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Sorted by date Results 328 - 352 of 2077
History stands to repeat itself in Concrete on Friday. Just as was the case in 1952, when the Concrete High School gymnasium first opened, visiting La Conner hoop teams will take the floor Jan. 5 in a rivalry that precedes the Great Depression. Members of the 1952 Concrete and La Conner teams will be honored as part of a “70-plus Years Anniversary” celebration at the iconic Concrete gym. The night’s events will also include a brief historical presentation and introductions of all-time Skagit County scorers Gail Thulen and Andy Otis of La Conne...
December was frosty and frozen 4-Jan La Conner Community combats wave of saltwater flooding 4-Jan Flood damage cost estimate $1.8 million 11-Jan Council creates emergency management commission 1-Feb Center Street condos a go 15-Feb Marna Hanneman will be next La Conner Mayor 24-May Festival celebrates author Tom Robbins 6-Sep Earthquake rattles La Conner Sunday 11-Oct 29 newspaper contest awards for Weekly News 11-Oct Blessing the La Conner Swinomish Library 18-Oct Town's short-term rentals...
Sunday, December 24 9:40 p.m. Weaved away— Erratically driven vehicle on Mclean Road and then into the town of La Conner. Vehicle turned on to Maple Avenue and the caller stopped following. No plate provided and no further complaints.. Morris St. / Maple Ave., La Conner. Monday, December 25 1:35 a.m. Dog ran free — Small dog running loose in the middle of the road. Caller was off duty officer but advised they could not catch it and it kept running away. Unknown owner and no response from a deputy. Summers Dr. / Best Rd., Greater La Conner. Wed....
The 88 homes sold in Skagit County in November was a drop of 22.8% from 2022. The La Conner school district market had seven home sales close, the same as last year, bucking the statewide trend. The two homes sold in the town of La Conner, as reported last month, on Maple Avenue and Benton Street, went for $725,000 and $1.25 million, respectively. Three of the Shelter Bay home sold for under $461,000 so our market’s $565,000 median monthly sold home price was just below the county’s median price of $575,000. The 88 homes sold are the third mon...
In La Conner, there's always one thing you can bank on. Tami Mason can be counted upon to pitch in and help when a community need arises. Mason, customer service supervisor at WaFd Bank's La Conner branch, volunteers for several organizations – from the Skagit County Historical Museum and La Conner Sunrise Food Bank boards of directors to the Chamber of Commerce and La Conner Volunteer Firefighters Association. "I love giving back to others," Mason told the Weekly News on Friday, as she w...
From an editor who takes each week’s editorial very seriously, I report that this is one of my most important editorials of the year. Each December ends with shining light on unsung heroes in the community, the critical souls who day after day and every week show up, dig in and through their steadfast efforts are contributing to the larger good, making the greater La Conner region the place we are so proud to call home. I have known for months that I would praise the staff, freelancers and volunteers who make the Weekly News the success that i...
La Conner Planning Director Michael Davolio has come up with a way to follow both the letter and spirit of a new state policy that limits to a single public meeting topics reviewed by a hearing examiner. He wants the planning commission to receive all pertinent information in advance of hearing examiner sessions so they can chime in before a decision is rendered. “I want to make sure the public and planning commission has an opportunity for input,” Davolio said at the 90-minute Dec. 19 hybrid meeting at Maple Hall. “I want the planning commi...
Cynthia Elliott isn't the retiring type. The proof is in her willingness – eagerness, actually – to become a La Conner Planning Commissioner, a role not for the faint of heart, just 13 months after wrapping up a 35-year career. Mayor Ramon Hayes announced his choice of Elliot during the Dec. 12 town council meeting to fill the seat vacated by Marna Hanneman, who becomes mayor Jan. 1. Hayes stressed that three "very qualified candidates" had applied and that he and Hanneman reviewed applications....
Throughout their shared histories, La Conner and Concrete high schools have been fierce foes vying for league, district and state sports titles. But when they next meet it will be a friendly rivalry in the truest sense of the term. La Conner teams and fans have been invited to participate in celebrations Jan. 5 honoring the “70-plus anniversary” of the opening of the Concrete High School gymnasium to coincide with that night’s girls’ and boys’ basketball games. La Conner was the visiting team in the first-ever boys’ high school junior vars...
Dec. 9 was a wretched, cold day with sideways rain and bone-chilling wind. The annual La Conner lighted boat parade, put on by the Swinomish Yacht Club, was scheduled for 6 p.m. and all day long people were speculating whether it would happen due to the inclement weather. I was not looking forward to my assignment to get some photos for the Weekly News. I have shot this parade for years and tried just about every possible angle and I always return to the Rainbow Bridge. Despite the weather,...
No building permit has yet been issued, but excavation began at the 306 Center Street condominium project site last week to find the water table on the property so that paperwork could be completed for removal of contaminated soil. Following that initial dig, a soil removal plan was drafted and submitted, according to Town of La Conner Assistant Planner Ajah Eills. Public Work Director Brian Lease approved the plan and soil removal commenced, Eills said. That work was completed and by early Friday afternoon all equipment had left the site. The...
Four-term La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes chaired his final town council meeting Dec. 12, but it was a business-as-usual session with no celebration or reception. Hayes wouldn’t have had it any other way. “It’s just not my personality,” he told the Weekly News afterward on his reluctance to see the meeting morph into a retirement party. “Once something is done, it’s over,” he explained. “And we had a very long, grueling agenda to work through.” There was, however, mention during the meeting – which included a 20-minute executive session o...
