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I want to thank Bill Reynolds for his kind and informative article about gathering our neighbors to “Map Our Neighborhood” as recommended by the state’s Department of Emergency Management. La Conner is a small community with a tiny group of dedicated public works employees who do an incredible job of maintaining the town’s complex infrastructure. If the town suffers a disaster like the tidal flood of 2022 or a major earthquake, one of magnitude 6.0 or more, our town staff may not be able to meet community needs. At that point dealing with th...
La Conner, Salish seaside town, little, short and sweet, perfect for a Summer Sidewalk Saunter, just keep a sharp eye out for that silly Sloughmander clown. It mostly stays hidden in the minds of those that remember when it more frequently slithered around. It learned how to dance to darn near any music that came, with its own sound. It was sparkly green and blue, with an orange belly, and big bulging yellow eyes! There was no missing it, until it was gone, then the Summer Sidewalk Saunter simmered down. It was thought it might be lonely, the...
Yes, we have a clear choice between the currently right leaning and autocratic Republican offerings and the more centrist Democrats, but in many ways, they offer little choice. They share the “firm commitment” to Israel in spite of its horrific abuse of Palestinians which borders on genocide. They both cater to the ultra rich, the Republicans more openly, but the Democrats in more subtle ways. Trump pontificates about draining the swamp while he wallows in it. The Democrats talk of taxing the rich, but serious action is seldom seen. And bot...
Enrollment in the La Conner School District is shrinking while costs continue to rise. Administrators need to be jugglers and magicians, both. They are. A year after climbing out of a hole from having spent too much and thus having too little set aside for reserves – and the resulting state oversight that brought – the district is in good financial shape even with the related dilemmas of fewer students and the corresponding fewer state dollars. While it is little comfort to know most school systems in the state are in similar straits, it ind...
The La Conner School Board is feeling energized with a positive outlook as we start a new school year. Over the summer, we worked with interim Superintendent Dave Cram and Director of Teaching and Learning Beth Clothier, to align our strategic direction and decisions to support our staff and students. Open and trusting communication is key as we collaborate on new programs and district improvements to bring fresh ideas to the La Conner School District. Our financial position is on track to meet the Office of Superintendent for Public...
I can recommend two books: The Bible and “The Anti-Communist Manifesto” by Jesse Kelly. Because our homeland is in such crises, it is difficult to know how to briefly say what is in my head and heart. So, just this: Truth is under attack. Deception is the name of the game today. Lies are repeated and repeated and many Americans are deceived by those who are working to change, destroy this constitutional republic. If we can’t discern truth from lies, we are easily deceived. Also, platforms are available for us to read. What does the Repub...
Town Council of La Conner: Regarding my 18’ artisan fence donation, accepted by the Town Arts Commission Sept. 3, 2022 for installation in the Butterfly Garden adjoining the Civic Garden Club, South Second Street: 1. After thirteen contractors quickly or lengthily turned down the project, many no with reason given. 2. Note: I am paying for the total installation which Public Works Director Brian Lease advised, “would be not more than $15,000.” (I’ll pay more if needed). 3. Director Lease said his crew is capable of doing the work only if time...
Just a couple of weeks before the primary election County Commissioner Peter Browning had a letter in the Skagit Valley Herald complaining he had been unfairly described as supporting Fully Contained Communities. Anyone who followed the Board of County Commissioners’ 2021 consideration of a comprehensive plan amendment to allow FCCs in Skagit County knows Browning was indeed a supporter. Browning spoke in favor of FCCs at commissioner meetings on April 28 and May 11, 2021. At that second meeting, he offered the motion to establish the 2021 c...
A recent federal court ruling suggests sending at least some of the NAS Whidbey Growlers to NAF El Centro. Yes! Send ‘em south to California, where they can deafen and intimidate the immigrant hordes trying to scale the wall. Ha! The Navy rebuts with, “But it will cost $800 million.” Take it out of the $38 BILLION we have promised to Israel in the next 10 years that will be largely used in their unconscionable attack on Palestine. If interested in this issue, check out recent articles in Task & Purpose and Simple Flying. Jai Boreen La Conne...
14 issues printed since July 5, 2017. 15 weeks to paper’s final issue This is written on a damp day, a cool and gray Monday, Labor Day. It is very fall-like, as it was a couple of weeks ago, when the skies were also overcast, the rain kept coming down and temperatures barely topped 60 degrees. Fall’s appearance always seem sudden to me, a surprise. It should not be. Sept. 1 is the start of meteorological fall, as clear and certain on the calendar as the equinox (almost) three weeks from now. And the weather has turned, even if we will be tea...
Most electric vehicle (EV) charging takes place at home. But, what if you’re not home? Suppose that Jenelle and I decide to go to Portland, Ore., with a detour to Multnomah Falls, for a weekend of scenic hiking and sneaker shopping, capped off with a couple of Portland’s giant donuts. It’s a 260-mile trip from La Conner to Multnomah Falls, plus 30 more miles into Portland, plus some driving around to Big Sneaker stores and the donut shop, before heading to a hotel. Then, there’ll probabl...
Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month honors those hardworking individuals who make the world a more interesting place through their narratives and other creative works of art. The month was established in 1984 by Lone Star Publishing of San Antonio, Texas. Show your appreciation: find a writer or editor you like and tell them thanks, instruct Bellevue University library staff members. It is also day four of Library Card Sign-up Month. Go to the library to get one. Source: The internet...
