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Washington takes aim at Spartina, spongy moth

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Washington takes aim at Spartina, spongy moth


Washington’s State Department of Agriculture is ramping up treatments against two invasive species – the spongy moth and the aggressive Spartina weed.

Spongy moth

A low-flying airplane began treatments to eradicate spongy moth caterpillars on May 10, with plans to aerially treat about 1400 acres in Thurston County and 900 acres in Skagit County with a naturally occurring soil bacteria, Btk (Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki). Because the Skagit County site is in a cooler climate, treatments were anticipated to start there mid- to late-May.

The sites will each be treated three times, with applications approximately 3 – 10 days apart. All treatments are weather dependent and the schedule is subject to change. WSDA expects to complete all applications by early June.

Because weather conditions heavily influence when treatments occur, WSDA advises people in or near the treatment areas to visit agr.wa.gov/moths to sign up for e-mail, text or robo-call alerts that are issued the day before applications are scheduled to take place. Changes in scheduled treatments will also be shared through these notification systems. WSDA also mailed multiple postcards to residents in and near the treatment areas advising them of the upcoming treatments. The public can enter an address in a map on the agency website to determine whether their residence is within or near the treatment area.

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According to the Washington State Department of Health, Btk poses very low risk to humans, pets, birds, fish and bees. Btk is found naturally in the environment and has an excellent safety record while also being effective for spongy moth eradication. Although the risk to humans is low, as a precaution, DOH recommends that people who wish to minimize their exposure to the spray remain indoors with doors and windows closed during spraying and for 30 minutes afterward. Let the spray dry before allowing children to play outside, wash with soap and water if you do have skin contact with the spray, and rinse your eyes with water if eye contact occurs.

Btk is sticky. Residents in the treatment areas may choose to cover cars parked outside and bring in toys, etc. to protect them from the spray. However, Btk can be cleaned off outdoor articles with soap and water.

This is the 50th year of the spongy moth program at WSDA. It has been one of the most successful pest detection and eradication programs in the country, preventing spongy moths from establishing in the state and protecting our environment, communities and agriculture from this destructive, invasive pest. The program has trapped for spongy moths (known as gypsy moths when the program started) since 1974 and conducted the first eradication program in 1979. The WSDA Pest Program has safely eradicated every spongy moth population attempting to establish in the state since the program began.

Spongy moths pose a serious threat to Washington’s environment, with the caterpillars feeding on over 300 types of trees, plants and shrubs. The pest is permanently established in 20 states across the Northeast and Midwest, where it has defoliated millions of acres of forest and urban trees. In 2017, spongy moth caterpillars defoliated one-third of the entire state of Massachusetts and in 2018, they lost about one-quarter of their hardwood trees, including three-quarters of their oak trees, in large part due to spongy moth infestations.

If spongy moth were to become established in Washington, it would threaten forest ecosystems, defoliate or kill trees and shrubs in backyards and parks, lead to quarantine restrictions on forest products and horticulture, and result in long-term increased homeowner pesticide use.

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Visit the agency’s spongy moth web page at agr.wa.gov/moths to learn more or contact the WSDA Pest Program at [email protected] or 1-800-443-6684.

Spartina

This year’s treatment season for Spartina, an aggressive invasive weed, starts June 1 and will continue through November.

Eradication efforts will take place in multiple areas, including Grays Harbor, Hood Canal, Willapa Bay, Puget Sound, the north and west sides of the Olympic Peninsula and near the mouth of the Columbia River.

This year’s efforts build on the work completed last season when thorough surveys detected recently established Spartina within restored wetlands in the North Puget Sound. The project partners will work to stop the trend of Spartina spreading into and impacting important restoration projects. Since 1995, WSDA has served as the lead state agency for Spartina eradication, facilitating the cooperation of local, state, federal and tribal governments; universities; interested groups; and private landowners. The cooperative effort located and treated over 17,000 individual Spartina plants last year.

The Spartina eradication effort has been highly effective – reducing infestations from a high of more than 9,000 solid acres in 2003 to just over four total acres in 2023.

