This day in history: The Spokane City Council’s debate on authorizing dogs for medical experiments took a new turn

From 1975: Mayor David Rogers accused council member Margaret Leonard of “playing politics on an emotional issue – and you can quote me.”

Emotional is right.

The issue at hand was the Spokane City Council’s vote to approve a deal with Washington State University’s veterinary school to provide at least 500 stray dogs for medical research.

The council’s vote came a week earlier, but Leonard had now made a motion to rescind the approval.

She said she had been hearing from people in “every walk of life” who “disagree with selling dogs for experimental purposes.”

Rodgers called her motion “out of order” and did not bring it to a vote.

From 1925: Spokane police were confronted with a murder mystery when W.H. Heinze, 48, a baker, was found in his motel room “with a broken jaw and a hole in his head.”

The hole was apparently made by a sharp instrument. The broken jaw and bruises were evidence that Heinze had been assaulted, possibly in his sleep.

His watch was also missing, indicating robbery as a motive.

His body was discovered when two men went to his room to awaken him the next morning.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1748: The ruins of Pompeii are rediscovered by Spaniard Roque Joaquin de Alcubierre.

1948: American cosmologist proposes the “Big Bang” theory in journal publication.

2001: The Netherlands becomes the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.