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HEADS UP Northwest Agriculture Safety Day, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, at Maple Hall, 104 Commercial St., La Conner. Register at www.gishab.org/NW-ASD2024. $75 per person, $10 group discount for five or more registrants. Lunch and snacks provided, parking passes available. English and Spanish sessions on: * Blast sprayer calibration and configuration * Tractor safety * Prevent sexual harassment in agriculture * Pesticide labels * Machine guarding/lock out tag out * Developing an effective accident prevention program Presented by...
As you read these words, the continent of Africa is being ripped apart. In spite of what you might have seen on YouTube, that statement is true. Like a planetary zipper, a gaping wound is opening from northern Ethiopia south through Kenya, Tanzania and parts south. Volcanic ash that accumulated in the scar over a million years, a desolate place called Olduvai Gorge, gave anthropologists the first fossils of our human ancestors. A similar gorge emerges from the northern Atlantic Ocean and extends through present day Iceland. Planet Earth is...
Local volcanologist Jerry George is doing his best to shake things up in La Conner. In a good way, of course. George, a charter member of the Town's emergency management commission and its immediate past chair, addressed the panel's embrace of neighborhood mapping at the "Meet the Mayor" bi-monthly forum at La Conner Swinomish Library Saturday. Neighborhood mapping developed in Oakland, California after a devastating wildlands fire in the 1990s engulfed hundreds of homes. It provides vital...
Food for thought took on added meaning during the “Meet the Mayor” session at La Conner Swinomish Library Saturday. La Conner Sunrise Food Bank Board President John Petrich and Director Arin Magill updated attendees on the probable move from the ground floor of the historic Garfield Masonic Lodge Building at Third and Benton. Area Masons are consolidating operations in Sedro-Woolley and selling their La Conner and Mount Vernon properties. Petrich, a retired Swinomish Indian Tribal Community staffer, said the food bank’s lease for the 19th...
The Kiwanis Club of La Conner has announced the Students of the Month for October. Kenneth Tronsdal is the high school student. His parents are Curt and DeAnne Tronsdal. Kenneth's favorite class is guitar. He's in the drama club and enjoys the group's creativity. He also helps the preschool class on the school campus. Outside of school, Kenneth likes to walk around town enjoying the shops. At home he plays his guitar and writes movies. After graduation, he wants to attend college to get a...
TOWN OF LA CONNER NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Town of La Conner will hold two (2) Public Hearings on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, to consider each of the following: 1. 2025 Preliminary Budget. 2. 2025 Property Tax Levy. The Public Hearings will be held during the 6:00 PM regular Town Council Meeting located at 204 Commercial Street (Upper Maple Center). The Public Hearings shall be for the purpose of receiving public comments, written or oral. Written comments are to be submitted to Town Hall or by email to financedi...
HEADS UP Free veterans appreciation dinner, 6-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, at Camano Chapel, 867 W. Camano Drive, Camano Island. Keynote speaker Mary Pilkington will share POW/wartime experiences of her late husband, Col. Fred Pilkington. RSVP to 206-550-4409 or email [email protected]. Indicate your choice of salmon or prime rib. LEND A HAND Pioneer Park ivy removal: Join a volunteer work party to remove invasive English ivy at Pioneer Park, 9-11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 9. Info: [email protected]. LIBRARIES La Conner Swinomish Library. 520...
No adage has been truer for Rocio Almaraz than the one that says home is where the heart is. Almaraz, who grew up in La Conner but now resides in Mount Vernon, drives her kids here each day to attend school because of the passion she has never lost for her hometown. "That's how much I love it," Almaraz, flanked by children Greyson and Mia Delage, stressed during emotional remarks made during groundbreaking ceremonies last Saturday highlighting Skagit Habitat for Humanity's new housing venture at...
The new one-way southbound traffic pattern on La Conner's First Street remained a major talking point two weeks after its implementation. Center Street resident Mollie Rights thanked town council members during their 90-minute meeting Oct. 22 for scuttling two-way traffic. "I want to thank you for making First Street one-way," Rights told council during public comments. "It's such a pleasure to drive down there now." Administrator Scott Thomas confirmed that there haven't been "any significant...
If not heartwarming, it was at least a homecoming when the potentially painful topic of property taxes was discussed during the Oct. 22 La Conner Town Council meeting at Maple Hall. First-term Skagit County Assessor Danny Hagen, a former Shelter Bay resident who in a past life was a La Conner High School athlete and later a Braves basketball coach, provided an update on local property value changes at the outset of the 90-minute public session last week. Hagen, who played hoops for Cal Lutheran...
HEADS UP Saturday with the Mayor. Come to the La Conner Swinomish Library at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, for an open conversation with Mayor Marna Hanneman. Topic: “Preparing for an Unplanned Event” by Gerry George of the town’s Emergency Management Commission. Free veterans appreciation dinner, 6-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, at Camano Chapel, 867 W. Camano Drive, Camano Island. Keynote speaker Mary Pilkington will share POW/wartime experiences of her late husband, Col. Fred Pilkington. RSVP to 206-550-4409 or email [email protected]. Indicate your...
Every year, we have a public Halloween festival – where kids parade through town in their outfits and go from shopfront to shopfront to get their candy loot. Sure, some families keep sweets at home in case anyone shows up in the evening, but trick-or-treating isn’t really a custom here. Newcomers are baffled by this. A lot of old-time residents just accept it as one of La Conner’s many quirks. Why do we have a public party instead of trick-or-treating? Only a few know the true origin story. Here it is: My grandfather and his friends got it ba...
