La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

Many La Conner School District voters and most of its students live in homes on land that the district does not tax. We were told the so-called Great Wolf Lodge decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in 2013 is why more than 930...

We are bombarded with news on television, on our phones, our laptops and tablets, our car radios and in newspapers. But with all the messaging coming at us, there is only one place for information that is most relevant to you, your family and your...

Special to La Conner Weekly News The United States Department of the Interior on Friday approved the constitutional amendments voted on and passed in May by members of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. While the changes in the tribe’s constituti...

A federal judge has ruled that it is legal for public agencies to collect taxes from non-Indians who lease tribal land. For three years, this newspaper has been following a lawsuit in the U.S. Central District Court of California brought by the Agua...

Records now open for public viewing on the U.S. Department of Interior’s website show that the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community obtained 243 acres of land that was allotted to individual tribal members generations ago. Under the Land Buy Back P...

Swinomish Indian Tribal Community members approved the 29 proposed amendments to the tribal constitution, last week. While tribal elections are private and generally do not stir controversy outside the reservation community, provisions pertaining to...

Bruce Shellhamer couldn’t make it to the Fire District 13 Board of Commissioners meeting on Thursday when he was voted in unanimously to fill a vacancy on the board. Fire 13 Chief Roy Horn told commissioners Chuck Hedlund and Larry Kibbee that t...

Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland has expressed its concerns regarding wording in Swinomish Tribe’s proposed Constitution. Members of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community are scheduled to vote on the tribe’s new governing document next week. Int...

Skagit County’s Board of Commissioners and the Tesoro refinery’s company headquarters in Texas both sent letters to the federal government in bids to shield private property from tribal expansion. The county’s letter mailed Thursday was to affir...

Shelter Bay Community leaders gathered a panel of experts to give residents the lowdown on the “best and final” lease proposal from the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. In short, the tribe’s proposal which would include substantial rent incre...

An attorney with the Skagit County Prosecutor’s Office sent a letter to an attorney for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community seeking clarification on jurisdiction the tribe claims in proposed changes to its tribal constitution. An amendment to t...

La Conner Town Council will consider adopting an ordinance that would disband the town’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. The town established the advisory committee in 2009 to study and make recommendations on how the “bed tax” collected from overn...

The comment period on the proposed Tesoro Anacortes Refinery “Clean Products Upgrade Project” environmental review ends Monday and the Town of La Conner has made itself an official party of interest. Councilwoman MaryLee Chamberlain first bro...

The Shelter Bay Community has scheduled three meetings on Saturday for residents to hear information from consultants regarding the tribe’s “best and final” proposal for a new Master Lease. Nearly two years ago the Swinomish Indian Tribal Commu...

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community’s contention that its reservation is actually a third larger than its boundaries indicate and includes thousands of acres of private property has about 350 landowners very worried, Skagit County Commissioners h...

The Rotary Club of La Conner wants to bring Maple Hall’s 1990s technology into the 21st century. To do that, the club wants to contribute $12,000 for upgrades including a new router and updated wireless access and a state of the art sound system. C...

La Conner area residents are no strangers to the notion of a tax shift. Many homeowners have seen punishing increases in their property tax bills in the aftermath of tribal lawyer and state bureaucrat rule-crafting following the so-called Great Wolf...

The Galleria project on First Street has survived what could be its final challenge from local residents who were opposing it since last summer. Mike Girdner, the businessman who owns the old Lighthouse Inn restaurant building says he’s happy he c...

La Conner’s Volunteer Fire Department was excited to learn that the town’s fire protection rating has improved. What this means for homeowners is the possibility of obtaining better rates on their homeowners fire insurance. Fire Chief Josh Mor...

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community excluded members of the press and local government representatives from two recent meetings it hosted on topics that could impact taxpayers. Swinomish has proposed to amend its tribal constitution in accordance...

Voters in La Conner School District approved a $2.5 million property tax increase that will be collected over two years starting in 2018. In a special election that ended at 8 p.m. Tuesday, a levy to fund operations and educational programs was passi...

The first in a series of eight “consultations” to be held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on rules regarding business enterprises on reservation land will be held next Thursday at the Swinomish Casino and Lodge. While the agency is seeking com...

Fire District 13 Chief Roy Horn announced last week that he would submit his resignation on July 1, because his contract expires on Dec. 31. Horn told the board at the Thursday, Jan. 26 meeting that he would put in a letter of resignation only...