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OLYMPIA – As our climate changes, the threat of wildfires looms larger. The Washington state Department of Health is urging the public to prepare for smoke that can make air unhealthy to breathe. Smoke Ready Week, June 12-16, is an opportunity to take proactive steps to protect yourself and your family. “We are expecting to have above normal fire activity in Washington by July,” said Kaitlyn Kelly, MPH, air quality policy specialist, DOH. “We have an outlook for below normal precipitation and that’s going to last into fall, so condition...
The deadline for businesses to renew their Town of La Conner licenses is June 30. The state of Washington requires processing licenses through the Washington Department of Revenue’s website. Get licenses at the DOR website: dor.wa.gov. Click on “Get or renew a license” and log in or create an account. Follow the steps to completion. General business license renewals are through June 30, 2024. The annual fee starts at $25 for home occupation licenses and booth/desk fees. There are three general license fees, from $108 to $238 based on annua...
The Skagit County Public Works phase-one construction on Best Road from McLean Road to the Fir Island/Moore intersection will finish Thursday, June 15. Phase-two, the upcoming chip seal program in July and August does not yet have a start date. Everyone will need to expect delays during this time of construction. Source: Skagit County Public Works...
Continued bad news on the moisture front for 2023. Yes, May was dry. There has not been significant rain since a half inch fell May 5. Four of the five rain days came May 1-6, 0.59 inches of 0.64 inches total rain. The May 5 storm was the only precipitation greater than one-tenth an inch. This May, rainfall was 2.2 inches below, 70%, the century average. This continues local water woes. Skagit County starts the dry season with a 6.2 inch water deficit, at 8.6 inches to date, six inches below normal for this century. In 2022 May’s 2.4 inches o...
Generations of Skagit Valley College students have been tutored in acting at the Phil Tarro Theatre on the school’s Mount Vernon campus. But Thursday morning it was a real-life drama that played out on the main stage there. That is when SVC hosted oral argument hearings conducted by the three-judge Washington State Division I Court of Appeals, based in Seattle and whose docket takes cases originating in King, Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, San Juan and Island counties. The panel heard attorneys present arguments in two civil and two criminal appel...
A few days ago, one of the people I was talking with at the coffee shop asked me whether a possible ban on gas stoves is real, or just another straw-man argument designed to rile up the public in search of television ratings. It’s a real issue. Several cities, starting with Berkeley, California in 2019, banned new natural gas connections to residential and commercial buildings. The primary purpose of these laws is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Eliminating natural gas as a fuel supply f...
This summer’s burn ban begins 8 a.m. June 9. It is a modified burn ban for all residential and land clearing fires in unincorporated Skagit County and continue until further notice. County staff will no longer issue permits for these activities and existing permits are suspended. La Conner residents must check at Town Hall for local burning restrictions. Allowed are recreational and cooking fires, up to 3 feet in diameter and 2 feet high if using charcoal, seasoned firewood, or propane-fueled firepits, with safety requirements. Outdoor b...
Emergency repair work on the rock jetty south of La Conner will continue through June 9 to protect out-migrating juvenile salmon. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is coordinating the project, which includes placement of thousands of cubic yards of cobble and sediment on the Skagit River side of the jetty. The repairs are designed to plug porous areas that have impacted outbound salmon this spring. Until work is completed, fishers and recreational boaters must remain at least 300 feet from the construction area. Only authorized access to McGlinn...
The $36,016 reported in sales tax revenues to the La Conner Town Council in April by the state’s Department of Revenue is the second highest ever for the month, only behind 2022’s record $44,210 and only the second April above $36,000. The Special Use Fire Tax Revenues had a matching dip. The $3,594 was $802 less than last year but again the second highest total for the month. February was cold, which influenced tourist visits. It is early in the year to find trends in the reduced revenue totals. Overnight stays remained high. The $10,592 in...
La Conner Town Council members were akin to traffic cops during their May 23 nearly 90-minute hybrid meeting at Maple Hall. The council forwarded proposed local restrictions on adult businesses to state officials in Olympia while remanding for review to the town planning commission a bid by developer Greg Ellis to site tiny homes on the lots behind Pioneer Market at Whatcom and Washington streets. Mayor Ramon Hayes echoed what planning staff have previously said for restricting such businesses. “If we don’t regulate them,” said Hayes, “we o...
La Conner based Tomco Marine Group, builders of American Tugs, was bought by the Kadey-Krogen Group of Stuart Florida May 18. The 36 employees at American Tugs' 28,000-square-foot facility on Pearle Jenson Way will continue to build boats there, said General Manager Troy Olason Friday. The company is still recruiting after hiring eight employees this year, he said. It builds five models ranging from 36 feet- to 48 feet that sell for $595,000 to $1.7 million and has delivered more than 250...
Marna Hanneman will be La Conner 's next mayor, no contest. Hanneman, on the planning commission since 2015, was the only person filing to run for the office during the May 15-19 period. Council members Mary Wohleb, an incumbent elected in 2019, and Annie Taylor, filing for the position she was appointed to in 2021, will also be elected when they vote for themselves. No one filed to oppose them. The only locally contested race is between John Agen and Janie Beasley for La Conner School District Director Position 2, almost a repeat of the 2019...
