In July 1988, the Bob Hope International Heart Research Institute is renamed the Hope Heart Institute, reflecting the end of an association between the celebrated entertainer and a Seattle medical res...
On August 2, 1988, the Hedgebrook retreat for women writers, located on Whidbey Island, welcomes its first guest, writer Jan D’Arcy. The retreat is the brainchild of Seattle philanthropist Nancy...
On August 18, 1988, King County Superior Court Judge Gary M. Little commits suicide after learning that allegations that he had abused children would run in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Little had ...
On August 27, 1988, members of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians vote to approve settlement of $162 million in cash, real estate, and economic development programs in exchange for abandoning claims to som...
On September 12, 1988, Seattleites and citizens of the Soviet city of Tashkent dedicate the Seattle-Tashkent Peace Park built in Tashkent by volunteers from both cities. After the breakup of the Sovie...
In September 1988, Seattle's Hope Heart Institute launches the "Heart Improvement Program," a multidisciplinary effort to teach "heart healthy" habits to elementary students. The pilot project, involv...
On September 17, 1988, the Bullitt Foundation, which gives grants for environmental protection and preservation in the Puget Sound region, pledges $1 million to start the Trust for Public Land's Puget...
On September 20, 1988, King County voters defeat a bond issue calling for $85.9 million for park land and open space acquisition. Of the total, $24.5 million was earmarked for expansion and refurbishm...
On October 20, 1988, Westlake Center opens in downtown Seattle. Although the project itself took only two years to complete, it is the end result of a quarter-century of controversy, which includes s...
On November 8, 1988, Republican Slade Gorton (b. 1928) is returned to the U.S. Senate and Vice President George H. W. Bush (1924-2018) is elected president, although Washington voters go for Democrat ...
On November 8, 1988, a King County advisory ballot issue asks citizens, "Should public funding and development of a rail transit system to serve the residents of King County be accelerated so that ser...
On November 8, 1988, voters in Grandview, located in Yakima County, overwhelmingly approve the creation of the Port of Grandview, the most recent port district to be created in the state. The issue pa...
On November 21, 1988, the Port of Tacoma celebrates the opening of a four-story observation tower overlooking Sitcum Waterway near the Port's Administration Building. The tower is formally dedicated t...
On November 23, 1988, Jolene Unsoeld (b. 1931) declares victory in the 1988 congressional race in Washington's Third District. The outcome has been in doubt since election night more than two weeks ea...
On December 28, 1988, the Port of Seattle publishes a "Comprehensive Planning Review and Airspace Update Study." This study concludes that the existing two runways at Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) Internat...
In 1989, Congregation Eitz Or (Tree of Light), Seattle's Jewish Renewal congregation, is founded to further the Renewal's mission of reopening the channels of Jewish tradition to the life of the spiri...
On January 24, 1989, serial killer Ted Bundy (1946-1989) dies in the electric chair in Florida. Before his execution, a tearful Bundy confesses to more than 20 murders of girls and young women, includ...
On February 7, 1989, The Seattle Times reports that improvements are under way at Magnuson Park on Sand Point. A large knoll consisting of 40,000 tons of earth has been constructed overlooking Lake Wa...
On February 21, 1989, the Tukwila City Council adopts Ordinance 1503 officially approving annexation of the southern portion of Boeing Field and nearby areas. The action ends a long, sometimes bitter ...
On the evening of February 21, 1989, veteran rocker Neil Young (b. 1945) and his band unleash a scorching new song, "Rockin' in the Free World," at Seattle's Paramount Theatre (911 Pine Street). In ad...
On February 23, 1989, amid a growing scandal triggered by the revelation that Metro Transit bought South African granite for the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, Metro Director Alan Gibbs tenders his ...
On February 27, 1989, Washington Governor Booth Gardner (1936-2013) announces the Tri-Party Agreement between the state and two federal agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department...
On March 7, 1989, the Lady Washington is launched into the Wishkah River in Aberdeen, as part of the 1989 Washington State Centennial celebration. The vessel is a full-scale replica of the original La...
On March 30, 1989, A Time of Gathering: Native Heritage in Washington State opens at the Burke Museum in Seattle. The exhibit was originated by the 1989 Washington Centennial Commission and its Lastin...