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Okay, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but sometimes as a journalist, you gotta tell it like it is, especially when people’s lives are at stake. The coronavirus ain’t going away. The consensus of all the studies that I have been following is that, while the omicron variant is not as deadly as the delta variant, it is extremely pervasive. My natural journalistic impulse to share the sad truth with my readers that has inspired me to do a lot of research and the results just confirm what I sus...
Senate legislative proposal SB5843 does not have sufficient support to pass the Washington Senate and be sent to our representatives for consideration. SB5843 would have made it a crime for elected officials and candidates to willfully lie about election process or results. It appears dead in the water … for now. Isn’t it a reasonable expectation of Washington voters that our senators and representatives are telling us the truth on all matters regardless of whether they are Republicans or Democrats? Why are Republicans blocking this legi...
I am no fan of the Clintons. Hillary Clinton’s nomination by the Democratic Party in 2016 was, I believe, an act of cosmic stupidity. She was and is one of the most unpopular politicians in the nation. Let us not forget that Clinton was secretary of state when our ambassador to Libya was kidnapped and brutally murdered because he lacked adequate protection in a war zone. There were absolutely no consequences for this grotesque dereliction of duty. Her husband is, in my opinion, worse. A frequent flyer on Jeffrey Epstein’s Lolita Express, he...
This is in regards to the Feb.9 Weekly News article, “Should the Shelter Bay board resign over the Rainbow Park clearcut?” While we appreciate and applaud your efforts to enlighten our community by your article, we also need to correct your statement about the efforts to remove the board. We want to make it clear that the attendees who met Feb. 9 are not looking to remove the entire board. Our efforts are focused on those directors who have violated their oath of office by voting to indemnify Steve Swigert and volunteer Ric Henderson, imp...
Like you, I’m concerned about the rising cost of food, consumer goods and household essentials. While the economy as a whole has improved and unemployment is low, many local families are still struggling to pay the bills. While some of the price hikes have been caused by supply chain bottlenecks, this issue also highlights an affordability crisis. Here are some of the steps I’ve taken this legislative session to help families and businesses in both the short term and for years to come. First, I’ve proposed House Bill 2018 to grant a holid...
Greater La Conner, within and beyond the town's boundaries, is blessed with a plethora of volunteers. La Conner’s arts and park commission members are the institutionalists the government and surrounding community are fortunate to have. Their missions are prescribed by the town’s municipal code. Members take their roles seriously, committing to them term after term and, like church choirs, bond with each other in purpose and friendship. They toil in general obscurity, their efforts and results occasionally noticed by the town council or loc...
Last week the Town of La Conner paid the City of Anacortes $6,940 for reconciliation of the water bill for 2020. I objected to this charge and requested a meeting of the town’s utilities committee to explore alternatives. Their answer was “don’t rock the boat.” They were afraid that the Anacortes finance director would impose harsh measures in retaliation. After all, according to the latest audit, Anacortes made a profit of $2,197,437 off of water operations in 2020. All I wanted was for Anacortes to follow their own procedures with regard...
Planet Earth is in trouble. Devastating flooding and forest fires, to mention only two and warmer seas are eating away at the edges of the two polar ice caps at an unprecedented rate. These events can all be attributed to atmospheric warming, confirming ongoing reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The dominant species, humanity, is largely responsible. Put bluntly: We human beings have thought of ourselves as apart from and above the rest of creation. Indeed, in so far as Christianity underpinned a theological belief...
Ron Muzzall, Senator Paid family and medical leave, while a good idea, has run into complications – the state-run fund for the program is insolvent. The Employment Security Department, responsible for collection of the taxes and payment of benefits, let legislators know shortly after the start of the 2022 legislative session that the fund will have a deficit by the end of March. Funded by a payroll tax, the program provides new parents or people caring for sick loved ones a financial lifeline, but demand has outpaced supply. Despite the...
More people responded to last week’s editorial, "Farmers, fish, trees, cold water," than any other on this page in four-and-a-half years. Their questions showed that none understood that the bulk of the editorial was intentionally left blank. It is the editor’s fault when the point is not clear or missed entirely. It is good that readers paid attention, wondered, questioned and reached out. Perhaps you get financial or other information, sometimes pages and pages of materials and at the end, typically, pages are marked “this page intentionally...
The Jan. 23 article in the Skagit Valley Herald, “Piece of state legislation has its detractors in Skagit County,” reveals deep concerns about how to save our salmon. What is clear is that we must act quickly and move beyond the voluntary programs, or we will lose this crucial species. All stakeholders will be impacted and all stakeholders must work together. The Lorraine Loomis Act for Salmon Recovery, introduced by Rep. Lekanoff, calls for repairing damage done to riparian zones around salmon rivers and streams. This will reduce pol...
Monday I was watching CBS morning news and they did a short piece on a group of quilters in Mississippi carrying on the traditions of creating stories through quilting. It got me to thinking about the traditions we have learned being lost. Many of us have learned from family to create, whether it be quilting, knitting, woodworking, sculpting, beading, pottery, blacksmithing or other “from the heart through your hands” creative endeavors. Those of us that are lucky enough to be able to carry on these traditions have an obligation to teach our...
