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Get ready to pack your bags – literally! The Town Council ban of plastic bags in stores takes effect today. Reusable and paper bags are about to become a common sight in La Conner. Shoppers at Pioneer Market will no longer have their goodies placed in a typical plastic bag. Sean Skiles, owner of the Morris Street market, said, “We are not opposed to doing our part in keeping things safe, clean and green in La Conner.” Although it is required for all La Conner stores to stop using plastic bags, Pioneer Market has an extension of up to fou...
On a perfectly sunlit summer afternoon last week, pricey yachts were upstaged on Swinomish Channel by a caravan of canoes. Not just any canoes, mind you. These were the colorfully painted tribal canoes being pulled from village to village over Northwest waters in both British Columbia and western Washington as part of the 2018 Canoe Journey. The annual event pays tribute to ancestral use of canoes on waterways as means of trade, travel and making cultural connections. This year’s route made S...
State Sen. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, and Skagit County Commissioner Ron Wesen, Distict 1, met last week with representatives from the Town of La Conner and La Conner Regional Library to hear an update on the new library campaign and discuss funding opportunities. Sen. Bailey’s leadership and support resulted in a $500,000 appropriation for the project during the last legislative session. The campaign is at the halfway mark, with an additional $1.6 million needed to reach the $3.2 million g...
There’s a growing appetite for a game in which staying out of the kitchen can be a winning recipe. A couple dozen people of all ages got their first taste of pickleball, the nation’s fastest growing sport, during a special two-hour beginner’s clinic on the Shelter Bay community’s lower courts Saturday morning. It was clear a good time was had by all. “Pickleball is so much fun,” confirmed clinic instructor Barb McGrady. “I know a lot of people who got addicted to pickleball after playing it fo...
For the school year 2018-2019 the La Conner School District budget shows general fund taxes at $1,006,174, and debt service taxes at $1,500,000, for a total of $2,506,174. There are 564 students estimated in the school population, of which 90 students will come from Shelter Bay and Pull & Be Damned. These areas are not on the tax rolls. Subtracting 90 from 564 leaves 474. Divide that into $2,506,174 and you get $5,287.29 per student. That times 90 equals $475,856 that the Swinomish Tribe owes for the kids who come from Shelter Bay and Pull &...
Editor: It is my pleasure to write this letter in support of Rita Latsinova for the Washington State Court of Appeals. She’s running for the open seat that’s designated for Whatcom, Skagit, Island and San Juan Counties. My wife and I previously owned an inn in La Conner for many years. For the past 33 years, I have been a litigation attorney with a large firm in Spokane, and my practice has included multiple appearances in both state and federal appellate courts. I first met Rita in 1999 in connection with the defense of a multi-million dol...
Mark Eisen passed away on July 21, 2018, his 66th birthday, at his home after an extended illness. Mark was born on July 21, 1952 to Vincent and Augusta Eisen. He spent his childhood in La Conner, graduating from La Conner High School in 1970. After high school, he served in the United States Air Force. While stationed at Edwards AFB, California, he met and married his wife Debra in 1973. The couple recently celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary. Mark moved his family back to La Conner in 1982. Mark was very handy and a skilled mechanic.... Full story
Bread was never sexier than during the eighth annual Grain Gathering at the Port of Skagit’s Bayview Industrial Park last week. The popular three-day event, which each year has the world’s wheat and barley enthusiasts pay $550 to come to Washington State University’s Bread Lab, was keynoted on Thursday by Dr. Maria Trumpler, who teaches Women, Food and Culture and the History of Sexuality at Yale University. She addressed her areas of expertise with a lively, informative and often humorous presentation on why modern women rarely bake bread...
Crowning the Shakespeare NW’s “The Summer of Blood!: Madness and a thousand terrible things” is “King Lear” considered by many Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy. Director Trey Hatch sets his production in the Roaring Twenties. The 17th century was another time of excess and uncaring cruelty, of living for the moment. The Roaring Twenties were the false ‘20s, a time of greedy accumulation. Congratulations to Hatch, Costume Designer Elizabeth Lundquist and Costumer Miriam Smith, who dressed the cast in stylish period long dresses and tuxedoes, bef...
This was to be an editorial on the perils of plastic straws. A safe, small topic. Instead, there is a struggle to remember that there was a meeting of world leaders in Canada, then a NATO Summit, a visit to Great Britain and the critical meeting with Vladimir Putin. This is pushed aside by capital letter tweets meant to intimidate Iran – or divert attention from Justice Department probes into the 2016 presidential campaign. Now the new news is the president threatens to shut down the government if funding for a wall is not in the budget...
Democracy was in action in Anacortes the evening of July 19 as 60 people energetically participated in the second workshop on civil discourse sponsored by the Volunteers of America’s Skagit Dispute Resolution Center. MaryLee Chamberlain was at least one La Conner participant. “Doing [petitioning] for ballot initiative 1631, I ran into people in denial about climate change,” the town council member and school occupational therapist said. That unreality about reality prompted her attendance. Jacquelyn Styrna, the Reso-lution Center’s regiona...
Saturday in the Park was a big hit in the 70s for the rock band Chicago. Thursday in the Park has been a big hit in La Conner for generations. The first Thursday in August, that is. The 114th annual Pioneer Picnic, featuring special presentations to members of the Babarovich family and championship high school football coach Glenn Rickert, is scheduled here tomorrow. The Aug. 2 event starts at 11 a.m. at Pioneer Park by the Rainbow Bridge. The public is cordially invited to attend. The...
