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“Cultivating Civic Conversations (CCC): Learning to Talk about Race” is the title of the next seminar series jointly sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Kittitas and Skagit counties. The 13-week virtual discussion group is open to all beginning March 1. The one-hour group conversations use Ijeoma Oluo’s bestselling book, “So You Want to Talk About Race” paired with podcasts. Oluo responds generously and answers questions she has often been asked about race and racism, such as “Why are our students so angry?” “Is police brutality reall...
The Genuine Skagit Valley campaign has been granted a certification mark from the United States Patent and Trademark office Patsy Martin, executive director of the Port of Skagit, announced Feb. 9. Agricultural products and agricultural services from the Skagit Valley can now be certified as to their origin by this federally registered mark. The Port has advanced toward this goal for almost 10 years. They worked with the Washington State Department of Commerce to have Skagit Valley designated an Innovation Partnership Zone (IPZ), focusing on...
La Conner High sports teams and fans have long added their own twist to the lyrics when singing the national anthem prior to games. They regularly close the first verse by emphasizing and slightly altering the final lines – “O’er the land of the free and the home of the Braves” – to reflect the school’s longtime mascot. That might change going forward. State Rep. Debra Lekanoff, D-Bow, has introduced a bill that would ban use of Native American mascots for school sports teams in Washington. The proposed legislation, House Bill 13...
Northwest News Network Originally published Feb. 2, 2021 by Northwest News Network Leaders of seven Pacific Northwest tribes testified in January in favor of replacing a statue of Oregon Trail pioneer and missionary Marcus Whitman in the U.S. Capitol. A proposal pending in the Washington Legislature would install a statue of the late Native rights activist Billy Frank Jr. in Whitman’s place of honor. Every U.S. state gets to choose two prominent figures to put in the National Statuary Hall Collection. In the early 1950s, Washington state d...
UPDATE/EDIT The North Region will move into Phase 2 Sunday, as are seven of eight of the state's regions. In the North Region all four metrics have downward trends. Residents of Skagit County and the North Region of the state’s Roadmap to Recovery from COVID-19 were showing infection at high levels with the coronavirus at high rates based on mid-January data, but infections dropped dramatically the last half of January. Friday the state Department of Health released its update for Feb. 1-11 Roadmap to Recovery from COVID-19, having moved to b...
The North Region of Whatcom, Skagit, Island and San Juan counties will be moving forward to Phase 2 of the Healthy Washington – Roadmap to Recovery Plan beginning on Sunday, February 14 Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday. Movement in the Roadmap to Recovery plan is determined by four metrics measuring the status of coronavirus infection and healthcare facilities for the region. Improvements regionwide have been dramatic in all four metrics. The downward trend in rate of cases the previous 14 day period is 32% versus a 69% increase in...
Skagit Unified Command made the difficult decision Thursday afternoon to close the Drive-Through Testing site Friday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 13 due to inclement weather. Keeping staff and volunteers safe and healthy is a priority for Unified Command, and unfortunately cold and windy weather has created unsafe conditions. The test site is expected to reopen on Tuesday, Feb. 16 with normal operating hours. In January, the test site moved to operating Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. If you need testing urgently, you find...
A La Conner business owner is the victim of a cold case that is just a few hours old. The Skagit County Sheriff's Office is investigating a "smash and grab" break-in of Mari White-Bucy's Nissan Pathfinder near Calico Cupboard on First Street late Wednesday. With temperatures plunging due to a winter blast of cold air, downtown was quiet last night – except for the sound of breaking glass from White-Bucy's vehicle. Fortunately, White-Bucy believes nothing of value was taken. But...
Skagit Public Health will not have a first dose vaccination clinic at the county fairgrounds this week, through Feb. 13, because no vaccine was supplied by the state, Laura Han, county spokesperson, said last Friday, telling the press the state did not provide an explanation, either. “We did not get a first dose vaccine allocation from the State, so we can’t operate clinics,” Han posted Friday. “It is possible that other providers in the County have received doses, so check with your local pharmacy or primary care provider for more information....
The Skagit River Poetry Foundation has three winners of its 2020-21 Student Poet Laureate contest from schools around the Skagit Valley: Olivia Elias, Lucy Shainin and Octavia Prosser represent Sedro-Woolley High School, Anacortes High School and Oak Harbor High School. The program aims to help train, support, mentor and encourage our young poets, and facilitate bringing poetry into their communities. Prosser, a senior, grew up with her father driving them to school in an old truck with no radio, forcing his children to, not only learn lines,...
Skagit Public Health will provide weekly updates to keep Skagitonians informed of new COVID-19 vaccine information. This information is from Friday: No waitlists available Skagit County Public Health will not use a waitlist system for the fairgrounds clinic. Vaccine supply is provided by the federal and state government and county allocation decisions are made on a weekly basis. Public Health cannot offer waitlists while vaccine supply is still so limited and relatively inconsistent. In several instances, the online scheduling system...
Originally published Jan. 28, 2021 by Northwest Public Broadcasting Washington state has approved a request to use multiple Washington state parks to train Navy SEALs. But the move Thursday came with significant amendments to what the Navy requested. The permits would expand the five parks previously used for Navy SEAL training to 16 or 17. The Navy had requested access to 28 state parks as a way to diversify its training sites. Officials had said a small number of sites can become too familiar to trainees over time. The commissioners called...
