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Mayor Marna Hanneman said the blaze that destroyed one house and threatened others last month is a wake-up call for the town during a July 6 forum at La Conner Swinomish Library. She asked Fire Chief Aaron Reinstra and fire department community outreach officer Natalie Baker to reflect on the incident and share safety tips. The ensuing discussion was robust at times and informative. "I feel it's important for us to communicate with one another in an open and transparent manner," Hanneman said...
As an active community member, I read almost every article in the La Conner Weekly News, usually by early Wednesday afternoon, so I typically find things about which to write. Sometimes I just sit and let the soup simmer, see if it needs some seasoning, maybe some seasoned reasoning should come to bare. I found the town council’s priorities (“La Conner council sets priorities at retreat,” July 3) very interesting. One member of the council brought up the importance of community involvement, another stressed volunteerism, communication and s...
In the aftermath of a June 20 house fire that threatened neighboring homes, La Conner residents questioned growth management population projections for the town that have increased residential density as vacant lots fill in. “As everybody here knows, we’ve had a tragic fire here on Fifth Street,” Town Emergency Management Commission chair Jerry George said during that board’s July 2 meeting at Maple Hall. “That fire was hot and fast.” George lives a few paces from the home that was engulfed in flames and was among neighbors who helped wate...
The La Conner tourist economy may be back on track. The June sales tax revenues of $58,778 reported to town council by the state’s Department of Revenue, are the second highest total for the month, only below 2022’s record. It is 10.6% above last June’s. This is April’s tax collection, the month of the Tulip Festival. The Special Use Fire Tax revenues, at $5,870 is 10.8% above last year’s and also the second best June. For the first half of 2023, sales tax revenues are at 44.8% of the year’s projected total while the fire truck tax is at 54.2%...
Mark your calendars for these upcoming fun activities. Skagit City School Picnic, 1-3 p.m. Sunday, July 14, 17508 Moore Road, Mount Vernon. Join us for this time-honored tradition of celebrating community. Food will be available from the La Conner Rotary Club. The 20th annual NW Art Beat Studio Tour sees 22 artists showing their works in 16 studios in a free, self-guided Skagit Valley art studio tour from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 20 and 21. NW Art Beat is presented by Skagit Artists. Get the map guide and learn more at NWArtBeat.com. La Conner...
Sunday, June 30 11:28 p.m.: Dog bites dog – Caller reported that a neighbor’s dog attacked his dog and this led to an $1,800 bill at pet emergency. This is not the first time this dog has bit a person or animal and the case is being investigated by animal control. Young Road, greater La Conner. Monday, July 1 10:55 a.m.: Here’s a story – Caller found a set of carpet installing tools hidden in the bushes and believed they may be stolen. A deputy collected the found items and saw it was labeled with a company name out of Kent. The items were co...
La Conner's underground – at least on S. Maple Avenue – has been in plain sight the past few days. Welch Brothers Construction has cut deeply into and through the heavily traveled roadway's surface to extend a water main that will serve the future Didgwalic Wellness Center transitional housing and staff office facility on Maple Avenue near the east approach to the Rainbow Bridge. La Conner Public Works Director Brian Lease said on Monday that the work upgrades an existing water main to imp...
If practice makes perfect and perfect needs practice, area firefighters and emergency responders are perfectly practiced and practically perfect. This after Swinomish Reservation and the Port of Skagit's La Conner Marina were sites last week of major multi-department training exercises that participants lauded afterward for their realism and long-term value. Skagit County Fire District 13 Training Officer Capt. Chris Olbu scripted a drill for June 26 that challenged several agencies, led by La...
Town and school district officials were in full retreat June 24, though both panels spent the day charging forward with reviews of their respective five-year strategic plans. The La Conner Town Council met for seven hours at the Waterfront Café. Councilmembers, staff and Mayor Marna Hanneman addressed five focus areas – public safety, climate and environmental sustainability, capital projects and utilities, economic vibrancy and governmental organization. Council members and department heads al...
Lynda Murphy O'Brien, born June 3, 1944, peacefully entered into eternal rest June 12, 2024, surrounded by her beloved family at their Edmonds home. Lynda was a cherished wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, sister-in-law and friend. Lynda will be especially remembered for her kind, caring and soft-spoken manner and for her unlimited devotion to family and friends. She loved family gatherings and celebrated each and every holiday, birthday and special occasion. Lynda was a devoted Camp Fire...
There's one summer rerun that's a guaranteed hit in La Conner. It's the annual Hometown Independence Day celebration here, featuring a parade down First Street, a slew of July 4 activities with live music at the La Conner Marina and a fireworks display over Swinomish Channel. "It will pretty much be the same as every year," Town Administrator Scott Thomas said. The variety of events assures that everyone in La Conner will again have a blast on the Fourth of July. The fun starts at noon with the...
It was fun to see that a photo of what some call the “La Conner Loopers” on their bikes and trikes in “A view from the editor’s eye,” the centerfold in last week’s La Conner Weekly News. Much ado has been made about this old dude crossing mileage milestones, when the attention really should be about all of the other characters that have been the inspiration to get me up and rolling every morning. Weather permitting. Fred, the recognized leader of the Loopers, caught me tooling around on my new trike shortly after Barb and I moved to Center S...
A bright, sunny picture-postcard afternoon in La Conner turned tragic when a house on N. Fifth Street was destroyed by a fast-burning fire whose noxious smoke blackened the sky as it wafted across town. Tony and Jane Mitchell, members of the La Conner Firefighters Association, lost their home June 19 to a blaze that raged through their garage and into the house, sending flames shooting out from the walls and roof. A Mini Cooper in the garage was destroyed and a Volkswagen sedan on the driveway...
