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The car tires, propane tanks, gas generators and rusty appliances heaped on the side of a dirt road waiting to be hauled away filled Desiree Graham with relief. That means all that stuff is not in peoples yards,” she said on a blustery July day in Kahikinui, a remote Native Hawaiian homestead community in southeast Maui where wildfire is a top concern. In June, neighbors and volunteers spent four weekends clearing rubbish from their properties in a community-wide effort to create defensible space, or areas around homes free of ignitable vegetation and debris. They purged 12 tons of waste. Its ugly, but its pretty beautiful to me, said Graham, a member of Kahikinui’s Firewise committee, part of a rapidly growing program from the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association that helps residents assess their communities’ fire risk and create plans to mitigate it. Kahikinui is one of dozens of Hawaii communities seeking ways to protect themselves as decades of climate change, urban development, and detrimental land use policies culminate to cause more destructive fires. The state has 250,000 acres of unmanaged fallow agricultural land, nearly all of its buildings sit within the wildland-urban interface, and two-thirds of communities have only one road in and out. But experts say that even with so many factors out of communities control, they can vastly improve their resilience by transforming their own neighborhoods. Fire is not like other natural hazards, it can only move where there is fuel, and we have a lot of say in that, said Nani Barretto, co-executive director of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization (HWMO), a 25-year-old nonprofit at the forefront of the states fire-risk mitigation. Neighborhoods all over the United States are wrestling with the same challenge, some in places that never worried about fire before. A recent Headwaters Economics analysis found 1,100 communities in 32 states shared similar risk profiles to places recently devastated by urban wildfires. A Firewise movement HWMO helps communities like Kahikinui become Firewise. In the 10 years preceding the August 2023 Maui fires that destroyed Lahaina, 15 Hawaii communities joined Firewise USA. Since then, the number has more than doubled to 31, with a dozen more in the process of joining. Everyone was like, My God, what can we do?’ said Shelly Aina, former chair of the Firewise committee for Waikoloa Village, an 8,000-resident community on the west side of the Big Island, recalling the months after the Maui fires. The development heavily wind exposed, surrounded by dry invasive grasses and with just one main road in and out had already experienced several close calls in the last two decades. It was first recognized as Firewise in 2016. As HWMO-trained home assessors, Shelly and her husband Dana Aina have done over 60 free assessments for neighbors since 2022, evaluating their properties for ignition vulnerabilities. Volunteers removed kiawe trees last year along a fuel break bordering houses. Residents approved an extra HOA fee for vegetation removal on interior lots. Measures like these can have outsized impact as people in fire-prone states adapt to more extreme wildfires, according to Dr. Jack Cohen, a retired U.S. Forest Service scientist. The solution is in the community, not out there with the fire breaks, because those dont stop the fire in extreme conditions, said Cohen. Direct flames from a wildfire arent what typically initiate an urban conflagration, he said. Wind-blown embers can travel miles away from a fire, landing on combustible material like dry vegetation, or accumulating in corners like where a deck meets siding. Theyre urban fires, not wildfires, said Cohen. The solutions don’t always require expensive retrofits like a whole new roof, but targeting the specific places within 100 feet of the house where embers could ignite material. In dense neighborhoods, that requires residents work together, making community-wide efforts like Firewise important. The house is only as ignition resistant as its neighbors, said Cohen. Communities can’t transform alone Even with renewed interest in fire resilience, community leaders face challenges in mobilizing their neighbors. Mitigation can take money, time and sacrifice. Its not enough to cut the grass once, for example, vegetation has to be regularly maintained. Complacency sets in. Measures like removing hazardous trees can cost thousands of dollars. I dont know how we deal with that, because those who have them cant afford to take them down, said Shelly Aina. The Ainas try offering low-cost measures, like installing metal screening behind vents and crawl spaces to keep out embers. HWMO helps with costs where it can. It gave Kahikinui a $5,000 grant for a dumpster service to haul out its waste, and helped Waikoloa Village rent a chipper for the trees it removed. Its been hard to keep up with the need, said Barretto, but even just a little bit of financial assistance can have an exponential impact. You give them money, they rally, she said. We can give them $1,000 and it turns into 1,000 man hours of doing the clearing. HWMO was able to