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We really spring ahead this week. Sandard time is way in the rearview mirror, daffodils have long been in bloom, it’s light earlier and the sun sets obviously later daily and there is warmth, glorious warmth. Leaf buds that have been stretching, some since January, are increasingly leafing out on bushes and trees. So are the flowers of fruit trees and ground flowers. When I snuck into La Conner a year ago, early in the first week of March, my company was daily rain, overcast skies and temperatures that never hit 40 degrees. I visited snow on M...
Why do smart and successful and experienced people set themselves up for heartache, strife and failure – and pain? A journalist in Akron, Ohio titled a book of essays about his people “The Hard Way On Purpose.” That’s the Akron of LeBron James and the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Browns, the rust bowl region where defeat gets snatched from victory year after year. Here, in our corner of the world, there’s a skeleton board of trustees at MoNA and across the channel a board of directors running the Shelter Bay Community. Each gr...
International Women’s Day flashed by last week, on March 8, too fast for me to catch it in the March 7 issue. But, reflect on women I did, thinking how different life is today for young women in college than for my sister 45 years ago, in 1973. She majored in physics at the University of Pennsylvania, a very good school. She got in, in part, because she was related to my dad, an alum. But that is another story. Margaret became a Ph.D. She wanted to be an astrophysicist, excited as she was by the moon landings. But part of her detour came a...
And the children led. And our elders met them on Morris Street. That’s not breaking news. It is yesterday’s news, news from Wednesday, March 14. If you have a middle schooler or teen in the La Conner schools, your child told you this news. For everyone else, who wasn’t on Morris Street Wednesday, you just read the lead of next week’s front-page story. Students with signs marched from the high school to Morris Street. Rumor has it that elders from the Retirement Inn met them. I hope that became true. March 14 is the one-month anniver...
Christopher Shainin chose a difficult and courageous act when he stepped down as executive director of the Museum of Northwest Art February 22. At least the last year of his tenure was conflictual: 15 board members have resigned since the start of 2017 and two senior staff, Development Director Liz Theaker and Northwest Legacies Project Curator Kathleen Moles resigned. MoNA is in a mess. That was the message provided by a variety of voices and points of view at a February 21 community workshop called for input on MoNA’s future. There was not a...
The headline for this week’s column could be “Winter weather migrated through the Skagit last week.” Thankfully it has passed through, for this Monday’s temperatures were much milder than last week. And if the forecast holds, it might be 50 degrees when you are reading next week’s paper. Way back on the night of the 17th, the change came as snow mixed with rain north of Seattle. Snow flurries came down Sunday morning. Until last week, that was not typical, but it was the first wintery taste, this new year, of what has been a mild winter in the...
The state legislature has done a very bad thing. It is important that you pay attention and not yawn and turn away from this editorial. Last Friday both houses passed SB6117 exempting themselves from open record mandates passed by voters – you. Local governments and state agencies must follow open record requirements, but in response to losing a court case, the legislature changed the rules for themselves, retroactive to statehood. The gall. Newspaper owners are up in arms. You need to be also. Reporters use records of communications...
Add the numbers up: 58, 14, 13, 6, 27, 2012. Did you quickly get the answer? The numbers: Fifty-eight dead in Las Vegas last fall; 14 in Parkland, Florida last week; 13 at Columbine High School in 1999 and six years since 27 students and teachers were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. What does that equal? More of the same. No change. The status quo equals more carnage. Assault rifles are an equal opportunity destroyer. They will take lives at a concert or in a classroom. People with these weapons kill students and party goers,...
When you don’t write about the weather for six weeks there is a lot of catching up to do. And a lot of variation. This week’s cold – nights in the 20s – did more than answer the question “where’s winter?” The clear sky Monday following Sunday’s rain brought out the most vivid, expansive Olympic Mountains range, larger and bolder in the southwestern horizon that I have seen in my eight months here. I took notes earlier of the mountain sitings, but timing is everything. Monday, they had a whiter, more three-dimensional cast. The d...
