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In case of a major earthquake here, local first responders will be on shaky ground only in a literal sense. Their training for such an event – one that experts say is a matter of when, not if – has put them on solid footing to save lives and limit disruptions caused by a major quake and the tidal waves likely to follow. Fire District 13 personnel, Swinomish Tribal Police, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members, HAM radio operators and Skagit County Department of Emergency...
History is repeating itself in La Conner. A cherished part of local history, at that. The La Conner Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA) is sponsoring a Halloween Carnival at the elementary school gymnasium after the Oct. 31 afternoon downtown parade. The 4-6 p.m. event will feature games, food, a photo booth, cupcake walk, costume contest and much more. If that sounds familiar, it should. The carnival is being spearheaded by Beth Schmittou Bowles, among many who grew up in La Conner with the town’s storied Prankless Halloween Party, w...
Cathie Wyman was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award at the SWAN Women of the Year Banquet last Thursday in Anacortes. She has spent more than 30 years giving back to the town of La Conner, providing guidance to enhance the natural beauty of the area and support the business district. As owner of Wyman Park, she helped spur a give-back program during the holidays that donated 10 percent of sales back to charity. She has volunteered with the La Conner Beautification Committee, the La Conner...
The Friday Harbor Film Festival depends on its volunteers and sponsors, but the two individuals who drive it are co-founding director Lynn Danaher and producer Karen Palmer. Each came up with the idea of a fall film festival for their adopted hometown independently. They put their heads and grant proposals together for the first film festival in 2013, fueled by hotel motel tax funding from San Juan County and the town of Friday Harbor. They have grown their vision into the sixth annual Friday...
Editor: After attending a voter’s forum presenting candidates for Superior Court judges, Court of Appeals Division 1 District 3 and State Representatives for our District 10, I came away learning more from body language than from the one-minute statements that were mostly in the voter pamphlets. However, I did learn that a voter could look up an incumbent’s voting record on the non-partisan site at www.votesmart.org. Such as for District 10 Dave Hayes and Norma Smith. If you liked the way they voted, they have the record … or if you did...
Increasingly severe forest fires, floods and storms make it clear that dramatic climate change is upon us. People with years of experience watching birds are witnessing first hand evidence of the climate change underway as bird ranges shift and habitats degrade. The scientific consensus has long been that the way we live has a major bearing on climate change. We are responsible, we can do something about it and it is long past time for delay. Skagit Audubon Society has joined Audubon Washington and Audubon chapters across the state endorsing...
As your Freeholder I would offer the following three points and commitments. First, I’m experienced. I know organizations – large and small, and I know people. Second, I’m committed to inclusion in the decision-making process: all groups and all peoples. Third, and most important, I want redistricting which only the charter can give us. Under the current system, Anacortes is the 900 lb. gorilla. If all the four smaller jurisdictions voted the same way, we would not be heard. Anacortes has 11,000 or more voters. All the small jur...
Look, I don’t mean to be mean, but the forces of economics force lead me to be forceful. I wanted to take the town’s liability, (the missing dike) off the property tax payer’s minds by building a better dike than the Army Corps of Engineers says is good enough. It requires me to prove the benefits of my better design. Remember this: The Army Corps of Engineers destroyed the once great salmon runs that could be caught from the docks of town. Past town patriarch Milo Moore pointed out the failed fish passage in the breakwater between McGli...
Every year, we have a public Halloween festival – where kids parade through town in their outfits and go from shopfront to shopfront to get their candy loot. Sure, some families keep sweets at home in case anyone shows up in the evening, but trick-or-treating isn’t really a custom here. Newcomers are baffled by this. A lot of old-time residents just accept it as one of La Conner’s many quirks. Why do we have a public party instead of trick-or-treating? Only a few know the true origin story. Here it is: My grandfather and his friends got...
Forty La Conner area residents came out Thursday night to Maple Hall to hear 13 people explain why they want to be Freeholders, or delegates, to shape a charter for Skagit County, creating a modern governance structure. Seven will go to work, part of the 21-person team created if the electorate passes Proposition 1. Everyone who attended needs to be congratulated. These readers of the Weekly News take seriously the responsibility of participating in our democratic society. Forty people! Thirteen candidates! Discussing the direction of the...
Today’s page one story on large donations filling the No on Charter Committee campaign coffers is a tidbit worthy of your consideration. Whether or not you’re paying attention to the Proposition 1 ballot measure, whose passage opens the door to developing a county charter, consider whose thumbs are on the scale, that is whose checks are giving weight to the campaigns. Why are 14 people contributing $48,375? The total is $50,875.00 when the Skagit County’s GOP $2,500 donation is included – and some of that might come from those 14 donor...
It was anything but politics as usual during the two- hour candidates forum at Maple Hall Thursday night. Information and not defamation was the prevailing theme. Thirteen of 28 candidates vying to be non-paid County Commission District 1 freeholders charged with crafting a new blueprint for Skagit government should voters approve a November 6 ballot initiative shared their views and helped clarify the multi-step process. It’s a format with which most at the well-attended event weren’t fam...
Almost on cue, farmer Harley Soltes brought his van of blueberry products to the Puget Sound Food Hub Cooperative on Best Road Thursday afternoon. Soltes knows the value of cooperation and made time to recount the origins of this Co-op. In 2013 Soltes offered his Bow Hill Blueberries cold storage facility to area farmers for aggregating, storing and wholesaling their crops. Over three years that effort grew to 22 farms, becoming a hub linking King, Snohomish, Whatcom and Skagit County farmers wi...
The La Conner school board and superintendent invite the community to neighborhood gatherings Wednesday and Thursday. Topics include: • What’s new with programs and learning • Assessment trends • District Strategic Plan Discussion and questions encouraged. The Wednesday meeting is at the Shelter Bay Clubhouse, 6-7:30 p.m., with District Director Dr. Brad Smith. Thursday, District 4 and 5 Directors John Thulen and Dr. Lynette Cram, respectively, will meet from 5:30-7 p.m. at Christianson’s Nursery, 15806 Best Rd. District Sup...
The “No on Charter” Committee, campaigning against the Skagit County Proposition 1 ballot measure, has raised over $52,000 since September. They have spent $47,034.95. By contrast, Home Rule Skagit, campaigning to bring charter-based county governance to the Skagit Valley, has raised $16,481 and spent $8,786. Eight people, led by William Doddridge’s $12,000, have given $43,000 or 82 percent of the $52,460 reported to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission through October 17. Another six people have each given $1,000. Doddridge, CEO and pre...
