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La Conner High School has held annual commencements for more than a century but the 5 p.m. June 10 graduation at Whittaker Field will offer something new. Those attending will be officially welcomed in four languages, Lushootseed, English, Spanish and American Sign Language. “We’re excited about that,” La Conner Middle and High School Counselor Lori Buher told the Weekly News. In another all-time first, the Class of 2022 boasts co-valedictorians and co-salutatorians. Charity Dakota Jordan, who r...
Ryan Hiller and Beth Clothier were instrumental in helping La Conner schools navigate uncharted waters posed by a global pandemic. The couple, members of the La Conner High School Class of 1987, were formally recognized as the school’s Outstanding Alumni for 2022 at the La Conner Alumni Association’s annual banquet and program in the middle school gymnasium June 4. “These two individuals are very important to the school district,” said association vice-president Susie Deyo. “During the pande...
Friday 60 La Conner High School students graduate, a great accomplishment and the real start, certainly not the end, of their education. Four times editorials on this page have saluted and extolled La Conner’s graduates, lifting them up as the hope of the world, pointing out the monumental challenges all adults are facing and extolling them to be brave and sensitive and thoughtful and to peer into the future to find a sane, sustainable world that their elders have refused to grasp. Not this year. This year, it is graduates, be aware. High s...
Here is a great title for this column: COVID-19 at work. Since I am not surprised, I cannot call last week’s COVID-19 coming to the Weekly News office – and going home with the staff person who brought it – a scare or even unexpected. I cannot even remember if I have only been saying for a matter of weeks or if it has stretched to months since I started a mantra of “we are all going to get COVID-19.” I know that more than once I have editorialized about our forever pandemic and that however much we are done with the novel coron...
“We the People”, our Constitution starts off. Who is “we?’ Apparently only white XY males at the time of the writing of the Constitution. Women weren’t considered, Blacks weren’t considered and LGBTQ weren’t part of their thinking. Society and culture change over time. But there are some Supreme Court justices who think we should be thinking in the 1700s. Let’s update to 2022. I couldn’t put this point clearer than “Unknown,” who posted this on social media recently: “How about we treat every young man who wants to buy a gun like every woman...
I noted in last week’s paper the towns intention to submit a proposal for $ 539,325 to develop the new park on maple Ave. I’m not sure how one can spend this much tax money. I researched public picnic tables. One of the most expensive I could find was $2,006.65 let’s say we need four, $8,026.60. Public playground equipment? Again one of the most expensive I could find is $62,881. Public benches made of recycled material last forever $1,998.85. Say we need four, $ 4795.40 . Best of all a trike track, how about a Formula 1 road course at $9,12...
OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced June 1 that his office successfully sought sanctions from a group pursuing a frivolous legal challenge of the 2020 election, along with its attorney. The sanctions order comes after Ferguson defeated the frivolous lawsuit. The Washington Election Integrity Coalition United (WEICU) has been ordered to pay $9,589, and its attorney, Virginia Shogren, has been ordered to pay $18,796 as sanctions for bringing a case totally devoid of legal merit. Ferguson will also file a complaint against...
Georgia Johnson says, "They didn’t know the history of the place." Bruce Cornwell says, “It was a gas station since time immemorial, and a car dealership before that.” I enjoyed the moment of (unintended ?) humor. Mike Elliott LaConnor...
Roberta B. Nelson, age 83, passed away Monday, May 23, 2022 at home in Burlington, Washington. She was born Sept. 6, 1938 to Robert and Helga (Knudsen) Bell in Mount Vernon. She graduated class salutatorian from La Conner High School in 1956. On Feb. 22, 1957, Roberta married Roger F. Nelson, the love of her life, in La Conner. Roberta was a woman devoted to family and active helping others and using her gifts as a Cub Scout, Blue Birds and Campfire Girls leader. She was a member of the Skagit...
On May 24, the Skagit County Commissioners took public testimony on proposed amendments to the county comprehensive plan. One of those proposals is LR 22-02, to amend the county comprehensive plan to allow fully contained communities (FCCs) to be built in Skagit County. This proposal was submitted by Bill Sygitowicz, a Bellingham developer. If this feels like deja vu, that is because Sygitowicz was behind the same proposal, as LR 20-04, a year ago. In 2021, county commissioners agreed to docket LR20-04 and consider an FCC amendment. Public...
