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Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1813
MOUNT VERNON - The four candidates for two county commissioner seats were tested with a lightning round question-and-answer format during a one-hour Skagit League of Women Voters public forum Monday night. Final grades on their candidacies will be issued by voters after mail-in ballots are returned. A large crowd of close to 100 squeezed into the Skagit PUD's Aqua Room for the briskly paced event, in which opening and closing statements by challengers Richard Brocksmith and Rylee Fleury and...
A jigsaw approach was taken to solve the puzzle that is the old Moore Clark property at a Sept. 30 public forum. Attendees at the three-hour workshop at Maple Hall divided into three breakout rooms to brainstorm and then report to the whole group potential future uses for the former fish food production plant and adjoining parcels in what was once La Conner's bustling south waterfront industrial hub. The consulting team charged with drafting a plan for revitalizing the 4-acre area, which has...
The Town of La Conner Planning Commission resumed it review of updates to elements of the town’s comprehensive plan at their Oct. 1 meeting in Maple Hall. The emphasis was on changes to the land-use and transportation elements. The downtown First Street switch to one-way southbound traffic came up, a change that went into effect today. “I, for one, am convinced that making First Street one-way will be a tremendous advantage,” Planning Director Michael Davolio said. Davolio and Assistant Planner Ajah Eills said that First Street traffic flow...
Food for thought was on the agenda for the La Conner School Board's Monday luncheon meeting. Board members and district administrators met separately with two student groups over pizza to elicit input on campus topics ranging from attendance and preferred teaching styles to areas in need of improvement, class sizes and schedules and the new cell phone free zone policy. "It was really good feedback," board president Susie Deyo told the Weekly News afterward. "It was very positive. It's always...
A young team, same old results. La Conner, a longtime state 2B volleyball powerhouse, swept NW2B/1B net rival Concrete in straight sets at Landy James Gym last Thursday. The Lady Braves improved to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in conference action ahead of a Saturday road trip to Forks with its 3-0 home victory over Concrete (4-5), a convincing win marked by solid defense, crisp passing and strong hitting. The final line score was 25-16, 25-10, 25-13 in La Conner's favor. The triumph helped take the...
Unbeaten Lopez Island defeated La Conner 5-1 in an often-physical boys' soccer match at Whittaker Field Friday afternoon. The Lobos, displaying deft passing and a relentless attack, scored the contest's first three goals before Simon Bouwens got La Conner on the scoreboard by booting a line shot past the Lopez keeper less than two minutes before intermission. The visitors, who enjoyed a clear size advantage, added two unanswered goals in the second half. "They're a very good team," La Conner...
La Conner teams came away from an all-day trip to the Olympic Peninsula with a tie and two close, hard-fought defeats in non-conference sports action on Saturday. Freshman Kiana Jenkins scored La Conner’s lone soccer goal to salvage a 1-1 draw at 1A Forks in a back-and-forth matinee battle with the Spartans. With the tie, the Braves’ season mark moved to 3-2-1 going into Tuesday’s non-league home match with 1A Sultan. La Conner was 0-1 in NW2B/1B play entering the week after falling 4-1 in a conference test at Friday Harbor on Oct. 1. Coach Mad...
When La Conner High School alum Margaret Hillard earned her college degree in human services, little did she know how apropos that major would prove. What she couldn't have predicted then was landing a position in her hometown that was both service-oriented and involved tapping the human aspect of community development. Hillard has been the guiding force at the La Conner Senior Center for the past seven years, a tenure that justified her decision to go back to school in middle age. "I interviewe...
A Louisiana-style dinner served in La Conner last Thursday boasted a distinctly Skagit Valley flavor. The second annual Genuine Skagit Valley Tidewater Boil at the Port of Skagit's La Conner Marina featured many of the area's favorite farm and sea-based foods and beverages in a setting akin to a Gulf Coast shindig. Held under a large tent on a damp and chilly late September night, the event served as a celebration of Skagit cuisine and formally honored the valley's food producers. The Tidewater...
Tom Beckwith warmed up for the past Monday night public workshop on the south-end revitalization project with a 20-minute presentation at the Sept. 24 Town Council meeting at Maple Hall. Beckwith, hired to craft a blueprint for rezoning and development of the formerly bustling 4-acre industrial area, having shared his insights with the town's planning, parks, arts and emergency management commissions, again stressed that his team will address market potential and feasibility for the area,...
La Conner’s housing crunch is longstanding, but apparently not yet so severe that town officials approve all potential remedies. The town planning staff had recommended denial of a bid by applicant Jason Lindeman to convert part of the Slider’s Cafe building on Morris Street, formerly a full-service fuel station, to long-term residential use before the proposal was to be considered by hearing examiner David Lowell. The applicant subsequently withdrew the application. “Applicants always have the choice whether to continue or rescind an appli...
A traumatic past can give way to a healthy future. That was the hopeful message shared with La Conner students by Swinomish Tribal Community members during annual Orange Shirt Day ceremonies at Landy James Gym Monday afternoon. Orange Shirt Day, which symbolizes truth and reconciliation, honors the experiences and raises awareness of those indigenous children who attended residential schools in North America. Dean Dan Jr., of Swinomish, who keynoted the La Conner program, shared the story of...