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The effort has successfully eradicated Spartina at 75 sites, however significant work remains to be done. The four remaining acres are spread over 126 sites – meaning 62 percent of Washington’s known infestations are not yet eradicated.

“Our goal is to eradicate Washington’s remaining Spartina infestations, protecting important habitat for salmon, waterfowl and shellfish,” said Chad Phillips, WSDA’s Spartina Program Coordinator. “The Spartina Eradication Program protects our state’s most productive estuaries and shoreline habitats. This year, with our project cooperators, we will continue the challenging work of finding and removing the thousands of Spartina plants that remain in the Puget Sound and along Washington’s coast.”

This season, project partners will survey thousands of acres of saltwater estuaries and hundreds of miles of shoreline. WSDA and its partners typically dig out small infestations by hand and utilize herbicides at larger sites.

Spartina, commonly known as cordgrass, can disrupt the ecosystems of native saltwater estuaries. If left unchecked, Spartina outcompetes native vegetation and converts ecologically healthy mudflats and estuaries into solid Spartina meadows. As a result, important habitat for salmon, forage fish, invertebrates, shorebirds and waterfowl are lost, the threat of flooding is increased, and the state’s shellfish industry is negatively impacted.

Visit agr.wa.gov to for more information on Spartina control efforts.

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Source: Washington State Department of Agriculture





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Washington Lottery Powerball, Cash Pop results for May 11, 2026

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The Washington Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at May 11, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from May 11 drawing

24-30-37-56-64, Powerball: 07, Power Play: 3

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Cash Pop numbers from May 11 drawing

09

Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 3 numbers from May 11 drawing

7-6-9

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Match 4 numbers from May 11 drawing

07-12-18-19

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Check Match 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Hit 5 numbers from May 11 drawing

07-09-11-32-42

Check Hit 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Keno numbers from May 11 drawing

05-07-15-27-30-32-35-36-40-43-45-47-49-58-59-62-64-65-72-76

Check Keno payouts and previous drawings here.

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Winning Lotto numbers from May 11 drawing

01-18-28-34-37-48

Check Lotto payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from May 11 drawing

09-13-34-42-59, Powerball: 01

Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

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Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

All Washington Lottery retailers can redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners have the option to submit their claim by mail or in person at one of Washington Lottery’s regional offices.

To claim by mail, complete a winner claim form and the information on the back of the ticket, making sure you have signed it, and mail it to:

Washington Lottery Headquarters

PO Box 43050

Olympia, WA 98504-3050

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For in-person claims, visit a Washington Lottery regional office and bring a winning ticket, photo ID, Social Security card and a voided check (optional).

Olympia Headquarters

Everett Regional Office

Federal Way Office

Spokane Department of Imagination

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Vancouver Office

Tri-Cities Regional Office

For additional instructions or to download the claim form, visit the Washington Lottery prize claim page.

When are the Washington Lottery drawings held?

  • Powerball: 7:59 p.m. PT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
  • Mega Millions: 8 p.m. PT Tuesday and Friday.
  • Cash Pop: 8 p.m. PT daily.
  • Pick 3: 8 p.m. PT daily.
  • Match 4: 8 p.m. PT daily.
  • Hit 5: 8 p.m. PT daily.
  • Daily Keno: 8 p.m. PT daily.
  • Lotto: 8 p.m. PT Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
  • Powerball Double Play: 8:30 p.m. PT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Washington editor. You can send feedback using this form.



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19-Year-Old Transgender University of Washington Student Fatally Stabbed

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19-Year-Old Transgender University of Washington Student Fatally Stabbed


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This story contains descriptions of fatal violence against a transgender person.

The Seattle Police Department are searching for a suspect after a 19-year-old University of Washington student was stabbed to death in an off-campus student apartment complex on May 10.

Seattle Police Department Detective Eric Muñoz told NBC News that the victim is “believed to be a 19-year-old transgender female” who was enrolled at the university. The victim has not yet been publicly identified by name. She was found in the housing complex laundry room shortly after 10 p.m. on Sunday night.

