This day in history: Fog forces flights to divert to Fairchild. Daily Chronicle to crown ‘Baby Spokane’

From 1976: Six Northwest Airlines flights touched down in Spokane – but not at Spokane International Airport.

They landed at Fairchild Air Force Base, after Spokane International Airport was plagued by persistent fog.

The airline had negotiated Fairchild operating rights “some time ago,” expressly for this scenario, but this was the first time the airline had exercised those rights.

One Northwest flight also departed from Fairchild. After passengers went through the usual security checks at the airport, they were loaded onto a bus and taken to Fairchild. Buses also took the arriving passengers at Fairchild over to the airport.

Northwest officials said they had a number of similar agreements with other Air Force bases.

From 1926: One special baby would soon be granted the title “Baby Spokane.”

The Spokane Chronicle – which had a record of holding dubious contest promotions – was launching the Chronicle Baby Spokane contest, and the first entry had already showed up for a photo at the newspaper office: Patricia Ray Coombes, age 1.

“A gold medal is being awarded by the Chronicle to the most attractive baby in Spokane County, silver medal going to the five finishing next in order,” the paper published in a front-page story. “The gold medal winner will be known through 1926 as Baby Spokane.”

All of the entrants would have their photos taken. Judges would then “pick the six most attractive babies from these photographs.”

Those six would “then be taken to a clinic in Spokane where they will be judged to choose the gold medal winner.”