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After spending years in Jewish-Christian dialogue I am heartbroken at the article in the Seattle Times of Sept. 28, 2019. It told that in Seattle there has been “almost 400 percent increase in hate crimes since 2012 – impacting Jews and other minorities.” The Jewish people represent the only national people forced into worldwide different areas for two thousand years and then reassembled to establish their nation along democratic lines. The Jewish people experienced the worst inhumanity and cruelty in history but they also give us lives t...
OK. The voters have spoken. By a comfortable margin citizens supported I-976, reducing car tab fees to $30 and not allowing local jurisdictions to tax themselves for transit this way. The majority of people in the state are saying no to taxes and no to heavy handed Olympia legislators. Yes, the formulas and pots of money that must be created for generating funds for preparing Washington’s ever increasing and complicated transportation infrastructure through the 21t century are as convoluted as Seattle’s roadways at rush hour. Do you know tha...
The Billiken Club of La Conner was established in November 1909 by the women of La Conner. They adopted as their mascot the Billiken good luck charm which was used extensively in the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition held in Seattle in the same year. The Billiken is “the God of things as they ought to be.” Since the women organized to promote charitable causes in the community of La Conner, it was an appropriate mascot and mission statement for their new club. Dues were set at one dollar a year. Membership was limited to fifteen. New mem...
OK. The voters have spoken. By a comfortable margin citizens supported I-976, reducing car tab fees to $30 and not allowing local jurisdictions to tax themselves for transit this way. The majority of people in the state are saying no to taxes and no to heavy handed Olympia legislators. Yes, the formulas and pots of money that must be created for generating funds for preparing Washington’s ever increasing and complicated transportation infrastructure through the 21t century is as convoluted as Seattle’s roadways at rush hour. Do you know tha...
In my work at both the State Legislature and at Skagit Valley College, I’ve learned that veterans face significant challenges during and after the transition to civilian life. Many face significant mental health and medical hurdles, as well as an increased risk of experiencing homelessness. Here are some quick facts about the difficulties many veterans face. Veterans are more likely to experience homelessness than non-veterans. Male veterans are twice as likely—while female veterans are three times as likely—to experience h...
It is not easy to accept that there may be a flaw in our nature that may be the underlying source of our difficulties. In our culture, it is even more difficult to accept the idea that there is “no technical solution” to problems that arise. Be it land use, energy production, medicine or farming, we insist on finding a “right” technical solution, enlisting our “scientific truths” to support our choice in the right solution. There is seldom an inkling that we cannot technically solve our problems or that technical solutions, in themselves,...
The Seventh Annual Friday Harbor Film Festival just finished. It gets better as it grows, and it was pretty good last year. That was last week. Next week the 35th annual Art’s Alive opens with a reception Friday at Maple Hall. You are invited. The planners behind Art’s Alive, the Town of La Conner’s Art Commission, chose the theme “Celebrating Skagit Valley’s Art Legacy” to connect back to the early days of Art’s Alive, when venues up and down First Street hosted art. In those first decades community volunteers planned, hosted, executed, cleane...
La Conner Regional Library and other public libraries provide open access to books, materials, programs, technology and first-rate customer service. Public libraries are unique institutions because they exist solely to further the common good and to serve you regardless of how you look, what you believe, where you were born, what language you speak, who you love or any other way that you identify. Public libraries are far more than buildings with books. As technology and the internet have transformed the way we live, work and connect with one...
To pay attention, that is our endless and proper work. – Mary Oliver I have served on several school boards, beginning when my daughter was in the first grade. She’s now 42, her youngest is in the first grade and, oddly, this is the first time I’ve written a candidacy profile. I find myself with little to draw upon, facing a situation where I must focus on myself. I prefer to focus on others – learn from them; work with them toward building . . . something. What I do know is governance is a messy business. You will never make eve...
Tim Eyman’s last hurrah may be Initiative 976, on the ballot this fall for you to decide on reducing “car tabs” – vehicle taxes to $30, period. A yes vote does that, and more, reducing vehicle taxes statewide by $4.2 billion dollars over six years. This is a caveman proposition, another attempt to drive a stake through the heart of government, ignoring the fact that Washington’s population, now over 7.5 million, grows at over 100,000 people annually in good economic times, as it has steadily grown for decades. Combined state and local v...
Last week Cindy Vest won the 2019 WNPA Dixie Lee Bradley Award, an honor the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association gives annually that “recognizes newspaper staff members who work long and hard, often behind the scenes, to see that the best possible community newspaper is distributed each week … selection criteria includes a demonstrated record over a considerable time of consistent quality work in any facet of the community newspaper industry including production, circulation, or front office support.” Dixie Lee Bradley, for who...
Greater La Conner has two contested races in this fall’s elections: school board districts 1 and 2. Incumbent Kate Szurek is challenged by La Conner Community Scholarship Foundation Vice President John Agen in District 1. Board Chair Janie Beasley faces Marlys Baker, a tribal member and nurse with four children in La Conner schools. In this time of turmoil in the school district, with the teachers and support staff unions telling the board that they want Superintendent Whitney Meissner replaced, participatory leadership is needed. It is critica...
At last Wednesday’s school board candidates forum, all four candidates agreed that confidentiality is required while discussing personnel matters. They are right, of course. Whether considering retaining Georgia Johnson or finalizing Superintendent Whitney Meissner’s evaluation, reaching these decisions must be done behind closed doors. That is not a breach or a masking of transparency but standard operating procedure for any employer-employee interaction. The larger issue that staff and residents are insisting on is engagement and participatio...
