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I sent years of the La Conner Weekly News to North Carolina, New Jersey, Arizona, Montana, Tennessee and to multiple locals here and in Anacortes. To neighbors forced to move by rent increases. To a long-time boat-owner, moored here. Oh, even to Olympia. Why? The heart of many articles: individual living experiences of humans, creatures (some pets), ivy killing carbon-sequestering trees, passages of birds recoloring fields, a blue heron shot to death, a home ablaze, flooding. Photographs and basics of elementary, middle and high school students...
The La Conner School Board on Monday endorsed and approved a four-year replacement levy on the Feb. 11 ballot to bridge the gap between state funding and the cost of staff, materials, services and facilities during a briskly paced 40-minute meeting. The proposal seeks $ 4,745,000 starting in 2026, $1.11 per $1,000 assessed valuation, the present tax rate. The levy and contributions from the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community offset a $1 million shortfall between state funding and rising costs in...
Skagit Valley College showed foresight when it envisioned Sarah Cook as a rare two-sport athlete coming out of high school. The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community member and La Conner grad rewarded SVC with a focused 20-20 effort in Skagit's Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball tournament title win over Linn-Benton Community College in Tacoma last month. Cook, a key member of SVC's women's basketball program, delivered 20 kills and 20 digs to help lead the Lady Cardinals to a gritty five-set...
The Dec. 3 planning commission meeting featured coming attractions related to potential redevelopment of La Conner’s former south end industrial area. Commissioners previewed proposed revitalization plans for the four-acre site that will be shared by consultant Tom Beckwith and his team at a public workshop at Maple Hall tonight at 6 p.m. Beckwith guided commissioners through a nearly hour-long presentation on concepts for the once bustling industrial zone. The Moore-Clark fish feed plant with its massive Victorian era warehouse dominated t...
If ever there was a friendly rivalry, it’s the one shared by the La Conner and Lummi Nation boys’ basketball programs. Cousins related through the Edwards family of Swinomish played key roles for both teams in the latest meeting of the non-conference foes, a 63-49 home win by Lummi on Dec. 7. Lummi’s Dyson Edwards, who played middle school hoops at La Conner, led 1B Lummi with 22 points, including three perimeter treys in the second half. His cousin, Jerome Toby Jr., finished with 16 points, 12 coming before intermission. Lummi, which earli...
History is full of mysteries and a good one focuses on a collection of old photographs stored for decades in the attic of a rural La Conner home. Steve Thein, of Landing Road southeast of town, came across the studio-quality black-and-white prints while clearing space to insulate his attic. The photos, judging from hairstyles and clothing fashions they reveal, appear to date from the early to mid-20th century. Some photos are identified only by first name, others not at all. Only a few photos ar...
The clock is running out on “Saving the La Conner News” . . . 3 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week, GONE . . . say it isn’t so! . . . say it isn’t happening!! How shall we learn about town government meetings? School sport events and scores? Maple Hall events? New businesses and our wonderful current ones? Activities of fraternal organizations? Arts events? Emergency management efforts? La Conner redevelopment initiatives? The latest miracles from the Clean Energy Alliance? The vox populi in the Letters to the Editor . . . What’s on at the library a...
Eugene "Gene" R. Marble, 85, of La Conner, passed away peacefully on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Gene was born on May 19, 1939, in Tacoma, to Bud and Sara Marble. At the age of 7, his family relocated to Friday Harbor, where he spent his childhood and graduated from Friday Harbor High School in 1957. He pursued higher education at Gonzaga University and Central Washington University, earning a bachelor's degree in education. During his time at CWU, Gene met and married Joan Hanlon. The couple moved...
The La Conner High School girls' basketball team couldn't rebound from a slow start against 3A Ferndale in the season opener for both clubs at Landy James Gym Nov. 30. The 2B Braves trailed 21-4 after the first quarter and fell behind 28-8 early in the second period before mounting a furious comeback bid that brought the hosts to within 35-32 midway through the third frame. Ferndale closed with a 25-10 run to post a 60-42 victory. Maeve McCormick led La Conner with 19 points, 15 in the second...
The middle school basketball game between La Conner and Conway here last week was emotional. So, too, was a special pre-game ceremony. Before the teams tipped off for what was a seesaw, down to the wire 49-46 La Conner victory, Braves coach Greg Edwards honored his mentor, the late Rich Watkins. "Rich really helped me out my first five years of coaching," Edwards told the large crowd gathered at the middle school gymnasium. "I had great respect for him." A beloved figure at La Conner Schools – h...
Jo Wolfe has a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. The executive director of the Skagit County Historical Museum says that its recent fall party netted the museum about $25,000 – a new high for an event that is just three years old. The new fire detection system, paid for by the raise the paddle segment of last year’s fundraiser, is up and running. When problems are detected, the system alerts Guardian Security, which calls the La Conner fire department, all in a matter of minutes. Visitors and participants in museum-sponsored pro...
La Conner Schools has put its STEAM into student creativity and critical thinking. The district last Wednesday hosted STEAM Night, an interactive and fun event for families to solve puzzles, play games of chance, enjoy dessert treats and experience countless ways of applying classroom lessons to everyday life. STEAM is the acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. Students and staff manned activity-oriented stations so engaging that two hours seemingly passed in the blink of...
