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Do you have questions about firefighting? Join La Conner Firefighter/EMT Natalie Baker for a chat over coffee at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, in the La Conner Swinomish Library conference room. She’ll discuss fire safety topics and will have some firefighting equipment for the community to try out. This event will end with a question-and-answer session. Bring your coffee mug and questions....
Skagit County has awarded $500,000 to the Port of Skagit and NW Innovation Resource Center's TheLab@SWIFT, an innovation center for start-ups and entrepreneurs. The SWIFT Center, which stands for Sedro-Woolley Innovation for Tomorrow, is the former Northern State Hospital campus owned by the Port of Skagit. Many of the remaining buildings on the campus were used to treat and house people with mental illnesses until it closed in the early 1970s. NWIRC has already received $750,000 in state and...
One of La Conner newest retail businesses may be its most environmentally friendly. ERTH, on South First Street, next to Step Outside, is conveniently across the street from handmade la conner. Owner Stephanie Banaszak stocks custom-made lotions and candles from its owner, Robyn Bradley. Those are the most locally made items in a store with an "eco ethos." Society has caught up with Banaszak's sustainability vision. Thirty years ago her Organic Matters store, also in La Conner, took on the role...
The Skagit River Poetry Foundation made the crowd holler as they hosted their summer party, Make Me Wanna Holler, on a cool Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Park on July 21. Every summer we host a music and poetry event to honor and thank our community for their support and raise awareness for our organization. As the grill and band heated up, board members and volunteers took food orders and chatted with guests as they arrived. Guests relaxed with their lunch in the amphitheater surrounded by towering firs with views of the Swinomish Channel and...
NOT TO BE MISSED Anacortes Arts Festival, Aug. 2-4. More than 220 artisans will have booths filling Commercial Avenue in downtown Anacortes. It’s one of the largest arts festivals in the Northwest. Music on the Jazz Stage all three days. Free admission. Join Firefighter/EMT Natalie Baker for coffee at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10 in the La Conner Swinomish Library conference room. She’ll discuss fire safety topics and will have some firefighting equipment for the community to try out. This event will end with a Q&A. Bring your coffee mug and que...
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community has been awarded $2.8 million in three grants by the state's Department of Commerce. The Samish Indian Nation will get $1.4 million and the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe $750,000. In total Commerce awarded $52 million in grant funding to support climate resilience for 28 federally recognized tribes within Washington, as well as four federally recognized tribes with lands within the state. The funding is from Washington's Climate Commitment Act.Tribes...
Seattle-area graduate students took a field trip to La Conner and the Swinomish Reservation last Wednesday and afterward gave the Swinomish Tribe high marks for its focus on environmental protection. Dubbed the Climate Impacts Group and led by University of Washington research scientist Rishi Sugla, the students met here with tribal leaders for a daylong tour that included a stop at the Swinomish Clam Garden, the first modern version in the country of an ancient form of aquaculture. The clam...
Few have taken a longer road to historic La Conner United Methodist Church than its new pastor. The Rev. Dr. Jacob Kanake, who assumed pastoral duties here this month, hails from the Kenya Methodist Church, where he served before moving with his family to the United States. The Methodist Church was planted in Kenya, an East African nation and former British colony, in the early 1860s. The Kanakes feel quite at home in Washington, where he has pastored at Colfax and St. John east of the...
La Conner Rotarians thanked the guest speaker at their Monday meeting for being right on the money. Mike Pellicciotti said doing so is merely part of his job as the state's banker. Pellicciotti, who was elected Washington state Treasurer in 2020, shared his roles and goals during a briskly paced La Conner Rotary Club program at Shawn O'Donnell's American Grill & Irish Pub. For Pellicciotti, it was his 55th Rotary Club appearance. "I think it's important to get around to local Rotary clubs," Pell...
Time to cast your ballot! Help get all ballots counted quickly: • Vote and return your ballot now • Sign your ballot envelope • Use a county drop box • Mail your ballot by Aug. 1 Election drop boxes nearby: 614 Morris Street Swinomish Indian Tribal Community: Social Services Building, 17337 Reservation Road. Online voter registration deadline is July 30. Voting information and register to vote at VoteWa.gov. Skagit County Elections: 360-416-1702....
A new entrée is part of the menu planned for the former COA restaurant building at Maple and Washington avenues. The site has been home to various eateries over the past half-century, all of them operating as a non-conforming residential use. That could change. The planning commission learned at its July 16 meeting that the new owners of what old-timers call “the old Joe’s Drive-In” want a private fitness club and martial arts studio there. Getting those plans approved could test the applicants’ strength and stamina. Assistant Planner Ajah Eil...
They're thinking nationally and acting locally. Delegates from the Skagit chapter of the League of Women Voters championed a national push to support local journalism and news coverage in Washington, D.C., in June. The Skagit chapter, in fact, had hosted public forums in Mount Vernon on the status of community journalism – purchasing print advertising to promote those meetings – well before the League of Women Voters of the United States overwhelmingly adopted a position in support of local new...