Those of you who know me realize I care deeply about children and education. My desire is always to be a part of the solution and work for unity. I know that the new food services director and her team at La Conner School District are working extremely hard to provide excellent services for everyone, and I realize they are being directed by the district office. Amber Fleck, a LCSD parent and employee, should not have to summon the courage to stand up at a school board meeting as an advocate for students to say that the meal portions have not...
Today’s front page headline urging ALL La Conner School District residents to attend tonight’s District 1 and 2 director candidates forum uses all caps to get your attention. That is a poor fix for the error made here last week, when the editorial wrongly focused on urging Fidalgo Island voters in Districts 1 and 2 to attend the forum. Wrong: In Washington all voters in a school district vote for all directors. That is an at large voting system placed on top of geographical representation by distributing directors throughout the district. I m...
I am a candidate for the La Conner School Board, I believe the District can benefit from a fresh perspective within its leadership team. As a candidate, I thought it prudent to share my opinions regarding issues that have arisen involving the Board, Superintendent Meissner and both the teachers’ union and non-classified union. Since early May, I have been a close observer of the actions taken and statements made. I understand the frustrations of all involved – mistakes have probably been made by people on all sides. I certainly have n...
John Agen, Kate Szurek, Marlys Baker, Janie Beasley. Astute readers will recognize them as the candidates in the contested races for the La Conner School District directors positions for districts 1 and 2, on south and west Fidalgo Island outside of Shelter Bay, generally. The four are taking their races seriously, campaigning to represent their respective Fidalgo Island constituents at a time of great turmoil in the school district. Szurek and Beasley are incumbents. Beasley is this year’s board president. Szurek was president in 2018. Both h...
Sunday starts one of the most important weeks of the year: Banned Books Week, celebrated the fourth week of September annually since 1982. Each of us can impersonate a newspaper editor – or be our normal citizen selves – and celebrate our First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and the press. That fits this year’s theme: “Censorship Leaves Us in the Dark.” We are all urged to “Keep the Light On” during this year’s Banned Books Week. Every parent has the right at home or in private gatherings to keep books from their kids. Anyon...
Affordable housing has become the elephant in the room that we are repeatedly forced to address. However, the symbol of the issue seems more akin to the Asian Indian parable of the “Blind Men and the Elephant.” Is the affordable housing issue the elephant or just the tail? Historically, we have viewed this as a “first cost” problem. If we lower the initial cost of purchasing a home, people will be able to afford it. Unfortunately, this is a modest short-term fix. It doesn’t address rental markets or subsequent buyers. The market value of...
Sustained rain has been so rare since April that its sudden abundance sprouts an editorial. There hasn’t been three days of rain and two inches in that short stretch, much less a month, since spring. These rains have ended the County’s burn ban, but farmers know this is too little coming too late. Drought has been the region’s curse. While western Skagit County is in a moderate drought, the western foothills of the Cascades are classified as “severe drought” by the U.S. Drought Monitor, a multi-federal agency team. The surprise summer bl...
Last week offered abundant opportunities to muse about the weather. We had a thunderstorm Saturday night. A thunderstorm. A real rain. Lightening lit the sky. At 10 p.m. the thunder was distant from La Conner, but it came steadily close, out of the west. Fifteen minutes later the rumble had moved closer, centered over eastern Fidalgo island. It woke people up in Shelter Bay. The report from Seattle was of over 1,250 lightning strikes during the night. That probably included our local light show. Saturday offered a storm for the senses:...
This letter is in response to Nancy Burlison’s “A letter I should not need to write” that appeared in the August 28 issue. First of all, our democracy depends on a free press that adheres to honest, in-depth reporting, fact-checking and the goal of presenting both sides of an issue. There are many hard working journalists and news agencies doing just that. I recently read that Trump is disappointed in Fox News for interviewing a Democrat on one of its shows. With his war on the media, Trump appears to be promoting state run news agencies that...
Gov. Jay Inslee has done a good job of advancing Washington state’s needs during boom times. He has been forward thinking and brave, pushing tax increases through the legislature this year and championing a carbon tax to reduce green house gases generations. His commitment to saving the planet from the ravages of climate-based catastrophes led him to run for president. The governor is entitled to be ambitious. He has taken his message across the country. Most of the $2.4 million he raised in donations of under $200 came from some 12,000 p...
My country is under attack. I cannot remain silent any longer. The words and actions of some of my fellow Americans are viciously tearing at the fabric of this Republic. Every day I hear, see, and read about the hatred, unfounded accusations, venomous attitudes, unfounded blame and distortions from citizens, including even some from Congress. President Trump is NOT a racist. There has been nothing he has said or done that even mildly suggests he is. But the propaganda machines (once known as news outlets) know how to frenzy up the populace...
Is homelessness in our community, in La Conner, Skagit County, the state of Washington and throughout the United States intractable? County school superintendents and their staff agreed that is what they, and we, face every day, whether at school or on a street corner. At the August 19 forum on homelessness and its impact on children and schools organized by Skagit County’s League of Women Voters and the chapter of School Retirees of Skagit-San Juan-Island Counties, 110 people gathered to consider how county school districts are managing. T...
