Congratulations to the planning commission for recognizing when a staff report is inadequate and should be ignored. Your vote to reject the Center Street project as too large and too impactful on the neighbors was the right thing to do. Thank you. I...

Humans are so resilient. After early shocks to us, individually or collectively, humans find a new equilibrium, developing a new normal. If the disruption is not too great, say a coronavirus pandemic, kids, teachers, businesses, fire fighters and...

We got a gift Sunday morning, at the start of daylight savings time – bright sun and a springlike breeze. Ah, that sun. It is clearly moving north, heading for next week’s equinox. Its journey will take it both higher and farther into the n...

Introduction: As John Leaver wrote last week of his family members (still) in Kyiv, we all live in an internationally connected world. We here feel Ukrainians’ pain as TV and the internet bring their lives home to us. “Why?” being my favorite word...

Kudos to La Conner resident Dan O’Donnell for his persistent and astute analysis of local and county financial matters, especially regarding taxation (letter, March 9 Weekly News). The Swinomish taxation of Shelter Bay “improvements” – only...

We, the citizens of La Conner, elect a mayor and a town council. The mayor appoints a town administrator and a planning director. Regarding the oversized and imposing 20 unit development proposal in the 300 block of Center Street, Town Planner...

Everyone agrees that all of us are tired of the coronavirus pandemic, now in its third year. Fortunately, the omicron variant has waned, case numbers are down and hospitalizations are following that pattern of decline. Pattern. Waning. Alas, the...

Oh, how the pandemic has kicked me in the head, let me count the ways. I was just about to start a tour guide business, when COVID-19 kept the tourists from the tulips and daffodil fields, which was probably the safest place to breathe. Nope,...

The Firefighters and Commissioners of District 13 would like to thank The Marathon Petroleum Foundation for their generous donation of $22,000 towards the purchase of our new structure firefighting personal protective equipment. The old gear was...

The Swinomish Tax Authority used the same levy rate for 2022 as for 2021: $11.98 per thousand. But, the assessed value of homes in Shelter Bay and Pull & Be Damned increased from $178,838,070 to $196,284,197, an increase of $17,446,127. The Swinomish...

A handful of articles on the local and statewide COVID-19 situation in the Feb. 16 issue of the Weekly News provide confusing messaging on the seriousness of the public’s role in the pandemic. Overall, Skagit County hospitalizations and positive c...

I, too, (Bruce Elliot, letter: “Open space is lost forever,” Dec. 15, 2021) am sickened every time I pass by what used to be our lovely little open space ball field. Whenever my husband and I would drive by and a game was on, he would say “Le...

Paul Farmer, Harvard physician and anthropologist, co-founder of Partners in Health, died on February 21 at the age 62 in Rwanda after a lifetime of caring for the poor in Haiti, Peru, Rwanda, Siberia and the Navajo Nation. He was quoted (AP) as...

War. No one wants it, but the option – or possibility, or hope – is readily and easily bandied about. Now Russia has invaded Ukraine, unleashing the greatest military violence in Europe since Hitler’s attack on Poland in 1939. What d...

A story and a satire I was in the Tav last Friday afternoon having a bourbon and a beer before I went out to Anacortes to get my oil changed, there not being any place in town for automotive work. I was telling my friend McCoy that while I was out I...

Wow, what a time to be alive, so much to see and experience, a worldwide pandemic, international tensions, inflationary pressures again causing our hands to be out to the legislature, thank you, please. Please dear benevolent overlord, can’t you appr...

I am sure a marketing “icon” in Gilkey Square was proposed for the best of reasons, but it strikes me as wrong-headed in a number of ways: Goal. It’s been suggested to me that the icon will provide a great place for visitor photo ops. If that...

The quaint town of La Conner has drawn people from the world over. The Skagit Valley, on the whole, is a very special place. The location, climate and the beautiful vistas that come with the changing seasons bring people here every year. What vision...

What a good idea to have a marketing icon for La Conner! And kudos to First on First committee for putting in the thought, time and energy. But we must be careful that the design is reviewed well so we don’t end up like Mount Vernon with an icon o...

Thank you to the voice of reason presented by the arts and parks commissions regarding the placement of a giant “Love La Conner” sign in Gilkey Square! I am baffled that anyone would want to change the character of our charming square by ins...

Senate legislative proposal SB5843 does not have sufficient support to pass the Washington Senate and be sent to our representatives for consideration. SB5843 would have made it a crime for elected officials and candidates to willfully lie about elec...

I am no fan of the Clintons. Hillary Clinton’s nomination by the Democratic Party in 2016 was, I believe, an act of cosmic stupidity. She was and is one of the most unpopular politicians in the nation. Let us not forget that Clinton was secretary o...

This is in regards to the Feb.9 Weekly News article, “Should the Shelter Bay board resign over the Rainbow Park clearcut?” While we appreciate and applaud your efforts to enlighten our community by your article, we also need to correct your sta...

Greater La Conner, within and beyond the town's boundaries, is blessed with a plethora of volunteers. La Conner’s arts and park commission members are the institutionalists the government and surrounding community are fortunate to have. Their m...