Articles written by ken stern
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 1304
The last day of the La Conner Drug Store
The La Conner Drug Store opened for the last time Monday, Jan. 22, but there were few customers shopping and not much on the shelves to purchase – though that was a years long reality. Late m...
Agreeing on time, for a change
This editorial is as timely and critical as when a version was published in 2022, during the last short session of our state legislature. It is updated. Your actions are still needed and needed today. Here is a nonpartisan issue that this community... Full story
Searchers recover body Tuesday in Swinomish Channel
It will be cold comfort to the family whose relative was found in the Swinomish Channel mid-day Tuesday, Jan. 23 but perhaps allow the start of a grieving and healing process. Employing a remote operated underwater vehicle supplied by the Seattle Har...
Conway gas spill site cleanup continues
CONWAY — Last week’s weather paused cleanup operations of the December Olympic Pipeline gasoline spill east of Conway. By Jan. 20 excavation of impacted soil at the spill site north of SR 534 resumed. This update is from United Command press releases...
BREAKING: Friday 1 p.m. special town council meeting
Mayor Marna Hanneman called a special meeting of the La Conner Town Council for Friday, Jan. 26 at 1p.m. held through Microsoft Teams. The meeting purpose is: discussion of the 2021 and 2022 state...
Building housing in the comp plan
Town of La Conner residents have two weeks to offer their two cents – or perhaps exceedingly more valuable recommendations – as possible amendments to the town’s comprehensive plan – and the development code, too. Submittals made through Jan. 31... Full story
Opportunities for building in the new year
New Town of La Conner Mayor Marna Hanneman chaired her first town council meeting yesterday, Jan. 9. The council packet she received the week before included a memo from Town Administrator Scott Thomas. Its first point summarized for council the... Full story
Snow and cold forecast for Thursday
You might have woken to rain today, Wednesday. Cold temperatures and snow will follow, the National Weather Service predicts. Snow is likely Thursday, with up to half an inch accumulating at the Burlington airport after a possible low of 31 degrees...
SR 534 open 2-way near leak
CONWAY — SR 534 opened to two-way traffic Monday morning, making it easier for parents to take their children to Conway Elementary School. Traffic had been restricted since the Olympic Pipeline vault gasoline leak Dec. 10. Cleanup crews have been a...
December: lots of rain but too warm for snow
Finally, rain, lots of it. December's rains were near record high, 4.6 inches, and 2023's first month of precipitation exceeding the century's average. Rain fell 10 of the first 11 days, totaling 3.1...
289 trees removed in gas pipeline leak cleanup
CONWAY — Crews cleaning up the Olympic Pipeline gas leak southwest of SR 534 in Conway cut down 289 trees Dec. 27-28 in order to remove underlying contaminated soil, the cleanup project’s unified command reported in a Dec.29 update. The area bor...
COVID-19 is still here
The coronavirus is still here and lurks in La Conner, in nearby movie houses, in dance halls and auditoriums and wherever people gather and however they travel. The year ended and 2024 began with Weekly News staff and freelancers, critical people...
2023: The year reviewed in its headlines
December was frosty and frozen 4-Jan La Conner Community combats wave of saltwater flooding 4-Jan Flood damage cost estimate $1.8 million 11-Jan Council creates emergency management commission 1-Feb...
November homes sales down in Skagit County
The 88 homes sold in Skagit County in November was a drop of 22.8% from 2022. The La Conner school district market had seven home sales close, the same as last year, bucking the statewide trend. The two homes sold in the town of La Conner, as...
Channel Cove residents meet new director
A smattering of Channel Cove residents took new Home Trust of Skagit Director Felicia Minot up on her offer to meet and greet them at the complex's community room Dec. 16. Each of the four residents...
Weekly News staff are unsung heroes
From an editor who takes each week’s editorial very seriously, I report that this is one of my most important editorials of the year. Each December ends with shining light on unsung heroes in the community, the critical souls who day after day and e... Full story
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...
Finding hope in dark times
Tomorrow, Dec. 21, is the solstice, the shortest day of the year. In BCE, Before the Common Era, and for all the centuries in our Common Era, people have celebrated the end of the year’s dark period and the beginning again of the coming of the l...
Musings - On the editor's mind
We, tell – and listen to – stories for a reason. Way before the internet or radio or even telegraph lines, communities collectively gathered around the campfire to both tell each other the important stories of the day and to recall and pass down myt... Full story
2023 Town of La Conner budget will end in black
The 2023 Town of La Conner budget has met its $5.8 million revenue goal with December not yet counted. Even better, expenditures, now at $4.55 million, are likely to finish below 67% of projections. The budget surplus is $1.23 million and may still...
Pipeline leak cleanup ongoing
CONWAY — Some 7,000 gallons of gasoline have been recovered through Dec. 18 from the leak in the Olympic Pipeline in Conway Dec. 10. Approximately 25,000 gallons were released before the pipeline was shut down. Trace impacts from the spill have b...
UPDATE on: Gas pipeline leak closed Conway school Monday
Additional information from Dec. 13: The approximately 25,326 gallons of gasoline that spilled from the Olympic Pipeline in Conway early on Dec. 10 was “due to the failure of 3/8 inch tubing leading from the main pipeline to a pressure gauge within t...
Bellingham Herald will be two days print paper
The Bellingham Herald will reduce its print editions to two days weekly, Wednesdays and Sundays, starting Jan. 29. This is “the latest cutback stretching the definition of ‘daily newspaper,’ Brier Dudley wrote in his Seattle Times column “Save...
War reporting, now and then
For this last subscription drive mailing editorial, because I respect everyone reading this newspaper and take my work seriously, I went to “Deadline Artists,” an anthology of newspaper columns over the last 100 years. The point of reporting is to... Full story
Skagit River crests Dec. 5-6
Cape Horn in central Skagit County seemed to fare worst of 10 communities from Marblemount to Day Creek that could be most affected from last week’s Skagit River flooding. The Skagit River’s crests Dec. 5 and 6 were lower than forecast. The Mou...