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It did not rain on the Swinomish Yacht Club’s boat parade Saturday afternoon. But it sure was windy. Fortunately, the dozen or so vessels comprising the opening day flotilla on Swinomish Channel were ready for a wild and woolly ride. The event’s theme, “Jungle Cruise,” showed on several levels. Entries sported décor reflecting the popular 2021 Disney retro action-adventure film of the same name. The handfuls of spectators on both sides of the channel braved chilly gusts to view various si...
Fully Contained Communities (FCCs) may have Skagit County residents on edge, but they are not the most significant threat to local farmland. The real villain? Low-density residential land use. According to the American Farmland Trust, 11 million acres of U.S. farmland and ranchland – 2,000 acres a day – were converted to urban and highly developed or low-density residential (LDR) land use between 2001 and 2016. Seven million of those 11 million acres were turned into 5-, 10- and 20-acre farmettes and other low density,...
Good news is building around the Skagit Valley for commitments to construct apartments. In Anacortes, the Arts Festival organization will build apartments above the O Avenue Anacortes Cinemas it has purchased and will develop into a performing arts center. That must have been made possible in part from the City of Anacortes owning the property. In Burlington the American Legion and Volunteers of America Western Washington have teamed up, agreeing to demolish the Legion’s Post and replace it with apartments catering to various income levels w...
The expression “new normal” has increasingly felt like a meaningless phrase. With each new shift in the experience of the novel coronavirus pandemic, what we thought we knew had to be relearned and what served as guidance or best practices often had to be re-scripted. Normalcy suggests consistency and predictability, neither of which has been experienced since March 2020. The result has been widespread fatigue and impatience, which might explain the rise in public outbursts and misbehavior as people attempt to reintegrate into public life. And...
The La Conner School District’s population has increased over the past decade but projected declines in student enrollment this fall is forcing tough budget personnel cuts ahead of the 2022-2023 academic year. La Conner School Board members dealt with that harsh reality at their Monday study session by reluctantly agreeing to a plan of not renewing contracts of the two most recently hired high school teachers. State funding of school districts is based on student enrollment. The drop from around 600 K-12 students in years prior to the COVID-19...
La Conner is all about history – all the time, it often seems – perhaps because the trend here is for it to constantly repeat itself. A case in point is the controversial promotional sign, or “marketing icon” in modern parlance, proposed for Gilkey Square and which has already undergone a major facelift to quell a groundswell of protests. The current flap is reminiscent of one that occurred 33 years ago. That’s when in response to tulip traffic congestion a directional sign to town at the base of Pleasant Ridge was doctored to re...
La Conner resident Marian Roper passed away peacefully after a very full life, at age 96. Born at home in Camas, Washington, she grew up on a farm next to Lacamas Lake, was an avid swimmer and became a lifeguard at 15, receiving local praise for saving a drowning boy. She was also passionate about music from a young age. She took voice lessons as a young girl and later studied classical voice at Lewis and Clark College. Though her musical training was interrupted by marriage and motherhood,...
Median sold home prices continue to climb in Skagit County, to $592,500 in April and up 12% for 2022, NWMLS (Northwest Multiple Listing Service) data show. Anacortes prices, at $800,000 for 33 homes, again vastly outpace all other areas. Mount Vernon’s median sold home price was $593,750 for the 50 homes sold there. The five La Conner area homes sold at a median price of $396,000, the first month below $400,000. For the year, $491,250 is the median price for the 21 area homes sold. The seven homes sold in the La Conner area in January had a m...
Since 1996, the Skagit County Farmland Legacy Program has sourced $23 million in compensation to farmer-landowners for the permanent protection of 13,870 acres of agricultural land. The $34 million spent over the past 25 years includes $13.5 million in Skagit County Conservation Futures Tax and $9.5 million in local and federal grants and nonprofit contributions. The program’s primary goals are to protect the county’s agricultural character and productivity. Protected acreage through 2021 represents 16% of the roughly 89,000 acres des...
Coronavirus disease transmission level in Skagit County is rated high on the May 9 update on the federal Centers for Disease Control website. Skagit County Public Health’s May 4 update, with April data, stated the county “has moved to a ‘Substantial’ disease transmission level, up from ‘Moderate’ last week,” with the 7-day case rate increased by 111% and the 7-day hospitalization rate by 50%. “High” is the top of four levels of the scale. The CDC states community transmission levels are provided for healthcare facility use only. This revers...
La Conner youth league teams made an adjustment this spring. The teams had to shift venues after last year’s sale of Hedlin’s ballfield on Maple Avenue. Youth practices and games are now on the La Conner schools campus. The transition has required a team effort on several levels, youth league treasurer and board member Catey Ritchie said. “We really want to thank the school for accommodating the La Conner Little League this year,” Ritchie told the Weekly News. “We couldn’t have had a season without them.” Ritchie praised former board members...
La Conner High School track teams are picking up the pace as the season’s finish line looms ahead. Some dozen La Conner athletes compete in district trials at Coupeville this Saturday. Winners qualify for the state 2B meet May 26-28 at Eastern Washington University. Tommy Murdock, the Braves’ standout hurdler, is on that list in multiple events. Murdock owns the fastest time statewide among 2B contestants in the boys’ 300-meter hurdles. He has clocked a 0:42.46. In the 110-meter hurdles, his per...
Dancing shoes and a fire boot will help folks put their best foot forward for the La Conner Firefighters Association dance fundraiser May 21 (6-10 p.m.) at Maple Hall. Proceeds from “Stop! Dance! & Roll!” will support, most notably, the traditional community Easter Egg hunt at Pioneer Park and the recently launched grief basket project. “The dance is also a way to thank the community for all its support spokesperson Jaime Stroebel-Reinstra told the Weekly News. “It’s been a difficult past two...
This recipe is much simpler than the recipe I wrote for this column in July 2016. I believe it’s quicker. You use live spot prawns. Keep them on ice until ready to cook. I cooked up two pounds of fresh live spot prawns and used two large cooking pots. One chopped lemon in each pot. I used long kitchen tongs to place them in the boiling water. Then a strainer to remove them. Save the ice they arrived in to quickly cool them after they are cooked. We enjoyed them for our dinner and shared with ano...
Sunday, May 1 6:02 p.m.: Padilla Bay Prowl – Caller had their vehicle window broken at the South Padilla Bay Trailhead parking lot. Clothing items and snack food were taken. Bay View Edison Rd., Bay View. Monday, May 2 8:21 p.m.: Pokémon Go Trespasser – Report of subject playing “Pokemon Go” refused to leave. They were gone when deputies arrived. Ashten Rd., Greater La Conner. Tuesday, May 3 9:42 a.m.: Roadside snooper – Report of two subjects snooping through vehicles. When deputies arrived, they said they ran out of...
Shelter Bay board of director candidates offered a daunting mix of current issues and future goals requiring creative problem-solving and long-range planning during a two-hour April 27 virtual forum. About 100 homeowners from the residential community logged onto the town hall-type format, which featured a briskly paced question-and-answer session with six of the seven candidates. Nancy Shimeall, Judy Kontos, Brad Voorhees, Dan McCaughan, Joe Harper and board treasurer Louise Kari fielded questions relayed through board executive secretary Ann...
