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Sorted by date Results 1277 - 1301 of 1886
Timothy Eagan wrote a book titled “The Worst Hard Time.” I have been thinking of my mother’s journey and the hard times that shaped her. My mom, born in 1920, would have been 100 in May. She was nine in 1929 and a child of the Great Depression and, at 20, not old enough to vote for Roosevelt in the 1940 election. But more than that, she was 100 percent Lithuanian. All four of her grandparents were born in Lithuania. My mom grew up in the ghetto in Brooklyn and didn’t speak English until she started school. All of that, more than I know or can...
Saturday Nikki Hamilton, a friend of mine from church, died of the COVID-19 virus. She was a member of the Skagit Valley Chorale, which made the decision to practice earlier in March. That decision was based on public health guidelines. Now the group of 60 is a “cluster” and Skagit County Public Health has found thta “more than half of attendees who were at this gathering are now confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19.” Sunday folks from at least Seattle and Everett were shopping on First Street and picnicking at the pocket parks on the boa...
To our valued citizens during these unprecedented and uncertain times: Although town hall is closed to the public until further notice, your local government will continue to operate and provide essential services. In an effort to stem the severity of the virus outbreak, the governor has instituted a policy of social distancing. I ask that every citizen follow this guidance. However, at this critical time there is also a great need to make sure we are looking out for our friends and neighbors. And although a face-to-face encounter is ill...
Slow down, you move too fast — Paul Simon If Part I was before the virus, we are now in the second phase, living and hunkering down with it. None of us wanted a role in this play but now we are all on stage with it, with La Conner restaurants and tourist-focused retail some of the main players. This is a tragedy in the making. The Washington state response continues to reach further into our communities, with Gov. Inslee announcing Sunday that all restaurants and bars are closed for the rest of March. The state has been at ground zero...
I’m feeling so thankful today; my heart is open. Self-imposed isolation is a time to read, write, go for walks. A friend has a cabin on the beach and offered it to me for a few days. It is just across the street from my house, but since it is right on the water, it feels like I’ve driven hours and hours away from my home to a quiet sanctuary. It’s just a dinky little place, but has a warm fire, a comfy bed, a rocky beach and, the bay of course. Skagit Bay. How I love it. The first day the splash and clatter of rain on the roof sent me to the c...
In response to last week’s letter: “Part II: 19th Amendment Centennial 4,000 years and counting”: It would be interesting to see the list of elevated women prior to the great religions. I found no references in searching the web. I did find in Greek and Roman society woman were lesser than slaves. Judaism stresses that in the home a husband and wife are equal. Outside of the home was mostly dominate by men. However, the 4th judge of Israel was a woman, Deborah 12th century BCE, who maintained peace in Israel for 40 years. In reading the old and...
I wrote this a while back, prior to the immergence of COVID-19. Perhaps this is all one and the same, a symptom of a diseased system that needs attention. Are we waking up at last? The fall of the Roman Empire has been on my mind. While reading the New York Times those thoughts were put into words by Ross Douthat. He writes about decadence. He states that it took 400 years of decadence for the Roman Empire to finally crash. He places technology, as in the Silicon Valley ephemeral technology, as the root of this era of decadence. The advances...
It’s been a short, but busy 60-day session. Legislators have debated hundreds of bills, refining them as they move through the legislative process. With budget negotiations on track to be finalized, this short session should come to an end tomorrow. In even-numbered years, such as this one, the Legislature adjusts the two-year state budget passed in odd-numbered years. Investments made in these supplemental budget years are generally more modest but are important to ensure the most critical needs across our state are addressed. Although by t...
Out local CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) leaders have been advising for years that families prepare for the Big One by assembling 72 hour emergency kits of food, water, flashlights and much more, but certainly toilet paper. No one will know when an earthquake, tsunami or volcanic eruption will leave us helpless, without power or water or transportation access. No one ever expected the big one would come ashore, in the dark of night, or not, as a virus. And, if we are not devastated, we are afraid. The shelves empty of hand sanitizer...
Out local CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) leaders have been advising for years that families prepare for the Big One by assembling 72 hour emergency kits of food, water, flashlights and much more, but certainly toilet paper. No one will know when an earthquake, tsunami or volcanic eruption will leave us cutoff, without power or water or transportation access. No one ever expected the big one would come ashore as a virus, whether in the dark of night, or not. And, if we are not devastated, we are afraid. The shelves empty of hand saniti...
[This response to Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s endorsement of Biden for president was published in the Seattle Times March 7—ed.] Mayor Durkan: I was disappointed to see you “jumped on the Biden bandwagon.” Be careful what you wish for! As of Super Tuesday, there have only been about one-third of the delegates allocated for the Democratic National Convention, and yet the compliant establishment Democratic candidates rushed to endorse Biden, thus likely guaranteeing another four years of Trump – if you agree with the Op-Eds linke...
To put the suffrage movement in perspective, a brief review of the historical discrimination of half the world’s population is helpful. Ironically, we begin with the areas of the world known as the “Cradles of Civilization.” The Hebrew Tribe of Levi was the first to record laws subjugating women, approximately 4,000 years ago. Before then women were in equal or elevated positions as doctors, rulers, legislators, business leaders traders and economists. 2,000 years later the new Christian religion accepted the old Hebrew testament texts and i...
