In Ephesians 6:1-3 God commands children to obey and honor their parents and fathers to discipline and instruct their children in the Lord. A child who obeyed generally lived a long life, a promise first given to Israel in Exodus 20:12.
The sons of Eli the priest serve as dire examples of lives cut short due to a consistent failure to obey. The failure of Eli to discipline and instruct his sons in the Lord contributed to the shortness of their lives, which should prod parents, especially fathers, to faithfully train their children.
1 Samuel 2:12 describes the sons of Eli as worthless men who did not know the Lord.
They selfishly and disobediently demanded their choice of raw meat before it was even offered, disregarding the law (cf. Leviticus 7:28-36). The Lord saw this contempt for the offering as a very great sin (1 Samuel 2:17).
Eli, an old and apparently out-of-touch father, heard about his sons’ sins, which included sleeping with the women who ministered at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Eli confronted his sons (rather mildly, it seems), but his sons refused to listen (1 Samuel 2:22-25).
God laid the responsibility for Eli’s sons on Eli himself. He sent a man of God to him to speak, asking Eli why he scorned the Lord’s sacrifices and offerings and honored his sons above the Lord by letting them take the best parts of the offerings to fatten themselves (1 Sam 2:27-29).
The Lord then declared his judgment on Eli and his descendants:
Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. Then in distress you will look with envious eye on all the prosperity that shall be bestowed on Israel, and there shall not be an old man in your house forever. The only one of you whom I shall not cut off from my altar shall be spared to weep his eyes out to grieve his heart, and all the descendants of your house shall die by the sword of men. And this that shall come upon your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, shall be the sign to you: both of them shall die on the same day (1 Samuel 2:30-34).
The Lord announced His judgment again through Eli’s brave and obedient young apprentice, Samuel, when the Lord spoke to Samuel one night. The Lord promised an ear-tingling judgment against Israel that would personally affect Eli’s house. The reason for this severe punishment was “the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them” (1 Samuel 3:13).
Shortly after, Israel went to war against the Philistines. Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were present at the battle with the ark of the covenant of God. The Philistines defeated Israel, captured the ark, and killed 30,000 Israelis, including Hophni and Phinehas (1 Sam 4:1-11).
After suffering the shock of his sons’ deaths as well as the capture of the ark, Eli fell off his chair and broke his neck (in part due to the obesity that may have come from eating the ill-gotten meat from his sons’ sacrificial duties; 1 Samuel 4:17-18). The immediate consequences of Eli’s indulgent parenting and his sons’ disobedient lifestyles had been meted out.
The long-term consequences occurred later. 1 Samuel 14:3 tells us that Ahijah was serving as priest in Shiloh during the reign of King Saul. Ahijah was the great grandson of Eli, the grandson of Phinehas, the son of Ahitub. In 1 Samuel 22:11 we learn that Ahitub had another son serving as priest, Ahimelech (descendent of Aaron’s son Ithamar; cf. 1 Chronicles 24:1-3). Unfortunately, Saul had heard that Ahimelech had aided David and, in his paranoia, ordered the massacre of all the priests at Nob.
Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword (1 Samuel 22:18-19).
One of Ahimelech’s sons, Abiathar, escaped and fled to David for protection and refuge (1 Sam 22:20-23). Abiathar, for most of David’s life, was a loyal friend and priest. Upon David’s deathbed, however, he transferred his loyalties to David’s oldest son Adonijah, who declared himself king (1 Kings 1:7). Later, after Solomon’s coronation, Solomon removed Abiathar from his position as priest and exiled him to one of the priestly allotments in Anathoth (1 Kings 2:26-27). The narrator describes this punishment as a fulfillment of the Lord’s words concerning Eli’s house.
Both the long-term and short-term consequences of the sins of Eli and his sons were great. Eli was an indulgent, God-dishonoring father. His sons were disobedient and blasphemous. The Philistines killed Hophni and Phinehas, the sword slaughtered a generation of their descendants, and the Lord removed the remaining descendant from his service as a priest.
Eli and his sons serve as warnings to both parents and children. As parents, we need to obey God in our parenting. We cannot honor our children’s desires to the neglect of honoring God. The cost could be great for ourselves, our children, and future generations. And our children need to be faithful to obey their parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Holly Huffstutler serves with her husband David, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Rockford, IL. She blogs with him here where this post first appeared. Holly is a homemaker, raising and schooling her four children.
(Tucson, AZ) Pima Community College women’s soccer players Jessica Alvarez (Tucson Magnet HS) and Adriana Pacheco (Cienega HS) earned recognition from the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference for their play during the week of Sept. 17-23. Alvarez, a freshman midfielder, was selected ACCAC Division II Player of the Week while Pacheco, a sophomore goalkeeper, was […]
Life exists in every conceivable environment on Earth, from the peaks of towering mountains to the remote stretches of isolated islands, from sunlit surfaces to the darkest depths of the oceans. Yet, this intricate tapestry of existence isn’t spread uniformly.
For centuries, scientists have marveled at the extraordinary variety of species exhibited in tropical regions. The breathtaking biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest, the teeming life in Madagascar’s unique ecosystems, the species-rich cloud forests of Costa Rica – the tropics showcase nature’s opulence.
What makes the tropics so incredibly diverse?
Since the dawn of biodiversity studies, scientists have believed the predominant factor is – the long-term patterns of temperature, precipitation and other atmospheric conditions. Thinkers like Alexander von Humboldt set the stage in the early 19th century with their keen observations, highlighting how life-rich regions often shared certain climatic features. Fast-forward to the present, and scientists confidently correlate climate with biodiversity. Simply put, hotter, wetter, resource-rich regions are veritable cradles of life.
