Articles written by ken stern
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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...
How might First St. travel and parking transition?
What is the process, procedure, requirements and schedule to make South First Street one way? First, it will not happen in a hurry. Town Administrator Scott Thomas, Planning Director Michael Davolio and Mayor Marna Hanneman’s responses to emailed q...
From the editor: La Conner's parking problem
If the 30 residents at the Feb. 20 community mingle on what was billed as a forum to discuss parking on South First Street had their way, the clear sentiment was to improve safety in the downtown by making it a one-way street south of Washington... Full story
Presidential primary requires party declaration
Voting in Washington state’s presidential primary is underway for voters willing to declare their party on their ballot. The ballot instructions state “The major political parties require voters to mark a party box” and then vote for a candi...
Town's January tax receipts are solid
Lots of tourists stayed overnight in La Conner last November. The town council’s January packet summarizing revenues reported $9,464 was collected in hotel/motel taxes, above 2023 and the second highest ever. The visitors did not spend a record a...
Port hikes moorage rates at marina
Boaters and campers tying up their boats or parking their RVs at the La Conner Marina will be paying 5% and 10% more starting in April. Port of Skagit Commissioners passed a resolution updating Marina moorage fees and “miscellaneous charges” at their...
Black Press, owner of Everett Herald, files for bankruptcy
Black Press Ltd., owner of the Everett Herald’s parent company, Sound Publishing, is seeking a sale to new ownership as part of a corporate restructuring transaction, Black Press announced Jan. 15 and reported in the Lynnwood Times. That day Black P...
Conway gas spill update
Some 50 area residents attended the Conway School community meeting Feb. 6 to gain more information about the Dec. 10 Olympic Pipeline gasoline spill near Conway and the ongoing cleanup, local media reported. Billed as an open house, residents could...
Town ends 2023 with record surplus
Largest ever, that is the Town of La Conner $971,884 2023 budget surplus. Councilmembers opened their January packets to find that the $43,947 in sales tax revenue pushed the year’s total to $630,453, 3.5% and $21,272 above budgeted projections. I...
That hot mess of January: Very wet, very cold, very warm
January’s weather was full of extremes and records. There were four record lows for the day of the month: 10.4 degrees Jan. 12, 9.8 degrees Jan. 13, 14 degrees Jan. 15 and 16.4 degrees Jan. 16. The average daily temperature was below 20 degrees J...
Poster reveal at Rotary meeting means 2024 Skagit River Poetry Festival is October bound
Monday's weekly La Conner Rotary Club meeting at the Farmhouse Restaurant was brightened from its bleak midwinter darkness by its guests and the occasion: The poster reveal for the 2024 Skagit River P...
