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The first pitch of the last season of youth baseball at historic Hedlin’s Ballfield has yet to be thrown, but game plans are already being developed for next year. At least in terms of securing a new sports venue in 2022. Spring practices have begun much as they have this time of year going back decades, but now prospective building lots for a planned new residential development are staked out behind the ballfield’s backstop and parallel to its first base line. These are subtle signs that the nearly two-acre Maple Avenue site is soon to be con...
The Fourth of July will not be the same here anymore. Nor will home basketball games at Landy James Gym. Mike Cladoosby, the avid, longtime Swinomish fisherman and tribal elder who launched the famed Jughead’s Fireworks Stand in the 1970s and whose unyielding support of La Conner High sports teams resulted in a seating section of the school’s gymnasium being designated in his honor, died last Friday surrounded by family members. He was 87. Cladoosby’s “extended” family, of course, is rooted on...
Kel-Kahl-Tsoot was the hereditary chief of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. His great grandfather Kel-Kahl-Tsoot signed the treaty for the Swinomish tribe in 1855. After his passing the name was handed down to the late Henry Cladoosby, Mike’s uncle. After Henry’s passing in 1973 Kel-Kahl-Tsoot was handed down to Mike. Michael John Cladoosby, Sr. entered this world on August 16, 1933, born to Ernest Cladoosby, Sr. from Swinomish and Lena Shelton Cladoosby from Tulalip. He was the 6th chi... Full story
There was plenty of love in the air – and on the ground – over the weekend here. Especially for those smitten with snow, Valentine’s Day and Monday holidays. La Conner area residents awoke Saturday to snow that would become a one-foot blanket, a surprisingly much greater accumulation than was the case that morning upriver closer to the Cascade foothills. At a site five miles south of Anacortes, a volunteer data collector measured 12.8”. The sudden snowstorm inspired galleries of win...
The Swinomish Tribal Senate is pleased to announce its approval of the Tribe’s 2021 voluntary contributions to the La Conner Regional Library, Fire District 13 and La Conner School District. The contributions will be paid from Trust Improvement Use and Occupancy taxes, which the Tribe collects from individual Tribal landowners and owners of homes built on leased Swinomish trust lands. Recognizing the economic challenges faced by some taxpayers from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tribe is also pleased to announce reduction of the 2021 tax rate to $...
Greg Edwards and Bruce James have always been close. It was fitting, then, that the former La Conner High teammates would see their race for a Swinomish Tribal Senate seat decided by a razor thin margin. Edwards edged James 151-146 in balloting Saturday at the Swinomish Tribal Community Social Services. Edwards and James were vying to succeed three-term incumbent Kevin Paul, who had placed third in the tribe’s January primary election. As one would expect, the Edwards-James race was strictly a positive campaign, including their post-election c...
The La Conner School District is promoting a 4-year special levy to be voted upon in February. Special levies are paid for exclusively by local property taxes. In La Conner only a fractional proportion of residents actually pay property taxes, the result of peculiar demographics and highly uneven, unfair tax laws. Tribal members residing on the reservation are strongly encouraged to vote for school levies. They enjoy the benefits but have virtually no tax liability. Under federal laws, they pay no property taxes, no sales taxes, nothing....
Interim superintendent Rich Stewart has been a virtual presence around greater La Conner in recent days. Stewart, who assumed the district helm last July, has given a series of Zoom presentations to the Town Council, Swinomish Tribal Senate and local service organizations and residents, outlining the upcoming La Conner Schools replacement levy proposal. The Feb. 9 ballot measure seeks to collect $1.45 per $1,000 assessed taxable property value, a five-cent decrease from the rate district voters approved in 2019, Stewart explained to Council...
Challengers bested incumbents in Swinomish Tribal Senate primary balloting last Saturday, continuing a trend that has emerged over recent election cycles on the reservation. Candidates Greg Edwards and Bruce James advanced to the tribal community’s Feb. 13 general election, turning back a bid by incumbent Kevin Paul to retain his seat. Edwards polled 142 votes in the contest for Senate Seat 4. James ran a strong second with 123 votes. Paul, a nationally recognized master carver and La Conner Schools staff member, was the choice of 52 voters. I...
It is often said that an ill wind blows no good. That being the case, the storm that blew through here last week was plenty sick. Fierce winds downed trees and power lines, caused major property damage, and left some residents in the La Conner area without electricity for up to four days. Images of the early Wednesday morning storm painted a grim picture. A Ford pickup parked at Jim White’s State Street residence was totaled by a fallen tree. A large Douglas fir blew over near the community k...
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community administered its first 72 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Monday at its medical clinic, with the first doses going to Tribal elders, starting with the eldest elders of the Tribe. Some front-line staff of the Swinomish Medical Clinic also received the vaccine. “We are thankful that we can begin vaccinations to protect those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19,” said Swinomish Chairman Steve Edwards. “We all know that elders everywhere are vulnerable, and that’s especially true in Indian Country...
Her remarkable devotion to others as she worked and traveled was well known to all in the Swinomish and La Conner communities where Darlene Peters grew up. Now the entire country knows, too. Peters was among recent COVID-19 victims whose memories were honored and many contributions saluted during the national PBS NewsHour broadcast Christmas night. “Out of all the COVID-19 deaths each week,” said Peters’ lifelong friend and former Swinomish Indian Tribal Community Senate Chairman Brian Cladoosby, “five are honored and their stories shared....
