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It's March 15, and nary a daffodil can be seen, but Brent Roozen isn't worried. Field picking ramped up last weekend, said the Washington Bulb Company CEO, and daffodils are shipping to customers at tulips.com as well as grocery stores across the country. "Yellow is right around the corner, and when daffodils bloom late, the color can come on really quickly." As for tulips, it is too early to tell. Late daffodils can mean no tulips until mid-April "but tulips can catch up quickly if they get a...
Between gift giving generosity and tourists wanting to get out of their hometowns, La Conner registers jingled merrily in December. Town of La Conner sales tax revenue reported in February was a record $63,103, $ 6,556 and 11.6% above 2022’s previous record. Not till May did a month’s sales tax revenues top $63,000 last year. The $106,494 two-month total is one-sixth of this year’s projected budget. Shoppers flocked to La Conner for holiday shopping; data are reported on a two month time lag. These are November and December's revenues. The $...
Maybe the 50 or so people attending the Climate Resilience conversation Sunday at the Anacortes Senior Center did not provide $7,500 worth of advice for changing the trajectory Skagit County residents – and everyone – are facing as the climate changes. But facilitator Dave Peterson made that unscientific estimate at the meeting’s end. The University of Washington forestry professor is with the Skagit Climate Science Consortium, scientists working with local people to assess, plan and adapt to climate related impacts. “Where do we go from here?...
School boards, by their very nature, are tasked with hard choices, tough decisions involving families’ children and money. The La Conner school board last Thursday faced a tough choice of a different kind – whom to select to fill the unexpired term of Swinomish director district representative Amanda Bourgeois, who resigned in February after three years. The decision was hard, board members said afterward, because all three applicants were well qualified. Yet, ironically, it was also an easy assignment, given that the board felt it couldn’t go...
When the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife needed help recovering an injured eagle, the agency looked no farther than La Conner outdoorsman Tom Zimmerman. The ailing raptor, whose flight range was limited to about 200 yards over a local farm field, gave its blessing as well. "The eagle," Zimmerman, quipped, "could see by my labored attack that whatever I had was probably worse than what he had, so he gave up. He got a free ride to rehab."...
What is the difference between last week and this week? Answer: Last week everyone was at the end of the third year of the coronavirus pandemic. This week we all step into, no not its fourth year but the first year of what the World Health Organization in January termed a global health emergency. When the United Nations' backed World Health Organization declares a global health emergency, pay attention. We can breathe a sigh of relief that we are out of the three-year grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemics are defined as everywhere, able to...
In 2023 the La Conner School District taxes will be $993,717 for operations and $1,300,000 for debt service. There are 2,313 taxpayers in the district. On average, each taxpayer pays $992 for schools. According to the school district’s budget, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community contributes $500,000 to operations and nothing to debt service. Debt service is covered by non-Indians. According to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 34% of the student population is Native American. The Tribe’s share of debt service is $442,000...
Too many neighbors are experiencing the trauma of homelessness and that affects our entire community’s quality of life and economic prosperity. Did you know that underhoused students are 25% less likely to graduate than their housed peers? And 300+ households in Skagit County currently have no home, with many more struggling every day to find or keep housing. Many are working hard to make it better, including Community Action and the 16 service providers that participate in Skagit County government’s Coordinated Entry homeless response sys...
I agree with the writer’s statement (letter: “Weekly News story misreports Shelter Bay forum,” March 8) “We live in challenging times and a plague of misinformation stands in the way of finding solutions.” The writer then went at length to explain how the Weekly News provided misinformation in several ways – quoting social media, not providing direct quotes, attributing a statement to the board president who was not in attendance, failing to tell the readers that the board members in attendance did an excellent job of addressing some of She...
Power outages are rare and usually short here, but grid-provided electricity isn’t completely consistent and reliable under all circumstances. Here’s a quick guide to the world of power quality problems and actions individuals and businesses can take to minimize negative effects. Transient power quality issues that don’t result in outages include voltage variations (sags, swells and spikes), poor current frequency and problems with power factor. (Power factor is technically complex and is usual...
Mr. Donald (Don) Fraser, 68, a two and a half year resident of La Conner passed away suddenly on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023 at the family home. He was born in Long Beach, CA on Dec. 23, 1954 to Douglas and Karen (nee Jensen) Fraser. In his younger years he worked on commercial fishing boats before moving to Boulder, Colorado in 1988, working in the laboratory at Boulder Community Health for over 30 years, most recently as a pathology assistant. He married Debbie in Boulder on Oct. 6, 1996. They both...
Peter Anderson, owner of the Limedock building, 109 North First Street in La Conner, has filed a permit application with the town 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 become a party of record and will be notified of decisions. The...
If we listen to each other with respect and work together, good things happen. I’m happy to report that we’re doing a lot of that this year in Olympia. With the legislative session at the halfway point, we’ve passed some great legislation for the people of Washington. I’m pleased to report that almost 60% of the bills voted out of the House of Representatives this year were passed with unanimous support – and almost 80% were passed with the support of 80 or more legislators from both sides of th...
