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Monarch butterflies disappearing from western U.S., researchers say

The monarch butterfly populations in western North America have declined dramatically and face a greater risk of extinction, a new study shows.

Cheryl SchulzScientists at Washington State University found that the decline in western monarch butterfly populations was significantly more than previously believed and greater than eastern monarchs.

“In the 1980s, 10 million monarchs spent the winter in coastal California. Today there are barely 300,000,” said Cheryl Schultz, an associate professor at Washington State University, Vancouver.

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UPI

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WSU News

New executive director no stranger to museum or its mission

Camas-Washougal native Brad Richardson has a new title but isn’t a new face at the Clark County Historical Museum.

The histories of Brad Richardson and Clark County, Washington, are intertwined.

Brad RichardsonSeven years ago, while working on his degree in history at Washington State University Vancouver, Richardson volunteered to help out at the museum’s Harvest Days event. The job included helping people build scarecrows.

His other positions there included intern, visitor services assistant, visitor services coordinator and museum experience coordinator.

“We made up the title,” he added.

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The Columbian

Toxic Bullies: Striking Similarities Between Trump’s Arpaio Pardon And Polluters

If you are Latino and poor, chances are excellent that pollution is your neighbor, something known as environmental injustice.

According to a Washington State University sociological research report, barrios of economically disadvantaged Latino immigrants who do not speak English are more exposed to cancer-causing air toxics than any other community in the U.S.

“Hazardous air pollutants can cause cancer or other serious reproductive and birth defects. Most originate from automobiles and industrial sources like factories, refineries and power plants,” it adds.

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HuffPost

El Semanario

WSU alumna to appear on ‘America’s Got Talent’

Lareesa Marquette-Blakely, a ’15 WSU sociology alumna, will perform on “America’s got Talent,” 8 p.m. (Pacific Time) Tuesday, Aug. 29, on NBC.

WSU alum Lareesa Marquette-Blakey to participiate in “America's got-Talent” Tuesday, Aug. 29. Coug students and alumni encouraged to vote.

Blakely is part of the 43-member gospel choir Danell Daymon & Greater Works. The choir will participate as part of the live show quarterfinals. Winners who move on to the semifinals are determined by public vote.

While at WSU, Blakey was a member of the WSU Black Student Union and Black Women’s Caucus. During her sophomore year, she became the director of God’s Harmony, a faith-based WSU registered student organization and gospel choir that still performs regularly in the Pullman community.

“My goal was to encourage others to try their best and to build an organization that would last for years after I was gone,” she said.

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WSU News

Is Elvis still the King? After 40 years, maybe not so much

Forty years ago, Elvis Presley died in his Memphis, Tenn., home. The man dubbed “the King of Rock ’n’ Roll” continues to sell records to collectors and lifelong fans, but the question of exactly how strongly he is influencing today’s artists generates mixed responses from musicians and others in the region.

Frederick David Snider
Dave Snider

“I really think that Elvis Presley is a name only — I don’t really think he influences anyone anymore,” said Dave Snider, a music instructor at Washington State University, where he teaches a rock ’n’ roll history course.

Snider said Presley’s name elicits a reaction from students whose grandparents might have seen him, but some of those students don’t know what he looked like or really even know who he was.

Students know enough to associate the name with someone who was very cool at one time, but many of them can’t name any specific songs, Snider said.

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Yakima Herald