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Well, once again we dodged a bullet, the atmospheric river hit mostly just south of us this time. Two years ago the atmospheric river hit the Skagit watershed pretty hard, but Whatcom County got hammered and towns along the Canadian border were devastated. This past week the Stillaguamish River at Arlington had the highest flows in history. Had either of these systems fully hit the Skagit watershed, it could have been a catastrophe for our vulnerable small town. No, this missing section of dike (ring, northeast of the schools – ed.) is an e...
In late autumn on the cusp of cool winter days, snow comes early to Washington when thousands of aloft avians, snow geese, land here in a flurry of white feathers. "We call it a snow storm, they just will move as one," said birder Julie Hagen. "It's just this chaotic whirlwind of birds, they move like a cloud and then they just lift up in the air." In late October, as the snow geese began landing in the Skagit Valley, Hagen went out to enjoy the sight that many Western Washington birders look fo...
La Conner's new flood barriers are staged and in place up and down the waterfront. But the work of the Town's six-member Emergency Management Commission has only just begun. The Nov. 11 power outage here that impacted residents, businesses and those attending the annual Art's Alive celebration underscored in real time that the mission of the local advisory board is to focus on all forms of emergencies. "The commission met an immediate need by addressing flood mitigation," said Rick Dole, town...
The Washington Arts Commission has announced a Certified Creative District in Anacortes. The Anacortes Creative District is located in the heart of Fidalgo Island and nestled between the San Juan Islands, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. As a part of a Washington state designation program, Anacortes joins communities all over the state in celebrating creativity. The Creative District program provides a platform for communities to expand their arts and creative economies, attract entrepreneurs, educational and cultural opportunities and ongoing e...
The Town’s saltwater flood barriers are nearly all in place ahead of king tide season, but for La Conner’s six-member Emergency Management Commission the heavy lifting is just getting started. The panel has focused primarily on short-term flood mitigation this year. It shifted attention during the second half of its one-hour Oct. 24 hybrid session at Maple Hall to long-range preparedness strategies along the waterfront. The commission endorsed a potential cooperative venture between the Town, Port of Skagit and Swinomish Tribal Community to...
Town officials and La Conner residents have spent a long time discussing short-term rentals. Which has been part of the plan all along – and going forward. The needle inched further toward defining short-term rentals and reaching consensus on whether regulations governing them should be modified during an Oct. 17 forum at the Civic Garden Club attended by more than 30 people. "We were excited about the turnout," Assistant Planner Ajah Eills told the Weekly News afterward. "We hope that the m...
Voters living in the La Conner School District have one choice on their ballot in the school board race for the District 2 director. John Agen, elected to the District 1 position in 2019, has moved into the district. Janie Beasley, defeated in her 2019 reelection for that seat, is running again. No other local race is contested. Residents have to decide to vote their approval or not mark their ballots in these local elections: La Conner School District Alana Quintasket, District 1 Kim Pedroza, District 4 Town of La Conner Marna Hanneman, mayor...
Ballots will be arriving in the mail soon. We have very few choices in this year of municipal elections. There is only one contested seat: the La Conner school district Director 2 position. The rest of the positions in greater La Conner, for school director positions 1 and 4, Port of Skagit commissioner position 2 and Town of La Conner mayor and council positions 1 and 5 are all decided when the candidates cast their ballots. That is our bad, residents and constituents of those jurisdictions. It may be that school board member Kim Pedroza and...
The Oct. 10 La Conner Town Council meeting was full of comings and goings. Council will meet jointly with the planning commission Nov. 28 to hear a presentation from representatives specializing in paid parking systems. “This will give you information on what some of the options are,” Planning Director Michael Davolio told them Planning Commissioners John Leaver and Bruce Bradburn have spoken to two companies. They reported to the commission, noting Leavenworth and Bellingham have committed to paid parking. Town Emergency Management Com...
When Port of Skagit officials unveiled preliminary plans last year for long-range re-development at La Conner Marina, workforce housing was a key variable for future investment. Port leadership emphasized that its maritime tenants are engaged in growth industries and will better expand their labor forces to meet market demands when more local housing is available. Consider American Tugs, on Pearle Jensen Way, a boatbuilding firm whose top-of-the-line pleasure craft feature rugged hulls like...
Ted Taylor is fondly dubbed “Captain Catastrophe” because of his persistent calls for local emergency preparedness. But the Skagit County Fire District 13 captain and emergency management coordinator might more accurately be called a realist. That is especially true this week after the magnitude 4.3 earthquake centered south of Port Townsend that struck Sunday night and was felt in La Conner households and other locales throughout Western Washington. Numerous La Conner area residents reported that the quake rattled furniture, some likening it...
All of a sudden there are a slew of opportunities to be active civically – democratically – in the community. You do not have to live in La Conner to involve yourself. And the October activities end, appropriately, with our school children – indeed anyone with a costume, with or without a child – parading up First Street for the Halloween parade. Come on out for that, for sure. Activities extend into Nov. 7 election day. Because only one area resident chose to contest only one of the La Conner school board or Town of La Conner council seats,...
