Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Sorted by date Results 1 - 11 of 11
Electricity powers appliances, electronics, lights and, now, bikes and cars. When we plug our devices into wall outlets, that power typically comes from electrical utilities and distant power plants. More and more, the sun and wind generate electricity for businesses and homes on site. Jon Mills and Peggy Bissell have 33 solar panels on their farm in Bow. Banner Power Solutions in Burlington installed the system. Co-owner and general manager Eric Hull said going solar comes with a few advantages. “The main benefit is being able to offset the c...
A local beauty salon is cutting prices as well as hair on Monday. La Conner Hair Design will donate proceeds between 12-6 p.m. to an old-fashioned barn-raising project benefiting a Montana family that lost its home in the Caribou fire that has ravaged the northwest corner of the state this month. The Sept. 25 “Hair Cutting Day” will allow customers to set prices---basically “love offerings”-- toward a fund in support of Ian and Jocelyn Caswell, who as fate would have it were wed on the same da...
Funny, the difference a week makes. After looking tentative in a lopsided non-league grid loss at 1A Coupeville in their season opener, the La Conner Braves posted a decisive 38-8 win over NW2B foe Darrington in their home debut Friday night. “Getting more physical was a top priority going into this game,” Braves head coach Peter Voorhees said afterward. “It was a big turnaround for us, and much needed. We had a great week of practice and it carried over.” On several levels. Senior fullbac...
It’s Banned Books Week again, Sunday through Saturday the 30th. Why do “we” – libraries, citizens, bookstores and newspapers – make a big show, proclaiming a week every September to rally our communities against the specter of banned books? Being against banned books is in a newspaper’s DNA. The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads, in part: “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” Books, of course, are speech, written down. This paper’s position on banning books: it’s against...
Omega-3 essential fatty acids, antibiotics, obesity – are these boring subjects? Maybe not. Three hundred thousand fish, escaping confinement, jumped into the Salish Sea from human-built pens August 19 and sent me on an Internet surfing orgy – only to find there is hot debate over the health benefits of wild fish over farmed fish. Farmed fish are over half of the fish consumed by humans worldwide. Putting more than a million fish in an enclosed pen is analogous to “industrial” chicken farms, containing massive, windowless she...
Here’s a rhetorical question: In this day and age, what do we need libraries for? Won’t it be cheaper to buy everyone a smart phone and leave them to their own devices? Cheaper, yes. Smarter, no. In the old days, I went to the library to get books, find magazines from decades past, use reference materials that could not be checked out, type on typewriters, and make copies. Then, a physical footprint was absolutely necessary, a building needed to store the wisdom of the ages, be a place offering refugee to slick lawyer and humble homeless per...
Who is stealing and vandaliz-ing? Who is jeopardizing our fragile eco-system? Who is doing this to trespass in sweet La Conner? You might have walked the beautiful beach along the Swinomish Channel thinking it was public property. It is an idyllic place for children and dogs to run, swim, and enjoy nature. In fact, almost all that land is privately owned. A tiny stretch of tideland, close to town, is public property. The only way to access it without crossing private property is by boat. What’s been happening? Nobody has been injured. Nobody h...
I love waking up every day in this very special town wondering what the day will bring. My days begin at what is affectionately called “Dog Beach.” While walking here I feel my soul soar with the wildlife, water, surrounding fields and Mount Baker off in the distance. A little “piece of heaven.” Recently half of this “piece of heaven” was taken away when property rights and lack of respect and kindness took hold. I am told this property has been utilized by the public for more than 20 years – arguably creating a legal right to the publ...
To all the people who aren’t liking Mr. Stern’s inclusion of news beyond La Conner in the paper, I would like to respectfully remind you of one fact. When the paper was owned by Ms. Vest and Ms. Stokes those ladies often chose to include stories that were originally written by reporters based in Olympia, and covered stories regarding news coming out of our state’s capitol. Again, I say this with respect, but I don’t remember reading any letters of complaint during that time period. Let’s face it, there just isn’t enough constant news coming...
U.S. Constitution Day occurred September 17th to commemorate the Founder’s completion of the U.S. Constitution, September 17, 1787: Was it on your calendar? Did you honor it? Most calendars do not mention it, and today’s schools tend to ignore it. The U.S. Constitution fol-lows from the Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation: It was ratified by the colonies in 1789. At that time, the colonies became states and the federal government was given certain enumerated powers, with the states holding those not enumerated. “We...
Clever directors offer a route through a play’s story. At the Whidbey Playhouse’s “Beehive, the 60s Musical” Thursday, Stan Thomas, their board president, followed directors Eric George and Allenda Jenkins’ instructions, dropping crumbs on the stage floor before the lights dimmed. Using the metaphor of audio technology, he walked a timeline from iPods back to LPs. When the lights came on the six-member cast started this musical revue doing the twist. Over the next two hours they sang their way...
