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Farah Sheikh takes part in a candlelight vigil in Times Square for the victims of the Connecticut school shooting on Dec. 14, 2012 in New York.

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Julie Henson of San Francisco participates in a candle light vigil outside the White House to remember the victims at the Connecticut school shooting on Dec. 14, in Washington, D.C.

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Local resident Rachel Perrone, left, and her five-year-old son Joe participate in a candle light vigil outside the White House to remember the victims at the Connecticut school shooting on Dec. 14, in Washington, D.C.

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People stand with candles outside the overflow area of a vigil at the Saint Rose of Lima church in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14.

Slideshow: Connecticut school massacre

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The second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history sent crying children spilling into the school parking lot as frightened parents waited for word on their loved ones.

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Garth Carroll, who also goes by the name of "Professor Gizmo," smokes what he describes as "good, greenhouse organic herb" at the base of the Space Needle in Seattle just before midnight on Wednesday, Dec. 5. Carroll is a medical marijuana patient and marijuana activist in Seattle.

About a hundred pot smokers gathered in the cold at Seattle's City Center on Wednesday night to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana in Washington state.  The law, which took effect at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6, does not allow marijuana to be smoked in public, but you wouldn't know it by watching the crowd.  As the clock stuck midnight, cheers erupted, followed by lighters igniting pipes and joints.

Jim Seida / NBC News

Dustin, left and Paul, both from Puyallup, Wash., and both of whom wouldn't give their last name, smoke marijuana beneath the Space Needle shortly after midnight on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, in Seattle, Wash. Dustin and Paul were two of about 100 pot smokers gathered in Seattle's City Center to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana.

Even though it's still illegal to smoke marijuana in public in Washington, there was no sign of police presence in the smokey crowd.  The Seattle Police Department themselves have officially told the public that "...minor marijuana possession has been the lowest enforcement priority for the Seattle Police Department since Seattle voters passed Initiative 75 in 2003." They answer the public's marijuana-related FAQs in their somewhat humorous online guide called "Marijwhatnow? A guide to Legal Marijuana Use In Seattle."

Jim Seida / NBC News

"It's too good to be just for the young," said 67-year-old Pat Edmonson about the marijuana cigarette she smoked just after midnight on Thursday, Dec. 6, in Seattle. Edmonson, of Whidbey Island, Wash., was in Seattle with her daughter to celebrate the legalization of the possession of marijuana.

Seattle police acknowledge that while it's now legal in the state of Washington to possess marijuana, it's still against federal law.  For more on federal laws still in effect, check out the Department of Justice statement warning that was issued.

Related content:

• A history of pot, from George Washington to legalizing ganja
• Midnight party: Pot, gay marriage become legal in Washington state
• Video: Wash. pot smokers light up at Space Needle

All photos by Mike Kane / Marguerite Casey Foundation

Arsenio Bravo looks up at a passing car while picking salal, a leafy green shrub sold for floral arrangements around the world, in the forest between Forks and La Push, Wash., on the Olympic Peninsula, in March 2012. Bravo was drawn to the area more than a decade ago from his native Oaxaca, Mexico. Picking salal gave Bravo the ability to start and support a family. He lives in Forks with his wife and son.

By Kathy Mulady

Latino families began moving to the sleepy, rural town of Forks, Wash., in the 1980s, attracted by the quiet and willing to work at low-paying jobs left behind when the logging industry faded. The men pick salal, a green plant commonly used in floral arrangements, or cut cedar shingles in the woods, making enough to support their families.

But now the town—200 miles from the Canadian border and 1,300 miles from the Mexican border—has turned into an unexpected focus of the U.S. Border Patrol. 

Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Joe Romero calls in the license plate of a vehicle that he suspects belongs to undocumented salal pickers on a remote forest access road near Port Angeles, Wash. Border agents are aware of the areas that salal pickers tend to work, and know that often salal pickers are undocumented immigrants. A high percentage of the undocumented immigrants deported from the Olympic Peninsula are initially detained in the forest while picking salal.

In the last few years, the number of U.S. Border Patrol agents has increased six-fold along the U.S.– Canadian Border. In September, when a new $9.8 million field office opened in Port Angeles, on Washington States’ remote Olympic Peninsula, the number of agents at the station grew ten times, from four people in 2006 to 42 now. There is room for 50 agents in the new building. 

Isabel, 10, sits with her mother Marta and father Victor in their home in Forks. Victor is undocumented and picks salal to support the family. Marta, a U.S. citizen, worries about Victor getting deported and how that would effect Isabel and Victor Jr., Isabel's 9-year-old brother. Both kids are U.S. citizens and would likely stay in the U.S. with their mother. (Last names withheld at subjects' request).

The smell of wood smoke is ubiquitous after a late-season snowfall in the trailer park neighborhoods of Forks, where many immigrant families live.

