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The most current statistics available through Skagit County Public Health (for the week of Nov. 19-25) showed moderate Covid 19 and Influenza activity, but high RSV activity. The county did not define “activity.” The county recommends staff, patients and visitors to healthcare facilities wear a well-fitting mask, and notes that RSV vaccines are still available for infants over 8 months and adults age 60 and over as well as pregnant people. To track weekly respiratory illness changes in Skagit County, visit skagitcounty.net/D...
First Street parking issues were discussed in detail at the Nov. 28 Town Council meeting. But perhaps lost amid a one-hour presentation on potential future paid parking options for the downtown business district was a brief plea by Councilmember MaryLee Chamberlain to revisit the concept of one-way traffic on increasingly congested First Street. Chamberlain suggested that dealing with downtown traffic flow should be addressed “before we venture into parking.” “We need to have this discussion. We can look at all the pros and cons,” Chamber...
Location, location, location. It’s not just the familiar real estate mantra. It’s also a key element as La Conner’s Emergency Management Commission crafts long-term disaster preparation strategies. The six-member advisory panel discussed best methods to publicize the locations and primary functions of La Conner’s network of emergency shelters at its Nov. 28 hybrid meeting. A map listing La Conner’s various shelter locations, suggested by Councilmember Rick Dole, drew the greatest support. Dole, council liaison to the commission, offered h...
The paper collection can for recycling at the La Conner post office was removed from the lobby area late last week. Post office management made this change because of customer disregard; there were too many people contaminating the collection by tossing too large a quantity of non-paper into the container, according to post office staff. The recycling container has been moved to the retail lobby. Residents are welcome to recycle their unwanted mail inside....
Every U.S. household may place an order to receive four free COVID-19 rapid tests delivered directly to their home. For free tests: special.usps.com/testkits or 800-232-0233. The federal government began supplying tests in September. The U.S. government makes COVID-19 tests available to uninsured individuals and underserved communities. Find no-cost COVID-19 testing sites at: https://aspr.hhs.gov/TestToTreat/Pages/default.aspx. Uninsured people may be eligible for no-cost COVID-19 vaccines: vaccines.gov....
The Center for Retention & Expansion of Child Care is celebrating a boost in Skagit County child care capacity after a year of working to reverse the pandemic’s impacts, which closed down 20 child care programs and cost an estimated 22% of the County’s child care slots. In an exciting grant opportunity, C-RECC is using federal American Rescue Plan Act grant funds to restore access to affordable, equitable, high quality and culturally relevant child care. These funds were identified for distribution thanks to Skagit County and the Pop...
The 2024 annual budget the La Conner Town Council will pass at its Dec. 12 meeting will be the largest in its history. It projects revenues of $7.4 million, expenditures of $8.6 million and the fund balance growing to $5.9 million. The graph, above, shows continued growth in revenues council's continuing to commit more resources each year. The bars represent approved funding, except for the fund balance, which is an end of the year total. A graph tracking actual year ending revenues will show...
After just one meeting, Town staff and representatives of KSA Investments are agreed on 80 per cent of the design revisions La Conner’s planning department requires for a proposed three-story apartment/condo project at 306 Center Street. But reaching consensus on the remaining 20 per cent could literally be a tall order. At issue is a planned elevator shaft that planning staff finds exceeds height restrictions. The developer, according to Planning Director Michael Davolio and Assistant Planner Ajah Eills, has countered that state building c...
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...
Skagit County election office staff certified all local elections Tuesday, Nov. 28. John Agen is the new La Conner Schools director for District 2. He defeated Janie Beasleyt with 53%, 791 votes to 686 votes, 46.5% Marna Hanneman is La Conner’s mayor-elect, with 281 votes. Annie Taylor is elected to Council Position 1. Mary Wohleb is elected to Position 2. John Doyle and J.J. Wilbur were elected as Fire District 13 commissioners. Loren Bogart was reelected commissioner for Sewer District Position 1 None of these elections were contested. The s...
A few hours after completing the La Conner Turkey Trot, Jaime Stroebel-Reinstra was keeping a brisk pace as a volunteer server at the Waterfront Café's community Thanksgiving Day meal. She and others – including her own family members – who pitched in to help with the annual fundraiser for local charities were kept busy throughout a three-hour early afternoon shift last Thursday. "We had more reservations and more people this year than ever before," Waterfront Café co-owner Marla Vallee told...
In the 1880s, thousands of businesses in the U.S. depended on horse-drawn transportation. Carriage manufacturers, blacksmiths, horse breeders, stables and related enterprises were major employers. Of hundreds of American carriage manufacturers, only two – Studebaker (now out of business) and Fisher (now a part of General Motors) – made the transition to automobiles and survived past World War II. For decades, the example of the buggy whip manufacturer that failed to develop a new niche when aut...
At the end of October, the only four homes for sale within La Conner town limits were two Landed Gentry residences on Maple Avenue and the two BYK Construction properties on High Street, near Whatcom and Douglas streets. The other 11 homes are in Shelter Bay or near it. Two pending La Conner properties closed in November, a resale of a Landed Gentry home for $725,000 and an 1890 mansion on Benton Street bought for $1.25 million, On Snee Oosh Road south of Kukutali Preserve a home sold for $1.8...
