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The first day of school in La Conner was in the bag. La Conner Middle and High School students received something new during this year's back-to-school routine. Staff distributed magnetized Yondr bags into which students place and lock their cell phones during the school day. They can unlock the pouches to access phones when school lets out. Yondr marks the start of a project designed to increase academic engagement and eliminate distractions in classrooms. By establishing a cell-phone-free zone...
"They are coming out of the woodwork," said Senior Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Will Honea during a public hearing of the Skagit County Board of Commissioners on Monday. He was talking about people proposing "creative new arguments" for locating businesses that are not ag-related on land zoned Agricultural-Natural Resources Land. Honea's remarks came before the microphone was turned over to residents with comments or questions about the six-month moratorium on new event venues on Ag-NRL...
Jerry George put on his hardhat Sunday and went to work helping neighbors prepare for natural disasters or emergency situations that could strike La Conner. The town's emergency management commission chair joined north end residents at the Matthews North Third Street home for a 75-minute session on neighborhood mapping – the process of establishing a set of steps enhancing emergency preparedness. Leslie Smith led the meeting. She lives on Center Street with her husband, William. Their home w...
Tom Beckwith is the man with a plan that will be finalized by the end of the year. Beckwith’s firm was hired to develop a revitalization plan for the town’s formerly bustling south end industrial area by the Town of La Conner. He intends to draw heavily upon public input, he told the planning commission at its Sept. 3 meeting. Beckwith outlined the process his team will follow this fall. There will be public review sessions and meetings with the town’s advisory commissions and workshops with the town council and planning commission. “We w...
Enrollment in the La Conner School District is shrinking while costs continue to rise. Administrators need to be jugglers and magicians, both. They are. A year after climbing out of a hole from having spent too much and thus having too little set aside for reserves – and the resulting state oversight that brought – the district is in good financial shape even with the related dilemmas of fewer students and the corresponding fewer state dollars. While it is little comfort to know most school systems in the state are in similar straits, it ind...
The La Conner School Board is feeling energized with a positive outlook as we start a new school year. Over the summer, we worked with interim Superintendent Dave Cram and Director of Teaching and Learning Beth Clothier, to align our strategic direction and decisions to support our staff and students. Open and trusting communication is key as we collaborate on new programs and district improvements to bring fresh ideas to the La Conner School District. Our financial position is on track to meet the Office of Superintendent for Public...
I can recommend two books: The Bible and “The Anti-Communist Manifesto” by Jesse Kelly. Because our homeland is in such crises, it is difficult to know how to briefly say what is in my head and heart. So, just this: Truth is under attack. Deception is the name of the game today. Lies are repeated and repeated and many Americans are deceived by those who are working to change, destroy this constitutional republic. If we can’t discern truth from lies, we are easily deceived. Also, platforms are available for us to read. What does the Repub...
Town Council of La Conner: Regarding my 18’ artisan fence donation, accepted by the Town Arts Commission Sept. 3, 2022 for installation in the Butterfly Garden adjoining the Civic Garden Club, South Second Street: 1. After thirteen contractors quickly or lengthily turned down the project, many no with reason given. 2. Note: I am paying for the total installation which Public Works Director Brian Lease advised, “would be not more than $15,000.” (I’ll pay more if needed). 3. Director Lease said his crew is capable of doing the work only if time...
Just a couple of weeks before the primary election County Commissioner Peter Browning had a letter in the Skagit Valley Herald complaining he had been unfairly described as supporting Fully Contained Communities. Anyone who followed the Board of County Commissioners’ 2021 consideration of a comprehensive plan amendment to allow FCCs in Skagit County knows Browning was indeed a supporter. Browning spoke in favor of FCCs at commissioner meetings on April 28 and May 11, 2021. At that second meeting, he offered the motion to establish the 2021 c...
A recent federal court ruling suggests sending at least some of the NAS Whidbey Growlers to NAF El Centro. Yes! Send ‘em south to California, where they can deafen and intimidate the immigrant hordes trying to scale the wall. Ha! The Navy rebuts with, “But it will cost $800 million.” Take it out of the $38 BILLION we have promised to Israel in the next 10 years that will be largely used in their unconscionable attack on Palestine. If interested in this issue, check out recent articles in Task & Purpose and Simple Flying. Jai Boreen La Conne...
At Saturday’s Meet the Mayor session at the La Conner Swinomish Library, Mayor Marna Hanneman ended the hour upbeat, telling the seven assembled they were awesome and that she was encouraged. “I keep saying it takes a village,” she said, suggesting, “let’s take it on the road,” to Shelter Bay and other communities, in a collaborative effort to tackle greater La Conner’s problems. And while she noted, “It’s all of us, farmers, merchants, the Tribe, Shelter Bay,” everyone at the table had faithfully attended most of these near monthly meetin...
Just like last year. The $60,800 in August sales tax revenue reported to the Town of La Conner by the state’s Department of Revenue is $20 below 2023’s collection. The eight month total is 67% of the budget’s projections, on target, with the next two months the highest grossing every year. The $6,070 collected for the special use fire tax tops 2023 by six dollars. It will exceed its revenue estimate, standing at 81% with four months remaining. More visitors are staying over. The $22,440 hotel motel tax total is an August record, 13% above...
It is with heavy hearts that we share that, on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, Douglas Shannon "Doug" Snider passed away at the age of 79 while boating with his wife. Doug was born on Oct. 27, 1944, in Colorado Springs, Colo., to John and Elsie Snider. The family moved to Medford, Ore., a year later. After graduating from Saint Mary's School, he attended the University of Notre Dame where he received a degree in architecture. Shortly afterwards, he entered the Navy where he spent the next four years. Du...
