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Gov. Jay Inslee invites nominations for outstanding work by local governments and their partners on community planning and development. The awards have been an annual event since 2006. Inslee is proud to sponsor the Smart Communities Awards to recognize these hard-won accomplishments. The values and priorities of each community shine through their individual plans for how they want to look and function twenty or fifty years from now. For one community it may be an emphasis on supporting agriculture, another prioritizing their downtown...
Parking has always been a thorny issue in La Conner, most notably on First Street parallel to the town’s popular historic waterfront. Now it figures in yet another flap, this time over joint use easements the Town signed with Landed Gentry the day the developer bought the Hedlin Farms Maple Avenue property, April 16. Town Councilmembers last week heard objections raised by residents that the easement at the rear of the property would cut into the 24,000 square feet set aside for the park. Seventy per cent of the former ballfield will be d...
La Conner — If you are hot now and need to get cool, go to La Conner’s cooling center at the elementary school commons, open till 8 p.m. tonight, June 28, at 305 North 6th Street. It is organized by the Town of La Conner and supported by the La Conner School District. For free movies, hurry to the cooling center at the Lincoln Theatre, open till 7:30 p.m. in downtown Mount Vernon at 712 S 1st Street. It is sponsored by the City of Mount Vernon....
LA CONNER — Take shelter from the heat today through Monday, June 26-28, 12-8 p.m., at the La Conner elementary school commons, 305 N. 6th Street. This is the entrance up the steps at the circle drive, 305 North 6th Street, across from the high school. Drinks and snacks are being brought by Scott Thomas, La Conner town administrator. He is providing transportation. Thomas will “make accommodations for anyone, they just need to tell us what they need,” he wrote in an email Saturday mor...
LA CONNER —The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Friday afternoon that the 19 year old Whidbey Island man found dead in a car in Pioneer Park in La Conner Wednesday afternoon committed suicide. Tobin Meyer, chief criminal deputy with the Sheriff’s Office, said in a phone call that it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Investigators believe the death to be consistent with a suicide. Officers responded at 1:29 p.m. June 23 to a 911 call from a passerby in the park. The...
The National Weather Service issued a “Long-Duration, Record-Breaking Heat Event” from its Seattle office Wednesday. Its excessive heat watch remains in effect from Friday afternoon through Monday evening. Their Thursday, June 24 update calls for “dangerously hot conditions with afternoon highs in the 90s and near 100 possible Saturday through Monday.” They predict the impact on humans to be high Friday and extreme Saturday and Sunday and “will significantly increase the potential for heat rela...
The parent of a toddler will soon be feeling the heat for having left the child alone in an idling vehicle in downtown La Conner Monday, the hottest day of the year to date. That parent could face child endangerment charges, and the case is being forwarded to Child Protective Services (CPS) for review, according to Sgt. Jeff Willard, who heads the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office La Conner Detachment. Willard said a concerned person called the sheriff’s office 12:13 p.m. after seeing the child upset and alone for several minutes in an SUV wit...
UPDATE: ANACORTES — The City of Anacortes’ supply of sodium hypochlorite (chlorine) to its regional water system is now stable, the city announced in a news release June 23. Chlorine was delivered Wednesday and Thursday putting the water treatment plant at an above average level and the wastewater treatment plant at near full capacity. Residents no longer need to conserve water. The Wednesday print edition story follows. Its headline: Chlorine shortage requires conserving water Greater La Conner residents are being asked to conserve water...
Thursday was picture perfect weatherwise in La Conner, but not so for businesses on South First Street till mid-afternoon. An animal got in the guts of a South First Street Puget Sound Energy pole around 7 a.m. Businesses on First and Morris streets, including the Weekly News, received a “Power is out” email at 7:21 a.m. While some Morris Street businesses had electricity by 9:36 a.m., with notice that “The cause of the outage was bird or animal,” First Street businesses were not plugged in again till almost 2 p.m. Someone heard that 302 cus...
The size and use of the new park after the purchase and sale of the Maple Avenue ballfield is on tonight’s town council agenda, June 22, as discussion under the mayor’s roundtable. A letter sent to Town Hall June 9 asked for a council work session “concerning the Restrictive Covenant and Joint Land Use Easement” in the purchase and sales agreement between the Hedlin family and the Town of La Conner, the Weekly News has learned. The property, owned by the Hedlin family for decades, was purchas...
Greater La Conner residents are being asked to conserve water by the City of Anacortes, which supplies the town’s water. Anacortes is asking all residents and customers in its regional water utility to begin measures to conserve water. A national chlorine shortage has interfered with the city’s ability to procure sodium hypochlorite, the main chemical compound used to disinfect the water produced at its water treatment facility located at River Bend Road in Mount Vernon. Customers also include residents of Anacortes, Oak Harbor, the Naval Air...
Gov. Jay Inslee wrote Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas June 4, urging an immediate full or partial reopening of the U.S.-Canadian border to provide relief for individuals and communities impacted by the prolonged closure. The letter reads, in part: “Washington state has taken a science-based approach to the pandemic and has enacted public health measures that prioritize safety and protect the lives of Washingtonians. Because of rising vaccination rates, Washington State has a plan to reopen...
