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Tomorrow is the 248th anniversary of the Continental Congress passing the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The easy thought, the belief that the colonists rose up with one voice in kicking the Brits out and demanding self-representation and democracy is a nice story, but not completely true. The anger, energy and righteousness throughout the 1760s and early 1770s leading up to war with Great Britain came from a minority of the population. Historians estimate that perhaps 20% of people in the 13 colonies were ardent patriots working toward...
Ambrose Bierce fought with honor and distinction in the Civil War, but the carnage and horror scarred him deeply. He became a fiction writer of some renown, but the darkness and cynicism in his words was unique for his time. His black humor and unhappy endings are more of the late 20th century than the 19th century. His 1906’s “Devil’s Dictionary” may not be appreciated today, either, given that our time is not one of subtlety or nuance. Take his definition of prejudice: “n. A vagrant opinion without visible means of support.” And politics: “A...
On June 5, the La Conner Firefighters Association took over the La Conner Pub and Eatery. Firefighters, EMTs and association members ran the restaurant with the help of John, Jada and a few pub employees: Julie, Jasmine, Adolfo, Blythe and Estella. We wanted to thank our community for all of the support and for joining us for such a fun event! We’re looking forward to seeing all of you at our Golf Tournament on Sept. 7. Natalie Baker La Conner...
It was fun to see that a photo of what some call the “La Conner Loopers” on their bikes and trikes in “A view from the editor’s eye,” the centerfold in last week’s La Conner Weekly News. Much ado has been made about this old dude crossing mileage milestones, when the attention really should be about all of the other characters that have been the inspiration to get me up and rolling every morning. Weather permitting. Fred, the recognized leader of the Loopers, caught me tooling around on my new trike shortly after Barb and I moved to Center S...
I was greatly moved by last week’s editorial, in which Ken Stern ponders the fate of our truly local newspaper, the La Conner Weekly News. I would urge you to read it if you have not, or to re-read it if you have. We are in danger of losing a critically important component of our community. Social media and individual websites are not adequate replacements. We are uniquely blessed to have a locally owned paper dedicated to the interests of our community, with reporters actually reporting what is going on, often in depth, which you would n...
Describing the thoughts and feelings over these last two weeks is challenging, to say the least. A house fire is one of those things that you always think will never happen to you. It’s such a surreal experience that we are still trying to fully process our new reality. Having gone through this trauma, we should be feeling despondent and defeated. In every right, we should be miserable and yet, we find ourselves optimistic with smiles on our faces looking toward the future. There is one clear cause of our positive outlook: this extraordinary c...
Reducing energy use through energy efficiency is easier than ever. As we say in the energy efficiency business, a megawatt is the energy you use, but a “negawatt” is the energy you don’t need to use. Efficiency, as I’ve mentioned before, doesn’t mean that you have to stop using energy-consuming devices, or even that you have to use them less. It means that you choose systems and controls that enable you to use less energy to get the effect you want. Often, new, energy efficient technologi...
I have several addictions and they are increasing all of the time and the good news is that all of them are positive, not negative. I play Words With Friends on my cellphone, so I can take it with me wherever I go. It's a competitive crossword puzzle and I have several competitors and some of them use words I've never heard of even though I was an English major in college. It's a very healthy brain activity and the last thing I do before I go to sleep at night to use whatever brain cells I have...
I have learned this at least by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. – Henry Thoreau, in “Conclusion” chapter, “Walden,” 1854 This issue is the 364th I have printed as the Weekly News publisher. It finishes my seventh year here. Next week, issue 365, begins my eighth year as owner of the La Conner Weekly News. It has been a great run. “Best job ever” has long been my mantra. I am blessed to ha...
The road to buying the La Conner Weekly News went through Vermont, with my summer 2016 contest entries to win the Hardwick Gazette. I shaped my third entry as a future editorial, my last before retiring. I imagined selling the paper to a co-op comprised of its staff and readers, they having organized to purchase it. This is a fable near impossibly hard to make true in real life. This was published in the July 12, 2017 La Conner Weekly News, my second issue as publisher. It’s my paper now, but I am only borrowing it. Franklin said “A Republic,...
La Conner Weekly News Team: Thank you for the wonderful story and photo last week, reporting about our dedication/blessing of the new pavilion at Conner Waterfront Park (June 19, page 1). One thing I said that day and would like to see reported is the idea for the park started with Parks Commissioner Brian Scheuch, who I said was the father of the park, along with his friend BJ Carol. Thank you, Ollie Iversen La Conner Parks Commissioner...
Is the La Conner economy like a log floating in the Swinomish Channel, carried by the tides, up or down channel as the tide rises and falls with no momentum except moon and wind? Sometimes the log travels for miles in a single day and over the course of days or weeks, maybe helped by the breeze or a favorable obstruction or beaching. The next rising tide continues its forward direction. If progress is measured in distance, then that log may have a phenomenally successful run. Other times a log’s movement is held back for any of a host of r...
One of the central themes of Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato Si’, “On Care for our Common Home,” is Francis’ strong and repeated critique of anthropocentrism, or the tendency for us humans to not only prioritize our species over and against the rest of creation but also to promote a hubristic sense of our exceptionalism on this planet. The results of this misguided way of thinking, to borrow a phrase from the pope, have been devastating for the environment. We have put our own comfort, desire for wealth and distorted sense of dominion...
