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Is the La Conner economy like a log floating in the Swinomish Channel, carried by the tides, up or down channel as the tide rises and falls with no momentum except moon and wind? Sometimes the log travels for miles in a single day and over the course of days or weeks, maybe helped by the breeze or a favorable obstruction or beaching. The next rising tide continues its forward direction. If progress is measured in distance, then that log may have a phenomenally successful run. Other times a log’s movement is held back for any of a host of r...
NOT TO BE MISSED Shelter Bay Annual Garage Sale. With more than 100 participating homes, you can find bargains around every corner! Shelter Bay Chorus bake sale, coffee and hot dogs at the Clubhouse. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, June 22. LIBRARIES La Conner Swinomish Library. 520 Morris St., La Conner. 360-466-3352. www.lclib.lib.wa.us. Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Storytime for Children. 11 a.m. Fridays. Tech Help. 3-5 p.m. Mondays. Dungeons & Dragons Club. 3-5 p.m. Tuesdays. No experience necessary. Mount Vernon...
June 20, 2024 -- The La Conner Town Council will hold a special meeting Monday, June 24 that will consist of a council retreat from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The retreat, at the Waterfront Café, is open to the public staff reported at the June 18 council meeting.. Mayor Marna Hanneman called the meeting today, Thursday, June 20. The June 25 town council meeting is canceled. The Town of La Conner posted its Notice of Cancelation at the same time today. Information: 360-466-3125, https://w...
The $46,949 reported in sales tax revenues to the La Conner Town Council in May by the state's Department of Revenue is the second highest 2024 monthly total, but below 2023's May collection by $1,123, 2.3%. The special use fire tax revenues were similarly down, 4.2% below May 2023, now $4,594. Hotel/motel tax collection was $11,740, 7.6% behind 2023's record May total, but also the second highest 2024 month. The May totals represent March collections and are typically the last low, pre-tourist...
Summer doesn’t arrive for another eight days, but it sure looked and felt like summer this past weekend. After two Sundays of overcast skies and rain pouring down, this week the La Conner Live Gilkey Square concert band Adrian Xavier & Ska Island and listeners were blessed with sun, blue sky, a mild breeze and temperatures almost to 70 degrees. May Sundays all summer long be warm, but not climate change induced too hot. Next Sunday it is Skagit favorite Chris Eger Band. Concerts start at 1 p.m. through Sept. 8. Bring your lawn chair. There is a...
In terms of solving a longtime housing shortage here, the town is being asked to make the impossible possible. It will take about 20 years to tell if La Conner is successful. Town Planning Commission chair Bruce Bradburn had some gripes when reviewing state and county mandates that La Conner prepare to add 124 new housing units – one-third of which would serve low-income residents – between now and 2045. Bradburn called that a “pipe dream.” “It’s fine to say we have a goal to provide more family housing in town,” he said. Town Assistant Pla...
La Conner will again serve as host and the upriver community of Concrete will receive special accolades when the Skagit County Pioneer Association holds its 120th picnic and business meeting at Pioneer Park on Aug. 1. Concrete civic leaders Jason Miller, Valerie Stafford, Fred West, John and Gail Boggs, and Marty and Adrienne Smith will receive Pioneer Spirit awards during the event in recognition of their key roles promoting Concrete’s rich historical heritage and maintaining its envied quality of life while nestled amid some of Washington s...
An early lesson taught in La Conner schools is that it's far better to give than receive. It's a value that Dean Swanson not only learned but has lived for much of his life. June 1, Swanson, a 1975 La Conner High School graduate, found himself on the receiving end for a change when presented with the school's Outstanding Alumnus award in recognition of his remarkably generous spirit. Swanson's giving nature was highlighted by his grandson, Kenai Zimmerman, Class of 2024, who formally introduced...
La Conner leaders saw a shining example of solar power's potential during a two-hour tour of a state-of-the-art production plant in Burlington Thursday morning. Mayor Marna Hanneman, town councilor Mary Wohleb and resident Terry Nelson, who along with Wohleb is a founding member of the Skagit Valley Clean Energy Cooperative, met with Silfab Solar officials inside the firm's 220,000-square-foot automated facility where residential and commercial solar panels are manufactured for a growing...
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, even when grant monies are in hand. Town officials last week addressed the hidden and incidental costs linked to grant funding by adopting a new policy designed to assess which awards are most feasible to pursue and cost effective to administer. “Grants take an awful lot of time to apply for and to maintain when we get them,” Town Administrator Scott Thomas said. He told the town council at its May 28 meeting that he wants to develop a policy to determine which potential grant awards best fit La Conne...
The La Conner Parks Commission will dedicate, and Kevin Paul bless, the wonderful new pavilion at Conner Waterfront Park Friday June 14 at 2 p.m. It was built these last several months by staff of the town’s public works department. There are so many people, families, businesses and service clubs who helped fund this project and they will all be thanked. Mayor Marna Hanneman and Parks Commissioner Ollie Iversen will speak. See you there to dedicate this new building and thank you for being involved. Source: La Conner Parks C...
A La Conner High School alum has been a key factor in unlocking doors leading to the successful rebuild and recent state championship run by the Anacortes football program. Tyler Dubuque, a 2004 La Conner graduate, is the offensive coordinator and primary play caller for the 2A Seahawks, who set a state-title-round scoring mark with their 60-30 championship game victory over Tumwater last December. Dubuque's peers noticed. The Washington State Football Coaches Association has named Dubuque the D...
