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Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper
Sorted by date Results 1202 - 1226 of 1886
Dear Mr. Wheeler: This letter concerns the budget for the 2020-2021 school year. Debt service is paid by taxes on non-Indians. This is not fair. Tribal members constitute an estimated 16.1% of enrollment, so the Swinomish Tribal Community should contribute a proportional amount. The reduced debt service, as a result of bond refunding, should be budgeted along with a contribution from the Tribe. Budget line item 2500 should reflect an amount for operation and maintenance as well as debt service. The Tribe contributes $660,000 to operation and...
Leave. Let’s let them leave, those who hold the Confederate battle flag high, who defend monuments to Rebel leaders who took up arms to defeat the Union in 1861. Theirs is not a heritage to be celebrated. The Confederates were an alliance of states, banded together in rebellion against the United States, their mother country. Their military leaders were former U.S. officers who renounced their citizenship and resigned their commissions. They were traitors who committed treason. The monuments raised to commemorate them are vile celebrations of t...
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: Patricia Bonacic (aka the DONALDoppelganger) Dear Mel and Ken, I am writing in response to your respective editorials printed about me in the La Conner Weekly News last week. The newspaper had evidentially been used to wrap up shrimp, and other such fish, and was mailed to a White House aide for his birthday. He brought it to the attention of Jared who then immediately directed it to me. It stinks to high heaven, let me tell you! I have never heard of La Conner but, judging from your advice and analysis of my presidency, I am seriously...
I have received the best third year anniversary gift ever from the people around the country embracing the Black Lives Matter movement: Hope. This surprise gift welled up inside of me recently, completely unexpected, as I reflected on finishing my third year as owner of the Weekly News. What are the important nuggets that I have mined since July 2017 when I started here? What have I experienced and learned? Turns out that the lesson is lifelong, not from La Conner at all. That happens sometimes. My version of the last 50-plus years of life in t...
By: Mike Morrell Mel Damski is pleading for President Trump to resign because he knows that is the only way Sleepy Joe could win. Can you imagine if he did resign and we were stuck with a President Biden, who can’t put a coherent sentence together, sniffs young women and girl’s hair and supports the Democrat mayors who are letting mobs ravage our cities and who has a son who reaps millions because of daddy’s political influence? And, yes, Joe avoided the draft by claiming he has asthma. Funny but I have not noticed him ever having troub...
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...
When Swinomish tribal members dig clams, it’s called clam jamming. They get a tribal permit and follow the regulations as to location and times. I, for one, have not participated in tribal clam digging. I am not a tribal member from these parts. So, I listen to stories, often the ones from my husband’s family: His brother, Greg Yakanak; his sister, Karen Joe; and his nephew, Jason Paul. They go clam jamming. Occasionally there is a photo, but often it is a story of their day. The long walk out...
This is our twelfth week since Gov. Jay Inslee started shutting down Washington’s economy, ordering us to Stay Home to Stay Safe. We are not nearly as shutdown as we were when March ended. We are not all safe, either: Last week 50 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Skagit County. Two weeks ago, public health staff told the Country’s Board of Health that the rise in cases precluded applying to the state to move to Phase 3. The increasing number of cases and the rate of increase, metrics of “community spread” make advancing to Phase 3 by Decembe...
Dear Sir Donald, I am writing to you as a fellow New Yorker. Okay, we grew up a little differently but we are both very tough and very proud people. We both avoided fighting in Viet Nam. I failed my physical but your rich father used his connections to get a doctor to make up a story that classified you as 4F. We were both Bill and Hillary Clinton supporters back in the day but I became a progressive independent and you became a right-wing Republican. It is clear after last weekend’s fiasco i...
You know all those flavored carbonated water drinks available in the market? Why don’t they make one for strawberry/rhubarb? It is, after all the best combination for early summer baking and cooking. For those watching their sugar intake, do not reduce the sugars in this recipe; simply cut a smaller slice for yourself or guests. Ingredients - Pie crust, 2, one for top and one for bottom - Rhubarb, 3 cups (1/2 inch pieces) - Strawberries, 2 and ½ cups chopped - Light Brown Sugar, 1/3 c...
In March La Conner schools were told to close their doors by the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction due to the coronavirus. A great challenge was placed in front of all to teach and establish logistics through Zoom meetings and Google Classroom while maintaining a fluid stream of communication with the entire school district community. Not easy. But through the positive efforts of students, teachers, staff, administration, and families the 2019/2020 school year was successfully completed. The State Superintendent, Chris R...
Skagit County is on its way to week three of being in Phase 2 of the state’s four phase Safe Start plan for reopening our economy while keeping new cases of the coronavirus at bay. Our beginning-to-open tourist town – and every community and county in Phase 2 – is taking baby steps along a carefully prescribed route. Businesses and cultural institutions: schools, churches libraries and art centers, must follow guidances issued by the state’s Departments of Health and Labor and Industry. Residents – whether as customers, visito...
This is a cool weather recipe, as the casserole bakes for an hour at 350 degrees F. Ingredients - Zucchini, 3 to 4 cups, peeled and cubed - Tomato, 1 medium, diced - Cheddar cheese, ¾ cup - Butter, ¾ cup - Onion, 1 medium, diced - Flour, ¼ cup - Milk, 1 and ¼ cups - Salt & pepper, to taste - Saltine Crackers, a handful, [email protected] Preparation Place zucchini in a butter baking dish. Season with salt. Tomato and cheese are added, spreading evenly. In a...
