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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1904 | 5 |
| 1909 | 60 |
65 stories
- The State Insurance Scandal
A legislative standoff ends as Governor Hay forces an investigation into the insurance commissioner’s office.
- Sunday Amusements Legalized in Washington
A new state criminal code moves to modernize public life, allowing theaters, baseball, and billiards on Sundays.
- Tragedy in Olympia Following Domestic Dispute
A young man takes his own life after his wife refuses to live with him due to his alcohol use.
- State Secretary Faces Ouster in Insurance Graft Scandal
Sam H. Nichols, under investigation for his role in the insurance department, is expected to step down following mounting political pressure.
- State House Scandals Force Reckoning
Legislative committee tightens the net around officials amid corruption allegations.
- City Liability for Sidewalk Accidents
The state supreme court caps damages for a school teacher injured on an Olympia sidewalk, setting a precedent for municipal liability.
- The Fight for an Eight-Hour Workday
Legislators face intense pressure from local business owners to defeat a bill that would limit working hours for women.
- The Annual Oyster Land Fight
A recurring legislative battle over tide lands in Olympia pits private interests against state ownership, with millions of dollars in potential profit at stake.
- The Tax Commissioner Who Couldn't Pick a Boss
J. E. Frost draws a state salary in Olympia while weighing a richer offer from the Northern Pacific — and the legislature is about to rewrite the railroad tax laws he advises on.
- The 'Motherhood' Suffrage Trap
A satirical bill in the state legislature proposes limiting the vote to mothers, sparking outrage and a sharp-witted response from suffragists.
- The '$11,000 Gold' Sack That Held Only Tire Chains
A suffrage lobbyist carried a bank sack labeled with a fortune through Spokane and Olympia, letting fellow passengers believe she was transporting the campaign fund. It was full of automobile chains.
- A Temperance Bill Debate Turns Into Two Fistfights in Olympia
A Spokane legislator and a Spokane newspaperman trade blows on the House floor over a local-option petition.
- Washington Senate Tries to Ban Election Pledges—After Being 'Buncoed' by the Anti-Saloon League
Lawmakers voted 27 to 11 for a 'freak bill' disqualifying legislators who promise support for bills before election, then added a rider against corporation lawyers. Legal scholars called it unconstitutional.
- Olympia Legislative Chaos
A bitter brawl erupts in the Washington House over a new criminal code, featuring accusations of 'jobbery' and an eleventh-hour ban on private-home gambling.
- A Pierce County Senator Switches Sides in the Temperance War
Political alliances shift in Olympia as Senator Paulhamus reportedly abandons the 'dry' faction, causing ripples in the local option fight.
- The Governor Would Not Send Loy Sen Back
Washington's governor refused California's requisition for a Chinese woman accused of a $1,000 swindle, a case her friends called persecution.
- A New Year's Pardon for the Boy Who Went to Prison at Seventeen
Oscar Bradshaw, convicted of murder at Pasco in 1906 and sentenced to life, walks out of the penitentiary at twenty — on the condition that he go home and support his crippled father.
- The Sportsman Who Threatened the State Budget to Save His Hounds
B. B. Palmer of King County is accused of telling capitol employees that if they keep lobbying to ban deer hounding, appropriations will suffer.
- A Temperance Victory Built on Small-Town Spite
After a chaotic night session, the Anti-Saloon League's local-option bill cleared the Washington House — not on moral conviction, but on rural resentment of Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane.
- Washington Moves to Kill the Racetrack: Anti-Gambling Bill Heads to the Governor
The House bowed to the Senate's removal of the emergency clause, sending a bill to end horse racing in Washington to the governor — while 'dry' lawmakers pushed a local-option measure late into the night.
- A Deadlocked Senate, and a Pierce County Man Holding the Switch
Thirteen roll calls, thirteen 21-21 ties. As Olympia's galleries packed the senate chamber for a fight over local option, the whole thing came down to two senators quietly promising to change sides.
- A Father’s Desperate Search for His Missing Daughter
A laundry worker seeks help from police in Tacoma and Seattle after his wife disappears to Olympia with their 10-year-old child.
- A Parting Call for Reform from Governor Mead
In his final message to the legislature, Washington's outgoing governor challenges the political status quo, targeting the saloon industry, gambling, and the exploitation of child labor.
- The Speaker’s High-Stakes Balancing Act
Speaker Meigs stacks the House Public Morals Committee with an even split of prohibitionists and anti-prohibitionists, leaving the committee’s crucial legislative decisions deadlocked.
- Legislators Target Predatory 'Loan Sharks'
Senator Cotterill introduces a bill to curb abusive salary-assignment lending practices.