
Humans are driving a rare Texas plant that serves as an important food source for bees and butterflies "to the edge of extinction"
CBSN
Prostrate milkweed, a rare plant native to Texas and northeastern Mexico, is part of an import support system for bees and monarch butterflies. But now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering naming the plant an endangered species as humans destroy their critical habitats.
USFWS proposed the endangered species listing on Monday, saying they made their proposition based on the "best available status."
Chris Best, a USFWS botanist in Texas, said that the prostrate milkweed's flowers "attract and support native pollinators," including large bees and wasps, and that it serves as a host plant for monarch butterflies.

Santa Fe, New Mexico — A representative for the estate of actor Gene Hackman is seeking to block the public release of autopsy and investigative reports, especially photographs and police body-camera video related to the recent deaths of Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa after their partially mummified bodies were discovered at their New Mexico home in February.

In the past year, over 135 million passengers traveled to the U.S. from other countries. To infectious disease experts, that represents 135 million chances for an outbreak to begin. To identify and stop the next potential pandemic, government disease detectives have been discreetly searching for viral pathogens in wastewater from airplanes. Experts are worried that these efforts may not be enough.