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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 4 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 8 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 3 |
| 1904 | 5 |
| 1909 | 8 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
49 stories matching probe
- Labor Probe Ousts Progressive Politician from Utility Role
A Farmer-Labor legislator resigns as attorney for a transit subsidiary after an electrical union investigation reveals his ties to a corporate giant.
- Almshouse Report Blames Commissioners for Defective Construction
A committee investigation reveals gross negligence and poor construction at the new county almshouse, prompting calls for a grand jury probe.
- The Carpenter's Secret Compartment
A crafty smuggler’s hollowed-out tool chest, designed to look like the property of a humble working man, fails to outsmart Seattle Customs inspectors.
- $10 to Vote: Tacoma's City Hall Bribery Probe
Tacoma's council heard testimony that City Clerk Smyth paid Councilman Thompson $10 for his vote—and that Thompson tried to bribe the city attorney over a gambling house.
- Tacoma Grand Jury Indicts Mayor and Officials Over 'Social Evil' District
A sweeping probe into city vice and municipal corruption concludes with calls for reform and the indictment of the mayor.
- The Town That Might Move: Wenatchee Waits on the Great Northern
With the railroad undecided on its Columbia River crossing, Wenatchee's townsite company threatens to relocate the whole town—just as North Yakima was moved—and engineers send divers to probe the riverbed.
- The Shadow Ledger of 1877 Snohomish
A grand jury investigation reveals that local commissioners were caught undercutting liquor licensing fees, triggering a deeper probe into potential corruption and the misdirection of public funds.
- The 'Opium Bribe' Scandal That Wasn't
A sensationalized investigation into Seattle police corruption collapses as the city council realizes the accusations were entirely fabricated.
- The Midnight Shot at the Eldorado
A quiet night in a Seattle saloon turns into a tense legal spectacle after a musician goes on a shooting spree during a restless sleep.
- A Mystery in the Garden Tracts
A Kennewick man is found critically wounded in his home garden, leaving police to speculate on a stray bullet from a nearby orchard.
- The Ministers and the Mayor-Elect
A committee from the Ministerial Alliance meets with Mayor-elect Wright to probe his stance on the city's 'open' or 'closed' status, leaving the public to guess the outcome.
- The Missing Certificates of Port Townsend
A federal judge probes a mysterious 1,000-certificate shortfall that allowed Chinese immigrants to bypass strict exclusionary laws.
- A Probe Into Washington's Land Deals—With More Beneath the Surface
A senate resolution opens an investigation into how the state manages its school and tide lands, with hints that the real target is the land commission itself.
- The Vouchers That Frightened a Capital
A widening probe into Washington State's books has forced one resignation, is about to force another, and may yet reach the governor's mansion itself.
- Drilling for Water Under Washington's Dry Wheat Country
A federal geologist probes the desert east of the Columbia and the Big Bend wheatlands to see whether deep wells can water the dry interior — and finds pressure underground, but no free-flowing artesian springs.
- Tacoma's Bribery Probe Ends With a Censure, Not a Conviction
A Tacoma City Council 'Lexow' committee cleared Councilman Thompson and City Clerk Smyth of bribery, then censured Smyth anyway for boasting he'd paid for a vote.
- A Populist Feud Ended in Disappearance—and Charles Gloystein Was Never Found
After being hanged in effigy and warned to leave Mica, the Spokane County farmer vanished. His family and editors suspected political murder; no body ever surfaced.
- The Murdered Japanese Cook Known as Charley
A hatchet, a wages quarrel and a suspect who answered every question 'I don't know'—the killing near Auburn that drew Seattle's Japanese community into the hunt for a murderer.
- The House Turns on Its Insurance Commissioner
The Washington House votes unanimously to impeach Insurance Commissioner James H. Schively, opening a Senate trial that could remove him—and prolong the special session.
- The Saloon Fight That Ended With a Knife and a $2,000 Bail
John Nolan said he cut Frank Hardy to keep from being beaten to death. A Seattle judge wasn't convinced.
- Three Bickering Land Departments, Millions in Tide Lands, and a Demand for Answers
A state land commissioner admits the tide-land situation is 'chaotic in the extreme' and calls for a no-whitewash legislative probe — warning that divided authority is an open door to corruption.
- The Powerhouse Killing in Hamilton
A quarrel over steam, firewood and a dollar a day left an electric-light manager dead, a young night watchman charged with murder, and a town talking of lynching.
- The Body in the Hen House: An Unidentified Murder Near Eagle Harbor
A well-dressed stranger was found half-burned in an abandoned Kitsap County farmhouse, with only spectacles, a corkscrew, and a torn newspaper to say who he was.
- Queen Anne parents ask where the $25,000 school levy went
A delegation from the Queen Anne district told the school board it had both the money and the legal duty to build a schoolhouse on the hill. The board conceded the need, blamed the county treasurer's books, and referred the whole thing to committee.