La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

Finding out who slew the Slough Swindler, the La Conner Chamber of Commerce’s participatory mystery theatre event last Saturday, was relatively easy. Several people figured it out and the winner was chosen by lot. He got a grand prize package of... Full story

Seems like banks and railroads are failing all around us. No one is really surprised, from corporate CEOs to congressional committees and Congress, period, to front line workers driving engines and managing branches or federal and state regulators at...

What is the difference between last week and this week? Answer: Last week everyone was at the end of the third year of the coronavirus pandemic. This week we all step into, no not its fourth year but the first year of what the World Health...

Ouch. Ouch everywhere, for everybody. New La Conner Schools Deputy Superintendent of Finance Dave Cram's initial assessment is that 490 students will enroll in the school district next fall. That is down 35 kids from today and 100 from 2021. It is... Full story

With March's arrival are a flurry of activities, not late winter snow but opportunities to join together in fun and games, literally, and, in one instance, to change, literally. There are also very real storm clouds hanging over Shelter Bay. The mont...

Dear fellow citizens. Help, please, by paying attention to your state government and taking a stand to keep public records public, available to you – and to the journalists and activists. Tell your legislators and Attorney General Bob Ferguson... Full story

The good news is raising the nation's debt limit is not a problem. The U.S. Congress has always voted to pay its bills– and will this spring. The source of those debts, of course, came from Congress first approving the annual budget and the... Full story

What a beautiful clear, crisp blue sky day we had Sunday. Monday started sunny. February is here: there are more hours of sunlight and the sun is higher in the sky and starting its march northward. And, we live in a state with sane legislators...

Town of La Conner leaders continue to talk, plan and act in preparing flood control measures in the wake of Dec. 27’s flooding from the Swinomish Channel. Last night the town council created a flood commission by ordinance, cementing in place a...

La Conner area residents are invited to engage this week and next with the two local institutions that define and make a difference in our lives. This is where citizens can have the most impact, making self-governing a reality. Your participation is...

At the start of the new year, one way to assess the year just passed is by looking at the numbers contained in budgets and reports and reflecting back and projecting forward. From front to back in this issue of the Weekly News, there are all kinds...

Wow. What weather these last two weeks, ending the year with both a groan and a whimper. Last Tuesday’s flood, blown in with rain and mild temperatures, was a stark contrast to the seven inches of snow and bitter cold a week earlier, the Tuesday...

When considering activists watching over the community's governance and vocally championing the better future we all want, the dedicated and sometimes seemingly too quiet La Conner Town Council and local school board may not come first to mind. But,...

Dear Editor — I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O’Hanlon 115 West Ninety Fifth Street, New...

This is the last week of sending the Weekly News to every address in the La Conner School District. This annual subscription drive is an economic venture: La Conner News Publishing, LLC is a single person corporation, owned by its publisher. The...

Last week was quite the start of holiday activities throughout the Skagit Valley. From Friday evening’s Tiny Tree silent auction at the La Conner Swinomish Library through a myriad of events Saturday in La Conner and holiday markets Sunday at the...

Happy holiday season! Along with lights, trees and lawn displays comes this more recent tradition: the annual La Conner Weekly News subscription drive. These next three weeks your community newspaper will be delivered to every address in our local...

Thanksgiving is Thursday. Feasts will take place at dining tables across the country as family and friends gather in celebration and care for each other. There will be few masks and little social distancing. Everyone wants the coronavirus pandemic...

Just like that, the La Conner Town Council is four weeks away from approving the 2023 municipal budget. Discussions started in September. Council has already approved $173,260 for tourism promotion, awarding $112,800 to nine groups and sending...

Gov. Jay Inslee’s COVID 19 emergency declaration expired Oct. 31, fading away 31 months after he first declared a statewide emergency Feb. 29, 2020. Recall his TV appearances through March as the coronavirus spread worldwide and Inslee moved to exp...

In researching the 2018 water dispute between Shelter Bay and the Town of La Conner in the Weekly News, searching for “perpetuity” turns up articles from that winter, including an editorial. Perpetuity is a word not often used. The 2011...

This is the last week of National Co-op Month, the annual opportunity to consider the importance and potential of cooperative businesses. The theme this year, “Co-ops Build Economic Power,” is, sadly, more hope than reality for co-ops, their...

Ballots get mailed to all Skagit County voters Friday. No need to rush your voting. You have till 8 p.m. Nov. 8 to deposit the ballot in a drop box. If you mail it through the post office, do that by Friday, Nov. 4. It has to be postmarked by Nov. 8...

The election season is upon us. Ahead of your ballot arriving in two-plus weeks, are you contemplating a better voting system? The four candidates for District 10 State Representative positions were asked to get past two person primary elections....

Good news. The new La Conner Swinomish Library is on the move, literally, as volunteer book brigades shuttle its precious cargo from the old library site to the new building at 520 Morris Street. A new library, what a wonderful idea realized. Take...