American-born Edgar Ruiz Garcia, 10 months old, looks out from his family's home in a trailer park neighborhood in Forks. Edgar's father is an undocumented salal picker who runs the risk of deportation daily by picking in the forests. Edgar is being held by his aunt, whose husband was arrested while picking salal in the forest and subsequently deported back to Mexico.

Agents are charged with preventing terrorists and their weapons of terrorism from entering the country, and apprehension of anyone or anything illegally entering the country.

With the increased presence of U.S. border patrol agents, the decades-old Latino community is dispersing, fearing deportations that can divide families. About 75 percent of the Latino families have left, and business owners say they are suffering.

See more images of immigration in PhotoBlog.

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Lauren Rae, left, and Olivia Marlow look at the ornaments on a Christmas tree in the Grand Foyer during the first viewing of the White House 2012 holiday decorations. The first lady welcomed military families to the White House for a viewing of the decorations.

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Christmas decorations in the China room during the first viewing of the White House 2012 holiday decorations.

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A nearly 300-pound gingerbread White House on display at the State Dining Room on Nov. 28. A stuffed replica of Bo, the presidential dog, is at lower left.

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Christmas trees in the State Dining Room.

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First lady Michelle Obama reacts as she participates in craft activities with children of military families at the State Dining Room after a preview of the 2012 White House holiday decorations.

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First lady Michelle Obama speaks in the East Room during a preview of the 2012 White House holiday decorations on Nov. 28. The first lady welcomed military families for the first viewing.

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A stuffed replica of Bo, the presidential dog, wearing a Santa Claus hat at the White House.

Also on PhotoBlog:

• From backyard to center stage: Rockefeller Center Christmas tree stands tall in spotlight
• Cobbler lives! Obama gives a turkey something to be thankful for

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Impatient with how long it was taking House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to drive a nail, Speaker of the House John Boehner finishes the job with one stroke during the "First Nail" ceremony, signifying the start of construction of the 2013 Inaugural Platform in front of the U.S. Capitol. Afterwards, she looks very impressed with his handiwork. 

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Members of Congress swing their hammers during the event. The winner of the Nov. 6 presidential election will be sworn in on the platform on Jan. 21, 2013.

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Slideshow: On the campaign trail

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In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

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Felled in hopes of saving the property, a massive tree lies on the ground near the Huntley Lodge in Cle Elum, Wash., Thursday, Aug. 16. The owners of the lodge, Greg and Christi Huntley, decided to take the trees down to keep them from acting as fuel for the Taylor Bridge fire that was threatening their property.

"We've probably cut down a hundred trees," said Greg Huntley as he looked off the deck of one of the cabins that make up Huntley Lodge and Retreat. Huntley and his wife, Christi, bought the vacation getaway five years ago. "We just want to be as ready as we can," said Huntley about preparing for the approach of the Taylor Bridge Fire, a 23,000 acre wildfire in central Washington that has already claimed about 60 homes.

As fire fighting helicopters roared overhead, the Huntleys and some hired help were setting up a 15,000 gallon above-ground pool, one of two they planned to fill with water from a small pond on their property below. They wanted as much water as possible on hand to douse everything before the fire, burning just up the hill, reached their property. But water being the hot commodity it is in an event like this, the helicopters, too, were drawing from the pond, coming in low and dipping their huge red buckets into the shallow water, taking advantage of the water's close proximity to the flames. Christi stopped working long enough to take pictures of the helicopters at work with her iPad. "This is the only time I've actually been scared," she said.

Jim Seida / NBC News

The Huntleys and employees of Huntley Lodge pitch in to assemble a 15,000 gallon above-ground pool at the lodge in Cle Elum, Wash., Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. They planned to fill the pool and use the water in defense of the Taylor Bridge Fire, a 23,000 acre wildfire in central Washington.

Jim Seida / NBC News

As a last-ditch effort, a sprinkler is placed on the roof of one of the cabins at Huntley Lodge in Cle Elum, Wash. The sprinkler is intended to wet the roof as a last line of defense agains the Taylor Bridge Fire.

The owner of a successful auto repair business in Seattle, Greg, sprung into action when he heard about the fire. "We're trying to be proactive rather than reactive," he said.  He bought pools, chain saws, hoses and pumps.  One pump is strong enough to necessitate the use of a two-inch fire hose. "It does huge volumes with lots of pressure so I can spray the trees," he said.  He even placed a sprinkler on the roof of each building. "That's the last thing we do before we leave, is turn on all the sprinklers," he said. Then he added, "I"m gonna stay here until they force me off the property."

Even with all the activity, the helicopters, the pools, the sprinklers and the frenetic feel of getting ready for a fire, the jagged stumps of trees really stand out. Scores of trees were cut and dragged far enough away from the structures so as not to add additional fuel to the fire. Though, many of the biggest ones were still standing. "I hate to drop the trees directly around the lodge because those are 150 to 200-year-old trees," Greg said. "It would be a long time before they'd be back again."

