Articles written by Bill Reynolds
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Excavation begins for Center Street project
No building permit has yet been issued, but excavation began at the 306 Center Street condominium project site last week to find the water table on the property so that paperwork could be completed for removal of contaminated soil. Following that...
Swinomish Casino reopens for gaming after cyberattack
Good things come to those who wait. Patrons of the Swinomish Casino & Lodge north of La Conner are being treated to increased promotional play offers and other incentives through the end of May after its reopening on Wednesday. The tribal gaming...
School board urged to look within for next leader
The La Conner School Board may not have to look far to find a successor to Dr. Will Nelson. Board president Susie Deyo last week raised the prospect of the school district hiring from within its ranks an acting interim superintendent to succeed...
Town policy on homeless camping awaits U.S. Supreme Court ruling
Because of its desirability and geographic constraints limiting growth, La Conner has long dealt with a housing crunch, especially with affordable housing. Those conditions have now contributed to a pressing side effect: homelessness. In his written...
Planning Commission again discusses First Street traffic, parking
Town planning commissioners trod a familiar path at their April 16 public meeting. The five-member advisory panel, which is in the process of drafting updates to the transportation element of the La Conner Comprehensive Plan, revisited options for...
Town Hall starts 4-day week April 29
A new schedule starts at Town Hall next week. Beginning April 29, the building will be open for town business from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. It will be closed on Fridays so that staff can work on various projects without...
School board hears how math improves student confidence
Math is cool again. That’s the message La Conner School Board members heard during their one-hour public meeting Monday night. Math teachers Dan Hansen and Julia Johnson shared with the board via Zoom how the district’s new curriculum has con...
Braves bounce back with big road wins
The La Conner High School baseball team bounced back from three straight heartbreaking, one-run, extra-inning road losses to post convincing wins at Quilcene and Darrington. The Braves defeated Quilcene, a traditionally strong baseball program, by a...
Middle school girls win JV track meet
Other teams brought larger rosters, but the host La Conner Middle School girls’ junior varsity track team had Faith. As in Faith Jenkins, who won three solo events to lead La Conner to top honors in its portion of a nine-school junior varsity t...
La Conner golf team sweeps two matches
Home or away, it didn’t matter where La Conner golfers played to win last week. The Braves were equally strong at their Swinomish Links home course on April 16 and at the Battle Creek Golf Club on Tulalip Reservation on April 18. La Conner edged v...
Cyberattack probe shuts down casino
The Swinomish Casino & Lodge has had a run of bad luck lately. Having braced for a busy April and heavy traffic volumes from the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, the gaming center and dining venue 8 miles north of La Conner has been closed since...
Give your input to school board on new superintendent
La Conner School Board members want input on what approach should be taken as they seek a successor to Superintendent Will Nelson, who is stepping down after three years. Nelson announced earlier this month that he will be leaving June 30 to accept...
After winter windstorm training success, FD 13 eyes wildfire exercise
A recent training exercise was so well-received that Skagit County Fire District 13 officials are considering another such drill in the La Conner area later this year. The March 30 windstorm scenario was so successful that the local fire district,...
Sales tax added to benefit streets, sidewalks
Town council members last week paved the way to pay for future work on La Conner’s streets, sidewalks and trails. The panel during its April 9 public meeting unanimously approved a 0.1% sales tax to fund the town’s new Transportation Benefit Dis...
Swinomish plan Earth Day activities
Earth Day is a global event that encourages people to act locally. And those activities don’t have to be limited to April 22, the 54th anniversary of the day universally recognized as the start of the modern environmental movement. The Swinomish Indi...
Braves outperform big schools in Skagit Showdown
First Street isn't the only place in town with parking issues. The Whittaker Field parking lot on N. Sixth Street was jammed with vehicles April 10 when La Conner hosted the annual Skagit Showdown...
Murdock sweeps hurdles, Jenkins 2nd in 200 dash
No rest for the weary. That age-old mantra applied to the La Conner High School track teams last week. Just three days after hosting the much-anticipated Skagit Showdown, La Conner thinclads competed...
Braves' ball teams have a bumpy road trip
Travel wasn’t kind to the La Conner High School baseball and softball teams last week. The Braves suffered a pair of heartbreaking one-run extra-inning losses while the young Lady Braves were dealt double-digit setbacks during visits to Coupeville a...
We love a parade
It was an astounding Saturday afternoon in La Conner on several levels. That's thanks to the annual downtown Skagit Valley Tulip Festival Parade presented by Astound Broadband. A large crowd...
School board discusses Will Nelson succession plan
The La Conner School Board took its first small steps Monday toward finding a new district superintendent. A shorthanded board met for about 15 minutes in closed executive session to discuss the process for hiring a successor to Dr. Will Nelson, who...
Board sees progress on disaster plan
Working with several documents the past few weeks, members of the Town Emergency Management Commission are now on the same page. The local advisory board, which is developing a Community Emergency Management Plan for La Conner, has moved closer to...
Planning commission seeks more data on First St. traffic and parking
There’s no dead end when it comes to debating the future of S. First Street. The oft-discussed topic was again the focal point among town residents and planning commissioners during a 90-minute public meeting April 2. The last word on the subject s...
Braves' late comeback falls short in Sultan
The shorthanded La Conner Braves baseball team had a long afternoon in Sultan April 2. The 2B Braves, minus key starters for a non-league spring break road game, trailed early but rallied late to force extra innings before falling 13-12 to the 1A...
Fifth grader has hoop hopes in elite league
A La Conner Elementary School student is getting an advanced education on the hardwood. Josie Catubo, an 11-year-old fifth grader, is making the grade as a member of the Pacific Northwest Rain girls'...
Concrete leaders to be honored at 2024 Pioneer Picnic
The Skagit County Pioneer Association has cemented the lineup of honorees for its annual summer picnic in La Conner, one weighed heavily with civic leaders based in Concrete. Concrete Herald editor-publisher Jason Miller, Valerie Stafford of the Con...