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For Toby Walls, losing weight was a moving experience. A dozen years ago, at age 33, he re-connected with a former passion – distance running – and hasn’t looked back since. Or, more precisely, Walls hasn’t looked over his shoulder, having earned a slew of medals from various road races and running events on both coasts. Nor has he looked at his bathroom scale quite the same way. The trim, yet broad-shouldered 45-year-old weighs 60 pounds less than he did in 2006. Walls hasn’t done s...
I can’t buy in Channel Cove but WANT to. As a single senior of 77 years with limited income, and a home in Shelter Bay, I am selling because I can no longer maintain it physically or financially. I am one of many who falls through the cracks in society … Teaching art at Senior Centers and drawing Social Security puts me just above poverty line but not enough income for rentals or sales that are affordable. As a resident of La Conner for fourteen years, and a contributing citizen, teaching art, docent-ing and volunteering at MoNA, I would...
Danny Hagen stays in shape the old-fashioned way. The 6’-6”, 255-pound La Conner High assistant basketball coach is no stranger to the gym, but his workouts this time of year are done without benefit of the modern sports equipment found in health clubs and fitness centers. That’s by design. Hagen opts instead to break a sweat each spring and summer with heavy stones, large poles and hefty hay bales. In a way, he was born to exercise that way. Hagen reconnects with his Celtic heritage by compe...
La Conner bared its soul during Fourth of July festivities here on Thursday. Make that Souls. A string of Kia Souls, the hip boxy car designed for millennials, was among the highlights of a colorful, briskly-paced 15-minute downtown Independence Day Parade, which set in motion a full-day local celebration of America’s 243rd birthday. One of the Souls carried the company’s popular mascot – a hamster said to symbolize Kia’s goal of delivering motorists from the humdrum of life on an exerc...
Lillian Cushner Steinberg passed away peacefully on June 15, 2019, one week shy of her 92nd birthday. She was a well-known watercolor artist in La Conner, Washington, who exhibited her paintings at several local galleries, including Art in a Picklebarn at several annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festivals. She and her husband, Maynard Steinberg, lived in Shelter Bay, La Conner in their retirement. Some years after his death, Lillian moved to Portland Oregon to be near her youngest daughter, Emily Orth, her son-in-law Alan Orth, and grandson Benjamin...
The format remains the same, but La Conner’s honoring America’s birthday never gets old. The town will again be scene of a full slate of Fourth of July festivities, starting with a 12 p.m. patriotic parade down First Street followed by children’s and family events at Pioneer Park. Join in the traditional afternoon holiday fun including three-legged races, a hot dog feed and watermelon-eating contest. And at that point the party’s just getting started. A beer and wine garden and food vendors...
Forrest Eisen Jr. was born June 26, 1942 in Mount Vernon, Washington to Anita and Forrest Eisen Sr. He attended grade and high school in La Conner until his senior year. He joined the Army in 1961 and was medically discharged due to a shrapnel injury losing his left eye. He later moved to Oregon and worked in the logging industry. Later he moved to Bremerton. He attended an apprenticeship at the naval shipyard as an electrician. He worked 29+ years, then retired in 1989. Boating, fishing, camping, working in his yard kept him busy. He also...
Yet another chapter in the saga unfolded Saturday. More than $50,000 was added to the cause during the annual A Novel Affair luncheon and auction at Maple Hall keynoted by best-selling Seattle author Robert Dugoni. Support from the sold-out event, which filled the downtown venue to capacity, came on the heels of a recent $720,000 allocation by state lawmakers toward the $3.74 million project, designed to provide La Conner library users expanded floor space and services for all ages. For the...
On May 30, 2019, Barbara Vogland Stockwell of Shelter Bay completed all the chapters in her book of life. Born November 7, 1939 to Henry & Lillian Vogland in Portland, OR. Barbara married Jon Nelson in 1959 having two children, Julie (1963) & Robert (1965). Divorced in 1974 Barbara and her children traveled and moved several times before moving to La Conner in 1979. Through those years Barbara was a secretary, marketer for independent businesses, sold wood stoves, remodeled houses, realtor, took properties through the purchase, permit process...
An era ends at year’s end when Roy Horn retires as Skagit County Fire District 13’s fire chief. The District’s Commissioners accepted his resignation Thursday at the end of their monthly meeting. Horn has been chief for 17 years. He created the largest volunteer fire department in Skagit County, with a 2019 budget of $803,000. The District’s 2003 budget was $321,000. This is the third year in a row Horn has offered to retire. “It is time. It is time for new blood,” he told the Weekly News...
I would like to invite anyone with the energy and smarts to file for local offices in La Conner. I would do it, but I am too old. The County Auditor is taking applications until 4:30 p.m. Friday. There is a $36 filing fee. We have two council positions open, those of Jacques Brunisholz and Mary Wohleb. The mayor’s position is also open. Here are some issues that have been overlooked but need some attention. Maybe one of them interests you. Taxes. I believe that, when a county taxing district disappears, the taxes that it used to collect should...
To Our Respected Shelter Bay Customers: The Town of La Conner is pleased to announce that the installation of the Town’s Phase 1 water main replacement project, which extends from Young Road to Mclean Road, has been successfully completed. The size of the line was determined by our engineer and will supply sufficient quantities of water to meet the needs of the Town and Shelter Bay. Phase 2 of the water main replacement, extending from Mclean Road to the La Conner roundabout, is not anticipated to be necessary for approximately 10 years. P...
However the Big One comes: earthquake, tsunami or volcanic eruption, we won’t be ready and we can’t outrun it. It may be in five days or five decades away, but geography and history proclaim its certainty. That was retired geology professor Gene Kiver’s matter of fact assessment, made Saturday at the “Anacortes Disaster Preparedness Expo: The Really Big One and You.” Kiver’s 50 minute presentation included slides illustrating fault lines in the eastern Pacific Ocean and magma flowing in...