It’s often said that to everything there is a season. For La Conner’s emergency management commission, that means development of a comprehensive guide addressing all disaster scenarios. “We’ve been working on flooding issues hot and heavy for quite a while,” Town Administrator Scott Thomas said at the the commission’s Dec. 12 hybrid meeting. Now we need to develop a process and procedure for our (emergency management) plan.” Identifying groups within the community that will need extra assistancen is key. “How do we accommodate persons with di...
The atmosphere was electric at the Dec. 11 La Conner School board meeting. Campus solarization options lit up the room. La Conner Town Council member MaryLee Chamberlain and resident Bob Raymond, of the Skagit Valley Clean Energy Cooperative, provided an update on local solar grant projects, including a feasibility study and analysis of energy consumption at the school district. They made a pitch, eliciting a positive board reception, for the school district to convert to electric buses. The two presented data that showed cost savings and envir...
The 2023 Town of La Conner budget has met its $5.8 million revenue goal with December not yet counted. Even better, expenditures, now at $4.55 million, are likely to finish below 67% of projections. The budget surplus is $1.23 million and may still grow. Of the 12 program funds generating revenue, only the sewer fund, at 85% is below 100% of budget projections with one month still to come. The $3.58 million generated this year from the water, drainage, sewer and compost funds is the real engine of town income, bringing in 62% of total revenue....
It didn't just rain on the Swinomish Yacht Club's Lighted Christmas Boat Parade Saturday night. It rained hard after a gray day of steady rain. But that hardly dampened enthusiasm for what has become a beloved La Conner holiday season event. Downtown restaurants were filled with diners at tables with waterfront views. Folks wearing heavy coats and raingear and carrying umbrellas and glow-in-the-dark balloons on lighted poles made their way to the popular Swinomish Channel boardwalk, eager to...
Look around: We live on the edge of the continent, less than 35 miles due east of Victoria Harbor in one of the most idyllic communities on the west coast. Positioned as a safe passage for marine travel and tied to the to the salt waters of the Salish Sea, La Conner is the true gateway to the San Juan Islands. We are blessed with tremendous soil that produces some of the highest yielding crops per acre in the world. We are a regional, national and international tourist destination and have found success in this space, in part, because we offer...
Each year when I look for my unused Christmas cards and find the poem titled “The Work of Christmas” by Howard Thurman, a 20th century theologian, educator and civil rights leader, I am reminded of what is important about the season. While we celebrate with parties and gift giving with families and friends at Christmas and New Years let’s be thankful we live where we do. The poem speaks for itself and what each of us does with it determines how our lives will affect the community we so enjoy. Maybe then by extension our good will can reach...
The idea of making First Street in La Conner one way has been attempted before, over 25 years ago now. It didn’t work. The Town’s public works department used to change the traffic flow to one way during tulip festival, for a month during that time. One way traffic flow actually works very well for directing people to the parking lot at the south end of town. It impacts Second Street negatively, by increasing the number of vehicles making the loop around and around with (mostly locals) trying to get to the post office. Any time I travel I fin...
Seeing might be believing, but it’s collecting data that’s confirming. That’s the approach longtime resident and former planning commissioner Linda Talman is recommending officials take regarding remedies to La Conner’s downtown parking. A week after Town officials heard a presentation on mobile paid parking systems, Talman suggested to the planning commissioners that more information should be gathered before committing to a new First Street parking scheme. “We don’t have the data that we need,” Talman said at the planning commission’s...
Sunday, December 3 9:23 p.m. I spy – Deputy identified a stolen vehicle as it left the Shell station. The Deputy tried to stop the vehicle which then accelerated to speeds over 100mph. The Deputy chose not to pursue. Suspect info was confirmed and charges will be filed. La Conner Whitney Rd., La Conner. Monday, December 4 7:26 a.m. Block party – Subject had parked her vehicle in the road while removing trash from her driveway. Vehicle was blocking and the subject was told this was not an option and the car needed to be moved. Maple Ave., La...
There was a time when La Conner’s parking problem was inverted to its present situation. When downtown Mount Vernon was lined with clunky parking meters, La Conner had little need for either a paid or timed parking system on First Street. Many storefronts here were boarded up – some year-round– before La Conner morphed into its present state as a popular destination. Change has been the defining feature over the course of 50 years. Now, with seemingly every parking space in the town’s business district contested during peak tourist season,...
La Conner's favorite tourist had a unique solution for the town's vexing parking problem during his visit here last Saturday. World renowned toymaker Santa Claus parked his large sleigh and reindeer atop Maple Hall, managing to avoid damage to the building's solar panels, while greeting local children downstairs and recording their carefully crafted Christmas wish lists. The jolly white-whiskered global goodwill ambassador was the featured guest at the La Conner Rotary Club's annual Pancake...
Another holiday season has come to greater La Conner. Santa jump started December, showing up at the La Conner Swinomish Library to read stories to children last Wednesday. He returned twice Saturday, first fortifying himself with pancakes at the annual La Conner Rotary Club breakfast before taking kids on his lap there and again that evening when he one-two-three POOF lit the town tree in Gilkey Square. Shops are decorated for Christmas. Staff and customers alike are wearing holiday colored and themed sweaters. Saturday will be the most...
First Street parking issues were discussed in detail at the Nov. 28 Town Council meeting. But perhaps lost amid a one-hour presentation on potential future paid parking options for the downtown business district was a brief plea by Councilmember MaryLee Chamberlain to revisit the concept of one-way traffic on increasingly congested First Street. Chamberlain suggested that dealing with downtown traffic flow should be addressed “before we venture into parking.” “We need to have this discussion. We can look at all the pros and cons,” Chamber...