“In 1960, all the people in Washington (state) could fit into King County today. That’s how much we’ve grown.” Director of Skagit County Planning and Development Services Hal Hart was addressing the 50 participants in the sixth annual – and first virtual – Skagit Ag Summit. The Jan. 29 event’s 16 presentations focused on water, opportunities and threats facing agriculture and economic viability and development. Threats first. While the pressure of growth and development on agricultu...
Daffodils will begin blooming in March. Tulips will arrive in April. Whether tourists will be allowed to follow is up in the air. “What we’re telling people is, we know we’ll be open, we just don’t know yet what the regulations will allow,” said Skagit Valley Tulip Festival Executive Director Cindy Verge. Some things are certain. There will be a Tulip Festival brochure that includes a map of daffodil and tulip fields. There will not be a Mount Vernon Kiwanis managed salmon barbecue. “There ar...
The North Region, which includes Skagit County, remains in Phase of the state’s Roadmap to Recovery from COVID-19, as is every other region and county. For this region, the two key metrics increased dramatically: trending up 89% in the 14-day rate of new COVID-19 cases with 350.7 per 100,000 population. Skagit County recorded 305 cases per 100,000 residents, a 9% increase in its case rate. Whatcom County reported 494, Island County reported 184 and San Juan County’s rate was 76 per 100,000 residents. A 10% regional, aggregate reduction wil...
Skagit County Public started providing COVID-19 vaccine Jan. 26 at the County Fairgrounds to eligible persons. Phase 1a and Phase 1b-Tier 1 eligibility is: Those 65 years and older. Workers in health care settings. High risk first responders. Residents and staff of nursing homes and community-based, congregate living settings where most individuals over 65 years of age are receiving assistance. People 50 years and older who live in multigenerational households. Appointments are limited to those who qualify under Phase 1a and Phase 1b-Tier 1....
At a special meeting last Thursday, the Skagit County Board of Health decided against an ordinance imposing civil penalties for not wearing masks, a violation of county health orders for stopping the spread of COVID-19. A Jan. 20 public hearing for comments was canceled. The board agreed on the measures unanimously. The decisions reverse the Board’s Dec. 22 decision to impose fines. Public Health Director Jennifer Johnson expressed concern that the proposed $50 fine would fuel public anger and reduce compliance with mask wearing, social d...
Last Wednesday afternoon County Commissioner Ron Wesen posted a statement on the County’s website that “I condemn in the strongest terms the violence that took place in Washington, D.C. last week. The insurrection was shocking to witness.” Wesen was clarifying his statement to reporter Brandon Stone in that morning’s Skagit Valley Herald. Stone’s summary: “County Commissioner Ron Wesen strongly condemned the violence and destruction of federal property, but said he did not know who exactly was responsible. He said he supported the right to as...
Skagit County Public Health will provide COVID-19 vaccinations at the Skagit County Fairgrounds for individuals eligible under Phase 1b1 (also known as Tier 1) starting next Tuesday, Jan. 26. Vaccines are available by appointment only. Eligible are all people 70 years and older or those 50 years and older in a multigenerational (two or more generations) household. The schedule will be 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturday, dependent on supply. Public Health’s ability to provide vaccine is dependent on supply allocations from the federal and state g...
Skagit County has recorded 498 new cases of the novel coronavirus in January, through the 16th, an average of 35.6 daily cases, based on Skagit Public Health data. Ten to 96 new cases have been reported daily since Jan. 3, for a total of 3,584 cases since last February. The state Department of Health lists another 212 probable cases, where data are uncertain. There will be over 1,000 new infections this month if the trend holds. New cases, and community transmissions from travel around New Year have not yet peaked. Another six people have died...
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Gov. Jay Inslee signed the “Healthy Washington - Roadmap to Recovery” proclamation he introduced last week on Monday, Jan. 11. The plan uses a two phase and regional approach to evaluate progress in reducing the coronavirus pandemic and opening the state’s economy. All regions start in Phase 1. Skagit County is in the North Region with Island, San Juan and Whatcom counties. Phase 1 continues the governor’s limits on people’s abilities to engage in economic and social activities. Restaurants cannot have indoor dining and limits are placed on...
Washington State Journal OLYMPIA — Increased security was deployed around the Capitol building in Olympia on Jan. 11 for the start of the 2021 Legislative session. The decision to add security follows the storming of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. and incursions onto the property of the Governor’s Mansion in Olympia last Wednesday, Jan. 6, when protestors forced open a gate and advanced to the governor’s mansion porch. Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday laid the blame for both events squarely at the feet of President Donald Trump. “Th...
Washington State Journal OLYMPIA — This year’s legislature will not just be about numbers and budgets: it will explore social inequities, the proper role of policing and just how much authority the governor is due. Gov. Jay Inslee said his budget proposal specifies funds for marginalized communities, who have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. His plans to remedy these issues include forming independent agencies to investigate police violence, expanding early childhood education and increasing access to h...
Washington State Journal OLYMPIA — Desperately needed COVID-19 relief is a top priority for this year’s Legislature, and Republicans and Democrats generally agree it will be necessary to get that aid out as soon as possible. The parties are split, however, when it comes to increasing some taxes to erase a pandemic-caused revenue shortfall. House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, last Thursday outlined some of the early action economic relief Democrats have lined up. This included, among other things: at least $300 million for rental a...