The Brief

Earthaven Ecovillage is a community of around 100 full-time residents tucked away in  the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. In late September, this idyllic place with its modest homes, babbling creeks and bumpy country roads was rocked as Hurricane Helene swept into the Carolinas, dropping torrential rainfall and bringing high winds. Across the state, more than 100 people died, and billions of dollars in property was damaged.

However, unlike other places such as Asheville, N.C., Earthaven was relatively unscathed.

The power briefly went down when the village's hydroelectric system was temporarily damaged. Residents quickly implemented their backup solar system. The main road also washed out in places, and fallen trees made it impassable. But the community was able to quickly clear the blocked roads and make repairs because the village had chain saws and tractors. The residents also produce much of their food — fruits, vegetables and livestock. So no one went hungry. Few buildings suffered damage, and no one was badly injured.

"We got lucky," said Earthaven resident Brandon Greenstein, who has lived in the village for 26 years. "But we also made a plan to be prepared for unforeseen events."

Zev Friedman and Chloe Vieira relax on their porch. Earthaven is organized in part around ecology and sustainability principles like permaculture and building with natural materials. It's also self-governed, and residents are required to cooperate. That all helps when it comes to withstanding big storms.

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Earthaven is also well equipped to withstand big storms because its residents know how to work together.

This collaborative spirit — neighbors knowing neighbors and sharing resources in emergency situations as well as everyday life — is an important solution in a world of worsening climate disasters.

"There's a lot of evidence that shows that the stronger a community's social cohesion is, the better chances they have of resilience from climate hazards," said Rishi Sugla, a  climate resilience scientist at the University of Washington. "Close-knit communities tend to share resources like transportation, information and caregiving during climate-fueled hazards. And all of these things can help buffer the impact."

Earthaven resident Grace Birch walks through Earthaven Ecovillage. During Hurricane Helene, the village's main road was damaged, but the self-sufficient community was able to come together and make it passable again.

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A community comes together

Established in 1994 on 329 acres of land about 45 minutes southeast of Asheville, Earthaven Ecovillage is partly organized around ecological principles such as building with natural materials and practicing permaculture — the development of sustainable and self-sufficient agricultural ecosystems. It's also self-governed, and residents are required to cooperate in decision-making, village maintenance and other processes.

Organized in hamletlike clusters dotted between the trees, Earthaven's homes range from small, rustic dwellings to modern, multilevel residences. Some people live on their own, while others opt for cohousing. There are also community spaces for meetings and other gatherings. The village is a bit like the Shire from The Lord of the Rings. There's even a house built into the hillside with a round blue-and-green door known to locals as "the Hobbit House."

Earthaven got away relatively lightly after Hurricane Helene, but parts of the ecovillage were rendered inaccessible by flooding and fallen trees.

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Earthaven is among hundreds of ecovillages throughout North America, designed to minimize their impact on the environment. There are more than 1,200 established ecovillages around the globe. They come in different shapes and sizes and offer a variety of sustainability practices. The Greater World Earthship Community near Taos, N.M., for example, features off-the-grid homes made out of recycled materials such as old tires. Findhorn Ecovillage, a 63-year-old community in Scotland, is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030.

" There are ecovillages that are made up of a lot of semi-well-to-do hippies," said Daniel Greenberg, co-director of the Foundation for Intentional Community. "But the bigger point is we are hitting a wall as a species, right? I see ecovillages as beta test centers. They're laboratories for how all of us can live in greater harmony with the planet."

Amy Belanger sits inside her Earthaven home, which is known as "the Hobbit House" because it's built into a hillside and has a quaint round door. The home was among the very few at Earthaven damaged during Hurricane Helene. A tree hit her roof, and the two upper levels of her home were mangled. Though some of her fellow community members helped pull the tree off, the house is still unlivable at the moment.

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The residents of Earthaven see themselves in this way. " It's a social experiment," said Earthaven's Greenstein. "Can we help each other to meet our needs and meet them so that we can live in a harmonious way?"

