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Changing county planning rules to permit fully contained communities (FCCs) “opens the door for making this county suburban,” said Margery Hite last Tuesday, Jan. 11, during an online Community Conversation sponsored by the Skagit Valley Food Co-op. “Growth in Skagit Valley: Our Future, Farming & FCCs” drew about 90 Zoom participants, La Conner residents among them. Hite is on the grassroots campaign ‘Right Growth, Right Place’ advisory group, which opposes permitting FCCs. She described FCCs and their likely impact on Skagit County in g...
The famed Troubadour Club in Hollywood has helped launch some of the biggest acts in the music business, from Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt to Elton John and the Eagles. Its iconic stage was also graced several times in the 1960s, during the height of the American folk music revival, by a talented southern California female teen string trio, one of whose members would later embrace La Conner as her hometown. Suzie Racanello, who still harmonizes while on car rides with local friends Faye Whi...
The world is suffering through the end of the second year of the novel coronavirus pandemic. In the United States, scientists developed vaccines that were getting widespread distribution as 2021 began. That was needed good news after months of widespread lockdowns that stifled everyday life and wreaked havoc on the economy, schooling and the healthcare system. Alas, in most countries around the world, the pandemic rages on. In the United States 2021 ended with daily record numbers of new cases of COVID-19. Public health professionals adapted...
Last Wednesday I screwed up my courage and went against my own caution guidelines to see the new film “West Side Story” at the Lincoln Theatre. As everyone else attending did, I showed my vaccination card to get in and I kept my mask on once I finished my popcorn. I had the entire front right section to myself. I sat in the aisle seat in the last row, my bum left leg on the arm rest of the seat in front of me. On Jan. 12, 2022, it was my first movie in about two years. I needed a night out, a night off and the pleasure of seeing a classic in...
Sunday I had a conversation with Brandon Atkinson while watching the demolition of the building behind Sliders. He is the owner and developer. I mentioned to him that we would like his project a lot more if it were solely residential and only two floors. He told me that that is what he would like as well. Incredulous, I asked him to restate multiple times. And he did. He said that he had asked for that rezone (from commercial to residential) but was told by the Town that the Town could not make that change. But they can. The Town can rezone...
I appreciate the inclusion of the “State of the Town” in the Jan. 5 Weekly News. It’s useful to hear the mayor’s thoughts in his own words. I hope you’ll ask him regularly for his views on other Town matters. I am, however, concerned with these words: “The Town has been working to achieve its population goals with the creation of two new subdivisions .... .” My concern is with his reference to the Town’s population goals. I was not aware that the Town had population goals and, if we do, where they came from or for how they are to be met. As a s...
When we Christians think of missionaries we think of dedicated Christians traveling miles to far-off lands, usually to third world countries to convert people to Christianity and to better their lives. They leave family and friends and immerse themselves in a very different culture; many times becoming martyrs and never returning home. Let me introduce you to a “modern missionary.” Fr. Sean Fox was born in Pontoon, near Foxford, in county Mayo, Ireland, in 1928. After high school he entered the seminary at All Hallows in Dublin to study for...
The Washington State Legislature convened at noon on Monday, Jan. 10, starting the clock on a 60-day legislative session. For the House of Representatives, at least for the first few weeks of session, that means another fully virtual format. For now, I am able to work out of my Olympia office. In the coming weeks, I will continue to push for changes that improve the public’s ability to take part in-person in the legislative process. Repealing the Long-Term Care Act There will be some tough public policy debates this session. One of the most c...
Rick Dole and Ivan Carlson, III, successful election challengers, joined victorious incumbent MaryLee Chamberlain in being sworn into their La Conner Town Council positions Jan. 11. Councilmember Mary Wohleb was not on the ballot but count her among La Conner’s election winners. She was the unanimous choice to serve the next six months as La Conner’s mayor pro-tem. “This position,” Town Administrator Scott Thomas explained, “is typically filled by two council members each year. The mayor pro...
The La Conner High School girls’ basketball team did not plan on losing Friday night. Then again, the Lady Braves had not planned on facing undefeated 4A Eastlake on the road, either. The team’s regularly scheduled Jan. 14 tipoff with nearby 1B rival Mount Vernon Christian was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols and the open date was filled with a trip to the Sammamish Plateau and a Hoosiers-type matchup with the Lady Wolves. “We needed to pick up a non-league game for a game that wasn’t played over Christmas break, so we traveled to Eastlake s...
Some would say the La Conner High School girls’ basketball team has the sport down to a science. Count veteran head coach Scott Novak among them. “The chemistry on our team is unbelievable,” Novak insisted to the Weekly News following a convincing 70-29 non-conference home win over 1A Klahowya of Silverdale last Tuesday night, Jan 11. Indeed, the Lady Braves showcased all the elements of a championship caliber club in easily defeating their fifth larger school foe of the campaign. Four players, led by junior post Ellie Marble, finished in do...
The current COVID-19 surge has local officials modifying game plans to stem spread of the virus. The La Conner School District has adopted a two-week (Jan. 14-26) pause of spectator attendance at indoor district events, allowing only two family members per student participant or athlete to watch. The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, whose public health team confirmed 35 new cases of COVID-19 between Jan. 6-10, is stressing that its members limit social gatherings and always wear masks when indoors with persons outside their households....
NW News Network OLYMPIA — Washington state senators are trying a new gambit to stop the twice-yearly ritual of changing our clocks from standard time to daylight time and back again. A previous effort to move the whole West Coast onto permanent daylight saving time failed to win requisite congressional support. So now, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers is pushing for Pacific Standard Time to be observed year-round. Ending the practice of springing forward and falling back by sticking to standard time would mean less light in the...
Monday, January 10 3:10 p.m.: Abandoned after steal – Deputies responded to an abandoned vehicle call. Deputies determined the license plate did not match the VIN number and located a second license plate in the bed of the truck. A registration check showed the truck had been stolen out of Camano Island approximately one week earlier. Dry Slough Rd., Conway. 7:22 p.m.: Letting dog go – Caller reported a stray dog that he had picked up and taken in was becoming aggressive and requested it be picked up. S. 1st St., La Conner....
When I cook up a batch of homemade spaghetti, there’s always enough for another day. I make a casserole to freeze for that day. I enjoy doing this, by adding a bit of olive oil, butter, garlic granules and Italian seasoning to the pasta. This is an optional step, but most definitely add olive oil and garlic granules. Adding cheese just before baking is also optional. Ingredients Cooked spaghetti pasta, 2 to 3 cups Spaghetti sauce, 2 cups Olive oil, 1 tablespoon Garlic granules, 1 teaspoon Italia...
Gary Bletsch was at March’s Point Dec. 5, 2021, doing what he does most days – looking at birds. When he spotted a pair of rare emperor geese among the brants and other waterfowl in the area, he sent a quick note to a bird research listserv run out of the University of Washington to alert other birders to his find. Then he went back to watching and saw something no birder ever wants to see; hunters in a blind on one of the islands offshore started shooting. He then saw a lone brant g...
