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Whether it was wet and cold weather alone, or COVID-fatigue, poor decision making or these factors combined, 158 Skagit County residents tested positive for COVID-19 in October, a 74% increase over cases recorded in September based on Skagit Public Health records. The 31 people who tested positive Nov. 1-2 is a scary total to contemplate: 35.6 cases were averaged per week in October. This week is only half over. These are raw numbers. The Washington Department of Health calculated 57.3 cases per 100,000 population over a two week period ending...
MOUNT VERNON — A partnership between Skagit County government and the Children’s Museum of Skagit County creates a family resource center for families adversely impacted by COVID-19. Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act dollars provide the funding. It will operate from the Children’s Museum. “In the best of times, families need community support. It truly does take a village to raise a child,” said Jennifer Sass-Walton, Child and Family Health Manager with Skagit County Public Health. “During the pandemic, and this...
Delaney Cobbs, a junior at La Conner High School, is the Soroptimist International of La Conner honored student for October. Delaney participates in soccer and wrestling, and also joined “Varsity in Volunteering” last year. Students earn a letter (V) for working a prescribed number of hours – a new and meaningful world of involvement in which students are recognized with a varsity letter. She has already earned her letter from her wide ranging involvements in the community and school. Wre...
Normal life has been hammered hard by COVID-19. But the virus crisis, which led La Conner Schools to adopt a distance learning model this semester, is not stopping construction class students from continuing to build their projects. More important, the pandemic is also teaching them how to build lifelong problem-solving skills. Credit La Conner High shop teacher Daniel Castillo with laying the foundation to help his students overcome obstacles related to virtual classrooms and technology dependence. “When we come to technology challenges or lif...
Tajin is a product I have seen sprinkled on fresh fruit. I have enjoyed it on slices of fresh watermelon. That is why I have a small bottle on my spice shelf, right there in front, so I see it each time I reach for the black pepper. I recently bought a stem of Brussel Sprouts at Schuh’s in Mount Vernon, WA. Ingredients Brussel Sprouts, 3 per serving Olive oil, 1 tablespoon Tajin, 1 tablespoon Preparation Cut each Brussel Sprout in half, top to bottom. Add in the olive oil to a shallow baking d...
Dear Reps. Rick Larsen and Dave Paul, Congratulations! You have each won reelection. Now your real work begins. For each of you in Congress and with federal legislation, Rep. Larsen and for you in Washington state, Rep. Paul, your campaign victories are poster child cases for the drastic changes needed in campaign finance laws. Rep. Larsen, you return to the nation’s capital having spent $1.3 million to get re-elected. Wow! You spent about fifty-fve cents for each of the over 700,000 people living in District 2. Rep. Paul, you raised and s...
Hooray! Most of us have survived both the virus, and the election. Life is not easy when we divide ourselves the way we do, some of us believe the science, some believe the storyteller. Some folks think we do not much affect the climate, while another bunch of us thinks that we do. Some of us study what makes us live, some of us study what kills us dead. Bulbs that grow beautiful blooms, bombs that kill us when they go boom! We are as diverse as this, there is no wonder we struggle to get us to come to the center of the room. It is there where...
How quickly the joy shared by those at La Conner United Methodist Church, those who knew and loved Mark Stephens, turned to grief and sorrow. It was only one year ago, last November, when many church members, overcome with emotion, pulled out tissues as they (and even Mark) shed tears of joy during a message Mark delivered about how this small church he had joined had become his “Home,” the place where “belonging” to a church had taken on new meaning in the lifelong process of his faith as a Christian. Today, that same church community is now...
The La Conner High School Green Club was formed last year by several of us. Our mission statement is to educate our classmates, family and community about the importance of being a caretaker for our planet and to support others who feel the same. We are excited to start a fundraising project, and we need your help. We are asking for donations of empty animal feed bags. We will be using them to create reusable shopping bags. We plan to sell the bags throughout the Skagit Valley. Funds collected will be used to support club activities. If you...
I would like to encourage people to eat and shop here in La Conner. Two restaurants in particular that I enjoy are The Slider Cafe (excellent food and such nice staff) and La Conner Thai Gardens (wonderful Thai food). Also, I go to COA for Mexican food. I know there are many other great places to eat and the shopping here is good. If we do not use them, we will lose them. We are losing them. Businesses are closing permanently. So please, eat out and shop La Conner first. Carmen Ginn Shelter Bay...
As someone who wants more civil, issues focused elections, I agree with the editor that we need to reconsider the way we vote. When our officials need to spend their time raising money instead of governing, they are beholden to big money. When our districts are created in a bi-partisan gerrymander, healthy competition is lost. When vote-splitting means we elect candidates with a minority of the vote, the majority does not get what they want. Washington leads in many election procedures: easy voter registration, open primaries, no arbitrary...
Dear Editor: Won’t you join the Skagit League of Women Voters as we celebrate the incredible work of the election clerks, staff, officials in our community? These heroes in our community have done the seemingly impossible: adapted to the challenges COVID-19 posed to our elections process and made voting this year safe, secure and accessible for all. Washington state is a national leader with a time-tested mail in ballot process which has been in place more than a decade. Over that time, the process is continuously analyzed and refined to i...
Monday, October 26 2:58 p.m.: Deputies on duty – Deputies were working radar in the area due to complaints of a specific speeding vehicle. Deputies caught the suspected vehicle speeding and issued the driver a citation. Laurel St. / Maple Ave., La Conner. Wednesday, October 28 3:58 p.m.: Handcuffed handoff – Oak Harbor PD requested assistance transporting two subjects to the Skagit County Community Justice Center. La Conner Whitney Rd., Greater La Conner. Thursday, October 29 9:41 p.m.: Cow mooed on – Report of a cow in the...
Halloween had a different look in La Conner this year and not just because of new costume designs. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and precautions taken to curb spread of the virus forced cancellation of the traditional downtown parade and community party, the hallmarks of La Conner’s traditional Halloween festivities. Neighborhood trick-or-treating was limited, also. But La Conner and Swinomish residents and business owners adapted to the new normal, ensuring that Halloween here would not be a m...
Halloween was full of new tricks and treats for La Conner High football players. The Braves spent two hours Saturday morning working out, starting the day wearing helmet facemasks instead of Halloween facemasks. Afterward, first-year head coach Jeff Scoma treated them to ample shares of holiday candy. Just being able to line up on Whittaker Field was Scoma’s idea of an ideal Halloween thrill. “These guys have gone a long time without football,” Scoma, previously a coach in the vaunted Belle...
What is it that modern civilization most lacks? What are the fundamental deficiencies that ultimately could undermine it? This is mainly the question that Pope Francis wants to answer. In his latest encyclical Fratelli Tutti – the phrase is from the writings of his namesake St. Francis of Assisi – the pope argues his case that social division, fragmentation and the friction they cause are the primary threats that humankind has to fear. And the cause is the absence of a sense that human beings all belong to the same family, and...
Town officials are inching closer to what would be a big step toward brightening the mood here this holiday season. The Town Council is poised to accept interlocal agreements with Skagit County and the Port of Skagit to cover costs of lighting the north side of the iconic Rainbow Bridge. “The Port has indicated they are proceeding with it,” Town Administrator Scott Thomas told the Council during the nearly one-hour tele-conferenced session Oct. 27, bringing the long-sought sanctioned bridge ligh...