The Mediterranean climate is named after where it occurs in Southern Europe, but similar isolated conditions are scattered across the globe in parts of California, central Chile, the Western Cape of South Africa and southwestern Australia. bodrumsurf/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Some climatic conditions spread across vast landscapes, while others appear fragmented, resembling isolated islands amid varying climates. This difference raises an intriguing question: Is an area’s biodiversity solely due to its climate? Or do the size and relative isolation of these climatic pockets influence the richness and abundance of species that thrive within them?
Researchers commonly consider the geographical distribution of species, as displayed on this map highlighting the number of amphibian species across various regions of the world. Marco Túlio Pacheco Coelho
Unraveling the geography of climate
Historically, to study global biodiversity patterns, researchers divided the world into equal area grids and counted the species in each square.
Our study diverged from conventional methods. Instead of focusing solely on specific geographical locations, we centered our attention on the unique climate profiles of regions. Essentially, we weren’t just looking at plots on Earth but every place that shared a particular set of climatic conditions. We then classified these conditions globally and meticulously counted the species – birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles – that live within the boundaries of each climate.
Mapping species in this climate space, rather than traditional geographical analyses of species diversity, revealed deeper insights into the relationships between biodiversity and climate. Marco Túlio Pacheco Coelho
Central to our investigation was an exploration of the geography of these climates, examining both their size and isolation. Some climates are widespread and common, sprawling over vast areas. Others are more fragmented, emerging as isolated pockets amid different climatic zones, reminiscent of islands in a vast ocean of other diverse climates. Consider tropical climates: They cover vast expanses cumulatively, despite being broken up into smaller, unconnected bits, even on different continents.
Our findings were illuminating. Climate, of course, was an important factor in how many species flourished in a location. But we were intrigued to find that about a third of the variation we found in species diversity across the globe can be attributed solely to the size and degree of isolation of all the instances of a particular climate.
The warm, resource-rich Costa Rican tropical forest bursts with biodiversity − partly because it’s a unique climate island amid a vast ocean of varying conditions. bogdanhoria/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Biodiversity responds not just to the type of climate but its spatial distribution. Beyond the known effects of warmth and moisture, we found that larger and more isolated climates foster greater species diversity. Moreover, these expansive, broken-up climates not only housed a greater number of species but also nurtured a more unique combination of species.
By leveraging but transcending traditional methodologies, our approach unearthed novel insights about the geographical characteristics of climates. We discovered that the larger a climatic zone is, the more fragmented and scattered it tends to be across the landscape.
Traditionally, scientists have thought of tropical climates as cohesive expanses, standing as barriers between the distinct extra-tropical climates of our planet’s poles. Our analysis confirmed that cooler extra-tropical climates are relatively well connected across much of the planet.
Yet, our findings reveal a different narrative for the tropics: Tropical climates appear more as fragmented islands amid a sea of diverse climates, rather than expansive, interconnected realms. Our revelation underscores that tropical climates, while abundant, are dispersed and disjointed across the Earth’s surface.
Drawing a parallel, consider how mountainous regions harbor isolated valleys where people speak distinct dialects shaped by their seclusion. Nature mirrors this: Species in isolated climatic niches evolve distinctly, creating a diverse and unique tableau of life.
The specter of climate change, however, casts a long shadow over these insights. A world undergoing rapid warming might witness once vast climates fragmenting further. Such shifts could challenge species, compelling them to traverse daunting landscapes to find suitable habitats. If these once expansive climates recede, it could disrupt the entire balance of species interactions.
Understanding the interplay between biodiversity and climate is not merely an intellectual pursuit. It provides direction in helping people protect and appreciate the diverse symphony of life in our evolving world.
Catherine Graham receives funding from Swiss National Fund, European Research Council.
Dave Roberts received a stipend from WSL when he was a Fellow there during his stay in Switzerland when this work was initiated.
Marco Túlio Pacheco Coelho does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
By Brian Webber: Canelo Alvarez is aware of the many fans who are hoping that Jermell Charlo will defeat him this Saturday night to knock him off his 168-lb throne, but he says going to be “difficult” for him to do that.
Canelo (59-2-2, 39 KOs) says Jermell hasn’t been fighting opposition like him during his long 15-year professional career, so he’s going to be facing a whole different level of fighter for the first time.
Alvarez has much to prove in this fight because people think he’s ready to be beaten, and Jermell is in the right place at the right time. This is the time to do it if you’re Charlo.
If he had arrived at this spot two years earlier in 2021, he’d be out of his league against that version of Canelo, who was firing on all cylinders at that time.
A lot of fans believe Jermell (35-1-1, 19 KOs) is going to get totally massacred by Canelo in their twelve round headliner on Showtime PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
On the flip side, Canelo’s detractors point to his last three fights in which he’s struggled and not looked good against John Ryder, Gennadiy Golovkin & Dmitry Bivol.
Beating Canelo won’t be easy
Jermell is a better fighter than Ryder, and it’s fair to say that he’s fighting at a higher level than the 41-year-old Golovkin we saw last year against Canelo in their trilogy match.
If Jermell had gotten a taste of what he’ll be dealing with against Canelo by moving up to 168 to take on guys like Diego Pacheco, Caleb Plant & Edgar Berlanga, he wouldn’t be in such a shock.
Obviously, this is about Jermell chasing greatness and a payday by going up to super middleweight without prior experience to try and do a job against the best fighter in the division.
“They want, but to do it is different,” said Canelo Alvarez to Full Send Podcast when told that many boxing fans want him to lose to Jermell Charlo. “It’s not the same fighter that he’s used to fighting. Everyone wants him to beat me, but it’s going to be difficult.”
Why Jermell won’t win:
“No,” said Canelo when asked if he’s playing golf during camp. “That’s difficult for me not to play golf because I love playing golf so much.
“I’m glad to go away from him because he’s f***ng crazy,” said Canelo about leaving Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. “Nobody that knows close [likes De La Hoya].
“He’s a hypocrite. He’s not loyal. That’s why he’s having problems. He doesn’t have any fighters left. Ryan Garcia because he signed with him, but Ryan Garcia is having problems with him. That’s why nobody wants to be with him because he’s not loyal.
