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New Town Hearing Examiner David Lowell has begun his tenure reviewing a proposed waterfront project that enjoys a strong current of local support. Town Planner Michael Davolio and planning commissioners have endorsed applications by Chip and Janie Hall for shoreline development and conditional use permits to construct a mixed-use building on First Street just north of the Channel Lodge. The Halls plan to build a 5,322 square-foot water-dependent structure on a private parking lot that provides moorage. “The project,” Davolio said in a det...
On Sept. 19, 2004, nearly 17 years ago, the House of Tears carvers from the Lummi Nation in Bellingham, WA delivered and dedicated “Freedom, Liberty & Sovereignty” to the Pentagon, one of three tragic targets for the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. The Lummi delegation brought three cedar totem poles nearly 5,000 miles on a cross-country road trip to Washington, D.C. This ceremony made a lasting impression on me as I watched in tears both times, as the totem poles wer...
Memorial Day is Monday, the time when we stop to consider our war dead, who “ gave the last full measure of devotion,” as Lincoln said at Gettysburg in 1863. War, we know war. Yearly there are fewer World War II veterans among us and the same is true of those who fought in Korea. Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Iraq twice and even those who fought the last 20 years in Afghanistan. Our soldiers fought in El Salvador and Nicaragua and have been deployed to Bosnia, Syria and throughout Africa since the 1990s. In the twentieth century over 640...
Gun violence in the United States is exploding. Over 7500 people have been killed so far this year and it is only May. And that does not include unjustified police shootings which continue to rise. That is something we are acutely aware of because it is getting a lot of coverage on television, radio and in our daily newspapers. What has not gotten much coverage is the revelation that pollution from American farms is expanding exponentially. Most meat, milk and eggs produced in the United States...
On April 30, Joe Biden completed 100 days in office with approval ratings higher than any president at this stage for 40 years. He leans heavily on a brand of Catholicism that disappoints some on the left and on the right, both inside and outside the church. How is he doing? And does his Catholicism affect this governance? His political fortunes remain tied to his ability to slay the virus and get the U.S. economy opened again. Biden’s approval rating in all polls is hovering around 60 percent, the highest of any president at this stage s...
Citizens of La Conner La Conner Town Council I am appalled and disgusted to have witnessed the inept and downright shameful way the mayor and town council have bungled the Maple Avenue ballfield transaction. Through the Hedlin family’s generosity, for over a half-century La Conner families have enjoyed the T-ball, soccer and junior baseball fields. When the Hedlins needed to sell the property, they handed the town an easy lay-up: a rare chance to carry on Dave’s lifelong mantra: a warning that “Pavement is Forever.” Instead of honoring that leg...
Based on what I saw on January 6th and the Republican re-writing of history in response to this vicious act of insurrection, I believe that more right-wing violence is inevitable. I also believe that many in the Republican party have traded their allegiance to the United States and our democracy for membership in a cult of personality. Notice how conservative pundits no longer use the word “Democrat” as a stand-alone descriptor. It is now almost always radical, socialist Democrat. Frankly, I do not think the Democratic Party has changed all tha...
Plans are well underway to welcome everyone back to “Come, Sit, Stay & Play for a Howlin’ Good Time” at the Skagit County Fair, August 11-14. After a very challenging 14 months, the Fair is looking forward to welcoming the community back. “We’ve sorely missed putting on events for our community and are looking forward to getting back on the horse and welcoming back our fans for a festive, howlin’ good time this summer,” said Skagit County Fair Manager Aric Gaither. “We’ve been so pleased how our facility has been used during this crisis as a...
The final day to drive-up or make an appointment for a first-dose COVID-19 vaccine at the Skagit County Fairgrounds is Saturday, June 5. Skagit County Public Health is closing out first-dose vaccine services at the fairgrounds following this date and will focus primarily on second-dose vaccinations until June 26 when the site will close permanently. This allows Public Health to right-size operations and serve the community via convenient locations at additional mobile clinics. Anyone 12 years and older are encouraged to access their first-dose...
