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October was National Co-op Month, the annual celebration of this alternative way to engage with each other in our business dealings and thus as people in relationship with each other. National Co-op Month offers the time to reflect on and promote a more humane and sustainable way of living. The 2023 theme, “Owning Our Identity,” is, its champions write, “a chance to lift up what makes cooperative businesses unique in the marketplace. Guided by a set of shared principles and values – among them democracy, equity and solidarity – co-ops ar...
I read your recent editorial (No military aid to Israel, Oct. 25) with a mix of agreement and sorrow. The horror and inhumanity around the Israel/Palestine conflict seems to defy solution. The many players repeat the same moves over and over, expecting a different result, but just continuing the nightmare. Fifty years ago I met a young man on the train going from Libya to Egypt. He had been born and spent his whole life in the camps in Gaza. I was relatively unversed on what had been going on in the Middle East and he was a fountain of...
Gale Fiege was correct in asking about the failure to submit a profile for the Skagit voter pamphlet. I apologize for my failure to do so; I missed the deadline and I take responsibility for that. I did provide one when I first ran for a school board director position four years ago and should have this year. On a related note, my opponent (Janie Beasley) and I both attended the candidate forum put on by the Skagit League of Women Voters. Their website: skagitlvw.org. Once you find the correct forum, Janie and I are after the Sedro Woolley and...
Listening to and watching the devastated residents of Mariupol after the Russians began bombardment of the city in February 2022 in the film “20 Days in Mariupol,” the pain and incomprehension – the entire scene – could have been labeled Gaza, October 2023. The Israeli war on Gaza is the start of the 2022 Russian invasion all over again – the complete destruction and total terror on an entire population, making almost no distinction between the military and civilians. The language is the same, from the term “siege” to Russian President Put...
The current Israel / Hamas war is tragic. The scenes of devastation and destruction in the Gaza strip and the reports of those killed and injured is heartbreaking, The continuing loss of human life and growing humanitarian crisis is overwhelming in the reality of little or no promise of reconciliation or peace. This past May my wife and I were able to join a group of people in a religious study tour of Israel and Palestine (also called the West Bank, Judea and Samaria) visiting the historical sites. It was good to see the land and to walk the...
Last week I talked about electric vehicle chargers in rural British Columbia. Charger availability there is still improving. Flo.com’s map shows that the charger in Woss, BC (population about 200), has been upgraded since Jenelle and I traveled there about a year ago. Woss now has a Level 3 (fast, 50 kilowatt) charger, with two Level 3 plugs. It’s about 40 miles from the nearest larger town, Port McNeill (population about 2,000). Port McNeill also has a public Level 3 charger. For ref...
No. No more military aid to Israel, not $14 billion, not 14 cents. Write President Joe Biden, Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Rep. Rick Larsen and tell them more weapons will neither stop the killing nor end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Biden is wrong in his easy rhetoric. Sure Hamas is a terrorist organization. Yes their actions are absolutely despicable. Rightfully call the kidnapping and murder of innocent evil. But wars on terrorism are efforts to kill ideas, pain, anger and memories brought about by decades...
About a year ago, Jenelle and I drove from Victoria, on the south end of Vancouver Island, to Port Hardy, near the north end. We took a gasoline-powered car. We weren’t sure whether public charging stations would be readily available for her electric vehicle, a Chevy Bolt. We did pay attention to charging station availability. If we took the same trip again, we’d be totally comfortable in the EV. In downtown Port Hardy, there was a 50-kilowatt Level 3 charger. That’s a fairly fast charger that...
Every year, we have a public Halloween festival – where kids parade through town in their outfits and go from shopfront to shopfront to get their candy loot. Sure, some families keep sweets at home in case anyone shows up in the evening, but trick-or-treating isn’t really a custom here. Newcomers are baffled by this. A lot of old-time residents just accept it as one of La Conner’s many quirks. Why do we have a public party instead of trick-or-treating? Only a few know the true origin story. Here it is: My grandfather and his friends got it ba...
It’s been heartbreaking for me to follow what’s happening in Israel right now. My cousin Yossi Drory lives in Tel Aviv and the last time I saw him in person I was four years old and he was five and he visited me in New York. We’ve been in touch ever since and he speaks perfect English. When things started to get very violent recently, I texted him and told him to come stay with me here until things calmed down. Yossi replied “We are staying in Eilat the southernmost city of Israel, on the sho...
Ballots will be arriving in the mail soon. We have very few choices in this year of municipal elections. There is only one contested seat: the La Conner school district Director 2 position. The rest of the positions in greater La Conner, for school director positions 1 and 4, Port of Skagit commissioner position 2 and Town of La Conner mayor and council positions 1 and 5 are all decided when the candidates cast their ballots. That is our bad, residents and constituents of those jurisdictions. It may be that school board member Kim Pedroza and...
I was disappointed when I opened the Skagit County voters’ pamphlet only to find that none of the candidates for La Conner School Board had submitted statements. To Alana Quintasket, John Agen, Janie Beasley and Kim Pedroza: What is your excuse? Voters need to read about why you are seeking election. I don’t care if you are the most popular person in the district, you still need to make a statement. And if the voters pamphlet deadline was too much for you, how can we be assured that you will do your job on the board? Gale Fiege Pleasant Rid...
