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Ken Stern is moving on from what he calls his "best job ever" to a retirement that will likely involve travel near and far. Stern, after all, rarely ventured beyond what he calls the greater La Conner area during seven-and-a-half years as publisher of the community's weekly newspaper, which came to be defined by his topical, lively and – often by design – controversial editorials. "For seven years," Stern reflected last week, "I've been chained to my desk here in La Conner. I haven't seen anythi...
It was more ho-hum than ho-ho-ho as the La Conner Town Council approved a $7 million 2025 municipal budget during its final meeting of the year. No public comment was offered at a budget hearing, part of the nearly hour-long Dec. 10 agenda at Maple Hall. “People come to the meetings here to talk about things and sometimes it can be fairly trivial,” Town Councilor Ivan Carlson noted wryly, “so I’m surprised that no one is here to speak to the proposed budget.” Mayor Marna Hanneman had a ready explanation. “Either we’re doing a great job,” H...
TOWN OF LA CONNER NOTICE OF SUMMARY ORDINANCE Notice is hereby given that the Town Council of the Town of La Conner, Washington, passed Ordinance No. 1252 at the December 10, 2024 Town Council meeting. A summary of Ordinance No. 1252 is as follows: An Ordinance amending the 2024 Budget. Complete copies of Ordinance No. 1252 are available at La Conner Town Hall, P.O. Box 400, La Conner, WA 98257 Dated this 11th Day of December, 2024. /s/ Maria DeGoede, Town Clerk Published in the La Conner Weekly News, Dec. 18, 2024. TOWN OF LA CONNER NOTICE OF...
LIBRARIES La Conner Swinomish Library. 520 Morris St., La Conner. 360-466-3352. www.laconnerswinomishlibrary.org/events. Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Closed Sundays. Storytime for Children, 11 a.m. Fridays. Tech Help Mondays, 3-5 p.m. Get 30 minutes of one-on-one technical help. Must register. After-school LEGO club, ages 5 and up, 3-4 p.m., second Fridays monthly. Mount Vernon Public Library. 208 W. Kincaid St., Mount Vernon. 360-336-6209, mountver...
Town revenue golden for ’24 The Town of La Conner’s $58,133 in November sales tax receipts raised the year’s total above $600,000, 98.5% of the 2024 budget. As in the past three years, the town will again exceed its sales tax revenue goal after December is reported. Hotel/Motel tax revenues have already beaten the budget by a larger amount in 2024, at $187,102, 33.3% above the $140,400 projection. November’s totals were $20,919, almost 10% above 2023 and the second highest November total ever, same as the month’s sales tax revenues. The same...
The Town of La Conner had a survey for the residents and business\people about the south end (aka transition zone, aka the subarea plan, aka the property in the vicinity of “big blue” and the old Moore Clark building, aka the freezer building. The survey asked for ratings on ideas about various categories. One of the survey categories is “access improvements” (roads, parking and paths). The highest rating possible is 5. “Extend waterfront path to Pioneer Park” received a seriously spectacular rating of 4.36 out of 5. Nothing else even reache...
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...
HEADS UP Town of La Conner public workshop on the use of the Commercial Transition Zone, aka the Moore Clark Area, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11, in Maple Hall, 104 Commercial St. Info: www.townoflaconner.org. Join us again at Pioneer Park as we remove invasive English ivy, 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Dec. 14, rain AND shine. We’ll meet at the top of Fourth Street, near the water tower gate. More info: [email protected]. Holiday origami ornaments with Mike Berry, 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, at Museum of Northwest Art, 121 S. First St. C...
It was a La Conner Town Council meeting that nearly wasn’t. The Nov. 26 session at Maple Hall was almost scuttled due to lack of a quorum among the five-members. Councilmembers Ivan Carlson, Mary Wohleb and Annie Taylor were absent as the 6 p.m. start time approached. Fortunately, Taylor – who Mayor Marna Hanneman said was under the weather – shook off the effects of fatigue and illness and arrived to save the day 10 minutes later. “We’ll try to make this as short as possible,” the mayor stressed, as Taylor took her seat, “so that Annie ca...