“Right now, he’s [De La Hoya] talking s**t about me, but if I went with his promotional [company]. ‘Oh, he’s the best. We’re going to do this, and he’s the best pound-for-pound,’ but I’m not with him anymore, and he’s the opposite.
“I told Ryan Garcia before he signed, ‘Be careful. See first if you want with your career,’ and then he signed with him, and look what happened,” said Canelo.
Dr. Nadine Momoyo Diaz, a third-generation constituent of Council District 14, has announced her candidacy for the Los Angeles City Council District 14.
Nadine Diaz
Diaz ran against former Councilmember José Huizar in 2015 and is running in 2024 against Councilmember Kevin de León, who is seeking re-election.
Born in 1962 in Boyle Heights, Diaz comes from a multicultural and multiethnic background. She is an American of Mexican, Japanese, Basque, and Yaqui Indian descent.
Her late mother, Kimiko, was born in 1942 within the confines of Tule Lake and experienced first-hand the distressing period when Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated during World War II. Her father, Anthony, was also born in 1942 and emerged from the Hazard Park government housing projects in Boyle Heights, where he experienced poverty first-hand.
The two met at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights in the late 1950s and married in 1960. Kimiko contributed to the family’s livelihood by working at the Bank of Tokyo, enabling Anthony to pursue his education at USC, where he earned his doctorate in pharmacology in 1968. He earned his MD from the University of Utah in 1979, specializing in anesthesiology.
After attaining her associate of arts degree from East Los Angeles Community College, Diaz became is a third-generation alumna of USC, where she earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees. Her professional background is rooted in cultural anthropology and social work, with a specific focus on community organizations, planning, and administration, all complemented by a foundation in clinical practice and policy.
Her campaign said in a statement, “Dr. Diaz’s campaign is rooted in the core principles of respect, integrity, transparency, and service, with a mission to ensure that all stakeholders have a voice and a seat at the table in the planning and decision-making processes, ultimately fostering a more promising future for the district.
“Unlike the other candidates, Dr. Diaz is not a career politician seeking the next political opportunity, nor is she an outsider looking to capitalize on a political career. With a distinguished 30-year career as a health professional within the district, she has consistently volunteered her time as a community advocate and leader to address the needs of her constituents, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to improving the lives of those residing in CD 14.
“Dr. Diaz’s journey has been marked by an unyielding dedication to creating positive change for all people. She has witnessed first-hand the challenges faced by the district, ranging from elder abuse, cultural and economic disparities to environmental concerns and mental health issues.
“For the past five decades, the district has grappled with neglect and political corruption, resulting in severe setbacks in terms of the overall well-being of its residents. After dedicating three decades of her life to serving as a health professional within CD 14, Dr. Diaz is prepared to transition from her current role to take on the responsibilities of a councilwoman …
“Dr. Diaz’s campaign stands as a beacon of hope for the district, promising a future characterized by accountability, inclusivity, and a steadfast commitment to the well-being of its residents. Her deep roots within the community, coupled with her extensive experience in healthcare and community advocacy, uniquely position her as the ideal candidate to bring about the positive change that CD 14 so desperately needs.”
Other candidates for the CD 14 seat include Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, Assemblymember Wendy Carillo, former Councilmember Nick Pacheco, tenants’ rights attorney Ysabel Jurado, tenant organizer Eduardo Vargas, entrepreneur Genny Guerrero, Downtown L.A. Neighborhood Council member Samir Bitar, and L.A. County Bar Association leader Teresa Hillery.
The district consists of all or part of Downtown, Little Tokyo, the Arts District, Skid Row, Boyle Heights, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, El Sereno, Garvanza, Glassell Park, Lincoln Heights, and Monterey Hills.
By Vince D’Writer: Lightweight contender Angel Fierro (21-1-2, 17 KOs) made a promise to his family in regards to achieving a lifetime goal, and on Friday night September 15th, Fierro has a chance to move one step closer to his career goal when he faces Brayan Zamarripa (13-1, 4 KOs) at the Auditorio Municipal Fausto Gutierrez Moreno, in Tijuana, Mexico live on DAZN.
(Photo credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom or Melina Pizano/Matchroom)
Trained by Mexican boxing legend Erik Morales and ranked #5 by the WBO, Angel Fierro plans on showcasing his skills when he steps inside of the squared circle for his homecoming fight on Friday night. In a recent statement, Fierro spoke about winning, fulfilling a promise, and pursuing his dream.
“We’re focused on winning this fight on Friday, and then we’re looking for a World title. I’ve been chasing this dream since I was a kid, and it’s something I promised my parents and my daughter.”
Angel Fierro made his pro boxing debut back in October 2015 when he scored a 2nd round TKO victory over Salvador Nunez Guillen. Five years later, Fierro would relinquish his undefeated status when he lost to Alex Martin. He would bounce back in his next bout by knocking out Alexis Reyes in the 9th round.
Fierro grabbed headlines back in March 2021 when he scored an upset against a former world champion. Thirty-nine seconds into the opening round, former WBA super-featherweight champion Alberto Machado landed a counter left hand shot that knocked Fierro off-balance.
With 1:18 left to go in the first round, Machado landed a counter right hand that sent Fierro down to the canvas. Fierro was able to get up, but with 15 seconds remaining in round 2, he was hit with another counter right hand that sent him back down to the canvas.
Fierro was able to recuperate and settle down as he concentrated on landing hard shots to Machado’s body. In the 6th round, Fierro knocked Machado out when he landed a left to the body, followed by a devastating left to the head.
Two years since his triumphant victory, Angel Fierro is now ready to take his career to the next level. On Friday night, the hard-hitting lightweight contender will once again defend his WBO NABO title.
While Fierro plans on using this fight to showcase his skills, his opponent Brayan Zamarripa wants to do the exact same thing.