The status of short-term rentals in La Conner tops the agenda of a special 6 p.m. Oct. 17 public forum at the La Conner Civic Garden Club. “It will be a specific and targeted meeting,” Town Assistant Planner Ajah Eills said at the planning commission’s meeting Oct. 3 in Maple Hall. The meeting addressing short-term rentals will not be hybrid since there is no WiFi service at the Second Street building. “We think it will be more of a conversational setting,” Eills said. “We’re hoping for a more intimate conversation.” The question of whe...
The Port of Skagit hosted two massive events on the last weekend of September to benefit and promote the Genuine Skagit Valley program. The Tidewater Boil and Skagit Farm to Pint Fest were, as reported in this paper, both big successes. More than 150 people for dinner the first night and about 600 for the Farm to Pint Fest made for a busy and exciting weekend, especially for the La Conner Marina’s first time hosting. The Genuine Skagit Valley program does outstanding work showcasing local f...
Southern hospitality La Conner-style was on the menu at the La Conner Marina Friday night. A sold-out crowd enjoyed favorite dishes from farm and sea during the inaugural Skagit Tidewater Boil fundraiser for Genuine Skagit Valley, the organization established in 2013 to recognize the area's unique agricultural heritage. Literally taking a page from the Gulf Coast's famed southern crab boils, with prawns, spicy sausage, sweet corn, red potatoes and Dungeness crab dumped onto the two dozen tables...
Town Emergency Management Commission chair Bill Stokes spoke glowingly last week of how fast La Conner's public works department has acquired and made ready for use a variety of flood barriers ahead of peak king tide season. "Things are moving quickly, as quick as I've seen anything move around here," Stokes, a former town council member, told commission members during their Sept. 26 hybrid meeting at Maple Hall. Within days of receiving council approval, pre-filled sandbags and Ecology Blocks...
Mark your calendars for a gourmet, connoisseur and fun weekend celebrating Skagit Valley grown, caught, brewed and prepared food and drinks Sept. 29 and 30. Genuine Skagit Valley is offering its first ever Tidewater Boil Friday evening at the La Conner Marina. Return on Saturday for the Skagit Farm to Pint Fest. You will meet Blake Vanfield, director of Genuine Skagit Valley and the event’s sort-of executive chef. She is all but bubbling over with excitement for the complex coming together of people, their skills, talents and the foods and drin...
There's no doubt Marna Hanneman has the resume to be La Conner's next mayor. Having served nearly a decade on the La Conner Planning Commission, a key advisory panel focused on land use and historic preservation, Hanneman comes with relevant academic and professional credentials. She holds a degree in business administration from the University of Maryland and has enjoyed wide-ranging careers in marketing, property management and insurance. And not to be overlooked is her long managerial stint...
Four members of the U.S. House of Representatives visited the Port of Skagit Aug. 8 to learn more about Skagit Regional Airport and projects supported by federal grant dollars. Representative Rick Larsen (D-Everett) coordinated the visit, which included four members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and several staff. Rep. Larsen, as ranking member of the committee, was joined by Committee Chairman Sam Graves of Missouri, Rep. Julia Brownley and Rep. Mark Desaulnier, both of California. The visit to Skagit Regional Airpor...
Town officials remain focused on mitigation of flood conditions ahead of king tide season in the fall. La Conner Town Council members last week endorsed recommendations proposed by Public Works Director Brian Lease for immediate short-term saltwater flood protection remedies along the town’s waterfront. Lease had earlier shared with the emergency management commission a priority purchase list for materials and equipment – ecology blocks, sandbags, a sandbagging machine and forklift. “I’d like to have sandbags filled and on pallets by Oct. 1,...
Gary Ladd was bare headed on Thursday, though figuratively he was wearing two hats that morning. A Skagit County Fire District 13 officer, he also serves as an officer of Skagit Bay Search & Rescue – and he spoke for the latter during the fire district’s monthly commissioners meeting at the Snee Oosh Road station. The SBSR leadership proposed to Commissioners Bruce Shellhamer, John Doyle and J.J. Wilbur that the fire district partner with the search and rescue group on emergency calls. SBSR is currently aligned with the Skagit County She...
To keep history alive, it must be tended like a garden. On Saturday, July 29, community members gathered at Northern State Hospital in Sedro-Woolley to nurture memories of family members of patients and staff. About 300 people came to Public History Day at the grounds to share artifacts and stories and learn from experts about the hospital, which closed 50 years ago. "Personal stories are the most powerful," said Sharon Howe, the research librarian at the Sedro-Woolley Museum, one of the...
La Conner Chamber of Commerce's 23rd annual Classic Boat and Car Show on Aug. 5 at the Port of Skagit Marina attracted about 125 automobiles of all makes, models and eras, along with nine boats on the water or on trailers. Chamber of Commerce Director Mark Hulst said show participants started lining up to secure their display spots as early as 5:45 a.m. and came from as far away as Anchorage, Alaska. Spectators marveled over the variety of automobiles and boats. "We saw folks from all over the...
Focused on the future, Town officials have taken the long view to address La Conner’s most pressing needs. Town leaders highlighted a handful of top-tier issues in a 5-year strategic plan crafted during an all-day retreat July 24 in Mount Vernon. Priorities include a mandated upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant, robust investments in fire protection and safety, providing public access on South First Street to Caledonia, securing a permanent home for the public works department, developing long-term flood mitigation measures, replacing agi...