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Controversial author and orator Elaine Willman held a workshop at Tequila Azteca Restaurant in Sedro-Woolley on Saturday, drawing about 80 people, mostly senior citizens, and a throng of protesters Willman, whose mother was an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, led a four-hour discussion on how she feels the political power and wealth of Native American tribes has grown to a point that is infringing on the rights of non-tribal members. The workshop was sponsored by the Skagit County...
Which of the following is the correct definition of the word “luthier?” a) A member of a religious movement from the Reforma-tion? b) A person who lends money? c) One who makes stringed instruments, such as guitars? If you guessed “c,” congratu-lations. You already knew the meaning of the new vocab word that the entire town of La Conner learned this past weekend, when the town played host to the first, and soon-to-be-annual, La Conner Guitar Festival. The festival, which ran from Friday to Sund...
While most of the bigger cities in Germany and Austria have museums and monuments documenting the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust, there is one kind of smaller memorial that can be found in towns of all sizes in not just Germany and Austria, but most of the countries that were occupied by the Nazis during the 1930s and 40s. Despite the prevalence of this particular memorial, it is something that you may miss if you’re not already aware of its existence. This is because it consists n...
What an incredible weekend to be in Salzburg. Of course, any weekend in this beautiful city is incredible, but this weekend was especially so because it was the weekend of the Salzburg marathon, half-marathon, and 10k. Thousands of people from all over the world, including Olympic-level athletes, descended on the city to take part in a sport that they’re all passionate about — running. For me, the weekend was amazing, not so much because I checked off a bucket list item of running a half-m...
With taxpayers on the east side of Swinomish Channel already circulating petitions seeking to break away from Fire District 13 to join Fire District 2, Skagit County officials had to hit the books to figure out what the process entails. Residents detaching from a tax supported district in Skagit County hasn’t been done in so long nobody can remember it happening before. And according to one state lawmaker, doing so could take an act of the Legislature to make it possible. Skagit County Elections Supervisor David Cunningham had to do special r...
The first week of school went off without a hitch at La Conner elementary, middle, and high schools. “There were no problems at all,” confirmed Linda Pierson, secretary for the middle and high schools. “It was very smooth.” Two hundred and 16 students attend the high school, while the middle school has 144, and 266 youngsters make up the elementary school. As always, a new school year brought new changes. This year, Cheryl Sullivan took over as principal for the middle and high schools...
Frustrated taxpayers on the east side of the Swinomish Channel threaten to break away from Fire District 13 to join Fire District 2 over costs imposed by higher property tax bills. “We were going to retire here, but now we won’t be able to afford it,” said Linda Ryan, who lives on Channel Drive. “Tell me how it’s fair to be taxed out of our houses!” The “Great Wolf” federal court ruling exempted all structures on the Swinomish Reservation — including homes owned by non-tribal members on leased land in Shelter Bay — from paying sta...
A federal court ruling that exempted more than a third of the parcels in Fire District 13 from property tax has some taxpayers on the east side of Swinomish Channel wanting to switch fire districts. The so-called “Great Wolf Lodge” ruling, which determined that homes on leased reservation land in Shelter Bay and in the Pull & Be Damned road neighborhoods are immune from county and state property tax, did not impact the budget for Fire District 13. That’s because the agency simply shifted its entire tax burden to the remaining taxpayers. Based...
Flames and plumes of black smoke spewed into the air from Shell Puget Sound Refinery on Friday due to a flare burning excess gases. Some La Conner residents caught a short-lived whiff of something foul late Friday morning, although the prevailing winds were said to be blowing the fumes away from populated areas. This is not the first time that fumes from the refinery have reached the La Conner area. In February the refinery produced a strong odor that blanketed the town for several hours, prompting some residents to leave and stay with family...
Correction:The print and earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the kits are free. The store can prescribe them and bill insurance. Without insurance, the cost is $100. In hopes of preventing needless deaths, La Conner Drug Store has begun dispensing kits with a medication that will reverse the effects of opiate overdoses. Each kit contains two doses of the drug Naloxone, which acts as an antidote to opium without having any harmful effects of its own. Opiate-based drugs are the m...
