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Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1844
It was another spooktacular Halloween in and around La Conner. Historic First Street, now one-way traffic, was closed to all traffic – other than the popular Meow Mix car and law enforcement vehicles – for a full hour Thursday afternoon to allow for La Conner's annual Halloween downtown pedestrian parade. After striding from Gilkey Square to Maple Hall, costumed paraders of all ages walked back to Morris Street, collecting candy along the way from La Conner merchants and business owners. "Th...
As office seekers and voters alike focused on which way political winds were blowing, it was a meteorological windstorm that grabbed attention in the La Conner area Monday afternoon. Gusts of up to 60 mph snapped off sections of trees in the Snee-Oosh Road area, occasionally bringing down power lines and causing short-term interruptions of electrical service. Power was out on at least some part of Pull and Be Damned Road till about 3 a.m. Tuesday. Some homes in Shelter Bay lost power for at least a couple of hours. Indian Road was closed to...
Janie Beasley didn't need to drive far to be celebrated for choosing the long road in terms of public service. A Swinomish Indian Tribal Community member and La Conner High School alum, Beasley received a 2024 Skagit Women's Alliance Network Lifetime Achievement Award during Oct. 17 ceremonies at the Swinomish Casino & Lodge. SWAN is a nonprofit organization dedicated to recognizing and supporting accomplished women throughout Skagit Valley. Upper Skagit elder Kay Knott, who like Beasley was...
Local volcanologist Jerry George is doing his best to shake things up in La Conner. In a good way, of course. George, a charter member of the Town's emergency management commission and its immediate past chair, addressed the panel's embrace of neighborhood mapping at the "Meet the Mayor" bi-monthly forum at La Conner Swinomish Library Saturday. Neighborhood mapping developed in Oakland, California after a devastating wildlands fire in the 1990s engulfed hundreds of homes. It provides vital...
Food for thought took on added meaning during the “Meet the Mayor” session at La Conner Swinomish Library Saturday. La Conner Sunrise Food Bank Board President John Petrich and Director Arin Magill updated attendees on the probable move from the ground floor of the historic Garfield Masonic Lodge Building at Third and Benton. Area Masons are consolidating operations in Sedro-Woolley and selling their La Conner and Mount Vernon properties. Petrich, a retired Swinomish Indian Tribal Community staffer, said the food bank’s lease for the 19th...
Addison Wigal enjoyed a senior moment before she joined her La Conner volleyball teammates in a thrilling five-set home match Oct. 30 that won't soon be forgotten. Wigal, La Conner's lone senior, was honored prior to the Braves' marathon two-and-a-half-hour clash with Sedro-Woolley, which won by scoring the final three points in the decisive fifth set. "It was definitely one of our better matches of the season," La Conner head coach Pam Keller said. "It's what we needed going into...
Heartwarming and heartbreaking. Such were the results of last week’s soccer matches for La Conner. The La Conner girls improved to 4-5-2 on the season and secured a post-season berth with a thrilling 3-1 shootout-round win at NW2B/1B foe Lopez Island last Wednesday. The boys posted their third straight, single-goal, overtime loss, this time to archrival Coupeville on Nov. 1. Baylee Smith, Aisley Zimmerman and Yami Ocampo-Contreras made shootout goals for the Braves, who were locked in a shutout through regulation and two overtime periods. Z...
The annual Skagit County Pioneer Picnic in La Conner is not only steeped in history but also benefits local historical preservation. That was reinforced Nov. 1 when the Skagit County Pioneer Association Board of Directors approved presentation of $4,500 in proceeds from August’s pioneer picnic to the Skagit County Historical Museum. The picnic, in addition to serving as a fundraiser for the county museum, has been a summer tradition in La Conner for more than a century. It features a program that honors a Skagit Pioneer Family of the Year a...
Moving downstairs is a step up for the Skagit County elections office, which has doubled its workspace, increased transparency and improved efficiency in its new digs at the county administration building in Mount Vernon, Auditor Sandy Perkins told the Weekly News last Thursday. The Skagit County Auditor's Office in September moved its elections space from a cramped cubbyhole on the administration building's second floor to first floor court hearing rooms. The county this year revamped two of...
No adage has been truer for Rocio Almaraz than the one that says home is where the heart is. Almaraz, who grew up in La Conner but now resides in Mount Vernon, drives her kids here each day to attend school because of the passion she has never lost for her hometown. "That's how much I love it," Almaraz, flanked by children Greyson and Mia Delage, stressed during emotional remarks made during groundbreaking ceremonies last Saturday highlighting Skagit Habitat for Humanity's new housing venture at...
A 48-foot sailboat at the Skagit Valley College Marine Technology Center in Anacortes is making a world of difference for SVC students. Soon it will make a difference in the world as well. The One Ocean, on display at an open house last Friday, will embark with a five-member crew next spring on a 14-month voyage around North and South America to spread awareness about oceanic health through education and the collaboration of crucial scientific research. "It's like a Jacques Cousteau floating sci...
The new one-way southbound traffic pattern on La Conner's First Street remained a major talking point two weeks after its implementation. Center Street resident Mollie Rights thanked town council members during their 90-minute meeting Oct. 22 for scuttling two-way traffic. "I want to thank you for making First Street one-way," Rights told council during public comments. "It's such a pleasure to drive down there now." Administrator Scott Thomas confirmed that there haven't been "any significant...
