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No adage has been truer for Rocio Almaraz than the one that says home is where the heart is. Almaraz, who grew up in La Conner but now resides in Mount Vernon, drives her kids here each day to attend school because of the passion she has never lost for her hometown. "That's how much I love it," Almaraz, flanked by children Greyson and Mia Delage, stressed during emotional remarks made during groundbreaking ceremonies last Saturday highlighting Skagit Habitat for Humanity's new housing venture at...
A 48-foot sailboat at the Skagit Valley College Marine Technology Center in Anacortes is making a world of difference for SVC students. Soon it will make a difference in the world as well. The One Ocean, on display at an open house last Friday, will embark with a five-member crew next spring on a 14-month voyage around North and South America to spread awareness about oceanic health through education and the collaboration of crucial scientific research. "It's like a Jacques Cousteau floating sci...
The new one-way southbound traffic pattern on La Conner's First Street remained a major talking point two weeks after its implementation. Center Street resident Mollie Rights thanked town council members during their 90-minute meeting Oct. 22 for scuttling two-way traffic. "I want to thank you for making First Street one-way," Rights told council during public comments. "It's such a pleasure to drive down there now." Administrator Scott Thomas confirmed that there haven't been "any significant...
If not heartwarming, it was at least a homecoming when the potentially painful topic of property taxes was discussed during the Oct. 22 La Conner Town Council meeting at Maple Hall. First-term Skagit County Assessor Danny Hagen, a former Shelter Bay resident who in a past life was a La Conner High School athlete and later a Braves basketball coach, provided an update on local property value changes at the outset of the 90-minute public session last week. Hagen, who played hoops for Cal Lutheran...
Though Halloween is trick or treat time, La Conner School District officials aren't masking their glee that the district is enjoying more of the latter than the former this year. Superintendent David Cram cited for school board members at their meeting Monday night three examples of good news as sweet as any candy haul Halloween trick-or-treaters can expect. First, Cram announced that K-12 student enrollment, the key factor that drives state school funding, is higher than expected. Cram projecte...
La Conner High School senior C.J. Edwards reigned last week as the school’s Homecoming King, but his crowning achievement came Friday night when he led the Braves to a convincing 56-26 eight-man grid victory over Muckleshoot Tribal School at Whittaker Field. Edwards, La Conner’s dual-threat quarterback, threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more as the Braves remained unbeaten at home and pushed their season mark to 3-4 while playing an independent non-conference schedule. The versatile Edwards also returned a pass interception 80 yards for...
Working overtime didn't pay off again for the hard-luck La Conner boys' soccer team. For the second straight week, the Braves fell at home in an extra session after forging a tie in regulation. This time it was state-ranked Providence Classical Christian that escaped with a 3-2 overtime win, spoiling a spirited La Conner effort in an often-physical contest played before a supportive Homecoming crowd on Oct. 25. "It was a good match," La Conner head coach Galen McKnight said afterward. "We...
Too bad close doesn’t count in volleyball. At least that’s the way La Conner High School net fans felt after NW2B/1B rival Orcas Island, led by junior middle blocker/outside hitter Sofia Jauregui, edged the Braves in a hard-fought five set Homecoming Week match at Landy James Gym Oct. 24. Jauregui delivered a team-high 18 kills and added nine digs and three blocks as the Vikings posted a 25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-8 triumph over the hosts. With the win, Orcas improved to 9-7 on the season. La Conner slipped to 11-8 going into Monday nig...
Halloween has morphed into Howell-oween at The Slider Café on Morris Street in La Conner. Managers Levi and Kimberly Howell have decked out the restaurant with creative and colorful decorations that celebrate the cute rather than scary elements of the otherwise spooky holiday. The Howell-oween theme has even been enlisted for their daughter Annabelle's Oct. 27 birthday party at the café. Turns out, the Howell family isn't alone when it comes to embracing the Halloween spirit. "It makes e...
Emergencies and natural disasters are no fun, but planning for them can be. The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community proved as much with its second annual Emergency Preparedness Fair at John K. Bob Ball Park on Oct. 17. The event was a festive affair with fun demonstrations (the one featuring use of fire extinguishers was especially popular), blaring rock-n-roll music, a food truck and giveaways of home emergency-related items. Flu and Covid vaccinations were also made available to those...
Thanksgiving came a month early for members of La Conner's planning commission. Mayor Marna Hanneman expressed her thanks at their Oct. 15 meeting for the role they and others played in the conversion of downtown First Street to one-way southbound traffic. "I want to thank everyone," Hanneman said at the outset of the 75-minute public session at Maple Hall. "It's a miracle. It was a team effort on First Street." Hanneman and Fire Chief/Code Enforcement Officer Aaron Reinstra were among those...
The shorthanded La Conner Emergency Management Commission managed some heavy lifting last week. Commissioners Doug Asbe and Jerry George at their Oct. 15 meeting took a deep dive into a risk analysis of various emergency scenarios listed in a draft community Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan due for completion by the end of the year. They were joined by Administrator Scott Thomas, who called the 75-minute session “a productive meeting” after the trio discussed challenges posed by some 20 potential disaster threats ranging from storm sur...
The conditions couldn't have been harsher for the La Conner High School boys' soccer team when it faced NW2B/1B foe Friday Harbor at Whittaker Field on Friday. Southerly winds gusted to 45 mph, hard rain fell the entire second half and temperatures plummeted into the 40s by game's end. That wasn't the worst of it, at least emotionally. The Braves briefly led the contest in regulation until a potential Braves go-ahead goal late in the second half was disallowed on an official's questionable...
