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Yachts shared Swinomish Channel on Friday with ornately crafted tribal canoes resembling the region's earliest form of water transportation. It was young people who made what's old new again. Over 20 canoes pulled by crews from throughout the Salish Sea landed at Swinomish as part of the 2024 Power Paddle to Puyallup Youth Canoe Journey. Upon their arrival, the canoe families requested and were granted permission by Miss Swinomish Kialah Seymour and Junior Miss Swinomish Ruby Billy to come...
Town officials didn't have to look far to find a consultant to develop a revitalization plan for La Conner's once-bustling south-end industrial area. The Beckwith Consulting Group, based in La Conner, has been offered a contract to craft a plan for the 3-acre site of the former San Juan Islands Pea Cannery and Moore-Clark fish feed plant. Town Administrator Scott Thomas and Assistant Planner Ajah Eills told the Weekly News that they expected to receive a signed contract from the consultant this...
A revered La Conner summer tradition continues tomorrow with the 120th annual Skagit County Pioneer Association Picnic and General Meeting. The Aug. 1 event, which supports the Skagit County Historical Museum in La Conner, is set for 11 a.m. at Pioneer Park. The public is cordially invited. A barbecue salmon luncheon prepared by the "Good Girls" and served by members of the La Conner Civic Garden Club will be available. The $20 meal includes a commemorative ribbon and free admission to the...
Let the battle over the future of natural gas in Washington begin. State election officials certified an initiative for the November ballot that seeks to reverse Washington’s controversial tactics to phase out natural gas use in homes and other buildings on July 24. Supporters of Initiative 2066 began gathering signatures in mid-May and turned in 533,005 signatures earlier this month. State law required at least 324,516 be from registered voters. “We knew the people of Washington opposed the idea of banning natural gas, but the support for thi...
Heroes, by definition, are those admired for outstanding achievements and noble qualities. Seven Upper Skagit Valley community leaders, termed "Concrete Heroes" by the Skagit County Pioneer Association, will be honored in La Conner Aug. 1 during the 120th Pioneer Picnic. They are recipients of the Pioneer Spirit Award, recognized for putting life in Concrete on a solid foundation. The awardees are: Jason Miller, publisher and editor of the monthly Concrete Herald, is a Tacoma native with an...
Last week to vote: Aug. 6 is Election Day! Help get all ballots counted quickly: • Vote and return your ballot now • Sign your ballot envelope • Use a county drop box • Mail your ballot in time to get an Aug. 6 postmark Election drop boxes nearby: 614 Morris St. Swinomish Indian Tribal Community: Social Services Building, 17337 Reservation Road. Voting information and register to vote at VoteWa.gov. Skagit County Elections: 360-416-1702....
La Conner’s town government – elected officials and staff – created a long task list for the second year of implementing the five-year strategic plan they adopted last September. Credit them for being ambitious: 31 tasks came out of their June retreat, with over half of them placed on Mayor Marna Hanneman and Administrator Scott Thomas’ shoulders. The fire department, with five tasks, has made progress, getting a $150,000 commitment from the town council to buy a fire boat. Public works and finance staff are assigned these tasks: improving inte...
7 Maple Street is the site of what many call the old COA restaurant. This letter is an attempt to make La Conner’s conditional use procedure process clearer. The property’s current zoning is residential. This means that residences can be located on the property. The residences can be single family or multifamily. Residences are not a conditional use. No conditional use permit would be needed to locate new residences there. Most of Maple Street is residential. Is there anything else that can go on 214 Maple Street? Yes, The code specifies a nu...
With the expected finalizing of Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee, our planet has hope for remaining livable. Earth will of course remain no matter what, but the four years that Trump occupied the office set back actions to limit climate change by 10 to 15 years. No one can argue that our weather has become more hostile to humans and animals. Many cities are passing the temperature threshold for outdoor activities plus the number of severe storms and wildfires has gone beyond any expectations. By Trump eliminating the...
The Federal H-2A Temporary Farmworker Program was designed to provide “temporary workers/guest workers” in areas where industrial agriculture can request a cheap, flexible and deportable workforce with no labor rights. This program relies on cheap and exploitable temporary workers working on farms at the expense of local farmworker communities displaced from secure jobs to support their families. Local workers work/live in Skagit County (some for decades), have families, pay taxes, pay for housing, buy clothing and groceries, and support the...
Before electric lights were available, we created artificial light with fires, and beeswax or tallow candles, and oil lamps and gas streetlamps. In the 1860s, kerosene largely replaced whale oil for lighting. Then, starting in the 1880s, incandescent electric lights were introduced on a large scale. Electric lights were more convenient, easier to maintain, and less of a fire hazard than gas or kerosene lamps. That seems like an uncontroversial statement. In 1880, it wasn’t. Electric lights were...
La Conner Fire Chief Aaron Reinstra has for years sounded the alarm about his department’s inability to fight downtown blazes from Swinomish Channel or make timely water rescues. The simple answer, he and Assistant Fire Chief Adam Avery have said, is to purchase a fire boat. What has not been so simple is finding a way to pay for it, even though the original estimated price of $600,000 has fallen to about $425,000. With necessity being the mother of invention, La Conner Hook and Ladder and town officials agreed in principle last week on a p...
