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'TIS THE SEASON FOR SINGING, AND SWINGING, TOO – Friday and Saturday the Shelter Bay Chorus (top) performed their annual holiday chorus at their community's clubhouse. The 31 member chorus sang 13 songs to the theme of "Peace on Earth." Last Wednesday the La Conner Schools middle and high school choruses and band played to a full auditorium of family, friends, teachers and fellow students. Music Director McKenzie Clark led the middle school symphonic band, above. They played selections from t...
What recession? Not in La Conner last weekend. A slew of activities started the holiday festivities – and the season's spending. The Christmas season began 6:30 p.m. Friday night, when all doors opened at the newly-built La Conner Swinomish Library, letting in a crowd of waiting bidders for the Tiny Tree auction. At 6:45, after remarks from Susan Macek, La Conner Library Foundation director, and library Director Jean Markert, one "Let the auction begin!" sent the audience to the bidding tables....
Shelter Bay resident Roberta Fontenot did not fair well in the preliminary injunction hearing she brought against the officers of the Shelter Bay Community board of directors in Skagit County Superior Court last Friday. While Judge Laura Riquelme permitted Fontenot to withdraw without prejudice her motion seeking an injunction against Elaine Dixon, Monte Hicks, Louise Kari and Wendy Poulton for breach of fiduciary duty, that seemed to be the only moment of the hearing that went the lawyer's...
Last week was quite the start of holiday activities throughout the Skagit Valley. From Friday evening’s Tiny Tree silent auction at the La Conner Swinomish Library through a myriad of events Saturday in La Conner and holiday markets Sunday at the Vinery next to Christianson’s Nursery and at the La Conner Pub and Eatery, people were out and about, shopping and singing – a lot of singing. Did you know that the La Conner Schools volunteer students from the middle and high school music program played on Gilkey Square at 1 p.m. Saturday? Did you s...
By Aven Wright-McIntosh Shelter Bay residents had the opportunity to learn about their community's "complicated and unique history" last Tuesday night in the first in a series of new "Know Your Community" classes. Longtime resident, past board member and author Don Newby used photos, maps and archived materials to highlight key historical benchmarks in the first hour and addressed components of the homeowners' association (HOA) in the second to an audience of 40 onsite at the clubhouse and 90...
Bob was born February 29, 1944, in Detroit, MI to his parents, Marion Brenniman Rosso and William Rosso. The family moved west to Lake Oswego, OR in 1950, and Bob began the life he was proud of. He was a star football player at Lake Oswego HS, and then went on to work his way through the University of Oregon by working with the Bureau of Public Roads, who helped him get his BS in Business and Marketing. He then went to work for Georgia Pacific Corporation where he remained for 30 years, and was... Full story
Some attending the late November Shelter Bay town hall forum were surprised to learn the community has retained $10,000 per month consultants for more than two years to negotiate a new master lease with the Swinomish Tribal Community. Few, if any, should be surprised now, given the release by those consultants, Dr. Wil James and Ava Goodman, of the first two in a series of educational videos addressing key Shelter Bay topics, including the lease due to expire in 2044 and rent adjustments...
The Shelter Bay Chorus presents their winter concert, “Peace on Earth” this weekend, Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. at the Shelter Bay Clubhouse 1000 Shoshone Drive, La Conner. The suggested donation is $10 and masks are required. The following weekend is the Skagit Valley Chorale winter concert, “Heralding Christmas,” Saturday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. in McIntyre Hall. Purchase tickets online at mcintyrehall.org....
The officers of the Shelter Bay Community board of directors have a hearing in Skagit County Superior Court Friday to contest a preliminary injunction imposing a restraining order against them. The court ordered the hearing when plaintiffs Roberta and Wesley Fontenot filed a motion Nov. 16 against defendants Wendy Poulton, Monte Hicks, Louise Kari and staff they direct. The Fontenots asked for an emergency restraining order, concerned over the safety of funds in Shelter Bay accounts. They asked...
Happy holiday season! Along with lights, trees and lawn displays comes this more recent tradition: the annual La Conner Weekly News subscription drive. These next three weeks your community newspaper will be delivered to every address in our local school district. Friends, neighbors and relatives of subscribers are invited to join the close to 900 households in greater La Conner who have decided that they are better off – and the community itself benefits – by their investment in their subscription to their local newspaper. This is their – y...
Topics related to litigation against Shelter Bay board members could not be discussed, but there was still plenty to talk about during the second in a series of Shelter Bay town hall forums at the community clubhouse Sunday night. The scheduled one-hour session lasted 90 minutes as a large gathering – though somewhat smaller than the standing room only crowd that last month's meeting – waded through several subjects, most notably increased HOA (homeowners' association) fees and the status of...
Dear La Connerites, I want to thank everyone who was concerned about me and trying to help me find a home. This is my community and I did not want to leave here. Thanks to my family, who are helping me buy a house in Shelter Bay. It is a safe place to be and close to my work. Now I can continue giving people touch and helping people have better health along with bringing color into their lives through plants. Thank you to all of you who have supported me through the years. May the holiday season bring you all much joy. Joanne Mitchelle La...
The new Skagit County Assessor is assessing his recent successful election campaign. Danny Hagen, running as an independent, parlayed a series of public forums into a comfortable 57-43 per cent electoral victory over GOP candidate Karie Storle earlier this month. He is a former Shelter Bay resident and past member of the La Conner High basketball coaching staff. Hagen's ability to break down the complexities of managing the assessor's office into language easily grasped by voters won him support...