There was no place like home for the La Conner High School volleyball team last week. The Braves (10-7) defeated 1A Sultan in a seesaw, five-set, non-conference match at Landy James Gym on Oct. 15 with Nora McCormick (8) and Reese Bird (7) combining for 15 kills to lead the La Conner attack. Results were less favorable when La Conner went to Coupeville. Coach Pam Keller’s charges lost in straight sets to the NW2B/1B rival on Oct. 17. League-leading Coupeville (11-2 overall; 8-0 in NW2B/1B matches) was paced against La Conner by Teagan C...
In volleyball, as in U.S. courtrooms, the defense never rests. A prime example is La Conner High School junior libero Addison Keller, whose outstanding defensive play and clutch serving has been formally recognized by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the governing body of extra-curricular programs in the state’s schools. The WIAA has named Keller its Athlete of the Week based on her play as libero – a defensive player specializing in passing and digging – in La Conner’s recent victories over Mount Vernon Christian and Darr...
Karl Olson gave up hunting and sports a quarter-century ago in favor of distance walking. The former La Conner resident has for an even longer time been tracking steps taken to protect the rights and improve the quality of life for members of the developmentally disabled community. All too often, said Olson, a member of La Conner High School’s class of 1988, progress has been measured in baby steps. Olson believes that despite passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related state and federal legislation, more can and should be d...
La Conner is no one-horse town. But on Saturday it was a one Brahma bull town, and proud of it. "Little Wick," a 4-year-old purebred Brahma steer, made his way that morning up the Washington Street hill, avoiding the new one-way traffic flow downtown, to take part in the opening of the much-anticipated Wick Peth exhibit at the Skagit County Historical Museum. The late Wick Peth, of a La Conner and Burlington area pioneer family, was a legendary bullfighter who brought athleticism to rodeo...
During the week they shifted historic South First Street one-way southbound traffic flow, La Conner’s leaders put the brakes on any free-wheeling budget plans for 2025. Town Administrator Scott Thomas shared a tight financial forecast with Town Council members at their Oct. 8 meeting, confirming projections submitted in writing by Mayor Marna Hanneman. “This is a tight budget year,” Thomas stressed. “Inflationary costs have risen dramatically. Expenses are going up. I’ve told the staff this is a year that we have to cut and choose....
The improving La Conner Braves football team shocked the Shockers at Whittaker Field Saturday afternoon. The Braves (2-3) held Waterville-Mansfield scoreless in the second half and capitalized on key Shocker turnovers to post a 22-14 comeback triumph in non-league eight-man grid action. Senior quarterback C.J. Edwards ran for two touchdowns after the break and freshman running back Yandel Rosales-Rojas dashed 25 yards to pay dirt late in the first period to fuel the La Conner attack. It was the...
Quality overshadowed quantity when the La Conner High School volleyball team hosted its annual Dig Pink/Senior Night match last week. Defensive specialist Addison Wigal, the team’s lone senior, was celebrated as part of Oct. 8 festivities at Landy James Gym. For her part, Wigal delivered four digs and a service ace to help a young Braves lineup post a 3-1 triumph over Mount Vernon Christian. The score: 25-16, 25-13, 24-26, 25-13. Nora McCormick recorded a team-best 10 kills for the victors. Reese Bird (9), Maeve McCormick (6), Abi Poulton (...
They're calling them signs of the times. Those are the traffic signs installed by the La Conner's Public Works Department alerting motorists that First Street downtown is now one-way southbound and Commercial Street's single block in front of Maple Hall has been converted to an eastbound only flow. The changes have taken some getting used to. Reaction on social media has been mixed. Some posters have praised the relative ease of driving on the narrow street even with parking spaces filled on...
Building affordable housing in La Conner is a groundbreaking development, worthy of celebration. Skagit Habitat for Humanity will break ground at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at its Caledonia Cottages Project at Third and Caledonia streets. The public is invited. The community event will celebrate the construction of three affordable single-family homes in La Conner with the families selected through the non-profit housing organization's Homebuyer Program. "This is a huge moment not just for...
MOUNT VERNON - The four candidates for two county commissioner seats were tested with a lightning round question-and-answer format during a one-hour Skagit League of Women Voters public forum Monday night. Final grades on their candidacies will be issued by voters after mail-in ballots are returned. A large crowd of close to 100 squeezed into the Skagit PUD's Aqua Room for the briskly paced event, in which opening and closing statements by challengers Richard Brocksmith and Rylee Fleury and...
A jigsaw approach was taken to solve the puzzle that is the old Moore Clark property at a Sept. 30 public forum. Attendees at the three-hour workshop at Maple Hall divided into three breakout rooms to brainstorm and then report to the whole group potential future uses for the former fish food production plant and adjoining parcels in what was once La Conner's bustling south waterfront industrial hub. The consulting team charged with drafting a plan for revitalizing the 4-acre area, which has...
The Town of La Conner Planning Commission resumed it review of updates to elements of the town’s comprehensive plan at their Oct. 1 meeting in Maple Hall. The emphasis was on changes to the land-use and transportation elements. The downtown First Street switch to one-way southbound traffic came up, a change that went into effect today. “I, for one, am convinced that making First Street one-way will be a tremendous advantage,” Planning Director Michael Davolio said. Davolio and Assistant Planner Ajah Eills said that First Street traffic flow...
