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La Conner's Pioneer Park basked in sun, salmon and song last Thursday, a perfect combination for the 119th annual Skagit County Pioneer Association Picnic and Business Meeting here. Ideal conditions drew more than 300 people on a sun-splashed day that honored championship La Conner High School volleyball coach Suzanne Marble and members of the Benson/Berentson family, who association president Peggy Stowe said "have been connected to every vocation imaginable" since emigrating from Norway to Ska...
There was much to cheer about at the Pioneer Picnic in La Conner last Thursday. But the loudest and most heartfelt ovation of the afternoon was given to beloved local centenarian Joyce Johnson, who at 105-years-young was recognized as the oldest person in attendance. Skagit County Pioneer Association President Peggy Stowe saluted Johnson as a 70-year member of the La Conner Civic Garden Club, which serves the picnic’s trademark salmon luncheon. Her Garden Club friends and admirers join others elsewhere in marveling at how Johnson has lived not...
When she first ran for U.S. Senate in 1992, Patty Murray described herself as a mom in tennis shoes." Her newest pair of New Balance footwear came in handy when the six-term senator, who serves as Senate president pro tempore, hiked revered Lone Tree Point and the beach area below the Thousand Trails La Conner RV Resort on Monday. Sen. Murray spent an hour touring and receiving updates on collaborative marine environmental protection projects undertaken locally by the Swinomish Indian Tribal...
August started with 100% of Skagit County in drought, the federal government reported. Severe drought hangs over the bulk of the county, 86%, while the borders – a slice of southern Fidalgo Island and southwestern Skagit Bay and the Cascade Mountains on the eastern side – 14%, is in moderate drought. Rainfall measured at Washington State University’s Memorial Highway Mount Vernon station is 9.9 inches for the year, 7.2 inches or 42% below the January-July century average of 17.1 inches. Monthly precipitation has been from 16% to 70% below...
A trained classical pianist, La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes has great appreciation for a variety of musical genres. He naturally keeps tabs on those playing keyboards. And one of his favorites is La Conner's own Terry Nelson. "Terry is the epitome, the soul, of La Conner," Hayes told the Weekly News recently. "He's so forward thinking." A longtime proponent of green energy, having for more than four decades advocated solar heating options, Nelson is also one of a handful of home-grown La Conner...
The status of short-term rentals will get a long look as the La Conner Town Planning Commission seek public input while updating what has become a hot button topic in La Conner. During their discussion of the issue last week, commissioners endorsed holding a community roundtable in September and collecting comments on the Town’s website. Assistant Planner Ajah Eills suggested the public dialogue after short-term rentals were addressed at the Aug. 1 hybrid meeting at Maple Hall. Short-term rentals are permitted in La Conner’s commercial zon...
At first glance, comparing La Conner and Kirkland is akin to apples and oranges. But when it comes to affordable housing incentives, it is a comparison that might bear fruit. Planning department staff shared with the La Conner Planning Commission during their July meeting at Maple Hall research into how Kirkland, a Seattle suburb of nearly 100,000 people, has sought to increase its stock of affordable housing. Assistant Planner Ajah Eills provided a seven-page report on how La Conner might implement some of the measures adopted in Kirkland....
Key steps were taken last week – both literally and figuratively – to mitigate saltwater flooding on La Conner’s north end. Public Works Director Brian Lease led members of La Conner’s emergency management commission on a one-hour July 25 walking tour of low-lying spots along the north waterfront from the Washington Street-end past Channel Lodge on North First Street. The six-member advisory panel. chaired by Bill Stokes and established in response to severe saltwater flooding here last December, will soon be making a recommendation to the tow...
Less is more yet again. In this case, addition by subtraction involves the long-awaited removal of a 65-foot abandoned and partially submerged sailboat from nearby Similk Bay on Swinomish Reservation. The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Washington State Department of Natural Resources and Northwest Straits Commission partnered July 20 to remove the Windjammer and another smaller derelict vessel from within tribal boundaries. The Windjammer was pulled from intertidal waters north of Kukutali...
Anyone can be a part of the La Conner Rotary Club 2023 Harvesting Hope annual auction and dinner at Maple Hall Aug. 26, 5:30 p.m. The theme this year is “Hope Springs Eternal.” Community participation is invited to support literacy and education programs. This is the club’s biggest fundraiser of the year. La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes will be honored as recipient of the Paul Harris Award to acknowledge his commitment to the community and the strong working relationship with town leaders the club has enjoyed during his tenure. Hayes stood out a...
Over his long career Dennis Lehane has authored a dozen books and produced an impressive body of work for films and television. I believe that his latest novel, “Small Mercies,” is his best effort yet. Like most of his other work, “Small Mercies” is set in his native Boston – not in the exclusive enclaves of Back Bay or Beacon Hill, but the gritty housing projects of South Boston, or Southie” as it’s known to its mostly Irish, working-class inhabitants. The book’s action unfolds over a few days in the summer of 1974, as the Irish of Southie are...
Skagit County Public Works road crews expect to begin work on Monday to chip-seal Best Road between Calhoun Road and the Skagit River Bridge. The work will be done in phases. Travelers can expect some traffic delays when the base layer and gravel are placed. Weather permitting, the road crew will place a second layer of chip seal within two weeks. The speed limit will be reduced from 35 or 50 mph to 25 mph through the construction zone....
Today’s the party: The Skagit Valley Food Co-op’s Golden Jubilee at Skagit Riverwalk. Bring friends and family, lawn chairs and umbrellas. The Co-op provides local food, drinks, live music, amazing prizes and family-friendly fun: tie-dying with Tri-Dee Arts and face painting by Contours FX. They promise jolly good times. Music starts with the Nematones at 4 p.m. and ends with Yogoman Burning Band at 7 p.m. An open mic for Co-op Memories is at 6 p.m. There will be prizes to win. Be there. Source: Food Co-op...