Zamarripa knows his career will trend in an upward direction if he’s able to score a big upset in Tijuana on Friday night.
“I’m sure he’s going to bring some good stuff to the table, but I am ready for it. I’ve been training all my life for a moment like this,” said Zamarripa. “I can’t believe I’m here, so I am just getting in that ring on Friday night and give my best and put on a great show for Tijuana and the world.”
Angel Fierro is excited about his upcoming fight on Friday night. He has a set of goals that he wants to accomplish, but first, he has to focus on defeating a very ambitious opponent.
“I’m proud that we’re fighting on Mexican Independence, I’m ready for it, and we’ll put on a great show for Tijuana,” Fierro stated. “I don’t know how I will beat him, but I know I’m going to come out victorious. After this, we’re going after the best; we want to be ranked in the top ten, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
Angel Fierro 134.5 vs. Brayan Zamarripa 134.5
Erika Cruz 122 vs. Melissa Oddessa Parker 122
Kevin Barron Crespo 125.7 vs. Christian Olivi Barreda 125.7
Sabrina Maribel Perez 125.7 vs. Skye Nicolson 125.7
Federico Pacheco Jr. 262 vs. Carlos Cardenas 224
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Series: The Long Burn: The Slow Recovery From New Mexico’s Largest Wildfire
The federal government accidentally set the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon wildfire. Disaster aid has been hard to get and slow to arrive, and residents face a long journey to rebuild.
This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Source New Mexico. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.
On a recent sunny morning in the high pastures of northern New Mexico, Tito Naranjo greeted a pair of federal surveyors on a patch of gravel where his traditional adobe home once stood.
Naranjo used his walking stick to show them the outline of where his sunroom had been before it burned up in a wildfire accidentally set by the U.S. Forest Service last year. They walked slowly to the edge of the property, past a blackened willow tree that once held a tire swing, and stepped over a creek now empty of trout.
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The tour confirmed what satellite imagery hinted at: This 97-acre property was a total loss. The home Naranjo and his wife had shared for 50 years, a stand of aspen trees, a small apple orchard, miles of fencing and a bridge he had built himself, all gone.
Naranjo, 86, hasn’t laid the first adobe brick of a replacement home, hammered a fence post or planted a single tree. And with congestive heart failure raising the risk of a stroke, he worries he won’t live long enough to do so.
Seventeen months after losing their homes and livelihoods in the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, Naranjo and thousands of others in the aging, rural communities in New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains are still waiting for money to rebuild.
As the fire swept across the mountains for five months in mid-2022, the Federal Emergency Management Agency responded as it would to any disaster. It provided roughly $6.2 million to about 1,100 households for short-term expenses like housing and evacuation and, in some cases, for limited damage to housing and possessions.
The money for the far more difficult and expensive task of rebuilding is supposed to come from a $4 billion fund set up by Congress just for this fire — an acknowledgment of the Forest Service’s culpability in triggering the blaze. But the FEMA office handling those payments didn’t start sending checks as quickly as expected, and it has yet to spend 98% of the money.
FEMA has defended its rollout of the claims office, saying it is moving as fast as a federal agency can. Normally, FEMA offers only short-term disaster aid. This is only the second time it has been tasked with paying survivors so they could rebuild after a federal agency lost control of a prescribed burn meant to prevent a wildfire. FEMA established policies, hired staff and opened offices in eight months.
Faced with delays in getting paid and questions about what FEMA will ultimately cover, a local attorney representing Naranjo and several hundred other survivors recently convinced a federal judge to allow some of her aging, infirm clients to testify under oath about what they have lost — an unusual move intended to preserve knowledge that their relatives don’t have.
Antonia Roybal-Mack, the lawyer, said she wants to make sure these victims are made whole if they die before they get a check from the federal government. If they end up filing suit to get what they believe they deserve, “these clients will likely expire before they get their day in court,” she said.
Her clients include farmers and ranchers who lived off land that was burned in the fire or that was washed out in the floods that followed. According to sworn court filings, they include a Vietnam veteran who said he was “blown to hell” in the war, a salon owner who said her doctors told her that her recent lung disease came from “chemicals and smoke,” and a former police chief who recently was treated for cancer for the fourth time.
Many survivors have lived in these tight-knit communities for decades, some their whole lives. Their way of life — captured by the Spanish word querencia, which people here use to express their love of the land and their obligation to it — was under threat even before the megafire. Naranjo is one of the last fluent speakers of Tewa, the language spoken in the Indigenous pueblo he grew up in. The population of Mora County, where he now lives and one of two counties that were badly burned, declined 15% from 2010 to 2020, to about 4,200, according to census figures.
Now living at his son’s home two hours away, Naranjo is trying to figure out what, if anything, he can do for his land. His wife, Bernice, said the instability of life since the fire and their sudden reliance on the government has made his final chapter distressing and chaotic.
“He doesn’t show his emotions very clearly, but he does feel the loss tremendously,” she said. “And he knows that he may never be able to rebuild.”
Before a Check, the Fine Print
The $4 billion Congress set aside is supposed to compensate survivors, businesses, local governments and nonprofits for damages in the 534-square-mile burn scar. But the claims process is long and complicated, and the vast majority of victims haven’t gotten anything yet.
FEMA wrote its first check to a survivor in June, according to the claims office. That’s a year after the fire raced through the mountains. As of Sept. 15, it had paid $67 million, just under 2%, most of which went to individuals. The pace has picked up in recent weeks, however. (New figures are expected next week.)
Though the Forest Service said 430 homes burned in the fire, a maximum of $2 million has gone to housing as of Sept. 15, according to FEMA’s figures. FEMA said it is processing “a fairly small number” of claims for housing, though officials have declined to say exactly how many.
The problem is twofold: Some people held off on filing claims as they waited months for FEMA to finalize its rules on exactly what it would pay for. And for those who did file, the checks have not come quickly.
