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La Conner town’s council is posed to pass the town’s 2022 annual budget at its Dec. 14 meeting. At their Nov. 23 meeting, held on Zoom only, members, the mayor and staff seemed in general agreement on the items they discussed. No resident was present or spoke during the budget public hearing agenda segment. Discussion centered on social infrastructure, first the need to catch up with equipment for the fire department. The department budget will be raised to about $175,000 from October’s $144,596 initial amount. Fire Chief Aaron Reinstra and m...
First published Nov. 23, 2021 at 6:43 PM PST Chris Sybrandy, a Skagit County dairy farmer, says he recently helped haul more than 40 dead animals out of barns for his friends nearby. “I made a decision that I needed to help them take their cows out, so they didn’t have to take their own animals out,” Sybrandy says. “Having raised these cows from babies, I didn’t want them to have to take them out themselves.” The worst of mid-November’s flood waters are slowly starting to recede in northern Washington, after about 100-thousand cattle were j...
In a community where good art is appreciated and great art revered, racist graffiti has no place. Especially when the place in question is as public as the popular skate park on the La Conner schools campus at the end of North Sixth Street and the offensive tagging turns up on Thanksgiving Day. That is a bad combination all the way around. Profanity and images painted in yellow and white greeted youths on skates and scooters who gathered at the park’s cement bowl to enjoy the outset of a f...
The La Conner Weekly News is being delivered to every home in the La Conner school district for its annual subscription drive. Dear subscribers, the newspaper you need and trust is being shared this month with your neighbors and friends. The Weekly News will be improved as more people read it, serving its function of informing and knitting the community together. That has been the functions of newspapers in La Conner since the Puget Sound Mail started publishing here in 1879. The Weekly News is not a direct descendant of that paper but it...
The talk of the town is the proposed development in back of the old gas station (in back of Sliders) on Center Street. To set the record straight, we in the neighborhood welcome the addition to the rental housing inventory. But we don’t welcome a gigantic building that will kill the neighborhood. The proposal is three stories, the bottom level of which is short term lodging. There is tons wrong with the proposal, but this letter will not address those failings. This is letter is about vision – or the lack thereof. When the town was lookin...
It is a strange business with an odd purpose, newspaper publishing. It is a business and earns its profits by selling the interest and purchasing power of its readers to advertisers. It attracts its readers with the news of the day, but that is more than just the facts that pop up in town. Reporting does start with, for example, news of water line breaks, whether on Channel Drive or Reservation Road. But that is the start of the story, both for staff and what appears on the page. Journalism occurs when the editor and staff analyze underlying...
Regarding the proposed building construction at 306 or 310 Center Street, La Conner. Reasonable development is not only unavoidable, it is desirable. Housing is necessary and should be affordable and available in safe communities with good schools, infrastructure and other amenities. The location in question is a very appropriate location for housing for many reasons but the scale and scope of this project, as proposed, is ill-conceived. To place 20 housing units into a space appropriate in a residential area for four houses seems speculative a...
The day before Thanksgiving the Nooksack School District reached out to the North Counties arm of the Forgotten Children’s Fund to see if they could possibly help in providing a Christmas for the flood victims in the areas of Sumas and Everson. Unknown challenges now confront hundreds of families in the Nooksack Valley, including the towns of Sumas and Everson, due to recent flooding. Christmas this year for these families will take a back seat to survival. We have an immediate opportunity to make a difference. If you can drop off a new u...
Harry Alberts, the husband of Cheryl Telford, passed away on November 17th at home in Shelter Bay, La Conner, WA. He would say that one of his best decisions in life was marrying his wife, Cheryl, as they both had a shared artistic passion, he as a ceramist and she as a painter. He pursued his craft for most of his life experiencing the pure joy of learning and mastering this art form. He was intrigued by the interrelationship of materials, the ongoing labor-intensive process, and the... Full story
Eugenia (Jeanie) Ann Hennessey passed away on November 21, 2021. She was born in Santa Barbara, CA on February 2, 1949; the daughter of Charles and Frances (Rodriguez) Rodriquez. She is survived by her husband, Michael Hennessey of La Conner, WA; sister, Boots Rodriguez of Mount Vernon WA; and family members in Alaska and California. Eugenia worked as a Medical Lab Technologist and a Biomedical photographer. She lived in San Diego, Anchorage, Edmonds, Anacortes and La Conner. Jeanie was... Full story
Lynn Wallace Weidenbach passed away peacefully from natural causes at his home on Monday, November 8, at the age of 81. In the weeks and days leading up to his passing, Lynn was happy, smiling, joking and loving while surrounded by family and many of the innumerable friends he made during the course of his extraordinary life. While Lynn often referred to himself as “just a farmer”, nothing was farther from the truth as his presence on earth made a positive impact on the lives of the hundreds, if... Full story
There was rarely suspense when the La Conner High School volleyball team took the court this year. The team not only went undefeated in regular season and playoff matches but didn’t drop a single set at the Yakima Sun Dome enroute to capturing the 2021 state 2B championship last month, the program’s sixth title trophy in two decades. Thus, there were few surprises when it came time for league schools to select this season’s All-NW2B/1B team. Six players were selected for major All-League honors. Leading the way is 6’-0” junior outside h...
