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The La Conner School Board held a special meeting Monday that lived up to its name. It was termed “special” because it opened with a walking tour of the campus. What was truly special came next. The members convened their first in-person meeting in a year – since the COVID-19 pandemic forced closure of schools statewide last March and led the board to conduct its public sessions on the Zoom tele-conferencing platform. Masked and socially distanced, board members met in the district administration building to hear updates on La Con...
The word “environment” has become to some a political word. In the last four years the presidential administration in Washington dismantled many environmental policies and rules. For instance, the Obama-era Clean Power Plan was replaced, the Endangered Species Act was redefined and the Oil and Natural Gas extraction ban was lifted. The Coal Ash rule, which regulates the disposal of toxic coal waste, was weakened and mercury and Clean Air standards were revised. During this time a coal lobbyist and an oil and gas industry ally were leading the...
Last week the Anacortes Chamber of Commerce board of directors, consisting of community leaders, city officials and Anacortes Waterfront Festival stakeholders, met with Chamber staff to discuss the potential of hosting the festival in 2021. The group discussed general epidemiological projections, the safety of our community, volunteers, and incoming guests, and the overall operational ability to facilitate an event without knowing where our region will be in the Healthy Washington Roadmap to recovery in June. The Anacortes Chamber of Commerce...
Originally published Jan. 28, 2021 by Northwest Public Broadcasting Washington state has approved a request to use multiple Washington state parks to train Navy SEALs. But the move Thursday came with significant amendments to what the Navy requested. The permits would expand the five parks previously used for Navy SEAL training to 16 or 17. The Navy had requested access to 28 state parks as a way to diversify its training sites. Officials had said a small number of sites can become too familiar to trainees over time. The commissioners called...
Ferries are not just green-and-white boats to the families and businesses of the 10th District. To us, those boats are vital connections to work, school, and services like doctors and dentists. Reliable ferries are essential to our local economy and quality of life. So how can we improve ferry service today – and build a system that will work for the next 100 years? Part of the answer is we have to work together. I formed the Ferry Caucus alongside Sen. Liz Lovelett (D-Anacortes), creating...
ELMYRA POWELL NELSON DALTON ZEHNER Born Elmyra Marie Powell on October 16, 1922, Elmyra Zehner died from heart failure in early August 2020 at her home overlooking the Cascade foothills in Mt. Vernon, Washington. She was much beloved by family and friends, and will be sorely missed. Her indomitable spirit inspired us all! She was 97 and had hoped to live until her 98th birthday to vote for President-Elect Joe Biden. She is survived by her sisters Inez (Bud) of Burlington, Washington, and Hallie...
Coverage of the contentious U.S. presidential campaign and its aftermath has filled the pages of the Washington Post all year. But it is a near 2,000-word feature article with a Pacific northwest angle in the nationally circulated Post that has drawn responses from readers around the country. Its title: “The 10,000-year-old tribe with a climate plan for the future.” The Swinomish Tribe’s long-view strategy toward climate adaptation, melding academic science with cultural values, was profiled last week by writer Jim Morrison. It is accom...
The Museum of Northwest Art’s 28th Annual Art Auction in September was a success, netting $134,000, exceeding the Museum’s goal. Board and staff thank the artists, donors, buyers and supporters. The Museum could not have done it without their continued belief in MoNA. The online program was a first attempt and you were right there with us. Some of you were even still bidding as the Auction closed at midnight on Sunday. All 280 bidders stayed online during the entire Live Auction and some on Eas...
I am appalled at the recent flyers that have been arriving via the mail, trashing Angie Homola, candidate for the 10th Legislative District. Apparently her opponent Greg Gilday does not have the fortitude to stand behind these tactics, so the flyers are being sent by a shady Republican group out of Bellevue. The flyers claim that Homola was fired from Island County Planning Department because of hostility and poor performance. That is, at best, a gross misrepresentation. I have known Angie for years, and at the time Angie was working...
Background / qualifying experiences I have been a resident of La Conner for 16 years. I Am a former La Conner Town Council member where I served on the Parks Commission, Park and Port Committee, Utilities Committee and helped to develop and approve La Conner’s budgets. I also served on the Association of Washington Small Cities Advisory Committee. I have 30 years of practical business experience that includes being a property manager; former realtor, estate planner and town merchant. State e...
Background / qualifying experiences I’m an educator and community leader and I have worked at Skagit Valley College since 2008 and served on the Oak Harbor Educational Foundation since 2009. I have had the honor of serving in the State Legislature for the past two years. Voters can trust that I will continue to listen to all constituents and work hard to find bipartisan solutions whenever possible. The legislation that I have sponsored to protect veterans, support education and improve transport...
SEATTLE — In a newly launched pilot project, civilian mental health crisis responders are riding alongside Skagit County sheriff’s deputies on 911 calls. It is the latest example of reimagining policing in the Pacific Northwest. Skagit County Sheriff’s Office Detective Anne Weed broached the idea for a partnership months before the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police ignited the national debate about reform. Weed said two existing mental health clinicians from Compass Health are now being “embedded” with regular patrol deputie...
