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361 stories matching fees
- Seattle's Corrupt Policing: The Fee System of 1887
How Seattle’s police force was incentivized to hunt for arrests and padding their own pockets through court fees, sparking a local civic scandal.
- The Clerk Who Refused to Leave Office—and the Books That Wouldn't Balance
King County and former clerk W. B. Spencer submit a long-running dispute over fees, continuances and a disputed shortage to Judge Humes for a final ruling.
- Pay for a Job That Wasn't There: Seattle's Employment-Agency Scam
A city council committee heard workers describe paying fees to G.W. Crane's employment office and arriving to find no jobs, with agents accused of splitting fees with contractors.
- The Judge Who Gambled Away His Office: Soderberg’s Dramatic Resignation
After the grand jury returned five indictments for extortion and malfeasance in office, District Attorney Joseph Soderberg walked into court, tendered his resignation, and declared he would repay every illegal fee to the county treasury.
- The Case of the County's Vanishing Funds
A local editor questions why county attorneys are pocketing tax collections while leaving the county treasury empty-handed.
- The $2 Fee That Sunk a Warehouse: Railroads Tighten Grip on Seattle's Waterfront
A group of local businessmen planned a major grain warehouse at the foot of Battery Street, but Northern Pacific's refusal to budge on switching fees scuttled the deal—and highlighted the railroads' stranglehold on Seattle's shipping future.
- The Fee Dispute Scandal
Aberdeen's newspaper takes on county officials over suspicious legal fees and potential public theft.
- The $35 Fee That Became $335: Insurance Commissioner Schively's Sliding Scale
Olympia investigators say J. H. Schively charged newly organized insurance companies whatever they would bear—then kept the difference. With 75 companies heard from and $8,000 in excess fees alleged, the evidence is headed to the governor.
- The Cowboy Who Returned to Seattle
A decade-long separation, a tragic misunderstanding, and a chance encounter in Texas reunite a pair of long-lost lovers.
- The County Attorney Wrote His Own Case—and a Commissioner Objected
Commissioner Peter Autzen accused two colleagues of signing a self-serving statement in a tax-fee dispute, exposing a conflict at the heart of Chehalis County government.
- 651 Bills, 13 Laws: Inside Olympia's Frantic Last Two Weeks
A deadlocked local-option fight, a women's eight-hour bill that ended in fisticuffs, and a marriage law barring 'drunkards' and the 'feeble-minded' — the 1909 legislature's chaotic home stretch.
- The 1895 Push to Split Seattle From King County
A Chamber of Commerce meeting with new state legislators turned into a drive to separate Seattle from King County—and to force the school board to live within its means.
- The Ex-Treasurer's Appeal Stalled Over Unpaid Court Fees
Adolph Krug, sentenced to seven years for embezzling while Seattle city treasurer, failed to perfect his Supreme Court appeal—because the clerk's fees went unpaid.
- The High License Debate
Cities across the Pacific Northwest are raising liquor license fees to curb the influence of 'low dens' and corrupt establishments.
- The Prosecutor’s Payday Ends
A landmark court ruling forces county attorneys to surrender private legal fees back to the public treasury.
- The Price of Healing: Seattle’s 1899 'Medical Trust' Controversy
When the Seattle Star exposed a secret fee schedule used by local doctors to set prices, the city’s medical establishment pushed back, sparking a fierce debate over whether health care was a public right or a protected monopoly.
- Fifty Dollars for a Clean Bill of Health
A quarantine officer charged a sealing schooner $50 to steam over and inspect her — and shipping men say the fee was less public health than protection money.
- The $3 Switching Fee That Almost Sunk Seattle's Grain Warehouse
Northern Pacific and Great Northern agree to absorb the fee, clearing the way for a new grain warehouse at the foot of Battery Street—and a bid to make Seattle a wheat port.
- The Price of Justice in Pend Oreille
The county tallies the steep financial burden of the Logan trial, revealing the high cost of local criminal prosecution.
- The Minister and the Mysterious Cartload of Produce
A thrifty frontier couple surprises a local minister with a literal 'garden' fee for his services, proving that a modest beginning can grow into a generous legacy.
- Seattle's Library Reopens — With a Fee for Taking Books Home
After slashing salaries, trimming the light bill and a landlord's six months of free rent, the library commission reopens the doors under a 10-cent-a-month borrowing charge.
- The Mediums' Trust: When Seattle's Spiritualists Tried to Fix Their Prices
A secret meeting of clairvoyants and mediums ended in failure as new arrivals undercut their rates, proving that even the spirit world is subject to market forces.
- Hanford Water Users Seek More Water and Lower Fees
Water users on the old Hanford project take their fight against high maintenance fees to the State Public Service Commission.
- White Bluffs Farmers Fight Utility 'Fixed Charges'
Local irrigation users push back against the Pacific Power & Light company’s mandatory monthly fees, marking an early chapter in Columbia River valley utility regulation.
- The Tax Collector’s Quiet Heist in Thurston County
Assessments against “unknown owners,” doubled fees and $9,000 in illegal exactions left property titles tangled and taxpayers furious.
Also about this, in other words
- The Fee Fight at the Courthouse
A legal battle over court costs reaches the superior court as the Clerk faces a mandate to lower his prices.
- The City Council Battles Over Liquor Fees
A sharp political divide emerges over raising liquor license fees, with arguments ranging from moral restriction to fear of creating a monopoly.
- The Price of Admission
When a new federal war tax on admissions threatens cinema prices, the local Princess theater owner decides to absorb the cost rather than pass it to patrons.
- The Fee Stopping Progress
A citizen writes in to protest the city's building permit tax, arguing it stifles growth rather than ensuring safety.
- Jailed for a Five Dollar Debt
A Spokane barber finds himself behind bars after a landlady uses criminal law to settle a civil board bill.
- The Price of Petty Quarrels
A neighborhood dispute over an oar results in a court case that leaves the taxpayers of Mason County footing the bill.
- Ten Cents a Month to Read: Seattle Votes to Put Its Library on the Payroll
After a night of wrangling, the Board of Aldermen and the House of Delegates agree to spend $250 and charge adult borrowers a monthly fee to keep the circulating department open — over the objection that the city cannot afford it.
- The Price of a Circus: Seattle Council Fights Over 'Rubbing It All' for Big Top
In 1903, the City Council clashed over licensing fees for Ringling Bros., with one councilman arguing that theatrical companies already take enough money from the public.