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They say first impressions are lasting. In the case of designer Curt Miller’s preliminary drawings for the new Maple Avenue public park, that is a good thing. The La Conner parks commissioners were pleased with the draft design for the proposed park at their April 13 meeting. Commission chairman Ollie Iversen noted afterward that the next step is for Miller to develop a final rendering. “We enjoyed what he presented,” Iversen said. “We, too, are waiting for the final.” He said commissioners found that the Miller design fits nicely with surv...
Newspaperwoman Cindy Vest, who was integral to a half century of news publishing in La Conner, died on Sunday, April 10 with her family at her bedside. She had been battling leukemia. Until she retired last year, Cindy had been the behind-the-scenes engine keeping La Conner’s weekly newspapers running since the 1970s. Cynthia Louise Graff was born in Everett, Washington to MaryLou and Robert Graff on May 19, 1950. Her father was a printer and from the time she was a schoolgirl, she worked w...
Earth Day is Friday. Those acting locally include the Skagit Valley Food Co-op, which will give away tree saplings, and Kelly Harper, who is organizing a Snee Oosh beach cleanup. Heavens knows, more trees need to be planted and more debris removed from beaches. But local actions need to advance beyond individual acts to governmental, institutional and corporate policies that bring decisions that greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The La Conner Regional Library committing to getting 100% of its electricity from solar panels is exactly the...
Cindy Vest and Sandy Stokes sold the Weekly News in June 2017. Cindy stayed on as production manager until August last year. She almost literally had printer’s ink running through her vein. The musings below was written in recognition of her service to newspapers and their readers in October 2019. Cindy died April 10, 2022. Last week Cindy Vest won the 2019 WNPA Dixie Lee Bradley Award, an honor the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association gives annually that “recognizes newspaper staff members who work long and hard, often behind the sce...
In the ideal world, I would like to have all of the Maple Street/ Heldlin field back again. But we don’t. It is hard to imagine something that will be a useful and attractive park in the small remaining part of the field. But I believe that the Curt Miller plan does it well. I am actually pleased with what he has presented to the Parks Commission. The design responds to every point of the citizens survey that was taken last year about what to do with that space. A rain garden, a playground, benches, native plants for the birds and p...
I commend our La Conner parks commissioners for their work on the plans for the new Maple Avenue park. Based on citizens’ input from 350 surveys completed last year, the commission hired a local landscape architect to develop a preliminary design that speaks to citizens’ interests. I had the opportunity to view the preliminary plan presented at the parks commission meeting on April 7. I was pleased to see that the plan maintains open space and creates an inviting array of amenities for young children and families. To me, it also creates a fluid...
Computers are useless. They only give you answers. — Pablo Picasso Mysticism seems to focus on the questions, on wonderment and awe. In world religions, mysticism stands in contrast to fundamentalism. Not its opposite, for I don’t believe mysticism opposes anything. It would be inclusive in its wonder, but there is a contrast between asserting dogma and a receptive state of attentiveness. (I am composing this on a computer, Pablo.) Mysticism takes a lot of a person’s time. All of it, actually! And dang, it can look like you’re doing...
Dick Dorsten passed away on April 18, 2020 in Mount Vernon, Washington. He was a longtime resident of La Conner. He is survived by his loving daughters, Donna Morgan of Denver, Sue Alexander of Mount Vernon and his brother Harry Dorsten of Omak. Celebration of his life (and his wife Nina Dorsten’s life) will be held at Fir-Conway Lutheran Church, 18101 Fir Island Road, Mount Vernon on Saturday, April 30th at 10:00....
Nina Dorsten passed away on April 3, 2022 in Mount Vernon, Washington. She was a longtime resident of La Conner. She is survived by her loving daughters, Donna Morgan of Denver and Sue Alexander of Mount Vernon. Celebration of her life (and her husband Dick Dorsten’s life) will be held at Fir-Conway Lutheran Church, 18101 Fir Island Road, Mount Vernon on Saturday, April 30th at 10:00...
A Shelter Bay man who for seven years has appraised and analyzed area properties learned the true value of real estate while growing up here. Danny Hagen embraced the community of his youth, returning to La Conner after having played college basketball and competed in track and field at California Lutheran University, a married man seeking the ideal location to raise a family. “I loved my time in La Conner so much that as soon as my wife and I found out we were going to be parents, we knew we h...