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no state basketball tournament this year. But the La Conner High girls’ basketball team, the defending state tourney runner-up, played – and won – four games in four days – similar to the Hardwood Classic format in Spokane – to tip off its modified spring season last week. And one of those matchups, a home clash with 1A King’s High School at Landy James Gym on Wednesday, very much resembled a state caliber game. La Conner fou...
Fancy passing was no mere passing fancy for the La Conner Braves during their first week of spring hoop action. La Conner passed effectively both in transition and in its half-court offense, consistently finding open shooters, to post convincing NW2B home victories over Concrete and Darrington. The Braves sped past Concrete 73-29 last Tuesday and used a second half surge to defeat Darrington 56-35 on Friday. The two wins bookended road losses at 1A Meridian (68-38) on Wednesday and league foe...
La Conner’s Kali Adams wowed fans by rushing for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns in the Braves’ 41-0 shutout win at Darrington in the team’s season finale. The sophomore running back impressed state athletics officials as well. As a result, Adams was named the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) 2B football player of the week Thursday. Each week the WIAA, which governs school athletics and activities in the state, joins the Gesa Credit Union in recognizing stude...
There are times in life when you just know “it was meant to be.” Ginger Olson, for the last 8+ years, provided business services and more at Tillinghast Postal & Business Center. When Lucy Kelly decided to sell the business to us last December, Ginger had every intention to also leave and prepare for a move to Wyoming with her husband Randy. When Christi came into the store to meet Ginger and start training with Lucy, they both instantly recognized their similarities and their wonderful fri...
We are excited by the recent announcements from the CDC and Gov. Jay Inslee’s office and we look forward to taking the next steps toward reopening. Based on current guidelines for public libraries in Washington State, we expect to begin welcoming patrons by appointment into the library starting Wednesday, June 16. The library will be open by appointment to members of the same household, up to five people. Appointments will be available every half hour, 1-5 p.m., Monday-Friday. To make an appointment, please call the library at 360-466-3352. A...
“We’re still big smilin’ even though the bloom is done for the season,” said Tulip Town’s May 14 Instagram post. “Such a great year sharing color and creativity with all our guests and digitally connected friends!” Cindy Verge, executive director of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, estimates between 250,000 and 300,000 people visited the valley this year. In dollars, “my sense is we did really well,” she says. Verge says asking visitors to book visits to Tulip Town and Roozengaarde in advance was a very positive move. Reservations spre...
Monday, May 17 3:33 p.m.: Car weaver – Report of a possible DUI driver. Deputies checked the location, but were unable to locate him . McLean Rd., Greater La Conner. 4:38 p.m.: Didn’t go far? – Report of an erratically driven vehicle which deputies were unable to locate. McLean/ Kamb Rds., Greater La Conner. Tuesday, May 18 4:59 a.m.: Environmental cleanup – Deputies responded to a report of a branch in the roadway, which they cleared away. Maple Ave./ Pioneer Pkwy., La Conner. 10:41 p.m.: Country crash – Two vehicle, n...
Barb and I have always been proud to say that we lived in La Conner since we moved here in 1990. As my birthdays accumulated, age related issues prompted us to make a serious change in our lifestyle, which involved selling our Shelter Bay home and moving into La Conner last year. We are now within walking distance of all that La Conner has to offer and that has always been our dream. We started out walking for errands and exercise, but having been born during the first quarter of 1935, my...
Surprisingly, the lemon is the predominant flavor in this recipe. We order Alaskan cod from the Butcher Box. Each fillet is vacuum sealed and frozen. The lemons I bought from Costco and they were ample in size and fresh. Dill is not my favorite herb, so I used dried parsley. Generally I find ways to blend both olive oil and butter in preparing fish. Here, I useda bit of olive oil poured on the foil lined baking pan, under the cod and dabs of butter on top of the cod. This recipe is for two...
This corrects and updates the story in today’s May 26 print edition La Conner voters will have a choice to keep or replace the three Town Councilmembers in November’s elections. The Weekly News was in error in its story “La Conner officeholders run unopposed” in the print edition. Two candidates filed for each council position. They are Position 2, Ivan Carlson running against incumbent John Leaver; Rick Dole challenging incumbent Bill Stokes for Position 3; and incumbent MaryLee Chamberlain facing Glen Johnson for Position 4. With only tw...
