On March 19, 2009, Sounders FC makes its Major League Soccer debut, beating the New York Red Bulls 3-0 before a capacity crowd at Qwest Field. It is a rousing start for an expansion team, and not only...
On April 23, 2009, bartender James Hakel (b. 1981) ends his tenure as official director of libations for HistoryLink.org. Hakel, who has overseen HistoryLink's weekly staff meetings at the Red Lion Ho...
On May 6, 2009, Avista Utilities, the Sierra Club and the Center for Environmental Law & Policy work out a dam-relicensing agreement that restores full-time flows to the Spokane Falls in downtown Spok...
On June 13, 2009, a new Burien Library officially opens as part of Burien Town Square, a public-private development intended to revitalize the city's downtown core. The library shares a three-story bu...
On July 1, 2009, activist Estela Ortega becomes the executive director of El Centro de la Raza (The Center for People of All Races), a community gathering place in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighbor...
On July 18, 2009, Seattle's light-rail era begins as Sound Transit's Link light-rail trains carry their first passengers between downtown Seattle and Tukwila in south King County. The event, anticipat...
On July 29, 2009, a scorching weeklong heat wave across the Pacific Northwest peaks with record-high temperatures being set in various area towns. Seattle reaches 103 degrees Fahrenheit for the first ...
On July 29, 2009, a record-breaking 103-degree day in the Puget Sound region, a ribbon-cutting celebration is held in Tacoma's New Salishan neighborhood for the grand opening of the Kimi and George Ta...
On Sunday, August 2, 2009, Everett citizens celebrate the renewal of the 1911 Snohomish County courthouse with a tour of the facility, a display and program about its history, and a ribbon-cutting cer...
On August 18, 2009, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels (b. 1955) finishes third in the primary election and loses his seat after two influential terms in which he built a national reputation as an environment...
On September 4, 2009, visual artist Jesse Higman; Seattle Opera director Speight Jenkins (b. 1937); Artist Trust, a nonprofit providing support to individual artists; Northwest Tap Connection, an urba...
On October 7, 2009, workers install a sparkling new vertical marquee on the historic Paramount Theatre at 9th Avenue and Pine Street in Seattle. The marquee, fabricated by The Sign Factory of Kirkland...
On October 11, 2009, at 6 a.m., a massive landslide in the Nile Valley demolishes a half-mile of State Route 410 and redirects the flow of the Naches River. This is one of the largest landslides in th...
On November 2, 2009, five antinuclear peace activists break into Naval Base Kitsap -- Bangor, a nuclear-submarine base on Hood Canal northwest of Bremerton. Their Disarm Now Plowshares protest is a sy...
On November 3, 2009, Washington voters become the first in the nation to ratify a legislative measure recognizing "domestic partnerships" for same-sex couples and older unmarried heterosexual couples,...
On November 7, 2009, the King County Library System's first unstaffed, automated "library express" opens at Redmond Ridge, with a special sneak-preview celebration. Redmond Ridge is not within the cit...
On Thursday, November 12, 2009, The Seattle Times reports the debunking of a marketing hoax that had both bemused and mystified locals since it was launched in mid-September. At that time news account...
On November 30, 2009, the 18-foot-high totem pole at Rotary Viewpoint above the West Seattle Golf Course is stolen in broad daylight. The theft, engineered by a local West Seattle resident, occurs wit...
On November 24, 2009, James Dow Constantine (b. 1961) is sworn in as King County Executive. Elected to the position three weeks earlier after a contentious race against Susan Hutchison (b. 1954), a po...
On November 29, 2009, four officers of the Lakewood Police Department are shot and killed by ex-convict Maurice Clemmons (1972-2009) in a coffeeshop near Tacoma. Clemmons has a history of violence, in...
On December 3, 2009, crowds gather at the 5th Avenue Theatre in downtown Seattle to celebrate "first light" for the theater's new marquee, which replaces one removed during theater renovations three d...
The Boeing Company's revolutionary 787 jetliner, the first passenger jet made mostly of composite materials, flies for the first time on December 15, 2009, more than 27 months behind schedule. The fli...
On December 16, 2009, Haroon Saleem (b. 1954), proprietor of the Timberline Café, is sworn in as the mayor of Granite Falls in Snohomish County. A native of Pakistan and a Muslim, Saleem defeat...
On December 19, 2009, Sound Transit's Link light rail connecting Seattle with Sea-Tac International Airport reaches SeaTac/Airport Station. The inaugural ribbon-cutting attended by some 500 celebrants...