SEATTLE - The League of Women Voters of Washington has its VOTE411.org website up and running with current information for the Aug. 6 primary election. Voters began receiving ballots on July 19 and have until 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6, to get their ballot postmarked or deposited in an official ballot election box or. VOTE411 is a personalized voter guide that is available to voters across the country. All Washington state races are included. Voters can enter their address and learn instantly which...
There may be no better venue than La Conner Swinomish Library for Scott Petersen, the famed Reptile Man from Monroe, to stage his popular live animal demonstrations. For one thing, the local library's solar panels work just fine and provide an ideal comfort zone for Petersen's collection of cold-blooded critters. And then there's the interactive vibe that defines the two-year-old learning resource center. "We are not a quiet library," insists its director, Jean Markert, whose assessment was...
A month ago, Skagit County Fire District 13 Chief Wood Weiss assigned crews to cover two 12-hour shifts per week at the Summit Park station on a trial basis. Initial reviews are in. So far, so good. “We’ve had some really busy days,” Capt. Chris Olbu told fire commissioners during their July 18 public meeting. “There’s also an increased probability of getting more transports.” Weiss said early returns on the trial program merit its continuation. “The rapid response to the north end of the district has been of benefit to our citizens,” he said....
There are three Skagit County Planning Commissioner terms expiring on August 31, 2024, one in each county commissioner district. The County seeks residents to apply for commissioner seats in their respective districts. Planning commissioners serve four-year terms. The planning commission works with the county’s Planning and Development Services Department and advises the department and the County Commissioners on proposed land use plans and regulations in unincorporated Skagit County. The nine-member planning commission has three appointed f...
So much is happening at the library this summer! We are very excited to have close to 100 kids signed up for summer reading, which goes through the end of August. Don’t forget to keep filling in your reading logs so you can turn them in at the end of summer for a prize and keep checking the calendar for weekly fun events. We have some great kids’ events coming up. Our first annual Junior Art Walk will take place Aug. 23. The goal this summer is to have fun creating art and exploring various expressions of art. Every Wednesday from 10-11:30 a.m...
YVONNE GALLARDO Why are you seeking office? I am a woman of action with a track record of doing what I preach since 1999. My passion for service has led me to be involved with many organizations that work to support public safety and child welfare, economic development and veterans, like myself and my husband. I believe I am the best candidate for state representative based on my active, extensive and diverse background in public service, notably as a city councilmember, chamber director and...
RON MUZZALL Why are you seeking office? When I was elected, I promised to be a different kind of senator and focus on doing what is best for our district. Every bill I've passed in the last five years has had bipartisan support. It's why I have the support of folks across the political spectrum. Where will significant funding for building "missing middle" housing come from? The Legislature has invested in middle-class housing by way of the housing trust fund. I am proud to have brought millions...
NOT TO BE MISSED Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau at Museum of Northwest Art: We All Transition with Mac Scotty McGregor. 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, July 27. What is it like to see and walk in the world from both the male and female perspectives? Mac will share his gender journey and what it taught him about life, our culture and how it affects our interactions with others. Free. RSVP to monamuseum.org/events/wealltransition. Anacortes Arts Festival, Aug. 2-4. More than 220 artisans will have booths filling Commercial Avenue in downtown...
SEATTLE, WA – The League of Women Voters of the United States adopted a position in support of local news at its national convention in Washington, D.C. in June. Ninety-three percent of the 1,000 delegates from Leagues across the country voted for the position that "The League of Women Voters of the United States believes it is the responsibility of the government to provide support for conditions under which credible local journalism can survive and thrive." The LWVUS defines local news as "...
A small Notice of Development Application sign in a field on Calhoun Road could signal big changes. Cloudbreak Energy Washington LLC, the Washington state arm of a privately held, national developer of distributed and utility-scale solar and storage projects, enquired with Skagit County about the potential for developing a 15.75-acre solar energy generation facility on land owned by Water & Wastewater Services, LLC owner Kelly Wynn. This is not a use permitted on lands designated...
Class was in session on a sunny summer Sunday at Skagit City School, and history was the main course of study. That was just fine with the "students," several of them descendants of school alumni and justifiably proud of the restored schoolhouse and exhibits displayed inside the landmark Fir Island building on Moore Road. The annual picnic, hosted by the Skagit County Historical Museum, coincided with hot weather, warm memories of days gone by and music by Conway vocalist and guitarist Marcia Ke...
By Bill Lucia Washington State Standard Washington’s counties will share close to $30 million in payments this year from the U.S. government to compensate them for untaxable federal land within their boundaries. This does not include American Indians lands held in trust by the Department of the Interior. The Interior Department last week announced $621.2 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes for state and local governments nationwide. How much each place receives depends on the number of acres of federal land in the jurisdiction and its p...
La Conner fire chief Aaron Reinstra and a Sedro-Woolley builder have presented Town officials with a new option for purchase of a fire boat to safeguard the historic La Conner waterfront. “This is food for thought, another option for the fire boat,” Reinstra said as he provided copies of a proposal from TJ Lowry of Full-Time Custom Fabrication & Machine Shop to Town Council members during their 70-minute July 10 meeting at Maple Hall. Lowry is proposing to build a hull, house, and trailer for $150,000, about one-fourth the cost of a com...