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, residents pulled together on many fronts.

Rachel Fee, a farmer who has lived at the ecovillage for eight years, did a lot of cooking in the weeks following Hurricane Helene. "I ran a kitchen on whatever kind of disparate food items we had and fed a hundred people," Fee said. The residents even held a big pig roast about a week after the storm.

Monique Mazza, a licensed practitioner of naturopathic medicine who came to Earthaven nine years ago, set up a health and wellness clinic. "I brought whatever I had medically, including enough stuff to start an IV if we had to," she said.

Andy Bosley, who has lived at Earthaven for 23 years, put his electrician and handyman skills to work by monitoring Earthaven's power systems. He's also good at keeping a level head, and so he took charge of community meetings. "It's sort of like being prepared, but not being a prepper and hoarding everything and having guns, and 'I've got a year's supply of stuff and you can't touch it,'" Bosley said. " Really, we rely on each other collectively."

Because Earthaven had recovered swiftly due to preparation and cooperation, its residents were able to help remove mud from the local Broad River Volunteer Fire Rescue Department premises. They also cleared fallen trees and rebuilt a bridge at Medicine Wheel Way, a nearby nonprofit offering Indigenous ceremony, celebration and cultural preservation for Black people, Indigenous people and other people of color.

"They're community people," said Medicine Wheel Way founder Sharon Oxendine, of the Earthaveners who came to her organization's aid. " They saw the devastation and they jumped in and did what they needed to do."

Earthavener Diane Leafe Christian sits on the porch at her home in the ecovillage. "A lot of people just think, 'Oh, I'll join a community. It'll be kumbaya in the meadow, and it'll be so fun. And I don't have to do anything except live there and enjoy life.' But it takes managing, sort of like raising a child."

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Collectivity as a climate solution

Collaborative efforts are not uncommon at ecovillages.

"Ecovillages are good at sharing resources, being very connected and knowing who has the tools and the skills that are needed for any given moment," said Allyson Quinlan, the co-author of a 2024 Global Ecovillage Network report looking at the climate resilience of ecovillages around the world. Quinlan is the executive director of Resilience Alliance, a group that researches the resilience of social-ecological systems. The Global Ecovillage Network collaborated with Quinlan's organization on the study.

The report examined 20 ecovillages in 18 countries to find out how well these communities could cope if the planet warmed by 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit). The Earth is currently on track to warm even more than that by the end of the century unless humans dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions.

While areas for improvement include ramping up early warning systems and emergency plans, the report found a strong sense of social cohesion, self-organization and participation to be among the greatest strengths of ecovillages when it comes to their ability to cope with the impacts of climate change. "There's a lot we can learn from ecovillages about supporting one another and connecting as a community," Quinlan said.

Earthaven's Council Hall is the main meeting place for residents. The community is self-governing, so many decisions get made in this yurtlike building. "This building was designed to accommodate our governance council," said Earthaven co-founder Paul Caron. "It's a 35-foot circle, and that number was basically brought forth from data that suggested that at that size, people in a circle can see the facial expressions of the people across the circle. Once it gets bigger than that, then you start to lose that connection."

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Earthaven co-founder Paul Caron grew up in Michigan and wanted to start an intentional community built on anticonsumerist, collectivist, permaculture-based principles long before Earthaven came into being. He was already living near the North Carolina site that would eventually become Earthaven when he met a group of people with similar plans. They went in together on a $440,000 tract of heavily forested land and started clearing it to build housing and communal spaces.

Before physically establishing the community, they laid down its guiding principles in writing. " We agreed that we would do permaculture, natural building and we would practice consensus," said co-founder Arjuna da Silva. Da Silva is talking about a form of collective decision-making where everyone has to agree before moving ahead.

" We had an explicit agreement that we signed that was that we're not allowed to hold grudges," Caron said. "We're not allowed to continue to have a conflict that you don't work on." Earthaven has in recent years modified its approach to self-governance; now an 85% majority has to agree for a plan to proceed.