Just a small rock face in town, not more than four stories high, slate or limestone. I don’t really know my rocks, but it is grey and adorned with flowers clinging to its face, flowers of many colors, Hesperus, California poppy, bachelor button, penstemon, oxeye daisy, moss and licorice fern, resilient plants making the best of it in clefts in the cliff, in pockets of soil blown up from the Skagit flats. Above is a ragged crown of juniper, twisted and gnarly. A gift, a thing of beauty that simple expanse of rock left unmolested for so many y...
The Town of La Conner seeks consultants to create a master plan, the first step for development of the 3-acre industrial area west and south of its S. Third Street parking lot below the town hall to Caledonia Street. It posted a request for qualifications May 22, with a June 18 submittal deadline. The RFQ timeline lists town council review and approval for July 23 and signing the contract July 25, eight weeks from now. The plan completion deadline is Dec. 31, 2024. Funding is from a $30,000 state of Washington Community Development Block Grant...
Caravan Gallery on First Street has long been known for its unique vibe. That likely won’t change anytime soon based on action taken last week by the Town Planning Commission. The downtown retail outlet, which enjoys a loyal customer base drawn to its one-of-a-kind collection of ethnic artifacts, statues of Buddha and other deities, glass artwork, colorful scarves and trend-setting clothing, has received commission approval to install a permanent 12-foot-by-10-foot wood gazebo in its outdoor courtyard, according to Town Assistant Planner A...
The monthly La Conner Rural Partial County Library District monthly board meeting Tuesday, May 21, proceeded pretty much like most small governmental district board meetings, from starting with approving the April meeting minutes to experiencing small glitches with new board management software used in the meeting. The April inancial report included the library’s receiving $113,139 from Skagit County, its property tax allocation for the first half of 2024. The assessment rate is 0.32% . Sarah Rabel, the library foundation director, was u...
Strange as it may sound today, there was a time when having a parking problem in La Conner meant more cars were wanted on First Street to spur retail shopping – and when retail meant purchases for home use. It was also a period when home builders were being actively recruited to develop vacant lots to grow a town census that barely rose above 625 residents. The year was 1957. Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House. The space race was launched with Sputnik 1 orbiting the earth. The Fortran c...
The La Conner Town Council last week chose to forego the path of least resistance when dealing with future downtown traffic flow and parking. Rather than table action and extend discussion of options for S. First Street, council members voted 4-0 during their May 14 meeting at Maple Hall to convert the historic and narrow route along the town’s popular waterfront to single lane one-way traffic with parking on both sides. Councilor Ivan Carlson was absent. Town Planner Michael Davolio suggested the change go into effect this fall, which would g...
He was raised and again resides on a diversified century-old farm north of town, but more than any single crop it's been goodwill that Dean Swanson has spent a lifetime cultivating. "I've been lucky to have grown up in a community that really cares," Swanson, 67, told the Weekly News. "I had all the support I ever needed. That's why I've always chosen to give back and (my wife) Becky, who's the rock of our family, is in on that with me." Because he mastered the concept of "paying it forward"...
A Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist will look to maintain the chemistry enjoyed by the Town's Emergency Management Commission since its inception in 2023. Three-year town resident Jonah Keith was confirmed last week by the La Conner Town Council to fill a commission vacancy created by the death of Duane Carpenter, who had been the advisory panel's chief meteorologist. Keith brings to the board not only his extensive background in science and marine biology, but also the...
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS The Town of La Conner is seeking qualifications from an exceptional team of professionals that can develop a master plan for an interdisciplinary project that will reconnect and help revitalize an industrial area adjacent to Downtown La Conner. This redevelopment area will include land use, utilities, pedestrian connections, shoreline access, and more. The Town of La Conner seeks a team of consultants led by planners, and may include landscape architects and urban designers and assisted by civil engineers, public invo...
There are several directions town council members can take when it comes to future traffic flow and parking schemes on South First Street. The La Conner governing panel was scheduled last night to hear separate recommendations from its planning staff and planning commission for options for downtown traffic and parking as part of an ongoing update of the transportation element of the town’s Comprehensive Plan. Planner Michael Davolio and Assistant Planner Ajah Eills have proposed South First Street be converted to one-way southbound traffic w...
There’s supply and demand, but it can be demand and supply. The latter condition has led Skagit County Fire District 13 to assign two emergency medical technicians for 12-hour shifts two days per week at the Summit Park station near Highway 20 starting in mid-June. “We need to be out there,” Fire Chief Wood Weiss told district commissioners via Zoom during their hour-long May 9 meeting at the Snee-Oosh Road station. Weiss was in Leavenworth. He said staffing that station full-time twice weekly will help response times to a growing number of ca...
Bounce back. The $42,671 reported in sales tax revenue to the La Conner Town Council in April by the state’s Department of Revenue is the second highest ever for the month, behind 2022’s record $44,210. It topped March by $8,741. These are February sales: the state Department of Revenue reports on a two-month lag. Hotel/motel April tax collection was $10,165, 4% behind 2023’s record total but significantly higher, by 48%, than March’s report. Similarly, the $4,255 in special-use fire tax revenue was $141 below the record 2022 collect...
NOT TO BE MISSED Paths to Understanding presents The Let’s Go Together Partnership! 7 p.m. Thursday, May 16, Lincoln Theatre, Mount Vernon. Event is free. Walk-ins welcome. Join in the first public gathering for an evening of storytelling, music and conversation focused on strengthening our Skagit community. All, including community leaders, will speak about the importance of lifting up our common humanity. Come and join us to meet people from across the county and stand together to go into a brighter future. Let’s go together! More info: pa...