I am concerned with the future of our community, especially in regard to sea level rise. Given the science regarding climate change it seems likely that in as few as 100 years sea levels will have risen around 3 ft at a minimum and it is my understanding that those estimates are now considered to be conservative. This will result in a considerable challenge to keep not only La Conner from flooding, but the entirety of Skagit Valley. I remember a day in the mid 80’s when the barometric pressure was very low and tides were very high when I was t...
Donald Richard Henkle passed away peacefully at age 90 in La Conner, WA on April 6, 2019 after an eight year battle with multiple myeloma. Don was born in Auburn, WA and grew up in Seattle with his parents, Tolly Henkle and Marion (Hostetter) Henkle. He attended Seattle’s Fairview Grade School, John Marshal Junior High School, Roosevelt High School (class of 1946) and graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Business Administration in 1950. During high school, Don played the trumpet in the dance band “Gentlemen of Rhythm” and w...
Jan Franklin Young, 73, a resident of the Shelter Bay community in La Conner, passed away at his home on March 22, 2019. Jan was born on January 2, 1946 in Great Falls, Montana, the son of Jess & Louise (Quinlan) Young. He was raised and attended school in Great Falls, graduating from Great Falls High School with the class of 1964. He joined the Naval Reserves in 1963. He then attended Montana State University until he was called to active duty with the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, serving one year in Vietnam and one year on a ship in...
Skagit Valley citizens wanting the Mueller Report released to the public gathered on the steps of the County Courthouse in Mount Vernon on Thursday. Indivisible Skagit organized the rally. Signs included “We Paid for It” and “Let us read the damn report.” Sue Bloomfield organized the event. She wants U.S. Attorney General William Barr to release the unredacted report to Congress, the House Judiciary Committee and the public. Deb Hubenthal and her husband Graham came from south Conway to join th...
Kenneth Ray Taylor, 71, gained his wings on March 18, 2019, when he passed of natural causes at home. He was born in Ellensburg, WA to Kenneth R. Taylor and Bettie (Reed) Taylor on December 2, 1947. After moving back to Skagit Valley, Ken attended Mount Vernon schools, participated in HS wrestling and band, and graduated in 1966. He attended SVC, began his career in precast concrete, loved duck hunting on the flats and played bass guitar and sang backup in several local rock bands; LITTLE DICKIE AND THE DELEGATES, THE UNDERTAKERS, and THE...
Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, shared coffee and conversation with 40-plus people at the Civic Garden Club Saturday. He started with a summary of Congressional and House of Representatives accomplishments, touting a Land and Water Conservation bill authorizing permanent funding that is awaiting President Trump’s signature. The House has passed two pieces of legislation on gun violence and voted to terminate the national emergency Trump declared Feb. 15. These measures becoming law is uncertain. H...
Collection of taxes was $1,928,815 from Shelter Bay and Pull & Be Damned this year. The levy rate of $12.3500 per thousand is higher than the levy rate in the county’s tax area 1580, which, before the Great Wolf decision, used to include these two areas. That levy rate is $11.4983. In previous years the Swinomish always used the same levy rate. The Tribe contributes $660,000 to the La Conner School District. Using the levy rates from area 1580, the Swinomish will contribute $141,000 for Fire District 13, $25,764 for the La Conner Library, a...
This is my response to Chairman Cladoosby’s and Superintendent Meissner’s “levy facts” statement in the Feb. 13 Weekly News. McCleary Fix: The Legislature increased the state property tax to “fully fund basic education”. It also capped the permissible levy tax rate and restricted levy monies to non-salary expenditures. Last August teachers in many school districts around the state, including La Conner, threatened to strike at the behest of their union, demanding substantial salary increases drawn on McCleary funding. Analysts and news editor...
It’s official: The La Conner School District replacement educational programs and operations levy’s approval was certified Feb. 22 by Skagit County. The final vote count was 1,135 to 487. The 70 percent yes vote was the highest ratio of the three county school districts approving replacement levies. The 1.5 mill levy will raise some $874,000 annually in 2020 and 2021. It is a reduction of almost one dollar of assessed valuation. It is not a new tax but replaces the expiring two year levy. Interestingly, the La Conner precinct’s 65 percent appro...
“Happy Birthday” wasn’t the only song sung during Sybil East’s party in Shelter Bay on Saturday. Those gathered in Dallas and Nancy Burlison’s living room heard the guest of honor sing several tunes, including “You Are My Sunshine,” “Amazing Grace,” and “A Long Way to Tipperary.” The latter melody dates to World War I, which had begun a mere six months before Sybil’s birth in rural Illinois. Sybil, who was born Feb. 18, 1915 – the mid-point of Woodrow Wilson’s first term in the White H...
The three points raised in Bruce Elliott’s letter are incomplete to say the least. Please allow the La Conner School District (LCSD) and the Swinomish Tribe to jointly set the record straight. State funding does not fully support LCSD’s budgetary obligations With regard to the “McCleary Fix,” the state has made significant progress toward meeting its legal duty to fully fund basic education. Paying teachers a living wage is unquestionably a part of funding basic education. In addition, school districts are required to provide – and pay...
As snow piled up in La Conner, so did meeting agendas. A rare extended winter storm, which blanketed the local area with an estimated eight inches of white, led both La Conner Schools and the Town of La Conner to shelve regularly scheduled meetings this week. La Conner Schools cancelled budget and board of directors planning meetings Monday, plus that night’s Tri-District ‘B’ basketball game between the Lady Braves and Orcas. Campus classes were nixed on Monday and Tuesday, the latter cance...