Irving Berlin’s classic holiday musical “White Christmas” is jingling into the historic Lincoln Theatre in downtown Mount Vernon tonight, with a cast that includes many familiar La Conner faces. The musical, which runs for the next three weekends, is put on by Theatre Arts Guild, and is based on the 1954 film that starred Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. It remains to this day a staple in every holiday movie marathon. When army buddies and Broadway directors Bob Wallace and Phil Davis follow singe...
Ashlyn Reinstra was an athlete and busy college student about to celebrate her 19th birthday when the devastating news came: She had a rare and very aggressive form of leukemia. Now back home and cancer-free, she is working to put her life back on track after her eight-month fight for survival. Ashlyn said that she first noticed symptoms — headaches, fatigue, and inability to eat — around Christmas. It was when she took her then sixth-grade sister Addie to the doctor for strep...
Development plans for La Conner’s new waterfront park are moving full steam ahead, with town officials working hard to secure grants for the project. Conner Waterfront Park will encompass the 600-foot stretch of land between Pioneer Park and the Swinomish Channel. La Conner Town Administrator John Doyle traveled to Olympia with architect Curt Miller to present the plans for the park to the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office, an agency that allocates grants to parks, trails, and other nature-oriented projects. The Recreation and Con...
Portions of the La Conner boardwalk were closed last weekend and will likely be closed for the next week or two because the town must replace the decking material. The town blocked access to the sections of boardwalk in front of Nell Thorn Restaurant and in front of the old Palmer’s restaurant building because the composite decking material installed last winter was found to be faulty. La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes said that the material could develop cracks. The two spots that are closed have been deemed the most troublesome. The manufacturer i...
The La Conner boardwalk project keeps moving right along, and should, if all goes well, be complete by the end of the year, according to Town Administrator John Doyle. Construction on the final section of the boardwalk, which will extend from the old Palmer’s restaurant to the south side of Calico Cupboard, is scheduled to begin at the end of August or beginning of September. The previous section, which was done in two phases and finished last year, stretches from Gilkey Square to the L...
An important piece of local history is on display at the Swinomish Casino & Lodge for the next month. The Snakelum canoe, a family canoe built by members of the Lower Skagit Tribe more than 160 years ago, will be exhibited in the hotel lobby through early September. The Swinomish Tribe has invited the public to come and see it. It gives locals a unique chance to “get up close and personal” with the history,” said Swinomish Casino & Lodge Marketing Director Jumada Schwinden. The canoe was used in...
The Fire District 13 commis-sioners want to investigate contracting to take calls for the La Conner Fire Department. The board last week voted to send a letter to La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes to begin examining the costs and benefits of District 13 taking some of the La Conner Fire Department’s calls. “I propose that District 13 get together with the town of La Conner…We’d take some of their calls,” said Commissioner Chuck Hedlund at the meeting. Hedlund, who made the motion, emphasized that this would be on a “cost-per-call basis.” H...
Fire District 13’s part-time secretary, Deborah McFarlane, resigned unexpectedly last week. Her resignation came the day after the year’s first meeting of the three-member board of commissioners, with newly seated Commissioner Arne Fohn, whose election in November has apparently shifted the balance of power on the board. McFarlane’s resignation prompted the commission’s new chairman, Doug Avery, to call a special board meeting Friday afternoon. “The reason we’re here is that District Secretary Deborah McFarlane has resigned,” District 13 F...
Tuesday night the Fire District 13 meeting room was packed with people to see the first meeting with newly elected Fire Commissioner Arne Fohn on board. Fohn defeated Jim Grove for the position in November, creating a shift in the board dynamics. The other commissioners are Doug Avery, who before this year was frequently on the losing end of a 2-1 vote, and Commissioner Chuck Hedlund. Firefighters from District 13, La Conner, and Anacortes showed up to see how the new change in leadership would play out during the meeting. Hedlund had openly...