Growing up as an Ike-Republican gives me a unique vantage point. Republicans used to support family values, the environment, the Constitution and the rule of our laws. The U.S. president used to be a leader, not a liar. Longtime Senator Slade Gorton, a Washington Republican, passed away recently. This marks the end of moderate Republicans in Washington State – a party Gorton would no longer recognize as the Republican Party, now under the domination of Donald Trump. This year, shortly before his death, Gorton threw his support behind...
I am pro-life. I reverence the beautiful gift of life. The pre-eminent life issue is for me to reverence the unborn child. However, the Catholic Church teaches that being pro-life means more than reverencing the unborn child. While life begins at conception, it does not end there. As Pope Francis has said, “Our defense of the innocent unborn needs to be clear, firm and passionate. Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned.” In other words, there are many other places where human lif...
As we have done for decades, your U.S. Navy conducts critical military readiness activities in the Pacific Northwest, and we are reapplying for authorizations to continue this training and testing for the next seven years, as our current authorizations expire later this year. It is imperative the Navy continues these activities in the Pacific Northwest to prepare our sailors for dangerous or emergency missions throughout the world, to include large-scale conflicts, maritime security operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief...
Back to school in La Conner this year means back to the computer screen for students and teachers alike. La Conner Schools teachers and staff began training remotely last week with the new distance learning platforms that will be used to instruct students at least through fall semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On-line classes in La Conner are scheduled to start Sept. 14. For La Conner teachers and para-educators, the usual end of summer on-campus camaraderie with colleagues renewing friendships and sharing vacation updates prior to...
The American trait of impatience, that drive to get things done now, caution be damned, is often fatal. It was for Ada Weeks’ step-parents, who in the opening pages of Shelter Bay resident Ashley Sweeney’s new novel, “Answer Creek,” plunge their oxen-driven wagon into the late-May Big Blue River, swollen to twice its normal flow and carrying whole trees. In minutes the wagon is rammed, turned into the current and swept downstream. Humans and oxen are upended and disappear. Gone. The 19-year-old Ada, along with hundreds of others in the Donner...
I have known Helen Price Johnson for a long time, yet I’m throwing my complete support to Ron Muzzall for state Senate. Helen is a nice person, but she is not the leader we need in Olympia at this critical moment in our state’s history. Ron is! As a life-long resident and business leader in Legislative District 10, Ron Muzzall is someone who knows and has lived the issues we all face. The Democrats are for growing taxation, a push for early sex education in our schools and a heavy-handed state response to COVID19. Ron is the person who can bri...
“A lie told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.” This chilling statement has been attributed to Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda. The campaign of Bill Bruch, candidate for the Washington House of Representatives in the 10th Legislative District, has evidently taken its message to heart. I realize that this is a serious charge, and I do not make it lightly. Once again, however, the Bruch campaign, in a sensationalistic, dishonest and scurrilous hit piece I received in the mail today, says of Bru...
Bill Bruch knows all about changing tides, having resided nearly half his 16 years in La Conner aboard a converted U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cargo ship and fireboat on Swinomish Channel. Now he hopes to change the political tides in Olympia. Bruch, a former La Conner Town Council member who has served on various panels here, is seeking the District 10 State House of Representatives seat held by Dave Paul, D-Oak Harbor. Bruch has more than 30 years of business experience. He chairs the Skagit...
In the July 9th Weekly News I noticed a letter singing the praises of Mr. Bill Bruch running for State House representative in the 10th LD. This will NOT be praising him but quite the opposite. Mr. Bruch did serve as a fellow Town Councilman a few years back, seemingly for a “minute.” Each Council person usually is assigned area of responsibility to coordinate and to a degree “shepherd” in its processes. I do not recall what Mr. Bruch’s area was, but I certainly do not remember any momentous achievements or projects while he served, which was d...
Merchants on Morris and First Streets are hopeful the July 4th weekend will be a shot in the arm for sales even without fireworks lighting the night sky. Asking about business possibilities this weekend brought these replies: On First Street, Two Moons Gallery’s Alan Darcy hopes business picks up. He expects good weather will bring people who want to get out to “come to our friendly little town … and enjoy themselves.” He encourages “partying hearty, but smarty” and wants everyone...
This weekend marks the 244th anniversary of our declaring our independence, when, as Lincoln said at Gettysburg, “our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” This is the perfect moment to consider binding up our nation’s wounds, as he also wrote, in his second inaugural address. Our nation. Our wounds. Our defense. It is us, plural. We are both citizens and patriots together. Patriots defend us, the people, our country. That is we, toget...
By: Albert Ondo The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the injustices and inequalities that have plagued our society and our state for far too long. Too often, our state representatives in Olympia have not placed people first. Our health and safety should be a priority; working people should have livable wages; strong education must be the foundation of life and work; transportation ought to meet the demands of our 21st century economy; and sustainable farms, forests, and fisheries will create sustainable jobs. Now is the time to elect people like...
Jeff Scoma plans to Wing it as La Conner High’s new head football coach, and that should be a good thing. Winging it, after all, doesn’t mean leaving anything to chance. Quite the opposite, as far as Scoma is concerned. A seven-year veteran of the powerhouse Bellevue system, Scoma told the Weekly News on Thursday he will bring classic time-tested Wing-T offensive concepts with him to Whittaker Field. “I learned the Wing-T and most of what I know from the many great coaches in Bellevue,” Scoma s...