The Aug. 21 editorial stated that the Town of La Conner bought the Jenson property for $169,000 and that it is landlocked. The purchase price was $60,000. There is access by a 15-foot wide easement from S. Fourth Street. The editor regrets these mistakes....
13 issues printed since July 5, 2017. 16 weeks to paper’s final issue. Monday is Labor Day, the last of the summer season holidays and the unofficial start of fall. It is the picnic and barbeque holiday, the gather friends and family together occasion, the toast the kids before they head off or back to college or return to the classroom holiday. It is a holiday that is uniquely American, as if our laborers are special, and separate from the riff raff of all the other workers around the world. The U.S. Congress created Labor Day in 1894 to d...
The Hearing Examiner’s decisions shouldn’t be a popularity contest. The code, the council, and administration shouldn’t leave it up to a hearing examiner’s decision to ensure a future with adequate housing! If the Municipal Code isn’t strong enough to preference housing over commercial use...especially in already residentially- zoned areas!... what has to change? This is not a new problem. Is it the municipal code? Or the council’s or administration’s or planning department’s commitments to housing? (Especially affordable housing... whet...
There are two candidates for Skagit County Commissioner, District 1, Ron Wesen and Rylee Fleury. I support neither, but I wish to know who will be representing the affairs of this county for the next term. Unfortunately Fleury is vague on professional experience, education and community service in the voters’ pamphlet and his personal statement sounds like it was written by someone else for him. He has a billboard on Hwy 20 as well as many yard signs and a large box truck plastered with large campaign signage on its sides. These cost a lot o...
Those who support the reelection of Mr. Donald Trump remind us that none of us are perfect, that to lash out at one over another is unfair, that we all have our faults. It must be said, however, that some individuals appear to be more imperfect than others, especially those in high places. “The US could have averted 40% of the deaths from COVID-19,” according to a Lancet commission (England) tasked with assessing Donald Trump’s health policy record. In seeking to respond to the pandemic, Trump has been widely condemned for “not taking the pan...
I met with the mayor and the administrator of La Conner on Aug. 21. The purpose of the meeting was to see if the Town was going to contest the amount of money the Town of La Conner paid to the City of Anacortes for water for 2021 and 2022. The answer was “no.” The agreement between the town and the city calls for arbitration if there is a disagreement, but the mayor and the administrator found no problem, no need to sit down with the mayor of Anacortes. This, in spite of the fact that Anacortes, by my calculation, owes us $46,858 for 2021 and...
From 1999 – 2001, I worked for Florida Power & Light. Part of my job was to figure out how that company should make use of energy technologies that were just emerging from the laboratory into commercial use. Twenty-five years later, to borrow a line from Raul Julia in “Street Fighter,” some of the technologies I was studying “are Tuesday.” In other words, they’re no longer exotic. They no longer attract attention. They’re just what exists, barely worthy of comment. Compact fluorescent l...
12 issues printed since July 5, 2017. 17 weeks to paper’s final issue Yesterday afternoon, at a hearing before the Town of La Conner ‘s hearing examiner, the case of granting a conditional use permit for a health club to open at the former COA restaurant on Maple Avenue was heard. The land is zoned residential. The restaurant operated with a conditional permit. Once the building was vacant for six months the zoning reverted to residential. Several residents oppose the permit application, saying workforce housing is needed in La Conner and an...
Electric cars were introduced in the 1890s. They only had about 50 miles of range between charges, but they wouldn’t break your arm starting them and they didn’t make loud noises and scare horses. Internal combustion engine cars weren’t reliable, gasoline wasn’t widely available, tires on all car types were unreliable and roads were bad. As late as 1905, electric, steam and ICE cars split the market with about a 33% market share each. Steam and ICE cars gradually got better tires, electri...
I am sympathetic to your recent view article questioning the value of our present two-party system to our election process. The criticism can apply to either side. The parties gain total control by holding the purse strings and thus keep things in uproar as an easy way to generate funds. In this game, money talks loudly. The whistlestop train campaigning may be too outdated, but the undergirding of what we stand for may still be there. Namely: 1. That truth is the most sustainable way to keep us free, safe and fair in our interactions. 2. That...
I just read an e-mail blurb from a Tunde Wackman who is staff at World Central Kitchens. The New York based non-profit who is working non-stop in Ukraine, Sudan and other troubled locales around the world, including Gaza and the West Bank. You may recall that World Central Kitchens is the organization that Jeannie Wedin, myself and others raised $18,000 for a few years back feeding refugees in Ukraine. Now they are distributing much-needed food to starving Palestinians. A month or so back they were in the news resulting from Israeli Prime...
Back when there were only three channels on TV, and you had to change them by hand, some new cars arrived in America. To paraphrase a quote often misattributed to Mahatma Ghandi: First, Detroit ignored Japanese car manufacturers. Then, Detroit laughed at Japanese car manufacturers. Then, Detroit fought Japanese car manufacturers. Then, Japanese car manufacturers won. In 1972, according to Detroit, nobody would ever want small Japanese cars, and Japan didn’t understand the U.S. car market. T...
Richard Nixon announced he was resigning his presidency 50 years ago tomorrow, Aug. 8, 1974. Why did he resign? He knew he was going to be impeached and convicted by each House of Congress. Why was Congress about to do that? The House Judiciary Committee had drafted articles of impeachment making the case that Nixon had criminally broken the law. The first article was obstruction of justice. It begins: “Richard M. Nixon, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best o...