Source New Mexico and ProPublica spoke to about 30 survivors about the claims process. A little under half said they had not yet filed a claim. They said they were desperate to start rebuilding but needed clarity on the claims process.
Until late August, the claims office operated under interim rules largely copied from the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000 — the only other time FEMA has paid for damages for a wildfire accidentally started by the federal government. FEMA officials acknowledged differences between the fires but said they started with those rules because they were in a rush to get moving.
Some of those residents told us they didn’t want to file claims under those rules, believing they would miss out on additional money if the final rules were more generous. FEMA officials told survivors that would not happen, but lawyers and residents told Source and ProPublica they feared that the formulas in the interim rules would determine their payments regardless.
A big sticking point was the value of the trees that once covered these mountainsides. Residents and lawyers said the interim rules undervalued those trees, which are harvested for timber, Christmas trees, and latillas and vigas — ceiling rafters commonly used in Southwestern homes. While the claims office issued partial payments for other damages, it held off on paying for trees until it could figure out how to value them.
The final rules released on Aug. 28 offered far more for trees than the interim rules, which finally assuaged those concerns. Based on that formula, Angela Gladwell, the head of the claims office, said she expected tree losses to top $1 billion.
Residents who didn’t wait for the rules to be finalized faced different obstacles. After a claim is filed, FEMA must formally “acknowledge” it. But FEMA has no deadline by which that must happen. The agency started encouraging people to file claims in November, but none were acknowledged until April. The delays continued through the summer.
FEMA told Source and ProPublica that it tries to acknowledge claims within 30 days, but that it took time to create a new office and train staff. The agency also said its office had at times received a lot of notices at once, which delayed the process.
The claims office is catching up: As of Sept. 14, it had acknowledged about 80% of the 2,214 claims filed. But those survivors face a new round of waiting. Once FEMA acknowledges a claim, it has 180 days to make an offer to pay for those damages. People can decide to take the money or to fight for more through arbitration or in federal court.
The pace of payouts is slower than it was for the Cerro Grande Fire. After a similar amount of time since a law went into effect to compensate those victims near Los Alamos, FEMA had paid about $162 million out of $545 million allocated — about 30%. That included about $84 million to individuals.
FEMA says payments are taking longer this time because this fire was bigger, the communities are poorer and have less insurance, and the claims are more complex, with agricultural and ranching losses to consider along with burned homes.
The agency plans to distribute $1 billion — a quarter of the total allocated — by January 2025. It did meet a recently set internal target of spending $50 million by Oct. 1, a spokesperson pointed out.
Regardless of whether they have filed a claim yet, survivors face uncertainty over whether all their costs will be covered. People who accept a payment must sign a form saying they won’t seek additional compensation or sue the government for “past and present and future claims” for the category of loss they’re being paid for. But more than a year after the fire was extinguished, people don’t know if they’ve seen the last of the damage.
The fire burned root systems and topsoil, creating a landscape where dirt and debris sloughs off the mountainside when it rains, particularly after spring snowmelt and during the summer monsoon season. That’s expected to continue for several years.
Since the fire, “I’m constantly doing flood control and mitigation,” said Felicia Ortiz, whose hillside property is eaten away during rainstorms. FEMA acknowledged her claim on Aug. 18 and has yet to pay her.
She estimates she’s spent roughly $8,000 on recovery, much of it to divert floodwaters. “Cleaning up messes from the flooding — it happens, you clean up, it happens again, you clean up again.”
Despite the form that survivors must sign, FEMA says victims like Ortiz need not worry about ongoing damage after they’ve accepted a check. Any loss that occurs afterward could be eligible for reconsideration, the agency says; Gladwell, the claims office head, has sole discretion on whether to reopen a particular claim.
All these obstacles leave some fire victims wondering whether they can trust the federal government that burned their property, denied short-term aid to many of them and then promised to make them whole.
“I do believe that Angie Gladwell is really trying to serve the people,” said Kayt Peck, who waited until the final rules were released to file a claim for her destroyed home. “But she’s just one cog in the FEMA wheel. And when you’re working with someone that you know from the past that you couldn’t trust, and they’re telling you to trust them, don’t trust them.”
FEMA has stressed that the claims office is separate from the program that provided limited assistance when people were fleeing their homes. Staffers with the claims office regularly show up at community events, handing out brochures encouraging people to file claims. The claims office advocate holds meetings to combat “half-truths and misinformation” about what FEMA will and won’t pay for.
“We know that trust is earned by doing what we say we are going to do, and delivering results,” FEMA spokesperson Deborah Martinez said.
A Year of Waiting
Most of the people who spoke with Source and ProPublica said they can’t rebuild before FEMA pays their claim. Few of those displaced by the fire had insurance. Some said they’ve already spent their temporary aid; others never got any.
A state agency said in February that people are leaving for urban areas such as Albuquerque and won’t be able to return without financial help. Calls from fire victims to a mental health hotline shot up this spring. And in August, U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján greeted President Joe Biden on a visit to New Mexico by handing him a letter criticizing delays in payments.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said on a recent visit to the burn scar that the message from FEMA is to wait, just as it was last summer: “That’s what you’re hearing from everyone: ‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’m waiting.’”
Martinez, the FEMA spokesperson, said the claims office recognizes that the recovery “has been a uniquely challenging and often frustrating experience for many,” and it is providing “unwavering support” to survivors.
FEMA has partnered with other federal agencies to help survivors. A Department of Agriculture program provides free estimates for some types of losses. FEMA will pay up to five years of flood insurance premiums for those expecting post-fire flooding. And the claims office recently announced it would pay survivors’ Small Business Administration disaster loans, including interest.
Brian and Nell Rodgers lost not just their home on a hilltop 5 miles east of Hermits Peak, but their carefully planned life of self-sufficiency. They raised trout in an indoor pond. Brian had converted a few vehicles to run on biodiesel; when the waste vegetable oil he was processing into fuel exploded during the fire, he said, it could be seen for miles.
