It's rare when a news conference includes the whirling moves of a Flamenco dancer and the taste of savory Cuban sandwiches.

That was the scene Tuesday near the steps of the LeRoy Collins Public Library, as Leon County officials kicked of the 2009 Hispanic Heritage Fest: A Celebration of Culture. Later, the celebration continued with an art exhibit, a poetry reading and more dancing at the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science. Events are planned through Saturday.

All 7 categories: All races, White, Black, Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and Non-White

An expanded, 5-year age increment detailed version of Florida Population Studies Bulletin 154 broken down by sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Includes county-level population estimates as of April 1, 2008, and projections from 2010 to 2030.

Choose individual category(ies): All races(combined total), White, Black, Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and Non-White (price is per category).

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Part of the Florida Population Studies series, this 74-page annual publication features 2000 census counts, 2008 population estimates, and population projections in 5-year intervals from 2010 to 2030 for Florida, and county-level data for all 67 counties. Includes a methodology discussion.

Brevard County keeps growing, graying and diversifying.

More than one in every five Brevardian is 65 or older, and about one in every 14 is Hispanic, according to figures released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Civic leaders worry that the county's aging diverse population could stress social safety nets.

Brevard is "a little bit older than the state as a whole," said Stanley Smith, program director for the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "But its growth rate is very similar to the state average."

MANATEE — Manatee County has become slightly younger, a little more masculine, more racially diverse and a lot more Hispanic so far this decade, according to Census estimates to be released today.

The county’s Hispanic and Asian populations have nearly doubled, its median age has fallen by a few months and males narrowed their numerical gap with females between 2000 and mid-2008, the figures show.

The Census’ July 1, 2008, statistical snapshot of Manatee largely mirrored Florida, which has steadily become more ethnically and racially diverse, demographers said.

Choose individual category(ies): All races(combined total), White, Black, Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and Non-White

This product is desgined for the user who only needs one or two race or Hispanic Origin categories and is an expanded, 5-year age increment detailed version of Florida Population Studies Bulletin 151 broken down by sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Includes county-level population estimates as of April 1, 2007, and projections from 2010 to 2030. Choose the individual report(s) you would like to receive.

Counts of the U.S. Hispanic population are available every ten years from the decennial census, but for the years following or between censuses, estimates have to be created using data and techniques that are expected to track changes in that population over time. Such estimates are a recent development and there is currently no standard methodology that has been widely used, carefully documented, and rigorously tested. In this article, we describe an experimental methodology for estimating the Hispanic population of states and counties.

Estimates of the Hispanic population have traditionally been based on historical trends, ratios, or some variant of the cohort-component method. In this article, we describe and test a methodology in which estimates of the Hispanic population are based on symptomatic indicators of population change such as births, deaths, and school enrollments. Methods. Using a variety of techniques, we develop Hispanic population estimates for counties in Florida. We evaluate the accuracy of those estimates by comparing them with 2000 census counts.

Non-Hispanic whites are leaving Broward and Palm Beach counties in droves. Meanwhile, the dramatic growth of Hispanics and other minority groups has slowed to a trickle.

The latest U.S. census estimates, released today, show that the number of non-Hispanic whites in Broward County went down by more than 24,000 between 2006 and 2007, single-handedly accounting for the county's drop in total population. In Palm Beach County, that number dropped by more than 9,000.