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Help the La Conner School District in its application for a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant by participating in a planning meeting for shaping the proposal Monday, June 5, 6:30 p.m. at the Braves Club. The district’s application will emphasize implementing school-based and community-based activities that lead to measurable student growth in reading and math, increased engagement, increased well-being and stronger family-school partnerships. This program was established by Congress to award grants to rural and inner-city public s...
La Conner Schools, which is considering installation of a campus garden, knows it cannot plant a money tree to solve the district’s present fiscal crunch. But sometimes unexpected financial windfalls appear seemingly out of nowhere without anyone having gone out on a limb to shake loose the funds. The district has received such a surprise, receiving $258,000 in federal impact aid monies, designed to assist districts with tax-exempt federal property such as military bases or Indian trust lands. The allocation wasn’t anticipated at this tim...
Kim Good Rubenstein spent her early career in Studio City, California where she met top film and TV stars like Marty Feldman. Now it’s Rubenstein’s turn to bask in the limelight. A 1973 La Conner High School graduate, she has been selected as the school’s outstanding alumnus this year in recognition of her work in the hotel and hospitality industry, as a tireless advocate in the special education field and for taking on a host of volunteer duties since coming home to the Skagit Valley, where her forebears were among the area’s pioneer...
A La Conner High School senior is a true lifesaver. Not just once, but twice. Finn Hakenson on separate occasions earlier this month helped two men in distress in Whistle Lake at Mount Erie Park in Anacortes. Both survived thanks in great part to Hakenson's fast thinking and strong swimming skills. The first rescue, on May 12, was the most dramatic. Hakenson was in the lake waiting for his friends and track and field teammates Brenden Kitchen, Isaac Kitchen, Floyd Dent and Flint Huizenga to...
Community journalism has a rich history, but the present business model has its issues. Yet the future of local news coverage across America isn't lacking reasons for optimism. Faced with shrinking advertising revenue that has led to a shedding of reporting, editing and production jobs across the nation, print newspapers are looking at creative strategies to keep the industry alive for the next generation of readers. One promising option, among several suggested during a special forum in Mount...
Frederick William "Ted" Hiller, 96, a long time La Conner resident, died in Mount Vernon on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Ted was born in Norwood, Massachusetts on March 11th, 1927, at the beginning of the Great Depression. Ted learned independence from a very young age, mostly raising himself due to family circumstances. Ted told stories of hitchhiking "the triangle" around Massachusetts for fun before he was even old enough to go to school. In 1937, at the age of 10, he witnessed the Hindenburg's fin...
The La Conner Kiwanis Club High School Student of the Month for April is Yamileth O'Campo Contreras. Yami is a freshman at the La Conner High School. She is the daughter of David and Karen Contreras. Yami is active in school sports playing soccer, basketball and softball. She enjoys her science and math classes. Outside of school Yami enjoys drawing and painting as well as hanging out with friends and family. After graduating she would like to become an interior designer or an artist. The...
La Conner High School golfers nearly left the country to qualify for state competition in the Olympia area this week. Four of its members – Sammy Williams, Gage Tenborg, Abi Udlock and Natalee Koch – emerged from Northwest Tri-District 2B trials at Loomis Trails Golf Course in Blaine with single round scores allowing them to advance to the state tournament at Tumwater Valley Golf Club. Williams carded a 90 to place sixth on the Tri-District boys’ leaderboard. Tenborg was one stroke back, at 91, to clinch seventh place. On the girls’ side, U...
Jamie Damien-Sams, a senior at La Conner High School, was chosen as Soroptimist Honored student for May. Jamie has been a high school cheerleader for three years and recently received the Jamie Joe Cheer Leadership Award for "dedication to cheer squad, education and school spirit." Jamie joins the other cheer squad members supporting basketball and football teams at home and away games. Jamie has played on the LCHS softball team since eighth grade. She started in the outfield and has moved up...
It is a tough choice for the residents of our little town – the citizens of La Conner – to make. The community was given a gift, nearly, when Sybil and Tom Jenson sold the Town of La Conner a half-plus acre of property under Pioneer Park and west of Maple Avenue. Residents now have to discern, discuss and debate the best way to use that sliver of land. The top choices are keeping it as a green space – organized into a community garden, as some are advocating – or building starter homes for first time buyers. This could sprout into a tiny ho...
After battling cancer with a relentlessly positive attitude for over 12 years, James Frank Ritchie, age 75, passed away peacefully on April 29, 2023. Jim was born October 7, 1947, in Denver, Colorado, to Frank G. and Elizabeth J. Ritchie (Young), joining older sister JoAnn (Ritchie) Griffin, five years his senior. The family moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1952, settling in Mount Vernon, WA where Jim spent most of his childhood. When Jim was just 13 years old, his father unexpectedly passed...
La Conner High School’s Tommy Murdock qualified for the 2023 Washington State 2B Track & Field Championships in Yakima May 25-27. Murdock captured top honors in the boys’ Northwest Bi-District 110 and 300-meter hurdles events in Coupeville on Saturday. He leads eight La Conner students into the three-day state trials next week. Murdock ran a 15.45 in the 110s and a 40.07 in the 300s. But that tells only half the story. The junior also secured state berths in the 100 meters, which he won with a 12.53 clocking and as a member of the Bra...
