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71 stories matching empow
- The Path to the Ship Canal
A new law empowers King County to condemn land for the long-awaited government canal connecting Puget Sound to Lake Washington.
- Walla Walla to Build New County Poor House
After inspecting neighboring Whitman County, local commissioners decide to move from a contract-based system to a county-owned brick facility.
- Vashon Farmers Petition for County Spraying Equipment
Island growers urge the County Commissioners to purchase a communal power-sprayer to combat orchard blight.
- City Council Delays Naming a Health Officer
Seattle's City Council stalled on hiring a health officer, wrongly believing the county was responsible for contagion in a city being swept by regional fears.
- Olympia Declares War on Loose Hogs
A newly passed town ordinance empowers the Marshall to seize and auction off any swine wandering through the streets of Olympia north of Union Street.
- The Sheriff Under Arrest
In a bizarre legal tangle, the King County coroner arrests the sheriff for failing to enforce slot machine laws.
- The President's Vision for a Settler-Colonial Expansion
In his final annual message, President Ulysses S. Grant reflects on the centennial of the republic, the management of the post-war South, and a failed dream of annexing Santo Domingo to solve the 'Negro question.'
- The Political Smoke of 1891: Backroom Deals and Populist Uprisings
While Washington’s early legislature debated the direct election of senators and railroad regulation, backroom meetings at the Olympia Hotel signaled the enduring influence of corporate power.
- The Fight to Save Washington’s Timber
Edmond S. Meany urges the federal government to secure forest reserves around Mount Rainier and the Olympic Peninsula to protect the state’s massive natural heritage.
- The City’s Sick and the Floating Hazard
A growing public outcry in 1889 Seattle demands the relocation of the city’s pesthouse, currently moored in a dangerous, wind-swept location that threatens public health.
- Seattle's Justice System Ruled Illegal
A state Supreme Court decision against Tacoma’s police court has triggered a legal crisis in Seattle, leaving local officials scrambling to save the city’s ability to prosecute crime.
- The Judge Says the School Board Can Spend the Building Levy on Anything It Likes
A resident of the newly annexed district sued to force Seattle's school money into bricks and mortar only. Judge Osborn dissolved the injunction, sustained the board's demurrer, and sent the plaintiffs back to rewrite their complaint.
- The Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer's 1886 Protest Against Executive Overreach
A fiery editorial argues that the Cabinet, led by Secretary Bayard, is systematically ignoring acts of Congress and undermining democracy itself.
- The Grand Plan to Reshape Seattle
A St. Louis investment group arrives to back Eugene Semple’s ambitious vision of a ship canal and the filling of the tide flats.
- Washington Sets First Minimum Wage Standards
A newly empowered industrial welfare commission begins enforcing minimum pay for women, girls, and minors across mercantile, laundry, and factory sectors.
- The Fight for Hanford's Water
Local water right owners resolve to keep their legal battle for irrigation rights alive all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- The 'Apostle' of Lona Lake
A Spokane man claimed divine powers to swindle followers out of their money and valuables, only to end up in the county jail.
- Founding the University of Washington
In 1861, commissioners reported on the hard-won construction of the territory's first university, built from scratch with donated land and volunteer labor.
- The Broken Promises of Washington Territory
James G. Swan argues that federal mismanagement and bureaucratic neglect are the true causes of unrest, urging the government to honor its treaty obligations to Indigenous nations.
- Seattle and Port Townsend Vie for Methodist University
Before the University of Puget Sound was established, Seattle’s founding elites fought a bitter, public battle over which developer’s land would house the city’s next great institution.
- A Ditch, a Dam and the Fight to Keep Calispel Dry
Diking District No. 2 commissioners weigh an engineer's plan to divert the Calispel River above the falls and block Pend Oreille backwater with a dam.
- The Fight to Reopen the River
As high costs of living plague local farmers, the Courier-Reporter calls on the fisheries commission to restore public fishing rights on the lower Yakima River.
- South End Club Moves to Take City Hall Out of the Ward Bosses' Hands
A hundred petitions, 4,000 signatures and a charter committee of fifteen: South Tacoma's improvement club launches a drive for commission government before the council can bury civil service for good.
- The Price of a Wagon Road: Financing the Frontier
A look at the logistical grunt work of early King County, from building roads to settling school district boundaries in 1878.
- The Statehouse Recesses—and an Impeachment Trial Waits
Lawmakers adjourn until August 11 to try Insurance Commissioner J.H. Schively on 26 counts, capping a special session that cost $117,984 and spawned investigations of the Supreme Court and a 'Nurses' Trust Bill.'