Conflict resolution training is offered to anyone who stays at Earthaven and is required for anyone who wants to become a member. A resident can become a member after living at the ecovillage for anywhere between one and several years while the community and the individual decide whether they are a good fit.

Caron said people in his community model collaborative behaviors because togetherness is one of Earthaven's core principles. "It's not a spiritual ideology that's holding it together," he said. "It's the foundation of that cooperative culture that we've actually created."

The cooperative culture shows up in many aspects of life at Earthaven today, from hashing out disagreements at community meetings to the regular Friday night music jams. And it showed up in the residents' response during the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Earthaven co-founder Paul Caron was living in the area in the 1990s when he met the people with whom he would go on to create the ecovillage. " The original founding vision was to model a village, kind of like going back to an earlier pattern so that we can regroup as a species to go forward, basically. That's what Earthaven really is — a social experiment more than a physical experiment."

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The downside to interconnectedness

The interconnectedness also comes with downsides when dealing with the impacts of climate change.

Lack of diversity is a big one for Earthaven. While there is socioeconomic range, the residents are largely white. It has been that way since the beginning.

Resident Chloe Vieira is concerned about the lack of racial diversity. "If we have a monochromatic set of people, we're gonna get a certain answer," said Vieira. " But if we have a diversity of backgrounds, then people are gonna be looking at that question from multiple angles and we're just gonna come up with a better answer."

Zev Friedman explores the greenhouse next to his home. "The things that make good community are also the things that make effective disaster response."

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Resident Zev Friedman is worried about how whiteness can lead to patterns that cause gentrification. "A gentrifying ecovillage leans towards insulating us from what's going on in the world," Friedman said. "And therefore being less willing to take on truly transformational ideas and actions around what it would mean for us to play a significant role in true climate adaptation."

Residents NPR spoke with said they want Earthaven to grow in size and be more diverse. There are advantages and disadvantages to this aspiration when it comes to climate change.

"If it's done well, integrating lots of new people can really increase resilience because you have a bigger and more varied pool of people, skills and capacities, and can leverage a greater collective intelligence," said Anna Kovasna, the strategic lead for community resilience at the Global Ecovillage Network. "But it can also lead to splits and conflicts. So it tests the shared vision and purpose, which is really important to ecovillages."

Earthaven's approximately 100 residents share an idyllic forested landscape. It has become more expensive to buy land and start an ecovillage from scratch since the 1990s, when Earthaven was founded. But co-founder Paul Caron says the ideals of communal living offer lessons to everyone — even those of us living in urban environments.

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Looking outward

Part of Earthaven's effort to increase its diversity and potential size involves increasing public awareness of the village and its sustainable practices. It does this by running public tours and workshops on topics like climate resilience, permaculture and solar energy, mostly through its on-site School of Integrated Living.
"The main thing is to get people to come here, see what it is and go, 'Hmm, what could I do in my life to develop something like this?'" Earthaven co-founder Caron said.

The cooperative spirit of Earthaven's residents saw the community through Hurricane Helene. But the residents say there is still work to be done to make themselves even more resilient.

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Caron said even people who have no interest in starting an ecovillage — which has become increasingly expensive and difficult to do in the United States owing to high land prices and strict regulatory frameworks — or even joining an existing one, can learn how to live more sustainable lives right in their own neighborhoods from places like Earthaven. He said he wants communities everywhere to work collectively to be more resilient when it comes to adapting to climate change.

"Everybody can't move to the country and found an ecovillage in the woods. But everybody can join with their neighbors and figure out ways to cooperate," Caron said. "Like, if you've got three suburban lawns right next to each other, you don't need but one lawnmower. It's as simple as that."

Copyright 2025 NPR

L.A. County leaders on Tuesday greenlit public transparency about payouts to county executives in response to LAist revealing a secretive $2 million settlement with the county’s CEO.

County supervisors unanimously approved a proposal by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath to have the county proactively inform the public about such settlements once they’re finalized and to look into creating a public website to describe them.

