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Some 30 town and area residents gathered last Thursday evening, March 31, in the La Conner school district auditorium seeking answers to “How does our town grow? and to ask their own questions at a workshop sponsored by the Town of La Conner’s communication committee. A five member panel were brought together to provide insight to factors shaping housing growth from local, county and state perspectives. Hal Hart, Skagit County director of planning, began with a question, too: “Where does growt...
Decades ago, each March as the northwest mystic sky started to show the sun through cracks in the clouds, we were tempted to get on our bikes and pedal around the farm roads to see how the daffodils, tulips and irises were progressing. The colors were spectacular. Rows of intense yellow daffodils striped the fields. And later in April the valley’s tulips displayed patchwork quilts of peachy orange sewed to fiery red sewed to deep purple. Our spring bike trips never disappointed. One year, 1...
There is a cadre of La Conner and area residents caring and committed enough to the town’s future that they show up at Thursday evening workshops addressing “Growing Pains” and Zoom in, participating in public hearings on a conditional use permit application for a 20 unit condominium building on Center Street. Like most of us, they are concerned about a future La Conner that will be unaffordable to their children or the teachers of their grandchildren. This quaint tourist town may slowly turn into a retirement village and second homes stopo...
Eighteen month ago I retired from a 35 year Boeing career and purchased Tillinghast Postal & Business Center. It truly was a dream come true. Ever since I was a young girl, my dad would bring me and my family to La Conner in search of antiques at Nasty Jack’s and other antique stores. I knew one day I would live in La Conner and always dreamed of owning a business. When I made the decision to retire, Tillinghast Postal & Business Center was listed for sale and it was perfect for me. Supply chain was my expertise, so shipping, packaging, i...
Dear Editor: I noted your comments stating: “Every word we use needs to be carefully chosen” in your editorial linking national Women’s History Month and the Russian war against the Ukraine. I thought the need to carefully choose our words is probably a universal truth. Then, I read the letter to the editor regarding leased land at Shelter Bay. I have no doubt the author of that letter has strong feelings and might be personally affected by relevant circumstances. I think a careful choice of words in expressing personal opinions would avoid...
To the Editor: I would like to add a few words to Mel Damski’s article about the birds in which he quoted me. Your readers need some suggestions of how to further learn about birds. Educate yourself. Look up abcbirds.org, allaboutbirds.org, birdweb.org to learn about our birds and how you can help. Abcbirds.org will tell you how to make your home windows and your garden safer for birds, as well as teaching you more about the challenges birds face with every migration. The other two websites will give you lots of free and good information a...
La Conner School District board members met March 28 in a hybrid meeting to discuss changes coming to the school and even a new app. The board anticipates extending its high school Lushootseed language education program to the eighth grade. To help facilitate that, they unanimously approved use of grant funding to purchase a software app designed to increase Lushootseed proficiency. “We’ll be using technology that younger folks are used to,” Superintendent Will Nelson said. “Having that app,” added board president Susie Deyo, “will be very hel...
La Conner residents have an appetite for supporting local causes. To help feed that generous spirit, the community’s restaurants and cafes have added regular fundraising events to their menus. In February, Santo Coyote Mexican Kitchen donated 20% of one day’s proceeds to the family of Swinomish teen and La Conner High School grad Danny “Dano” Rapada, who earlier this year underwent a kidney transplant in Seattle. That event, including separate donations by the restaurant’s staff and residents, raised over $1,900. “Santo Coyote was amazing,” J...
Called a “re-do” by advocate John Leaver, the draft design of the above 16-foot-wide by 26-inch-tall by 5-inch-thick centerpiece is proposed for the southwest corner of Gilkey Square. Ken Barnes is the designer and Katie’s Inn owner John Durgin is co-champion. This 2.0 iteration replaces the Peter Whited designed 11-foot-tall structure budgeted by the La Conner Town Council last fall with hotel-motel tax funds for promoting the town to out-of-region tourists. Leaver, a former council membe...
