The Weekly Wrap: The Weekly Wrap: Remembering Legendary Labor Activist Dolores Huerta

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Labor Icon Dolores Huerta Dies at 96

Legendary immigrant labor and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, who famously coined the rallying cry of “Sí, se puede!”, died this week at 96 years old. Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers in 1962 to improve working conditions for migrant agricultural workers and worked for the union continuously until the late ‘80s, according to the LA Times. She helped finalize the first labor agreement for farmworkers and later on went on to found the Dolores Huerta Foundation and Dolores Huerta Peace and Justice Cultural Center.

Huerta was born in New Mexico and moved to Stockton, California, at age 3. She founded a teen center in her youth and worked as an elementary school teacher in the San Joaquin Valley before becoming a full-time union organizer, according to the LA Times. "I couldn't stand seeing kids come to class hungry and needing shoes," she said in a PBS documentary on her life. "I thought I could do more by organizing farm workers than by trying to teach their hungry children."

Veterans Are Paying the Price After Trump’s VA Ended a Home Loan Program

An NPR investigation based on previously unreported Department of Veterans Affairs data found thousands of veterans are paying more on their mortgages after the Trump administration ended the low-interest Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program in May 2025.

The mortgage industry and housing groups had warned the Trump administration that killing the mortgage rescue program without a replacement in place would leave vets with no option except modified loans at today’s higher interest rates. But after ending the VASP program, the VA took over a year to design and announce a new program, which most mortgage companies still do not offer.

As a result, NPR’s analysis found, 63% of veterans who received a loan modification following financial hardship were actually subject to a payment increase; in comparison, only 2% of home loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac result in increases following modification.

More than 15,000 veterans saw payments jump by at least $150 a month, and more than 700 veterans saw monthly increases of at least $1,000, after they had their home loans modified

Lula Snags a Surprise Victory in Brazil

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a fourth nonconsecutive term in office on Sunday, defeating Flavio Bolsonaro, son of jailed former leader Jair Bolsonaro.

The younger Bolsonaro had received more votes in the first round of voting on Oct. 4 but neither candidate had won 50% of the vote. After a massive online and offline organizing campaign, Lula pulled in 51% of the vote on Oct. 25, making him the first person to win a second round of votes after losing the first round since Brazil ended military rule in 1985.

Lula’s win is a breath of fresh air for environmentalists around the world, literally; Lula oversaw a 71% drop in deforestation of the Amazon and plans to move the country to zero deforestation by 2030, whereas the younger Bolsonaro has said he does not believe in climate change.

Still, the governorships of seven of nine states in the Amazon region are in the hands of members of Bolsonaro’s party, which controls Brazil’s congress. According to Food and Power, this means that environmental regulations in Brazil – the world’s largest exporter of beef and soy – may still be curtailed in the next few years.

Leaked Flock CEO Audio

404 Media has released leaked audio of Flock CEO Garrett Langley telling police chiefs that anti-Flock protests are being driven by Russian spam bots. He claimed without evidence that anti-Flock social media posts decreased by 50% after a Russian data center was bombed.

Flock has faced widespread backlash from people angry about automated license plate readers and the rapid proliferation of this much-abused surveillance technology. While dozens of cities canceled their Flock contracts in recent months, many simply replaced them with Axon contracts, as 404 Media also reported. Police officers across the country have been caught using Flock to stalk people, including former partners, leading to more backlash from residents angry about having their license plate data swept up in a poorly-regulated national database.

Deadlocked Elections in Israel

Israel’s elections occurred on Oct. 27, and Zionist opposition parties to Netanyahu’s Likud Party are now left with a choice to either leave Netanyahu in place or ally with Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The Joint List, which consists of three non-Jewish Arab parties, gained a historic 19 seats or a sixth of all the seats in Israel’s Knesset, Jewish Currents reports. Yet all of the opposition parties have vowed not to work with Palestinian parties. There is a likelihood an opposition party could defect and join Netanyahu rather than ally with Palestinians, per Jewish Currents.

MORE NEWS

• Why are pro-housing groups split on California’s Proposition 45? AP News

• A ballot measure in Eugene, Oregon, could fund climate projects across the city. High Country News

• Some U.S. transit systems weigh whether to run automated trains. AP News

• Long Covid disabled millions of workers. Then came Trump 2.0. Mother Jones

• Revolving loan fund keeps heirs’ properties out of speculators’ hands. ImpactAlpha

• The new Northern Illinois Transit Authority has unprecedented power to develop land. How could this change Chicago neighborhoods? Chicago Sun-Times

• ‘Socket Full of Sunshine Act’ calls for first federal-level support for U.S. plug-in solar. PV Tech

• Study: Schools need more air filtration to protect youth from wildfire smoke. Oregon Capital Chronicle

• Vancouver is the next battleground for municipal socialism in North America. Truthout

OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES

• Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation is considering grant requests from community-based nonprofits including museums, cultural and performing arts programs, schools and hospitals, youth, senior, and disability programs, environmental and wildlife protection. Apply by Nov. 10.

• The OpenAI Foundation and The Rockefeller Foundation’s new $50 million Cities Deliver initiative is supporting organizations working with city governments to put AI to work to improve public health, expand economic mobility, strengthen environmental resilience, and strengthen civic engagement. Apply by Nov. 29.

• The America250 Community Futures Challenge is accepting applications from 501(c)(3) nonprofits advancing workforce development, economic mobility, public infrastructure, civic tech, entrepreneurship, community development, and more. Apply by Nov. 30.