Univision holds first debate in Spanish

MIAMI - For the first time in a U.S. presidential campaign, the eight candidates vying for the Democratic nomination will take part in a debate today that will be broadcast across the nation in Spanish.

The event, held at the University of Miami and broadcast by the Univision Network, marks the candidates' recognition of the growing political muscle that the country's more than 44 million Hispanics could wield in the 2008 election.

"You used to talk about California, New York, Florida and Texas," said Harry Pachon, the head of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, a Latino issues think tank. "This marks that there is now a national Latino presence, rather than a regional presence."

Today also marks a coming out for Univision, the nation's fifth-most watched network, and its top anchors, Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas, co-hosts for the forum.

Both are award-winning journalists who have interviewed several U.S. presidents. They write syndicated newspaper columns, published around the country in Spanish and English. Both have also been outspoken in their support for immigration reform that includes a path to legalization for the country's 12 million illegal immigrants.

Couple, daughter are killed in plane crash

SYRIA, VA. - A couple from Georgia and their teenage daughter have been identified as the victims of a single-engine plane crash just outside the Shenandoah National Park.

Authorities identified the dead in Thursday's crash as pilot Lawrence Frederick Chapman III, 46, of Brunswick, Ga.; his wife, Robin Dee Chapman, 45; and 16-year-old daughter Katie M. Chapman.

The 1964 Piper fixed-wing plane departed from Georgia bound for Winchester and went down in a wooded area near Syria, which is about 15 miles west of Culpeper. The plane was registered out of Florida.

Authorities on Saturday were still removing the wreckage from the remote area, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.

Federal Aviation Administration authorities called state police after they lost contact with the aircraft at 9 p.m. Thursday, police said.

The Civil Air Patrol joined state police searching for the plane. Officials detected the aircraft's emergency location transmitter at 10 a.m. Friday and discovered the wreckage about two hours later.

The National Transportation Safety Board and state police are investigating the cause of the crash.