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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1894 | 13 |
| 1895 | 20 |
| 1896 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
36 stories matching clise
- Queen Anne Parents Freeze the School Fund
Residents obtain an injunction to stop the school board from spending building money on other warrants, charging that children are stuck in a ruinous board structure.
- The Ex-Administrator's $15,000 Reckoning
A successor accuses A. L. Parker of paying himself, padding the estate's accounts and charging two years' rent on a Green Lake house.
- Queen Anne Families Went to Court to Fix a Crumbling Schoolhouse
In 1894, residents sued to freeze old school-fund warrants, arguing that 225 Queen Anne children were crammed into a dangerous wooden building.
- Seattle Spends $100 on Seeds to Put the Unemployed on the Land
The city council backs the Pingree plan, buying garden tools and seed for indigent residents to cultivate vacant lots and raise vegetables.
- City Council Wrestles a 50-Year Streetcar Franchise Into Shape
A committee debate over percentages of gross earnings reveals how Seattle gave away its transit future one clause at a time.
- Beacon Hill's Streetcar Gap: Children Walk Miles While the Company Stalls
Residents petition the aldermen to force the Union Trunk Line to run cars to its promised terminus.
- Queen Anne Taxpayers Fight for School Funding
Local residents mount a legal challenge against the county treasurer to ensure tax levies specifically intended for new schoolhouses are spent as promised.
- Fireboat or No Fireboat: Insurers Threaten a 25% Rate Hike
Underwriters tell the city to staff its fireboat properly or watch waterfront insurance premiums jump a quarter.
- The Daily Commute: A Seattle Tragedy and the City's Growing Pains
While Seattle leaders focused on the expansion of railroads and the promise of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway, a grieving mother buried her child, marking the harsh reality of urban development in 1887.
- The Year Queen Anne Kicked Until Its Fire Insurance Rates Fell
After a year of organized pressure, residents won 25 to 50 percent cuts—because an engine house finally persuaded insurers the hill was worth protecting.
- The Farmers' Valley Canal
A coalition of valley landowners and city officials meet to debate the funding and construction of a massive drainage canal.
- 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.
- A Judge Tells Seattle's School Board It Can't Raid the Building Fund to Pay Old Debts
Judge Langley rules that the $35,000 levied for new schools must build new schools — and Queen Anne parents, whose children sit in an 'open, barn-like' schoolhouse, suddenly see a six-room building within reach.
- Bricklayers Refuse to Take a Pay Cut
Workers hold a tense meeting with the City Council, arguing that cutting wages during a depression will only lead to poorer infrastructure and personal poverty.
- A Judge Freezes Seattle's $118,000 School-Building Fund
Queen Anne Hill residents win a temporary injunction barring the school board from spending 1894 tax money on anything but that year's warrants and new school buildings.
- The 'Kid Committee' Sinks Andrew Jackson
A patronage feud at city hall topples the water works superintendent—then a procedural trick sets up a second vote.
- Who Gets to Run Seattle's Streetcars?
A proposed thirty-year franchise for the Consolidated Street Railway cleared its first reading at city hall, but fights over fares, paving and transfers were far from over.
- Seattle’s Suspended Fire Commissioner Skips His Own Hearing
George T. Masel is a no-show before a joint session of the city council, and the rumor is he would rather face charges than let creditors see his property.
- The Council Keeps the Charter Pen
Seattle’s city council refused to pay for a freeholders’ election and voted to rewrite the city charter itself—setting up a fight over cost, legality and who gets to redraw city government.
- Seattle Aldermen Kill Scurry's Confirmation in a Jiffy
A raucous 1895 council session turns into a fight over public works, unemployment relief, and a telephone monopoly.
- Ballard Asked Seattle for a Drink—and Hinted at Annexation
In 1895 Ballard was running on wells and springs. Seattle had Lake Washington to spare, and officials began talking rates, mains, and a merged city.
- The Streets Seattle Was About to Give Away
A city council committee votes to vacate waterfront streets south of Charles Street, and the city engineer warns that private tide-land leases could cut Seattle off from deep water.
- The City Balked at the Price and Walked Away From the Jury
Facing a jury ready to award thousands for a lot Seattle wanted for a street extension, the city's corporation counsel dismissed the condemnation suit rather than pay what he judged too much.
- A Judge Called Unpaid Hotel Work 'Mild Larceny'—and Freed the Bellboy Who Stole $1.15
Nathan Sanguinetti, a West Indian bellboy at Seattle's Rainier Hotel, was convicted of stealing a planted purse. When Judge Humes learned the hotel had made him work 18 months without pay, he called that the real crime—and a pardon followed.
- Seattle Cut Water Rates—Then Claimed the Lake
In one night at City Hall, the council trimmed water bills for every ratepayer and got legal cover to take Lake Washington water, even if it meant digging its own canal past a private company.