Mingling pays off in La Conner. The proof is in the long-term results from an October forum on short-term rentals. Residential input on short-term rentals at the Civic Garden Club building – referred as “a mingle,” by Town officials – produced much-anticipated planning department recommendations. The staff report was well received at the Nov. 21 Town Planning Commission hybrid session at Maple Hall by community members concerned that the green light for inclusion in town neighborhoods could be given. That possibility appears highly unlikel...
Grace Hubbard's 100th birthday celebrated last week in the Weekly News reminded me of the sister cities project we worked on together in the early 1980s. Grace has an excellent memory, which helped to jog mine. So I'm adding to her story. I had returned from Peace Corps in the Fiji Islands a decade previously and birthed my first baby. Ronald Reagan was president, which worried some of us as to the saber rattling with the Soviets. I went to a Peace Corps reunion that was electric with creative...
The La Conner Town Council has paved the way for smoother rides around town. The panel during one of several public hearings at its Nov. 14 hybrid meeting at Maple Hall unanimously approved formation of a transportation benefit district to generate revenue for maintenance of streets, sidewalks and crosswalks. The council, by state law, serves as commissioners of the district, which operates as a separate entity. The next move, said Town Administrator Scott Thomas, is to decide how the revenue will be raised. A one-tenth of one per cent...
New Skagit Valley Tulip Festival Executive Director Nicole Roozen attended her first festival event last Tuesday, Nov. 16, the unveiling of the official poster and branded merchandise. The ceremony jumpstarts 2024 festival activities. The large crowd at Skagit Acres buzzed with excitement, and cheers erupted periodically through the evening's program, getting the festival started in the right direction. Roozen concluded her remarks with a rousing, "Let's make the 2024 Skagit Valley Tulip Festiva...
John Agen has won the District 2 La Conner school board director race with 52.9% and at least 779 votes against Janie Beasley, a past school board member. The Nov. 17 count added one vote to each candidate. The last 70 or so countywide ballots will be counted by Skagit County elections office staff Nov. 28 when they certify the results. Agen leads by 93 votes. Agen led the only contested election in greater La Conner by a wide margin since election day, Nov. 7....
La Conner's new flood barriers are staged and in place up and down the waterfront. But the work of the Town's six-member Emergency Management Commission has only just begun. The Nov. 11 power outage here that impacted residents, businesses and those attending the annual Art's Alive celebration underscored in real time that the mission of the local advisory board is to focus on all forms of emergencies. "The commission met an immediate need by addressing flood mitigation," said Rick Dole, town...
The $7.4 million in revenues in the Town of La Conner’s 2024 preliminary budget will be the largest ever and is matched against projected expenditures of $8.6 million. The $1.2 million deficit will be covered by the $5.9 million fund balance. The year’s theme is “plan, prioritize and perform” Mayor Ramon Hayes states in his budget cover letter. Staff are prioritized with all receiving a 4.3% cost of living increase, except the unionized public works employees. Their contract is in negotiations. The code enforcement budget is $73,604. a 20.9% i...
State parks are free Saturday for Autumn Day. Visitors will not need a Discover Pass to park. Discover Pass free days apply to all DNR and WDFW lands and in day-use areas at state parks. This is the last of 2023’s 12 free days. Information: parks.state.wa.us/. Source: State Parks...
Courthouse drama is nothing new in Skagit County. But what is new is the tact taken to disrupt the counting of 2023 general election ballots at the county auditor’s office in Mount Vernon last Wednesday, Nov. 8. Ballot counting stopped for a period upon receipt in the mail of a white powdery substance by county elections workers. It was later confirmed to contain trace amounts of fentanyl, a controlled substance that can cause respiratory distress and death. The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office was alerted just before noon and immediately blo...
After two more ballot tallies, totals indicate La Conner School District Director John Agen is likely to continue on the board, moving over from his District 1 seat to taking the District 2 position. Voters are giving Agen 53% of the vote against former District 2 Director Janie Beasley after counts on Nov. 14 and 15, after the Weekly News went to press. Beasley has gained 29 votes, to 675, reducing Agen’s lead to 95 votes. His total is 770. Another 144 school district votes were counted Monday and Tuesday. Elections office staff estimate 5...
It’s long been said that two things in life are certain – death and taxes. Now a third certainty can be added to the list: high winds in November leading to power outages in and around La Conner. A year almost to the day after a windstorm knocked out power for local Puget Sound Energy customers, gusts exceeding 60 mph Friday night led to extended outages from southeastern Fidalgo Island across Swinomish Channel to the Skagit River at Fir Island. Some households reported a literal “on again, off again” experience with their electrical service...
Faced with rising costs across the board – from insurance to equipment – Skagit County Fire District 13 commissioners approved a resolution Thursday authorizing a one percent levy increase for 2024. The fire district, whose coverage includes Swinomish Reservation and the rural area around La Conner, realized $528,936 from its levy collection over the past year based on a $0.62 per $1,000 assessed property value. The action, coming during its Nov. 9 hybrid meeting at the Snee Oosh Road fire station, will result in an increased dollar amount of...