Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 280
The final gavel has fallen in Olympia and the Legislature is adjourned. I thought I might wax philosophical about this year's events as I've done in previous columns, but let's start with a high-level accounting of what your state government is doing for you. Given it's an even-numbered year, our main task was to develop a supplemental budget, making tweaks to the two-year spending plan we adopted last year. Incredibly, our state continues to see ever-increasing tax collections and that's both...
We have wrapped up the 2024 legislative session, and I'm pleased to report that state lawmakers worked together to pass legislation and fund projects to benefit Washingtonians. I'm especially proud that my bill to lower the cost of health care by capping the price of asthma inhalers and epi-pens passed both the House and the Senate unanimously. This is great news for families who use these life-saving medications for asthma and allergies. In addition, the Legislature passed two very important...
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF WASHINGTON FOR SKAGIT COUNTY In Re The Estate of: MICHAEL EUGENE LONG, Deceased. No. 24-4-00076-29 PROBATE NOTICE TO CREDITORS (RCW 11.40.030) (NTCRD) PATRICK LONG has been appointed as Personal Representative of this Estate. Any person having a claim against the decedent must, before the time the claim would be barred by any otherwise applicable statute of limitations, present the claim in the manner as provided in RCW 11.40.070 by serving on or mailing to the Personal Representative or the Personal Representative’s a...
Dear Editor: I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the recently announced closure of Little Braves preschool due to lack of funding. As a member of our community and a parent who understands the importance of early childhood education, I believe that eliminating programs for young children only harms our community and creates hardship for families. The Little Braves Preschool program, which operates in the elementary school through funding from Head Start, is the only publicly funded early education program in La Conner. The...
During his celebrated career as an award-winning newspaper columnist and author, Timothy Egan has traveled the globe in search of the stories that connect him to his readers. For a much longer time – dating to childhood – he has made shorter treks to public libraries and rural bookmobile stops to discover stories that would shape and define Egan as one of the nation's most powerful voices on behalf of literacy. The University of Washington alum, a former op-ed writer for the New York Times and...
As our communities face harsher climate effects including droughts, heatwaves, and floods, it is important for all of us to work together towards ensuring a healthier environment. That’s why we are dedicated to pursuing two approaches to environmental protection. First, I am committed to investing in clean energy technologies that create good-paying jobs, lower energy bills and support a path toward energy independence. House Bill 1924—which supports fusion technology—passed the Senate and will be signed into law. By incorporating this techn...
Nizhoni Slowman, a senior at La Conner High School, is the Soroptimist International of La Conner January Honored Student. She has a varied range of interests. She loves to experience the outdoors for play and to learn more about science and her environment. She is a passionate reader for pleasure and science. Her constant companion is her 19-year-old Dachshund whom she has grown up with. He is a lucky dog who gets to go everywhere in a front snuggly pack. Nizhoni's favorite subjects are biology...
Greg Whiting has rarely – if ever – lacked for energy. Consider that in a robust and wide-ranging professional life Whiting has variously researched, analyzed, helped develop and written about energy systems designed to both improve quality of life and protect the environment. And now, with his partner Jenelle Whitton as co-proprietor of Raven's Cup Coffee and Art Gallery on First Street, he markets beverages that, while served in a laid-back Pacific Northwest setting, are the fuel that kee...
Some 50 area residents attended the Conway School community meeting Feb. 6 to gain more information about the Dec. 10 Olympic Pipeline gasoline spill near Conway and the ongoing cleanup, local media reported. Billed as an open house, residents could speak with the 25 experts from state and federal agencies and bp, the company managing the pipeline, answered their questions. A presentation was made at a Zoom online webinar Feb. 7. Questions and answers followed. Operational update Last week a sheet pile wall was constructed to build a...
The La Conner School District is among hundreds of districts nationwide examining the feasibility and long-term cost advantages of switching from diesel to electric school buses. Key advantages include: reduced use of energy for bus power, accompanied by lower net emissions; stable and predictable energy prices; reduced maintenance costs; and greater student and driver comfort with the elimination of on-board emissions and nearly silent operation. Electric vehicles have far fewer moving parts...
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration announced $1 billion in funding for more than 2,700 electric and low-emission school buses across 37 states in January. This is a second part of funding of a $5 billion, five-year initiative from the bipartisan infrastructure law. In total, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program has awarded nearly $2 billion and funded approximately 5,000 electric and low-emission school buses nationwide. Washington schools will receive a combined $14.9 million through the program. That mon...
Public safety should be a top priority for this year’s legislative session, Gov. Jay Inslee and bipartisan state legislators said on the eve of the 2024 legislative session. “We need additional officers on the street,” Inslee told reporters before the Jan. 8 opening. “And to help local police forces find their additional officers, I’m proposing a $10 million grant program.” Washington State ranks 50th in the nation for the number of law enforcement officers per capita, Inslee and legislators acknowledged. At the annual legislative preview wit...
