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The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community’s leadership wants to amend the tribe’s constitution so that its actions will no longer be subject to approval by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. The tribe has not responded to this newspaper’s requests to elaborate on its plan. Stan Speaks, the regional director for the Pacific Northwest Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs said, “That situation has not been admitted or approved. We will be meeting with the tribe in the very near future to discuss the issue.” In the meantime, he would not say a...
Residents of the Channel Drive neighborhood north of La Conner submitted a petition with more than 100 signatures of voters who want to withdraw from Fire District 13. Dave Buchan, Dennis Milliken and Martin Howard delivered the petition to Elections Supervisor Dave Cunningham in the Skagit County Auditors office on Monday. The Elections Department has 10 days to check the signatures and make sure the petition is in order. In March, the county rejected a petition with 90 signatures seeking the same result – detachment from Fire District...
Republican Bill Bryant, who hopes to unseat Democratic Governor Jay Inslee in the November 8 election, said the unfair tax situation in La Conner shows “either incompetence or disinterest,” by agencies working under the current governor. The Washington Department of Revenue crafted a property tax policy that hit La Conner hard when homes were taken off the county’s tax rolls and a $1.8 million tax burden was shifted to the remaining taxpayers. Some residents shouldered tax increases of thousands of dollars. It happened, Bryant claims, becau...
The Washington Department of Revenue says it asked the state’s 39 county assessors for comment as it crafted the property tax policy that hit La Conner residents so hard. When homes were taken off the county’s tax rolls, a $1.8 million tax burden was shifted to the remaining taxpayers, some of whom saw their property tax bills jump by thousands of dollars. The state’s documentation of the process as it developed its response to the so-called Great Wolf Lodge decision shows assessors were never called in for meetings with state officials. But t...
Attorneys working for tribes, including some employed by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, helped write a Washington State Department of Revenue’s guidance document that had a profound effect on local taxpayers. Last year the Skagit County Assessor’s Office removed 931 La Conner area parcels from the county property tax rolls, which caused the tax burden to shift to the remaining taxpayers. Property taxes went up by more than 20 percent for many La Conner families – some saw their bills jump by thousands of dollars. Research by thi...
About a quarter of the Swinomish Police Department’s officers have submitted resignations, according to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. Allan Olson, the tribe’s general manager, said four officers, including Chief Andrew Thorne, Assistant Chief Larry Yonally, a sergeant and a patrol officer “resigned” after the Swinomish Senate decided to “reorganize” the department following a two-month review of police department activities. The 11-member senate met last Tuesday, July 18. Its meetings are not open to the public. That same morning, this...
Officers at the Swinomish Police department wouldn’t say what was going on yesterday. Reporter questions were referred to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community’s General Manager Allan Olson, who initially said “no comment” when asked whether officers had been disarmed, or forced to forfeit their weapons. But at about noon on Tuesday, he did say the police department was in the process of reorganizing. And, “the police department is fine,” he said. Though specific details about the reorganization were not forthcoming on Tuesday, a search of f...
Monday June 13 3:28 p.m.: Fender Bender – Minor damage to vehicles involved in an accident at a business on Pearle Jensen Way in La Conner. Deputy helped in the information exchange. 7:36 p.m.: Unwanted Company – A guest who refused to leave an apartment, 900 blockMaple Avenue, La Conner, was gone by the time deputies arrived. Swinomish Police contacted the unwanted house guest and issued a trespass warning. 9 p.m.: Pooch Snatching – A theft of a pet dog that occurred on the Swinomish Reservation was reported at an apartment,...
Monday May 23 5:31 p.m.: Stranded – A 75-year-old woman was stranded inConway and needed a ride. A deputy gave her a lift to the Stanwood Park & Ride. Wednesday May 25 6:27 a.m.: Mean driver – There was a report of a vehicle that swerved, trying to hit two raccoons that were on the shoulder of the road near theRainbowBridge in La Conner. Deputies were unable to locate the vehicle. 7:13 a.m.: Get home, Aaron! – A cattle dog named Aaron was reported missing inConway. 11 a.m.: Low limb – A delivery truck hit a low tree limb...
The $995,000 La Conner Schools levy was headed for a big win on Tuesday, with the initial ballot count showing nearly 61 percent “yes” votes. This was the second try this year for La Conner School District to receive voter approval for an operating levy. In February voters rejected a pair of school levies that would have imposed nearly $1.5 million in property taxes homeowners. On Tuesday only ballots on hand before the election boxes closed at 8 p.m. were counted and there were already hundreds more ballots cast than in the February election....
After investigating for more than a year, the Northwest Clean Air Agency has issued a notice of violation to the Shell Puget Sound Refinery at March’s Point. This stems from Feb. 20, 2015, when a foul stench settled on La Conner and the Swinomish Reservation because noxious, stinking chemicals were accidently spewed into the atmosphere by the refinery. “This incident sickened many people in the community, and people felt unsafe in their homes and at work,” said Mark Asmundson, executive director of the Northwest Clean Air Agency. Accor...
More than 90 voters on the northeast end of Fire District 13 on Friday submitted a petition to the county auditor seeking to withdraw from that district and join neighboring Fire District 2. David Cunningham, county elections supervisor with the auditor’s office, said the county has 10 days — until March 14 — to determine whether the petition meets legal requirements set out by state law and validate the signatures. Voters in the Channel Drive neighborhood, as well as voters on Downey Road and along McLean Road to the border of Fire...
