This day in history: Hillyard residents were fuming over a judge’s insensitive comments about their community

From 1975: Hillyard residents were outraged over a remark Superior Court Judge George Shields made while he sentenced a man for third-degree assault.

“Three things come through about Hillyard,” Shields said. “One, is everybody drinks or is drunk. Everybody fights or is about to. And the third is that everybody is armed.”

Nearly 500 Hillyard residents signed a petition “demanding the rescinding” of those comments. A meeting of the Hillyard business community attracted about 100 people who agreed “something must be done about what has been said.”

Shields said his remark had been “isolated from its context.”

“It was a statement of an impression, and in no way a judgement on either the residents of Hillyard nor of the community,” Shields said. “… It is my hope that their good citizenship and sense of community can be put to best advantage in recognizing and dealing with the conditions and problems of their community.”

The leader of the petition drive said the “judge’s statement of apology is inadequate.”

From 1925: An earthquake shook Spokane enough to fling the “north-south needle completely off the roll of the seismograph at Gonzaga.”

The quake was “felt distinctly in all parts of the city,” but no serious damage was reported. Chandeliers and light bulbs acted like pendulums. One woman was sitting on a chair with roller wheels, and found herself moving across the floor.

The Gonzaga seismograph’s east-west needle showed “heavy vibrations for 3 minutes,” and smaller ones for another 16 minutes.

The quake was centered in Montana, where a number of buildings were damaged in Three Forks and White Sulphur Springs. Tremors were felt as far away as Billings. The quake triggered several avalanches and uprooted some Montana railroad tracks.