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Sorted by date Results 634 - 658 of 1887
Faced with future major fire protection costs – including purchase of a fire boat and replacement of a 30-year-old fire truck – plus pending necessary upgrades to La Conner’s wastewater treatment plant and aging water lines at Skagit Beach, Town officials are weighing the merits of hiring a municipal grant writer. Town Councilmember Ivan Carlson, noting the fire department’s pressing equipment needs, raised the prospect of a professional grant writer during the panel’s Feb. 14 hybrid session at Maple Hall. “The fire department will have more ex...
Turnabout is fair play. After having lost two tense games to conference hoops foe Coupeville – one on a desperate three-point buzzer beater – the underdog La Conner Braves avenged themselves with a dramatic 63-61 triumph Thursday, securing an improbable bi-district title and state tournament berth. La Conner, seeded 15th out of 16 state entries, faces No. 10 Chief Leschi this weekend in a loser-out contest. The winner advances to the state 2B Hardwood Classic round of 12 March 1 at the Spo...
The girls' basketball team is going back to Spokane. Winners of the Northwest Bi-District title, they were seeded sixth in the 16-team state girls 2B Hardwood Classic. They face No. 3 Napavine in first round regional action this weekend. The winner advances to the Spokane Arena March 2 against either Davenport, Raymond, Adna or Warden. The loser tips off March 1 opposite Forks or Northwest Christian of Colbert. La Conner (19-4) enters state action after Coach Joe Harper's team drubbed NWC-Lacey...
At its study session Feb. 13, the La Conner School Board heard and accepted Amanda Bourgeois’ resignation from their body. The board continued its examination of declining student enrollment numbers, accepted two major cash donations and met with and sought feedback from middle school and high school students. Board President Susie Deyo presented a spread sheet showing 56 students from outside the district have enrolled. Forty-seven students have left for other districts or remote learning programs. Despite the net gain, K-12 enrollment has f...
Amanda Bourgeois, a strong advocate for equity in education, has resigned from the La Conner School Board, citing schedule conflicts with her new employment. “She has a new job,” board President Susie Deyo said during the panel’s study session on Monday, “and felt she just didn’t have the time anymore. It’s with deep regret that we accept her resignation, but we have to respect her wishes. “We really tried to twist her arm,” stressed Deyo, who credited Bourgeois with providing keen insight on multiple topics during her three years as a boar...
Bob Abrams can literally draw upon a lifetime – at 93, a long one, at that – of sharing highlights of a colorful career as an animator with Warner Bros., Hanna-Barbera and Disney, among others. Fondly known as the "Disney Artist" around La Conner, his home for the past 15 years, Abrams will recount his illustrious times in the entertainment and media industries during a special one-hour program at the La Conner Swinomish Library next Wednesday. Abrams, a Pittsburgh, PA. native who hit the big ti...
J. J. Wilbur will remain a busy man. Wilbur, who serves on the La Conner school board and as a Skagit County Fire District 13 commissioner and chairs the Swinomish Tribal Community Port Commission, was re-elected to the 11-member Swinomish Senate in Sunday balloting. Wilbur survived a strong challenge from Cathi Bassford, a tribal housing and utility board member and elder programs supporter who has served as Swinomish kitchen manager for nearly 20 years, serving special event meals for...
Patience is about to be rewarded at Fire District 13. The long-planned modular residential unit for firefighters and emergency medical technicians was scheduled to be delivered to the Snee-Oosh Road station this week and is expected to be ready for use in March, commissioner John Doyle said during the panel’s Feb. 9 hybrid meeting. The unit’s ramping and decking, required for permit approval – plus utility hookups – should be completed within three weeks, he reported. Doyle and commission chair Bruce Shellhamer voted to approve payment...
In the film “Cool Hand Luke,” actor Strother Martin, famed for his role as the sadistic warden, delivered one of Hollywood’s most iconic lines. “What we’ve got here,” Strother’s character tells Paul Newman’s Luke, “is a failure to communicate.” Town of La Conner officials are taking steps to avoid having those words directed at them. Three weeks after communication strategies were addressed during a forum at the La Conner Retirement Inn, La Conner planning commissioners and Council Member MaryLee Chamberlain followed up with a 75-minute ro...
La Conner High School construction class students are building their skills by following a blueprint that addresses the area's housing crunch. The 10-member class, taught by instructor Daniel Castillo, is constructing a small house the students plan to turn over to a tiny home village in either Burlington or Bellingham at the end of the school year. "This is a great chance to serve our community while affording the students an opportunity to build their carpentry skills," Castillo told the...
It was an up and down night for La Conner High School basketball teams at Coupeville to end the regular season Feb. 7. The girls team improved to 17-4 overall and 7-1 in league action with a convincing 48-22 triumph despite resting Skagit County leading scorer Ellie Marble, who is nursing a lower back strain in advance of bi-district playoffs this week. With Marble, a 6'-0" senior power forward scoring at a 22.0 point per game clip unavailable, coach Joe Harper's charges did much of their...
Before there was a Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, there was a La Conner Tulip Show. And before the tulip show here, there was a La Conner Rose Show. Plus a fall dahlia show. All because, as the late Philena Dunlap noted 40 years ago this August, La Conner has long had the good fortune of having "a group of women who were dedicated in their desire to work together for the benefit of all in the town they loved." That tradition took root with the founding in 1909 of the Civic Improvement Club of La...