Halloween has morphed into Howell-oween at The Slider Café on Morris Street in La Conner. Managers Levi and Kimberly Howell have decked out the restaurant with creative and colorful decorations that celebrate the cute rather than scary elements of the otherwise spooky holiday. The Howell-oween theme has even been enlisted for their daughter Annabelle's Oct. 27 birthday party at the café. Turns out, the Howell family isn't alone when it comes to embracing the Halloween spirit. "It makes e...
Thanksgiving came a month early for members of La Conner's planning commission. Mayor Marna Hanneman expressed her thanks at their Oct. 15 meeting for the role they and others played in the conversion of downtown First Street to one-way southbound traffic. "I want to thank everyone," Hanneman said at the outset of the 75-minute public session at Maple Hall. "It's a miracle. It was a team effort on First Street." Hanneman and Fire Chief/Code Enforcement Officer Aaron Reinstra were among those...
The shorthanded La Conner Emergency Management Commission managed some heavy lifting last week. Commissioners Doug Asbe and Jerry George at their Oct. 15 meeting took a deep dive into a risk analysis of various emergency scenarios listed in a draft community Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan due for completion by the end of the year. They were joined by Administrator Scott Thomas, who called the 75-minute session “a productive meeting” after the trio discussed challenges posed by some 20 potential disaster threats ranging from storm sur...
YOU CAN HELP La Conner Kiwanis and the La Conner High School student body are sponsoring a Halloween blood drive from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29, in the Landy James Gym. Your donation will preserve a life. Visit bloodworksnw.org, then go to its donor portal and search for La Conner. Please call if you have clinical questions, Dorothy, RN 360-431-9234, or about required registration, Lori, 360-630-0809. HEADS UP Skagit Habitat for Humanity will break ground on three new affordable homes in La Conner. Come to the corner of S. Third and Cal...
INVITATION FOR BID TOWN OF LA CONNER 2024 FIRE BOAT Sealed bid proposals will be received by the Town of La Conner for a custom fire boat. Proposals are to be delivered to the La Conner Town Hall, 204 Douglas Street, La Conner, Washington, 98257 and must be received by 3:00 p.m. on October 30, 2024, at which time proposals will be opened and publicly read. The vessel shall be a 28-foot landing craft with enclosed cab, trailer, and the ability to be powered by twin 300 HP outboard motors. The installation of a 1,000-gpm pump shall be an...
La Conner is no one-horse town. But on Saturday it was a one Brahma bull town, and proud of it. "Little Wick," a 4-year-old purebred Brahma steer, made his way that morning up the Washington Street hill, avoiding the new one-way traffic flow downtown, to take part in the opening of the much-anticipated Wick Peth exhibit at the Skagit County Historical Museum. The late Wick Peth, of a La Conner and Burlington area pioneer family, was a legendary bullfighter who brought athleticism to rodeo...
Total turn around. The $68,591 reported in sales tax revenues to the La Conner Town Council in September by the state’s Department of Revenue is the highest ever for the month, $5,315 above last year’s, and the second highest total in 2024. After below normal collection totals four of the first five months this year, sales taxes the last three months total $203,359, 42.7% of the year’s total and putting the town on course to meet this projected income for the year. Likewise, the $6,798 firetruck sales tax receipts are a record for the month...
Great staff, great results: The La Conner Weekly News won 37 WNPA best newspaper awards at the annual Better Newspaper Contest of Washington's community newspapers, a bit short of doubling last year's total of 21. More individuals, 14, won in more categories. Weekly News staff swept first, second and third place five times, including art reviews, art features and general and topical columns. Bill Reynolds led with 11 certificates, with first place for a news and an education story. He shared...
During the week they shifted historic South First Street one-way southbound traffic flow, La Conner’s leaders put the brakes on any free-wheeling budget plans for 2025. Town Administrator Scott Thomas shared a tight financial forecast with Town Council members at their Oct. 8 meeting, confirming projections submitted in writing by Mayor Marna Hanneman. “This is a tight budget year,” Thomas stressed. “Inflationary costs have risen dramatically. Expenses are going up. I’ve told the staff this is a year that we have to cut and choose....
They're calling them signs of the times. Those are the traffic signs installed by the La Conner's Public Works Department alerting motorists that First Street downtown is now one-way southbound and Commercial Street's single block in front of Maple Hall has been converted to an eastbound only flow. The changes have taken some getting used to. Reaction on social media has been mixed. Some posters have praised the relative ease of driving on the narrow street even with parking spaces filled on...
YOU CAN HELP La Conner Kiwanis and the La Conner High School student body are sponsoring a Halloween blood drive from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29, in the Landy James Gym. Your donation will preserve a life. Visit bloodworksnw.org, then go to its donor portal and search for La Conner. Please call if you have clinical questions, Dorothy, RN 360-431-9234, or about required registration, Lori, 360-630-0809. LIBRARIES La Conner Swinomish Library. 520 Morris St., La Conner. 360-466-3352. www.laconnerswinomishlibrary.org/events. Open 10 a.m. to...
Building affordable housing in La Conner is a groundbreaking development, worthy of celebration. Skagit Habitat for Humanity will break ground at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at its Caledonia Cottages Project at Third and Caledonia streets. The public is invited. The community event will celebrate the construction of three affordable single-family homes in La Conner with the families selected through the non-profit housing organization's Homebuyer Program. "This is a huge moment not just for...
Skagit County’s collaborative effort in the Great ShakeOut 2024 includes the county government, sheriff’s office, the cities of Anacortes, Burlington, Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley, the towns of Concrete, Hamilton, Lymon and La Conner, the Skagit County Fire Chiefs Association, Skagit County Dike District Consortium, Skagit 911 and Skagit County Emergency Medical Services The Great ShakeOut drill is Oct. 17 at 10:17 a.m. and aims to educate and prepare the community for the possibility of an earthquake. Tsunami sirens will sound and an ale...
