26 percent.

Arms folded tight across his chest, Juan Lopez hesitates to share his family’s story. It’s difficult, he tells a translator, because he is proud of his origins in Mexico.

Organizers of the historic march that drew 100,000 Hispanic protesters into the streets of Phoenix are staging a massive rally on Labor Day to pressure Congress to reform the country’s immigration laws.

Two conservative, white City Council candidates received an overwhelming majority of votes in a Mesa council district election that was targeted by Hispanic activists as a golden opportunity to finally elect one of their own.