If not heartwarming, it was at least a homecoming when the potentially painful topic of property taxes was discussed during the Oct. 22 La Conner Town Council meeting at Maple Hall. First-term Skagit County Assessor Danny Hagen, a former Shelter Bay resident who in a past life was a La Conner High School athlete and later a Braves basketball coach, provided an update on local property value changes at the outset of the 90-minute public session last week. Hagen, who played hoops for Cal Lutheran...
Though Halloween is trick or treat time, La Conner School District officials aren't masking their glee that the district is enjoying more of the latter than the former this year. Superintendent David Cram cited for school board members at their meeting Monday night three examples of good news as sweet as any candy haul Halloween trick-or-treaters can expect. First, Cram announced that K-12 student enrollment, the key factor that drives state school funding, is higher than expected. Cram projecte...
La Conner High School senior C.J. Edwards reigned last week as the school’s Homecoming King, but his crowning achievement came Friday night when he led the Braves to a convincing 56-26 eight-man grid victory over Muckleshoot Tribal School at Whittaker Field. Edwards, La Conner’s dual-threat quarterback, threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more as the Braves remained unbeaten at home and pushed their season mark to 3-4 while playing an independent non-conference schedule. The versatile Edwards also returned a pass interception 80 yards for...
Working overtime didn't pay off again for the hard-luck La Conner boys' soccer team. For the second straight week, the Braves fell at home in an extra session after forging a tie in regulation. This time it was state-ranked Providence Classical Christian that escaped with a 3-2 overtime win, spoiling a spirited La Conner effort in an often-physical contest played before a supportive Homecoming crowd on Oct. 25. "It was a good match," La Conner head coach Galen McKnight said afterward. "We...
Too bad close doesn’t count in volleyball. At least that’s the way La Conner High School net fans felt after NW2B/1B rival Orcas Island, led by junior middle blocker/outside hitter Sofia Jauregui, edged the Braves in a hard-fought five set Homecoming Week match at Landy James Gym Oct. 24. Jauregui delivered a team-high 18 kills and added nine digs and three blocks as the Vikings posted a 25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-8 triumph over the hosts. With the win, Orcas improved to 9-7 on the season. La Conner slipped to 11-8 going into Monday nig...
Halloween has morphed into Howell-oween at The Slider Café on Morris Street in La Conner. Managers Levi and Kimberly Howell have decked out the restaurant with creative and colorful decorations that celebrate the cute rather than scary elements of the otherwise spooky holiday. The Howell-oween theme has even been enlisted for their daughter Annabelle's Oct. 27 birthday party at the café. Turns out, the Howell family isn't alone when it comes to embracing the Halloween spirit. "It makes e...
Emergencies and natural disasters are no fun, but planning for them can be. The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community proved as much with its second annual Emergency Preparedness Fair at John K. Bob Ball Park on Oct. 17. The event was a festive affair with fun demonstrations (the one featuring use of fire extinguishers was especially popular), blaring rock-n-roll music, a food truck and giveaways of home emergency-related items. Flu and Covid vaccinations were also made available to those...
Thanksgiving came a month early for members of La Conner's planning commission. Mayor Marna Hanneman expressed her thanks at their Oct. 15 meeting for the role they and others played in the conversion of downtown First Street to one-way southbound traffic. "I want to thank everyone," Hanneman said at the outset of the 75-minute public session at Maple Hall. "It's a miracle. It was a team effort on First Street." Hanneman and Fire Chief/Code Enforcement Officer Aaron Reinstra were among those...
The shorthanded La Conner Emergency Management Commission managed some heavy lifting last week. Commissioners Doug Asbe and Jerry George at their Oct. 15 meeting took a deep dive into a risk analysis of various emergency scenarios listed in a draft community Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan due for completion by the end of the year. They were joined by Administrator Scott Thomas, who called the 75-minute session “a productive meeting” after the trio discussed challenges posed by some 20 potential disaster threats ranging from storm sur...
The conditions couldn't have been harsher for the La Conner High School boys' soccer team when it faced NW2B/1B foe Friday Harbor at Whittaker Field on Friday. Southerly winds gusted to 45 mph, hard rain fell the entire second half and temperatures plummeted into the 40s by game's end. That wasn't the worst of it, at least emotionally. The Braves briefly led the contest in regulation until a potential Braves go-ahead goal late in the second half was disallowed on an official's questionable...
There was no place like home for the La Conner High School volleyball team last week. The Braves (10-7) defeated 1A Sultan in a seesaw, five-set, non-conference match at Landy James Gym on Oct. 15 with Nora McCormick (8) and Reese Bird (7) combining for 15 kills to lead the La Conner attack. Results were less favorable when La Conner went to Coupeville. Coach Pam Keller’s charges lost in straight sets to the NW2B/1B rival on Oct. 17. League-leading Coupeville (11-2 overall; 8-0 in NW2B/1B matches) was paced against La Conner by Teagan C...
In volleyball, as in U.S. courtrooms, the defense never rests. A prime example is La Conner High School junior libero Addison Keller, whose outstanding defensive play and clutch serving has been formally recognized by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the governing body of extra-curricular programs in the state’s schools. The WIAA has named Keller its Athlete of the Week based on her play as libero – a defensive player specializing in passing and digging – in La Conner’s recent victories over Mount Vernon Christian and Darr...
Karl Olson gave up hunting and sports a quarter-century ago in favor of distance walking. The former La Conner resident has for an even longer time been tracking steps taken to protect the rights and improve the quality of life for members of the developmentally disabled community. All too often, said Olson, a member of La Conner High School’s class of 1988, progress has been measured in baby steps. Olson believes that despite passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related state and federal legislation, more can and should be d...