A La Conner High School alum is tackling a full college course load while spending several hours each week at the rugby pitch. Maizie McCollum, a 2019 graduate, is president and forwards captain of the Eastern Washington University Banshees, the school’s women’s rugby club team. A golfer and basketball player at La Conner, she discovered rugby at the university’s campus in Cheney. “I’ve always known about rugby, but it wasn’t until my freshman year at EWU that I started playing competitively,” M...
It was Good Friday on the calendar, but anything but a good Friday for the La Conner High School baseball and softball teams. Both lost league home doubleheaders to Coupeville. In the girls’ softball twinbill, the defending NW2B/1B champions routed La Conner 23-0 and 21-1, limiting the Lady Braves to just a pair of base hits total in the two games. Coupeville remains unbeaten (5-0) in conference action. Meanwhile, the boys fell 10-2 and 21-4 to the Wolves, who improved to 5-1 in NW2B/1B standings, one game back of undefeated league-leader F...
Math was the primary subject of study for La Conner School District board members at their April 11 study session. District librarian Beth Clothier made a presentation on two new math curricula being considered for adoption next year at the nearly two-hour special hybrid session. Clothier outlined the pros and cons of Bridges to Math and iReady Classroom Mathematics, the program finalists from four curriculum options reviewed by members of the La Conner Elementary School math adoption team. The board will choose a program April 25. Team...
Sarah Cook delivered countless highlights while helping La Conner High School to a 23-2 mark and fourth place finish at the 2022 Girls’ 2B Hardwood Classic in Spokane. Since then, the senior has received many post-season honors. The latest is her inclusion on a popular sports website’s list of the 15 must-see shooting guards in Washington high school girls’ basketball. Cook was chosen along with Ellensburg’s Dylan Philip, Lynden Christian’s Libby Stump and other standouts from programs across all enrollment classifications in the state. “T...
The historic Lincoln Theatre in downtown Mount Vernon has been entertaining Skagitonians for close to a century. 96 years to be exact and through good times and bad. The coronavirus pandemic closed the Lincoln in 2020 for over a year. In order to safely re-open, Executive Director Roger Gietzen knew creating more space in their tiny lobby was a must. A renovation plan was developed with the help of HKP Architects, Trico Construction, the City of Mount Vernon, the City of Burlington, a Skagit...
Ryan Booth can check several boxes on his resume: National Park Service ranger, Washington State University assistant professor of history, and Fulbright Scholar, to name a few. Now add film star to the list. Booth, a 1995 La Conner High School graduate, provides expert commentary in several segments of a new documentary about Black soldiers who served in the U.S. Army more than a century ago. “Buffalo Soldiers: Fighting on Two Fronts” premiered last weekend at the Seattle International Fil...
La Conner’s Kelly Harper has Friday circled on her calendar. She hopes others do, too. It is, after all, a day when everyone can make a world of difference, said Harper, who coordinates local Earth Day activities every April 22. This year, the 52nd anniversary of the first Earth Day observance, is no exception. Harper will lead a Snee-Oosh beach clean-up at 5 p.m. It’s the kind of positive action that can be done any time to great effect, she stressed. “We’re hoping to get the word out to the community that every day is Earth Day, not just Ap...
Sunday, April 10 12:23 p.m.: Vendor removed – Caller reported a vendor setting up a stand in front of their residence on public right of way. When contacted they agreed to move to another location. Mclean/Bradshaw Rds., Greater La Conner. 6:53 p.m.: ID issue – A server asked for identification of a guest per state law. Another guest at the table was upset but left when law enforcement was called. A tavern, 1st St., La Conner. Monday, April 11 12:20 a.m.: Wandering dog – A dog was found wandering and returned to its residence....
This is a recipe for the air fryer. Two tips I have learned about cooking with an air fryer is to use tin foil and parchment paper. I have a basket-type air fryer. I turn the basket upside down and lay tin foil over the bottom and cut around the edges. That goes under the basket, to catch greasy drips. I purchased parchment paper specifically for a basket air fryer. It is perforated with small holes which allows the hot air to move about. The parchment paper goes inside the basket. This makes...
It is not every day that an action by town officials is greeted with applause. Last Tuesday was one of those days. That’s when in-person audience members attending the April 12 town council hybrid meeting at Maple Hall put their hands together to support the panel’s decision to hire Aaron Reinstra for a new paid dual fire chief-code enforcement officer position. The post will pay $56,160 annually. “This is one of the best moves for the community we’ve seen in a long time,” Mayor Ramon Hayes said following the unanimous 4-0 council vote to c...
