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The Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Commissioners invite the public to the outdoor Memorial Day service this year, following all COVID-19 safety protocols. The program is held at the Cemetery, 17666 Valentine Road, Mount Vernon. It will begin at 9 a.m. Monday, May 31. The Marine Corp League, #1043, Active and Retired, the Reverend Don Robinson, vocalist Judy Robinson and La Conner high school student, Mason Groesbeck will each contribute to the half hour celebration. Skagit Pioneer descendent Laurie Lane will share stories of her family and the potato...
The Skagit Valley Farmers Market at Christianson’s Nursery makes its debut May 30 on a site once central to the pea harvest on the Skagit Flats. The market will be open 10 a.m.-2 p.m. most Sundays through the summer. The new kid-and-dog-friendly market will feature a nice mix of produce and crafts, says manager Kathryn Shiohira, who just happens to be food safety specialist and a driver for the Puget Sound Food Hub right next door. “The cool thing is these farmers are already set up and ready to go, because to be part of the Food Hub you must h...
A reprise came from Gov. Jay Inslee Tuesday as he announced a two-week pause on counties movement in the Healthy Washington: Roadmap to Recovery reopening plan, despite almost half the state’s counties exceeding metrics for new coronavirus cases. Inslee again deviated from the state’s guidelines of his reopening plan for Washington’s public and economic health. While Inslee’s news release says, “the decision was made in consultation with the Department of Health, and reflects current data suggesting Washington’s fourth wave has hit a plateau,...
The Norwester is no more. At least not in the form in which its many admirers throughout Puget Sound are familiar. That is the word this week from a Friday Harbor social media page that has been following the plight of the historic 76-foot vessel since it ran aground near Stuart Island last month. Built in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression, the Norwester once belonged to film legend John Wayne, who was fond of cruising the La Conner area and San Juan Islands. An update posted over the weekend on What’s Up Friday Harbor? and a...
Even when done virtually, there is nothing more real than the Big Climb in Seattle. Let La Conner resident Mike Ritchie explain. “The Big Climb,” he says, “is a stair climb up the Columbia Center, the tallest skyscraper in downtown Seattle. There are 69 floors of stairs, 1,311 steps and 788 feet of vertical elevation.” Ritchie and others in support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will take on the Big Climb from coast to coast on May 15 as a major fundraiser benefitting blood cancer research. “Although it will be challenging,” Ritchie said, ...
Skagit County will likely be moved back to Phase 2 of the State’s Roadmap to Recovery reopening plan for Washington’s public and economic health by Gov. Jay Inslee May 3. The county is failing both critical metrics, with at least 209 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people the last two weeks, based on state Department of Health data. It has 22 new hospitalization from Apr. 13-26. That is more than double the hospitalization metric of five per seven days. Large counties failing both metrics, over 200 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 peo...
Washington State Journal At the end of the mostly virtual legislative session April 25, lawmakers passed a hefty $59 billion budget that funnels millions into childcare, public health, rental assistance and addressing the economic impact of a yearlong global pandemic. The budget includes a controversial capital gains tax, which would collect 7% on the exchange of capital assets such as stocks above $250,000. Democrats have targeted the revenue to fund childcare and tax credits for low-income families. “We addressed tax reform through the W...
EVERETT, WA – Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) announced April 16 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has begun accepting applications for funeral assistance for Washingtonians who have lost loved ones to COVID-19. Larsen helped pass the funeral assistance program as part of the American Rescue Plan, comprehensive pandemic relief legislation President Biden signed into law last month. Washingtonians who paid for funeral expenses for an individual whose death may have been caused by or was likely the result of COVID-19 can apply...
Skagit County announced another round of assistance funds with the availability of $8.9 million in rent and utility assistance for Skagitonians impacted by COVID-19 April 2. This grant was provided by the Washington State Department of Commerce and funded by Treasury Rent Assistance Program (T-RAP). The program is to prevent evictions during the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis by paying past due and current/future rent and utilities for people needing relief. The monies extend $2.2 million in funding from the Washington State Department of Comme...
Will Nelson is a new face in town. But it will not be long before his will be a familiar face. Nelson, chosen Wednesday as the new superintendent of La Conner Schools, plans to be a visible administrator, interacting regularly with students, staff and the community at large. "I'm really passionate about the position," Nelson, director of equity and student success at Arlington Public Schools and a member of the Blackfeet Nation, told board members during a rigorous interview process last week. Nelson vows to take a collaborative approach to...
Update and corrections in April 7 issue. The Town of La Conner signed papers to sell the Hedlins Ballfield property for $800,000 on March 2 and will gross perhaps $20,000 on its purchase. It looks like the Town did not spend taxpayers dollars to buy the property. Mayor Ramon Hayes signed a purchase and sale agreement without the Town apparently ever owning the acreage. The agreement with the buyer, represented by Mountain Pacific Bank loan officer Frank Jeretzky, was “contingent on Seller’s exercise of its Purchase Option of the Pro...
Burlington, WA — The restaurant at Skagit Regional Airport is reopening with new operators, but they are not new to the Skagit Valley. Spinach Bus Ventures, the team who owns Tulip Town, Skagit Acres and the Fairhaven Mill is moving into the restaurant space at the Port of Skagit, bringing their love of the Skagit Valley to the dining table. The new restaurant, called Skagit Landing, will begin meal service on April 10th with “grab & go” style breakfast and lunch, and work up to full-service dining in the weeks to follow. Chef Josie Urb...
