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La Conner Schools Finance Director David Cram is confident the district’s new fiscal game plan is headed in the right direction after declining student enrollment and loss of COVID-19 emergency funds forced severe budget cuts for the 2023-24 academic year. Now Cram is hopeful the district’s transportation department can likewise get past some bumps in the road in the form of a bus driver shortage that has plagued La Conner Schools since the start of the calendar year. “We’re definitely in need of drivers,” said Cram, whose expanded role this...
"We know we're contending with Mother Nature every year," said Michael Hughes, a partner in Hughes Farm. That knowledge does not make farming any easier, especially when the river is low and the rains don't fall. This year's drought has produced mixed effects while forcing adjustments and acceptance. Skagit County has been in a state-declared drought since July 24. The county is also experiencing its sixth driest year to date, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System....
You may not know John Roozen – but you probably know his truck. On any given day, a red F250 Power Stroke diesel truck from the late 1990s may pass you on Calhoun or McLean roads – or may be parked in a field on your route. "John has about 500,000 miles on his Ford pickup," Dave Hedlin told attendees at the Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland auction last Saturday night. "About 100,000 of them are in support of the agricultural infrastructure of Skagit County, whether that's through the Ska...
Harvey Cardwell from Oregon City, Oregon grew the winning pumpkin at the 13th Annual Skagit Valley Pumpkin Festival at Christianson's Nursery Saturday. The pumpkin weighed 1,460 pounds. It was the first time he had ever grown and weighed a pumpkin in a contest. He has grown vegetables before but this was the first year he grew pumpkins. Just how much water does a giant pumpkin need? Up to 600 gallons daily during the heat of summer said Cardwell when asked. He has two more growing at home also....
The Washington Supreme Court ruled Sept. 7 the state is not required to fully cover school construction costs, dealing a blow to districts unable to raise the local tax dollars they need for new buildings and other facility upgrades. In its unanimous decision, the court said Washington’s constitutional mandate for the state to amply fund basic education does not extend to capital project expenses. Rather, it envisions the state and local school districts will “share the responsibility.” “It is certainly true that students need buildin... 
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La Conner staff and the planning commission are updating the Town’s short-term rental regulations. These rentals are only permitted in the commercial zone – in commercial buildings. What purpose will changing these regulations serve? Whom will benefit? What is broken that has to be fixed? Google “short term rental critique” and this article is near the top: “Affordable Housing and the Impact of Short-Term Rentals.” Staff at the Municipal Research and Services Center wrote it for local officials. That is an in-state nonprofit organizatio...
Pope Francis will release a follow-up document on the environment on Oct. 4, providing an update to his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’,” “On Care for Our Common Home” – a landmark papal letter that offered a rallying cry for global action in the fight against climate change. Francis said the new document is an effort to help “put an end to the senseless war against our common home” and comes after a summer of record-breaking rising temperatures, wildfires and storms. The pope’s remarks came during his general audience at the Vatican on Aug. 3...
The sands of time have shifted from the hourglass to poly bags that will soon be strategically placed along the La Conner waterfront ahead of king tide season. Facing an Oct. 1 deadline to install sandbags and ecology blocks in areas prone to flooding, the La Conner Town Council last week approved purchases of equipment and barriers designed to thwart the high-water damage that plagued the town last December. The council, acting upon recommendations of the Emergency Management Commission, gave Public Works Director Brian Lease the go-ahead at...
Contributions to local firefighting by retired Skagit County Fire District 13 Commissioner Larry Kibbee won’t soon – if ever – be forgotten. That is because Kibbee’s name will be associated with improvements at the district’s Snee-Oosh Road firehall. The district’s new firefighter and EMT residential units will be dedicated in honor of Kibbee’s service and showcased during a Sept. 13 public open house 12-2 p.m. at the Snee-Oosh station. “It will be a two-hour event,” district fire chief Wood Weiss said, and will include building tours, i...
Did you talk like a pirate Tuesday, the 26th annual International Talk like a Pirate Day? Arrr you ready for fall? It starts Friday, Sept. 22 at 11:50 p.m....
The Wahkiakum School District lost its two-year legal challenge seeking increased state funding for campus building and maintenance projects Washington state’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled Sept. 7. La Conner Schools officials feel the southwest Washington district’s pain. “It was too bad that they lost,” La Conner School Board President Susie Deyo said during the local panel’s 45-minute study session Sept. 11. The district had donated $3,000 to the Wahkiakum district’s legal battle. “All together, they raised about $100,000,” Deyo said. The...
