This is Northwest Public Broadcasting's Weekly News Now.

I'm Tracci Dial.

Thanks so much for joining us.

It's only May and it's already very dry in the Northwest.

Cheatgrass is already sort of red.

Snowpack at the lowest it's been in years.

In Central Washington, junior water right users are being told to cut back, they'll get just over half of their normal water from the Yakima project.

The Roza, Kittitas Reclamation and Kennewick Irrigation District all announcing cuts this year.

Altogether accounting for about 200,000 acres of land.

Jason Sheehan owns a dairy operation near Sunnyside.

He says he knows more droughts are coming and with less snow... “We need to look at additional storage for more water and that's to help the fish, to help the farms, and to help the communities.

” Get the whole story on this year's drought and water expectations, that's on NWPB.org.

Check out this story there too.

Fallen firefighters honored in Maryland, five of whom were from the Northwest.

Check out the full web feature write up on the event and meet the fallen heroes, one from Wenatchee, another Clallam County.

May they rest in peace.

Now from Las Vegas to Waitsburg this week on NWPB, we hear from a now local woman who used to be a Las Vegas showgirl.

The classroom is her stage these days.

She's teaching a nontraditional class for a nontraditional program: Quest.

Here's a snippet from Courtney Flatts story on Patti Jo Amerein.

“Dancing in a Las Vegas show could be just as glitzy and glamorous as you might imagine.

” “You have to glide across the stage... ” “Mob bosses sending platters of crab and bottles of champagne on opening night.

” “They would send it to every single person in the cast.

” Hobnobbing in brightly colored costumes and feathers... ” “To be seen out in the casino or in the nicer lounges.

Kind of strum up interest.

” “Dancing for people like the Queen of England.

” “It wasn't just us.

Jerry Lewis was there.

Janet Jackson was there... ” You could hear this whole piece and check out the article online.

Amereins showgirls class starts May 15th.

Registration is open until the day before.

The Quest program offers continuing education for people 50 and older through Walla Walla Community College.

Find out more about it on NWPB.org.

There, you can also RSVP for a special event coming up in Richland on May 21st.

We'll learn about how data is collected, how it's used, who controls the algorithms, and how it shapes our lives.

Join us to watch clips from the new NOVA documentary, Secrets in Our Data, and check out our original video, Washington's Data Race.

Again, it's coming up May 21st at WSU Tri-Cities.

More details and an RSVP link are online and on social media.

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