Jim Kershner’s This day in history » On the Web: spokesman.com/topics/local-history

From our archives, 50 years ago

The state tried to give Bowl and Pitcher to Spokane – but Spokane said no thanks.

A bill was proposed in Olympia that would have made a gift of 1,600 acres of Riverside State Park, including the scenic Bowl and Pitcher area, to the city.

However, city officials made it known that they “had no desire at this time to take the responsibility of maintaining the park property because of the city’s tight financial situation.”

So the bill died in committee.

From the missing persons beat: A three-state search for an 18-year-old Washington State University student ended happily.

Three days earlier, her parents in Spokane had alerted authorities after the woman vanished from Pullman and failed to show up for classes.

The search was called off after the young woman phoned Walla Walla police and said she was near Waitsburg, where she had run out of gas.

She said she had borrowed a car from a Pullman friend and went on an “aimless” driving trip. She drove to Newport, Ore., and then decided to turn around and come home. Only when she was on her way back did she realize what kind of fuss she had caused.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1910: The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.