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TRUMPETER SWANS BREAKFASTING ON FIR ISLAND – The dawn is breaking, it is early morn on Fir Island. Spring is nigh, but the sun shone as brightly in early February, when this photo was taken....
Peter Anderson, owner of the Limedock building, 109 North First Street in La Conner, has filed a permit application with the Town of La Conner planning department to create two residential apartments by remodeling the second floor office space. Two gabled dormers will be added to the roof. The town planning commission will hold a hearing March 21, 6 p.m. in Maple Hall. Comments will be accepted at the public hearing. The meeting will be on Zoom, also. Those submitting comments automatically...
During a week in late February which saw snow, wind and rain amid occasional sun breaks, Town officials and residents turned their attention to climate change. At the Town Council Feb. 28 meeting, members and Mayor Ramon Hayes lauded the community’s embrace of solar energy and progress made in establishing a Town Emergency Management Commission in response to recent saltwater flooding, a perfect storm weather. event A joint session with the planning commission was short, consisting almost entirely of planning staff outlining the two-year p...
OLYMPIA — The Washington state Department of Commerce released its final housing needs projections March 2. They show the state needs to add 1.1 million homes over the next 20 years, and more than half of them need to be affordable for residents at the lowest income levels. Based on census data and the Office of Financial Management’s population projections, these final housing projections illustrate that Washington needs more than 50,000 new units annually to keep pace with expected population growth. In 2021, the Growth Management Act fra...
Yes, February was cold, with nine nights of frost, four in a row Feb. 22-25, where the month’s low of 20.4 degrees Feb. 24 fell. That day the average temperature was 27.1 degree. February’s daily average temperature was 39.6 degrees, 1.6 degrees below average for the century. The average morning low of 33.8 degrees was 0.9 degree below the century average; the month’s average daily high of 45.5 degrees was two degrees below average this century. The high went above 50 degrees four times in the first 10 days, but not after that. Rainfall was a...
Outgoing four-term Mayor Ramon Hayes cited three major challenges La Conner faces in the decade ahead in remarks at the annual Rotary Club merchants and farmers dinner at Maple Hall Monday night. Turns out, the hosts have a time-honored three-word blueprint for meeting those pending multi-million dollar tests. Service above self. That has been their credo since the club was chartered in August 1945. And it reflects the sense of teamwork Hayes says is needed to address pressing water, sewer and...
Ouch. Ouch everywhere, for everybody. New La Conner Schools Deputy Superintendent of Finance Dave Cram's initial assessment is that 490 students will enroll in the school district next fall. That is down 35 kids from today and 100 from 2021. It is not good news that the pain is nationwide, that national and local media are reporting on drastic drops in the numbers of pupils attending public schools, with no upturns in sight. This sea change is no more anyone's fault than a flood or a wild fire. There are larger reasons, root causes, as carbon...
We live in challenging times and a plague of misinformation stands in the way of finding solutions. We are cautioned that instead of social media, we should seek truth in “real news,” traditional journalism. Sadly, this paper chose to cover the recent Shelter Bay town hall by quoting anonymous social media posts on Shelter Bay issues instead of reporting what actually took place at the meeting. The writer’s bias against the current board was not well concealed in the poorly written piece. Phrases like “sources did say,” “the Weekly News was to...
There has been a lot of discussion of late, with very good reason, on the matter of the age of the president and other elected members of government. First, there was Sen. Feinstein of California, soon to retire at 89, with some noting an obvious loss of mental acuity. And, of course, most prominently is our sitting president, Joe Biden. His latest physical, according to whomever the doctor was, seemed to indicate that Biden is in the pink despite numerous health issues, as one would expect for a man 80 years old. But if we take the doctor at...
Could solar energy power the entire electric grid even though the sun is only up, in any given place, an average of 12 hours a day? Yes. It would be expensive to build solar power plants across every time zone, and interconnect them so that the sun would always be up somewhere over the electric grid, but it could, theoretically, be done. Projects that seem like that type of science fiction are being developed. Companies in the United Kingdom and Morocco are working on a system that will export...
Officials took the first steps toward updating La Conner’s comprehensive plan at a joint Town Council-Planning Commission meeting at Maple Hall Feb. 28. Admittedly, they were baby steps. It will be a two-year process focusing on public engagement and addressing growth over a 20-year planning horizon as mandated by state legislation, planner Michael Davolio reported. “Our first priority,” stressed Davolio, “is to engage the public in the process. It’s very critical from our perspective that the plan addresses the community’s values.” A...
Having recently celebrated its golden anniversary, La Conner Marina is looking to remain a bright shining light on the local scene well into the future. The Port of Skagit marked a major milestone by completing upgrades to LED lighting at the marina, Port Communications Director Linda Tyler said Thursday. “While the Port’s maintenance teams have been upgrading all Port facilities to LED lighting as needed when old lights burn out,” said Tyler, “a proactive and complete upgrade at the marina began in earnest several months ago to take advanta...