The Swinomish Tribal Community has gone the extra mile to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Make that 259 miles. Swinomish has joined together administrative office units transported from the Salem, Oregon area that will provide safer and more socially distanced work spaces for tribal employees. A local contractor, Colacurcio Brothers, began installing the units on site at Pioneer Parkway and Moorage Way, just north of the Rainbow Bridge, in November. Project manager Robert Pell has overseen the...
Monday, Dec. 7 3:20 p.m.: Cows in dispute – Deputies responded to a civil issue over livestock that were involved in a dissolving business relationship. Skagit City Rd., Conway. Tuesday, Dec. 8 7:28 a.m.: Stuck truck – Deputies responded to a traffic hazard. Deputies located a box truck partially blocking the roadway. Deputies stood by until the vehicle could be removed. La Conner Whitney /McLean Rds., Greater La Conner. 11:06 a.m.: Spitting, not in wind – Deputies contacted the caller who stated a male walking over the...
Another week, another free issue of the La Conner Weekly News provided to every home in the La Conner school district. This is the third invitation for you to subscribe, but more: to become more engaged with your neighbors and increase your participation in, yes, the school district, which will be asking for your support of a school levy in February. Last week you were invited to watch – virtually – the annual lighting of the Town Christmas tree in Gilkey Square. And Santa wrote to everyone in the community, child and parent alike....
The agreement crafted in the late 1960s paving the way for development of the Shelter Bay residential community on Swinomish Reservation was hailed then as an innovative approach to land leasing. Innovation again appears to be a key factor as the Shelter Bay board of directors and Swinomish Indian Tribal Community officials negotiate terms of a new master lease for 2044, when the current one expires. On Nov. 13 the board forwarded to the Swinomish Tribal Senate “a new and different” master lease proposal than has been discussed in the pas...
It is never too soon to look ahead. To that end, Shelter Bay and Swinomish Tribal Community officials have begun laying the groundwork for the 2023 decennial rent adjustment mechanism built into the two parties’ master lease agreement. In a column penned in October for the community’s newsletter, Shelter Bay Homeowners Association Board President Tom Napier alerted its residents to begin preparing for a new decade-long rent schedule set to take effect in two years. “My intent in relaying this information to you,” Napier wrote, “is that we a...
Monday, November 2 11:04 a.m.: Heart and bank broken – Caller reported that she had been asked by a male that she had met online to deposit a large check he had sent her and in turn purchase several gift cards with the deposit and give him the gift card numbers. The caller found that the check was no good and the money on the gift cards had already been withdrawn. Talbott St., La Conner. 2:17 p.m.: Good deed deputies – Caller requested an occupied vehicle that had been parked in their lot for a couple days be removed. Deputies conta...
Halloween had a different look in La Conner this year and not just because of new costume designs. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and precautions taken to curb spread of the virus forced cancellation of the traditional downtown parade and community party, the hallmarks of La Conner’s traditional Halloween festivities. Neighborhood trick-or-treating was limited, also. But La Conner and Swinomish residents and business owners adapted to the new normal, ensuring that Halloween here would not be a m...
Skagit County voters are on their way to record breaking participation in the 2020 presidential election. With one week to go, the County’s election office had ballots for almost 53% of its registered voters, reported Laura Han, the County’s public information officer. On Oct. 27 elections staff had “signatured checked 29,700 ballots” and had collected approximately 15,000 additional ballots. The elections office staff estimate turnout may be as high as 90% of the 85,159 registered voters....
A plethora of political signs there this election cycle has in the view of many turned the La Conner roundabout into an eyesore. But that is about to change. The roundabout area is getting a well-deserved makeover, the effects of which will be visible long after the polls close and candidate signs come down. Two local businesses and service club members have teamed up to launch a long-term beautification project at the roundabout at the east entrance to town. With the iconic Pioneer Monument,...
Election ballots were mailed today. You received your state voters guide last week. When the ballot come, review your decisions, fill it out and put it in the mail or the elections drop box at the library or on the Swinomish Reservation. Do it by the end of the week, or soon after you have your ballot in hand. Your vote will definitely be counted if you return it to a county drop box and most likely if it is in the U.S. Mail by Oct. 26. Voting early ensures your ballot is delivered by Nov. 23, the last day ballots are counted. and eases the...
I recently read in a brochure from the La Conner School District that the District is providing laptops to those children without. While that is an important and vital step, it is only a first step – as I’m sure the District knows. After all, a laptop does not do a child any good if there’s no internet connection from home. While the District advises that it has a few mobile hotspots to loan, the only other option the District has (and offers at this time) is WiFi from its parking lots. There is, of course, WiFi outside the town’s libra...
The countdown is still on. After having announced in August that it would end its data collection efforts on Sept. 30, the Census Bureau is sprinting to the finish line to complete its constitutional mandate to count all persons living in the U.S. To that end, a Census team staffed an outdoor counting station at The Village Chevron on the Swinomish Reservation for four hours last Wednesday. Led by Census Bureau Partnership Specialist Joshua Fliegel, the team was here to connect with local...
Two weekend searches northwest of La Conner for a woman missing since Sept. 10 were not successful, but family and friends of Laynee Westbrook have not given up hope. “The searches this past weekend did not bring Laynee Westbrook home, but they did get the word out,” said Emily Pepper, Westbrook’s sister-in -law, who helped organize search efforts Saturday and Sunday in the Reservation Road and Lake Erie areas. About 30 volunteers met Saturday at the corner of Reservation Road and SR 20 to la...
