Pascagoula residents Reinaldo Conzález and Vilmarie Méndez founded Zona Libre as a way to bring Puerto Rican music to the Mississippi Gulf Coast after noticing an unfulfilled need in the region’s Latin community.
Rosainys Almonte
Rosainys Almonte is a journalist who covers issues affecting college communities, with a particular focus on government policy, campus administration, and minority rights and stories. Her work has been featured in The Student Printz, where she has been a staff writer since September 2025. Originally from the Dominican Republic, she moved to Mississippi in 2017 and is pursuing a degree in digital journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi.
