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Monday, November 22 4:17 p.m.: Horse sense – Caller believed the horses at the polo farm are being fed moldy hay and a shelter. A deputy responded and observed dry hay stored behind the barn. La Conner Whitney Rd., La Conner. Tuesday, November 23 4:51 p.m.: Close call – Two car, non-injury accident. One driver was eight months pregnant. La Conner Whitney Rd., La Conner. 10:30 p.m.: Got one – While patrolling the Padilla Bay trail parking area, deputies located a suspicious vehicle. Deputies discovered the vehicle was stolen...
The superintendent of the La Conner School District met with the tax committee of the Swinomish Tribe last Thursday. He asked for $500,000 for the general fund and $100,000 for the capital fund. He also presented a list of projects for funding. He did not ask for a contribution toward the $1,348,499 debt service fund. This is the fund that pays the bond that financed the middle school. Roughly 34% of the students are Native American. The Tribe’s fair share for debt service would be $458,490. There are 2,295 non-Indian taxpayers in the d...
There wasn’t a shaky response to earthquake preparation drills here last month. Far from it, in fact, Fire District 13 Capt. Ted Taylor told fire district commissioners at their monthly hybrid meeting Friday, Nov. 11. The annual Great ShakeOut exercises Oct. 21 went according to plan and in some cases exceeded expectations. He said district personnel were able to roll emergency equipment and vehicles out of the Snee Oosh Road station in under three minutes, raising some bay doors electrically and others manually, a task that would be e...
Gary died suddenly at his home in Shelter Bay. In his early years he served in the Coast Guard and then worked for United Airlines in Operations until retirement. It was while with United Airlines that he met his second wife “D”, who managed the airport at night. They were married over 25 years. Gary participated in La Conner with a group for spouses of dementia partners for a number of years. This was a great support for him. Also, Gary was a regular on Wednesday nights at The La Conner Tav...
The avowed primary duty of the president of the United States is to protect and defend the Constitution and the country at large from all threats. The President swears an oath with his hand on the Bible that he will carry this out. It should be patently obvious to anyone by now that the current occupant of the White House is completely ignoring his sworn duty in most things but in particular as regards defending our borders. Since Biden took office, record numbers, in the hundreds of thousands of undocumented people from at least 160 countries...
Bill Bruch is working full time. He is out and about working for the common good of his community and beyond. No time to play hide and seek! Hard work and common sense bodes well for all in this time of turmoil. Bobbi Butterworth Shelter Bay...
With the challenges of last year, memorial services for Anita Hilde Lang, a Shelter Bay / La Conner resident since 1977 and long-time realtor, were delayed. Anita passed peacefully Nov. 22, 2020, and her memorial service will be held Nov. 6, 2021, at 3:00 pm at the North Cascade SDA Church in Burlington, Wash. To watch Anita’s memorial online, visit vimeo.com/637993164. We welcome thoughts and remembrances of Anita at https://www.lemleychapel.com/memorials/anita-lang/....
With the challenges of last year, memorial services for Anita Hilde Lang, a Shelter Bay/La Conner resident since 1977 and long-time realtor, were delayed. Anita passed peacefully Nov. 22, 2020, and her memorial service will be held Nov. 6, 2021, at 2:30pm at the North Cascade SDA Church in Burlington, Wash. We welcome thoughts and remembrances of her at https://www.lemleychapel.com/memorials/anita-lang/...
There was little earth-shattering on the Fire District 13 Commissioners meeting agenda last Friday, but the department will drill next week to prepare for a quake or tsunami. Capt. Ted Taylor told commissioners that staff will participate in the Oct. 21 Great Shake Out event to prepare the public for safe and orderly responses to major earthquakes, with La Conner area emergency sirens sounding at 10:21 a.m.. Taylor said District 13 personnel will focus on quick mobilization of emergency equipment. “Our challenge,” he said, “will be to get a...
A modern trend is the vehicle helping drive a Shelter Bay couple’s deeply rooted interest in genealogy. Garry and Zayna Cline, who formerly owned The Seabird Shop candy and ice cream store on First Street, are again living the sweet life, having joined the growing ranks of recreational vehicle enthusiasts traveling America’s highways and back roads, often while on the trail of clues related to their family histories. The Clines, longtime RVers, recently purchased a Jayco travel trailer they use while visiting museums, libraries and locales whe...
La Conner was once again on the map last Saturday, this time as the site of a Rally for Abortion Justice, one of over 600 taking place nationally Oct. 2, with the major gathering in Washington, D.C. The Women’s March website map location was submitted by Shelter Bay resident Deana Rindy and the date listed on local social media and in the Weekly News. Saturday’s La Conner march gathered over 20 people at handmade. La Conner on First Street at 1:30 p.m. Some brought signs, others made signs whi...
I totally agree with contributor Doreen Sadler’s point that it was definitely time for the U.S. to withdraw from Afghanistan. However, to gloss-over the stunningly poor execution of that withdrawal and the perverse political dynamics that drove it is a huge disservice to all Americans, particularly those of us who are Afghan war veterans and those who lost loved ones there. In a 27-year career as a pilot in the Air Force Special Operations community I spent a lot of time fighting in Afghanistan, as well as leading organizations that sent a l...
It’s often said that crime doesn’t take a holiday. That was certainly the case locally as Swinomish Tribal Police received reports of 10 vehicle prowls in Shelter Bay over the Labor Day weekend. “From reviewing the reports,” Swinomish Police Chief Earl Cowan told the Weekly News Sept. 7, “it appears that every case involved a vehicle that had been left unlocked overnight.” Cowan said Swinomish Police encourage everyone to lock their vehicles and remove any valuables for the night. “Or at least,” added Cowan, “hide them out of sight so they are...