Town of La Conner residents have two weeks to offer their two cents – or perhaps exceedingly more valuable recommendations – as possible amendments to the town’s comprehensive plan – and the development code, too. Submittals made through Jan. 31 are free. More important is the schedule, for proposals through January are considered this year, in the 2024 cycle by the staff, planning commission and council. Stay awake. This is important for the future of anyone planning to stay or move into La Conner. The Washington state Legislature mandate...
As we start off the 2024 year, I want to personally thank all of the parents and families of our students who every day navigate all of the obstacles in life while supporting their school-aged children. We strive to create a welcoming environment and love seeing your students every day! I am grateful for your belief and trust in our staff. All of our staff work hard to ensure that our students, your children, are safe, loved and cared for, respected and experience success every day. Finances are critical and necessary to ensure that students,...
How can we listen to each other and find common ground – and solutions that work for our community? I think it starts with listening to each other. The legislative session began on Jan. 8 and runs for 60 straight days, including weekends. I’d like to share two things with you this week: (1) comments and ideas from our recent 10th District survey and (2) some common-sense reforms I’m working on this session. First, your comments and ideas. Hearing directly from you is incredibly important to me...
For much of the last century, fish hatcheries have been built in the Northwest, across the U.S. and around the world to boost fish populations where wild numbers have gone down. But an analysis of more than 200 studies on hatcheries programs meant to boost salmonid numbers across the globe – including salmon, trout and whitefish – shows that nearly all have had negative impacts on the wild populations of those fish. Most commonly, hatchery fish reduced the genetic diversity of wild fish, leading to poor health and reproductive outcomes. The...
From an editor who takes each week’s editorial very seriously, I report that this is one of my most important editorials of the year. Each December ends with shining light on unsung heroes in the community, the critical souls who day after day and every week show up, dig in and through their steadfast efforts are contributing to the larger good, making the greater La Conner region the place we are so proud to call home. I have known for months that I would praise the staff, freelancers and volunteers who make the Weekly News the success that i...
Additional information from Dec. 13: The approximately 25,326 gallons of gasoline that spilled from the Olympic Pipeline in Conway early on Dec. 10 was “due to the failure of 3/8 inch tubing leading from the main pipeline to a pressure gauge within the vault” the unified command of agencies and companies reported Dec. 12 after the Weekly News had gone to press. Some 6,993 gallons were recovered through Wednesday evening, the fourth press update states. It reports 5,292 gallons of gasoline remained in the vault and the remainder was released int...
The article from Nov. 15 about the Skagit County water outlook (“Skagit County water outlook complicated”) pointed out that the challenges related to low water flows on the Skagit River are becoming more complex. This is a big deal for both irrigation and energy production. With droughts and extreme weather events becoming more common, the Skagit River is under increasing pressure to meet the demands for irrigation, electricity, and instream-flows. One solution to ease this pressure is to support local solar power. It’s a quick and easy alterna...
It's been a busy fall quarter in the La Conner School District. Owing to hard work and some long hours, La Conner School District staff, faculty and administration have successfully applied for and received grants that will benefit La Conner students and the community. $16,000 grant provides new oven The district's food service department received a $16,000 grant to purchase a new oven. Food service supervisor Kelly Kjarstad reports that the ovens at the elementary school went out last year,...
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...
With a degree of urgency appropriate for the planetary catastrophe we face today, Pope Francis’ latest exhortation, Laudate Deum, “to all people of good will on the climate crisis,” builds on his 2015 encyclical letter, Laudato Si’, “On Care for our Common Home.” That the pope has explicitly described the current state of the climate as a “crisis” could be viewed as affirming what climate activist Greta Thunberg said in her 2019 address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland: “Our house is on fire. I am here to say, our house is...
Can you imagine the Pacific Northwest without salmon? Their life cycle feeds many beings in the whole ecosystem. Salmon have been the center of spirit and community here for centuries And yet – they are at the brink of extinction in the Snake River. Research by the Nez Perce Tribe shows that: “About 40% of spring and summer Chinook populations from the Snake River are at the threshold for quasi-extinction, meaning they will likely go extinct.” And, at last count, only 110 individual coho salmon and 46 individual sockeye salmon returned to spawn...
Skagit County Public Health is offering up to $200 in rebates for septic system inspection, pumping or riser installation to qualifying residents (one per household). A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant funds this rebate program for residents who pay a certified septic system provider to inspect, pump, or install riser to raise tank lids to the surface. All residents of Skagit County whose homes or businesses are served by a septic system require annual inspections, unless the system is conventional gravity (three-year inspection...
Unity is a key part of the word community. That theme was stressed throughout the annual La Conner Young Life Dessert Fundraiser held Sunday night in the elementary school commons area. A wide cross-section of folks from in and around La Conner, representing the town, agricultural, Swinomish, Shelter Bay, Snee-Oosh and Fir Island communities attended the two-hour event, supporting the faith-based program that provides summer camp and monthly social and personal growth opportunities for local...
