50 years ago in Expo history: Downtown Spokane’s street signs were gone, but plans were in the works for an upgrade

A reader from Twisp wrote into The Spokesman-Review and asked, “What happened to the street signs in downtown Spokane?”

Expo ’74 visitors were surely going to have a tough time navigating through Spokane without them.

The S-R’s Action Line column provided some reassurance. The street signs were removed in preparation for a major street signal, lighting and signage project in advance of the fair. The new signs were not yet installed, but they would be soon, and they would be larger than the old signs.

From 100 years ago: Sam Cohn of Spokane, the check forger who confessed to being part of a national forgery ring, said he broke the law because of “love for a baby daughter.”

He said that he was recruited into the Chicago-based gang run by his former school pal and ringleader Aaron Mosheik because he needed the money to care for his two-month-old daughter. Now, he regretted that decision.

“The gang will sure get me, but I want to get things straightened out so I can go back to my wife and baby,” he said. “My wife and I were happy until I became entangled with Mosheik.”

He said that telling the full story about the forgery ring would “take two weeks.”