They put their disaster aid toward an RV and moved to Santa Rosa, 80 miles away in the desert. For six months, the couple “itemized every detail of our life” in anticipation of a larger payout, said Nell Rodgers, a 70-year-old retired schoolteacher. They filed their claim in July. The claims office acknowledged it quickly, but the money has yet to arrive.
When Nell experienced chest pains after a surgery in July, she wanted to go to an emergency room in Santa Fe, more than an hour away. Because they were short on cash, Brian Rodgers had to ask his ex-wife, who lives nearby, for $20 in gas money.
The government “took away our retirement — and took away our possibilities,” Nell Rodgers said. “And so now, the only thing we can count on is compensation. And that doesn’t seem to be coming anytime soon.”
Sam Arthur, the owner of a clothing boutique in Las Vegas, New Mexico, lost the home he shared with his wife, Tamara Fraser, in April 2022 — the day the fire suddenly surged across the mountains. Dozens of homes were destroyed in one day.
He said he promptly received the maximum amount of emergency assistance, but it was nowhere near enough to repair his home or restore his acres of scorched property. He submitted a notice of loss to FEMA on Jan. 6, seeking to be paid for the destruction of his home, relocation costs, debris removal, cleanup and other expenses. The agency didn’t acknowledge his claim until Sept. 1. Under the rules, it has until the beginning of March to make a payment offer.
In the meantime, he and his wife are living in a “tiny home” on wheels in the parking lot behind his store. “At least it’s ours, and we don’t have to pack up and leave again,” he said. “Those things were starting to take a toll.”
Neighbors Step Up
While victims wait, they’re getting help from a local volunteer group that has raised funds to pay for essentials like refrigerators, generators and wheelchair ramps.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors got its start when Janna Lopez, a retired state worker, began bringing hot food to a shelter at a former school gym as the fire raged in April 2022. After the fire was contained and survivors’ needs grew more complex — unpaid rent, flooded driveways, contaminated wells — she and fellow volunteers kept at it.
By July, the organization had handed out about $300,000 to about 65 households — about as much as FEMA had provided to households by then, said Bob DeVries, a volunteer and track coach at the local university. (Since then, FEMA has increased its payments.) Now, payments from the volunteer group are approaching $500,000.
Every Thursday, the group’s two case managers gather at a local church with representatives of four local religious and philanthropic organizations. They decide how much to give each victim, no strings attached, typically capped at $12,000.
One day in early August, they handled “Case 260,” a man in his 60s. His refrigerator was damaged when the power had been shut off, and the ojito, the natural spring he used for farm animals, was destroyed by flooding.
He didn’t have insurance, and his claim hadn’t been paid yet. He had gotten just $800 in disaster aid. “He’s, in essence, exhausted what he can get from the federal government,” said Chip Meston, who runs a local beef processing plant and represents one of the churches.
The committee quickly agreed to pay the entire request: $3,068.55.
Though the immediate crisis has passed, the number of people seeking help hasn’t dropped. There are about 45 active cases, with a backlog of more than 270. About 20% of households in the area were below the poverty line before the fire, and if they got any short-term aid from FEMA, it’s long spent, DeVries said.
If you or someone you know needs help, here are a few resources:
Rosie Serna, 75, said Neighbors Helping Neighbors pulled her out of despair. She’d gotten by on Social Security since her husband died. The fire took the home where she hosted big outdoor gatherings for kids and grandkids.
For a while, FEMA helped her with rent as part of its disaster aid, but it stopped after she accepted temporary help from an aid group. By April, the $700 rent came due. She had no way to pay. She felt overwhelmed.
“I was just thinking of so many things: ‘Why me?’ ‘What am I going to do?’” she recounted, moved to tears. “And I said, ‘Maybe it’s better if I just don’t exist anymore.’ I thought, ‘Nobody cares about me.’ I felt so alone.”
One day in early April, Serna got a call from Gloria Pacheco, a retired schoolteacher and volunteer who was checking on her FEMA case. Serna seemed to have lost hope.
Worried, Pacheco drove 45 minutes to see her, the first time they had met in person.
After a long conversation, Pacheco connected Serna to a therapy service for fire victims, which Serna said has been helpful. Neighbors Helping Neighbors gave her a few hundred dollars for propane.
FEMA recently denied Serna’s appeal for rental assistance, but Pacheco said she’ll keep trying. Serna calls Pacheco “my angel.”
“I Really Have to Prepare”
As Naranjo waited to be sworn in for his deposition in a hotel conference room on July 20, he glanced at his watch. “We’re running 21 minutes behind,” he said to the lawyers gathered to question him.
Over the next two hours, he testified about the life he and his wife had built near their childhood pueblos, the monstrous fire that made ash of his journals, FEMA’s denial of any short-term aid, the future of his land.
“Is it your goal to restore the property as best you can to the way it was before the fire started?” asked Roberto Ortega, an assistant U.S. attorney.
“That can never happen,” Naranjo answered. “I would like to see it, but I saw it in its glory. It was a paradise. That paradise can never be rebuilt.”
As he prepares to leave his land and any compensation he ultimately receives to his wife and children, he’s made his priority the 3-mile fence that once encircled his property. He’s tired of his neighbor’s cows eating his grass for free. Most of all, he wants a permanent demarcation of what he will leave behind.
A few days after the deposition, he walked his property with Department of Agriculture employees to assess the damage. “I really have to prepare. You need to have permanent markers on it, so people know where your boundaries are,” Naranjo told them. “That’s why I want the fence. That’s my priority. Because my children don’t know the boundaries of our property.”
But rebuilding the fence, as with everything else FEMA has been involved with, isn’t as simple as he hoped. If he wants the full replacement cost, he’ll have to prove the fence was his by submitting affidavits from his neighbors or receipts — for a fence he built himself, 50 years ago, with timber from his property.
