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Ho Ho Ho. I am especially glad to be coming to La Conner and homes throughout the area – indeed the world – this Christmas Eve. It will be great to see all the lights and displays and sample the cookies and milk and other treats left for me. It is a big disappointment to not be with children and their families on Gilkey Square this Friday for the Christmas tree lighting. The lights come on in a one-two-three moment of collective magic, but the best part is seeing that children are excited to visit with me and their sharing their...
Last week was Thanksgiving. Normally, you would expect a guy to stay at home, but Brian Lease, our public works director, was out fixing a pressure reducing valve on North Third Street. It had been worked on, but not finished. “I like to get things done,” he said. What a guy! Dan O’Donnell La Conner...
I cannot think of anything less democratic than the ability of a sitting President to be able to pardon people who have been found guilty of crimes. Feels very monarchic to me. President Trump has added to his sad legacy by pardoning a disgusting man, General Michael Flynn, who consorted with our enemies to undermine our democracy and was serving a well -deserved sentence. How can it make sense for this president or any president to have the ability to pardon criminals, especially when the crimes involved that president, as he has done with...
In the big picture, newspapers are as fundamental to our democracy as the Constitutional separation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. Referred to as the Fourth Estate, newspapers function to not only inform the public, but to hold governmental leaders and institutions accountable for their actions. Even though the Founding Fathers often complained of bias, untruths, vulgarities and a stench of “putrefaction” in press reporting, they ironically regarded the press as crucial to the preservation of our form of...
Santa Claus is coming to town – just not as often this Christmas season. The COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions to stem its spread will limit Santa’s appearances in La Conner, but Mayor Ramon Hayes – who calls himself an eternal optimist – is confident travel advisories around the globe will be lifted in time for the jolly toymaker and his reindeer to fly under the radar and arrive late on Christmas Eve to deliver presents to children who avoided the 2020 naughty list. H...
After a steady diet of glum COVID-19 news the past eight months, the La Conner area rallied during Thanksgiving week to assure there was holiday flavor here aplenty. Goodwill and generosity, more than anything, were on the menu. In the midst of grim economic times, local residents, businesses and agencies on both sides of Swinomish Channel went to great lengths – while observing pandemic restrictions – to assure no one went hungry on turkey day. The Swinomish Tribal Community held a...
When he offered to repair a couple bicycles for a neighbor, Bob Cofer could hardly have predicted the chain reaction it would create. That act of kindness is now repeated many times each week at “Bob’s Garage” behind Stompin’ Grounds Coffee on the northeast corner of Sixth and Morris streeets. An electrician who has worked major projects between here and the Caribbean, Cofer spends part of his free time – when not cycling himself – fixing and gifting donated used bicycles to La Conn...
Burke Russell Hagen (49) of Seattle, Washington passed away at his home on the morning of November 9, 2020, due to natural causes. Burke and his twin brother Jerrod arrived in Palmer, earlier than expected, on a cold Alaskan night 49 years ago to parents Patricia (Engel) Hagen and Erling Hagen. Their older sister Deena, became a second mother to these boys and another, Scott, born 13 months later. After his family moved to Bayview, Washington in 1977, Burke attended West View Elementary and... Full story
It is with great sadness that we say farewell to a beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother, and cousin on November 19th, 2020. Christine was born in Tacoma, Washington to Douglas and Delores Auvil and spent her childhood in Everett. When she went to college at Seattle University she met the love of her life, Richard Walsh. In 1974 they married and raised 3 beautiful children together in the Pacific Northwest. Christine was a social butterfly. Her curiosity of others made her a great... Full story
Reports of COVID-19 cases in Skagit County from Skagit Public Health continues to be alarming. Coronavirus infections for 2020 rose above 2,000 Monday, when 28 more people tested positive. In November, 758 cases were reported to the Washington Department of Health. Thirty-six people were hospitalized last month, 34% of all hospitalizations this year. There were three deaths, bringing to 27 the number of Skagit residents killed by the virus. In the past two weeks 337.5 new cases per 100,000 residents were diagnosed, a six-times increase from...
Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman certified state election results Tuesday. Skagit County’s election results were certified by the Skagit County Canvassing Board Nov. 24. All candidates leading after the first week of vote counts, Nov. 10 won. The closest race was public defender Elizabeth Yost Neidzwski’s win for the Skagit Superior Court Judge Position 3. She defeated Mount Vernon attorney Tom Seguine by 388 votes. Turnout was 86.4%, with 74,039 people voting. That is some six percent higher than for the 2016 Trump-Clinton ele...
La Conner wrestler Delaney Cobbs rarely faces a foe she cannot beat. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of those, however. New statewide restrictions put in place to curb spread of the coronavirus have forced Cobbs to forego participation in a major mat tournament in Arizona this weekend. Under mandates imposed Nov. 16, after Cobbs was selected to join a Tacoma-based national travel team for the Arizona trip, she and others traveling from Washington would have had to quarantine for two weeks upon their return. That would not have been feasible for...
WA FD and Soroptimist International of La Conner have their second annual “Giving Tree” up, with 35 tags on the tree. People can ask at the drive thru and get their tag that way! Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and until 6 p.m. Fridays. Dec. 18 is the last day to bring gifts. Call Branch Manager Tami Mason with questions: 360-466-3129. The bank is at Morris Street and Maple Avenue. Enter on Morris....
Coverage of the contentious U.S. presidential campaign and its aftermath has filled the pages of the Washington Post all year. But it is a near 2,000-word feature article with a Pacific northwest angle in the nationally circulated Post that has drawn responses from readers around the country. Its title: “The 10,000-year-old tribe with a climate plan for the future.” The Swinomish Tribe’s long-view strategy toward climate adaptation, melding academic science with cultural values, was profiled last week by writer Jim Morrison. It is accom...
MEMO The North Pole – Elf Department Attn: Santa I am so excited that the Holiday Season is finally here and that all the elves around the world are ready to spread nothing but Christmas Cheer! I am honored to have been given the Elf assignment to watch and listen to the Rotary Club of La Conner to report to Santa what he might be missing! I take my responsibilities and sit on my virtual shelf monitoring everything they do. The first thing I discovered is that they have been meeting virtually since March via ZOOM meetings to ensure each...
Monday, November 23 12:30 p.m.: Stolen – Garmin Map 4000 marine GPS stolen from a boat in the marina. A marina, N. 2nd St, La Conner. 1:15 p.m.: Fraud call – Caller received a call stating that he was being investigated and needed to comply. He called the number back and discovered that phone number was being investigated for fraudulent calls. Caledonia St., La Conner. Tuesday, November 24 5:16 p.m.: Drunk in ditch – Deputies responded to a one car in the ditch, non-injury MVA. Deputies determined the driver had been consuming...
Roasting fennel will caramelize and mellow their flavor. The sweet potato sweetens the dish. The tomatoes round out the dish. The fennel arrived in a winter CSA box from Boldly Grown Farm. A winter CSA box is so appreciated. The nutrition program at the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community distributes just 20 of these boxes every two weeks, to tribal members. I appreciate fresh organic vegetables and incorporate them into our diet frequently. Ingredients Fennel, one bulb Sweet potato, one small Rom...
The sky has always been the limit for Earl Cowan, a licensed pilot who nonetheless started on the ground floor as a patrol officer with the Swinomish Police Department a decade ago. Cowan, 38, a Texas native who grew up in Florida, has since earned his wings with the tribal force, having been named to succeed Lou D’Amelio as chief of police last week. “I am blessed to work for an amazing community and to have a solid, talented group of law enforcement professionals on my team,” Cowan, who has steadily risen through the department’s ranks, told...
The holidays are upon us. Ornaments, stockings and lights are already unpacked and being strung and hung, respectively, on fences and chimney mantles. Records – well CDs – are being played and favorite Christmas books are being read again. As a society we have many traditions and reflect back on a shared culture and history -- or introduce new generations and newcomers to aspects of the past we love. For newspaper editors, the “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” editorial is the all-time, worldwide, most often printed edi...
