West
Franklin Graham shares hope message in exclusive interview on Easter special: 'God hasn’t forgotten them'
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In a powerful Easter message filmed from the smoldering remains of fire-ravaged neighborhoods in California, Rev. Franklin Graham is calling the nation to remember that even in devastation, hope is not lost.
Filmed in the ashes of homes lost to the Southern California wildfires, “Easter from the Ashes” premieres at noon ET Sunday on Fox News.
“Can there be hope in the place of ashes?” Graham asks in the special, standing amid the rubble of the Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles. “This is a message of hope for people who feel forgotten.”
The program, which also features performances by Grammy-winning worship leader Michael W. Smith and artist Charity Gayle, was recorded in and around areas still scarred by flames.
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The music portion was filmed on the campus of Pepperdine University, just miles from neighborhoods that were leveled.
The broadcast is the latest in a long tradition of Easter messages from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, but this one is grounded quite literally in the ashes of loss — speaking not only to spiritual need, but also to physical and emotional pain felt across the country in the wake of natural disasters.
Volunteers with Samaritan’s Purse search for meaningful personal items for members of the Alvarado family in the rubble of their home which burned in the Eaton Fire on Feb. 5, in Altadena, Calif. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
In just the last several months, Americans have endured a string of catastrophes: wildfires on the West Coast, floods and tornadoes across the Midwest and South, and Hurricane Helene in the Southeast. In each case, Samaritan’s Purse — the international relief organization led by Graham — has mobilized to help.
“Easter is not the same for many people this year,” Graham told Fox News Digital. “So many have gone through devastating tragedy and loss. But I want people to know that God hasn’t abandoned them.”
Samaritan’s Purse has deployed disaster relief teams across the U.S. to provide everything from physical labor to moral support.
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In California, volunteers have been helping families sift through ashes to recover treasured belongings. In one especially memorable case, a woman was searching for a porcelain vase — her grandmother’s heirloom brought from overseas. The team found it unbroken, tucked in a basement corner under piles of ash.
“It wasn’t cracked. It wasn’t chipped,” Graham said. “To anyone else, it was just a vase. But to her, it was priceless. That’s the kind of healing we’re trying to bring.”
In other parts of the country, Samaritan’s Purse has helped restore mobility and shelter by replacing cars and rebuilding homes. Partnering with Rick Hendrick of Hendrick Automotive Group, the organization has been supplying vehicles to families who lost everything.
“When people lose their cars in a disaster, they’re stuck,” Graham said. “We’ve seen people walking to the store or relying on neighbors. We just felt called to help however we could.”
Currently, Samaritan’s Purse has more than a dozen homes under construction, with plans to continue rebuilding for at least the next three years.
While physical rebuilding is vital, Graham’s Easter message centers on spiritual renewal through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He draws attention to the biblical reality of both heaven and hell — a theme often overlooked, but one Graham said he believes is urgently needed today.
“In this special, I talk about how Jesus preached on hell. And how He also gave us a way out,” Graham said. “He died for our sins. He was buried. And on the third day, He rose again. That’s the hope we have.”
Volunteers with Samaritan’s Purse pray with Manuel and Emma Alvarado after helping them search for personal items in the ashes of their home in Altadena, Calif. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
He recounted stories from disaster survivors who described their experiences as near-death or even miraculous. One woman, caught in a flood, managed to grab a branch that later couldn’t be found —something she believes was divine intervention.
“Some people say angels saved them,” Graham noted. “Things happened that just don’t make sense otherwise.”
Graham also spoke about his recent visit to the White House during Holy Week, where he joined around 40 pastors for a private dinner and worship service with President Donald Trump. He described the President’s remarks as “the clearest gospel message I’ve ever heard from a U.S. president.”
“I don’t think we’ve heard anything like it since maybe George Washington,” Graham said. “He not only believes, but he’s not afraid to say it.”
“We have a president that is not afraid of his faith,” Graham said Friday on The Ingraham Angle. “He doesn’t shy away from it. He’s very bold about it and clear about what he believes.”
Graham described Trump’s message at the dinner as one of the clearest public affirmations of the Gospel he has heard from any U.S. president. “He talks about Jesus Christ, talks about his own faith,” he said. “He’ll tell you that when that bullet went through his ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, it was God who spared his life.”
Volunteers with Samaritan’s Purse pray with Manuel and Emma Alvarado, both 86, after helping them search for personal items in the ashes of their home which burned in the Eaton Fire, Feb. 5, in Altadena, Calif. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The day after the dinner, Graham participated in a service for White House staff, including lawyers and administrative professionals, joined by Pastor Greg Laurie and Pastor Jentezen Franklin, who administered communion. “It was a wonderful time of worship,” he recalled.
Graham credited the Trump administration with helping cut through bureaucratic red tape that often slows recovery efforts in disaster zones.
“California has been very difficult,” he said. “We’ve faced a lot of delays at the state and local level. But the President pushed FEMA to act faster. That helped open doors.”
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As the interview closed, Graham returned to the core message of the season.
“Easter is a very special time because Jesus Christ conquered death,” he said. “He took our sins to the cross. He died. He was buried. But on the third day, He rose from the dead. And He will come into any heart that is willing to accept Him by faith. That’s the miracle of Easter.”
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San Francisco, CA
Civil grand jury report warns of wildfire risk at SF’s Glen Canyon Park
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A recent Civil Grand Jury report has identified wildfire risks in San Francisco’s Glen Canyon, warning that vegetation management is needed to reduce the potential for a fire in an area not typically associated with wildfire danger.
The report focuses on the canyon’s large population of Blue Gum eucalyptus trees, an invasive species originally imported from Australia.