Among other things, the approved motion requires that all future settlements with county executives include language making it clear the agreement will be proactively disclosed to the public.

The backstory

The directive cited coverage by LAist revealing that two months ago, county CEO Fesia Davenport had quietly gotten a $2 million settlement payment from the county. As reported by LAist, Davenport’s settlement deal was labeled “confidential” and was not publicly reported out by the county.

The settlement was in response to her claims the supervisors harmed her reputation and caused her distress by putting a measure before voters — which was approved — that will create an elected county executive position. It’s among multiple reforms to restructure county government under last year’s voter-approved proposition, known as Measure G.

Davenport did not return a message for comment.

‘Public trust’ cited

“Transparency is central to strengthening public trust, without exception,” Horvath said in a statement after Tuesday’s vote. “Since joining the board, I have actively taken steps to ensure the public is included in the work of the county, especially concerning the use of public funds.

“Creating a clear process for department executive settlements is a commonsense action fundamental to good governance.”

David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, commented on the decision, calling transparency the "oxygen of accountability in government."

“There is no reason why the county should not be proactive about posting and disclosing settlements that have been reached, especially with former executives or staff,” Loy said.

Davenport was one of several county executives to receive sizable settlement payouts over the past few years. Four additional county executives received payouts, according to Davenport’s claims that led to her settlement.

Costco now is one of the largest companies to sue the Trump administration over tariffs, hoping to secure a refund if the Supreme Court declares the new import duties illegal.

The Supreme Court is weighing the future of President Donald Trump's tariffs on nearly all imports. Justices seemed skeptical about their legality during last month's oral arguments. Lower courts previously had found Trump improperly used emergency economic powers to set most of the new levies.

Dozens of companies across industries have filed lawsuits to seek refunds in the event the Supreme Court finds Trump's tariffs illegal. The list includes makeup giant Revlon, the canned foods maker Bumble Bee and Kawasaki, which makes motorcycles and more. Now Costco has joined the queue.

"This is the first time we're seeing big companies take their heads out of the sand publicly," said Marc Busch, a trade law expert at Georgetown University. For the most part, small companies have been leading the legal action against tariffs, he said, adding, "It's nice to finally see some heavyweights joining in the fray."

In its suit filed with the U.S. Court of International Trade, Costco did not specify how much it's already paid in tariffs, but the retail giant worries that even if the Supreme Court eventually unravels Trump's tariff regime, it may not be able to recoup all that money.

Costco executives in May had said that about a third of what is sold in the U.S. comes from abroad, predominantly non-food items.

NPR's Scott Horsley contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 NPR

The L.A. City Council voted 8-4 on Tuesday to continue allowing the Los Angeles Police Department to be armed with 40 mm foam bullet launchers and tear gas.

California law enforcement agencies are required to track and publicly document how they use military equipment, including less-lethal bean bag shotgun rounds, drones and armored vehicles, under state law AB 481 passed in 2022. The law also requires city leaders to approve or disapprove military equipment use annually. That vote came in front of the council Tuesday.

Another law passed after the George Floyd protests of 2020 restricted the use of crowd-control weapons, including tear gas and foam bullets, unless specific criteria are met. In 2020, a federal judge also imposed an injunction restricting LAPD’s use of force at protests, citing the “unfortunate history of civil rights violations by LAPD officers.”

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez — who introduced an amendment asking city leaders to ban the LAPD’s use of 40 mm foam bullet launchers and tear gas — said military equipment use is allowed only in specific instances but that the police department has deployed the weapons “in ways that should make everyone here on this body pause.” He cited examples of weapons used against journalists and protesters during this summer’s protests against federal immigration activity in L.A.

“In recent months, we’ve watched this equipment deployed in ways that echo the same intimidation tactics we condemn in ICE raids — tactics that erode trust and violate basic legal protections,” he said. “Our residents should be able to exercise their rights without being met with [foam] bullets or tear gas.”