As vice chair of the House Education Committee, I’ve been regularly meeting with students, teachers and administrators on every aspect of our education system. We’ve collaborated on special education, early childhood education, career and technical education and much, much more. I’ve spoken with low-income students who have jobs outside of school to support their family. Students with rigorous academic schedules tell me they simply don’t have time to explore job opportunities. And parents are wo...
The high school girls' basketball team saved its best for last in Spokane last week. The sixth-seeded Lady Braves, fueled by a monster second half from game-high scorer Ellie Marble, erased a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Adna 52-46 Saturday morning to claim fourth place at the Washington state 2B Hardwood Classic. Down 39-29 early in the final stanza, the team staged an improbable comeback to match the team's finish at Spokane last year. "It was fantastic and so much fun," said first...
Public education has evolved far beyond the traditional three r’s – readin’, ritin’ and ‘rithmetic. At La Conner Schools three other letters – C, T and E – are helping spell success for students. CTE is the abbreviation for Career Technical Education, an increased district emphasis the past few years, most notably Daniel Castillo’s home construction class that is building a tiny house. The program’s mission hasn’t gone unnoticed. The La Conner Rotary Club donated $1,000 to the district’s CTE curriculum, gratefully accepted by school bo...
Join Will Hornyak on a storytelling journey 7 p.m. March 14 at the Tim Bruce Performing Arts Center on the La Conner School District campus. Hornyak will share the Celtic story of "Erin's Daughters: Ireland's Hag's, Heroines, Warriors, Saints & Sorceresses" with Celtic musicians Jan Peters and Dale Russ at his side. Celebrate with us for a little St. Patrick's Day fun. Presented by the Skagit River Poetry Foundation. Donations are appreciated at the door. The event is for mature audiences age...
WALKING INTO JAZZ NIGHT IN ANACORTES – Steven Dolmatz, on the steel guitar, jammed with his Deep River Blues Band at the Brown Lantern during the First Friday Jazz Walk in Anacortes March 3....
Mark your calendars: Saturday, March 18 is the Second Annual La Conner Pet Parade presented by the La Conner Chamber of Commerce (lovelaconner.com). It starts at 11 a.m. at the La Conner Marina parking lot. From there adorned pets and proud owners will make their way south to Gilkey Square for activities lasting to 2 p.m.. "A lot of people know people just by the animals" says resident and parade coordinator Gina McCarthy Torpey, owner of Enchanted Locks Hair Salon. She is relying on La Conner...
Calling all artists and crafters. La Conner Kiwanis will be hosting a craft fair, Saturday, April 1 in the Braves Clubhouse, behind the school district administration building, 305 North 6th Street, La Conner. It will run 10 a.m.-4 p.m. This event is a fundraiser to support the Kiwanis Club of La Conner. Space is limited. Any questions and a booth application contact Joy at [email protected]. Source:La Conner Kiwanis...
Business owners and managers are invited to the La Conner Chamber of Commerce’s After Hours at the The Cusp Creative, 708 Morris Street, for food, drinks, and networking, March 16, 5-6:30 p.m. Mingle and make new connections. Bring business cards and drop one in for the door prize drawing. Bring a small gift to be included in the door prize drawings. Source: La Conner Chamber...
Crows as a group are somewhat territorial. Some groups are highly aggressive and don’t leave their area in search of food. They have fixed borders that they defend against other crow clans. Intruders are attacked and driven off by the owners. The British term for a flock of crows is a “murder” of crows. If crows find a great horned owl during the day they will mob it, sometimes for hours. At night the owl rules and may take over a crow’s nest as its own. The crow, realizing its disadvantage, will not argue the point and will leave rather...
Turn it up, would you? Man, that song. It reminds you of falling in love, first dates, riding around in a car, best friends. You can imagine the performance of it, the bassist’s passion, the audience cheers. You know every word of that song, so read “This is What It Sounds Like” by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas and turn it up. Many years ago, when Miles Davis was working with Susan Roger’s boss, Prince, Davis seized an opportunity to shoot questions at Rogers like a machine gun. Where was she from? What did she do? Was she a musician? She was not...
The Tommy Thompson trail trestle is repaired and the trail opened ahead of schedule Feb. 23, the City of Anacortes announced on its website. Contractors Culbertson Marine, Strandberg Construction and Transpac Marinas, volunteers and people who contributed financially were recognized. Arson in August burnt 77 feet, closing the trestle across Fidalgo Bay. A reopening celebration will be scheduled. Source: City of Anacortes...
Washington State Ferries will not restore ferry service in 2023 between Anacortes and Sidney, British Columbia it announced in an updated restoration plan Feb. 28. The one sentence decision is: “WSF does not anticipate being able to restore service on the Anacortes/Sidney, B.C. route any sooner than spring 2030.” The ferry service ceased operating in 2020 due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has not restarted due to a shortage of qualified crew and more recently because of the retirement of vessels. Government Relations Dir...
Join La Conner Schools administrators at La Conner Waterfront Cafe, 128 South First Street, 2 p.m. March 20 for a candid conversation. Bring your questions for Superintendent Will Nelson and his team of administrators. Source: La Conner Schools...
