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A January letter to Jack Galbraith, president of the Shelter Bay Community Inc. board of directors calls for his – and the board’s – resignation. The letter, paid for by a couple of residents, asserts the board violated the community’s governing documents and Washington state law when they, as a corporate entity, paid a $92,513 fine to the Swinomish Tribe for the September 2020 Rainbow Park clearcut by Steve Swigert, a director. That decision privileged him over the interests of the entire community, the letter claims. The six pag...
This fall’s mid-term elections are already on the minds of voters here and around the nation. For Swinomish Tribal Community members, the 2022 election cycle begins Saturday with two senate races, one involving the 11-member panel’s chairman, Steve Edwards. Ballots will be cast at the tribe’s social services building. Edwards faces singer-songwriter Katherine Paul, the face of popular band Black Belt Eagle Scout, for senate seat 6. Former senator Joe Williams and Swinomish cultural events director Aurelia Bailey vie for seat 7, held by retir...
More people responded to last week’s editorial, "Farmers, fish, trees, cold water," than any other on this page in four-and-a-half years. Their questions showed that none understood that the bulk of the editorial was intentionally left blank. It is the editor’s fault when the point is not clear or missed entirely. It is good that readers paid attention, wondered, questioned and reached out. Perhaps you get financial or other information, sometimes pages and pages of materials and at the end, typically, pages are marked “this page intentionally...
The Jan. 23 article in the Skagit Valley Herald, “Piece of state legislation has its detractors in Skagit County,” reveals deep concerns about how to save our salmon. What is clear is that we must act quickly and move beyond the voluntary programs, or we will lose this crucial species. All stakeholders will be impacted and all stakeholders must work together. The Lorraine Loomis Act for Salmon Recovery, introduced by Rep. Lekanoff, calls for repairing damage done to riparian zones around salmon rivers and streams. This will reduce pol...
Monday I was watching CBS morning news and they did a short piece on a group of quilters in Mississippi carrying on the traditions of creating stories through quilting. It got me to thinking about the traditions we have learned being lost. Many of us have learned from family to create, whether it be quilting, knitting, woodworking, sculpting, beading, pottery, blacksmithing or other “from the heart through your hands” creative endeavors. Those of us that are lucky enough to be able to carry on these traditions have an obligation to teach our...
Based on recent opinion pages in the La Conner Weekly News there appears to be a lack of clear or accurate information regarding protections for riparian zones adjacent to salmon streams in general and the Lorraine Loomis Act in particular. Intact riparian zones (the land along stream banks) provide immense benefits to salmon. They provide shade to keep streams cool, they provide large pieces of wood where juvenile fish take refuge from floods and predators, they provide bank stability, they filter and absorb nutrients coming off of farms and...
The $41,561 in sales tax revenue reported for January to the La Conner Town Council was the second highest for that month ever, only exceeded by 2021’s $52,155. Receipts for January topped $40,000, also only for the second time, as tourists continue to make the town a preferred destination. The total is 8.4%, one-twelfth of the budgeted $492,303 for the year. That portends a strong 2022 sales tax revenue collection, as January has historically been one of the three lowest collection months, followed by March and April. These totals are based o...
Washington state has an unusual problem right now: too much money. Soaring tax revenue and billions in federal coronavirus pandemic relief funds have left lawmakers with a robust bottom line as they work to develop and agree upon the state’s three supplemental budgets: operating, transportation and capital. Typically, supplemental budgets make minor adjustments to the current two-year budgets. But it’s not a typical year. After nearly two years of Congress giving out trillions to help the economy stay afloat during the pandemic, both red and...
The Waterfront Café has long been hosting a wide range of benefit events for La Conner area residents, from the annual free Thanksgiving Day community feast to a dinner and auction fundraiser for an elderly local couple last Friday. It was only fitting, then, that café owners Guy and Marla Vallee would honor another group of champions – the reigning La Conner High School state 2B volleyball title winners – with a Jan. 29 dinner celebration. Members of the public were...
