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It was a dark and stormy Sunday night, but Monday at noon the breeze abated and the clouds lifted just before La Conner's school children took to First Street for the annual Halloween Parade. They were safe, for once again La Conner Hook & Ladder – many of them parents of school aged children – blocked First Street to traffic In typical La Conner fashion, it was an all-in, all-ages costume ball, with toddlers and elders alike dressed as scary, strange, other worldly, puffed up and cute. And the...
One special meeting has canceled another. The La Conner Town Council Friday afternoon at a special Zoom session adopted procedures for calling planning commission special meetings that in effect nixed a special meeting the advisory panel had scheduled for Nov. 1. The rationale was process. A council majority objected that a short-handed commission had scheduled a special meeting for last night during a regular meeting not attended by chair Marna Hanneman and only had three members present at its close. Councilmembers Annie Taylor, Rick Dole, Ma...
Shelter Bay residents now have a lot more to talk about on social media or in person. Rick Tanner, hired as the community’s general manager in March, submitted a sharply critical resignation letter to Wendy Poulton, the association's president, Friday, Oct. 28. The animosity between incumbent board members and the three elected in May is apparent in the letter, which he concludes with: “a faction is going to continue to prevent the board from making decisions on critical issues. I cannot con...
The Shelter Bay board of directors would not discuss with its community its exploration of ending its water supply contract with the Town of La Conner to switch to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, said Gary Ladd, facilitating the evening as a member of the board of directors at the Shelter Bay town hall meeting Oct. 22. But can the Shelter Bay board break the agreement with the Town? The 2011 agreement between them states: “This contract shall remain in force in perpetuity or until such da...
In researching the 2018 water dispute between Shelter Bay and the Town of La Conner in the Weekly News, searching for “perpetuity” turns up articles from that winter, including an editorial. Perpetuity is a word not often used. The 2011 agreement between the institutions states: “This contract shall remain in force in perpetuity or until such date as the parties hereto shall mutually agree to terminate it.” Rather than write a new editorial, here is the March 2018 one, revised to edit out the now-past train wreck between the board of the Mus...
By the time Hatfield pushed his way into the bar McCoy was already hard at it, empty beer mugs and shot glasses arrayed in front of him like toy soldiers strategically placed. Hatfield went up to him, but at his touch McCoy turned with more of a smirk than a smile. “Did you bring Nancy?” he slurred. “Where’s Nancy?” “It’s no joke, Bud.” Hatfield slid onto his stool and signaled the barkeep for his first round. “This makes us look bad. What are we, a bunch of thugs? All that talk about fair elections and digging up the truth. You don’t do that...
By Linda Talman La Conner’s Town Council had a barely announced special meeting on Oct. 28. The meeting was illogical. The issue stemmed from a request of a group of hopeful residents to have a special planning commission meeting Nov. 1 to look for common ground for the next year. The planning commission would have set the agendas. Pretty evil, huh? A council person who wasn't at the October planning commission meeting spoke as if he actually knew what had happened there (he didn't) and persuaded other members to vote his way. Their bad. The in...
Two years ago when gas was $2 a gallon and the booming stock market was filling millions of retirement portfolios the voters voted in a Democratic president and in both chambers of Congress. Now, because of restrictions Democrats imposed to end our energy independence, gas prices have surged to as much as $6 a gallon in some states and uncontrolled spending and giveaways to buy votes have increased inflation to record highs. The only method the Federal Reserve has to attempt to counter the free money is to raise interest rates. Those increases...
Smaller government. Less taxes. More personal freedom. Personal accountability. Slowing illegal immigration at our southern border. Less government intrusion in our lives. Less government spending. Less “woke”’ nonsense. Fewer restrictions on our enumerated rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, in particular the First and Second Amendments. Keeping socialism in check. This is a Constitutional republic, not a mob rule democracy. Remember this when you vote. The more government can do for you, the more it can do to you. Vote Repub...
I’d like to think here in Washington, women will always make reproductive healthcare decisions with their doctors’ guidance. But as quickly as U.S. Supreme Court justices overturned settled law, our own legislators could overturn women’s rights in our state. Indeed, some are working to overturn the Roe decision nationwide. Legislators with no medical expertise are trying to dictate women’s reproductive health care. We’ve seen what happened in states that lost access to abortion. A pregnant 10-year-old Ohio girl had to travel to Indiana r...
As usual, the La Conner Weekly News was “edutaining” last week. I was intrigued by a letter from Mr. Sather about where he might be able to pump his septic tank. As a past member of the county’s solid waste advisory committee, I can shed some light on the situation. Cows have three stomachs, a very simple vegetarian diet and are a different species of mammal. These differences are significant enough to make the chances of disease and parasite transmission quite remote. The lagoons of cow manure are treated similarly to the sewage treat...
The Oct. 28 council meeting was about planning commission procedures. Marna Hanneman, the planning commission chair, was upset that at the previous planning commission meeting, which was chaired by Carol Hedlin because Ms. Hanneman was absent, the commissioners listened to a group of La Conner citizens who asked to meet with the commission to discuss issues of concerns which will affect future town plans. The commission had a quorum and, with the advice and counsel of the town planner that those meetings would need to be public and published,...