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell countered that such weapons are "a de-escalation tool, short of using deadly force. The last thing we want to use is deadly force."

He continued: "Taking a tool like this away from us puts us in a very bad position relative to city liability and relative to protecting our officers and the public that we serve.”

In 2024, Los Angeles was liable for more than $50 million in payouts related to civil rights violations and unlawful use of force by the LAPD, according to the city controller’s office.

 ”Rather than be swayed by emotion or swayed by the loud voices of a relative few," McDonnell said Tuesday, "we're here to protect 4 million residents of Los Angeles and all the visitors who come here."

How we got here

After this summer’s anti-ICE protests, the LAPD once again came under scrutiny for its use of foam bullet launchers and tear gas.

An LAist investigation found LAPD used crowd-dispersal tools on people who did not appear to pose a threat and, in some cases, did not appear to be protesting at all. LAist reporters witnessed LAPD officers firing less-lethal munitions into crowds and at protestors running away from police. They did not hear clear warnings about the use of crowd-dispersal weapons during some of the protests and could not locate evidence that adequate warning was provided during subsequent protests.

But at Tuesday’s council meeting, McDonnell said, these weapons are deployed as “a last resort to be able to restore order” and after people have been given time to leave.

The Los Angeles Press Club sued the LAPD after June’s protests, citing violations of journalists’ rights while covering protests. After a judge issued an injunction in that case prohibiting the use of force against journalists, the LAPD filed an emergency motion asking the judge to lift the injunction, stating it required “operationally impracticable standards.” The judge denied the LAPD’s request.

How to watchdog your police department

One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.

AB 481 requires police departments — including those at transit agencies, school districts and university campuses, sheriff’s departments, district attorney’s offices and probation departments — to provide reports about the use of military equipment.

So how do you know if they're in compliance? It’s simple. Search for the law enforcement agency name and "AB 481" on any search engine, and a public page should pop up. Here’s the LAPD’s.

The city of Los Angeles has been working on major changes to its charter, which is basically the city’s constitution. The changes could bring sweeping reform to how the city works.

The Los Angeles City Charter Reform Commission has been meeting for several months on a wide range of topics, including City Council expansion, ranked-choice voting systems and land-use planning changes.

“It is weedy. It is academic. But the charter touches Angelenos’ everyday lives,” said Raymond Meza, who chairs the commission.

This week, the commission will host a town hall meeting in Echo Park in an effort to get more people involved in the process. It will take place outside on the northeast lawn of the park — weather permitting.

Despite getting a slow start, the commission is hosting multiple meetings in an effort to meet an April 2 deadline to submit proposals to the City Council. It’ll be up to the council to decide whether to place reform proposals on the ballot next November.

The commission has broken reform down into four subject areas, with committees for each.

They are:

• planning and infrastructure
• government structure
• better government
• personnel and budget

“We’re in an exciting moment,” said David Levitus of L.A. Forward, an advocacy group.

“Looking at the charter for reform is long overdue”

Reform Commission

The L.A. City Council created the commission last year after a series of scandals rocked City Hall. Former Councilmember Jose Huizar went to prison on federal corruption charges and secret audio tapes revealed backroom dealing on redistricting.

The panel is made up of four appointees by Mayor Karen Bass, two by the council president and two by the president pro tempore. Those eight selected an additional five through an open application process.

On Thursday, the full commission is expected to take up proposals for a two-year budget cycle and an expedited city hiring process. Advocates of the changes say extending budget planning from one to two years will allow city leaders to better anticipate spending and revenue.

They say the city hiring process is slow and byzantine.

Meza said the Echo Park meeting Saturday is an opportunity for members of the public to learn more about the process and speak at length with commissioners.

“We absolutely want to hear from people what is important to them as residents of the city of Los Angeles when it comes to their expectations of their city government," he said.

How to get involved

For a list of all upcoming meetings, go here.

To submit a public comment, you can email reformLAcharter@lacity.org.

There’s also a survey on the commission’s website at reformlacharter.lacity.gov.