It was great weather for soccer at Whittaker Field last Thursday. Unfortunately, the host La Conner Braves couldn't weather the crisp passing and relentless attacks of Sea-Tac B power Auburn Adventist. The Falcons, coming off a 2023 campaign that saw them qualify for the state playoffs, posted a tidy 3-1 non-league triumph over La Conner before a large crowd that basked in sunshine and warm weather while taking in an often-physical match. Collisions and contact were frequent as players...
La Conner High School was already behind the eight-ball when the Braves headed to the Yakima Valley Friday to open its first full eight-man football schedule. That’s because the Pomeroy Pirates, La Conner’s Sept. 6 foe, was coming off a 9-2 campaign in 2023 during which the southeast Washington eight-man grid power posted beatdown wins of 90-0 over Tekoa-Rosalia and 76-0 against Dayton. The Pirates resumed their swashbuckling offensive style in the ’24 debut for both clubs, recording a 64-24 victory on a neutral site chosen to split travel time...
It's only the first full week of school and district officials are already looking ahead to February. The five-month countdown has begun for the next La Conner Schools Educational Programs and Operations replacement levy. School district voters in 2021 approved a four-year levy that will collect $1.02 million for 2024 and $1.05 million in 2025. Those funds are generated by a $1.11 per $1,000 assessed property valuation across the district. That rate is the second lowest among Skagit County...
Over 50 willing poets of various accomplishments and ages – and an overwhelmingly female audience – overflowed the Museum of Northwest Art's second floor meeting space Saturday afternoon for a free one-hour poetry class with Seattle poet Susan Rich. She spoke to them for maybe 20 minutes before setting them free to roam and examine the museum's art, charging them with putting themselves into the paintings and to pull something original out of the art by their written words. This is ekp...
As the golden hues of fall arrive in the Skagit Valley, so does the opportunity to attend the Skagit River Poetry Festival: three days of poetic voices from around the nation and the world heard in La Conner. Poets and attendees will gather Oct. 3-5 here, on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish Peoples. One of the largest celebrations of poetry on the West Coast, the festival is presented by the Skagit River Poetry Foundation. The festival takes place in venues throughout La Conner. "Where...
PFLAG Skagit proudly presents the film “Close to You,” screening at the Lincoln Theatre at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16. Admission is free; please consider a donation at the door. “Close to You” stars Academy Award nominee Elliot Page (“Juno,” “The Umbrella Academy,” “Inception”) as a trans man who returns to his hometown for the first time in years. On his journey, Page’s character confronts his relationship with his family, reunites with a first love, and discovers a newfound confidence in himself. “It soars on waves of raw feeling thanks to t...
Cantabile Chamber Choir presents the contemporary orchestral work “The Drop That Contained the Sea” at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, at McIntyre Hall in Mount Vernon. Cantabile will be joined by the Kulshan Chorus of Bellingham and Sno-King Chorale of Edmonds to present this concert. Come and hear this vibrant, storytelling work by Christopher Tin with a handpicked full-sized orchestra conducted by Dustin Willetts. Tickets are $25 to $35, available online at purchase.mcintyrehall.org/Events....
Mark your calendars for these upcoming arts and entertainment activities. Teen Art Club at Museum of Northwest Art, 121 S. First St., is a free program for youth in grades 6-12, where you can bring your friends and your creativity to make art together and inspire your art. Pizza, snacks, and art supplies will be provided. 3-5 p.m. Fridays. MoNA Book Club: “Parable of the Sower" by Octavia Butler. The story is speculative fiction, addressing the effects of climate change and social inequity in post-apocalyptic 2025 America. Wednesday, Sept. 1...
Select firm but not overly ripe pears. I used Bosc pears gifted to us from Sheila Klein. The chai tea I found online at Thrive Market. It is concentrated with whole spices. Serving size is two pears per person. Ingredients Pears, 7 to 12 Chai tea, one carton, 32 ounces Water, equal to chai carton Preparation Pour chai tea in a large pot. Peel pears, leaving stem. With sharp knife, cut out core of pear from the bottom and remove. Place each pear into chai tea. Add water. Gently bring to a slow...
HEADS UP IMPORTANT! Wednesday, Oct. 9, S. First Street traffic shifts to ONE-WAY SOUTHBOUND. Commercial Street will become ONE-WAY EASTBOUND. Info: Call 360-466-3125. NOT TO BE MISSED Free docent-led tours at Museum of Northwest Art. Join a docent for a public tour of exhibitions at MoNA, 11-11:45 a.m. second Saturdays, 121 S. First St. RSVP at monamuseum.org/docent-led-tours. Sept. 23-27 is Fall Prevention Week at the Anacortes Senior Center. Daily presentations include Safe Walking; Core Strength; Life Events and the Risk of Falls; Safe...
Sunday, Sept. 1 2:23 p.m.: Animal problem – Report of a dog left in a vehicle. Owner arrived and left before a deputy arrived. N. Third Street, La Conner. Monday, Sept. 2 7:07 a.m.: You don’t park it there – A deputy on patrol spotted a car in a field that had taken out a large section of barbed wire fencing. There was nobody around and unknown when the accident occurred. The vehicle was towed. Best Road, greater La Conner. 6:56 p.m.: Missing batteries – Caller could not locate two rechargeable batteries for his yard equipment. He believe...
Skagit County communities are joining forces and Facing Fentanyl Together by hosting a free event to educate on prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery and community supports so people are prepared to respond to the opioid/fentanyl crisis for themselves or their loved ones. Join us from 1-5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, at Skagit Valley College Cardinal Center, 2405 E College Way, Mt Vernon, for one of 26 Facing Fentanyl Together events take place across Washington at the same time. The Department of Social and Health Services is working in...