Burlington — After nearly three decades at the Port of Skagit, including 14 years at the helm, Executive Director Patsy Martin will retire in September. Martin began her career with the Port of Anacortes in 1987 then became property/development manager at the Port of Skagit. She worked in several capacities before becoming executive director in 2007. Martin’s dedication to the Port of Skagit’s mission of “Good Jobs for the Skagit Valley” has brought many successes including the expansi...
He has led the C.I.A., the U.S. Defense Department and two major universities, but 77-year-old Robert Gates, now of Big Lake, received his best management training as a Boy Scout. “When I was 14,” Gates recalled at a special leadership seminar benefitting Helping Hands Food Bank at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon Saturday night, “I had to get boys 11, 12 and 13-years-old to follow directions when they didn’t necessarily want to.” Gates found a way. And it led to a career in which he has made crucial decisions on the world stage. Now, in r...
Home sellers in La Conner and Skagit County continue to profit from high demand by buyers and limited inventory. In May, 191 new listings were posted countywide, an 8% decrease from April. The seven sales in the La Conner area went for a median price of $505,000, 17% more than in April, though the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which supplies this data, does not cite locations, a key factor in selling price. The median price was $701,275 for the 32 homes that sold in Anacortes last month. Sold home prices in Anacortes continue to rocket...
New COVID-19 cases have dropped dramatically in Skagit County and across Washington state in the three weeks since Gov. Jay Inslee bet on opening the entire state to increased social and economic activity. An ongoing successful coronavirus vaccination campaign has driven down the virus infection rate and corresponding new cases. The state’s Department of Health reported 128.8 new Skagit County cases per 100,000 residents June 5. Only seven of 39 counties have over 200 cases per 100,000 population, a 67% reduction from 22 counties reporting a...
OLYMPIA –– Washington State Parks is now selling gift cards that can be used to reserve campsites, cabins and vacation homes and purchase Parks merchandise, and more. Gift cards will be available in plastic or electronic form. Electronic gift cards can be purchased online. Later this year, people will be able to buy plastic gift cards at Washington state parks. In addition to using the gift cards for reservations and Parks merchandise, people may use them to purchase Discover Passes through the State Parks reservation system...
Last week the Town of La Conner applied for a $30,000 grant to the state of Washington for creating a “Subarea Plan” for redevelopment of the South Downtown Industrial Area, the area bordered roughly by Town Hall on Commercial Street to Pioneer Park and from the Swinomish Channel to South Third Street. In its application, the Town’s “vision” recognizes the significance of this area for “reasons of heritage, environment, economics, employment, and the preservation, protection and enhancement of natural and cultural resources.” In its May 20 pu...
OLYMPIA — Following an extremely dry couple of months, the Department of Ecology has issued a drought advisory for most of Washington state, including all areas east of the Cascade Mountains, portions of southwest Washington and the Washington coast. Only the Cascade and Olympic mountain counties around Puget Sound are excluded. March through April was the fourth driest such period for Washington state since 1895. There are growing concerns for farmers and ranchers in Eastern Washington. Early observations of crop stress and expectations...
Plans are well underway to welcome everyone back to “Come, Sit, Stay & Play for a Howlin’ Good Time” at the Skagit County Fair, August 11-14. After a very challenging 14 months, the Fair is looking forward to welcoming the community back. “We’ve sorely missed putting on events for our community and are looking forward to getting back on the horse and welcoming back our fans for a festive, howlin’ good time this summer,” said Skagit County Fair Manager Aric Gaither. “We’ve been so pleased how our facility has been used during this crisis as a...
The final day to drive-up or make an appointment for a first-dose COVID-19 vaccine at the Skagit County Fairgrounds is Saturday, June 5. Skagit County Public Health is closing out first-dose vaccine services at the fairgrounds following this date and will focus primarily on second-dose vaccinations until June 26 when the site will close permanently. This allows Public Health to right-size operations and serve the community via convenient locations at additional mobile clinics. Anyone 12 years and older are encouraged to access their first-dose...
This corrects and updates the story in today’s May 26 print edition La Conner voters will have a choice to keep or replace the three Town Councilmembers in November’s elections. The Weekly News was in error in its story “La Conner officeholders run unopposed” in the print edition. Two candidates filed for each council position. They are Position 2, Ivan Carlson running against incumbent John Leaver; Rick Dole challenging incumbent Bill Stokes for Position 3; and incumbent MaryLee Chamberlain facing Glen Johnson for Position 4. With only tw...
La Conner residents can speak 6 p.m. Tuesday at a public hearing as the Town of La Conner considers how much of $1.7 million it might apply for for that benefit low and moderate income households/persons. Town staff “proposes to apply for a $30,000 planning grant, to prepare a subarea plan for the Industrial Area bounded on the north by the public use area that includes Town Hall and Maple Hall; on the east by Third Street; on the south by Sherman Avenue; and on the west by the channel. A subarea plan would lead to appropriate redevelopment o...
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...