This day in history: First Lady Betty Ford met with poster child from Spokane

From 1974: Jaime Weaver, a 9-year-old student of Bancroft School in Spokane, met with First Lady Betty Ford at the White House. Weaver, who was blind, earlier had been named the 1975 March of Dimes Poster Child.

Ford complemented Weaver on her musical talents and gave her a Raggedy Ann doll. She also urged Americans to contribute to the March of Dimes.

Young defense rests: The defense rested in the Ricky A. Young mail-bomb trial, and its argument boiled down to this: Young had nothing to do with the pipe bomb that killed Judge James J. Lawless in Pasco.

Young’s attorney said that there was no evidence that Young made the bomb, nor could he have participated in mailing it since he was “fishing with members of his family on the day and at the time” the bomb was mailed.

The defense attorney also cited the testimony of a fingerprint expert, who disputed the prosecution’s assertion that a fingerprint found on a scrap of paper at the crime scene belonged to Young.

Closing arguments were scheduled, after which the case would go to the jury.

From 1924: A huge 68 mph windstorm hit Seattle, breaking the previous record and causing havoc throughout Western Washington, British Columbia and Alaska.

Power poles were down throughout the region and windows were smashed. The wind was accompanied by torrential rains with the threat of floods.

Undersea telephone and cables were broken between Seattle and the Alaska panhandle, which meant that towns including Ketchikan and Petersburg were “completely cut off from the outside world.”