Eight is enough. The title of a popular 1970s TV series is also an apt rallying cry for the La Conner High School girls’ varsity basketball team this season. La Conner will employ a short roster to begin its pursuit of a tall order when head coach Scott Novak’s charges tip off their 2021-22 campaign in earnest tonight (Wednesday) at Lynden. In 2020 the team placed second in the state’s 2B Hardwood Classic. It was runner-up in this year’s small school summer state tourney in Mount Vernon. The much-anticipated Dec. 1 non-league clash with th...
They have the same name but play different games. But both will be taking those games to the next level. La Conner High School seniors Emma Worgum and Emma Keller signed letters of intent last month to compete collegiately next year in their respective sports. Worgum signed with the Western Washington University women’s golf program. Keller committed to playing volleyball at Edmonds Community College. Worgum has been a state tournament caliber golfer and top entrant on the Washington junior circuit, playing a dozen or more major events each s...
Inviting Charles Dickens (played by Pat Shreve) to appear on stage and act as guide in the current production of “A Christmas Carol” is a touch of genius. He is the perfect host for the multi-generational audience, even showing a sense of humor that apparently eluded the critics of his time. Yes, Dickens and the characters from his novel, those that you love and those that you hate, were all there at the Lincoln Theater in a welcome return to live stage Sunday. This was an unusual adaptation by Teresa Vaughn and Brian Young, who also des...
Christmas joy for dozens of families here has been assured thanks to strong support for a pair of local holiday giving tree projects, one coordinated by La Conner Kiwanis and Edward Jones Investments, the other by La Conner Soroptimists and WaFd Bank. Edward Jones and WaFd customers returned armloads of packages after selecting children’s gift wish tags from holiday trees on display in the offices of the two La Conner businesses. The Kiwanis Annual Toy Drive is underway. The office of Edward J...
A year after COVID-19 restrictions limited large holiday meals and family gatherings, La Conner area residents last week were in the mood for Thanksgiving. More specifically, they were in the mood for giving. That was much in evidence across town, from La Conner schools to residential neighborhoods to First Street. On campus, school officials at the district’s Thanksgiving Week public board of directors meeting were presented a $3,000 donation from the La Conner Rotary Club. “I thought that was great,” board member Amanda Bourgeois told the Wee...
Pac Nor Westy owner Rich Murphy agrees with La Conner Chamber of Commerce Director Heather Carter: the Jingle Belles Ladies Night of Shopping the week before Thanksgiving brought out shoppers. That night makes Carter optimistic. “Projections look great for holiday 2021!” she wrote in her email response to a Weekly News survey to businesses. Murphy has watched folks start their holiday shopping much earlier this year. Christi King has seen steady business since Labor Day at her Tillinghast Pos...
Monday, November 22 4:17 p.m.: Horse sense – Caller believed the horses at the polo farm are being fed moldy hay and a shelter. A deputy responded and observed dry hay stored behind the barn. La Conner Whitney Rd., La Conner. Tuesday, November 23 4:51 p.m.: Close call – Two car, non-injury accident. One driver was eight months pregnant. La Conner Whitney Rd., La Conner. 10:30 p.m.: Got one – While patrolling the Padilla Bay trail parking area, deputies located a suspicious vehicle. Deputies discovered the vehicle was stolen...
It’s that time of year that I begin baking for the holidays. I bake for us and bake to share. I had planned to bake pumpkin bread for the last two weeks, but being rather busy, at least I baked so I could share a loaf with our neighbors, Brian and Nina Cladoosby. That way, they can offer a slice to their family and friends. This particular day of baking, my busy schedule got ahead of me. I took the bread out after one hour of baking. The toothpick test revealed it was not done. You push a t...
News scoop: Santa’s advance schedule of early La Conner visits has been leaked to the Weekly News. Parents, are these times on your calendar? Saturday morning Santa will be posing for photos at Maple Hall when the La Conner Rotary holds its annual Santa Breakfast, 8:30–11 a.m. Dec. 4.This is a dog friendly photo-op. Breakfast is $7 and $3 for children 10 and under. There is no charge for photos, but donations will help support the La Conner Rotary Club’s literacy initiatives. Take time to shop at the craft fair organized by La Conner Uni...
