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The COVID-19 pandemic caused a year-long decline in emergency service calls for Skagit County Fire District 13 near La Conner. Those call numbers have finally begun to rebound, outpacing 2020 levels, and now fire district personnel themselves are to be on the receiving end of health care services in the form of mandatory coronavirus vaccinations. District Commissioners Bruce Shellhamer and John Doyle last Friday approved a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the district’s health care providers. The policy follows Gov. Jay Inslee’s Aug. 9 pro...
Town of La Conner Councilmember Jacques Brunisholz’s resignation from town council was read at the start of the Aug. 24 meeting by Town Administrator Scott Thomas. The four term official had emailed his decision to Mayor Ramon Hayes the week before. Neither Brunisholz nor Hayes were present. Brunisholz later declined to comment, stating “My letter of resignation says it all.” Brunisholz expressed a desire to travel with his wife in his letter, his “regret (at) having to take this abrupt decision” and that he believed “the present town leadershi...
The Skagit County commissioners will hold a public hearing on adopting a sales and use tax for affordable housing and homeless services 3:30 p.m. Sept. 9. The 0.1% tax will $1 on a $1,000 purchase. Mount Vernon became the first city in the county to approve this tax Aug. 25, giving them control over its revenue. Burlington and Sedro-Woolley are considering it so their governments can control the funding. If the county acts ahead of municipalities, the commissioners allocate the revenue. The commissioners plan to vote this fall. Anacortes...
Decisions, decisions. Perhaps none of late have been so scrutinized as whether to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In some cases, as for the state’s health care workers and emergency responders, it is less a choice than a mandate in the attempt to curb spread of the deadly virus, which has claimed nearly 630,000 American lives in a year and a half, 300 times more than the number of U.S. military members lost in two decades fighting in Afghanistan. This month has brought two major developments on the vaccine front. On Aug. 9, Gov. Jay Inslee p...
Skagit County residents have a convenient option to get pre-approved for help with rent and utility bills. Monday the County launched a new online portal where renters can complete a simple eligibility survey and get matched with a rental assistance provider, or complete an application for assistance. Access the portal at www.skagitcounty.net/renthelp. The Skagit County Rental Assistance Program provides financial assistance to income-eligible Skagit County renters, and their landlords, who may be struggling to afford rent and utilities due to...
William “Bill” Malcomson was born in Cuba, NY to Rev. Clair E. Malcomson and Irene T. Lacy. Bill lived in many areas of the country in his lifetime; graduating from Denison University with a BA, from Colgate Rochester Divinity School with his Masters of Divinity, and from Princeton with a Ph.D. in the History of World Religions. He was married to Laurie Loomis in 1955 at Seattle First Baptist Church and celebrated their 56th year of marriage prior to her pass-ing in 2011. He was partnered wit...
A time came when Lorraine Loomis figured there was a better way to earn a living than toiling at double shifts as a fish processor. She was right. There was a better way. It just wasn’t easier. If anything, becoming a long tenured “salmon warrior” was much harder – but a career that Loomis embraced and now provides a legacy destined to have an impact for generations to come, due to her diligence and perseverance. The longtime director of the Swinomish Tribal Community Fisheries progr...
Thank you Ken Stern for alerting us to the possibility of Fully Contained Communities popping up in this beautiful agriculture valley. The county commissioners “docketed” a change to the County’s comprehensive plan in May, which if enacted could change the farming/fishing culture forever. If developers are given the green light to construct these FCCs they would suck services and infrastructure like fire, schools, water and sewers from towns and cities that we taxpayers have already paid for and continue to maintain. They could line the freew...
RE: Application File # LU21-45CU Project Location: 623 Morris Street, Units E-1 and E-2 Mr. Davolio, Mayor Hayes, Councilmembers: I am writing for your consideration to not allow the proposed conditional use permit to change the use of two commercial units to guesthouse/guest rental for the above application file # LU21-45CU. The town of La Conner is a vibrant and diverse community with a vibrant and diverse mix of retail, commercial, residential and rental properties. It is known that the town does not have enough commercial units to keep the...
Every four years, Maggie Wilder finds herself weeping during the Olympics. “I’m moved by the glory of it and that I never won anything,” she said. “I always wonder what that would feel like.” Knowing that qualifying for the high hurdles was out of the question, Wilder suggested to her sister Georgia Johnson that they enter pies in the Skagit County Fair. “I wanted to win something in a friendly competitive way,” said Wilder, “and what could be friendlier than the fair?” When the judging was o...
Camp Korey has been named an official charity partner for the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon, celebrating its 50th running Nov. 7. Camp Korey will be among the more than 400 official charity partners providing thousands of runners the opportunity to run in the world’s largest and most popular marathon. Camp Korey’s 26 “Team Korey” runners will travel from across the U.S. to raise funds that support year-round camp programs for children with complex medical conditions. This team includes two Skagit-County women: Katie Roden of Mount Vernon,...
The La Conner Town Council approved an agreement with Landed Gentry for the partial extinguishment of the easement the developer owns across the town’s Maple Avenue park property at its in-person meeting July 27, attended by some 30 masked residents. Gentry, acting as Maple Field, LLC, extinguished only the ingress and egress provisions, its right to pave across the northeast corner of the new town park. The 5-0 vote was preceded by comments from Town Administrator Scott Thomas, who called it “more of a clean-up agreement.” Town Planner Micha...
