OddWA #5 - Armillaria Ostoyae

One day you're on top of the world, and the next you're second best.

A giant fungus was discovered near Mount Adams earlier this decade. Washington's Armillaria Ostoyae (a.k.a. Honey Mushroom) covers 1500 acres, and was determined to be the largest single life form on earth.

Barely a year had passed before a bigger Armillaria was discovered in Oregon, estimated at 2000 acres.

I'd like to take this opportunity to encourage our local contender. Don't give up! You can recapture the lead! That, or civic minded Washingtonians may have to pay a little visit to visit Oregon, sauteing pans in hand.

CK

OddWA #4 - Mr. Cooper's Jump - 1971

A man calling himself "Dan Cooper" single handedly ushered in the era of modern airport security when he hijacked a plane on its way to Seattle from Portland. D.B. Cooper also spawned countless yarns, theories and debates as to whether he survived his jump from a Boeing 727 over southern Washington... in pitch darkness... in the middle of a rainstorm.

I do think that solving this mystery would be a shame. Living in concealment for 38 years, or moldering in a remote forest are both less interesting than a bona fide folk hero.

CK

OddWA #3 - The Harvard Exit

Long before the building was converted to a movie theater, the site of the Harvard Exit was home to the Woman's Century Club of Seattle (which still holds meetings there). Over the years, folks have claimed that ladies of a bygone era are still knocking about the place. Some say they've seen Bertha Landes, who was club president in 1915 and mayor of Seattle from 1926 to 1928.

CK