We are in the 68th week of The Latino Newsletter, and if you have noticed the last couple of editions, we have started using [email protected] as our main email for replies and general pitches. That decision was intentional because we are just about to take our next steps in growing our editorial team here.

I thought this little win deserved a moment of recognition, and it’s also been a while since I shared an update about The Latino Newsletter.

So consider this my latest update.

Episode 2 of The Latino Newsletter podcast’s second season is scheduled to release in early October. We delayed it for a couple of reasons, most of which were due to strategic decisions that will begin to free up my time here and enable me to achieve what I have always wanted in the first place: a mini-team to take over the show.

Thanks to the individual donations from many of you (you can always give at any time here), we will be able to produce 20 episodes. We plan to publish new episodes on a biweekly basis, in both audio and video formats.

The first episode with Bobbito García is already available, and the second episode is set to go into production next week.

I plan to host the second episode, but after that, I will pass the mic to a new host.

I am so excited!

In addition, we just completed our latest financial work, and we are thrilled to report that our foundational setup is now complete. We want to thank the team at Beltre Bookkeeping for delivering. As The Latino Newsletter continues to grow and I begin forming a team to take over the day-to-day operations of this nonprofit organization, we are grateful to have a trusted and exceptional financial team supporting us.

Finally, a massive thank you to the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) for naming me its 2025 ¡BRAVO! Awards Journalist of the Year.

I have been doing this work for over 20 years, and I have always believed that creating your own journalism lane was the only viable path. While there weren’t many Latinos writing and filing digital stories independently back in the day, I am incredibly hopeful about our craft when I see so many voices uplifting our community today. That is why I am deeply proud of this recognition.

This recognition is a reminder of how far I’ve come and why the best chapters of The Latino Newsletter are still ahead.

We will be back with our regular cadence of stories on Friday.

Dallas ICE Shooting Update: The Associated Press reported on Thursday that the federal officials were ‘citing handwritten notes’ that “said 29-year-old Joshua Jahn set out to ambush the agency and then fatally shot himself following the assault.”

Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder of The Latino Newsletter. He is also its current part-time publisher and executive director. Email him here.

Consider donating to The Latino Newsletter. Any contribution, no matter how small, helps keep this newsletter free and accessible to all. ¡Gracias mil!