Washington
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.
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.
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.
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.
Source: Washington State Department of Agriculture
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV) – The Washington County Sheriff’s Office released video of deputies using a drone to track down a man wanted for damaging a car.
On Saturday, May 30, a 911 caller reported a man damaging a car outside their home on Southwest 179th Avenue in Aloha. The sheriff’s office said it was reported the suspect, 21-year-old Santos Paulino Castro-Ramirez, was punching the car.
Deputies used a drone to follow the suspect as he ran toward Southwest Barcelona Lane. The sheriff’s office said Castro-Ramirez then entered a white SUV that did not belong to him on SW Barcelona.
Deputies arrested Castro-Ramirez. He was booked into the Washington County Jail for first-degree burglary and attempt to commit a crime – second-degree theft.
Copyright 2026 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.
Beirut, Lebanon – On Tuesday, representatives from Lebanon and Israel met at the US Department of State in Washington, DC – the first session of a two-day round of negotiations that Lebanese negotiators hope will end an invasion of their country.
The negotiations, which started at 9am local time (13:00 GMT), come as Israel’s invasion of Lebanon pushes deeper than at any point since the year 2000 and as Hezbollah and Israel continue to trade attacks. Israel has killed 3,468 people in Lebanon since March 2, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.
With the war raging on, what do Lebanon and Israel have to discuss and will the talks lead to an end of the Israeli assault?
Here’s everything you need to know.
What will Israel and Lebanon discuss?
Similar to past meetings, the two sides are ostensibly looking to come to some kind of deal following fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, with strong doubts it will be achieved.
Lebanon’s government is still pushing for a total ceasefire. However, as talks started, Israel was striking various parts of southern Lebanon. Lebanon is also trying to get Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory in the south, so that more than 1.2 million displaced people can return home, and so the state can resume finding a way to disarm Hezbollah and rebuild areas devastated by Israeli attacks.
Israel is meanwhile looking to get assurances that Lebanon will disarm Hezbollah, a prospect analysts say Israel knows is complicated by the continuation of its military operations and occupation of swaths of southern Lebanon. Instead, Israel appears to be trying to fuel sectarian tensions inside Lebanon, leading to chaos and internal strife.
What has happened so far?
An initial meeting took place in April between Israel and Lebanon’s ambassadors to the United States. A second round took place in May with a larger delegation on both sides.
On Friday, a meeting took place with Lebanese and Israeli military representatives, while Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group, is not involved in the meetings.
Israel claimed the two sides found common ground in that they both wanted to see Hezbollah disarmed. Some Israeli officials suggested there may soon be trade agreements and an exchange of tourists between the two countries. Lebanon, however, said it preferred to find a deal closer to the 1949 armistice agreement between the two countries.
In the last meeting, Beirut reportedly outlined the damage done by Israeli attacks since the 2024 ceasefire agreement and presented detailed maps showing homes destroyed or razed by Israel.
Is there a chance for a ceasefire?
That remains to be seen, but for now, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s military would continue attacking Lebanon.
On Monday, Netanyahu announced that attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs would resume, despite a ceasefire. Apart from two targeted attacks, Israel has not struck the suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, since April.
Iran, which has attempted to include Lebanon in a wider ceasefire between themselves, on one side, and Israel and the US on the other, then intervened by threatening to attack northern Israel.
US President Donald Trump reportedly intervened to stop Israel’s attacks. He announced another ceasefire, after his previous announcement of one between Israel and Lebanon on April 16, after claiming he had gotten the approval of Netanyahu and spoken to Hezbollah.
“There will be no troops going to Beirut, and any troops that are on their way have already been turned back,” Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social.
But attacks from Israel and Hezbollah are continuing.
How do Lebanese people feel about the talks?
Not everyone is on the same page.
Some Lebanese support the talks and say they are the only option the state, which has little leverage, has. Among those who believe direct talks are the best way forward are Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
“There is no option other than negotiation,” Aoun said in a statement on Tuesday.
Others, however, oppose direct talks. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and his allies, Hezbollah, have said indirect talks are preferred and that negotiations cannot be conducted while attacks are ongoing.
How are Iran and the US connected?
Israel and the US attacked Iran on February 28, killing the country’s longtime leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran is Hezbollah’s primary benefactor, and two days after Khamenei’s assassination, Hezbollah fired six rockets towards Israel on 2 March.
Hezbollah’s response brought a huge response from Israel, who have crossed the Litani River – the supposed buzzer zone in southern Lebanon it had created – towards the Zahrani River.
Despite a 2024 ceasefire, Israel had never stopped attacking Lebanon, while Hezbollah had only responded once in December 2024.
Iran has attempted to include Lebanon in the ceasefire deal it has with the United States and Israel, who say this theatre is not part of the agreement.
Although Trump has now announced a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel twice, the invasion of southern Lebanon continues.
Are there other actors involved?
Gulf states have also intervened. Saudi Arabia has been working behind the scenes to get Lebanon’s leadership – Aoun, Salam and Berri – on the same page. Meanwhile, analysts say Saudi Arabia and Qatar engaged the Trump administration to stop an escalation in Lebanon.
The Washington Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 1, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from June 1 drawing
02-42-47-57-58, Powerball: 14, Power Play: 3
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from June 1 drawing
11
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Winning Pick 3 numbers from June 1 drawing
8-6-0
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Winning Match 4 numbers from June 1 drawing
07-08-09-18
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Winning Hit 5 numbers from June 1 drawing
03-10-28-32-33
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Winning Keno numbers from June 1 drawing
04-05-08-14-16-17-23-24-27-28-31-32-38-43-45-47-51-58-65-66
Check Keno payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto numbers from June 1 drawing
05-09-10-15-21-26
Check Lotto payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from June 1 drawing
02-07-35-44-57, Powerball: 25
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
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
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
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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