Just a note of appreciation and admiration of Craig Barber’s photos of the harvesting workers printed in the La Conner Weekly News of September 1. They are beautiful and respectfully recorded. Often photos of workers are shot well-meaning to respect privacy, but are instead mediocre, sacrificing the soul of the moment to preserve identity. Barber’s photos in this case are reminiscent of a Thomas Hart Benton painting: an homage to the working force. If you haven’t seen them, it is worth your time to take a look on line. I look forward to more...
In response to a letter sent to the La Conner Weekly News Sept. 1, it occurs to me that our political positions may have become too staunch. (Defined - loyal and committed in attitude.) Reading Mr. Hageman’s letter one can see he places himself and the editor of the paper squarely at opposite poles. A committed Republican vs. a committed Democrat. I would suggest that neither is true. For each of James Dobson’s remarks one could attribute the words following “more” to a staunch Democrat and, likewise, the words following “less” to a staunch R...
Ashley Watkins began the Labor Day weekend working her first job after college graduation. The 2017 La Conner High grad didn’t want nor need holiday time off, though, having chosen a career field where times out are a standard part of the gig. Watkins has started her first season as assistant director of football operations at Washington State University and was on the clock in Pullman for the Cougars’ Sept. 4 non-conference home opener with Utah State. Her family – Watkins’ biggest fans...
There was a time, in the late 1980s, when famed actor Danny DeVito and a production crew scouted La Conner as a setting for the dark comedy film “War of the Roses,” an eventual Golden Globe nominee for Best Motion Picture. Alas, the Hollywood suits chose Coupeville – often a high school sports rival of La Conner – for the film shoot. But fast forward more than three decades to last weekend and the sweltering San Joaquin Valley city of McFarland, California, which did land a mov...
Like La Conner, the remote town of Skagway, Alaska, depends on tourists. Unlike La Conner, those tourists come on cruise ships – descending in May and vanishing in September, leaving just 1,200 residents to soldier on until spring. After one too many Skagway winters, Jim Thompson and partner Lisa Sentle pulled up stakes for La Conner last summer. The business they brought with them, Kirmse’s Antiques, they reopened at 501 S. 1st St., evoking southeast Alaska and the Klondike Gold Rush. Nam...
A new dog is greeting visitors entering La Conner. Rowdy Dog Antique Lighting, in the Tillinghast building at Morris and Maple, is one of a dozen businesses to open in town since last fall. It’s also one of two businesses that trace their roots to Mary Davis Lighting. “I knew Tom before Tom knew Mary,” said co-owner Paul Shong of Davis and her late partner Tom Minfie. A retired welder-mechanic, he often helped Davis and Minifie with tricky restoration assignments. He can repair Tiffany-style lamps using his extensive collection of vinta...
While at the Skagit County Fair last week, I did a double take when I walked by a booth staffed by Skagit County Republicans. Two over-sized signs dominated their red, white and blue themed booth; you couldn’t miss them if you tried. The first read: “Rural Americans Against Communism.” What? Just rural Americans? What about suburban Americans? Urban Americans? All Americans? It’s inarguable that Americans of every political stripe, race, gender, ethnicity and religious affiliation stand against communism; this is not a partisan issue in a de...
Concerned letter writers are again sharing both frustrations and hopes for involvement and for influencing decision making in the La Conner community. Are residents adequately informed by government staff and elected officials? Are citizens brought into discussions, with information shared? Is there a robust give and take and a chance to shape plans or are projects presented as done deals with all the heavy lifting, or not, done by their elected council representatives? A huge opportunity was missed last year to have a community conversation...
Viola Jo Caldwell, resident of the Skagit Valley died in Burlington, WA on Tuesday, July 13, 2022, after reaching the age of 100 years. She was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas where she later attended Secretarial Business College. Jo met her husband, Wallace, when he was briefly stationed at Fort Worth after serving as a fighter pilot in WWII. Shortly after, they married and moved to Whidbey Island where they started a family. Other homes included: Walla Walla, Pasco, Wenatchee, and...
On Friday, November 13, 2020, Marilyn Alice Frey, loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend, passed away peacefully of natural causes at age 87. She was a resident of Serenity Assisted Living in Bellevue, Washington Marilyn was born on April 30, 1933, on San Juan Island to Roy and Mary Gresli. After graduating from Friday Harbor High School, Marilyn attended Western Washington State College (now WWU) in Bellingham, Washington, where she met her future husband, Stanley Frey. Married on...
On the basketball court in high school and college, Danny Hagen would be called upon to block shots. Today one of the Shelter Bay man’s callings is to make sure the disabled get a fair shot at fully participating in community life. Hagen, a residential appraiser with the Skagit County Assessor’s Office, last week joined the Chinook Enterprises board of directors. Chinook Enterprises provides job training, employment assistance and related services for people with disabilities or facing oth...
For five years, the Diaper Bank of Skagit County has been their baby. Now Shelter Bay residents Calista and Dean Scott have adopted it out to be part of the United Way family. All parties are happy with the new arrangement. “We’re very pleased an organization like United Way of Skagit County saw the value to keep it going,” Dean Scott told the Weekly News June 28, the day before formally turning the rapidly growing diaper bank over to a nonprofit network known for investing in a wide range of community needs. At its inception, the Scotts distr...
