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Dear editor: On March 25 Gov. Jay Inslee decreed that construction is not “essential activity” shutting down residential and commercial building projects, leaving some with unfinished houses. The order allows construction on government projects, but takes away thousands of private-sector jobs, with builders and contractors forced to cancel orders. Inslee’s mandate kills many trades, hurting families and the economy. Now some construction companies, roofers and others may have no choice but to leave the state to find work. The const...
Our times compel a search for wisdom, if not distraction. We survey the landscape of snarky-yet-telling memes and self-help bromides. Eventually, when eyes weary of our umbilical, glowing beacons, we plumb the depths of more enduring traditions. Perhaps the most iconic account of global cataclysm, the Bible’s Flood Epic, comes readily to mind and heart in these strange days, less as facile fable of punishment for evil than as an embrace of catastrophe as opportunity. Judaism’s take on this ancient, shared saga goes beyond the mythic her...
Among everything else collapsing in our society, this pandemic could be the death knell for newspapers. Publishers are worried. Ads have disappeared, page numbers have shrunk – except for a so far stubbornly resistant Weekly News – and some have eliminated issues. The Cascadia Weekly is for now a bi-weekly. Subscriptions and retail sales are 16 percent of the Weekly News annual revenues. Paper sales just about cover the single cost of printing the paper annually. What does this mean? Newspaper subscribers get an incredible deal....
This was the Saturday that the 34th Annual Not-So-Impromptu Tulip Parade did not take place in the month the Tulip Festival was cancelled, in the spring that school stopped for the rest of the year. This is the year that a novel coronavirus conquered the world. This is the time that the economy stopped and people from Washington state to Washington D.C. were told to stay home and stay out of work, to close their shops, shutter and shut down their factories. This, the year of our Lord 2020, is the year without Easter services in church for the...
The coronavirus outbreak hasn’t slowed things down for the La Conner Senior Center. Those who take part in the center’s wide range of activities haven’t missed a step despite a statewide ‘Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order mandated to curb further spread of COVID-19. That thanks to the Zoom video conferencing platform. The technology, which is fast becoming a feature of daily life, makes it possible for seniors to connect with classes – from composition to exercise – that they would normally attend at Maple Hall. “While there has c...
Technology is helping bring people and ideas together even as social distancing has become the norm in response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The latest example was an hour-long remote panel discussion conducted on the Zoom video conferencing platform in La Conner Thursday afternoon. Town, school and civic leaders logged on to share ways in which they are moving forward in the midst of a pandemic that has ground the economy to a halt. One theme that emerged is those not laid off or furloughed at present are actually working harder outside the...
Ramon Hayes has seen it all before. The three-term Mayor of La Conner and First Street business owner well recalls the economic pain inflicted here by the Great Recession of 2008. But he says the novel coronavirus threat, which has led to mandated business closures and stay-at-home orders in Washington state and across the nation, is even more impactful than conditions local government officials and merchants dealt with a dozen years ago. “At least back then,” he told the Weekly News, “you had the opportunity to open your business in hopes...
The first COVID-19 case in Skagit County was confirmed Feb. 21. Significant growth in COVID-19 cases were documented February 21-March 18, with cases doubling every four days, on average. The Skagit Valley Chorale practice was March 10. By April 1, 45 of the 56 attendees were diagnosed with COVID-19 or were ill with the symptoms. At least three have been hospitalized and two are dead. The Chorale was a classic cluster. That four week period the growth was exponential, that is it doubled in size...
La Conner area pastors spoke to empty pews on Easter Sunday, but their messages were heard by many. At La Conner United Methodist Church, it was a combination of a colorful Living Cross of spring greenery and flowers placed on the front door and use of new technology that got the word out. Meanwhile, parishioners at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in La Conner were able to view Easter Mass livestreamed in English and Spanish on social media in either real time or in an archived mode. Attempts to...
As a prank, someone once spray-painted the word “Don’t” atop a Visit La Conner promotional sign outside town. Fast forward a generation to last Saturday when motorists entering La Conner at the roundabout were greeted by signs reading “Locals Only” and “Limited Access.” But this time it was no prank. Mayor Ramon Hayes authorized placement of the signs in response to concerns of residents about the potential spread of COVID-19 here by tourists and following a Friday news conference during which...
Lilly Anna Maxwell passed away peacefully at her home in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 4, 2020 with family by her side. Lilly was born on March 1, 1936 in Saarbrucken, Germany to Phillip and Klara Ziegler. She came to America in 1962 and married U.S. Air Force Colonel Samuel C. Maxwell. Together they traveled through many military moves and had four children. They lived in New Hampshire, Las Vegas, Colorado, Nebraska, Okinawa and Germany. In 1968 her husband was killed in action while on a combat... Full story
In this COVID-19 nightmare, several newspapers in our state have ceased publication – they rely on the advertising dollars from stores that are shuttered right now. Readers of La Conner Weekly News are very fortunate they still have a community newspaper. La Conner has been home to a weekly newspaper since the 1870s and publisher Ken Stern is working though one of the worst economic times in the newspaper industry to keep our small-town paper alive. Community journalism is always more about community service than making a living. And you...