Anacortes sold home prices are the highest by far of Skagit County markets this year, at $832,000 for the median price for the 24 homes that closed in January and February. February’s Anacortes market was even hotter, with a median sold home price of $935,000, 12.4% higher for the17 homes, 10 more than sold in January. Anacortes prices raised Skagit County’s February median sold home price to $487,000. Mount Vernon was the only other market with prices above the median, at $503,000 for the 23 homes that closed. Burlington was close, at a $48...
La Conner High School families filled the library Wednesday evening to celebrate the successes of their students. Twelve sophomores and juniors and one senior accepted the invitation to join the La Conner Chapter of the National Honor Society. This organization requires that students be of good character, practice leadership skills, value academics (students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better) and are committed to service to their communities. Former LCHS National Honor...
The Kiwanis Club of La Conner High School Student of the Month for February is Andrew Villard. Andrew's parents are Lucas and Shaye Villard. He is a senior. Andrew enjoys his leadership, automotive and wood shop classes. He is a teacher assistant with the special education class and helps with maintenance in the school bus barn. Outside of school he is an Eagle Scout and a volunteer fire fighter with the Mclean Road Fire Department. After graduation he plans to work toward being a diesel mechani...
All states, including Washington, provide two statues to the U.S. Capitol. In the near future one of those stone figures gifted by the Evergreen State will bear the image of late Nisqually tribal leader and treaty fishing rights champion Billy Frank, Jr. La Conner Schools recognized Frank with a special program March 7. The two-and-a-half hour public event, billed as the district’s first annual Billy Frank, Jr. Remembrance Fair, was held in the middle school gym and included information booths focused on salmon protection and key chapters in F...
Wednesday, March 8 was a red letter day for the Soroptimists International of La Conner. They hosted their annual awards dinner for the first time since 2019, the break in continuity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The five winners who attended the gala and accepted their awards, are Kristie Williams and Dana Marie Obey, who earned the 2023 Live Your Dream Award which is given to women, single head-of-household, to help meet education and career goals. Suzanne Marble was honored with the 2023 Ruby...
The La Conner Civic Garden Club invited the public to hear Colleen O’Brien-Miller of Beezie + Co. Flower Farm discuss her flower business last Thursday, March 9. O’Brien-Miller’s flowers were the talk of the town among interested attendees in the Second Street building. She was peppered with questions about flora species and ideal planting strategies in the Pacific Northwest. Her flowers grow on five of the 120 acre Fir Island homestead that has been in her family for five generations. Among the tips she shared were to store dry tulip bulbs...
The La Conner Chamber of Commerce's first annual community murder mystery, "The Case of the Slain Slough Swindler," may blanket the business district with amateur detectives throughout the day, Saturday, March 25, a Daffodil Festival feature. This creative event encourages locals and tourists to take their time perusing around town, interviewing suspects and collecting clues to solve a puzzling murder mystery case. Over nineteen local businesses are participating as sponsors, involving a cast...
It was an up and down time – in a good way – for three La Conner area firefighters Sunday. Skagit County Fire District 13 Chief Wood Weiss, Lt. Cole Harris and firefighter Kenna Barnes took part in the 32nd annual Firefighter Stair Climb at the Columbia Center, the tallest building in the Pacific Northwest, to raise funds for the Washington/Alaska chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The local trio scaled 69 floors and 788 feet of elevation – over 1,300 steps in all – while wearing bunker...
These huckleberries were picked by our family who live in Eastern Washington. They made a light sugar syrup and water bath canned them. To be used later in pies. We were fortunate to be gifted two quarts recently from family visiting. I taste tested them for sweetness. The Instant ClearJel I bought online from King Arthur. It is a thickener for pies. You mix it into the sugar before adding it to your fruit pie filling. Ingredients Home canned huckleberries, one quart Sugar, 2 tbsp Instant...
A SIDE BENEFIT OF SERVING ICE CREAM – The La Conner Chamber of Commerce's annual ice cream social Friday evening in Maple Hall was a great success, Chamber Director Mark Hulst reported, with an estimate of $2.500 raised between donations and the silent auction proceeds. Kiana and Faith Jenkins, left and right, and their friend Rory Bird, center, took a break from dishing up ice cream to sample some....
Sunday, March 5 12:39 a.m.: Local disturbance – A male was reported yelling, screaming and causing a disturbance. The male appeared asleep when he was contacted by police and after he woke up said he would be moving along. Myrtle St., La Conner. 4:37 p.m.: Scratch and run – A male suspect on a bike scratched the front bumper of a truck parked on the street. The male took off on his bike when confronted by the vehicle owner. 4th St., La Conner. Wednesday, March 8 4:02 p.m.: Found dog – A stray...
1th District state Sen. Ron Muzzall and State Rep. Dave Paul are hosting town halls this weekend to provide updates on the legislative session. March 18, 11 a.m. they are at the Oak Harbor Library meeting room, 1000 SE Regatta Drive, Oak Harbor. March 19, 4 p.m. they are at the Arlington Boys & Girls 18513 59th Ave. NE....