At a special budget workshop Tuesday La Conner’s Town Council spent 30 minutes deliberating how to spend $264,911 in federal funds from the America Rescue Plan Act. Spending is prescribed by Congress, Administrator Scott Thomas informed council in a four-page memorandum July 21 sent with Mayor Ramon Hayes’ notice of the meeting. Summarizing “Options for Use of Fiscal Recovery Funds,” Thomas wrote, “the Town will have flexibility to decide how best to use the funding to meet specific community needs.” Thomas outlined “potential uses of these...
On Wednesday, July 21, Mayor Ramon Hayes called for a special meeting of the La Conner Town Council for 5:30 p.m., July 27. The purpose is a council budget workshop (discussion). The meeting is in Maple Hall. Town Administrator Scott Thomas sent the council and mayor a four page memorandum summarizing “Options for Use of Fiscal Recovery Funds.” He wrote: “La Conner has been allocated $264,911 (distributed half in 2021 and the other half in 2022) of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds authorized under the America Rescue Plan...
July’s first town council meeting on the 13th gave the 45 residents attending plenty to discuss. There were two public hearings and a discussion on policing and safety. The latter brought Skagit County Sheriff’s Office staff Undersheriff Chad Clark, Chief of Field Operations Chris Baldwin, and La Conner detachment Sgt. Jeff Willard into attendance. Administrator Scott Thomas framed the town’s need for law enforcement services as both a planning and budget issue. Councilmembers had a five page report outlining “Options for Public Safety Service...
The once-a-decade redistricting process is underway across the country. The Washington State Redistricting Commission needs your input. Every 10 years, after the federal census, congressional and state legislative electoral districts boundaries are redrawn to ensure that each district represents an equal number of residents. The state’s population has grown by almost 13% since 2010. Current voting-district lines will shift to reflect this growth. Will they shift in ways that are fair and representative? That depends on good processes, good d...
On the basketball court in high school and college, Danny Hagen would be called upon to block shots. Today one of the Shelter Bay man’s callings is to make sure the disabled get a fair shot at fully participating in community life. Hagen, a residential appraiser with the Skagit County Assessor’s Office, last week joined the Chinook Enterprises board of directors. Chinook Enterprises provides job training, employment assistance and related services for people with disabilities or facing oth...
Is La Conner blessed to have a cadre of concerned citizens, an ever shifting but attentive segment of our population who insist on saying “wait,” “stop” and “no,” or even “no more?” In December 2017, a group of the board of directors of the Museum of Northwest Art resigned and were critically questioning the administrative and financial management of Director Christopher Shainin. A public meeting to discuss the museum’s future in February 2018 brought a critical crowd and a robust discussion of the museum’s problems. Shainin resigned th...
For five years, the Diaper Bank of Skagit County has been their baby. Now Shelter Bay residents Calista and Dean Scott have adopted it out to be part of the United Way family. All parties are happy with the new arrangement. “We’re very pleased an organization like United Way of Skagit County saw the value to keep it going,” Dean Scott told the Weekly News June 28, the day before formally turning the rapidly growing diaper bank over to a nonprofit network known for investing in a wide range of community needs. At its inception, the Scotts distr...
The parent of a toddler will soon be feeling the heat for having left the child alone in an idling vehicle in downtown La Conner Monday, the hottest day of the year to date. That parent could face child endangerment charges, and the case is being forwarded to Child Protective Services (CPS) for review, according to Sgt. Jeff Willard, who heads the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office La Conner Detachment. Willard said a concerned person called the sheriff’s office 12:13 p.m. after seeing the child upset and alone for several minutes in an SUV wit...
He rode into town, donned a mask and saved the day. The Lone Ranger? No, but in the eyes of many the above aptly describes La Conner School District Superintendent Rich Stewart, who last summer inherited the reins of a district still reeling from prior labor and contract disputes and political fallout that had seen an almost complete turnover of the district’s board of trustees. Plus, there was COVID-19. Stewart, whose one-year tenure here ends June 30, would be the last person to label what h...
I have known Eric Day for several years. He is humble and has a servant’s heart – working with young people, teaching cultural ways, helping to feed people in the community, standing and speaking for justice and serving as a senator of the Swinomish Tribe. I support him for commissioner, Position 2, of Fire Protection District 13. As a Swinomish Tribe senator, Eric has been part of the decision-making that has resulted in programs that are meeting the health care and housing needs of people – native and non-native – in our a...
He has led the C.I.A., the U.S. Defense Department and two major universities, but 77-year-old Robert Gates, now of Big Lake, received his best management training as a Boy Scout. “When I was 14,” Gates recalled at a special leadership seminar benefitting Helping Hands Food Bank at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon Saturday night, “I had to get boys 11, 12 and 13-years-old to follow directions when they didn’t necessarily want to.” Gates found a way. And it led to a career in which he has made crucial decisions on the world stage. Now, in r...
The rain report for May is in this week’s issue. For more than two years, month after month, a rain report summarizing the local weather from the last month’s weather data at WSU’s Mount Vernon Memorial Highway research station has been compiled. Why? Maybe it is because frogs cannot read. Some say, placed in a pot of water, frogs cannot ascertain or react to water slowly being brought to a boil. But people can read. Whether it is this week’s readers or great grandchildren or alien archeologists digging through archives in the 22nd century...
Going on retreat was the best path forward for La Conner schools officials last week. School board members spent their three-hour retreat May 21 applying the finishing touches to the district’s new strategic plan, a process that has been two years in the making. They worked on next year’s budget and discussed capital improvements and naming two new student reps. That set the stage for formal action at its May 24 meeting. Members unanimously adopted a strategic plan designed to create a learning environment in which the academic and social emo...
