Spokane

From 1976: Four of the five defendants in the “Pasco Connection” drug-running trial were found guilty of multiple charges involving heroin sale and distribution.

Recently a reader contacted me asking why there were so many ponderosa pine cones this year. He has been picking them up by the bagful and a friend has taken multiple pickup truck loads to the transfer station. My editor chimed in that a snow shovel would be useful for scooping cones out of her driveway. Me? I am more than tired of rolling my ankle on these pesky land mines.

From 1976: Five members of an alleged drug-running scheme called the “Pasco Connection” were on trial in a Spokane federal court, and the jury was beginning deliberations.

From 1976: A group of local and state leaders gathered to address an urgent Spokane problem: snarled traffic on North Division Street.

Spokane city officials have removed 45 parking spaces under the downtown railroad viaduct in a bid to improve visibility and reduce loitering and camping – but it came as a surprise for the group representing downtown businesses that lost access to the parking.

In the depths of the Great Depression, the Federal Home Loan Bank Act of 1932 offered federal underwriting and direct loans to small banks called savings and loan associations. Sometimes called thrifts or mutual savings banks, many popped up around the country.

From 1976: Spokane artist Harold Balazs was commissioned to do “the first of a series of large murals” at the Kingdome, which voters had recently approved in Seattle.

Shortly before 10:30 Saturday morning, the sound of BTS’ “Dynamite” was bouncing off the buildings along Washington Street, marking the 73rd year of the Junior Lilac Parade in downtown Spokane.

From 1976: The Spokane River claimed another victim when a 16-year-old boy fell from an inner tube and was swept over the downtown waterfalls.

Courage is often loud, but courage also can be quiet, said Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, former director of both the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, to the 2026 graduate class at Gonzaga University on Saturday.

From 1976: More details emerged about the three persons who were found dead the previous day in a parked auto on a dirt road near Mead.

From 1976: A motorcyclist noticed a car parked in an odd location down a dirt road in Mead.

Filing week is almost over, and with it will close the chance for anyone hoping to run for office this year. With only a day left, most who are entering the fray already have done so.

From 1976: The Washington State Men’s Bowling Tournament was taking place in Spokane, and one of the leaders was Ewald Roloff, 80.

It looks like we are in for a long , dry summer. The lack of winter snow and rain left the soil dry to start the spring. The forecast for the first half of May is dry, and there is a strong chance an El Nino will settle in by late summer or early fall and bring even more drier and warmer weather. Some forecasters are saying this El Nino may be “aggressive.”

The Spokane County Clerk’s Office was more than a little outdated when Tim Fitzgerald was appointed to head the office in 2014.

From 1976: Two Spokane men narrowly avoided drowning in the frigid Spokane River after one of them was pulled ashore by a Spokane County deputy and the other managed to wade ashore.

Voter perceptions about the Spokane area remain mixed at best, according to the fourth biannual survey released by Greater Spokane Incorporated, the region’s de facto chamber of commerce – but they’ve also significantly improved for city of Spokane residents, particularly in the last six months.