Having all five starters return to the La Conner High School girls' basketball team should help the program tackle a tough 2024-25 schedule. "It feels like we've joined the Northwest 1A/2A/3A League this year as we play Ferndale, Mount Vernon, Anacortes, Lakewood, Burlington-Edison, Bellingham and Blaine," La Conner head coach Joe Harper told the Weekly News on Saturday. But Harper sees the tough non-conference slate in positive terms ahead of La Conner's chase for a 2B playoff berth. "I think t...
Despite returning four starters, the La Conner High School boys' basketball team will sport a new look this winter. The Braves will don new home and away jerseys with a tribal motif and red accents, harkening to the 1970s, along with backpacks bearing the player's number and the district's stylish blue thunderbird logo. Second-year head coach Lance Lopez, who guided La Conner to a 16-8 mark and state regional berth last season, said the varsity squad will make its much anticipated fashion...
David Cram pulled down his share of rebounds as a La Conner High basketball player in the 1980s. But perhaps his most impressive rebound has come in the financial arena over the past 15 months. Cram, now the La Conner Schools financial chief and interim superintendent, has overseen a fiscal bounce back resulting in notification from Olympia this week that the district is released from state financial oversight. During the fiscal year Sept. 1, 2023-Aug. 31, 2024, the school system grew its...
The La Conner High School girls' soccer team lost its state tournament match last week. But head coach Maddie Huscher, her staff and players won the hearts of many across Washington. La Conner received much love on Thursday for hitting the road a second time for its playoff venue in Cle Elum. The team's Nov. 13 trip ended abruptly when its bus was struck by a pickup truck on I-405 in Bothell, forcing a 24-hour postponement of La Conner's date with third-seeded Cle Elum-Roslyn. No one on the bus...
Fate served up tough luck for the La Conner High School volleyball team at the Yakima SunDome last week. First, head coach Pam Keller’s charges drew top-seeded Adna in first round state 2B tournament action. Perhaps equally brutal was La Conner libero Addison Keller playing under the weather for Wednesday’s matches with the Pirates and Tri-Cities Prep. Still, La Conner battled. The NW2B/1B runners-up pushed Adna, which arrived in Yakima riding an 18-game winning streak, in a hard-fought opening set. But Adna, which finished 22-3 on the sea...
Praises continue to be sung for Sarah Cook at Skagit Valley College, much like when she was a La Conner H igh School multi-sports star. Cook, an SVC sophomore who has earned Northwest Athletic Conference honors in volleyball and basketball, is receiving more accolades this fall. A 5-foot-9 outside hitter for the Cardinal spikers, Cook was recently named to the 2024 NWAC All-Star team. The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community member has been an integral part of an SVC volleyball squad that...
The polls are closed and Lona Wilbur has cast her ballot. But the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community member and La Conner High School alum will vote a second time for Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's standard bearer. And she'll do so legally. Wilbur has served numerous party roles at the local, state and national levels during a long and fruitful tenure in politics. Now she is Washington state's Second Congressional District elector and will travel to Olympia next month to pledge her...
They're back. The young and resilient La Conner High School volleyball team, twice on the brink of post-season elimination, swept Auburn Adventist and Orcas Island on Nov. 9 to preserve the program's long streak of state tournament appearances. La Conner (15-11) faces top-seeded and undefeated Adna in first-round state 2B action at 11:45 a.m. today (Wednesday) in the Yakima SunDome. La Conner has captured multiple state net crowns, its last in 2022. The Braves are seeded 16th in the 16-team...
The 14th-seeded La Conner High School girls’ soccer team has a tall mountain to climb in this year’s post-season format. And that’s on several levels. Not only have the Braves (5-7-2) drawn No. 3 Cle Elum-Roslyn in first round state playoff action today, but La Conner must play the loser-out match on the Warriors’ home pitch on the east slope of the Cascades. The winner of the contest (5 p.m. Nov. 13) advances to play the victor between No. 11 Adna and No. 6 Mount Vernon Christian with the date and location to be determined. La Conner lost 5-...
Life may be just a bowl of cherries, but Young Life offers a full range of desserts. That was borne out once again during the annual Young Life Dessert fundraiser at La Conner Elementary School Sunday night. The event is held here each November to provide financial support for students who attend Young Life summer camps, an experience master of ceremonies Peter Voorhees, a La Conner High School teacher and coach, described as life changing. Young Life donors filled the elementary school's...
From start to finish, volunteers made this year's Art's Alive a success. They greeted almost 1,800 visitors during the four-day show the last weekend in October, plying them with wine, beer and appetizers, answering questions and ringing up sales. Before and after, they planned the show, hung its art and took it all down again Monday, Oct. 28. In between duties, they admired one another's art. Six of the 10 invitational artists featured on the first floor of Maple Hall and 16 of the 51 artists i...
Janie Beasley didn't need to drive far to be celebrated for choosing the long road in terms of public service. A Swinomish Indian Tribal Community member and La Conner High School alum, Beasley received a 2024 Skagit Women's Alliance Network Lifetime Achievement Award during Oct. 17 ceremonies at the Swinomish Casino & Lodge. SWAN is a nonprofit organization dedicated to recognizing and supporting accomplished women throughout Skagit Valley. Upper Skagit elder Kay Knott, who like Beasley was...
The Kiwanis Club of La Conner has announced the Students of the Month for October. Kenneth Tronsdal is the high school student. His parents are Curt and DeAnne Tronsdal. Kenneth's favorite class is guitar. He's in the drama club and enjoys the group's creativity. He also helps the preschool class on the school campus. Outside of school, Kenneth likes to walk around town enjoying the shops. At home he plays his guitar and writes movies. After graduation, he wants to attend college to get a...