The Huntleys bought the lodge and its eight cabins five years ago to rent out to wedding parties and weekenders. At the time, the structures were in a state of neglect. "We've got over a million dollars invested in it, and that's after I bought the property," Greg said. "We absolutely love this place. We put our heart and soul into it over the last five years."

Related links:

• Wildfires continue to burn, destroy homes in Central Washington
• Lone house, surrounded by scorched earth, survives wildfire
• Wildfire scorches Wash. Grasslands
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• View more photos of wildfires on PhotoBlog

Slideshow: Wildfires burn Western states

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Blazes in multiple states threaten houses and cause evacuations.

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Flynn Harmon of Cle Elum, Wash. sits on his ATV holding Loner, a German Wirehaired Pointer while looking for his other dog, Frida. "I think she was just spooked with the helicopters flying overhead," Harmon said, "So I unlatched both of them and she just darted off into the trees over there. I've searched all that really well. I don't know if somebody possibly picked her up somewhere, I was gonna go start looking at the shelters." Helicopters are being used to try to extinguish the Taylor Bridge Fire, seen burning in the background. Thursday, Aug. 16.

The fire that has burned grasslands, sage and timber in central Washington since Monday has destroyed approximately 60 homes. More than 20,000 acres are burning and the flames are only 25% contained as temperatures are expected to climb through the end of the week.

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Helicopters drop water on the Taylor Bridge Fire just east of Cle Elum, Wash., Thursday, Aug. 16.

More coverage: Lone house, surrounded by scorched earth, survives wildfire

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Flames surround a house, Aug. 14, 2012, on a hillside above Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash. Wildland firefighters on-site advised that the house survived the fire.

Elaine Thompson / AP

Surrounded by burnt brush and trees, the house shown above still stands, Aug. 15, after surviving a wildfire a day earlier, near Cle Elum, Wash.

By NBC News and wire services

Firefighters from around Washington state converged Wednesday on a wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes, just one of the blazes being fought across parched western states.

But one house survived.

"The house was saved by defensible space," Bryan Flint, Washington state Department of Natural Resources spokesman, told The Associated Press. "The placement of the driveway and the lack of trees and brush up against the house help prevent the flames from reaching the house."

Where you choose to build your house on your property, what you build it out of and how you protect it will make your home more or less prone to fire risk, Rich Elliott, deputy fire chief, Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue, told NBC News.

“Those three things are 90 percent of the battle,” he said.

“It’s not like in a city,” Elliott said. “Firefighters can’t overwhelm a (wild) fire.”

But they can help deflect flames around defensible homes, he said. About 130 firefighters were in the area Tuesday and he could not be certain if any directly acted to save the house.

Slideshow: Wildfires burn western states

Robert Sorbo / Reuters

Blazes in multiple states threaten houses and cause evacuations.

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“We look for structures we can reasonably and safely defend,” Elliott said. About 130 firefighters were in the area Tuesday.

Robert Angrisano, Kittitas Valley fire commissioner who was one of the firefighters in the area, told NBC News that the firefighters were not involved in saving the house.

Firefighters in the first 24 hours of a wildlands blaze will pull vegetation away from homes and other structures and may wet down an area or spray foam ahead of approaching flames, Elliott said.

Among points to consider in keeping a home safe is making sure debris isn’t collecting under a wood deck and keeping vegetation away from the home.

Some neighborhoods saw nearly complete destruction during the Taylor Bridge fire, but some are fairly well-planned.

He said Kittitas Valley department recommends the Firewise program.

More than 800 firefighters were expected to help fight the Taylor Bridge fire in Eastern Washington, joined by 145 prison inmates and a couple of National Guard helicopters, according to NBC station KING in Seattle. 

As of Wednesday the wind-driven fire had destroyed more than 70 homes and 28,000 acres southeast of Cle Elum, a city 80 miles east of Seattle, in Kittitas County. Continue reading.

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Farmer Justin Waddington, foreground, repairs a combine during a wheat harvest in Washington state's Yakima Valley. Growers in the Pacific Northwest are benefitting from high prices created by the drought affecting the Midwest. Waddington grows corn, wheat and alfalfa. According to him, as the price of corn spikes, as it's doing now with the drought, wheat and soybeans follow because farmers substitute the other grains in animal feed.

John Brecher / NBC News

Waddington watches newly harvested wheat pour into a truck in Washington state's Yakima Valley.

There are other factors affecting farmers' good luck in Washington. A frost that struck the northeast in late April will be "every bit as devastating as the drought" to this fall's apple harvest in Michigan and New York, according to Mark Seetim, director of regulatory and industry affairs at the US Apple Association. Farmers in Washington, the nation's largest producer of apples, face a good crop and a reduced supply from other regions.

Watch the video below to hear farmers reflect on their good fortune amid the suffering of others.

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