A La Conner High School senior is a true lifesaver. Not just once, but twice. Finn Hakenson on separate occasions earlier this month helped two men in distress in Whistle Lake at Mount Erie Park in Anacortes. Both survived thanks in great part to Hakenson's fast thinking and strong swimming skills. The first rescue, on May 12, was the most dramatic. Hakenson was in the lake waiting for his friends and track and field teammates Brenden Kitchen, Isaac Kitchen, Floyd Dent and Flint Huizenga to...
There’s no escaping flood risks in La Conner, but there are temporary and permanent options that can improve the odds of successfully managing future high-water events like last December’s that caused nearly $2 million in damages. Those options are spelled out in a flood mitigation report from engineer Evan Henke and presented to the Town’s Emergency Management Commission at Maple Hall May 9 by Public Works Director Brian Lease. “This plan,” wrote Henke, of David Evans and Associates, “is intended to be a ‘living’ document that is frequently r...
Now it is the La Conner Town Council’s turn to decide how best to regulate adult businesses should one or more try to locate here. Fortunately, the panel has received some grown-up advice. The La Conner Planning Commission last week unanimously approved forwarding to the Council a detailed and highly restrictive framework developed with Planning Director Michael Davolio and Assistant Planner Ajah Eills based on court rulings issued in First Amendment and freedom of expression cases. The plan limits to industrial zones on the town’s north and...
Skagit County Public Works is working on Best Road Mondays through Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from McLean Road to the Fir Island/Moore intersection through June 15. Public Works is performing milling repair in preparation for the upcoming chip seal program in July and August, and everyone will need to expect delays during this time of construction. Source: Skagit County Public Works...
It could have been the perfect weather or the Guitar Festival that steered residents away from the Citizen Engagement Opportunity in the La Conner Swinomish Library conference room last Saturday, May 20. About ten people came to it, including La Conner Town Councilmembers MaryLee Chamberlain and Rick Dole. The relaxed setting encouraged public discussion of pre-selected topics: sustainable businesses; open spaces, infrastructure needs; public safety; and density development and growth. The gathering was put on by the council’s communications c...
Shelter Bay residents reelected Joe Hurley to their board of directors Saturday, May 20 at the community’s annual meeting. New on the board are Rod Proctor, who was appointed and served briefly in 2022, and Rick Parnell. The winners were overwhelming selected. Their totals: Hurley, 308; Proctor, 278; Parnell, 249. They beat candidates Jan Paul, 190 votes; Julie Peddy, 138; Marianne Remme, 90; and Larry Tagala, 87. Also newly on the board is Lawson Earl, selected by board members May 17, replacing Judy Kontos, recalled by the community in A...
The 2023 Shelter Bay Board of Directors campaign trail crossed Rainbow Bridge into La Conner Monday evening. A scheduled three-hour community members-only meet-and-greet with board candidates in the canopied Santo Coyote Mexican Kitchen outdoor patio area gradually shifted from mix-and-mingle to question-and-answer to a free-wheeling and often spirited discussion on a wide range of topics among attendees. About 50 people participated on a come-and-go basis. Seven candidates are vying for three...
Discussions are going on among La Conner residents advocating for development of a community garden at Jenson Field, as some are calling the property south of Pioneer Park and west of Maple Avenue Sybil and Tom Jenson sold to the Town of La Conner last September. When council voted to make the purchase, Mayor Ramon Hayes called it a gift: the $60,000 price was less than one-third its assessed value. At that council meeting resident Debbie Aldrich promoted the importance of green space and play areas for children after the loss of the Hedlin...
Well-built houses last for centuries. Today’s decisions during construction of a new home can affect your grandchildren’s grandchildrens’ energy bills. If you were building a new house for maximum energy efficiency, what innovative technologies could you add during construction that wouldn’t add much to its cost today, but would keep energy costs down over its lifetime? Metering and monitoring: Design the electric circuits to monitor energy consumption. Incorporate the ability to monitor...
The national COVID-19 public health emergency ended May 11, as ordered by President Joe Biden. People covered by Medicare will continue to get COVID-19 vaccines at no cost. Medicare will cover COVID-19 PCR and antigen tests with no out-of-pocket costs when ordered by a doctor. Expanded telehealth services will continue through December 31, 2024....
The Weekly News updated and corrected its May 10 story, “Shelter Bay lease negotiations continue,” on its website by deleting the final two paragraphs that incorrectly stated that attorney Paul Taylor’s statements were “mistaken” and he “erred” in his stating “that the Defendants herein voted to approve the Resolution to bind the Community to the proposed terms set forth by the Swinomish Tribal Authority without an appraisal as required by the Master Lease on Wednesday, April 19, 2023” and that “the Defendants passed a resolution acceptin...
With long-awaited warm weather hinting of summer arrival, La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes told Town Council members that tighter fitting fashions will be the coming style at their May 9 Maple Hall session. “We’re going to have to tighten our belts this fall,” Hayes predicted, referring to next year’s budget, despite robust sales and hotel-motel tax revenues. “There will be pressure on our budget negotiations,” said Hayes. “Costs are rising, and we see inflation across the board. And labor costs are on the rise.” Councilmember MaryLee Chamber...