On Aug. 15 our motor home was parked in La Conner while my husband and I took a walk. A few minutes later we heard fire engines and walked back to see, as it was near our motor home. It was our motor home and we were so fortunate the firefighters did a terrific job, as it was near the ice cream stand. We just want to thank Kevin and Carla Little for their phone numbers in case we needed to stay overnight. We also want to thank the nurse that came by and gave us her phone number. The support we had was phenomenal. People came by with food,...
Pumpkin spice lattes, football, leaves starting to change color, the approach of Halloween … it’s time to talk about vampires and phantoms. Vampire and phantom electric loads, that is. Many consumer electronics today are on even when they’re off. Clocks seem to be built into just about everything, though not used; they’re often just blinking 00:00. Computers, televisions and gaming consoles have standby modes to allow them to start up quickly, apparently because manufacturers think we’re t...
All of a sudden there are a slew of opportunities to be active civically – democratically – in the community. You do not have to live in La Conner to involve yourself. And the October activities end, appropriately, with our school children – indeed anyone with a costume, with or without a child – parading up First Street for the Halloween parade. Come on out for that, for sure. Activities extend into Nov. 7 election day. Because only one area resident chose to contest only one of the La Conner school board or Town of La Conner council seats,...
So the slough slowly flows, back and forth it goes, out to the Salish Sea and Pacific Ocean, before it returns as rain and tidal slosh. So effortless and timeless, it stimulates the phosphorous’ sparkly glow. It’s quite simple really, we just have to have a spinning orb, that tilts this way and that. Yeah, one with a moon and numerous planets, affecting how our waters cycle and flow. Wind whipped waves lap and lash at our shores, sometimes smashing, sometimes as smooth as glass, giving us glimpses of our past, before we crashed ashore. Wha...
To the Editor, Your article this past week related to Habitat for Humanity’s purchase of property in La Conner (“Skagit Habitat for Humanity buys La Conner property,” Oct. 4) is factually incorrect. While representatives of Habitat for Humanity have met with town staff regarding their purchase of this property, the town has made no indication regarding the zoning of this property to enable the development described in your article. Moreover, no application has been made to the town requesting any such amendment to our Comprehensive Plan. As yo...
The Sept. 27 story “Skagit Habitat for Humanity buys La Conner lot” incorrectly stated “The Town of La Conner plans to change its comprehensive plan to allow multifamily housing … .” That is an aspiration of Skagit Habitat for Humanity. The sentence: “If all goes as planned, the city will change its comprehensive plan to allow multifamily housing” was edited and revised from the reporter’s submittal. The editor is responsible for accurate editing. The publisher regrets the poor editing....
The La Conner Arts Foundation donated 11 ukeleles to the La Conner School District, not the Town of La Conner’s art commission, as incorrectly reported in the Sept. 27 story “School board reviews service graduation requirement.” The Arts Foundation is a nonprofit doing “Good Deeds Through the Arts.” The editor regrets the error....
The Sept. 13 Clean Energy Cooperative column “EV costs are predictable” stated that net metering in Washington allows people to be paid for power they feed to the grid. That sentence should have ended, “to the grid, up to but not exceeding the amount you actually use each year.” The editor regrets the error....
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy acted rightly as the mature adult in the room last weekend, taking responsibility for passing a spending bill to fund the United States government. When you read this, McCarthy has already been voted out of the speaker’s chair by a cabal of extremist right wing Republican representatives, their retribution for McCarthy committing the act of governing. The Constitution obligates the House of Representatives to initiate budget bills funding the federal government. Voters in 435 districts elect their r...
If my parents were alive, they would be stepping through their second century in America. My mom, born in 1920, would be 103. My dad would be 109. They were children of the Depression. I have long called myself a child of children of the Depression, typically recalling my mother’s insistence on buying on sale everything from clothes to Kleenex. She did not waste and collected cottage cheese container and egg cartons. The United Auto Workers on strike made me think of my dad. My family grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where Jeeps are made. Jeeps are r...
I have been a part of our local farming community for sixty plus years now. I’ve seen more than half of the farm history in the region. I was able to observe the demise of peas, sweet corn and carrots. Now I’ve seen the arrival of dry beans, peppers, specialty grains and brussels sprouts. What new crop will we someday learn to grow, perhaps a new variety of quinoa or cauliflower? We could grow fish, but we’d rather grow cows and chickens. When I was young I worked the land, planted and tended the peas until they brought the industry to its knee...
On Oct. 19 at 9 a.m. 800,000 or so folks in Washington will take part in the Great Shakeout drill to practice the steps necessary to effectively respond to a major earthquake. Unlike floods and maybe wild fires, there is no way science has discovered to prevent earthquakes. There are rumors that Italian scientists are experimenting with warning signs of oncoming earthquakes, but so far the warnings are limited to Italian earthquakes and they can’t warn more than a few minutes before the shaking starts. The only available option in W...
A friend and I had the good fortune to attend The Wayfinder Market’s “First supper club of the fall season” on Friday night Sept. 29. I say fortunate because if you missed out you are truly unlucky. We had a fabulous time. Twenty guests sat at a big L-shaped table and spent 2-1/2 hours getting to know each other over a delicious five-course meal. Food was fantastic. The company was fabulous. The staff members were wonderful. If you get the chance to make reservations for one of these supper club meals I say go for it. It was 2-1/2 hours well...
