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Local History
Summary
How things have changed
Every Monday in The Spokesman-Review we bring you a new installment of Then & Now, a photo feature showing historic and modern images of places around Spokane.
See more of Then & Now online.
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Jim Kershner’s ‘This day in history’
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This day in history: CB radio thefts grow 500% from previous year. Air mail gets a boost, now able to arrive in Spokane within 40 and a half hours from NYC
From 1976: The country was in the midst of a citizen band radio craze, and in Spokane, that meant a big increase in CB radio thefts.
This day in history: Feds seized stuffed South American jaguar from Spokane store. ‘Rum gang’ wounded deputy in gun battle
From 1976: Federal agents impounded a stuffed jaguar from a Spokane taxidermy store.
This day in history: Flu outbreak reaches Spokane
From 1976: A national flu outbreak had reached Spokane, with about a dozen or more cases arriving at area hospitals.
This day in history: Joyridding Felts Field plane thief walked into court with broken ankles from crash. North Central High School overcrowded, business group says
From 1976: Michael G. Frazier, 26, hobbled into court on crutches to plead guilty to taking a Cessna 150 on an aerial joyride.
This day in history: Walla Walla prison prepared for new executions. Spokane woman claimed she was growing third set of teeth
From 1976: The gallows were being spruced up at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla – new trapdoors, new bindings and even a new rope.
This day in history: Wallace High School principal died while attending school’s basketball game. 2 men accused each other of killing rancher.
From 1976: John L. Reager, Wallace High School principal, died of an apparent heart attack while watching a Wallace High basketball game in Coeur d’Alene.
This day in history: Zoo backers pushed Spokane County for tax vote. Two men accused of murder in Shoshone County
From 1976: After almost nine years of planning, the site of the proposed Walk in the Wild zoo was largely vacant and home to fewer than 70 animals.
This day in history: Lumber workers furious over reports of needless cedar burning by Forest Service. Master safecracker makes bail, heads to Calif. before trial
From 1976: Lumbermen in the Inland Northwest were livid over reports that the Forest Service was deliberately and needlessly burning usable cedar.
This day in history: Patty Hearst, political pawn? Famed attorney William Kunstler labeled her trial a sham during a visit to Cheney
From 1976: Controversial civil rights attorney William Kunstler attended a rally on the Eastern Washington State College campus and labeled the sensational bank robbery trial of Patty Hearst as a …
This day in history: Eastern Washington president addressed racism on campus. Man confessed he killed game warden
From 1976: Eastern Washington State College President Emerson C. Shuck responded to accusations of racism on campus with the following statement: “If prejudice, stereotyping, fear and ignorance can be successfully …
This day in history: Long before COVID-19 disrupted the classroom, a more timeless problem was keeping kids from learning
From 1976: Spokane educators were increasingly frustrated over an age-old problem: truancy.
This day in history: More than 100 skiers stranded on Mount Spokane chairlift; Alleged master safecracker accused of Paulsen Building heist pleads not guilty to charge of ‘habitual criminal’
From 1976: A chairlift at the Snowblaze Resort on Mount Spokane broke down and stranded more than 100 skiers in midair.
This day in history: Bingo was seen as an innocuous enough form of gambling that even 2-year-olds could play
From 1976: No casinos were operating in Spokane 50 years ago, but one form of legal gambling was wildly popular: bingo.
This day in history: A prominent business lost millions in revenue from strict environmental regulations – in Idaho
From 1976: The Bunker Hill Co. said Idaho’s sulfur dioxide regulations cost the company $3.5 million in reduced sales and that many employees suffered lost wages.
This day in history: Panel said covert racism was rife in Spokane. Washington State College awaited arrival of cougar kittens who would be mascots
From 1976: Racism was rife in Spokane, but it was covert instead of overt, said a panel of speakers sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
This day in history: ‘Hair-covered human-like creatures’ seen in Montana. Bum the cat, pet at Spokane’s Great Northern station, disappeared
From 1976: Strange and alarming reports of “hair-covered human-like creatures” and eerie airborne lights were coming out of Montana – and the Cascade County sheriff was taking those things seriously.