The recent purchase of the Jenson property, with its restriction requiring that the property be used for a public purpose, presents a valuable opportunity for the town and its residents. I’ve heard of a few uses of the property are being discussed, including tiny homes, green space or a park. I’d like to suggest another use: taking advantage of the purchase to provide affordable housing units in La Conner. While affordable housing is a goal in our Comprehensive Plan, it has never made its way into the municipal code and hasn’t been a priority f...
If you have ever driven down Sixth Street towards the schools, you will have seen the house, it is pretty much impossible to miss. It is very colorful and full of “yard art.” The art consists of metal, glass, ceramic and stone, and there are probably 200 pieces or more. All are whimsical, colorful and some even carry messages of peace and hope. The house itself is a joy to look at as well, colorful and whimsical, much like the owner. The trees and foliage have been carefully selected to enhance the entire property and extend all along the ama...
Candidate forums for statewide and regional candidates are online through Nov. 8’s election. The Patty Murray-Tiffany Smiley U.S. Senate debate is on area public TV stations and TVW: tvw.org as are Washington Secretary of State candidates Steve Hobbs and Julie Anderson. Watch Congressional District 2 candidates Dan Matthews and Rick Larsen on lwvbellinghamwhatcom.org. The district 10 State Representative candidates, Pos 1, Clyde Shavers and Greg Gilday, and Pos 2, Karen Lesetmoe and Dave Paul, are accessed at lwvwhidbey.org. For LD 40, Pos 2...
OLYMPIA – Skagit Valley Farm has agreed to pay $138,500 toward salmon restoration efforts in the Skagit area as part of a settlement agreement with the Washington Department of Ecology over unauthorized irrigation. In April, Ecology issued a $267,000 penalty jointly to Acme Properties LLC, Junior Farms LLC and Skagit Farmland LLC, also known as Skagit Valley Farm, for unauthorized irrigation of 348 acres of vegetable crops in the lower Skagit and Samish watersheds. Since then, Skagit Valley Farm has taken steps to obtain new water rights, c...
Skagit County ended the outdoor burn ban for all unincorporated areas Oct. 26. Residential yard and land-clearing fires are again permitted within unincorporated areas. Burn permits are required for piles exceeding 4 feet by 4 feet. Submit permit requests by phone: 360-416-1840. Residents in La Conner call Town Hall for burn restriction information. Source: Skagit County government...
Port of Skagit staff are planning a “Coffee and Conversation” gathering on Wednesday, Nov. 9 from 2-3 p.m. at the La Conner Marina office. Its purpose is to invite community members to sit down with Port staff and ask any questions they may have about the La Conner Marina and the vision for the property. Source: Port of Skagit...
She's already in the state coaches' Hall of Fame. Now Suzanne Marble is having her name affixed to a space closer to home, off the corridors of Landy James Gym, where she has guided the school's storied volleyball program to six state titles in three decades. The school board voted unanimously to name the gymnasium's women's locker room area after Marble in recognition of her vast impact upon district students and athletes since arriving here in the early 1990s at their Oct. 24 meeting. A...
The road to a seventh state volleyball championship may well go through Manson. If so, the Lady Braves will have to bypass the speed bumps they encountered during a two-day Eastern Washington swing last week that saw La Conner drop matches to 2B Manson and 1A Chelan. The defending state volleyball champions rebounded from those setbacks with a convincing straight-sets home triumph over 2A Squalicum on Friday, Oct. 28. This was the kind of win that bodes well for post-season, which opens...
By Bill Reynolds Ilwaco High School did a victory jig with a 23-0 non-league triumph – the Fishermen's first of the season – when its relentless run game finally wore down the Braves for two fourth period touchdowns Thursday, Oct. 27. Leading 8-0, Ilwaco doubled its margin when running back Dylan Pelas dashed in from five yards out and Sam Needham caught a two-point conversion toss from Ethan Hopkins with 9:40 to play. The Fishermen added an insurance score with 6:03 remaining on a 10-yard Kyl...
Imagine being creative, intelligent and head strong, the oldest of four sisters, in 1861. Imagine having a writing talent and the will for a career in a society where you are, legally, the property first of your father then, when you marry, of your husband. You don't have the vote. You can hardly sign a contract. That is the world of Louisa May Alcott, who turned it into her first novel, "Little Women," published in 1868. In 2005 it premiered as a musical on Broadway. Last week a very good...
"Earth and Sky," a mystery opening Friday at the Whidbey Playhouse, is a hard play to figure out. That might be part of its mystery nature. The Playhouse' theme is "The Season of Love," but, not really a spoiler alert, David (played with quiet fortitude by David Thuet) is murdered almost as soon as he appears. Why? Detectives Weber (Wesley Moran, succeeding at not being likeable) and Kershowski (Gary Gillespie, the quiet sidekick) soon show up in girlfriend Sara's (Anna Schenck, a steady...
Larrabee State Park is being renovated this winter to improve safety and access to Clayton Beach. Washington State Parks is building a new bridge over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad track to provide safe passage between it and the Lost Lake parking lot. Construction began Nov. 1. Access between the parking lot and the beach will remain closed until the work is finished in summer of 2023. The project has been years in the making. Funding is from an RCO grant and the State Parks Capital Program. Source: Washington State...
The Lincoln Theatre is showing classic noire films every Tuesday in November on its 35mm projectors, "the way they were meant to be shown." Source: Lincoln Theatre...
