This is Northwest Public Broadcasting's Weekly News Now.

I'm Tracci Dial.

Thanks so much for joining us.

It could be months before a major East-West highway in Washington gets a permanent fix.

Interstate 82 closed because of an irrigation culvert that failed, causing a sinkhole.

It happened between Yakima and the Tri-Cities on a busy road for Washington's transportation and agricultural industries.

82 shut down partially near Wapato then crews closed all of the lanes in both directions just a few days later.

A temporary fix has taken more than a week and crews tell NWPB a more permanent fix could be up to five months away.

The culvert that failed is part of the Roza Irrigation District and its season is set to start next month.

Find out how the district is planning to deal with that so soon on our website.

Pollution is causing problems for some nighttime pollinators.

That's the word from new research out of the University of Washington, published in the journal Science.

Researchers looked at moths in Washington's arid desert near Quincy.

They found pollution is blunting the scent of flowers at night.

So two types of moths can't smell them.

University of Washington biology professor Jeff Riffell says it's like the flowers disappear as far as the moth can smell.

“We think this problem of these pollutants is impacting many areas of the U.S. We think this is actually a global problem.

” Now, it's pollution, like car exhaust, causing the problem.

So researchers say with an uptick in electric vehicles and better controls at factories, there is less of that pollution.

So that's some good news.

Now, here's a fun fact.

The Washington State Department of Transportation's Twitter or X account is the most followed state DOT account in the country.

Much of that success is thanks to Mike Allende, otherwise known to his fans as Mr. Wash-DOT.

He's the man behind the dad jokes because, he says, well, he's a dad.

The page uses stick figures and crude drawings to make all things transportation more accessible and sometimes even funny.

Mr. Wash-DOT says it's been a long road to get here.

“The person who hired me said, ‘we're excited to have you but we're really going to need to work on your tweeting and social media.

” And he sure did.

Now it's time for him to turn down a new highway.

Mr. Wash-DOT is beginning a new job at Seattle University.

Hear more from him and get more details on all of these stories and NWPB.org.

You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.

I'm Tracci Dial with your NWPB Weekly News Now.

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