Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 881
By Paul Magnano Many of us have trouble speaking about the ultimate but mysterious dimensions of life. We need to rediscover the transcendent – the dimension beyond the physical, the dimension so many of us now struggle to name. For most of us these days, our only contact with the language of grace is through Bible readings at weddings and funerals. Language can be a vehicle for grace, or for disgrace, the most extreme example being the ease with which social media conveys insult and injury. I myself am not by nature pious. I write with sympath...
Every year, September 21st is a day to remember. While there are 365 days in a year, each day presents us with different opportunities. That day I reflected on the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations Assembly declaring the day the annual International Day of Word Peace. The theme this year was Peace among Races. There are many events around the world to mark the occasion and create awareness of the Power of Peace. Some are large and some are small events. Everyone was asked to have a moment of silence at noon in their towns across the world...
What was going to be a standard and straightforward story extolling the integrity of the vote counting process by staff at the Skagit County Office of Elections and open government with the attendant citizen volunteer Democrat and Republican observers has turned into this lament and surprise in decisions made by staff at the county auditor's office. The back story starts with the Weekly News staff story development meeting listing assignments. With the Aug. 2 primary election looming – and the paper's ever present concern for integrity...
I seldom struggle to find subjects about which to write, but right now most of the subjects give us a fright! They sometimes cause us to kick, scratch and bite, we all seem to be a bit quick to turn our differences into a fight! Roe vs Wade, Trump and his tantrum on trial, immigrants trying to find a better place to live, China chiding us for Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, crazy war in Ukraine, climate change, affordable housing, yeah, the subjects go on and on, which do I choose? About all of these matters I could write what would make most of us s...
I found the burn ban article (Weekly News Aug. 3) to be poor journalism. Although you admitted professionals "will not speculate," you named a local family and all but accused them of arson. Everything from the title of the article to the description of the scene was speculative and sensationalist. I feel like a legitimate newspaper should take a cue from said professionals and report back to the community when you have actual findings, not feelings. Austin Kinney Shelter Bay...
McCoy could not wait for happy hour at the Tav – and the bar did not have reduced prices anyway. Though he almost never called his friend, he did now. Hatfield had not gotten through hello when McCoy jumped in. “That Bubba Smith, you won't believe it. I don't believe it. He won't get away with it. No one's going to accept his cockamamie story.” This was McCoy red hot upset. Hatfield tried to get him to start at the beginning. “Bubba Smith. Your pappy's friend? You haven't mentioned him in decades, back to the 1980s. Where did he come from...
The first week in August, 1945, I was downtown in Seattle when it was announced that Japan had surrendered following the dropping of the atom bomb. Seattle’s streets were filled with people going wild with joy. People were jumping on police cars and fire trucks. Those in uniform were especially joyful. One Seattle man was extremely sad as he reflected on the effects of the bomb. Children in classrooms looked out of the windows at the bright lights from the bomb and, in a few seconds, they were incinerated. People looked for water to deal with t...
In his July 20 decision on the Atkinson’s conditional use permit for their 306 Center Street project, hearing examiner David Lowell starts with a premise, that “the validity and potential applicability of the Contract Rezone [is] in question.” He cannot resolve it because his file is without needed “additional information in the Examiner’s record.” In remanding – sending it back – to the Town, he directs the administrative staff to pull the developer and his challengers into resolving the question by “allow[ing] the site owners and...
A few points in response to Randy Hageman’s pious screed in last week’s Weeky News: Men are responsible for 100% of unplanned and unwanted pregnancies. Every. Single. One. And, if they have sex 200 times in a year, they can cause 200 pregnancies, while a woman will only get pregnant once in that year, no matter how often she has sex. Yet, Hageman chose to lecture women about responsibility. Obviously, men don’t risk pregnancy when they are irresponsible. Every time they have sex with a woman, they have chosen to risk her health, her caree...
After reading Randy Hageman’s letter to the editor regarding Choice and Procreation. I’ve come up with a few good ideas that might reduce abortions. First, the MUTTTTTTs (Men Unable To Tame Their Testosterone Triggered Tendencies) could choose vasectomy. For those concerned about the reversibility of vasectomy, choosing to freeze semen is a viable option. This, of course, would be pre-vasectomy. MUTTTTTTs could also choose to use condoms. However, since accidents happen, a MUTTTTTT could choose to provide a bond equal to one half the cost of...
Like many friends and neighbors I have visited with, I was initially delighted to see the restoration of the Country Inn back to its natural cedar shakes and green and white trim, only to be disappointed watching it painted a charcoal gray. Color trends come and go – natural cedar shakes are timeless! And properly maintained, it will last for decades. In about five or six months, when we are in our cloudy rainy season, the Inn will likely blend right in and will not look very warm and inviting to guests. Also, as our climate crisis...
This dot, dot, dot cliche begins “just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water ... .” The breaking news last Thursday morning was President Joe Biden having tested positive for COVID-19 and had mild symptoms. If this president of the United States, 79 years old and champion of getting this nation through the coronavirus pandemic, was infected, how can anyone in the country believe they have foolproof protection? Who can have more precautions in place than this president? The virus continues to mutate. Your fellow Americans &nd...