Fire District 13 Commission Chair Bruce Shellhamer traveled over 300 miles to discover his department shares the same operational challenges with similar fire districts. “We’re not alone when it comes to staffing issues,” said Shellhamer, told commissioners at their Nov. 10 monthly meeting, providing highlights from October’s annual Washington Fire Commissioners Association conference in Spokane. District 13 has lost personnel to what Fire Chief Wood Weiss calls “career departments” that pay full salaries and benefits. “All (volunteer an...
After two days of counting ballots in Skagit County and districtwide for state legislative district 10, November election results are similar to August, with the same candidates headed toward the offices they seek. Danny Hagen is handily winning his race for Skagit County Assessor, replacing his boss, Dave Thomas, who is retiring. The Shelter Bay resident, running as an independent, leads Republican Karie Storle by almost 3,700 ballots and over 15 percentage points after votes were tallied daily Nov. 8-9. In other contested county races. County... Full story
When Rick Tanner ends his Shelter Bay general manager job, he is taking with him a libel lawsuit Shelter Bay Community board member Judy Kontos filed in Skagit County's small claims court Friday. Kontos, as an individual, is suing Tanner personally for the maximum $10,000 allowed in small claims court for statements he wrote in his Oct. 28 resignation letter. The case is filed in Skagit County District Court Elected to the board in May, Kontos is not named, but Tanner wrote: "Some new members...
Their business is a throwback many wish could go on forever. But, alas, all good things must come to an end. Jon and Linda Peterson's much celebrated Plug Ugly store of vintage fishing gear and one-of-a-kind collectibles for over three decades, is closing at the end of November. Its many loyal customers, near and far, are chagrined. For Jon Peterson, the time just seems right to retire – again. Peterson served various roles in the Seattle Police Department, including motorcycle and bomb squad d...
It was a dark and stormy Sunday night, but Monday at noon the breeze abated and the clouds lifted just before La Conner's school children took to First Street for the annual Halloween Parade. They were safe, for once again La Conner Hook & Ladder – many of them parents of school aged children – blocked First Street to traffic In typical La Conner fashion, it was an all-in, all-ages costume ball, with toddlers and elders alike dressed as scary, strange, other worldly, puffed up and cute. And the...
Shelter Bay residents now have a lot more to talk about on social media or in person. Rick Tanner, hired as the community’s general manager in March, submitted a sharply critical resignation letter to Wendy Poulton, the association's president, Friday, Oct. 28. The animosity between incumbent board members and the three elected in May is apparent in the letter, which he concludes with: “a faction is going to continue to prevent the board from making decisions on critical issues. I cannot con...
The Shelter Bay board of directors would not discuss with its community its exploration of ending its water supply contract with the Town of La Conner to switch to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, said Gary Ladd, facilitating the evening as a member of the board of directors at the Shelter Bay town hall meeting Oct. 22. But can the Shelter Bay board break the agreement with the Town? The 2011 agreement between them states: “This contract shall remain in force in perpetuity or until such da...
In researching the 2018 water dispute between Shelter Bay and the Town of La Conner in the Weekly News, searching for “perpetuity” turns up articles from that winter, including an editorial. Perpetuity is a word not often used. The 2011 agreement between the institutions states: “This contract shall remain in force in perpetuity or until such date as the parties hereto shall mutually agree to terminate it.” Rather than write a new editorial, here is the March 2018 one, revised to edit out the now-past train wreck between the board of the Mus...
Two years ago when gas was $2 a gallon and the booming stock market was filling millions of retirement portfolios the voters voted in a Democratic president and in both chambers of Congress. Now, because of restrictions Democrats imposed to end our energy independence, gas prices have surged to as much as $6 a gallon in some states and uncontrolled spending and giveaways to buy votes have increased inflation to record highs. The only method the Federal Reserve has to attempt to counter the free money is to raise interest rates. Those increases...
Smaller government. Less taxes. More personal freedom. Personal accountability. Slowing illegal immigration at our southern border. Less government intrusion in our lives. Less government spending. Less “woke”’ nonsense. Fewer restrictions on our enumerated rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, in particular the First and Second Amendments. Keeping socialism in check. This is a Constitutional republic, not a mob rule democracy. Remember this when you vote. The more government can do for you, the more it can do to you. Vote Repub...
Four members of a Shelter Bay Community board of directors that has been intensely criticized for more than two years may be headed to court. During a board committee meeting Oct. 13, resident Roberta Fontenot, an attorney, had a process server present Elaine Dixon, Monte Hicks, Louise Kari and Wendy Poulton with a claim for damages against them as individual board members. These complaints had not been filed in Skagit County Superior Court as of Monday morning, Oct. 24. General Manger Rick Tanner and legal counsel Philip Buri and two former...
Voting rights, civil rights, freedom of choice. Indigenous rights, gender rights, equal rights. Free and fair elections, political accountability, rule of law. Jobs, infrastructure, middle-class economic strength. Climate action, natural disaster funds, science. Affordable health care, caps on insulin, tackle Big Pharma. Sensible gun laws, broad law enforcement training, justice. Separation of church and state, bolster public education, fight censorship. NATO, balanced immigration, geopolitical awareness. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid....