Blessed with a broad skill set and diverse interests, the late Jim Frey, who served La Conner Schools for more than a decade as a teacher, coach, counselor and principal, is most remembered for having brought out the best in others. He did so, according to those who knew him well, not only by unfailingly putting service above self-interest but doing so with a blend of compassion, encouragement and humor that his strong faith assured never faltered regardless of circumstances. Frey, who died Jan. 30 at age 83, was by nature a motivator. His...
A full moon didn't rise until Sunday, but a lot of crazy things happened in the La Conner area days prior. It started with a burglary at Pioneer Market and included a pair of power outages, the sinking of a boat on the waterfront and a car slamming into a house and flipping onto its top side off Shelter Bay Drive Friday night. The early Wednesday break-in at the Morris Street grocery store didn't net the burglars much. They got away with five cartons of cigarettes and apparently had their...
Funny the difference a few days makes. The La Conner Braves started last week suffering one of their toughest defeats Jan. 31, a humbling 56-31 home loss to Mount Vernon Christian. They rebounded quickly, first posting an amazing comeback home win Feb. 3 over conference foe Friday Harbor, clinching a 2B bi-district playoff berth. They earned a earned a moral victory the next night in a hard-fought loss to 2A Burlington-Edison. "These kids play hard, real hard and it's starting to pay off,"...
Though shorthanded at times, the La Conner High School Lady Braves held the upper hand in three lopsided hoops wins last week. La Conner defeated 1A Meridian and NW1B/2B rivals Mount Vernon Christian and Friday Harbor by double digits to improve to 16-4 going into last night's late action at league foe Coupeville. The 65-18 weekend home victory over Friday Harbor was especially impressive since the team was without injured point guard Shaniquah Casey and leading scorer Ellie Marble saw only...
In an age of specialization, senior Ellie Marble is having a ball as a multi-sport standout. The proof was provided Jan. 31 before a standing room only crowd at Landy James Gym. That’s when Marble, a prized Central Washington University volleyball recruit, was presented a commemorative basketball in recognition of having passed the elite 1,000-point career hoops scoring mark. Marble, the reigning Washington State 2B Volleyball Player of the Year, was honored in front of the scorer’s table by Lady Braves head coach Joe Harper as part of the Sen...
On a night when La Conner School Board members were recognized for their service to the district, the panel first deflected attention to retiring faculty member and coach Suzanne Marble. At its two-and-one-half hour Jan. 23 hybrid meeting, the championship volleyball mentor was lauded for her upcoming induction into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the state’s governing body for schools athletics and extracurricular programs. Marble joins the 2023 WIAA Hall of Fame class in a May ceremony. She guided t...
Math has been a top priority for La Conner Schools, with the district adopting new K-12 curricula designed to engage students and improve standardized test scores. Students, teachers, parents and community members now want the same emphasis given to the arts. Concerned that likely spending cuts, primarily linked to declining student enrollment, could lead to reduced learning opportunities in music, drama and related subjects, supporters of arts education urged the school board Jan. 23 to spare those programs. Several pleas were emotional. La...
On a cold, wet January night, the La Conner Town Council embraced a sunny outlook. The panel last Tuesday approved payment for a $100 membership fee and joined the Skagit Valley Clean Energy Co-Operative, organizer of the new Solarize Skagit program, whose goal is to make it easy and cost-effective to install solar panels. The commitment includes providing Co-op and program information on the Town website and perhaps monthly water bills. Solarize Skagit is the main initiative of the co-op, which incorporated last year in La Conner. Its...
There won’t be a Town flood commission, after all. Instead the new five-member municipal panel will be tasked with an expanded portfolio to address multiple emergency management and natural disaster incidents. The change in scope came at the request of Town Administrator Scott Thomas at the La Conner Town Council Jan. 24 hybrid meeting. “When I got into the weeds of this,” Thomas explained, “it became clear that there are a number of emergencies that the Town should be prepared for – not just floods. An emergency management commission seemed to...
La Conner Schools served up a dinner menu that included food for thought during the district's winter open house last Wednesday. As the over 200 attendees finished a community ham-and-potato meal served by school staff, the district's administrative team outlined the status of on-going programs and its recipe for student success and achievement going forward. Superintendent Will Nelson, hired in 2021, shared with the public the building blocks of a major five-year plan: social-emotional...
After losing last second heartbreakers to Coupeville and Orcas Island, the La Conner Braves flipped the script and won a hard-fought 58-54 non-conference hoops battle with Tulalip Heritage at Landy James Gym Saturday night. Ivory Damien scored a game-high 23 points and Braden Thomas added 21 to assure a happy ending for the Braves and their fans. But Tulalip provided plenty of drama before the curtain fell. The Hawks, trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half. They pulled to within...
After being eclipsed by one of the state's budding shooting stars, the La Conner High School Lady Braves brightened their prospects for a deep post-season run with a stellar 81-77 win at 4A Skyview in Vancouver, WA. Saturday afternoon. La Conner (13-4 overall) rebounded from a 79-54 setback Friday night to 4A Union High and its freshman phenom Brooklynn Haywood, who at 14 already has scholarship offers. Haywood poured in a Union school record 50 points – including seven three-pointers and a p...
As a popular song says, there are few ways better to gain fame than to have your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone. A La Conner singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist may not be on the iconic magazine’s cover, but she is featured on its digital pages as an artist readers need to know. Locally and regionally, Katherine Paul, the face of Black Belt Eagle Scout, needs no introductions. Her brand is now getting plenty of national exposure, thanks to a glowing profile penned for rollingstone.com by Philadelphia-based writer, editor a...