The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision. Clearly, the recent Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision was a landmark and long overdue. However, those who believe in a woman’s right to choose should take heart. The option of being pro choice is still very much alive. To wit: A woman can still choose whether or not to have sex with this individual or that one. She can still choose whether or not to use birth control. And, if she chooses poorly on the...
I spent a beautiful Sunday in Pioneer Park, listening to bluegrass, blues and ballads, poetry from folks around the valley, supporting my people at the Skagit River Poetry Foundation as they offered the day up. For those of you who drive over the bridge often, as I did for 30 some years and rarely set foot in the park (only for the Pioneer Picnic, parents/graduates picnic attendee), I say you are missing a lovely combination of what nature and humanity have to offer. There is no place like it, no place where a cool breeze floats off the...
Driving around on garbage pickup day in my neighborhood, I noticed a tremendous amout of cardboard stacked up alongside the recycling bins. Hmmmm. What’s going on? Then I realized how much cardboard I had put out myself because of the many orders my wife had made via Amazon and other online retailers. Obviously, COVID-19 has had a tremendous effect on in-person shopping. For the past couple of years, the numbers of home deliveries have skyrocketed. For many of us, that is a big relief because we...
Articles last week in the San Diego Union-Tribune and the New York Times highlighted the causes of homelessness and the needed solution. The west coast headline was “Cause of homelessness? It’s not drugs or mental illness, researchers say,” while the Times answered that question in their headline: “A housing shortfall.” Both stories sourced the University of Washington’s Gregg Colburn, an assistant professor of real estate. His new book, “Homelessness is a Housing Problem,” is co-authored with Clayton Page Aldern, a data journalist. Edi...
Nancy Shimeall We thank the Weekly News for its coverage over the past few months of Shelter Bay events, including several topics of interest and concern to the residents. Your editorial of July 13 regarding elections and the importance of voting prompts us to write this letter. Shelter Bay had a 53% turnout for our annual Board of Directors election, more than in recent memory and electing these three new directors was the first step in effecting changes. Through multiple neighborhood gatherings, comments at board meetings and personal...
Here the Magic Skagit mingles into the Bay, sheltered yet centrally located; Swinomish is a place of great healing. People here enjoy a diverse, continuous and bountiful ecosystem. The soil is rich. Water is always accessible. Food is found easily in plentiful amounts. The climate is mild. People are drawn here. Some may realize a portion of why they are drawn here, yet few are fortunate enough to have experienced the full spectrum of its gift. In a field of rich and intoxicatingly beautiful diversity it is easy to loose perspective and take...
Hatfield elbowed McCoy only half playfully as the two men jostled to enter the Tav. Inside, they headed to their bar stools to watch the prime time Jan. 6 congressional hearing. They expected it to be a doozy. They found their stools at the bar, and looked up at the TV screen. They were ready for the congressional hearings even if no one else in the room was watching. It was almost 5 p.m. McCoy looked like the bird that had swallowed the canary. He smiled at his friend. “This is it, you know. They made a real mistake in allowing Steve Bannon t...
May was, and each year is, Mental Health Awareness month. It’s likely that you weren’t aware of that. I wasn’t. But now I am, because of two events. First, was the PBS release of a documentary, “Hiding in Plain Sight.” The second was the rollout of 988, a national mental health hotline. “Hiding” is a moving look into the lives of 20 young people who have experienced – are experiencing – mental illness. Their stories are powerful. These young people, whom you will come to know and likely come to care for, have a truly amazing abili...
Another election season – year – is underway. Ballots are in the mail for the Aug. 2 primary. Your best ballot casting options are the county drop boxes at the La Conner Regional Library on Morris Street and on the Swinomish Reservation at their social services building. Please vote. You are what democracy looks like. For that reason the Weekly News is once again endorsing you, citizens of greater La Conner, this election. Your most crucial votes are the statewide offices of secretary of state, U.S Senator and the 2nd Congressional...
I enjoyed the typewriter articles by Ken Stern and Bill Reynolds in the June 29 issue of the paper. They made me a bit nostalgic about my old Adler portable, which, having poor handwriting, I used during college but for years afterward too for letter writing. Today, it serves only as a doorstop and a memento of those long ago days. Thank you, Ken. Tim Manns Mount Vernon...
I had a conversation this week that lingers in my thoughts. It was with one of our popular local young farmers. She and her husband rent their farmland and live in a rented house that is only affordable due to family connections and the generosity of the landowners. She admitted they are vulnerable. If the owner of the land they lease for farming chose to develop or sell, they’re not sure they could afford to continue farming. They’re not in a position to purchase a home of their own because the prices in Skagit Valley have skyrocketed. Eve...
I’ve experienced some of the upsets that America faced over sixty years ago. It was 1960, a presidential election year. Richard Nixon was the Republican candidate and John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, was the Democrat. The foundation for the election and for daily life was spelled out in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” We mu...
Five years. Two-hundred-sixty issues. Today’s Weekly News is the 261st printed since I bought this newspaper in 2017. Thank you for reading your community newspaper. This issue starts my sixth year as publisher and editor. Still, as I have written before, I own it, but it is your newspaper. What have I learned, covering the community through good times and bad? I am biased as I view our most important institutions, binding greater La Conner together, as the La Conner School District, the Town of La Conner government, the La Conner Regional L...
