Former Hope Island fire chief, La Conner newspaper man Miles Johns dies

There was a time, a generation ago, when Miles Johns was truly a man about town, involved in just about every possible civic project in and around La Conner.

The only time he was in the dark, it seemed, was while on the job at the old Channel Town Press, where he was its darkroom technician and commercial printer, two skills – like so many over the course of his life – that were largely self-taught.

Johns died last week in Anacortes, a passing that was deeply felt in the La Conner area, where he was remembered for his multiple roles as a fire chief, emergency medical technician, ph...