expand its grant program after the Maui fires with donations from organizations like the Bezos Earth Fund and the American Red Cross. At a time when federal funding for climate mitigation is uncertain, communities need far more financial support to transform their neighborhoods, said Headwaters Economics’ Kimi Barrett, who studies the costs of increasing fire risk. If what were trying to do is save people and communities, then we must significantly invest in people and communities, said Barrett. Those investments are just a fraction of the billions of dollars in losses sustained after megafires, said Barrett. A recent study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Allstate found that $1 in resilience and preparation investment can save $13 in economic and property lossesnbsp;after a disaster. Another hurdle is asking residents to do work and make sacrifices as they watch others neglect their role. The neighbors will ask, What about the county land?’ Theres no routine maintenance, said Shelly Aina. Her husband Dana Aina said he reminds people that it is everyones kuleana, or responsibility, to take care of land and people. An island is a canoe, a canoe is an island, he said, quoting a Hawaiian proverb. We all have to paddle together. Bigger stakeholders are starting to make changes. Among them, Hawaii passed legislation to create a state fire marshal post, and its main utility, Hawaiian Electric, is undergrounding some power lines and installing AI-enabled cameras to detect ignitions earlier. Meanwhile, Firewise communities have found that doing their own mitigation gives them more clout when asking for funding or for others to do their part. After the 66-residence community of Kawaihae Village on Hawaii Island joined Firewise, they were finally able to get a neighboring private landowner and the state to create fuel breaks and clear grasses. Without that we wouldnt have been on anyones radar, said Brenda DuFresne, committee member of Kawaihae Firewise. I think Firewise is a way to show people that youre willing to help yourself. Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Associated Press
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While the high cost of eggs has been a persistent issue in President Trumps second term, a different kind of egg price is now raising eyebrows around America. Over the weekend, CNN reported that the Trump administration is soliciting corporate sponsorships for this years White House Easter Egg Roll. For anywhere between $75,000 and $200,000, companies can now have their logo prominently displayed during the April 21 event, along with further branding opportunities. Its only the latest sign that this presidency is quite literally open for businessand coming so soon after a recent Tesla infomercial on the South Lawn, it may have completed the NASCAR-ification of the White House. According to a pitch document shared by the New York Times that appears to be from event-planning company Harbinger, which produced the egg roll throughout Trumps previous term, the White House is offering initial planning and event day execution for companies who are hungry for brand exposure this Easter. Sponsors will reportedly have a chance to nab naming rights for key areas or elements, splash their logos on event signage and custom-branded baskets, snacks/beverages, or souvenirs and also offer custom on-site activation for participating children to use while making social media content. (The White House and Harbinger have not confirmed the authenticity of the document. Fast Company has reached out to the White House and Harbinger and will update if we hear back.) Partnerships between the White House and corporations are not exactly unheard of. The Biden administration, for instance, partnered with McDonalds in 2021 to encourage Americans to get vaccinated, while Barack Obama hosted the first White House Maker Faire in 2014, featuring STEM tool kits provided by LEGO Systems. Brands have even been involved in the Easter Egg Roll before, though the White House has reportedly been careful about logo use and appearing to endorse a business. A gauche avalanche of logos stands to turn this years adorable White House event into something more like last Decembers College Football Playoff’s Vrbo Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. At the $200,000 levelthe Platinum sponsorship packagebrands can get prominent logo placement and all the bells and whistles mentioned above, along with 150 tickets to give away, a chance to participate in press interviews, and four tickets to an exclusive brunch hosted by Melania Trump. (Oh, and theres a meet-and-greet with the Easter bunny on offer. Literally.) While not every brand can afford such a sponsorship, either from a liquidity position or because their customers wouldnt stand for it, plenty will jump at the opportunity. Considering it reportedly costs between $375,000 and $500,000 to sponsor a lower-tier college bowl game, and somewhere in the range of $25 million for one of the majors, the publicity value of an egg roll sponsorship is kind of a steal. Theres also the unspoken promise of what else brands might get out of their sponsorship. Although any excess funding raised