Based on recent opinion pages in the La Conner Weekly News there appears to be a lack of clear or accurate information regarding protections for riparian zones adjacent to salmon streams in general and the Lorraine Loomis Act in particular. Intact riparian zones (the land along stream banks) provide immense benefits to salmon. They provide shade to keep streams cool, they provide large pieces of wood where juvenile fish take refuge from floods and predators, they provide bank stability, they filter and absorb nutrients coming off of farms and...
For farmers evaluating Governor Inslee’s Salmon Recovery bill, the devil is in the details. Details like what exactly constitutes a Riparian Management Zone and whether the riparian buffers proposed in the now withdrawn HB 1838 will not just target salmon-bearing streams and side channels but encompass delta farmland behind Skagit River dikes. The million-dollar question: Inside those buffers, is farming permitted? The bill is clear about the need to maintain and enhance natural resource industries like agriculture and to encourage the conserva...
Kevin McCarthy, the congressional house minority leader, was asked what he thought Joe Biden’s greatest accomplishment in his first year in office was? His answer was that he managed to change Americans long held opinion of Jimmy Carter. Denny Sather Greater La Conner...
Gov. Jay Inslee recently patronized the Swinomish and other local Indian tribes drumming up support for the proposed Loomis Act, HB 1838. (Weekly News, Dec. 22) The act is intended to “save salmon” and would impose enormous costs on local farmers, landowners and taxpayers by requiring the planting of trees and vegetation on public and private lands bordering streams and waterways. The Skagit Valley Herald’s lead article on Jan. 23, “Creating Division,” addressed local opposition to the proposal. Further, an opinion piece published in the Everet...
Remember the sun? It was out for a bit in mid-January. Then, a weekend turning into a week, and then more, of morning fogs, bringing cold, damp and gloom, the days of fog extending into weeks, bringing more morning cold, damp and gloom. It becomes hard to believe, as Thoreau wrote, “ But alert and healthy natures remember that the sun rose clear.” But it does. Even if February’s morning starts continue the overcast and damp handed off by January, know that we have made it. When the sun is out, even as a white ball on the other side of cloud...
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe. – John Muir Here is an editorial aimed to gain agreement from all sides for restoring riparian tree habitat to achieve robust, comprehensive, long-term and adequately financed investment into ensuring cold water for salmon migration waterways:...
It is clear that individuals and families need better options for long-term care. This is especially true in rural communities like ours, where people want the resources to age or take care of a loved one at home. Private insurance used to be an option, but it is not affordable for most of us now. Worse, many plans do not cover pre-existing conditions. This leaves families with terrible choices. Many spend their life savings, sell their homes and go into bankruptcy to pay for long-term care. We even see couples married for over 50 years get...
Here is a nonpartisan issue that this community – and indeed, every resident in the state – can rally around in agreement: putting our Washington on standard time year round. That is right: ditching the semi-annual spring ahead fall back scenario of artificially changing sunrise and sunset by moving clocks ahead an hour in March and returning them to standard time in November. Once again Yakima Valley Republican state Sen. Jim Honeyford has a bill in the Washington State Legislature for year round time. He has bipartisan support...
By proclamation of the governor, January is School Board Recognition Month. It is a great time to recognize our elected community members who selflessly give their time and energy in support of high-quality public schooling for our youth. School board members in La Conner are entrusted by this community with responsibility for an annual budget of $14,070,000 for this year, fiscal year 2021-2022, an average of 555 students, 116 employees and nine buildings. School boards are charged with making decisions that can sometimes be quite difficult,...
I was really surprised to read that the WHO were deciding what to name each new strain of the coronavirus. I loved the WHO, they were one of my very favorite bands, although I had trouble both times I went to see them in person. The first time was at the Flushing Meadows in the Queens, New York outdoor arena, when they opened for The Doors. I had asked a high school friend to join me and I promised her mother that it would be safe to attend a rock concert. When the Who finished the first set,...
Ensuring a robust salmon recovery has become a daunting and politicized task. The latest proposal championed by the Office of the Governor is an example of the bad practice of creating more conflict rather than offering real solutions. The legislation amounts to an unethical taking of private property that will do nothing to aid salmon recovery, while allowing politically connected interests who are doing more harm to those efforts off the hook. The proposals also conflict with the Growth Management Act’s goals of preserving valuable f...
The world is suffering through the end of the second year of the novel coronavirus pandemic. In the United States, scientists developed vaccines that were getting widespread distribution as 2021 began. That was needed good news after months of widespread lockdowns that stifled everyday life and wreaked havoc on the economy, schooling and the healthcare system. Alas, in most countries around the world, the pandemic rages on. In the United States 2021 ended with daily record numbers of new cases of COVID-19. Public health professionals adapted...
Last Wednesday I screwed up my courage and went against my own caution guidelines to see the new film “West Side Story” at the Lincoln Theatre. As everyone else attending did, I showed my vaccination card to get in and I kept my mask on once I finished my popcorn. I had the entire front right section to myself. I sat in the aisle seat in the last row, my bum left leg on the arm rest of the seat in front of me. On Jan. 12, 2022, it was my first movie in about two years. I needed a night out, a night off and the pleasure of seeing a classic in...