I’m happy to report the Legislature finished the 2023 session with a balanced budget – and excellent transportation and construction budgets that will create jobs in the 10th district and throughout our state. Affordability The price of everything has gone up – especially housing. I know how hard this is on family budgets. It’s also tough on our economy, making the workforce shortage worse when jobs go unfilled because people can’t find housing within commuting distance. This session, the Legis...
Tuesday, May 9 7:24 a.m.: Bung plug undone – An employee found their 2,500 gallon capacity tanker truck drained and in a puddle. They found the bung plug was off the drain valve in the back and the 1/4 turn valve was open. About $8,000 worth of fertilizer was lost. La Conner Whitney/Young Rds., Greater La Conner. 7:41 a.m.: Suspicious mailer – A mail truck delivering mail was mistaken as a suspicious vehicle.Chilberg Rd., Greater La Conner. Wednesday, May 10 6:59 p.m.: Phone found – A phone...
La Conner Schools hosted a ceremony last week that was 50 years in the making. Well, actually, more than that. The impetus for developing Whittaker Field, named for the district's late legendary teacher-coach-administrator Jack Whittaker and formally dedicated during the 1972-73 school year, began with the undefeated 1968 Braves football team. Thus, a dual celebration was there held May 3. Those attending the 45-minute program observed the golden anniversary of Whittaker Field and honored the...
Town officials aren't turning a blind eye to the prospect of peep shows coming to La Conner. That's why, with a six-month moratorium now in place, they're hustling to enact restrictions limiting where adult businesses can operate – at a safe distance from residential areas and the school campus. But finding such a location in a town hemmed in geographically is easier said than done. Industrial zones on the north and south ends of La Conner could be designated for adult businesses. Two sites a...
Tommy Murdock is a state champion who never stops looking to improve. That was again the case at the Stanwood Twilight Invitational Track Meet Friday as the La Conner High School junior set new personal marks while winning his signature events. Murdock captured the 110-meter hurdles in 15.19, edging Peter Wilhite of 1A Lynden by two-tenths of a second and claimed top honors in the 300-meter hurdles with a 39.33 clocking. Murdock on Wednesday had swept both boys' hurdles contests at the NW1B/2B...
All's well that ends well. That sums up the 2023 season for La Conner High School's youthful baseball and softball teams, both wrapping up the campaign with non-league home wins over Muckleshoot Tribal School on Thursday. The Braves, with no seniors this year, finished 5-11 overall and 3-10 in conference action following a 17-6 triumph over Muckleshoot. Braves pitchers Logan Burks and Kenai Zimmerman checked the Kings on three hits and fanned four batters. Brogan Masonholder paced the La Conner...
For 30 years, Suzanne Marble has preached the power of teamwork. Now, ironically, at the end of a remarkable career that has seen her guide La Conner High School volleyball teams to over 550 wins and seven state championships, Marble is collecting a series of individual honors and awards. The most recent was induction last Wednesday into the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Hall of Fame during luncheon ceremonies in Renton. Marble was inducted as part of a 2023 Hall of...
Two La Conner High School seniors have found a recipe for success in the culinary arts program at Northwest Career and Technical Academy . Li Bell and Kristina Hansen gain instruction and train two-and-a-half hours mornings in the academy's combo lecture hall/kitchen and commercial kitchen facility off Laventure Road near the Skagit Valley College campus in Mount Vernon.. The culinary program, taught by former greater La Conner resident Lyle Hildahl, prepares students for careers in restaurants,...
La Conner students stepped up their support for school staff and programs threatened by district budget cuts in a most visible way Monday. About 60 middle and high school students, many of them chanting and carrying signs, walked out of morning classes and marched downtown to make public their concerns with funding shortfalls that will force layoffs and may ax popular course offerings next year. The walkout was organized by high school junior Jack Dougliss, who spoke passionately at the April...
La Conner High School softball and baseball teams continued to post football-type scores against Concrete last week. The Lady Braves (2-14 overall; 2-7 in league) followed up an earlier 35-27 slugfest win at home over Concrete with a 32-27 road victory Thursday to complete a two-game season series sweep of their Skagit County rivals. The Braves (4-10 in all games; 3-9 in NW1B/2B action) followed suit with a 15-11 victory at Concrete. The boys defeated the Lions 14-4 in the teams' first meeting o...
Few can run faster and jump higher than La Conner High School junior Tommy Murdock. Murdock swept the boys' hurdle events at the 115th Skagit County Track and Field Championships at Kirkby Field in Burlington last week, the latest in a string of triumphs this spring for the reigning State 2B titleholder. Murdock claimed the county 110-meter hurdles crown with a 15.77 finish. He captured the Skagit 300-meter hurdles contest by clocking a winning time of 40.10. Murdock, who also placed sixth in...
The League of Women Voters of Skagit County invites the public to a meeting to discuss the future of local journalism and its importance to our democracy Monday, May 15, 6:30-8 p.m. at Mount Vernon High School auditorium, 1075 Fulton Street. The Mount Vernon High School debate team, who will argue the proposition "A thriving democracy is dependent on a local news source." This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring journalists Brier Dudley, Seattle Times Free Press Initiative; Jason...
The impact of budget ax reality fell sharply and heavily upon La Conner Schools Monday night. And it hurt. Projections of declining student enrollment and loss of COVID-19 emergency funding forced the school board to reluctantly agree to cut four faculty positions as part of a $1.5 million cost-saving plan for the 2023-24 academic year. "This is a very sad day for our school district," Board President Susie Deyo lamented near the end of an almost two-hour meeting, much of it public comments...