This day in history: Airmen lost hunting licenses after killing trumpeter swans. Comedian planned ‘4-minute laugh-provoking talking act’ on Spokane radio
From 1976: Several hunters were facing charges of shooting seven swans – including two rare trumpeter swans.
This day in history: WSU prof said prison isolation wasn’t punishment. Spokane silent film star was severely injured on set
From 1976: A psychology professor, testifying in a case brought by a Walla Walla prisoner, made an eyebrow-raising statement about prisoners held in isolation cells.
This day in history: Selective Service office closes following end to Vietnam War. Logger dies hopping train
From 1976: The Selective Service office in Spokane made a historic announcement: It would close at the end of the month.
This day in history: Fall smog or polluted runoff? Buring grass seed was the center of an agricultural debate
From 1976: The burning of grass-seed fields was already controversial, but a Washington State University researcher told a Farmers’ Day meeting that people who object to the smoke and haze …
This day in history: 1976 wasn’t a good year for snow either, so the Spokane Tribe and 49 Degrees North partnered for an unexpected solution
From 1976: Ski resorts in the region were hurting for snow, so 49 Degrees North near Chewelah was planning a creative solution: A “full-dress snow dance” by members of the …
This day in history: A ‘UFO cult’ was looking for members to take to the ‘next level’ in Spokane
From 1976: Robin and Benji, two leaders of a “UFO Cult,” arrived in Spokane to “reaffirm a message brought by Jesus.”
This day in history: After nearly 70 years, National Guard considered moving from Spokane Armory. Deputy auditor accused of steading license fees
From 1976: The Washington Army National Guard was considering moving to Geiger Field from its longtime headquarters at the Spokane Armory, 202 W. Second Ave.
This day in history: Jewelry story said it was leaving downtown Spokane because of high parking costs. Warren Heylman calmly defended health building
From 1976: The Carat Shoppe, a jewelry store at Sprague Avenue and Wall Street, announced it was leaving downtown in protest of “higher parking meter rates and increased bus fares.”
This day in history: Spokane police officer jumped in and out of out-of-control moving car in attempt to stop it. ‘Baby Spokane’ named
From 1976: It looked like a scene dreamed up by a movie stuntman, but the incident on Second Avenue downtown was a genuine – and terrifying – accident .
This day in history: Wanted disbarred attorney found in Alaska, pleads guilty to grand larceny. Mystery of fair safe cracker who stole $18k remains unsolved
From 1976: A disbarred Spokane attorney – who had been sought by the FBI for more than six years – pleaded guilty to grand larceny for misappropriating clients’ money.
This day in history: Baseball owners set conditions for giving Seattle a Major League team. Club owner sentenced for serving booze
From 1976: American League baseball owners resolved to give Seattle a major -league team – under two conditions.
This day in history: Marchers to Fairchild protested B-1 bomber purchase. Woman was desperate to get friends to stop sending Christmas cards
From 1976: About 50 protesters gathered at the U.S. Courthouse in Spokane and marched to Fairchild Air Force Base to protest funding of the B-1 bomber.
This day in history: Ranchers found guilty of transporting wolf’s body. Spokane Daily Chronicle searched for “Baby Spokane”
From 1976: Two ranchers were found guilty on one count in a wolf-shooting case in Spokane’s federal courtroom, but not guilty on a second, more serious, count.
This day in history: 2 ranchers were accused of killing wolf from airplane. Stray house cat sent Spokane woman to Sacred Heart
From 1976: A capacity crowd filled a federal courtroom in Spokane for the trial of two ranchers accused of shooting a wolf from an airplane.
This day in history: A convicted bank robber struck again after a state parole board put his rehabilitation over ‘the protection of the public’
From 1976: Dennis Leo Lehman, convicted of robbing the Greenacres branch of the Old National Bank in 1970, was apparently up to his old tricks.
This day in history: Woman sought man to help her get her English inheritance. Yakima pool player earned enough to send kids to college
From 1976: Move over Minnesota Fats – Yakima Alex was making a good living as a professional pool player.