From Staff Reports

Ashevilleís first Spanish-language newspaper, El Eco De Las MontaÒas, returned to area newsstands last Wednesday, four years after it ceased publication.

The new El Eco is under new ownership and management after its name was purchased by Star Fleet Communications Inc., the parent company of the Asheville Daily Planet newspaper.

El Ecoís editor and associate publisher is MÛnica V. Murillo, who is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has lived in the United States for 15 years, including the last five years in Asheville. Murillo, who works as a researcher at the Puckett Institute in Asheville, is chairwoman of International Link, a local organization that serves as a liaison for foreign nationals.

The mission of the revived El Eco is to meet the news and information needs of the Asheville areaís burgeoning Hispanic community and serve as an intercultural bridge. Its first two issues focused mostly on the Copa AmÈrica, a soccer tournament of special interest in Latin America.

El Eco will ultimately expand to a general-interest newspaper, featuring news from Latin America (especially Mexico), sports, entertainment and puzzles.

El Ecoís re-launch as a newspaper follows on the heels of the demise of the print editions of two area publications, including the Asheville Global Report and Spirit of the Smokies.

Indeed, El Eco was originated in the pages of the AGR, from which it later was spun off eventually as an independent twice-monthly. The paper operated by a nonprofit corporation.

Star Fleet Communications has purchased the newsracks of the AGR and converting them to use for distributing El Eco.

El Ecoís new publisher, John North, who also is the publisher and editor of the Daily Planet, expressed much enthuasiasm for the new venture.

ìSome members of the Hispanic community here have expressed the feeling that they are under-served by the local news media and I think we can meet that need,î North noted.

The Planet, which takes a particular interest in world news and issues with a local accent, will serve as a good parter with El Eco, with its focus on both Latin American and local issues of interest to area Hispanics, he added.

The papers will maintain separate editorial staffs, but some functions, such as advertising sales, will be combined, with special rates for those who advertise in both publications.

†Visit El Eco online at http://www.elecodelasmontanas.com