La Conner Schools officials plan to schedule public workshops on the upcoming school budget before voters decide the fate of a pared-down, second-try levy request. School Finance Director Bonnie Haley said voters will be asked to approve a one-year levy of $995,000. Ballots will be mailed to registered voters on April 8 and counted on April 26. The new levy vote comes before the budget is set in July for the upcoming 2016-2017 school year, but the district wants community participation in the budget process before the election. Public budget...
La Conner resident and Swinomish Indian Tribal Com-munity member Clayton Charles Day “Gul gs ka dub II,” died at age 27 on Wednesday, February 24. Clayton was born and raised on the Swinomish Reservation. He was born on March 28, 1988 to Marlene Stone and Jackson Day. He attended La Conner Schools, and he loved to play basketball, canoe racing and hanging with his family and friends. Clayton was a member of the Catholic Church, the Smokehouse and a commercial fisherman. Clayton begin fis... Full story
With two levies totaling close to $1.5 million rejected by voters this month, La Conner School District has shaved a half million and half the time off its request and will put it up for election again, the school board decided on Monday. In a special election set for April 26, voters in the La Conner School District will decide on a proposed one-year levy of $995,000, which is estimated to account for $2.08 per $1,000 of assessed valuation on property tax bills. Should this proposed levy pass, taxpayers in the La Conner district would be...
What appeared to be a derelict boat sank at a tribal dock on the Swinomish Channel last week. According to Swinomish Environmental Compliance Manager Scott Andrews, although there was fuel aboard the vessel, there was not a significant amount released into the water. “There was only a slight sheen on the water,” he said. “Not enough to bring the oil booms out.” When the boat was recovered, 130 gallons of diesel fuel was pumped from fuel tanks aboard the 34-foot tribal fisher. The sinking was reported at 10 a.m. last Wednesday when somebod...
Something that’s apparently never happened before has prompted the La Conner School Board to call an emergency meeting tomorrow, Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Middle School gym. According to the unofficial results of last week’s special school election, La Conner voters soundly rejected two proposed levies totaling nearly $1.5 million. The levies failed, even though more than 52 percent of the registered voters live on land immune from school district taxes. The majority of the “yes” votes came from precincts on the Swinomish Indian Reserva...
A pair of replacement school levies in La Conner appeared headed for failure on Tuesday when preliminary election results were released. La Conner School district proposed a maintenance and operations levy and a technology levy to replace two levies that expire this year. Had they passed, they would have provided a total of nearly $1.5 million per year in school funding for 2017 and 2018. According to early vote counts released by the Skagit County Auditor’s office, the maintenance and operations levy was failing 58.5 “No” to 41.5 perce...
A house fire on the Swinomish Reservation claimed the life of a small dog early Friday morning. The call came in at 6:07 a.m. on Friday, and firefighters from Fire District 13, with backup from La Conner Fire Department, responded to the home on Swinomish Avenue near the intersection of Snee Oosh Road. “We were on scene in 4 minutes,” said District 13 Chief Roy Horn. “We were able to keep the fire contained, since we got there before it was too big.” The fire was contained to the home’s carport area, and the attic was partially damaged....
Darrell Lee Bassford’s final voyage departed on Saturday, January 30 when he died at age 82. Darrell was born on April 2, 1933 to Earl and Edith Bassford and was a lifelong resident of the Swinomish Tribal Community of La Conner. He was a graduate of La Conner High School in 1951 and retired from Dunlap Towing after 46½ years as the operator of the tug boat “Swinomish.” Darrell was dedicated to his sobriety and sponsored many people during their times of need. He attended AA meeti... Full story
With the assessed value of properties going up, the tax rates per $1,000 of assessed valuation are dipping slightly for La Conner area home owners still paying property tax to the Skagit County Treasurer. At Monday night’s La Conner School Board meeting, district finance director Bonnie Haley distributed the latest assessment figures from the county Assessor’s Office. It shows that for school taxes, the rate will drop about 15 cents, from about $6.61 per $1,000 to $6.46. Skagit County Assessor Dave Thomas said the new rates were certified on...
La Conner School District is in a historic situation — school officials are campaigning furi-ously to convince people to vote in two levies totaling nearly $1.5 million. For decades, La Conner residents have passed school bonds and levies in a landslide, with little more than a ballot question. Things are different this time, as ballots are mailed this week to some 3,500 voters. This time most of the voters are being asked to tax their neighbors, not themselves. After the locally infamous Great Wolf Lodge federal court decision, more...
La Conner School District officials have scheduled meetings with voters to answer questions about two proposed school levies that will appear on ballots to be mailed soon. The first meeting is today, Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Maple Hall in La Conner. Another meeting is scheduled at the Shelter Bay Clubhouse at 7 p.m. next Wednesday, Jan. 13. The school district is hoping that voters will approve the levies totaling nearly $1.5 million to replace voter-approved funding that expires at the end of this year. A proposed maintenance and operations...
In a special election on Feb. 9, La Conner Schools will ask voters to approve more than $1 million per year in taxes to be collected in 2017 and 2018. Two new levies will replace a maintenance and operations and a technology levy that were approved by voters in 2012 and expire at the end of 2016. The maintenance and opera-tions levy helps pay for school programs like foreign language instruction, music, drama, athletic coach salaries and other benefits for children that state funding does not cover. The tech levy, first approved by voters in...
The La Conner School Board met Monday and is expected to call for a special election in February to ask voters to approve more than $1 million in taxes to take effect in 2017. Although the board appeared to reach a consensus to ask voters to approve a maintenance and operations levy of $1,195,000 and a technology levy of $295,000, the board adjourned and continued its meeting to Thursday evening to vote. The main question left on the table on Monday was whether to seek one-year levies for 2017 or two-year levies that would expire at the end of...
