This day in history: Spokane voters would decide future of U.S. Pavilion. Bunco gambling ring busted

From 1975: Voters were heading to the polls in two days to “decide the future of Riverfront Park.”

The ballot included a $3.4 million one-time levy proposition for development of the new Riverfront Park, formerly the site of Expo ’74.

The proposal called for creating the “Pavilion Circus” underneath the iconic U.S. Pavilion umbrella. This “circus” would include the folllowing:

• A two-chamber entertainment complex titled “The Tantalizing Twenties,” which would give a nostalgic look at the 1920s and an “impression of the far-out style of tomorrow,” apparently meaning the 2020s. It would also include an arcade.

• Specialty food stalls.

• A “Disneyland-type experience called ‘The Spokane Story,’ which would depict the history and development of of the city and its surrounding region.”

The levy was endorsed by many civic groups, but its popularity among voters was yet to be determined.

From 1925: Police arrested three alleged “bunco men” who swindled an Odessa farmer out of $2,500.

Police were alerted to the bunco ring, operating at the Interstate Fair, when the wife of the farmer went to police and told them her suspicions about the scheme her husband was ensnared in.

That night, the couple was able to identify the men, who were arrested, some of whom were carrying hundreds of dollars on their persons.

“With the arrest of these men, we believe we have broken probably a national bunco ring and one of the slickest confidence schemes in operation,” said a Spokane detective.