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A high-tech La Conner organic dairy has entered into an old-fashioned agreement to supply fresh milk to Samish Bay Cheese. Both are members of Genuine Skagit Valley, the marketing organization that supports growers and producers in the county. Mesman Farm, just east of town, has signed a three-year deal to haul milk six days a week to the Bow cheese maker, a 200-acre operation intent on growing its business. Samish Bay Cheese has a mixed herd of mostly milking shorthorns and has been making its...
Spring has not come early to La Conner. But spring cleaning has – out of necessity. In the aftermath of severe flooding of the town's low-lying areas Dec. 27, residents have been clearing water-damaged items from their garages and homes and building owners and merchants have been removing soaked carpets and merchandise from their commercial properties. Unlike routine spring-cleanups, this has not been a cathartic exercise. Frustrating is a more apt description. That frustration could well l...
The actor Jonathan Goldsmith gained a wide following for portraying "The Most Interesting Man in the World" during a popular Dos Equis promotional campaign. The part could have just as easily gone to Fred Owens, who carved out a creative and colorful niche in La Conner as a journalist, author and activist among his numerous careers and landing spots around the globe. Owens byline appeared in the Channel Town Press. In the 1980s he briefly resurrected the historic Puget Sound Mail here. He died...
Skagit County entered 2023 with COVID-19 cases on the decline. The seven day case rate per 100,000 residents fell to 50 for the week ending Dec. 31, 2022. The county case rate climbed some, to 60.6 per 100,000 residents through Jan. 4, just above the statewide rate of 58 cases per 100,000 people, according to state Department of Health data. December totaled 407 confirmed cases, with new cases decreasing weekly, from 116 Dec. 1-7 to 70 Dec. 22-28, based on Washington state Department of Health data. New reported coronavirus cases in Skagit...
At the start of the new year, one way to assess the year just passed is by looking at the numbers contained in budgets and reports and reflecting back and projecting forward. From front to back in this issue of the Weekly News, there are all kinds of numbers – and information to be used in decision making. The coronavirus pandemic has not ended, but is no longer a crisis. In Skagit County and statewide, the rate of new infections has slowed and the number of people being hospitalized and dying are increasing at a much slower rate. While a...
Fate intervened on Dec. 27. First is the fact that the day before, Monday was a municipal holiday. Secondly the Dunlap Towing stopped running their weekly ad providing the tide tables to the community in this newspaper three or four years ago. At approximately 7:40 a.m. on the 27th, my wife alerted me to flooding around our house. I tried to contact Public Works and the Town offices to no avail, I called 911. I moved quickly to move our vehicles to higher ground. Next, I went to the source of the water, which was flowing down Caledonia Street...
Can you say $873,094 Town of La Conner 2022 budget surplus? Director of Finance Maria DeGoede can. Her monthly treasurer’s report for the 4th quarter 2022, year to date, in the town council’s Jan. 10 meeting packet, shows revenue of $5,988,197, 117% of projected for the year. Expenditures were $5,115,103 and $942,082, or 15.6% below 2022’s projections. Every fund category was above 100% projections, led by the two Real Estate Excise Tax funds (REET), at 221% of projections, $48,715. But it was the general fund, $211,029 in additional reven...
The Skagit Valley Clean Energy Cooperative is a member-owned, non-profit organization founded by Terry Nelson, Mary Wohleb, John Leaver, Marylee Chamberlain and Bob Raymond to speed up the energy transition in Skagit County. Anyone can join as a member, as I did last year. Like most co-ops, SVCEC helps members find and acquire interesting things. REI focuses on recreational equipment. The Skagit Valley Food Coop focuses on groceries. The SVCEC focuses on advanced energy technologies. SVCEC is pl...
Flood cleanup is costing La Conner residents thousands. Residents should be informed, on a regular basis, of any disaster relief fund coming from Olympia. Publication of progress should be published in the La Conner Weekly News. We need help and we need to be informed. Jean Wedin Flood victim...
Frederick James Mesman passed away on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022 at the age of 98 at Life Care Center of Mount Vernon. Fred was born Aug. 30, 1924 on the family farm near Rocky Point, Whidbey Island to parents Sam and Tiena Mesman. He was raised there with his brother Francis and sisters Betty and Darlene, surrounded by relatives, as well as horses, cows, dogs and chickens. He especially loved times on West Beach, searching for agates with his mother or finding salvage on the beach. He attended...