from egg roll sponsors will reportedly go toward similar future White House events, it also potentially buys a big, public, double-thumbs-up from Trump himself. Beyond the crass commercial opportunity, though, sponsorship also comes with a tacit understanding that these brands may find themselves in good standing with the presidents team and his supportersand perhaps even receive further access or influence for their efforts. The pitch document from Harbinger suggests flat out that brunch with the First Lady also comes with exclusive access opportunities. There were similar chances to curry favor with Trump during his first term. At least 11 foreign governments patronized the moguls properties in his first year as president, during which he bucked his predecessors tradition of severing ties with their businesses while holding office. Domestic forces also dumped funds in Trumps coffers at the time. Between 2017 and 2020, private-prison operators, payday lenders, and other interest groups hosted fundraisers and galas at his hotels, clubs, and resorts. Meanwhile, Essential Consultants, a company run by Trumps then-attorney Michael Cohen, also brought in huge sums of money from such companies as AT&T, Swedish pharma giant Novartis, and Korea Aerospace Industries. Exactly what insights AT&T got for its $600,000 is unclear. Perhaps not so coincidentally, though, the company was waiting on a decision at the time from the Justice Department over a proposed merger with Time Warner. (The decision ultimately went AT&Ts way.) In Trumps second term, any pretense around his impartiality to donations has all but vanished. At the very least, its been frozenmuch like the anti-bribery statute keeping U.S. corporations from bribing foreign officials, which Trump suspended earlier this year. The vulgar display of the Tesla endorsement that found Trump morphing into a Troy McClure-style celebrity pitchman to help out his largest donors sinking stock? Thats just the tip of the iceberg. Ever since the election, Trump has signaled loudly, if not clearly, that his White House is accepting gratuities. Earlier this year, members of the tech Broligarchy, including Metas Mark Zuckerberg and Amazons Jeff Bezos, donated to Trumps inauguration fund before appearing alongside him at the eventwith Bezoss Amazon going a step further and dishing out a reported $40 million for a Melania Trump documentary, from which she stands to personally net at least $28 million. At the same time, the president has reportedly been holding million-dollar-per-seat candlelight dinner fundraisers at Mar-a-Lago, and any interested party can potentially also get his attention just by pumping money into Trump’s official memecoin. The White House Easter Egg Roll Proudly Presented By [Your Brand Here] is only the latest opportunity for corporations and their owners to show fealty to the president. Its also a bellwether of what future White House events might look like. If enough companies chip in, giving the event more brand logos than Jeff Gordons jumpsuit, well, perhaps Netflix and Amazon will eventually be duking it out to win exclusive broadcast rights for The White Houses A Very Trump Christmas Spectacular. For now, the president has merely told all interested parties: Gentlemen, start your engines.
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OpenAI is introducing image generation directly within ChatGPT. Powered by its flagship multimodal model, GPT-4o, the chatbot can now create visuals straight from the chat interface. The feature will initially be available to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Team, and free users. Enterprise and Education tier users will get access soon. Today we have one of the most fun, cool things we have ever launched . . . native images in ChatGPT, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said at the beginning of a video stream Tuesday. Altman acknowledged that the feature had been highly anticipatedespecially since competitors like Google Gemini have offered integrated image generation for some time. ChatGPT now allows users to generate images based on prompts, conversations, and uploaded files. Users can create brand new images or transform existing images. OpenAI says the world knowledge trained into the GPT-4o model allows ChatGPT to better understand the contexts in which images are used. It is also better at following prompts rendering text within images, OpenAI says. Users can refine images by prompting the model with natural language. For instance, when designing a video game character, the model can maintain visual consistency across multiple iterations as the user makes adjustments. OpenAI says it expects people to use the tool work-related visuals that require precision (such as diagrams, infographics, branded content), text-heavy images (instruction posters, business cards), photorealistic images with accurate lighting and textures, and visuals that benefit from conversation context. By simplifying the process with a single multimodal model that handles all image generation tasks, OpenAI is positioning ChatGPT as a go-to tool for both personal and professional image generation.
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