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The public is getting a chance to tell Skagit Transit where to go – in a polite way, of course. The area's public transportation system, which last year celebrated its 30th anniversary, is hosting a series of open houses through April 10 designed to gather input for SKAT's long-range service plans. Skagit Transit Marketing and Public Affairs Liaison Cheryl Willis said a key component of the current open house series is to determine if there is demand for a micro-transit option on Fidalgo I...
Food co-ops in our communities offer amazing examples of thinking globally while acting locally to create a more sustainable world in people’s home towns. The Anacortes Food Co-op is doing exactly that. Come to the grand opening of their new store from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, at 2403 Commercial Ave. and see – and taste – community optimism for yourself. The story, which naturally starts with a small group in late 2015 incorporating as Woven Dream Anacortes Food Coop (its legal name)...
It was only fitting that town officials would meet at the La Conner Civic Garden Club building for a report on the 2024 Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The local floral extravaganza, which enjoys global popularity, was previewed by Nicole Roozen, the festival’s new executive director, as part of the town council’s March 26 public session. The council met at the historic garden club venue instead of its regular meeting site at Maple Hall because of updates to its heating and air conditioning system. Roozen, who bears an iconic name in the world of...
Sunday, March 24 11:04 a.m.: Home, home on the range – Report of loose cows in the road. A deputy checked the area but was unable to locate them. Skagit City Road, Conway area. Tuesday, March 26 7:23 p.m.: They’ll go racin’ in the street – Report of cars racing on McLean Road. A deputy responded but found no cars racing and no suspects. No other reports came in. McLean Road, Mount Vernon area. Thursday, March 28 12:41 p.m.: Free rides for owner and dog – An arrest was made on a suspect who also possessed an aggressive and injured dog. The subje...
We have wrapped up the 2024 legislative session, and I'm pleased to report that state lawmakers worked together to pass legislation and fund projects to benefit Washingtonians. I'm especially proud that my bill to lower the cost of health care by capping the price of asthma inhalers and epi-pens passed both the House and the Senate unanimously. This is great news for families who use these life-saving medications for asthma and allergies. In addition, the Legislature passed two very important...
You play how you practice. That was the mantra shared last Thursday by Skagit County Fire District 13 Commission chair Bruce Shellhamer, a former Sedro-Woolley High School sports standout. He wasn’t alluding to athletics. He was talking about the fire district’s upcoming March 30 windstorm exercise. The training will engage HAM radio operators, volunteers at the Shelter Bay Disaster Assistance Center, a mobile Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) trailer, and residents who will post “Help/OK” placards in their windows to inform emergen...
Skagit Transit wants citizen feedback on a comprehensive service analysis it’s conducting to optimize public transportation for residents across Skagit County. This analysis will play a role in SKAT’s Long-Range Transit Plan, reflecting the agency’s commitment to improving and expanding service accessibility. La Conner and Fidalgo Island residents will have two chances to learn about SKAT’s Long-Range Transit Plan and offer comments about current and future services at two public outreach meetings. 5-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 27: La Conner...
To the editor: I would like to thank the Skagit Board of County Commissioners for placing an EMS levy renewal on the April 23, 2024, special election ballot to continue critical funding for emergency medical services in our community. Every second counts in an emergency, and the EMS levy renewal will ensure we have enough personnel, supplies, equipment, and ambulances to respond to calls, which have increased by 25% in the last four years. In 2023, Skagit County EMS provider agencies, like mine in the upper east county, responded to over...
On Feb. 13, the United State Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill containing military aid of $61 billion for Ukraine and $14.1 billion in security assistance for Israel. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is in no hurry to take it up in the House of Representatives, but sometime this spring it is likely that it will be debated and passed in that chamber. Not many newspapers of any size around the country are editorializing to have their U.S. representatives vote against that bill, but this one is. Rep. Rick Larsen is as knowledgeable as...
I can’t believe anyone assessing the results of Washington’s presidential primary today and throughout this week will be surprised. Actually, there is one vote tally that is not certain: the total for uncommitted delegates in the Democratic primary. There was no organized campaign that I was aware of, as in Michigan two weeks ago, but the same opportunity for people of conscience insisting on an end to the destruction of the Palestinian people in Gaza had existed for registered Democrats and any resident willing to use her ballot to send thi...
Word is getting out on one of Skagit County's best-kept secrets. That's thanks to La Conner High School alum and former Swinomish Tribal Community Senator Leon John, now the outreach director at Didgwalic Wellness Center northwest of town along Highway 20. The Didgwalic facility is a rehabilitation center for anyone, tribal and non-tribal, dealing with addiction or other challenges to mental and physical health. John outlined the Didgwalic mission as guest speaker for the second in a series of...
Donna Kay Cushing (Griffin), 79, of La Conner, passed away in the evening of Feb. 21, 2024, of heart failure. Donna was the second child of four born to Jack and Elva Griffin on Jan. 19, 1945, in Kalamazoo, Mich. Donna spent her young years in Otsego, Mich., attending school, enjoyed dancing with friends at the town hall, and visiting her dear grandparents in Otsego, and up north in Mikado, Mich. Donna married Richard Cushing in 1971. Their marriage lasted 53 years. Donna enjoyed a 30-plus-year...
