On April 14, 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton (b. 1946) appoints Robert Santos (1934-2016), Filipino American community activist, as the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary's representative...
On April 16, 1994, Group Health Cooperative members debate a resolution recognizing violence as a public health issue, and the majority vote to pursue an aggressive campaign to combat violence. The p...
On May 27, 1994, the State of Washington conducts its last execution by hanging. Charles Rodman Campbell, age 39, is put to death for the 1982 murders of two women and a child. Campbell has a choice b...
On June 10, 1994, Mary Maxwell Gates, mother of Microsoft co-founder William H. Gates III and a woman widely admired for her civic activism, dies of breast cancer at age 64. Gates was the first female...
On June 20, 1994, Dean A. Mellberg (1974-1994), age 20, enters the Fairchild Air Force Base hospital annex with a MAK-90 assault rifle and shoots and kills Major Thomas E. Brigham, psychiatrist, and C...
On June 24, 1994, a giant U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress crashes at Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane County, while rehearsing maneuvers for an air show, killing four airmen. The accident occurs ...
On July 2, 1994, the American Hop Museum opens in Toppenish. The building, originally a creamery, dates to 1917, by which time hop growing had become big business in the Yakima Valley. Today Washingto...
On July 16, 1994, the Skykomish Library in northeastern King County celebrates two important milestones: the library's move to a new location the previous year and the upcoming 50th anniversary of the...
On July 19, 1994, the new Algona-Pacific Library, part of the King County Library System (KCLS), opens at 255 Ellingson Road in Pacific. The two small South King County cities of Pacific and Algona pr...
On July 24, 1994, lightning ignites a forest fire in the Wenatchee National Forest at Tyee Creek that will burn for 33 days before it is contained. The fire destroys 35 homes and cabins, but many more...
On August 20, 1994, the first issue of Real Change, Puget Sound's Newspaper for the Poor and Homeless, hits the streets in Seattle. It is sold by licensed vendors who are, for the most part, themselve...
In the fall of 1994, the Washington grain train begins rolling. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the Washington State Energy Office have purchased and repaired 29 used rai...
On September 30, 1994, the City of Newport Hills (later Newcastle) takes form. Residents of Newport Hills had voted to incorporate as a city on November 2, 1993. This became the fifth new city in King...
On October 27, 1994, the Puget Sound Regional Council Executive Board adopts Resolution EB-94-01, ending the search for a new airport site to supplement Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport,...
On October 31, 1994, Gary Zarker takes over as Superintendent of Seattle City Light. Mayor Norm Rice nominated Zarker after the resignation of Superintendent Roberta Palm Bradley, who had the job for ...
On November 8, 1994, Washington voters re-elect Republican Slade Gorton (b. 1928) to his seat in the U.S. Senate. As part of a nationwide Republican landslide, five of the state's incumbent Democratic...
On November 18, 1994, the Metropolitan King County Council approves a new Comprehensive Plan to guide and regulate growth and land development in the county. The Plan is one of many measures required...
On December 21, 1994, Federal District Court Judge William L. Dwyer (1929-2002) upholds the federal spotted-owl management plan in a key National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) court decision. The ca...
When Martin Pang sets fire to his parents' Chinese frozen-food warehouse on the night of January 5, 1995, the blaze kills four Seattle Fire Department firefighters, the worst loss of life in SFD histo...
On January 28, 1995, the Regional Transit Authority commences a public demonstration of commuter rail service between Everett, Seattle, Kent, and Tacoma, which is part of a proposed "Sound Move" plan ...
On January 30, 1995, the Kirkland Library opens in its new location, which is adjacent to its old location in Peter Kirk Park. The new facility, built at a cost of $4.2 million and designed by Zi...
On March 9, 1995, Washington Secretary of State Ralph Munro joins with Governor Mike Lowry to launch a "Free Lolita!" campaign. Lolita, a killer whale, or orca, has been held in captivity since August...
On March 14, 1995, voters approve reopening Seattle's Pine Street to vehicular traffic by a 60 percent majority. The street has been closed between 4th and 5th avenues since 1990 and used by pedestria...
On March 14, 1995, voters in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties reject a $6.7 billion regional transit plan. The Regional Transit Authority proposal for rail and bus transit improvements win majorit...