Historical photographs show Glen Canyon was largely treeless in the late 1800s, when the land was used primarily as a dairy farm.
The eucalyptus trees were planted after investors believed the fast-growing species could be harvested for timber.
“And these people were so stupid, they didn’t realize they were going to build railroad ties and use the wood for building, and it’s worthless. It warps, it splits. it has no commercial value,” said Rick Carell, a member of the Civil Grand Jury.
While the timber venture failed, the trees remained.
Today, their flammability is a concern for fire safety officials and grand jury members.
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“The leaves have a lot of oil in them, and so actually, if it’s very hot, and it’s been very, very dry, they actually explode, because it’s highly flammable. And so, you can see here, look at all the debris right next to this road. So somebody throws a cigarette out into there, and you have a potential fire,” Carell said.
Carell said assessments of the trees have raised additional concerns.
“They evaluated something like 427 eucalyptus trees and 80% of them, back in 2012, were in bad shape,” he said.
Although CAL FIRE has repeatedly rated San Francisco’s wildfire risk as low because of the city’s cool, foggy climate, the grand jury report points to the 2025 Pacific Palisades fire in Los Angeles as an example of how fires can occur in urban areas where vegetation management is inadequate.
The report notes that Glen Canyon has only two fire hydrants, one near the Glen Park Recreation Center and another near a day camp building.
However, San Francisco’s Emergency Firefighting Water System provides additional resources through reservoirs, high-pressure hydrants and underground cisterns.
One nearby cistern at Chenery and Surrey streets can supply 75,000 gallons of water. Based on a fire engine’s typical pumping rate of 1,500 gallons per minute, that amount of water would be exhausted in about 50 minutes. Additional cisterns are located in surrounding neighborhoods.
MORE: CAL FIRE urging Bay Area residents to create defensible space as wildfire season begins
Despite the concerns, the report concluded that removing all eucalyptus trees is not a practical solution because of the canyon’s steep terrain. Large-scale removal could increase the risk of landslides. Instead, the report recommends managing vegetation by clearing brush and fallen debris and removing diseased trees.
“To remove any brush that might be a fire hazard, if something could really ignite quickly. We’re going to raise up the branches, the lower branches of the tree because that’s where a lot of the problem is for the spread of the fire, and if there are any dead trees that are really hazardous or branches that may hang over the roadway, that we can take them out as well,” said Rachel Gordon of the San Francisco Department of Public Works.
Public Works officials are expected to coordinate closely with CAL FIRE on vegetation management efforts.
“CAL FIRE guys, they train in the type of environment, and so what they do, they get their chainsaws out, they eliminate. They limb the trees, they bring out the debris and that sort of stuff so this is an ideal training site for them,” Carell said.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which manages a small portion of the canyon, has already removed trees on its property to prevent them from falling across O’Shaughnessy Avenue, a potential emergency evacuation route.
The agency has also hired habitat experts to remove non-native vegetation and replace it with fire-resistant native species, including coast live oaks.
“That has all these tannins in the foliage that resist fire. You can put a lighter right under that thing in the middle of the hottest day of the year, and it will not burn like these willows. They will not burn, and so that’s what we want to load our parks with instead of having things like the eucalyptus and the pine — which, as we all know, they just burn like a crazy Christmas tree fire,” said Habitat Specialist Josiah Clark.
The majority of the 66-acre canyon is managed by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, which agrees that improved coordination among city agencies is essential to maintaining fire safety in the area.
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Denver, CO
RTD to bring back BroncosRide bus service after 5-year suspension
The Regional Transportation District’s BroncosRide buses, running from Park-n-Ride lots around metro Denver to Broncos football games, will be back this fall after a five-year suspension.
RTD directors this week voted 10-5 to reinstate the service.
The agency suspended the service before the Broncos’ 2020-21 season due to bus driver shortages and agency concerns about public transit equity.
Despite RTD’s current budget crisis, the directors decided that the BroncosRide — which will cost $1.6 million, according to information that agency staff provided to directors — will help boost RTD’s lagging overall ridership and increase the appeal of public transit.
If the buses are full, Director Chris Nicholson said, fare revenues estimated at $497,855 will offset the cost.
“At RTD, we make lives better through connections, and there’s nothing better than seeing (Broncos quarterback) Bo Nix connect for a touchdown,” Nicholson said. “Previous boards didn’t see it as a fundamental part of service. We do.”
Before the Broncos’ Aug. 21 preseason home game against the Green Bay Packers, RTD officials plan to announce detailed plans to run about 92 buses from about 18 locations around metro Denver, including stations near Denver International Airport, East High School, the Highlands Ranch Town Center, Interstate 25/Broadway, Broomfield, Longmont, Littleton and Parker.
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Seattle, WA
FOLLOWUP: Sound Transit Board finalizes $400+ million spending installment for West Seattle light rail
Two weeks ago, we reported on the Sound Transit Board‘s System Expansion Committee recommending approval of actions to allot $406 million toward West Seattle light rail – the first big commitment after the ST3 plan revision that cemented ST commitment to WS. At this afternoon’s meeting of the full board, the actions all got final approval, as did a much-smaller installment of spending on Ballard light-rail planning.
(Here’s the full slide deck as presented at the committee meeting, also including the current WS light-rail cost estimate of around $5 billion.)
On the horizon, according to the most-recent ST email update, is work to advance the plan for the new cross-Duwamish River light-rail bridge, shown in this rendering:
(Sound Transit rendering)
That work on the south end of Harbor Island (in a parking lot at 1001 Klickitat, according to city docs) will see crews drill a test bridge shaft approximately 10 feet wide and 250 feet deep to better understand ground conditions,” ST says, to obtain “key information needed to finalize the bridge design.”
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