It is hard to predict the future and often just as difficult to remember the distant past. But Vince Sellen, a retired La Conner schools teacher and former town council member, has shown a command of both. That is fitting for the one-time finalist for appointment to the state legislature and someone whom a local public service scholarship is named. Sellen, now an Anacortes resident, was among La Conner officials in the 1980s cautioning against over-development of vacant lots here, especially commercial encroachment into neighborhoods. He can...
Democracy works best when we listen to each other – and work together in good faith to tackle the issues most important to our community. That may sound old-fashioned today. Yet those three concepts – the values of listening to each other, working together and focusing on the common good – have never been more important to the future of our community and to our state. We live in an age where the angriest voices often get the most time on cable news shows and the most clicks on social media...
Please join in a community conversation with your neighbors Jan. 21 at the La Conner Retirement Inn, 9-11 a.m. The communication committee, an advisory and ad hoc town council committee, will provide an opportunity for community members to come together and discuss how to best make a communication plan for the town. The purpose of a communication plan is to clearly define the priorities, strategies and tools the town will use to communicate with the community. The slogan is “Town Talks: Learning from the past, living in the present and p...
In a fast-paced, often physical non-conference home hoops clash with Clallam Bay Saturday afternoon when several players were flung to the floor – and one even crashed into the scorer's table – the La Conner Braves continued to raise the ceiling on their '22-23 campaign. The boys high school team recorded its second straight blowout win with a 67-22 romp past the Bruins, a nearly identical outcome to the previous night when the Braves posted a 67-27 triumph at NW1B/2B rival Concrete. With the tw...
The ending of La Conner High School's home girls' basketball game with Neah Bay last Tuesday is one fans would just as soon forget. But what happened at halftime will remain a fond memory for years to come. Several decades of Swinomish Indian Tribal Community members who played basketball at La Conner were honored during intermission of the much-anticipated non-league matchup, which the Lady Reds won on Amber Swan's no-look, over-the-head shot in the paint off an inbounds pass as the final...
Talk is usually cheap but for the La Conner High School girls' basketball team it paid huge dividends ahead of the Lady Braves' 79-2 NW1B/2B blowout win at Concrete Friday night. Coming off a tough two-game slide – close losses to 1B powers Mount Vernon Christian and Neah Bay – La Conner (8-3) amped up its defensive energy against the Lady Lions. "We had a pretty honest meeting Tuesday with the girls while watching our game film of Neah Bay," head coach Joe Harper said, referencing a hea...
The house wren is a scrappy little critter. During nesting season, it fills cavity nesting holes with sticks even if the current owner has a nest with young or egg present. Fights may break out with the owner and that bird may lose because of the wren’s persistence. If a wren nests near you, you will know because of the continuous singing that starts at dawn and continues most of the day and even into the night. The songs are very repetitious. Populations usually arrive in April but are uncommon in this area. They like semi open areas with b...
Come celebrate the Skagit Valley Food Co-op’s partnership with Viva Farms at the Lincoln Theatre Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. There will be snacks, prizes, beer and local farmers. Learn more about Viva Farms and its incredible work. The Co-op has donated $100,000 to Viva Farms, an investment in the future of local food. Not a Co-op member? Join when you attend or next time you shop at your local food co-op Source: Skagit Valley Food Co-op...
Yes, it's possible to stretch your food budget and meal planning to include salmon in several dishes. This recipe creates enough hash for one serving, for one person. It also allows you to use up those potatoes leftover from a recent meal. That is another budget-stretching feature of this recipe. When preparing to add salmon to a recipe, it must be carefully separated, with your fingers, to look for and remove bones. Have you ever gotten a fish bone stuck in your throat? Ack! It's awful. I...
A monumental moment for a monumental year: to kick off the Skagit Valley Food Co-op's 50th anniversary year, we are so proud to announce that the Co-op has donated $100,000 to Viva Farms to support local, organic agriculture and the future of farming in Skagit Valley! The Co-op has been supporting local producers and giving back to community since 1973 and we could not imagine a more powerful way to continue our commitment as we head into the next 50 years than this new partnership with Viva Far...
Monday, January 2 1:12 p.m.: Suspicious workers – Report of suspicious subjects turned out to be commercial window maintenence workers. Morris St., La Conner. Wednesday, January 4 4:44 p.m.: Hit and run – An older female driver in a small silver SUV crashed into a car. The driver left the scene of the collision. The SUV registration was not able to be obtained and the SUV was not located by law enforcement. Morris St., La Conner. 10:10 p.m.: On the loose – An employee saw someone open the door...
