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The coronavirus pandemic precipitated an economic crisis disproportionately affecting renter households. Attempting to prevent a surge in evictions, policy makers at the federal, state, and local levels extended emergency protections to renters. The authors describe eviction filing patterns in 2020 and analyze the efficacy of eviction moratoria. New filings were reduced dramatically since the start of the pandemic. Between March 15 and December 31, 2020, across sites for which data are available, 65 percent fewer eviction cases were filed than would be expected in a typical year. Extrapolating nationwide, the authors estimate that at least 1.55 million fewer eviction cases were filed in 2020 than in a normal year. The pace at which cases were filed increased in late 2020, however, and the amount of back rent claimed grew considerably. Filing rates exceeded historical averages when protections lapsed. Black and female renters received a disproportionate share of eviction cases filed during the pandemic.

Background: Alaska Native and American Indian (ANAI) communities in Alaska are disproportionately affected by commercial tobacco use. Financial incentive interventions promote cigarette smoking cessation, but family-level incentives have not been evaluated. We describe the study protocol to adapt and evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of a remotely delivered, family-based financial incentive intervention for cigarette smoking among Alaskan ANAI people. Methods: The study has 3 phases: 1) qualitative interviews with ANAI adults who smoke, family members, and stakeholders to inform the intervention, 2) beta-test of the intervention, and 3) randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating intervention reach and effectiveness on verified, prolonged smoking abstinence at 6- and 12-months post-treatment. In the RCT, adult dyads (ANAI person who smokes [index participant] and family member) recruited throughout Alaska will be randomized to a no-incentives control condition (n = 328 dyads) or a 6-month incentive intervention (n = 328 dyads). All dyads will receive cessation support and family wellness materials. Smoking status will be assessed weekly for four weeks and at three and six months. Intervention index participants will receive escalating incentives for verified smoking abstinence at each time point (maximum $750 total); the family member will receive rewards of equal value. Results: A community advisory committee contributed input on the study design and methods for relevance to ANAI people, particularly emphasizing the involvement of families. Conclusion: Our study aligns with the strength and value AIAN people place on family. Findings, processes, and resources will inform how Indigenous family members can support smoking cessation within incentive interventions. Clinical Trials Registry: NCT05209451

Many studies have estimated the effect of climate change on crop productivity, often reflecting uncertainty about future climates by using more than one emissions pathway or multiple climate models, usually fewer than 30, and generally much fewer, with focus on the mean changes. Here we examine four emissions scenarios with 720,000 future climates per scenario over a 50-year period. We focus on the effect of low-frequency, high-impact weather events on crop yields in 10 countries of Southern Africa, aggregating from nearly 9,000 25-kilometer-square locations. In the highest emissions scenario, median maize yield is projected to fall by 9.2% for the region while the 5th percentile is projected to fall by 15.6% between the 2020s and 2060s. Furthermore, the frequency of a low frequency, 1-in-20-year low-yield event for rainfed maize is likely to occur every 3.5 years by the 2060s under the high emissions scenario. We also examine the impact of climate change on three other crops of considerable importance to the region: drybeans, groundnuts, and soybeans. Projected yield decline for each of these crops is less than for maize, but the impact varies from country to country and within each country. In many cases, the median losses are modest, but the losses in the bad weather years are generally much higher than under current climate, pointing to more frequent bouts with food insecurity for the region, unless investments are made to compensate for those production shocks.

Social media provides an effective tool to reach, engage, and connect smokers in cessation efforts. Our team developed a Facebook group, CAN Quit (Connecting Alaska Native People to Quit smoking), to promote use of evidence-based smoking cessation resources for Alaska Native people living in Alaska, which are underused despite their effectiveness. Often separated by geography and climate, Alaska Native people prefer group-based approaches for tobacco cessation that support their culture and values. Such preferences make Alaska Native people candidates for social media–based interventions that promote connection. This viewpoint discusses the steps involved and lessons learned in building and beta-testing our Facebook group prototype, which will then be evaluated in a pilot randomized controlled trial. We describe the process of training moderators to facilitate group engagement and foster community, and we describe how we developed and tested our intervention prototype and Facebook group. All parts of the prototype were designed to facilitate use of evidence-based cessation treatments. We include recommendations for best practices with the hope that lessons learned from the CAN Quit prototype could provide a model for others to create similar platforms that benefit Alaska Native and American Indian people in the context of smoking cessation.

We review the state of knowledge of moose (Alces alces shirasi) in the western US with respect to the species’ range, population monitoring and management, vegetative associations, licensed hunting opportunity and hunter harvest success, and hypothesized limiting factors. Most moose monitoring programs in this region rely on a mixture of aerial surveys of various formats and hunter harvest statistics. However, given the many challenges of funding and collecting rigorous aerial survey data for small and widespread moose populations, biologists in many western states are currently exploring other potential avenues for future population monitoring. In 2015, a total of 2,263 hunting permits were offered among 6 states, with 1,811 moose harvested and an average success rate per permit-holder of 80%. The spatial distribution of permits across the region shows an uneven gradient of hunting opportunity, with some local concentrations of opportunity appearing consistent across state boundaries. On average, hunting opportunity has decreased across 56% of the western US, remained stable across 17%, and increased across 27% during 2005–2015. Generally, declines in hunting opportunity for moose are evident across large portions (62–89%) of the “stronghold” states where moose have been hunted for the longest period of time (e.g., Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming). In contrast, increases in opportunity appear more common at peripheries of the range where populations have expanded, including most of Colorado, northeastern Washington, southern Idaho, and eastern Montana. There are many factors of potential importance to moose in this region, including parasites, predators, climate, forage quality, forage quantity, and humans. State wildlife agencies are currently conducting a variety of research focused on population vital rates, the development of monitoring techniques, forage quality, trace mineral levels, and evaluation of relative impacts among potential limiting factors.

This qualitative study examined the effects of a high-stakes, standardized test on teachers' instructional planning at a rural school. The research addressed this question: How do mandated curricular standards affect teachers' instructional planning and content selection? Ethnographic interviews (Creswell, 1998) examined four secondary teachers' perceptions of the effects of high-stakes standardized tests on their work. Case study methodology (Yin, 1994) guided the analysis of the data. Each participant had several years' experience teaching at Mollusk Island School, and each teacher had previously included place-based lessons (e.g. environmental studies, cultural history) in his/her repertoire. Ultimately, the study explored how a community maintenance function of small rural schools might be affected by state legislation for standardized accountability. Special thanks to Dr. Daniel P. Hallahan, Chair, Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, for assistance in funding the researcher's access to Mollusk Island School.