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The housing complex, Nordheim Court, is privately managed but affiliated with the university, located near an upscale shopping center in Seattle’s U-Village neighborhood. According to NBC News, residents received an official alert from UW to stay inside their homes and lock all windows and doors — an alert that was lifted around 1 a.m. with the acknowledgment that “a death investigation remains ongoing.”

According to SPD detective Eric Muñoz, police and the fire department attempted lifesaving measures but ultimately “pronounced the victim deceased at the scene.”

“Officers are actively searching for the suspect, believed to be a black male with a beard, 5’6-8” tall, wearing a vest with button up shirt, and blue jeans,” Muñoz wrote in a blotter report.

Muñoz noted that the victim would be identified by the medical examiner’s office in “the coming days.” The SPD did not immediately respond to Them’s request for comment.

This is the seventh known trans person to be violently killed in 2026. In mid-April, 39-year-old transmasculine farmer Luca RedBeard was fatally shot in rural New Mexico. Last week, police in Marion County, Florida opened a homicide investigation into the shooting death of a 29-year-old who went by multiple names and referred to “transitioning” on social media. In Kentucky, an investigation into the disappearance of 22-year-old trans college student Murry Foust remains ongoing.

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Police are asking anyone with information about the University of Washington case to call the Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000, emphasizing that anonymous tips are accepted.

This is a developing story.

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How the Sea Mar Museum Is Preserving Latino History in Washington

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How the Sea Mar Museum Is Preserving Latino History in Washington


On a quiet stretch of Des Moines Memorial Drive in South Seattle, the Sea Mar Museum of Chicano/a/Latino/a Culture rises like a long‑overdue acknowledgment. Its brick exterior doesn’t shout; it invites. Inside, the rooms hum with the stories of families who crossed borders, harvested fields, organized classrooms, and built communities across Washington state—often without seeing their histories reflected anywhere on a museum wall.

For Rogelio Riojas, founder and CEO of Sea Mar Community Health Centers, the museum is a promise kept. “We wanted to make sure the contributions of Latinos in Washington state are recognized and preserved for future generations,” he told The Seattle Times when the museum opened in 2019. It was a simple statement, but one that captured decades of work—both visible and invisible—by the region’s Latino communities.


Walking through the galleries feels like stepping into a living archive. One of the most arresting sights is a pair of original farmworker cabins, transported from Eastern Washington. Their narrow wooden frames and sparse interiors speak volumes about the migrant families who once slept inside after long days in the fields. The cabins are not replicas or artistic interpretations; they are the real thing, weathered by sun, dust, and time. They anchor the museum’s narrative in the physical realities of labor that shaped the state’s agricultural economy.

Sea Mar describes the museum as “dedicated to sharing the history, struggles, and successes of the Latino community in Washington state,” a mission that plays out in photographs, letters, student newspapers, and oral histories contributed by community members themselves. These aren’t artifacts chosen from afar—they’re family treasures, personal archives, and memories entrusted to the museum so they can live beyond the kitchen tables and shoeboxes where they were once kept.

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The story extends beyond the museum walls. Just steps away is the Sea Mar Community Center, a sweeping, light‑filled gathering space designed for celebrations, performances, workshops, and community events. With room for nearly 500 people, a full stage, a movie‑theater‑sized screen, and a catering kitchen, the center was built with one purpose: to give the community a place to see itself, gather, and grow. Sea Mar describes it as “a welcoming space for families, organizations, and community groups to gather, celebrate, and learn,” and on any given weekend, it lives up to that promise.

Together, the museum and community center form a cultural campus—part historical archive, part living room for the region’s Latino communities. Students come to learn about the Chicano activists who reshaped the University of Washington in the late 1960s. Families come to see their own histories reflected in the exhibits. Visitors come to understand a story that has long been present in Washington, even if it wasn’t always visible.

The Sea Mar Museum is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., offering free admission to anyone who walks through its doors. For many, it’s more than a museum—it’s a recognition, a gathering place, and a testament to the people who helped shape the Pacific Northwest.

Preserving Latino History and Community Life in Washington was first published on Washington Latino News (WALN) and republished with permission.



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