On this day: Public drunkeness no longer illegal in Washington

From 1975: It was no longer illegal to be drunk in public in Washington.

A new law took effect Jan. 1. Police would no longer arrest people just for being drunk and toss them into the jail’s “drunk tank.” But police would still be loading tipsy people “into their prowl cars and paddy wagons.”

Now, the destination would be detoxification centers. In the Spokane area, the Edgecliff Hospital was the official detox center. On New Year’s Day, Edgecliff received its first shipment of drunks, although officials declined to specify how many.

Meanwhile, the jail’s drunk tank was still in operation. It contained intoxicated people who had been arrested under related laws, such as driving under the influence of alcohol.

From 1925: Floods were threatening the Union Park district in east Spokane because chinook winds were rapidly melting the deep snow.

“The ground is frozen so hard it will not soak any of the water,” the city’s street commissioner said. “… The melted snow runs down the hill into the Union Park district and there is no way of disposing it there. … We will lay planks across the streets at the intersections and will do what we can to drain the worst places.”

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1788: Georgia is the fourth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1839: French photographer Louis Daguerre takes the first photo of the moon.

1942: The 28 nations at war with the Axis powers pledge to make no separate peace deals.