You can now eat out with your friends – or anyone else – in La Conner and across Washington. Monday, March 22 the entire state moved into Phase 3 reopening of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Healthy Washington: Roadmap to Recovery. Citing decreases in COVID-19 case rates and hospitalizations and the increasing rates of people getting vaccinated against the coronavirus, Inslee announced this newly created Phase 3 on March 11. Progress in controlling the pandemic will again be evaluated on a county basis, ending the regional metrics system. La C...
The March 23 La Conner Town Council meeting will be held in person a 6 p.m. in Maple Hall and virtually via Zoom, the Town reports on its website. It is open to the public. The Zoom Video Conference link is Zoom Video Conference Town Council Meeting Link. Meeting ID is 844 7357 0703 and Passcode is Yvu567. Calli in with this dial-in number: 1-253-215-8782, Passcode: 690974. Source: Town of La Conner...
Five affordable homes will be built this summer at Home Trust of Skagit’s Channel Cove campus. “We are out for bids,” Jodi Dean, Home Trust of Skagit director, told the Weekly News Tuesday. “The building committee will look at those bids at the end of the month.” Her cautiously optimistic goal is to have families gathering in their living rooms around their Christmas trees in December. The homes will be sited at the north end of the campus, off Park Street south of Caledonia. There will be three single family homes and a side-by-side duplex. A...
Bring your family to Gilkey Square and “Chalk It Up” at Friday’s First on First. Call now to reserve a six foot by six foot square and a bucket of chalk. Spread joy by unleashing your springtime inspiration and your creativity. You must plan this, by reserving your time, between 1-7 p.m. It is $15 for the chalk bucket and space. Call John Leaver, 360-296-6414. Match the Weekly News in sponsoring buckets and squares for friends, family and children of all ages. Call Leaver to sponsor your squar...
The check – or debit card – is in the mail. At least that is the hope for those who have not received their second round of economic stimulus payments. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced last week that it has finished sending $600 in Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) that were approved by Congress for eligible persons and families in December. While some people are still waiting for their stimulus checks or debit cards to arrive in the mail, IRS reps say that – for the most part – those who have not received thei...
It is March and the La Conner Chamber of Commerce’s month-long Daffodil Festival is here. So far the weather, the coronavirus pandemic, governments and people are cooperating. In 2019 cold and snow snuffed that year’s daffodil crop. Last year state and country orders shut down mid-March as COVID-19 conquered the world. At February’s end some 80 workers were picking the first daffodil stems of the season in Washington Bulb Company fields by Calhoun and Beaver Marsh roads, two of their seven...
At its Feb. 9 meeting the Skagit County Planning Commission voted to uphold their September censure of fellow Commission Mark Lundsten. Lundsten stated his case for removing the censure, saying “you have done me an injustice. The clear intention is to suppress free speech. The intent of your censure is to punish me for expressing dissent and that is not allowed.” Lundsten’s long opening statement was followed by considerable discussion before the commissioners voted 6-3 to uphold a censure they voted after Lundsten sent a letter to the count...
The dramatic February decline in new coronavirus infections in Skagit County continues. After recording 768 cases in January, 211 people have tested positive Feb. 1-22, with over half, 107, the first seven days. Each succeeding week has had half the number of infections of that first week reported, 47 Feb. 8-14 and 57 Feb. 15-22, as listed on the Skagit Public Health website. These are total cases, not on a per 100,000 residents basis. Nine people have died in February, 15% of total deaths since record keeping started. Nineteen people have died...
The Skagit County drive-through COVID-10 testing site will close permanently after March 12, Skagit Public Health announced Feb. 17. It is closed Saturdays effective immediately, due to low use that day, the County announced Monday. Public Health and Unified Command made the decision to close the testing site in order to focus on vaccine distribution. “We provide vaccine clinics out of the fairgrounds as well, and closing testing will allow us to focus our resources on those efforts,” County spokesperson Laura Han wrote in an email Monday. “Add...
Washington State Journal OLYMPIA — Additional relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is on its way. Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill into law Feb. 19, that appropriates $2.2 billion federal dollars to be used for K-12 schools, public health, assistance to individuals and families, housing and business assistance. “The process of getting to a post pandemic era has just begun,” Inslee said. “And we intend to come out of this pandemic stronger, in part because of this legislation.” The package distributes $365 million in emergency eviction...
The new year started wet, with 1.3” of rain five of the first six days and 2.1” in 10 of the first 13 days. The month ended the same way, with 1.5” rain six of last eight days. These two periods accounted for almost all of January’s precipitation. No snow, though. The winter’s first was the Valentine’s Day weekend. Rainfall totaled 3.7”, 9% below the century’s average for January. Temperatures were slightly above average, 1.5 degrees, for the day’s average and maximum temperatures over the last two decades. There were six frost days, four...
Last week the Anacortes Chamber of Commerce board of directors, consisting of community leaders, city officials and Anacortes Waterfront Festival stakeholders, met with Chamber staff to discuss the potential of hosting the festival in 2021. The group discussed general epidemiological projections, the safety of our community, volunteers, and incoming guests, and the overall operational ability to facilitate an event without knowing where our region will be in the Healthy Washington Roadmap to recovery in June. The Anacortes Chamber of Commerce...
Gov. Jay Inslee gave most residents of the state an early Valentine’s present, announcing Thursday he was moving most of the state forward to Phase 2 of the Healthy Washington – Roadmap to Recovery Plan beginning Feb. 14. On Sunday residents of Yakima County and the other five counties in the South Central region got a special gift: Phase 2 status. Data that kept the region in Phase 1 was corrected. The entire state is now in Phase 2. Skagit County residents, like North Region neighbors in Island, San Juan and Whatcom counties, are a...