Lydia Grossglass went for the hat trick while teammates Angie Pena, Maicy Bowles and Lily Dougliss scored one goal each as the La Conner High School girls’ soccer team improved to 3-1 with a 6-0 shutout win over the 1A Nooksack Valley Junior Varsity at Whittaker Field last Friday. Pena and Bowles got the Braves on the scoreboard with back-to-back goals. Grossglass followed with three consecutive scores and Dougliss found the net in the second half to cap the La Conner offensive onslaught. “The girls had excellent communication,” La Conne... Full story
In an up and down week, the La Conner High School volleyball team finished strong. The Braves (5-4 overall; 1-1 in league) rebounded from a tough 3-0 Sept. 24 home loss to NW2B/1B archrival Coupeville to defeat host Friday Harbor in straight sets last Friday. La Conner captured each set against the Wolverines by double digits, defeating Friday Harbor 25-10, 25-12, 25-13. La Conner head coach Pam Keller received solid contributions from her entire roster at Friday Harbor. Freshman Nora McCormick delivered a team-high 12 kills to go along with...
The Concrete Lions, with two state 11-man football titles to their credit, resembled a finely tuned machine in the eight-man grid ranks Friday night. That machine, unfortunately for the La Conner Braves, turned out to be a steam roller. Concrete rolled to an 80-26 home triumph over La Conner, which was playing just the third game in its inaugural eight-man season. The Braves (1-2) were coming off an impressive 60-0 shutout win over Vashon Island but found the Lions, who snapped a three-game losing streak, to be a different breed of cat in the...
Enthusiasm wasn't squashed at Christianson's Nursery northeast of La Conner Saturday. The opposite was the case. Squash, in the form of giant pumpkins, enthused throngs of people who descended upon Christianson's on a beautiful warm and sun-splashed afternoon the last day of summer. Christianson's Nursery held its annual Skagit Valley Giant Pumpkin Festival, drawing growers and fans alike from throughout the Pacific Northwest. Hundreds of parked cars made for a jam-packed Saturday afternoon,...
La Conner's once bustling but long dormant south end industrial hub is again a center of attention. The Beckwith Consulting Group walked through the area, including the former Moore-Clark property and engaged with the Town of La Conner's advisory commissions in developing a revitalization plan. Residents will also be enlisted to review the scope and objectives of the grant-funded planning project, which runs through December at a Sept. 30 public meeting and through a survey that is on the...
Members of the Washington state Community Economic Revitalization Board launched their whirlwind two-day tour of Skagit County businesses last Wednesday at Mavrik Marine in La Conner. CERB, whose membership includes Island County Commissioner and 10th District State Senate candidate Janet St. Clair, spent an hour visiting Mavrik facilities at the Port of Skagit's La Conner Marina, where the aluminum boat manufacturer is building the third in a series of 137-foot, 325-passenger ferries serving t...
Much has been said the past three decades about the former Moore-Clark property on La Conner's south waterfront. Additional input is still being sought. And this time it promises to carry more weight than ever. Comments on and ideas for the former south end industrial area will be welcomed at a 6-9 p.m. Sept. 30 public workshop at Maple Hall facilitated by consultant Tom Beckwith. "It's designed to get community input on the best possible use of the area," Assistant Planner Ajah Eills said....
Lydia Grossglass and Bailey Smith combined for three first-half goals and the La Conner High School girls' soccer team withstood a late Providence Classical Christian rally to post a 3-2 NW2B/1B triumph at Whittaker Field Friday afternoon. Smith delivered a goal 14 minutes into the contest to give La Conner an early lead. Grossglass then extended the hosts' advantage with two scores before intermission. A senior, Grossglass scored with 7:45 left in the opening half off a free kick by Angie Pena,...
The La Conner School District is making headlines this fall – in a good way. The strides its students have made improving math scores the last two years is the cover story in the current edition of the Washington State School Directors Association quarterly newsmagazine. President Susie Deyo announced at the close of the Sept. 23 board meeting that the district’s success implementing its new K-12 math curricula – along with several other supportive initiatives – is featured in the fall issue of Direct, the WSSDA publication. La Conner element...
They have adjoining desks and confer regularly each day, but Jennifer Herring and Anji Viola, who were hired within three months of each other this year, took far different paths to La Conner's Town Hall. Herring is a native Virginian who earned a bachelor's degree in government and international politics from George Mason University near Washington, D.C., served with the Peace Corps in West Africa, and previously worked as a children's librarian in the San Diego suburb of Coronado, Calif. Viola...
Reporting at the Sept. 10 La Conner Town Council meeting, Sgt. Brad Holmes, the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office La Conner detachment administrator, made a plea to residents and an apology to the council. He addressed concerns voiced at the Aug. 27 council meeting over deputies’ response times to a nighttime burglary and theft incident around North Third Street that month. Holmes said that deputies had arrived in La Conner within 20 minutes of the crimes being reported and immediately began patrolling for the suspect vehicle, which staff learned...
Katryna Barber is closing the book on her latest adventure. After six years as the youth reading specialist, starting at the La Conner Swinomish Library when it bore the name La Conner Regional Library, Barber has announced she is ready for the epilogue stage of a wide-ranging working life. The former teacher, who once served on the library board in Woodstock, N.Y. – the town famous for the 1969 music festival – is retiring at the end of the month. Her last day is Sept. 27. "We will be cel...
Local firefighters who mobilized to battle the massive summerlong blaze in Chelan County near Stehekin had reason to be rattled. A Skagit County Fire District 13 crew on scene twice had rattlesnakes approach their tent. In addition, a bear was spotted in the area where the District 13 firefighters, led by Battalion Chief Jamie Jurdi, were assigned. Jurdi related his team’s three-week stay in the area around Lake Chelan during the District 13 Board of Commissioners meeting Sept. 12. The District 13 firefighters were among those units from t...