The Lady Braves soccer team gained a win in town last Thursday. Lydia Grossglass and Maicy Bowles scored goals and Josi Straathof and Annika Keith recorded key saves for a home non-conference victory over Forest Ridge Sacred Heart High of Bellevue. The La Conner girls’ soccer team (2-2) was slated to open league play at home Tuesday opposite Friday Harbor. Boys soccer The Braves soccer team, meanwhile, played NW2B power and defending state champion Friday Harbor on nearly equal terms at home Friday afternoon. The Wolverines, with the wind at t...
Friday Harbor converted three straight second quarter La Conner turnovers into touchdowns, securing a convincing 41-0 NW2B grid triumph at Whittaker Field on Thursday. Quarterback Whiley McCutcheon threw a pair of scoring tosses to Triston Bremer and ran for another TD – all in the final 5:14 of the opening half –to break open what had been a closely fought defensive battle in the league opener for both teams. With the win, Friday Harbor improved to 2-1 overall. La Conner, fell to 0-2 after a 28-12 setback to 2A Evergreen of Seattle. The tea...
The new-look La Conner High School volleyball team, beset with heavy graduation losses, produced quite familiar results at NW2B foe Concrete Thursday night. The defending state 2B title winners forged a straight-sets triumph in their league debut, after successive setbacks to tough 1A net programs Lynden Christian and Meridian and a 3-1 loss to a talented 1B Neah Bay club Wednesday at Landy James Gym. Neah Bay swept NW2B Coupeville, a team La Conner is expected to vie for conference top honors, during its long two-match road swing from Cape...
For 30 years, I've been enamored with native plants from Asia – peony, azalea, camellia, hydrangea, wisteria, kerria, bamboo and chrysanthemum to name a few. But recently, after reading Douglas Tallamy's "Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard," I've turned to northwestern natives. Tallamy, a professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware, urges us to ditch our lawns and ornamentals and grow native plants instead. "Turfgrass has replaced diverse native plant communities in more th...
Monday, September 11 9:34 a.m. Phone scam – Caller received a collection notice saying that she owed $200 on a past due Verizon bill. The victim had never had an account with Verizon and found that someone had used her information to open one. This was an out of area account with no suspect information. N 1st St., La Conner. 10:29 p.m. Timeless teens – Marina security called regarding a group a juveniles hanging out on the property at night. A deputy was able to contact them and learned they were not doing anything wrong and they agreed to mov...
TOWN OF LA CONNER TOWN COUNCIL AGENDA Sept. 26, 2023 Skagit County Washington Incorporated 1890 www.townoflaconner.org I.Call to Order II.Pledge of Allegiance III.Public Comments (Limit: 3 minutes per person) IV.Presentations: Anacortes Water Rates – Dan O’Donnell V.CONSENT AGENDA A.Consent Agenda (Approved without objection 5/0) 1.Approval of the Minutes: Council Meeting September 12, 2023 Finance: Approval of Accounts Payable Approval of Payroll VI..REPORTS 1.Administrator’s Report 2.Mayor’s Report 3.Council Committee Reports VII.UNF...
TOWN OF LA CONNER NOTICE OF APPLICATION/NOTICE OF HEARING PRELIMINARY MITIGATED DETERMINATION OF NON-SIGNIFICANCE (PMDNS) Date: September 12, 2023 Application File #: LU23-30CU-IV, LU23-31SEPA Applicant: La Conner Maritime Services Owner: Port of Skagit Town Contact Person: Michael Davolio AICP, Planning Director; P.O. Box 400, La Conner, WA 98257; 360-466-3125 Project Description: New 8,000 sq ft pre-engineered metal building for maintenance and repair of boats. The project is in an area identified as 100 year flood plain. The parcel is...
Mark your calendars for a gourmet, connoisseur and fun weekend celebrating Skagit Valley grown, caught, brewed and prepared food and drinks Sept. 29 and 30. Genuine Skagit Valley is offering its first ever Tidewater Boil Friday evening at the La Conner Marina. Return on Saturday for the Skagit Farm to Pint Fest. You will meet Blake Vanfield, director of Genuine Skagit Valley and the event’s sort-of executive chef. She is all but bubbling over with excitement for the complex coming together of people, their skills, talents and the foods and drin...
Mikala Staples Hughes spoke for her own interests as an agricultural executive, passionate about the preservation of farm operations, at the Skagit County hearing on agritourism. She is not with Hughes Farms as the Sept. 6 correction in the Weekly News stated. She is the wife of a fourth generation farmer. The editor regrets the error....
The La Conner Town Council will hold a special meeting 5 p.m. Sept. 26 to hear 2024 budget presentations on public works, code enforcement and fire department programs. Mayor Ramon Hayes called the meeting today, Friday, Sept. 22. The draft 2024 budget estimates almost $7 million in revenue and slightly over $8 million in expenditures. The 13 pages in the packet lists only these programs. The code enforcement request is $73,616, up about 20%, and the fire department budget is $242,487, up about 10%. The special meeting packet, and the regular...
