0709, 2020

The Life of Senator Slade Gorton

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Slade Gorton was an esteemed intellectual, an accomplished attorney, a shrewd political opponent, an Air Force colonel, a baseball nut…and one of the greatest public servants Washington State has ever known. After 92 years of working on behalf of others, the nonagenarian solon died last month, on August 19th. If you’ve never heard of Slade Gorton, you’ll get a great idea of who the man was by reading his obituary

1704, 2019

The man with the golden gun

Washington Our Home
April 17, 2019
History, Legislature, Western Washington
0
1714

In 1989, one of the most brazen heists in Washington history occurred at the height of the state centennial celebration. Worse yet, it happened right under the nose of then-Secretary of State Ralph Munro. The thief – or thieves – simply walked into his office, and walked out with a first-issue, limited edition, gold-plated, commemorative .44 Magnum revolver made by Ruger especially for the centennial. And it wouldn’t be seen

3006, 2015

The Columbia Gorge has a north side, too

Washington Our Home
June 30, 2015
Central Washington, History, Legislature, Restaurants, State Parks
2
2007

Believe it or not, there are actually people who don’t know the Columbia River has another side. Some of those folks have admitted as much to Earlene Sullivan, Executive Director at the Greater Goldendale Area Chamber of Commerce, who unfortunately understands the sentiment. Interstate 84, the fastest way to get inland from the sprawling, urban metropolis of Portland, zips along the northern border of Oregon…the south side of the Columbia River. Many a Pacific Northwesterner are familiar with

0302, 2015

Pressing On: Two Family-Owned Newspapers in the 21st Century

“Pressing On” is the story of two family-owned newspapers, The Seattle Times and The Wenatchee World. They’re steeped in Washington history and dedicated to public-service journalism. Presenters include Frank and Ryan Blethen (The Seattle Times) Rowland Thompson (Allied Daily Newspapers), and Rufus and Wilfred Woods (The Wenatchee World).

0101, 2015

Time to finish what I start

Washington Our Home
January 1, 2015
General, History, Legislature, Seattle Mariners, Sports Teams, Western Washington
0
1218

Happy new year, and welcome to 2015! In the spirit of new beginnings, making resolutions and so forth, I thought I would share some of the blog posts from the last two years that didn’t quite make it to the publish stage. So let it be known that, from this day forward, I will finish every blog post I start – no matter the time or research involved, and no matter

1004, 2012

What’s in a name? As it turns out, a lot

Washington Our Home
April 10, 2012
Central Washington, History, Legislature, Puget Sound, Western Washington
3
1385

As I tweeted last week, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ Committee on Geographic Names is meeting to consider changing the names of a number of Washington State locations, the most prominent being Soap Lake in Grant County. Someone had the bright idea of renaming it “Lake Smokiam” despite the local community having spent th0usands of dollars marketing the lake’s alleged medicinal properties. Needless to say, Soap Lake residents

0204, 2012

Young man in a hurry: The life of Isaac Stevens

Washington Our Home
April 2, 2012
Central Washington, History, Legislature, Western Washington
6
3042

Isaac Ingalls Stevens was the first governor of the newly-formed Washington Territory in 1853. I’ve been reading more about the significance of his life since I began diving into library books about Washington state history. In a previous post I wrote about how I visited the cemetery where our first territorial lieutenant governor, Charles Mason, is buried. He served as the acting governor of Washington Territory while Isaac Stevens was