As a farmer and outdoorsman, I despise litter. Maybe it’s because the wind blows on Whidbey Island, but it seems we spend an inordinate amount of time picking up litter that has blown into our fields and woods: plastic bags, pet-food bags, flowerpots, cardboard boxes, even trampolines. But litter is an inanimate object, like the chair you stubbed your toe on – yelling at it doesn’t help. The real culprit is always human. Our state imposes steep fines ($50 to $5,000) for littering, but it still occurs. Whether the cause is ignorance, apa...
It is one week until Washington’s presidential primary election day. Five days from now, Sunday, March 8th, is International Women’s Day. Since 1987, first Congress then presidents have designated March as Women’s History Month. Besides apple pie, what is more American than voting? Who is more loved than mom? Ain’t it great that women won the right to vote 100 years ago this August, when the 19th Amendment was adopted? Who could be against mom? Or voting? One hundred years ago a lot of people were. Call them the usual suspects, the establi...
Since moving here a bit over a year ago to make Shelter Bay my residence I have met many fine folks in my neighborhood and on walks around town. Since living here I have appreciated the photos, musings and editorial comments the editor of this paper has put in this Weekly as so many of them have spoken to my sense of self. I subscribe to the paper because I feel it is an important vehicle for folks to read and interact with other community members, if only in the comfort of their own homes. And I like to know what’s going on around this area of...
Dear Editor: Bravo to the La Conner Weekly News for making Norman Fischer’s wise words available to our community. Meditation and paying attention help us to see things as they are, including the mess the world is in right now. Meditation allows us to see this in a different and positive way. We thank you for your continuing to offer diverse views. Geraldine Gross Dorothy Bird...
An examination of Swinomish taxation for 2020 reveals that the levy rate remains the same at $14.3500 per thousand, but the assessed value of homes in Shelter Bay and Pull & Be Damned went up from $163,899,070 to $171,719,175. Taxes increased by 5%. Skagit County levy code 1580, which used to include Shelter Bay and Pull & Be Damned, is $11.6355 per thousand. Until last year, the Tribe used to use the same levy rate as the county. The Swinomish will collect $2,120,732 in taxes. They will contribute $974,072 to four of the nine taxing districts...
Last week, the Legislature finished the house-of-origin cutoff. This means that House bills needed to pass the House – and Senate bills needed to pass the Senate – in order to stay alive for consideration during this legislative session. There are only a few budget-related exceptions that don’t fall on this timeline. Fortunately, nearly all of the bills I sponsored this session were passed by the House and are now in the Senate. This includes the three bills I sponsored to expand veterans’ benefits and a bill to explore summer sch...
Let’s slow down and stop the name calling. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders defines himself as a democratic socialist. He respects people enough that he is not afraid of anyone looking closely at his proposals, his record and his words. His 40 year career since first elected mayor of Burlington is plain to see. So is the record of our president, Donald Trump. He is the real radical in the race. He is hiding in plain sight. By definition, radical change is fundamental and historic. That is what Trump has objectively done. His tax cuts reduced r...
“Tonight (Feb. 15) was so amazing! I learned much more about the homeless than what I have believed for a long time!”, is what we were hearing over and over as people were crowding the foyer of the Lincoln Theater. “There’s No Place Like Home,” performed as a reader’s theater, challenged the audiences preconceived ideas about who those people are walking around their towns, sleeping in cars and doorways. The Art Show connected to the “There’s No Place Like Home” show at the Lincoln Theater was successful for the 2nd Chance Scholarship, Skag...
Well, that’s heartbreaking. Alex Ritenour...
Friday starts the 18 day voting period for the March 3 Washington presidential primary. The sharpest divide and the most critical decision to make in casting your ballot is your choosing between the 20th and 21st century. Whichever party’s ballot you cast and whichever candidate you pick, make your top priority determining if the candidate has the vision and capacity to lead this nation, and yes, still the world, into the 21st century. Now, as we enter the second fifth of this not so new century – 20 years of it is over – will y...
This is a follow up on the Jetty Fishway. As I discussed in my previous letter, the fishway in the McGlynn-Goat Island rock jetty was built too shallow for passage of salmon fry on any tide less than four feet. Washington law was violated by the Corps of Army Engineers during construction. Since RCW 75.20.060 states, among other things, that every obstruction across or in any stream shall be provided with a durable and efficient fishway (which shall be maintained in a practical and effective condition) it shall be kept open, unobstructed and...
It was an emotionally stirring evening and a Lincoln Theater filled to capacity on Saturday night. Again Stella Ireland and her theater non-profit, TASA (Theater Arts for Social Action) produced a story drama with 10 wonderful actors in “There’s No Place Like Home.” Telling stories of people who are or have been homeless: these human stories were gripping because we all have vulnerabilities and life scars that could take us over the edge. Some of the success stories of people turning their lives around were heartwarming. I thank Stella and t...
Ambrose Bierce fought for the United States with honor and distinction in the Civil War, but the carnage and horror of the killing scarred him deeply. He became a writer of fiction of some renown, but the darkness and cynicism in his words was unique for his time. His 1906’s “Devil’s Dictionary” is an A to Z sardonic look at society. His definition of politics, as an example: “A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.” Decency has been part of the civic lexicon since the...
