Jim Kershner

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News >  Further Review

Further Review: The sound of Spokane – 75 years of the Spokane Symphony

Wed., Oct. 7, 2020

For 75 years, Spokane Symphony has survived recessions, strikes and conductor crises – all while growing into an exceptional arts institution. The orchestra has been led by a Pulitzer Prize-winning conductor. It has recorded CDs for major labels.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Chicago: Prospect of nominating Spokane senator for president fades at GOP convention

Tue., June 9, 2020

The prospect that Sen. Miles Poindexter of Spokane would be the next Republican candidate for president was fading fast.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Newspaper celebrates Prohibition; severed human hand found at lumber company

Mon., June 8, 2020

The Spokane Daily Chronicle celebrated what it believed was the final triumph of Prohibition. A new court ruling upheld the Volstead Act, ensuring that Prohibition would be enforced in every state.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: ‘Bing’ Crosby slated to speak at Gonzaga high school’s graduation

Sun., June 7, 2020

The Spokane Daily Chronicle ran a photo of four members of Gonzaga University’s high school class, slated to speak at the high school’s commencement ceremony.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Long odds don’t deter enthusiam for local senator’s presidential bid

Sat., June 6, 2020

The Spokesman-Review simply could not abandon the dream of a Republican presidential nominee from Spokane, despite the undeniable fact that Sen. Miles Poindexter was far from the favorite at the Chicago convention.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Hope alive locally for Spokane senator’s presidential aspirations

Fri., June 5, 2020

The national Republican convention was getting underway in Chicago, and local Republicans had still not given up on the idea of a presidential candidate from Spokane.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Jurors sign petition asking for pardon of McDonald sister they convicted

Thu., June 4, 2020

A petition signed by 75 Spokane citizens requested that Gov. Louis F. Hart grant a full pardon to Marie McDonald, one of the infamous McDonald siblings.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in North Idaho: Search for missing Porthill man abandoned

Wed., June 3, 2020

Relatives of Chris Klockmann of Porthill, Idaho, were giving up hope of finding the young man alive.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago today in Spokane: Explosion blows off oven door at biscuit bakery

UPDATED: Mon., June 1, 2020

A crashing explosion rocked downtown Spokane at 3 a.m., and the phone immediately rang at the police station.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Man arrested for moonshine urges officers to try it

Sun., May 31, 2020

Ralph C. Henry, a Stevens County farmer, was arrested while making a moonshine delivery in Spokane.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Scammer stopped before separating railroad worker from savings

Sat., May 30, 2020

A smooth-talking bunco artist nearly separated Corrado Fantozzi, 25, an Italian railroad worker, from his life savings.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Dentist confronts gas thief as shortage riles city

Fri., May 29, 2020

Spokane’s gasoline shortage was becoming critical, and it resulted in an action-packed early morning confrontation on a Spokane street.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Gas shortage grips city; kangaroos come to Manito

Thu., May 28, 2020

Spokane was enduring a serious gasoline shortage. It had reached the point at which the city’s Shell stations said they would have to close down entirely if new shipments did not arrive in the next two days. Shell was already rationing commercial users.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Rainmakers makes rain, but not enough for payment

Wed., May 27, 2020

Charles M. Hatfield, the hired rainmaker in Ephrata, came through with a deluge.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Ferry County: Sheriff, agents accused by jury in shooting death

Tue., May 26, 2020

A coroner’s jury in Keller accused two federal Prohibition agents and Ferry County Sheriff I.L. Moore in the shooting death of Ernest Emily of Wilbur.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Grant County: Man wagers he can conjure rain for wheat farmers

Sun., May 24, 2020

Charles M. Hatfield, a professional “rainmaker,” was under contract to produce 3 inches of rain in the Ephrata area by June 10. Success would earn him $6,000 from the area’s wheat growers. Failure would earn him nothing.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Mother, daughters arrested on suspicion of shoplifting

Sat., May 23, 2020

A mother and three daughters, 18, 10 and 8, were arrested for shoplifting more than $200 in groceries, silks and clothing from several Spokane stores.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Rail executive predicts city, region will be ‘jammed’ with tourists

Fri., May 22, 2020

Louis W. Hill, the chairman of the Great Northern railroad, predicted that 1920 would be the best tourist year ever in Spokane and the Northwest.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Census revision shows slight growth over previous decade

Thu., May 21, 2020

Spokane’s boosters were breathing a sigh of relief, after more than 200 names were added to Spokane’s 1920 census, thus putting the 1920 population slightly above the 1910 number.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago today in Spokane: Local reporter gets the scoop on Taft’s plan

Wed., May 20, 2020

Former U.S. President William Howard Taft provided a scoop for a Spokane Daily Chronicle reporter, while both men were standing on a train platform Missoula, awaiting a train to Spokane.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Ex-president gives Chronicle scoop on decision not to run again

Wed., May 20, 2020

Former U.S. President William Howard Taft provided a scoop for a Spokane Daily Chronicle reporter, while both men were standing on a train platform Missoula, awaiting a train to Spokane.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Airport now called Felts Field announces plan to install electric lights to allow nighttime landings

Tue., May 19, 2020

Developments in Spokane regarding two exciting modern technologies, aviation and radio, were in the news in May 1920.

News >  Spokane

40 Years Ago: A look back at a natural disaster in the making

Sun., May 17, 2020

Since mid-March, Spokane historian and former Spokesman-Review staff writer Jim Kershner has revisited the history of the Mount St. Helens eruption. Here is a compilation of his columns.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: McDonald sister sentenced for forging check after McNutt’s murder

Sun., May 17, 2020

Marie McDonald, one of the notorious McDonald siblings, was sentenced to between one and 20 years in the state penitentiary at Walla Walla on a charge of forgery.

News >  Spokane

100 years ago in Spokane: Priest bemoans ‘degeneracy’ of movies, demands censorship

Sat., May 16, 2020

The Very Rev. William C. Hicks demanded a “stricter censorship of the moving pictures” from the pulpit of All Saints Cathedral in Spokane.