Some nominally recyclable organic materials, in some specific locations, may be better used as fuel for a waste-to-energy system, even if that system produces some carbon dioxide, for the purpose of replacing a fueled heating system that would produce even more carbon dioxide and reducing waste shipments. La Conner may be one such location. There are two major reasons to recycle. If you can reuse raw materials that have already been extracted and processed, you’ll reduce the need to extract n...
Summer doesn’t arrive for another eight days, but it sure looked and felt like summer this past weekend. After two Sundays of overcast skies and rain pouring down, this week the La Conner Live Gilkey Square concert band Adrian Xavier & Ska Island and listeners were blessed with sun, blue sky, a mild breeze and temperatures almost to 70 degrees. May Sundays all summer long be warm, but not climate change induced too hot. Next Sunday it is Skagit favorite Chris Eger Band. Concerts start at 1 p.m. through Sept. 8. Bring your lawn chair. There is a...
Elliot: Like most people I have heard numerous references to Project 2025 from the Heritage Foundation. However, I did not understand the complexity and reach until I read this editorial column in the Seattle Times. I feel that if Project 2025 is adopted or even sections of it, everyone needs to have a better understanding of the effect on the U.S. Please republish. There are a multitude of issues that voters must assess when deciding between President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and the independent presidential candidates before...
Every year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers publishes updated statistics for water safety (or lack thereof) at its project locations throughout the country. In the eight years I’ve been working for USACE, the statistics on drownings have not significantly changed (that I can recall), regardless of the amount of focus and messaging the enterprise has published. Again, it’s no surprise that USACE data from 2023 shows that drowning victims at our locations are 88 percent male and 89 percent who weren’t wearing life jackets. This is an impor...
Thursday afternoon some 36 La Conner High School seniors will graduate in a ceremony at the football stadium. The weather forecast predicted sun and 71 degrees Sunday afternoon. In every way the ceremony, the parties afterward and through the weekend, the summer and the year and decades ahead ought to be a time of good weather, smooth sailing, enthusiasm and optimism as these students, like graduates from high schools and colleges all over the United States, move forward into adulthood, jobs, schooling, independence, relationships and the zilli...
Just a small rock face in town, not more than four stories high, slate or limestone. I don’t really know my rocks, but it is grey and adorned with flowers clinging to its face, flowers of many colors, Hesperus, California poppy, bachelor button, penstemon, oxeye daisy, moss and licorice fern, resilient plants making the best of it in clefts in the cliff, in pockets of soil blown up from the Skagit flats. Above is a ragged crown of juniper, twisted and gnarly. A gift, a thing of beauty that simple expanse of rock left unmolested for so many y...
A poem by Rabindranath Tagore is the epigraph at the beginning of Georgina Howell’s biography of Gertrude Bell: We are all the more one because we are many For we have made ample room for love in the gap where we are sundered. Our unlikeness reveals its breath of beauty radiant with one common life, Like mountain peaks in the morning sun. Bell, an English woman born in 1880, was a linguist, archeologist, author, poet and Arabist. She worked tirelessly on behalf of the Arab cause during World War I and helped establish a free and independent I...
On May 30 the New York City Criminal Court stepped on a rake with the ensuing pain to be felt the worst in 158 days by the Biden supporters of the nation. If past history is an indicator of what takes place after a resounding defeat and loss of power, the liberals usually resort to setting fires or worse. We can only hope the National Guard is strong enough to pinch it in the bud so a reelected President Trump can continue to make America great again. Denny Sather Mount Vernon...
Last week Donald Trump was convicted unanimously by 12 jurors, people much like you and me. They were selected by both the prosecution and the defense, each side with equal ability to remove individual prospectives from the jury pool. To tell me that the choosing of jurors and alternates was somehow “rigged” is nonsense. To tell me that you, the diehard Trumper, are certain that all of those chosen jurors were Biden/Dem supporters is more nonsense – because you cannot know that. (And it only takes one to hang a jury.) The jury heard and saw a...
About half to two-thirds of the average Western Washington home’s energy use is for space heating and cooling, and water heating. Normally, temperature management is either accomplished by burning gas or propane, or by using an electric resistance heater or air-source heat pump. There’s another, more energy-efficient option: Water-source heat pumps. These systems operate on the same basic principles as other heat pumps. They transfer heat from one side of the system to the other. In an air...
No, my obsession is no longer Donald Trump or the Mariners or preparing to vote for the Oscars. My obsession is BIRDS. I sit in my hot tub at least twice a day and I am transfixed by the bird feeders that I have in my backyard. The birds scatter when I walk by but I settle down and don't move around at all and they come back in droves. I've also placed a feeder in my front yard that I can watch while I am sitting in front of the television in my living room. This has led to a very important...
Memorial Day this year was cool and gray. That did not prevent people from gathering with family and friends. Outside picnics might have been few, but lots of folks celebrated, boating, home barbecuing and going out in the many ways we do on holidays. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration reported record numbers of passengers at the nations’ airports. In greater La Conner scores of people attended services at Pleasant Ridge Cemetery and the Swinomish Cemetery to honor departed military, pioneer and family members. That is how l...