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community has notified the federal government it intends to sue for its failure to protect threatened and endangered salmon runs. In a 15-page document submitted Feb. 22 to the Environmental Protection Agency, National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Department of the Interior, tribal counsel Earthjustice of Seattle claims the federal government has violated two sections of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). “The Swinomish people’s way of life and livelihoods, as well as pro...
Fire District 13 emergency responders are used to pulling their weight – and then some. Now they’re getting much appreciated help. The added muscle is in the form of a new power loader gurney system purchased with funds from the HF Sinclair Refinery of Anacortes. “These run in the $30,000 range,” said Fire Chief Wood Weiss. “So, I reached out to Sinclair and Andrea Petrich found the funding for us.” Petrich is the refinery’s head of communications and external relations advisor. She and other HF Sinclair representatives attended the fire dist...
When we bought our home in La Conner in January of 2019, we were told that our block, the only block on Washington Street where there is no storm sewer, was in “Phase 2” of the project to provide storm drainage throughout the town. Shortly after we moved in, members of the town council told us that there was no money at present for such improvements. We were asked to be patient. Our lot periodically floods and such phenomena as atmospheric rivers leave behind a pond of 6-8 inches in depth, which can remain flooded for several weeks and whi...
Local firefighters are taking a step in the right direction when it comes to winning the fight against cancer. Make that many steps. Six members of Skagit County Fire District 13, including Chief Wood Weiss, will take part in the 33rd annual Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Firefighter Stair Climb in Seattle on March 10. The event, whose mission is to raise much needed funding toward finding a cure for those battling blood cancer, is billed as the largest on-air stair climb competition in the world. Standing 788 feet tall, the Columbia Center is...
It’s heartbreaking to be updated on how many homeless people there are in Skagit County. Fortunately, they are no longer camping out on sidewalks in our towns. I can no longer visit my friend in San Francisco who has a nightclub because it is so upsetting for me to see so many homeless people camped out in the most expensive parts of that city. Skagit County has provided very nice grassy areas for people to pitch their tents. Some of the homeless people have addictions to alcohol and drugs, b...
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration announced $1 billion in funding for more than 2,700 electric and low-emission school buses across 37 states in January. This is a second part of funding of a $5 billion, five-year initiative from the bipartisan infrastructure law. In total, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program has awarded nearly $2 billion and funded approximately 5,000 electric and low-emission school buses nationwide. Washington schools will receive a combined $14.9 million through the program. That mon...
The future is looking brighter for solar energy in La Conner. “You have a big advantage,” Markus Virta, managing partner and co-founder of Cascadia Renewables, told two dozen people attending a community solar storage feasibility study meeting at La Conner Swinomish Library last Saturday. Virta said collection and analysis of detailed energy usage data at La Conner Schools and the La Conner fire station, could lead to future state grant funding for installation of clean energy systems and backup generators at both venues This is his fir...
Every vote counts is no mere cliché. Just ask Bruce James, Jr. James advanced to the Swinomish Tribal Senate general election next month by a single vote, edging incumbent Brian Wilbur 84-83 and placing second in primary balloting last Saturday. Myrtle Rivas, who received 97 votes, will face James in the Feb. 10 contest for the Swinomish Senate Seat No. 10 that Wilbur had held for three terms. Meanwhile, Rodney John and incumbent Eric Day will vie for Seat No. 11 in the tribe’s general election. John polled 103 primary votes while 88 voters se...
La Conner Drug Store is not the first small-town, family-owned drug store to go out of business in recent years. Rite Aid, hopefully the new home of former employees from La Conner Drug and Island Drug, is itself in bankruptcy. The conservative advocacy group Association of Mature American Citizens reports that 2,000 U.S. pharmacies closed between 2017 and 2020. Forbes wrote last September, "CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid were closing nearly 1,500 stores. Between 1980 and 2022 the number of...
As a long-time (14 years) La Conner resident I have appreciated having certain local services such as a local bank branch, a grocery store, a pharmacy and a local newspaper. It has meant that I don’t need to travel far for services, supplies and information. I like personally knowing the people with whom I do business. This is the advantage of small-town living. Then I read the stunning news of the closure of the La Conner Drug Store! I have steadfastly used their pharmacy for my several prescriptions refusing mail-order offers of ...
A new year, a new mayor. It's been a long while – going back to January 2008 – since that sentence has applied to the Town of La Conner. Now it does. Former planning commissioner Marna Hanneman, who has spent the past six months prepping to succeed retiring four-term mayor Ramon Hayes, transitioned into her new role at a Jan. 9 hybrid town council meeting at Maple Hall that ended with a half-hour executive session. Council members Annie Taylor and Mary Wohleb also took ceremonial oaths of office...
As we start off the 2024 year, I want to personally thank all of the parents and families of our students who every day navigate all of the obstacles in life while supporting their school-aged children. We strive to create a welcoming environment and love seeing your students every day! I am grateful for your belief and trust in our staff. All of our staff work hard to ensure that our students, your children, are safe, loved and cared for, respected and experience success every day. Finances are critical and necessary to ensure that students,...
Skagit County Fire District 13 cares. In both deed and name. The district has implemented a proactive injury and illness prevention program that is providing medical care and assistance while reducing strains on the 911 system. Its coverage area includes Swinomish Reservation and rural La Conner, Early statistics show the effectiveness of District 13’s CARES (Community Assistance Referral and Education Services) program, staffed by three full-time paid personnel. Medical officer Capt. Drew Farrell presented graphs at the Jan. 11 District 13 m...