Prospective homebuyers who’ve been priced out of the local housing market might want to set aside two hours on Saturday, Aug. 3, to learn about Skagit Habitat for Humanity’s Homebuyer Program. The organization will hold an orientation event from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Pioneer Park Amphitheater to explain how their Homebuyer Program works. The organization will start accepting applications for three Skagit County families interested in affordable homes in La Conner. Skagit Habitat for Humanity will explain the application and...
Yes, it’s hard for me to believe but I just turned 78 years old and recently had my 60th high school reunion in Roslyn, Long Island, New York. Roslyn is a charming town that was first occupied by Dutch settlers hundreds of years ago. My father’s jewelry store was right next to an incredible clock tower that is hundreds of years old and the town has a boat launch heading out to the Long Island Sound on one side and a beautiful duck pond on the other side. I was captain of the football team and...
Due to seasonal low water flow conditions in the Skagit River, the City of Anacortes and Skagit Public Utility District water customers are asked to voluntarily reduce their water use by 10%. That includes water users in La Conner, since the town gets its water from the City of Anacortes. The Washington State Department of Ecology has established minimum instream flows designed to protect fish habitat of 6.54 billion gallons per day for the Skagit River. In August, when the river’s flow levels fall below that number, Anacortes and the PUD a...
The Town of La Conner Public Works Department will perform their annual fire hydrant flushing and valve exercising during the month of August 2024 from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you notice any discolored water, run your cold-water supply until it clears up. If it doesn’t, call Chris Smith at 360-929-1004 or Chip Sherman at 360-840-3684 for assistance....
The 24th La Conner Classic Boat & Car Show, sponsored by the La Conner Chamber of Commerce, is 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. There will be over 60 cars and perhaps six boats on trailers in the La Conner Marina's south parking lot. Another dozen or so boats will be moored in the marina's south basin. Come early and join car and boat owners who will be feasting at the La Conner Retirement Inn's annual pancake breakfast in their North First Street facility. The Inn is an event sponsor. Proceeds from...
What a difference a year makes. Last summer, La Conner School District officials required a budget extension that forecasted a negative general fund balance, the result of declining student enrollment and loss of pandemic-related federal dollars. That dire scenario landed La Conner in binding conditions, essentially giving the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction oversight of La Conner’s finances. On Monday, the school board approved what it called a “lean” $13 million budget for 2024-25 that projects revenues exceeding expen...
Do you have questions about firefighting? Join La Conner Firefighter/EMT Natalie Baker for a chat over coffee at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, in the La Conner Swinomish Library conference room. She’ll discuss fire safety topics and will have some firefighting equipment for the community to try out. This event will end with a question-and-answer session. Bring your coffee mug and questions....
Museum of Northwest Art Executive Director and Chief Curator Stefano Catalani has masterly assembled two powerful exhibits in the First Street space this summer: "Joseph Gregory Rossano: Portraits of the Divine" and "William Morris: Early Rituals." Each represents an artist at the height of his talent. Schedule an hour – or more – and go. Prepare to be moved – and amazed. Catalini, as curator, sums up Rossano as "a multidisciplinary artist, environmentalist and outdoorsman." Absorbing the immen...
Dream images of William Morris's "Standing Stones" monuments at MoNA woke me at 3 a.m. after viewing the exhibit the day before. The quietude in the back gallery at MoNA suggested timelessness. These monuments carried me back further than even life and death on Earth as Morris' glass art invites, but to the life and death of stars. Created from blown glass, they appeared to be rock and space, explosions and eerie silence all at once. Not disquieting. It invited thought and introspection....
These grosbeaks are migratory birds and common summer residents in this region. During the winter they reside in Mexico. They like to nest in mixed forests and feed on seeds, insects and berries. Their large beaks are perfectly designed to crack open black-oil sunflower seeds in bird feeders. The males with their bright orange, black and white colors are easy to spot, while females and young birds are light brown with dark and light streaks. Juvenile males start having a brighter orange color...
Mark your calendars for these upcoming arts and entertainment activities. The 24th annual La Conner Classic Boat & Car Show will fill the La Conner Marina from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3. Check out lovingly cared for classic cars, motorcycles and boats on display in the parking lot, then wander to the dock to see a variety of vintage pleasure craft and working boats. Award winners will be announced at 3 p.m. Sponsored by Port of Skagit, La Conner Chamber of Commerce, La Conner Retirement Inn and Frontier Ford. Anacortes Arts Festival,...
Skagit County has awarded $500,000 to the Port of Skagit and NW Innovation Resource Center's TheLab@SWIFT, an innovation center for start-ups and entrepreneurs. The SWIFT Center, which stands for Sedro-Woolley Innovation for Tomorrow, is the former Northern State Hospital campus owned by the Port of Skagit. Many of the remaining buildings on the campus were used to treat and house people with mental illnesses until it closed in the early 1970s. NWIRC has already received $750,000 in state and...
One of La Conner newest retail businesses may be its most environmentally friendly. ERTH, on South First Street, next to Step Outside, is conveniently across the street from handmade la conner. Owner Stephanie Banaszak stocks custom-made lotions and candles from its owner, Robyn Bradley. Those are the most locally made items in a store with an "eco ethos." Society has caught up with Banaszak's sustainability vision. Thirty years ago her Organic Matters store, also in La Conner, took on the role...