It has been a rough road this season for the La Conner High School baseball team. But on Friday, the Braves were able to roll over Concrete in their NW2B/1B home debut, with a 13-3 victory behind solid starting pitching from Nathan Bailey and multiple hits by Logan Burks, Brogan Masonholder and Mason Wilson. Bailey started on the hill opposite Concrete and struck out 11 batters while holding the Lions scoreless through four frames. Masonholder came on in relief in the fifth to close the game. The double-digit triumph, La Conner’s first win t...
La Conner fifth graders did some old school livestreaming at Hansen Creek near Sedro-Woolley last week. The students released into the upper Skagit River tributary the salmon they have been raising in a 60-gallon aquarium in the hall outside their classrooms, a tank acquired by the school with a grant provided by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. The class field trip upriver March 28 was just one part of an instructional program that integrates salmon into many aspects of the fifth-grade...
Walking along First Street, you will find dozens of tiny Ukrainian flags in flower pots outside restaurants and shops. These flags represent La Conner’s support of Ukraine and show how one small town can make a difference. Town residents Jean Wedin, John Leaver and Joyce Welch have been collecting donations since March for a Ukraine relief fund at Washington Federal Bank on Morris Street. The donations go to the World Central Kitchen, which has provided some four million meals to refugees on t...
The 2022 legislative session concluded on Thursday, March 10. The short 60-day session was fast paced and intense. After the COVID restrictions loosened up, I was among the first in Olympia to show up, in-person, on the House floor to debate and vote on legislation. Speaking on the House floor for the very first time was one of the most memorable moments of my life. It’s an incredible honor to fight for the values, region and people I care so deeply about. Good bills that passed Here’s my pick o...
In my work representing our community, I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many of you and your neighbors, listen to your concerns and learn about what issues affect your daily lives. It’s clear that people want bold action to support a healthy economy – one that benefits all in our community. This session, I looked for ways to support our rural economy, fund important local projects, support veterans and military families and improve public safety. I’m pleased to report that we made...
La Conner Town hearing examiner David Lowell was an active listener last Thursday, March 31. He heard an hour and a half of testimony during a public hearing for a conditional use permit (CUP) for a proposed three-story condominium building on Center and Fourth streets while posing numerous follow-up questions to those testifying in the much-anticipated Zoom session. Over 20 people attended. In the end, Lowell proved to be a patient arbiter. He said the record would remain open another five business days prior to his ruling on issuing a town...
Is this the best we can be? Appointed to the state Senate just before the Legislature convened in 2020, I have now completed my third session. As a political outsider, I must say my experience in Olympia has been disappointing. There’s a lot of talk about moving our state forward, but what I’ve experienced and witnessed is severe disfunction. Partisan bickering, exclusion, and fiscal ineptitude are underscoring the unsustainable governance in our state and fundamentally, I don’t believe that’s w...
Brooklynn Hillemann Washington State Journal Gov. Jay Inslee said lawmakers delivered on his call to take “big, bold, action,” after the 60-day legislative session ended March 10 in Olympia, with a $64.1 billion supplemental state budget approved at the midnight deadline. Besides boosting spending by $5 billion in the current two-year budget cycle, legislators approved the first major transportation funding package since 2015. Speaker of the House, Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, said: “We wanted to advance every single Washingtonian, and we’ve...
Monday, March 28 2:56 p.m.: Inn trespasser – A person who has previously trespassed was on the premise but was gone when deputies arrived. An hour and a half later, she returned. She was contacted and removed from the area. La Conner Country Inn, La Conner. Tuesday, March 29 5:02 p.m.: Bridge blocker – Caller reported a trailer blocking the Rainbow Bridge. Nothing was found when law enforcement arrived. Rainbow Bridge, La Conner. 5:48 p.m.: Truck bed thief – Caller left his truck in a lot for several hours. When he returned,...
Any variety of tomato would be delicious in this recipe. I used small cherry tomatoes, cut in half or thirds. Cutting tomatoes allows the flavor from the tomatoes to intermingle. I checked my raised bed garden for fresh greens to add. Most of the herbs survived the winter. I chose curly parsley and burnet. The burnet leaves I separated individually from the stem, after cutting a stem from the plant. Ingredients Blueberries, ½ cup Cherry tomatoes, ½ cup Curly parsley, 3 sprigs,...