Back then, he felt energized by the land, waking early to run a 7-mile loop around the property and occasionally discovering prayer shrines left by early Pueblo peoples. Now everything is exhausting — walking up the washed-out road, dealing with the fence, hearing his kids’ ambivalence about whether they want to rebuild.
“I just haven’t got the strength, or the energy, or the outlook, or the dreams that I had at the time,” he said.
He no longer plans to have his remains spread on the property. He once envisioned his ashes scattered among the aspens and ponderosa pines. Instead, blowing through those blackened trees will be ashes of the paradise he lost.
Were You Affected by the Massive Wildfire in Northern New Mexico? We Want to Hear From You.
Last summer’s wildfire caused thousands to flee. Source New Mexico and ProPublica want to know if people got the help they needed.
CASPER, Wyo. — At the Casper City Council work session Sept. 26, several members of the council had comments on the resignation of former Mayor Bruce Knell.
“I reached out to him several times by phone and email last week pleading with him to resign, going so far as to write a press release for him to use,” Councilor Kyle Gamroth shared.
Knell resigned on Sept. 21 amid allegations of domestic violence.
He also addressed the public’s quick judgment, commenting, “I wonder if those people are going to be as quick to apologize to him if innocent as they were quick to convict him before he’s even been charged with a crime.”
Additionally, Gamroth sought procedural reforms, suggesting that there should be a future work session item to discuss options for removing someone from leadership roles like mayor or vice mayor so the council doesn’t get “effectively held hostage until the end of the year by a leader that neither us nor the community have any faith could effectively carry out the duties that the title brings.”
Brandy Hopkins clarified her role on the council, emphasizing her commitment to focusing on city business rather than personal opinions. She further discussed the complexities of electing a mayor, indicating the challenges in letting the public select a mayor given the current structure.
“I joined the council to help with business, not with my opinions.” She said. “I fully understand why citizens would think that you should be the person voting for mayor. But for that to work, we would have to have someone running for mayor, not running for council. … Unless we change everything, you can’t pick the mayor,” Hopkins said.
Lisa Engebretsen revisited her earlier comments and clarified her no vote on Knell for mayor, saying he would “often speak off the cuff causing some inflammatory conversations.” She also clarified her desire for female leadership, indicating it was a reaction to “the mayor’s comments throughout the year” that were “inflammatory directed towards women. … It just felt like a lot of it was targeted more towards women.”
Mayor Ray Pacheco explained the constraints the council faces when considering leadership changes, pointing out that councilors, including the mayor, are not city employees and thus cannot be dismissed easily. He also provided context regarding the jurisdictional limits surrounding Knell’s alleged crime.
“A councilperson or a mayor are not employees of the city,” Pacheco said. “Casper Police Department has not arrested Mr. Knell or issued charges. The reason is that the alleged crime took place in Austin … which automatically removes the authority of the CPD to conduct an investigation.”
The video of the work session can be found on the City of Casper YouTube channel.
We conducted a bidirectional case-crossover study (all patients serve as their controls) in individuals aged 65 years or older who had a hospital admission due to viral LRTI in Spain during 2013–2015. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (Comité de Ética de la Investigación; CEI PI 81_2021) of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Madrid, Spain). All the extracted information was completely anonymous and did not require the patients’ consent.
The link in space-time between environmental factors and MBDS data was established as follows: i) The environmental data [temperature (°C) and relative humidity (%)] and ambient air pollutants [SO2 (μg/m3), CO (μg/m3), NO2 (μg/m3), O3 (μg/m3), PM10 (μg/m3)] from the meteorological stations distributed throughout the territory were geolocated in space as a reference point (latitude-longitude). ii) Each patient in the study had their spatial location through the residential zip code (geographical area), from which the centroid was extracted, and geolocation in space as a reference point (latitude-longitude) was obtained. iii) Once both data sources were geolocated in space, each patient was linked to the meteorological station closest to their home. iv) The MBDS had the date of hospital admission and each meteorological station of the measurement date, so the link of dates was simple. The mean distance from each residential zip code to its nearest meteorological station was 8.99 km 95% CI (8.69, 9.28).”
This study indicates that low temperatures, high relative humidity, and high concentrations of NO2, O3, PM10, and CO are associated with increased hospital admissions due to viral LRTI in patients 65 or older. Our data support the monitoring of environmental factors to assess the risk of hospital admissions and advise minimizing exposure to air pollutants in older people.
This study was performed for all 12 months, instead of only the colder months (December–March), when there were more hospitalized patients than during the warmer months (April–November). It is so because we wanted to analyze if there were associations between outdoor environmental pollution and LRTI hospitalizations at any time of the year (cold and warm seasons). As we showed, the epidemiological wave of viral LRTI occurs during the cold months (December–March), but there were also LRTI viral infections in the other months of the year, including summer.
Changes in weather conditions affect the respiratory system enabling the spread of infection-causing pathogens [7, 11]. These changes can increase the risk of viral LRTI and cause pneumonia, bronchitis, and other respiratory tract pathologies in older adults [9, 10]. An increase in the number of inflammatory cells and fibrinogen concentration has been observed during cold exposure, damaging the respiratory system, and leading to urgent hospitalizations and possible death [7, 11]. Besides, lower temperatures increase pathogens’ stability, abundance, survival, and infectivity [7]. High humidity increases the infectivity of viruses because humidity stabilizes the droplets that carry the pathogen from person to person through the air [7]. Our study found a higher risk of hospitalization for viral LRTI among older adults ≥65 years exposed to low temperatures and high relative humidity before hospital admission. Low temperatures and high humidity are associated with a higher risk of viral LRTI [24,25,26]. Our data agree with previous data showing that ambient temperatures below the reference levels potentiate respiratory tract infections and increase hospital admissions in older adults [7, 9, 10]. However, some studies show discordant data on temperature concerning our research [27, 28], partially justified because not all regions of the world have the same seasonal pattern of LRTI, finding differences in the circulation of respiratory viruses according to geographic characteristics [29,30,31].
