Articles from the April 26, 2023 edition
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Enrollment drop means school staff cuts in fall
The impact of budget ax reality fell sharply and heavily upon La Conner Schools Monday night. And it hurt. Projections of declining student enrollment and loss of COVID-19 emergency funding forced...
Jeannette DeGoede tells inside story of Tulip Town
Very few people give up a desk job to work in the tulip fields – but Jeannette DeGoede did. “I was sporting goods managers at Ernst Hardware in Mount Vernon,” she remembers. “Leaving a nice warm store and coming out to a cold field with no one to...
Hope Island fish pen structures remain
Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC did not meet the state of Washington 's April 14 deadline to remove its Hope Island fish net pens from Skagit Bay. After the state Department of Natural Resources ended the company’s leases in November, it faced a Decem...
Legislature passes budget, adjourns
The Washington State Legislature adjourned April 23 after passing two-year budgets. It failed to approve a controversial bill setting drug possession penalties, raising the possibility of a special session in the coming weeks to resolve the issue....
Town needs new leadership
Ramon Hayes, mayor of the Town of La Conner for 16 years, is retiring when his term ends after the November elections. Hayes deserves a huge thank you for his steadfastness. He deserves credit for the solid staff employed in support of the town's... Full story
Racism has happened here
The Seattle author Timothy Egan's latest book, “A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them,” is a riveting saga of the Klan spreading their hatred of Blacks, Jews, Catholics and imm...
If I Ran The Zoo
Believe it or not, I was a star athlete in high school. My senior year I was an all-county linebacker, an undefeated wrestler and a catcher in baseball who batted .517. There were scouts at all of my...
Another Shelter Bay perspective
It is sad that Jack and Julie Jones moved out of Shelter Bay over misperceptions (Citizens’ View, April 19). I wish for their sake the Jones had served on the board of directors and on committees. If they had they would still be here enjoying the b...
Thoughts on La Conner's next mayor
I have always said that as long as my daughter Victoria was in La Conner schools, I was happy to be mayor. That season has come to an end, and it is time for La Conner to choose a new representative to lead the community. May 15 through 19 interested...
Salish Sea Early Music Festival May 9
The Salish Sea Early Music Festival is 7 p.m. May 9 at Fir-Conway Lutheran Church at 18101 Fir Island Rd, Conway. Soprano Maike Albrecht and harpsichordist Hans-Jürgen Schnoor from Lubeck, Germany have a sold out performance May 3 at the Skagit...
A tale of four bills
The 2023 legislative session ended on April 23. Over the last four months, we developed operating, transportation and capital budgets that will help our community and our state. I'll have more to say...
Parking plan discussed by planning commission
The wheels of justice are said to grind slowly. But when it comes to planning for future local transportation needs, Town of La Conner officials, relatively speaking, are putting the pedal to the metal. Two years after the transportation section of...
Emergency management commission meets
The memories of severe saltwater flooding that deluged La Conner in December remain firmly etched in the minds of residents and business owners here, perhaps no more so than former council member and planning commissioner Bill Stokes. But Stokes, una...
La Conner ball teams smash Concrete; felled by Loggers
As a former La Conner High School football standout, Loran James is used to seeing the number 35 on stadium scoreboards. But not when the game being played is softball. James, coach of the high...
Josie Harper is Soroptimist student of the month for April
Josie Harper, a senior at La Conner High School, is the Soroptimist of La Conner Honored Student for April. Josie excels in academics and sports. She is also modest. This season Josie was twice...
La Conner track teams weather storm at Langley
The weather was the worst, but La Conner High School thinclads were at their best in Langley Thursday. The track teams fought off heavy rain and gusty winds to post several personal bests at a non-lea...
Master Gardener Plant Fair
The annual Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener Plant Fair, an always exciting event, kicks off the Skagit Valley Gardener's summer with thousands of quality garden plants for sale, all...
High school's 'Odd Couple' revels in mismatches
Eleanor Drews' strong performance as the messy Oscar Madison in the "Odd Couple," the La Conner Schools drama club's spring production, highlights this show. Jack Dougliis as neatnick and great chef...
Library Happenings
Spring has sprung and the tulips are blooming – well almost – but it is spring at the library! Congratulations to Mary Cayou, our lucky Winter Reads grand prize winner. Mary received a $25 gift cer...
Burlington has best taco in state
Seattle Times food critic Tan Vinh ate 500 tacos in Western Washington in search of the best. The chicharron taco from Tacos Tecalitlan in Burlington won the top honor "with their sparkling pork skin...
Seventy years since the Life Magazine article named the 'Mystic Painters'
I first met Guy Anderson in the La Conner post office, back when you could rent a box for peanuts. There, in the seventies, you had an equal chance of running into a local luminary, your neighbor (might be one in the same) or the person who shouted...
Whittaker Field 50th anniversary celebration
There is reason to celebrate in La Conner on May 3. La Conner Schools has set the day aside to observe the 50th anniversary of Whittaker Field and to recognize its undefeated 1968 high school football team. Its success paved the way for a lighted ath...
La Conner, Conway school officials meet
La Conner Schools officials did more than welcome their counterparts from Conway with open arms last Monday. School board president Susie Gardner Deyo also presented the Conway contingent with floral bouquets. “She’s a garden club person,” La Conne...
School district losing students, funding
La Conner Schools will have to make do with less in the 2023-2024 academic year. District officials were facing that as they begin crafting next year’s budget at their April 10 board study session. Declining enrollment, a smaller than anticipated a...
