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The La Conner School Board passed a deficit operating budget for the district’s coming 2019-2020 year. After months of study and public hearings July 15 and 22, Directors passed the budget unanimously, without comment, at their July 22 meeting. Funding next year will be $300,000 above this year, at $12.9 million, but expenses will be about $13.1 million, for a $179,000 deficit. Expenditures are $200,000 below 2018-2019. This is the third year running the budget has been in the red. The 2018-2019 deficit was $686,000. District budget figures s...
Through cooperation between local agricultural businesses, a new approach to marketing hopes to live up to its promise of being “locally grown, globally known.” Genuine Skagit Valley, rolled out during February’s Agriculture Summit by the Port of Skagit Executive Director Patsy Martin, is a federal certification mark that almost 25 Valley companies have purchased to date. Boldly Grown Farm, Blanchard Mountain Farm, Bow Hill Blueberries, Samish Bay Cheese, Skagit Valley Malting and the La Conner...
The small town of La Conner is often referred to as “the most perfect Washington State weekend getaway destination” and “top of the romantic getaways [in] Washington.” People visit a picturesque small town with a scenic boardwalk, unique boutiques, extraordinary galleries and museums, exceptional restaurants and hotels and welcoming coffee shops. Because La Conner offers so much to its visitors and depends on them as source of revenue, it is important that the residents of La Conner do what we...
History can be serious business, but it also leaves room for fun and games. The proof is in an exhibit unveiled amid much fanfare during a two-hour reception at the Skagit County Historical Museum in La Conner Thursday night. “Hometown Skagit” focuses on how sports have shaped communities in the area, offering glimpses into championship teams and prominent figures from the turn of the 20th century to modern times. The exhibit, guest curated by Briana Mabson, who has a master’s degree in Museo...
LWN headline, 7/17: Lawsuits may ground Growlers. LWN editorial, 7/17: “Grounding the Growlers.” The alliteration is appealing, but really? I don’t think so! The cause celebre leading to such wishful thinking surfaced when the Navy announced the plan some months ago to add 36 more EA-18G Growler jet aircraft to the fleet already based at NAS Whidbey Island. This announcement raised the hackles of a few very vocal individuals and groups who have promoted every objection possible including noise, pollution, adverse effects on health and envir...
This is a spot on summation ["Grounding the Growlers," editorial, Weekly News, July 17]. I got the chance to ask our Congressman Larsen once “We can’t afford to educate our children, we can’t afford to do anything for our homeless people, we don’t have the money to supply adequate healthcare to our population, and we can’t afford to protect our environment, yet we have trillions to spend on defense. Then what, precisely, are we defending?” He stuttered a couple of seconds then launched into “well you know that there’s this crazy guy in No...
I can’t buy in Channel Cove but WANT to. As a single senior of 77 years with limited income, and a home in Shelter Bay, I am selling because I can no longer maintain it physically or financially. I am one of many who falls through the cracks in society … Teaching art at Senior Centers and drawing Social Security puts me just above poverty line but not enough income for rentals or sales that are affordable. As a resident of La Conner for fourteen years, and a contributing citizen, teaching art, docent-ing and volunteering at MoNA, I would...
Two truths about agriculture: One: Farmers have always promoted their products and seek to expand their markets and Two: Farmers are always getting older, and also younger. Even in our “more is better” culture, the best thing is to add value by improving the worth of a crop. Sometimes worth can be increased by asserting the intrinsic value inherent in the harvest. The creators of Genuine Skagit Valley, the marketing program for agricultural products and related services originating in Skagit County, believe that to be the case. From asp...
“Twelfth Night,” the Shakespeare Northwest companion comedy with “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” at Blackrock Amphitheater does not maintain the sparkle of its sister “Night.” Still, see both, to watch almost half of the cast in repertoire. Director Bjorn Whitney sought to turn the original Shakespearean casting on its head: While the Shakespearean stage employed all male actors, this has primarily a female cast. Whitney does not make clear to the audience in his director’s statement, or on stage, the androgynous, gender bending mistaken identi...
Almost one year after collecting weapons from the public – aiming to transform guns into art, a group of local artist has crafted an emotionally powerful exhibit dedicated to gun violence. Their memorial stones, piled into a cairn, is now on its first public display at the Anacortes Arts Festival. The Memorial Cairn installation is part of the Anacortes Regeneration Project and includes the work of several dozen Skagit Valley artists. La Conner’s Tracy Powell is among those artists, as wel...
The Fisher family name is synonymous with home, commercial and industrial construction in Skagit County. Frieschknecht is a less familiar name, but one that remains vital to bridging the county’s rich history and its present status as a model for balancing economic opportunity with environmental preservation. The Frieschknecht legacy, in fact, is a key chapter in the Fisher family story, which will be shared as part of the 115th annual Skagit County Pioneer Picnic in La Conner Thursday. Their s...