The Skagit River Poetry Foundation invites anyone who wants to howl to “Make Me Wanna Holler” a free event Sunday in Pioneer Park, 2-7 p.m. at the amphitheater near the Rainbow Bridge in La Conner. Music will be provided by the acoustic blues band Delta Promenade and indie originals band the Erik Christensen Band. Featured Northwest poets will read their work and an open mic is available for audience members who want to read a poem. Food, snacks, beer, wine, ice cream and soft drinks will be available for sale. Information: ska...
To keep history alive, it must be tended like a garden. On Saturday, July 29, community members gathered at Northern State Hospital in Sedro-Woolley to nurture memories of family members of patients and staff. About 300 people came to Public History Day at the grounds to share artifacts and stories and learn from experts about the hospital, which closed 50 years ago. "Personal stories are the most powerful," said Sharon Howe, the research librarian at the Sedro-Woolley Museum, one of the...
La Conner Chamber of Commerce's 23rd annual Classic Boat and Car Show on Aug. 5 at the Port of Skagit Marina attracted about 125 automobiles of all makes, models and eras, along with nine boats on the water or on trailers. Chamber of Commerce Director Mark Hulst said show participants started lining up to secure their display spots as early as 5:45 a.m. and came from as far away as Anchorage, Alaska. Spectators marveled over the variety of automobiles and boats. "We saw folks from all over the...
Over the years, many ideas have been floated to solve La Conner's parking problem. An Anacortes man may have the best solution yet. At least it works for him. Michael Rudd rarely if ever has trouble parking his vehicle when in town. That's because his wheels are somewhat non-traditional – a small bright orange European-built velomobile in which he has cruised Skagit Valley roadways since 2017. Rudd was here in July to make a quick pit stop at One Moore Outhouse before returning to the La C...
Sunday, July 30 3:47 p.m. Stuck in town – Subject called to report that he had lost his rental car keys and wanted to know if they had been turned in. No reports of found keys and still missing with Enterprise Rental tag on them. Douglas St., La Conner. 4:43 p.m. Yelling off – Swinomish PD requested assistance with a subject on the bridge who was in the road and yelling at passing cars. When Deputies arrived the situation was under control and Swinomish PD had calmed the subject down. Rainbow Bridge, La Conner. Monday, July 31 11:49 a.m. Cit...
The guest docks are full most nights this week. We have seen visitors from all over the area and up and down the west coast. We had three larger vessels that came up from Portland and they reported the ocean journey was really nice, with mild weather and relatively calm seas. This, while one of our other regular visitors is held up in southern California due to storms through Oregon and northern California! Hard to believe sometimes how varied the ocean can be. We have had four nights this summe...
I learned about frying food coated with cornmeal from visiting my sister, Mary Jane, in Arkansas. Eating out in Arkansas and Missouri, we ordered catfish. I enjoyed the crunchy coating of cornmeal on the catfish. There are many ways to coat fish. Flour, egg and bread crumbs. Baking fish is also an option. Baking fish means you can set the timer and walk away from the kitchen for a few minutes. Frying fish means you stay in the kitchen and watch the pan. Looking for the right moment to flip the...
SUPERIOR COURT OF WASHINGTON FOR SKAGIT COUNTY No. 23-4-00387-29 PROBATE NOTICE TO CREDITORS (RCW 11.40.030) In the Matter of the Estate of Gunnar Pedersen, Deceased The personal representative named below has been appointed as personal representative of this estate. Any person having claim against the decedent must, before the time the claim would be barred by any otherwise applicable statute of limitations, present the claim in the manner as provided in RCW 11.40.070 by serving on or mailing to the personal representative or the personal...
Yesterday, Aug. 8, was the 49th anniversary of Richard Nixon’s resignation as president is the United States. Why did Nixon resign? First for our youth, the ahistorical, those who forgot or cannot remember our 37th president, Nixon’s top White House staff worked with a dirty tricks squad. The tricksters first broke into Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office in 1971. Then in June 1972 they burglarized the Democratic Party’s Watergate office and were caught, arrested by Washington, D.C., police. For two years, through Senate and House inv...
This really happened last week, though instead of it being on a TV or movie screen the set was the office of the Weekly News and the players were the real-life Rhonda, design and layout editor, and Kurt, production manager for the Weekly News. The truer-than-life star coming in was Pamela, her real name, and her 12-year-old daughter, visiting from Seattle. She walked in the door and without being cued asked, “Do you have a newspaper for sale?” and put a five dollar bill on Kurt’s desk and would not take change. “Keep it,” she said. “I work at M...
Truth, Trump and democracy “Truth is on the march … . Those who are guilty do not want the truth to come out … . When truth is buried underground, it grows and builds up so much force that the day it explodes, it blasts everything with it. We shall see whether we have been setting ourselves up for the most resounding disaster yet to come.” So wrote French author Emile Zola in his “J’Accuse” letter of 1898 regarding the antisemitic trial of French military officer, Alfred Dreyfus, of Jewish descent, unlawfully accused of espionage. No...
Lithium-ion batteries have long been in the news because of their role in electric vehicles, but uses for this technology are expanding to the utility industry. Batteries that can be charged and discharged quickly, and re-used for thousands of cycles, open up options for utility-scale energy storage that haven’t been economic before. Now that utility-scale lithium batteries are available at commercial scales and reasonable prices, they are being adopted by the utility industry itself. As a...
