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

I am opposed to the same-ification of this place with placing still another selfie spot in a world full of them. Our rich foundational history is being lost. I would spend that money on engaging signs that inform our visitors, new residents, and our...

The April 20 edition of the La Conner Weekly News had a Police Blotter report of a suspicious driver in a white pickup slowly cruising around La Conner streets. I want to put the residents of La Conner at ease about this report in the police...

Oh, what a sight, the osprey chasing that eagle away from her nest, on the tower that towers across the channel from downtown La Conner. I saw the scene on Sunday at 1:18 p.m., when I had come to a stop in the tricky spot next to the Calico...

Earth Day is Friday. Those acting locally include the Skagit Valley Food Co-op, which will give away tree saplings, and Kelly Harper, who is organizing a Snee Oosh beach cleanup. Heavens knows, more trees need to be planted and more debris removed...

Cindy Vest and Sandy Stokes sold the Weekly News in June 2017. Cindy stayed on as production manager until August last year. She almost literally had printer’s ink running through her vein. The musings below was written in recognition of her s...

In the ideal world, I would like to have all of the Maple Street/ Heldlin field back again. But we don’t. It is hard to imagine something that will be a useful and attractive park in the small remaining part of the field. But I believe that the C...

I commend our La Conner parks commissioners for their work on the plans for the new Maple Avenue park. Based on citizens’ input from 350 surveys completed last year, the commission hired a local landscape architect to develop a preliminary design tha...

Computers are useless. They only give you answers. — Pablo Picasso Mysticism seems to focus on the questions, on wonderment and awe. In world religions, mysticism stands in contrast to fundamentalism. Not its opposite, for I don’t believe m...

John Leaver's name has been in the news a lot recently. In fact, he has been in the news consistently for more than two years. The former La Conner town council member took the initiative the first year of the pandemic, in the summer of 2020,...

My heart soared to read “New app helps students learn Lushootseed language” article (April 6 Weekly News). Although only a handful of paragraphs were devoted to the new native language learning program to be offered at La Conner schools, it was gre...

The latest “Love La Conner” design for Gilkey Square seems a better one; it is shorter and includes a place to sit and ponder the Channel, Fidalgo Island and the Swinomish Reservation across the water. The “Love La Conner” theme, however, confuse...

Dear Editor, I found the statement by Marna Hanneman, chair of the planning commission, that she found it a “difficult thing to go against the staff report” (Weekly News, April 6) absolutely stunning. The planning commission, as well as town cou...

On February 8 the Town of La Conner paid the City of Anacortes $6,940 for reconciliation of the water bill from 2020. The real amount owing was $3,068. Anacortes owes La Conner $3,872. The problem was that the city’s finance director failed to recogn...

I believe it was Rahm Emanuel former chief of staff for President Barak Obama who coined the expression, “never let a crisis go to waste”. In other words make it work for you politically. Well, so now Joe Biden is using the war in Ukraine in a way th...

The past seven years have transformed the relationship between the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Skagit County and local tax districts like the La Conner School District, Fire District 13 and the La Conner Regional Library. As the Swinomish...

There is a cadre of La Conner and area residents caring and committed enough to the town’s future that they show up at Thursday evening workshops addressing “Growing Pains” and Zoom in, participating in public hearings on a conditional use permi...

Eighteen month ago I retired from a 35 year Boeing career and purchased Tillinghast Postal & Business Center. It truly was a dream come true. Ever since I was a young girl, my dad would bring me and my family to La Conner in search of antiques at...

Dear Editor: I noted your comments stating: “Every word we use needs to be carefully chosen” in your editorial linking national Women’s History Month and the Russian war against the Ukraine. I thought the need to carefully choose our words is proba...

To the Editor: I would like to add a few words to Mel Damski’s article about the birds in which he quoted me. Your readers need some suggestions of how to further learn about birds. Educate yourself. Look up abcbirds.org, allaboutbirds.org, b...

The U.S.'s national Women's History Month ends Thursday. Its theme, "Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope," is timely everywhere for our wounded, war weary world. International Women’s Day was March 8, of course. Its theme, “Gender equality tod...

I don’t wish to initiate a “letter to the editor” debate, but Ms. Shimeall’s response (Weekly News 3/23) to my and Mr. O’Donnell’s recent letters begs clarification. First, she asserts that living in Shelter Bay (SB) on leased “Swinomish...

La Conner residents are invited to a public forum addressing “Growing Pains” in town March 31 at 6 p.m. in the school district’s Bruce Auditorium. The forum is the first effort of the town council’s communication committee to both provide informa...

I found it concerning when I read the recent letters by Mr. O’Donnell on March 9 and by Mr. Elliott on March 16 about taxes paid by Shelter Bay. Anyone buying a home here on leased land is clearly informed that we live here because the Swinomish N...

Dear friends, I want to recommend World Central Kitchens, founded by chef Jose Andres, as an organization worthy of your support for citizens of Ukraine and their abouts. You can find it easily online. It’s been in place for several years. I d...