I am Renee Stewart, Paisley’s mom. I believe a person has a right to their opinion/beliefs and they have the right to be heard. Renae Paisley only stated what half, or more, of America is thinking. There are many ways to view to the COVID-19 pandemic. I have heard people tell me how afraid they are and I’ve seen the extremes they are going to ensure their safety. I also know of people who have not changed any of their usual routine, except as forced by closures. I have heard many different beliefs related to COVID-19; it isn’t real, it isn’t...
The letter from Renae Paisley two weeks ago gave me chills – not the good kind – but the responses from our community gave me faith in humankind. Letter after letter admonished Paisley’s twisted view that we must put an end to social isolation and open up our streets and shops so we do not hurt our economy. I’m guessing that Paisley is a nom de plume for a person who self-identifies as an “entrepreneur” and thinks that a vibrant economy is more important than the lives of old farts like myself. One of the big problems we have no...
La Conner’s High School seniors, every one of them, graduate with this distinct honor: Never has anyone, or any school class, been rocked and roiled by a spring like this one. Before March it was impossible to imagine finishing school without going to class. Every ritual and tradition vanished: their senior trip, prom and graduation ceremony are just the tip of the iceberg of their losses. The one lesson, perhaps learned, usually takes years to master: Life is not fair. La Conner’s seniors got a crash course and were force-fed that coarse mat...
Dear Ken Stern, I sold the house. I moved to Anacortes. I drove through downtown La Conner to say “goodbye.” Then it hit me! I am leaving the nicest town I have ever lived in. Yes, Shelter Bay is part of La Conner. Over the 20 years I often sat in the Catholic Church and looked at the window labeled “La Conner,” named after Louisa Conner, the founder of our little city. She also built the church! As I said “goodbye” to my old house, I realized that I loved this area. Especially the grocery, Pioneer Market. The main street. The Tavern. The many...
Thank you for the news article about the campaigns of Paul and Bruch. It was helpful to learn that, according to Bruch, Paul’s campaign is dominated by special interests: i.e., unions, tribes, environmentalists and social justice warriors. Because those are all my special interests, I now know whom to vote for. But I do not understand how that means that Paul is not working for the “average taxpayer in our district.” All these folks sure look like average taxpayers to me. Beverly “average taxpayer” Haywood La Conner...
I wonder where our humanity is during these troubling times. Are we, as a society, like a volcano ready to erupt with our burning emotional bitterness and hatred and fear? Can we begin to look within ourselves to see how we can deal with one another? Can we have a community without resentment, re-sent-meant? I will live with unresolved issues over and over. We need to acknowledge that we need others. Personal responsibility means I have to look at the part I play. I have the option to do something or let things stay the same. I, as a victim of...
I want to reply to Rane Paisley about her apparent lack of concern for the health of others in her community. I was angry last week and am still angry. I take her statements as I believe they were intended, loving or not, as a warning to avoid her and others who choose to disregard the best advice of local health professionals trying to slow the spread of COVID 19. As we decide where my wife and I can begin to go out again, it is clear to me the town of LaConner, our former home, is not that place. As a described local entrepreneur, I have to...
It speaks for the open mindedness of the editor to have printed “‘Citizen View’ COVID virus a severe ‘bug’ strain.” Several facts were misconstrued; the virus has actually killed more than any other flu viruses in the past hundred years. It has killed many younger people and children. Also, why should it be okay that older people and those with pre-existing conditions are dying? How human are we? These older people have helped build this economy that is being lost partially due to mis-management by the federal government in this situation....
Dear Editor: As I read last week’s edition of the La Conner Weekly News, I was shocked to read “A Citizen’s View” by Renae Paisley. At the bottom of the incendiary opinion of Ms. Paisley, there are the following words in italics: “Renae Paisley is an entrepreneur in La Conner who seeks to share love, truth and gratitude in these unprecedented times.” I am sorry, but those words don’t ring true for me – in fact, they seem to contradict the message of her printed opinion. Ms. Paisley’s opinion is anything but loving. Rather, it seek...
Renae Paisley’s opinion piece in last week’s paper left me both angry and disheartened. She insists that the measures initiated to help control the Covid-19 pandemic – which to date has killed more than one hundred thousand people in the U.S – are simply an intolerable intrusion on her individual freedom. “Any ordinary and healthy individual should weather the storm” she writes. That is generally true, but it is also true that an asymptomatic carrier can pass the virus on to others. “I will not be wearing a mask in the stores, n...
It is June. Gov. Jay Inslee’s March Stay Home Stay Safe emergency proclamation expired at midnight on May 31. The Safe Start 4 Phase, metric-based reopening plan is in its fifth week, with 27 of Washington’s 39 counties approved and in Phase 2. Skagit County may move into Phase 2 this week. Already casinos on tribal lands – managed by sovereign governments – have opened for business at reduced capacity. La Conner’s business owners are a diverse lot, like any community of any size. Some restaurants have been completely closed since...
