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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1903 | 1 |
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28 stories matching tape
- The Inspector Checks the Sheets and the Fire Escapes
A new state lodging-house law brought an inspector to Newport, where rope escapes and alarm gongs were ordered—and innkeepers grumbled about fees and red tape.
- The Price of Red Tape in Everett
After a man is left to die from neglect, local observers point to a fractured county bureaucracy that prioritizes procedure over the lives of the indigent.
- Denied Shelter at the Hospital, A Woman Gives Birth in a Police Station
A tragic case of medical red tape and bureaucratic cruelty exposes the lack of a social safety net in 1893 Seattle.
- The Open Secret of Seattle Gambling
Despite a state felony act, city officials and police watch silently as saloons pivot to poker and rigged 'bucket-shop' stock tickers.
- The Major’s Act of Personal Charity
When two families near Lake Washington faced absolute destitution, a city official chose to bypass bureaucratic red tape to offer help from his own pocket.
- The Battle for the Snoqualmie Road
A fiery exchange in the Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer reveals the tense intersection of local commerce, red tape, and the precarious state of rural King County infrastructure in 1885.
- The Transparency Tax: A Seattle Taxpayer Rails Against Red Tape
In 1877, a frustrated taxpayer penned a public letter attacking the County Commissioners for mandating expensive, redundant audits of public records, arguing that government transparency should be an everyday right, not a high-priced administrative burden.
- Wage Theft on the Rails
Great Northern laborers quit and waited days for owed pay; Prosecutor Bell's push brought only calls for haste.
- The Political Tug-of-War Over the Seattle Land Office
Intrigue in the Democratic party as factions struggle to relocate the federal land office from Seattle to Everett.
- The Long Road to Forest Exchange
After twenty-five years of federal red tape, a presidential proclamation finally grants Washington control over 152,000 acres of timberland.
- The State Secures the Land for the University of Washington
A public auction on the shores of Lake Washington clears the path for the university's move from downtown to its current campus.
- Puyallup Tribe Reclaims Agency Over Their Land
Defying federal 'red tape' and the Wilson Bill, the Puyallup Tribe organizes their own land company to handle railroad right-of-way construction on their own terms.
- The First Annual Tacoma High School Cross-Country Run
High school athletes brave snowy conditions to set new records in the city's first cross-country race.
- A Jury Settles the Water for Calispell
Landowners in the Calispell bottoms are awarded damages, clearing the way for a diking district to reclaim about 100 acres from the annual overflow.
- Dying on the Doorstep of 'Reform'
A laborer assaulted with a coupling-pin is left bleeding in the street after city officials and the health officer refuse to admit him to the hospital, citing new bureaucratic squabbles.
- Kennewick Mobilizes for World War I
Local women organize a Red Cross auxiliary and plan a patriotic rally to support the nation as conflict looms.
- City Hall Bans the Big Firecrackers
A heated debate over fireworks and public safety ends in a compromise measured by the inch.
- The Price of a Vote: Seattle’s 1884 Election Costs
A look back at the surprisingly high cost of democracy in early Seattle, where administrative overhead, printing, and legal red tape turned local elections into a financial burden for the growing town.
- Surveyors Blocked by Federal Red Tape
A new federal funding measure renders land surveying in Western Washington practically impossible, stalling pioneer settlement expansion.
- Seattle’s Lost Bid for the Navy Yard
While the 1876 Congressional committee debated the future of the Mare Island naval site, Seattle’s local press made a bold, visionary pitch for the Sound as the premier industrial hub of the Pacific.
- "All the Devils in Hell Can't Get Me Out of This Position"
Puget Sound steamboat men spent a year trying to oust the federal hull inspector they accuse of padding his travel expenses. Their affidavits went to Washington City and vanished into red tape — and Bryant kept his job.
- The Angel of Pestilence: Seattle’s War on Rot and Ruin
In May 1877, a local merchant’s complaint about piles of carrion near the sawmills sparked an editorial outcry against civic negligence, declaring that 'malarial vapors' were generating poison and death in the growing town.
- The Corset Clerk's Nightmare: A Beaver Dam Prank Gone Wrong
In a tale of mistaken identity and trembling knees, a young man’s attempt to escort a famous lecturer ends in panic when he is led to believe he must be measured for lingerie.
- Tacoma Petitions to Throw Open the Puyallup Reservation
Businessmen, railroad men and politicians circulate petitions to oust the Puyallup Indian agent and dismantle federal restrictions, arguing the reservation's lands and rail routes should be 'opened' — a dispossession dressed as progress.
- The Railroad Men Had the Proxies. The Chamber’s Businessmen Had Had Enough.
A fight over a Chamber of Commerce nominating committee exposed how thoroughly Northern Pacific and T.R.P. men had captured Tacoma’s civic boosters—and how a reform faction decided to run its own ticket.