NO2 is an irritating pollutant related to the high traffic that penetrates deep into the lung, causing respiratory diseases, including viral LRTI [2, 6]. NO2 causes an imbalance in the Th1/Th2 differentiation (increased IL-4/IFN-γ ratio) and the activation of the JAK-STAT pathway, damaging the lung cell membrane and increasing airway inflammation [32]. Our study found an elevated risk of hospital admissions due to viral LRTI associated with short-term exposure to NO2 in older people. Our findings are consistent with other reports on short-term [33] and long-term [34] exposure to outdoor NO2 and COVID-19 in older people with respiratory failure. It may be due to NO2 inhalation oxidizing proteins and lipids and altering the immune system [35]. However, discordant studies did not show any association between outdoor NO2 and LRTI in older people [36], suggesting that outdoor NO2 may impact viral LRTI in combination with other environmental pollutants rather than NO2 itself [37, 38].
O3 is a potent and toxic oxidizing gas that arises in the stratosphere or the troposphere after various reactions from photochemical smog [2, 6]. Its absorption usually occurs by inhalation, which can penetrate deeply into the lungs due to its low solubility in water. O3 reacts with cells lining the airways, stimulating their receptors and nerve endings and leading to oxidative stress, inflammation, and decreased total lung capacity [39]. Our findings are consistent with previous reports that found significant associations between short-term exposure to ambient O3 and increased risk of pneumonia hospital admissions among older adults [40, 41]. However, discordant studies did not find a relationship between outdoor O3 and LRTI hospital admissions [42, 43].
In our study, O3 was the most critical environmental factor because it was strongly associated with viral LRTI hospital admissions, increasing with longer delay times. Interestingly, the epidemiological wave of viral LRTI occurred during the cold months (December–March), when O3 levels were lower compared to the warmer and hotter months (May–September) when older people spend much more time outdoors. The impact of O3 on the LRTI severity depends on several factors, such as viral epidemiological characteristics and O3 exposure (outdoor activities, O3 concentrations, exposure time, and susceptibility to air pollutants). The O3 sources in winter are practically the same as in summer, mainly for chemical reactions between O3 precursors in the atmosphere, such as NOX and volatile organic compounds from combustion associated with cars, planes, trains, power plants, oil refineries, factories, or evaporation of organic compounds from standard consumer products (paints, cleaning products, and solvents) [44]. O3 levels increase when their precursor emissions react in the presence of sunlight, warm temperatures, and light winds (warm seasons). When winter arrives, the temperature and solar radiation decrease, and most of the warm air rise, displacing O3 to the upper layers of the atmosphere [44]. However, it should also be noted that Spain has a Mediterranean climate characterized by hot summers, low winds, and intense solar radiation; and cool winters that are slightly cloudy and rainy. It affects the physical-chemical processes of O3 formation, which is why O3 continues to be generated in the cold months, with production peaks on specific days when the temperature and solar radiation are higher [45].
PM10 can be inhaled through small liquid or solid droplets that invade the lungs and cause long-term severe respiratory problems. PM10 has a long half-life, allowing it to spread to distant destinations, where people become exposed [2, 6]. PM10 causes lung damage by increasing inflammation and airspace epithelial permeability [46]. Several studies have demonstrated an association between particulate matter up to 2.5 μm in size (PM2.5) and emergency visits for severe viral respiratory diseases in older patients [34, 47, 48]. Unlike our study, other studies reported no increase in LRTI hospitalizations related to PM10 [8], likely due to varying ambient PM10, weather conditions, and co-pollutants in different geographic areas.
CO is generated mainly during incomplete hydrocarbon combustion from internal combustion engines, waste incinerators, coal power plants, and the oil industry. CO diffuses quickly across the pulmonary membrane triggering proinflammatory responses in the airways [49]. CO is a “silent killer” that binds to hemoglobin in the blood, forming carboxyhemoglobin that displaces oxygen, reduces oxygen-carrying capacity, and decreases the release of oxygen to tissues, increasing the risk of asphyxia-related deaths [50]. Inhalation of CO can be toxic to the respiratory system, causing asthma exacerbation [51] and increased hospital admission for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [52]. Our data concord with other studies that found an association between outdoor CO levels and hospital admissions for viral LRTI [53,54,55] and pneumonia [56]. Nevertheless, another report has not shown significant associations between CO and respiratory and LRTI hospital admissions [57,58,59]. These controversial results can be due to densely populated areas, urban congestion, and heavy traffic load, where the predominant air pollutants are NO2 and particulate matter. Therefore, the effects of the CO’s co-emission with these airborne pollutants may confound the contribution of CO in air pollution on health [60].
Strengths and limitations of the study
Our study also has several strengths that must be considered: (i) this is a nationwide study with a very high number of older adults over 65 years of age with a viral LRTI hospital admission, something challenging to reach with any other database; (ii) we use a bidirectional case-crossover design that minimizes the impact of the absence of fundamental variables in the regression analysis [21].
The most important limitations are the following: (i) The retrospective design may introduce biases; (ii) the lack of relevant clinical information for the correct interpretation of the data since medical history data (comorbidities and treatments) may affect hospital admission and a stratified analysis would have provided exciting information in this regard; (iii) the diagnostic bias because in the MBDS there was no specific code for the diagnosis of LRTI, and we used ICD-9-CM codes previously used in high impact factor publications [47, 61], but we do not really know the accuracy of the MBDS for LRTI diagnoses; (iv) the MBDS is anonymous and makes it difficult to control whether some older people over 65 have been hospitalized several times; (v) we did not analyze other emerging outdoor air pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds, including benzene; and (vi) lack of indoor air pollution data may have a significant impact on viral LRTIs because most people, especially the older population, spent more time indoors [62], facilitating the transmission of viral LRTIs among everyone.
