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Joseph Wenzel Wohleb, Jr., age 96, a five-year resident of Skagit Valley passed away peacefully on May 7, 2020 in Burlington, WA. He was born on Aug. 6, 1923 in Olympia, WA the youngest son of renowned Olympia architect Joseph Henry Wohleb and Matilda (Gresl) Wohleb. He graduated from Olympia High School in 1941 and went on to attend the University of Washington when he decided to enlist in 1942. He proudly served in the U.S. Army Air Corp. during the Second World War as a waist-gunner on a...
You are holding issue 151 of the Weekly News under my stewardship. In six weeks, on July 1, my fourth year of owning the La Conner Weekly News begins. This is the second six page issue in your hands. Until last week, for 149 issues, it has been at least eight pages. The goal has been to increase the page count to 10 and 12 pages consistently, bringing you added coverage of the greater La Conner area. There have been 10 page editions on an occasional basis the past three years, always because of additional ads, often because of more legal...
The post office – the postal service – is an institution as important and rooted in our community as the school system or the fire department, but different, too. It touches every person’s life, probably every day. Funded by the federal government, it costs us next to nothing. The postage we pay for, whether to mail an envelope across town or a box around the world, is subsidized; the expense is much more than we are charged. Americans have among the cheapest postage rates in the world, certainly compared to Europe. Here, a stamp c...
It hasn’t been the best of springs for seniors at La Conner High and other campuses around the country. The coronavirus has wreaked havoc with sports, prom and commencement exercises. But La Conner Schools has come up with a clever way to honor its Class of 2020 graduates. La Conner Middle and High School Assistant Principal Kathy Herrera went on-line last week to introduce the district’s “Celebrate the Seniors” project, scheduled through June 12, which was the date originally chosen for graduation ceremonies here. For “Celebrate the Seniors,...
Names are sacred, some more than others. On both sides of Swinomish Channel, the name John K. Bob has been revered for more than seven decades. Bob, who had been a popular La Conner High student from Swinomish, was a U.S. Army Medic Tech Sergeant when killed in battle in Germany near the end of World War II. The Swinomish Tribal Community baseball complex, developed in 1938 through the Works Progress Administration, was named for Bob during special Memorial Day ceremonies eight years later....
The Swinomish Blessing of the Fleet/First Salmon Celebration proceeds on a much smaller scale this year due to the coronavirus. There will not be a major public feast followed by a walking processional from the Tribal gym to the shoreline below Moorage Way Thursday. The May 21 gathering will be scaled back significantly....
Swinomish Tribal Community members hold memories of Tribal veterans close to heart. But this Memorial Day, those attending services at Swinomish Cemetery will observe social distancing in response to coronavirus concerns. Swinomish Cultural Affairs Director Aurelia Bailey is in the process of finalizing plans for the 10 a.m. May 25 service. Attendees are asked to use social distancing while visiting veterans’ gravesites or remain in vehicles while listening to the services over the program’s speaker system, Tribal Social Services Director Tra...
The COVID-19 crisis has taken its toll on La Conner businesses – including the nonprofits that rely on volunteer workers. The Friends of the Library and Soroptimists International Vintage La Conner thrift stores were deemed non-essential and forced to close this spring as part of statewide measures to curb spread of the coronavirus. But La Conner residents have long known the two stores are plenty essential. Proceeds from Vintage La Conner go to help women and girls here as well as in the...
Since early April, the Town of La Conner has relied on increased signage to get the word out on social distancing requirements imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19. The message has now become less is more. The digital reader board that has projected a “Stay Home, Stay Safe” message near the roundabout has been returned to the rental company, Mayor Ramon Hayes told Town Council members during their video-conferenced May 12 session. “The reader board,” Hayes told the Weekly News afterward, “has reached the peak of its need. It has served it...
The statewide Stay Home, Stay Safe mandate in response to the coronavirus has spawned an array of strategies intended to strike a balance between public health and economic concerns. In La Conner, signage and designated customer waiting spaces have been employed – to mixed reviews – to encourage social distancing in the business district. Elsewhere in the region, which has been in shutdown mode since March, emergency orders requiring the wearing of masks have been issued by communiti...
To the Editor: Our state is in the middle of one of the greatest challenges we have ever faced. Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic will require real leadership in our legislature that will effectively advocate for our families and communities. I am thrilled that we have just that kind of leader in Suzanne Woodard, running to represent our district in the State House. Suzanne has never run for office – instead she has been a nurse delivering thousands of babies to families across our region at Providence Everett. She has also been in...
No joke! A whale, probably a Gray, swam north through the Swinomish Channel Sunday. Bart Borusinski, of Hope Island, and his son, Jasio, age 5, reported seeing it about 3 p.m.from the Shelter Bay Marina guest dock. He said it was a big one and the first he had seen in his 20 years in La Conner. He said his son had the best look. Mick Jolley and his daughter Jessamy, age 9, chased it on their bikes from the Rainbow Bridge to the La Conner Marina docks across from its fuel dock. Susan Gardner...
