Spokane

From 1975: As the nation’s Bicentennial celebration approached, the Spokane American Revolution Bicentennial Commission was woefully underfunded.

Ever since she can remember, Eva Silverstone has been a writer and a drawer.

Some gardeners consider peonies to be the queens or divas of the garden. Not because they take a lot of fussing over but because they add bold and color to the late-May garden and herald the start of summer.

From 1975: Harlow Tucker was on trial in Spokane for securities fraud in connection with his attempt to sell bonds for the Davenport Hotel.

From 1975: The Sheraton-Spokane Hotel near Riverfront Park was, at long last, ready to open.

From 1975: The Spokane City Council backed down from a plan to raise parking meter rates from 10 cents per hour to 20 cents per hour.

For four hours Sunday, the historic Looff Carrousel in Riverfront Park silenced its signature circus tunes and dimmed its colorful flashing lights for an afternoon of free rides for kids with disabilities who may otherwise find the attraction overwhelming.

At the start of the 20th century, the hotels and bars along Front Street, which became Trent Avenue, then was renamed Spokane Falls Boulevard in 1974, served weary train travelers and the railroad workers that labored nearby. After World War II, a few grimy blocks of Front would sometimes be called Spokane’s “skid row.”

From 1975: Blowing dust caused a seven-car crash in Grant County and high winds snapped power lines throughout the region.

From 1975: Would-be daredevil Terry Brauner was foiled in his third attempt to plunge over the Spokane Falls, after his homemade inner-tube craft and air tanks were seized by Stevens County deputies.

From 1975: The tap water was muddy in Kellogg as rivers in the region were cresting near flood stage.

From 1975: An estimated 80,000 spectators – and 6,000 participants – “swept through downtown Spokane” in the Lilac Festival’s Torchlight Parade.

May is Motorcycle Awareness Month, and for more than 30 years, the Spokane chapter of ABATE (A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Efforts) has worked to encourage motorcycle safety, education and legislation.

From 1975: A Spokesman-Review reporter test-drove the “first electric car offered for sale in Spokane for more than 45 years.”

Whew, it’s been a mad dash in my garden the past few weeks. That included starting and caring for vegetable starts, cleaning up winter debris, fixing up the sprinkler system and planting a new garden bed with plant sale finds.

Between a foosball table’s thumping pegs and 3-inch-tall goals is where Lotus Leong-Chesbrough is most dangerous.

From 1975: An 18-year-old canoeist disappeared near the Bowl and Pitcher on the Spokane River, and was feared to be drowned.

From 1975: For the first time in 45 years, an electric car was offered on sale in Spokane.

American department stores evolved from frontier dry goods dealers in the 1800s into elegant shopping palaces through 20th century and then declined as competition, new management and market forces took their toll.