Articles written by Ken Stern
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November felt cold and was damp but not much rain fell
Don’t let December’s rain, gray skies or fields of standing water distract you into thinking it has rained a lot. November maintained 2023’s pattern of rainfall below the monthly century’s norms. While precipitation came down 22 days, half of thos...
Residents visit Jensen field property
Some dozen residents, primarily community elders, responded to an open invitation to walk the former Jensen property last Thursday, April 18, ahead of tomorrow's community mingle seeking discernment...
Larsen votes for military aid to Israel
When the U.S. House of Representative voted 366 to 58 to approve military aid to Israel Saturday, April 20, Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Arlington) voted yes. The Israel package totals $26.4 billion. It provides $13 billion to the U.S. Defense Department to...
Topped status of tulip fields
At 1 p.m. Sunday, April 21, fields of red and yellow tulip flowers were being photographed by tourists in the field on Best Road north of the McLean Road roundabout. The Best Road field south of and...
Embrace 'Kiss Me Kate' in Anacortes
Cole Porter, Samuel and Bella Spewack were right: It pays to “Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” so you can follow all the ins and outs of a 1940s musical rendition of “A Taming of the Shrew,” at the center of their own “Kiss Me Kate,” which opened last...
From the editor: The day after Earth Day 2024
Monday was the 54th anniversary of Earth Day, organized in 1970 as a teach-in on college campuses to emphasize the harm out-of-control pollution has on human health as well as the environment. In typical homo sapiens fashion, giant inflatable earth...
Winter snowpack low as spring starts to heat up
At winter's end, the North Puget Sound basin snowpack is 56% of median, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service states in its April 1 Washington Water Supply Outlook Report. This is lower than the...
Little rain fell in March; fourth driest since 2000
Remember the inch of rain in eight days at March's end? That was one-half the month's total, not enough, as the 2 inches was one-third below March' century average of 3 inches. It was the first month...
First-quarter town tax revenue lags
La Conner Town Council members and residents attending the April 9 meeting heard the down news: March's sales tax revenues are 15% below 2023. Year to date, sales tax revenue is down 15%, $124,353,...
Three housing complexes awarded $1.6M
The Channel Cove complex, managed by Home Trust of Skagit County, will have $336,144 in Washington state Department of Commerce Housing Preservation Program funding. Statewide, 31 low-income housing complexes were awarded $19.9 million Commerce...
306 Center St. project gets town approval
Brandon and Kate Atkinson, owners of the 306 Center Street La Conner property, got the letter they have long wanted: An administrative determination on April 4 from the Town of La Conner planning department approves their application for their...
Langley faces challenges similar to … La Conner
A woman is elected the new mayor of a small town on the edge of the Pacific Ocean in November 2023. “I think Langley is a very sweet, quaint town. It is not homogenous. (That’s) my experience,” Mayor Kennedy Horstman told the Weekly News in a joint...
Town wants public feedback on uses for Jenson property
Town of La Conner staff are planning a community mingle about the best use for the Jenson property. The date may be April 25 but no information has been posted on the town website as of April 8. “Town officials over the next few months will begin e...
Anacortes Food Co-op reopens with growth spurt
Food co-ops in our communities offer amazing examples of thinking globally while acting locally to create a more sustainable world in people’s home towns. The Anacortes Food Co-op is doing exactly t...
From the editor
If there is one thing that is certain in the dominant culture of the United States, it is that we are number one. The best. The greatest. Back in the halcyon days of certainty portrayed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, the metaphor was that we... Full story
Four years of COVID-19 in La Conner
Monday was the four year anniversary of Gov. Jay Inslee’s March 23, 2020 emergency proclamation in response to the emerging coronavirus pandemic. He imposed a “Stay Home – Stay Healthy Order throu...
La Conner's tax revenues are middling in December
The Town of La Conner’s sales tax revenue was significantly down in December, to $47,549, the lowest since 2020, the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. The total, reported to the town council by the state Department of Revenue, is $15,554, 2...
Tulip Valley Farms pair back in court
Tulip Valley Farms proprietor Andrew Miller and Mount Vernon farmer Larry Jensen are named defendants in Skagit County Superior Court for pretrial hearings March 21 with the Skagit County Prosecutor’s Office for the August 2023 lawsuit the county f...
From the editor - Counting students in or out
La Conner School District Director of Finance David Cram offered a realistic assessment last summer when presenting student enrollment numbers and the year’s budget to the school board and Superintendent Will Nelson. The head count in the e...
This week's color is yellow
BRIGHT SUN, BLUE SKY, YELLOW DAFFODILS, OH MY – Last weekend was a perfect trifecta for tourists to swarm the western Skagit Valley for the hundreds of acres of daffodils in bloom, as this field at B...
From the editor - Rick Larsen's Israel dilemma
On Feb. 13, the United State Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill containing military aid of $61 billion for Ukraine and $14.1 billion in security assistance for Israel. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is in no hurry to take it up in the... Full story
Shelter Bay board to be questioned in court case
The five Shelter Bay Community board directors sued by former community resident Jan Henrie almost a year ago are making another attempt to dismiss Henrie’s Skagit County Superior Court civil complaint alleging breach of fiduciary duty and m...
Another Shelter Bay Community director resigns board position
Shelter Bay Board of Director Dan McCaughan resigned in late February. An email to residents from the Shelter Bay Community announced his resignation Feb. 28 and broadcast the “immediate board position opening” seeking applicants to replace him. The...
Seventh-wettest February was also pretty mild
Suddenly, the fields around La Conner are puddling up. February's 3.2 inches of rain is the third above average rainfall month in a row. There was over 2 inches of rain the last six days: 1.2 inches...
Would one-way boost First St. safety?
Safety. That is the number one concern for La Conner's First Street, Fire Chief Aaron Reinstra told the 40 people gathered to discuss parking and traffic patterns at last Tuesday evening's Community...