SUPERIOR COURT OF WASHINGTON FOR KING COUNTY IN RE THE ESTATES OF DEAN EDWARD MILLER AND KAREN L. MILLER (HUSBAND AND WIFE) DECEASED. NO 24-4-07131-5 SEA NOTICE TO CREDITORS Glen R. Clausing has been appointed as personal representative of these estates. Any person having a claim against the decedent must, before the time the claim would be barred by any otherwise applicable statute of limitations, present the claim in the manner as provided in RCW 11.40.070 by serving on or mailing to the undersigned at the address stated below a copy of the...
HEADS UP Kiwanis Annual Holiday Craft Show, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7, Maple Hall, 104 Commercial St., La Conner. Christmas shop with locals. Ornaments, bags, stickers, jewelry, tablecloths, toys, cards, wall art, cookies and pies for sale. Come early for the Rotary Club Santa Breakfast and stop by the vendors on your way out. Town of La Conner public workshop on the use of the Commercial Transition Zone, aka the Moore Clark Area, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11, in Maple Hall, 104 Commercial St. Info: www.townoflaconner.org. LIBRARIES La...
Jerry George vowed for several months that a draft La Conner Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan would be completed by year's end. The town's Emergency Management Commission approved and sent the 36-page document to the town council at its Nov. 19 meeting. It includes a risk assessment for potential natural disasters and spells out emergency response procedures, operations and communications policies. Ironically, the hour-long session at Maple Hall was held just ahead of a bomb cyclone that...
HEADS UP Kiwanis Annual Holiday Craft Show, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7, Maple Hall, 104 Commercial St., La Conner. Christmas shop with locals. Ornaments, bags, stickers, jewelry, tablecloths, toys, cards, wall art, cookies and pies for sale. Come early for the Rotary Club Santa Breakfast and stop by the vendors on your way out. Town of La Conner public workshop on the use of the Commercial Transition Zone, aka. the Moore Clark Area, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11, in Maple Hall, 104 Commercial St. Info: www.townoflaconner.org. LIBRARIES La...
Like parents or counselors for a 900-member family, Mayor Marna Hanneman, the La Conner Town Council and staff, primarily Town Administrator Scott Thomas and Finance Director Maria DeGoede, are wrestling with short, medium and long term funding needs as they advance the town’s 2025 $8.4 million draft budget. Hanneman reflected on the challenges of the past five years in her Nov. 12 budget message: the COVID-19 “pandemic, flooding, extreme weather events and the highest inflation in half a century.” Hanneman, Thomas and DeGoede discussed the p...
It is budget time again. Across Washington state and throughout the country, governments of towns, cities and countries with fiscal years starting January 1 are going through similar steps of developing their annual operating budgets. Big yawn, right? This is the time of year when newspaper subscribers really learn of – if not realize – the value of their subscriptions. For about $1.15 a week Weekly News readers get the advantage of reading stories by professional journalists summarizing and analyzing their local government’s budget proce...
The shorthanded La Conner Emergency Management Commission, which this year has juggled flood mitigation, neighborhood mapping and the crafting of a community disaster preparedness plan, received a much needed shot in the arm last week. Brianna Wilson, owner of Thrive Direct Health Care, was appointed by town council at its Nov. 12 Maple Hall meeting. A commission vacancy remains, said Mayor Marna Hanneman, who nominated Wilson. The Council unanimously approved Wilson, noting that her medical...
TOWN OF LA CONNER SUMMARY ORDINANCE NO. 1251 Notice is hereby given that the Town Council of the Town of La Conner, Washington, passed Ordinance No. 1251 at the November 12, 2024 Town Council meeting. A summary of Ordinance No. 1251 is as follows: An Ordinance amending the 2024 Budget. Complete copies of Ordinance No. 1251 are available at La Conner Town Hall, P.O. Box 400, La Conner, WA 98257 Dated this 13th Day of November, 2024 /s/____________ Maria DeGoede, Town Clerk Published in the La Conner Weekly News, Nov. 20, 2024. TOWN OF LA CONNER...