The late JoAnne Self often made a strong pitch for support of La Conner sports teams and their players. Now they will be able to make pitches of their own thanks to a major donation inspired by the memory of the longtime local coach and mentor. The La Conner Youth League is now recipient of funding support to purchase a portable pitching mound to be used on the school campus field where home games will be played this spring now that the old Hedlin’s Ballfield mound has been leveled and cleared for residential construction on Maple Avenue. P...
La Conner High School alum Dean Swanson has been around long enough to know about the school’s basketball history. He also keeps tabs on current holidays. The two intersected last Tuesday when the Lady Braves basketball team posted a 63-42 statement win at 2A Burlington-Edison before a large and masked crowd that packed the gym just days after a two-week COVID-19-related spectator pause was lifted. “Today starts the Chinese New Year of the Tiger,” Swanson said immediately afterward. “But not tonight.” La Conner, the No. 2 ranked 2B team in W...
Daniel “Dano” Rapada has earned many admirers over the years for his courage dealing with a slew of major health issues. Now those admirers will have the opportunity to show their support for the Swinomish teen and 2021 La Conner High School graduate by taking part in a Feb. 23 fundraiser at Santo Coyote to help defray costs of his recent kidney transplant. “His story is amazing,” Jaime Stroebel-Reinstra, a lifelong friend of Rapada’s mom, Sally Wilbur, told the Weekly News. “He is such a miracle and a warrior.” Stroebel-Reinstra said La Conne...
I saved a seat next to me in my car so you could go with me to the Audubon Christmas bird count in the Skagit and Island County area., figuratively speaking. This is our contribution to the national bird count in the lower 48 states, Canada and Alaska. The goal is to track how species are doing locally. The data allows tracking for how well species are doing both short- and long-term. A car is needed to reach our assigned area. For years mine has been the Deception Pass section south of the...
Completing the opening of the Country Inn saga. Built on the former site of the misspelled “Town Getto,” the stylish La Conner Country Inn has hosted and provided lodging for some of the country’s biggest names. None bigger, of course, than the late basketball legend turned actor Wilt Chamberlain. Rick Thompson, an original Country Inn partner, remembers Chamberlain’s stay here quite well. “In the summer of 1980, I think, but could have been 1981,” Thompson related, “it was a beautiful June morning when I received a call from our front desk th...
Monday, January 31 10:44 a.m.: Broken windshield – Caller reported their windshield broke while driving. It is unknown if something was thrown at the vehicle or not. Bay View Edison Rd, Edison. Tuesday, February 1 10:12 a.m.: Wine thief – Caller reported someone had rummaged through her vehicle over the weekend. The only item missing was a case of wine. Center St., La Conner. 11:02 a.m.: No visibility – Complaint of semi trailers being parked at the intersection of Rainier St. and Maple Ave., blocking visibility. Rainier St....
For farmers evaluating Governor Inslee’s Salmon Recovery bill, the devil is in the details. Details like what exactly constitutes a Riparian Management Zone and whether the riparian buffers proposed in the now withdrawn HB 1838 will not just target salmon-bearing streams and side channels but encompass delta farmland behind Skagit River dikes. The million-dollar question: Inside those buffers, is farming permitted? The bill is clear about the need to maintain and enhance natural resource industries like agriculture and to encourage the conserva...
Ingredients Chicken drumsticks, 1 to 2 per serving Garlic powder or granules, 2 teaspoons Black pepper, 1 teaspoon Paprika, ½ teaspoon Dried parsley, ½ teaspoon Butter, 1 tablespoon Potato, 2 medium Carrot, 1 medium Korean radish, two thick slices Aluminum foil to create two packets Preparation Prepare the chicken drumsticks by sprinkling with garlic powder or granules and black pepper. Coat thoroughly. Make one packet from aluminum foil for the chicken and wrap tightly. Peel and...
Folks in and around La Conner are talking turkey these days. As in the signature turkey dinners that have long highlighted the menu at the popular Farmhouse Restaurant 4.5 miles north of town. Its diners will be relieved to know they will still be able to gobble down that Thanksgiving-style delicacy year-round. The restaurant sold in January to Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill & Irish Pub, an Everett-based family-owned chain with locations also in Seattle and Spokane. “Turkey will stay,...