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MOUNT VERNON — The age old problems of family succession, product promotion, water supply, innovation, costs, communicating with the public and, of course, weather were session topics at the fifth annual Skagit Ag Summit Jan. 31 at Washington State University’s Northwest Research Extension Center on Memorial Highway. Mike Hughes, of Hughes Farms with land in Conway and Mount Vernon and Alan and Ben Mesman, of Mesman Farm on Chilberg Road near La Conner, shared their experiences of multi-generational farm ownership and management. H...
Leave it better than you found it. That’s how I approach my work in the Legislature, especially on environmental issues and our state’s natural resources. We are blessed to live on the Salish Sea and it’s important that we make protecting it and the life within it a priority. Salmon have long played an important role in the ecology, economy and culture of the Pacific Northwest and of the state of Washington. They are significant to the traditions and practices of tribal nations in our state, many of which have treaty-protected fishing right...
There is a different and special one percent in our midst: the very few among us who have sought out training and are ready to save themselves and reach out to help the rest of us in the aftermath of an earthquake, volcano or tsunami, a catastrophic event that will turn life as we know it upside down. This could happen any day in the next 200 years. The last Magnitude 9.0 earthquake in the region was around 1700. Researchers say one occurs every 300 to 500 years, so maybe tomorrow or maybe not in our lifetimes the earth will shake. If it is in...
The Legislature has only 25 days left in this session. I have been trying to get a bill passed that would stop the tax shift that has been going on for five years. That is the tax shift that occurred when Shelter Bay and Pull and Be Damned were removed from the tax rolls. Roughly $1.8 million in taxes were shifted to nine levy codes that make up the La Conner school district. In 2019 the average taxpayer in La Conner paid an extra $328 in taxes because of this shift. At the same time the Swinomish Tribal Community contributed money they had...
There was a lot of speculation at the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) Saturday night over how artist William Cumming’s mural ended up folded on a shelf in a Breckenridge family barn. Farmers, donors and art-enthusiasts exchanged stories at a celebration of the $500,000 valued mural that is now on exhibit in the museum. Those who knew Cumming – a renowned Seattle painter – could agree that the artist himself would be pleased. In fact, his old friend and former MoNA board member B...
The impact of a landslide election victory has had the effect of an earthquake on Swinomish Reservation, the aftershocks from which are likely to be felt for quite some time. First-time candidate Alana Quintasket, 27, defeated incumbent Tribal Senate Chairman Brian Cladoosby 220-103 during balloting held in conjunction with the annual Swinomish General Council session on Sunday. Cladoosby, the longest serving Senate Chairman in Swinomish history and recognized as a key regional and national...
As in the play itself, high school actors, mostly – this time organized by META – are performing “Fame, the Musical” at Mount Vernon’s Lincoln Theatre. The producers predict you will be dancing in the aisles when you experience the “hope, drama and enticing beats and dance.” From META’s summary of the show: “Fame the Musical follows the highs and lows of the final class of New York City’s illustrious High School for the Performing Arts from their first year in 1980 to their graduation in 1984. It displays a diverse range of talents...