HEADS UP Kiwanis Annual Holiday Craft Show 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7, Maple Hall, 104 Commercial St., La Conner. Christmas shop with locals. Ornaments, bags, stickers, jewelry, tablecloths, toys, cards, wall art, cookies and pies for sale. Come early for the Rotary Club Santa Breakfast and stop by the vendors on your way out. LIBRARIES La Conner Swinomish Library. 520 Morris St., La Conner. 360-466-3352. www.laconnerswinomishlibrary.org/events. Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays....
Looking pretty good: La Conner's $65,990 in October sales tax revenue was $387 above 2023's and only $658 below 2022's October record high. These are August's funds, reported by the state's Department of Revenue on a two-month time lag. The $542,101 total for the year is 89% of 2023's estimate. It is almost certain that the town will beat it forecast of $609,181. This is the fourth month in a row that sales tax revenues are above $60,000. When sales tax revenues are high, so is the fire...
Communication was the word that resonated at the Nov. 5 La Conner Emergency Management Commission meeting. Commissioners continued their review of a draft Community Emergency Management Plan, which communicates strategies for dealing with natural disasters and provides a risk analysis of each potential scenario – from earthquakes and flooding to fires and tsunamis. “It’s a work in progress,” commissioner Jerry George called the draft plan, due for approval by the end of the year. Fine tuning the plan has been a priority this year. “We nee...
The La Conner Planning Commission forwarded one recommended comprehensive plan update to the town council but tabled action on another during its Nov. 5 public meeting at Maple Hall. Commissioners were unanimous in advancing updates to the comp plan's transportation element, including language addressing electric vehicle charging stations. The element, reviewed every five years, will eventually include a Transportation Improvement Program schedule. Deferred was a draft parks and recreation...
HEADS UP Northwest Agriculture Safety Day, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, at Maple Hall, 104 Commercial St., La Conner. Register at www.gishab.org/NW-ASD2024. $75 per person, $10 group discount for five or more registrants. Lunch and snacks provided, parking passes available. English and Spanish sessions on: * Blast sprayer calibration and configuration * Tractor safety * Prevent sexual harassment in agriculture * Pesticide labels * Machine guarding/lock out tag out * Developing an effective accident prevention program Presented by...
Local volcanologist Jerry George is doing his best to shake things up in La Conner. In a good way, of course. George, a charter member of the Town's emergency management commission and its immediate past chair, addressed the panel's embrace of neighborhood mapping at the "Meet the Mayor" bi-monthly forum at La Conner Swinomish Library Saturday. Neighborhood mapping developed in Oakland, California after a devastating wildlands fire in the 1990s engulfed hundreds of homes. It provides vital...
TOWN OF LA CONNER NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Town of La Conner will hold two (2) Public Hearings on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, to consider each of the following: 1. 2025 Preliminary Budget. 2. 2025 Property Tax Levy. The Public Hearings will be held during the 6:00 PM regular Town Council Meeting located at 204 Commercial Street (Upper Maple Center). The Public Hearings shall be for the purpose of receiving public comments, written or oral. Written comments are to be submitted to Town Hall or by email to financedi...
HEADS UP Free veterans appreciation dinner, 6-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, at Camano Chapel, 867 W. Camano Drive, Camano Island. Keynote speaker Mary Pilkington will share POW/wartime experiences of her late husband, Col. Fred Pilkington. RSVP to 206-550-4409 or email [email protected]. Indicate your choice of salmon or prime rib. LEND A HAND Pioneer Park ivy removal: Join a volunteer work party to remove invasive English ivy at Pioneer Park, 9-11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 9. Info: [email protected]. LIBRARIES La Conner Swinomish Library. 520...