Sixty years separate La Conner High School students and a group of local senior cyclists. But their shared commitment to exercise has seen them frequently cross paths here. On June 7, they enjoyed a downtown rendezvous at Calico Cupboard. Members of teacher Suzanne Marble’s lifetime fitness physical education class met with the seasoned riders over homemade cinnamon rolls for which the First Street café and bakery is famous. Still, the big treat was bonding over their health and f...
I only met Lavone Newell-Reim once, but after immersing myself in the new show at the Skagit County Historical Museum, she feels like an old friend. “Lavone Newell-Reim: A Life Well Lived” traces Newell-Reim’s journey from Kansas to Sauk Mountain and then, over the course of her 90 years, down the Skagit River to its mouth near Fir Island. Along the way, her talents and interests, passion for life, art and cooking and knack for building community are celebrated. Tougher moments are also included. Riding across the country sitting atop a 1939...
Televised hearings start tomorrow night, Thursday, with the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol presenting their findings. Tune in with a stout heart, an open mind, patience and perhaps a bottle of bourbon. This is what democracy looks like. The question is, how many care to be small “d” democratic? Have the fortitude to read “Unthinkable,” Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin’s (D-Rockville) 2021 account of the worst experiences a parent and a patriot can experience. For first, on Dec. 31...
Even though Eleonora Libé got sick her first days here after what seemed to her an endless flight, she is living her dream since then over the last nine months. The senior exchange student at La Conner High School turned 18 years old this April in Washington state, away from her family. This is the adventure she chose to live back in 2020, when she saw on social media other exchange students from her country in American schools. Stressed with Italian school and eager to travel and...
A La Conner High School exchange student considering a career in filmmaking is becoming something of a celebrity himself. While Aurelien Ali learns more about the local area since his arrival from Belgium last summer, teens in La Conner and around Skagit County are well acquainted with him. “My friends here tell me they’re always asked: ‘Do you know Aurelien from Belgium,’” Ali, 18 and a member of the senior class, told the Weekly News. “I don’t know them, but everyone knows about me.” Perhaps it’s because of Ali’s engaging personality and wil...
Heather Carter, who planted the seeds that germinated into La Conner’s Daffodil Festival, is leaving the Chamber of Commerce to help grow a new Camano Island non-profit venture. Her last day as director is June 17. "I have real mixed emotions,” Carter, told the Weekly News. The spokesperson for the La Conner business community since 2013 said she has thoroughly enjoyed her time in La Conner and finds the move bittersweet. The new job allows the 23-year resident of Stanwood to work closer to hom...
Monday, May 30 7:01 a.m.: Utility pole accident – A vehicle collided into a utility pole in the road. Wires were reported down in the roadway. La Conner Whitney Rd., La Conner. 12:39 p.m.: Fraud – Report of possible unauthorized use of a bank card at a market. Morris St., La Conner. Wednesday, June 1 10:41 a.m.: Horses on the loose – Report of two horses running loose in town. The owner was able to coral them and walk them back to their pasture. 4th St., La Conner. Thursday, June 2 7:06 a.m.: Gun threats – Law...
Blueberries! We love blueberries! We live in an area where acres and acres of blueberries are grown. We eat gallons of blueberries each year. I freeze blueberries and gift them to family. Ingredients Plain yogurt, 1 cup Blueberries, 1cup Honey, 2 tablespoons Preparation There are many ways to mix these ingredients. I placed them all in a deep bowl and used an immersion blender. The results were chunky bits of blueberries. This recipe can be eaten right away. When refrigerated, the blueberry flavor is more powerful the next d...
The on-edge tensions communities nationwide are experiencing became a crisis among La Conner High School students last Thursday and continued Monday. On June 2, a 15 year old student was arrested on three counts of felony harassment threats to kill and a count of threats to bomb or injure property, Skagit County Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Chad Clark stated in a press release. A second student was taken into custody the afternoon of June 6 at the high school when sheriff’s deputies developed probable cause for felony harassment/threats to...