The prayers of a La Conner priest have been answered. Father Paul Magnano, 83, won’t be relocating to Seattle full-time after all. Magnano will continue serving historic Sacred Heart Catholic Church in La Conner and other Skagit County parishes with a new schedule allowing him to divide his time with Christ Our Hope Catholic Church in downtown Seattle, which he founded. It’s truly a “best of both worlds” arrangement for Magnano, who feels equally at home here and in the city. Perhaps best of...
By There's one summer rerun that's a guaranteed hit in La Conner. It's the annual Hometown Independence Day celebration here, featuring a parade down First Street, a slew of July 4 activities with live music at the La Conner Marina and a fireworks display over Swinomish Channel. "It will pretty much be the same as every year," Town Administrator Scott Thomas said. The variety of events assures that everyone in La Conner will again have a blast on the Fourth of July. The fun starts at noon with t...
The first round of drafting a new housing element for La Conner’s comprehensive plan is in the books, but more chapters await. The town’s planning commission last week granted preliminary approval of the comp plan element, which addresses housing capacity and population projections for the town issued by the Skagit Council of Governments in accordance with the state Growth Management Act. Final approval requires further review and public input, said Town Assistant Planner Ajah Eills, who has compiled a detailed land use capacity analysis for...
On June 18, the State of Washington’s Department of Commerce announced that the La Conner School District has won a $1.96 million Community Decarbonization Grant. This new grant will pay for the development, at the La Conner Middle School, of a grid-interconnected solar electric generation system with a capacity of 138.2 kilowatts. Based on the U.S. Department of Energy’s solar generation model, the electricity produced by this system during an average year will be about 140,000 kilowatt-hours....
A public memorial service for Susan Baum, who worked at La Conner’s iconic 1890s Inn during a colorful chapter in the town’s history, will be held from 5-7 p.m. Sunday, June 30, at Conner Waterfront Park. Baum, fondly known to her friends as “Cruisin’ Susan,” died May 7. Having grown up in Big Sky Country, she blended seamlessly after her arrival here into the local arts community and eclectic counterculture movement that evolved in the 1970s in La Conner and at nearby Fishtown on the Skagit River. Baum embraced a non-traditional lifestyle t...
NOT TO BE MISSED The ABC’s of LGBTQ+, 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, June 29, Museum of Northwest Art, 121 S. First St. In this free talk celebrating Pride Month, Linden Jordan from PFLAG Skagit will discuss the ABCs of LGBTQ+. These initials represent people who are often misunderstood and discriminated against. You’ll learn the differences between sexual anatomy, gender identity, sexual orientation, chosen names and pronouns. Register at www.monamuseum.org/events/abcsoflgbt. LIBRARIES La Conner Swinomish Library. 520 Morris St., La Conner. 360-466-33...
TOWN OF LA CONNER NOTICE OF APPLICATION/NOTICE OF HEARING The Town of La Conner is processing a permit application that may be of public interest Date: June 18, 2024 Application File #: LU24-28CU-IV Applicant: Sarah Cram Town Contact Person: Michael Davolio AICP, Planning Director; P.O. Box 400, La Conner, WA 98257; 360-466-3125 Project Location: 413 Morris Street A, La Conner WA, P74161 Project Description: Change of use to long-term residential use. Public Hearing: Hearing Examiner Date/Time/Location: July 16, 5:00 pm, Maple Center....
I have learned this at least by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. – Henry Thoreau, in “Conclusion” chapter, “Walden,” 1854 This issue is the 364th I have printed as the Weekly News publisher. It finishes my seventh year here. Next week, issue 365, begins my eighth year as owner of the La Conner Weekly News. It has been a great run. “Best job ever” has long been my mantra. I am blessed to ha...
The road to buying the La Conner Weekly News went through Vermont, with my summer 2016 contest entries to win the Hardwick Gazette. I shaped my third entry as a future editorial, my last before retiring. I imagined selling the paper to a co-op comprised of its staff and readers, they having organized to purchase it. This is a fable near impossibly hard to make true in real life. This was published in the July 12, 2017 La Conner Weekly News, my second issue as publisher. It’s my paper now, but I am only borrowing it. Franklin said “A Republic,...
Conner Waterfront Park, perhaps best known for its signature salmon slide, now has a new landmark to showcase. The ribbon was cut Friday to dedicate a long-planned pavilion at the popular shoreline park. Town Public Works Department staff had worked on the pavilion's construction since December, as time permitted. "This is another piece of the puzzle put together," said local landscape architect Curt Miller, among a crowd of over 40 on hand for the ceremony. Mayor Marna Hanneman, Town Parks...
"I love La Conner; I love the church and I love the people." La Conner United Methodist Church Pastor Marcella Baker repeated that phrase often in an interview Saturday. Her parishioners also repeatedly commented on her great love and her great faith. "We are extremely happy for her getting ready for retirement; but very sad for our part because she is a fabulous woman and has incredible faith," said parishioner Anita Mesman. Bill Taylor, a member for nine years said, "She is spot on – the e...
Town officials are guardedly optimistic that La Conner can weather a spring sales tax revenue slump. Citing wet, chilly weather as a possible factor, Mayor Marna Hanneman shared with town council at its June 11 meeting that La Conner’s total tax receipts are down $17,000 from this time last year. Reported town tax receipts totaled $230,770 through May 2023, compared to $213,974 through May 2024. “The weather’s not helping, but I believe people are coming to town,” said Hanneman. “They’re just not spending money.” May’s receipts of $46,949 are...