Nothing is more local then my getting sick in La Conner and going to Skagit Reginal Clinic urgent care in Mount Vernon. And nothing was more immediate then than my signing up for Apple Health on January 15 and getting sick on February 2. All this is true as is the fact that I paid nothing at the urgent care facility and paid the same amount for my prescription of antibiotics. What is going on here? The simple and complete answer is that this is nothing less than socialism for the poor. I will re-write that with no negatives: The Affordable...
Yearly growth of three percent in wages is significant if you are a parsimonious boss – an Ebenezer Scrooge of a fellow – hording your gold. Any worker with any pride – human beings with backbones – scoff at this year’s average three percent annual increase. Yet, the big news a full week ago was of the “significant increase” in hourly wages, actually 2.9 percent. That’s below three percent. At $15 per hour, a three percent raise is forty-five cents, or $18 a week, before taxes. Delete two dollars of payroll taxes a...
Some of us remember the good old days, when mail meant the postal carrier delivered an envelope with a stamp on it. For special occasions, people bought cards, at the drug or grocery store, and wrote their loved one’s name on them. Those were the days. Just when you were certain this editor was a crusty, testy old crank, good for nothing but complaining and kicking the cat, voila: surprised by joy. One day you will come to see the editor is an incurable romantic, but for now go ahead and moan and groan about how boring and predictable and p...
If the 21st century plays out as the 20th century did in terms of development, diminution of resources, unabated population growth and persistent pollution, we are doomed. Or, rather our grandchildren and their grandchildren are doomed. Toast. Our only recourse? Ensure owl habitat. Paul Bannick is not pessimistic. Many La Connerites were among the 350 people packing Maple Hall for his talk during the first birding showcase two weeks ago. Bannick’s message was hopeful: “just” appreciate owls and their habitats, and protect those habitats. It is...
I have lived in La Conner since 1980 and my late husband Bob and I have been MoNA members, supporters and donors for over 30 years. We were married at MoNA in 1986, back when the Museum was in the Gaches Mansion, the days of Art and Rita Hupy. So MoNA has been close to my heart for a long time, and I consider the Museum to be a crown jewel in our town, celebrating the arts and the wonderful artists who have chosen to live, work and create their art right here among us. I have loved going to the openings of new shows and to the artists’ t...
Ursula Le Guin died last week, on Jan. 22. She was a rarity: a great writer and marvelous human being whose large heart and brilliant vision – along with her huge literary talent – transformed the genre of science fiction. I read “The Dispossessed” for a class in 1978. It was written in 1974. To this day it is the best novel I have ever read. In a lyrical, beautifully written, philosophical saga it offers an Einstein-like genius walking away from his anarchist utopian society because it has stagnated and lost its way. This hum...
The state legislature’s passing of a capital budget, with its $500,000 appropriation for a new La Conner library, won by the long, hard and skillful work of Susan Macek, her Library Foundation board and a probable list of behind the scene champions, has started the clock ticking for a 17-month marathon of fundraising to pay for building a new library on Morris and Sixth Streets. Three foundations of our society are local government, community and libraries. Add public schools, the fire department and the Museum of Northwest Art and you have t...
Artists and crafts people have tools of their trade and objects on which they work. It’s paint brushes, paints and canvas for painters. Plumbers take their wrenches and soldering guns to pipes. Editors handle words, space, time and people from several angles. Only so many words can fit on a page. The words have to be accurate, telling the complete story. Being lyrical is a bonus. Readers emphasize that local means in and around La Conner. Location is a spatial factor. Everyone, from photographers and reporters to letter writers and the e...
Letters, guest columns and a guest editorial (by Janet Laurel) have appeared in the last two issues of the Weekly News. Ashley Sweeney reflects on two years of Women’s Marches and Jon Walton notices the “recent trend of partisan politics oozing into the pages of our beloved weekly paper” in today’s letters. What gets covered and printed in the Weekly News and why? This paper seeks to cover news in the La Conner region, from Anacortes to Mount Vernon and Conway up to Edison – even Bow if the event or issue is momentous: That is “of gre...
Washingtonians love art. Not just folks from the Skagit Valley or Bellingham and not just paintings capturing mystic light. It is too late now if you have not seen the Andrew Wyeth retrospective that closed Monday at the Seattle Art Museum. Celebrating his 100th birthday – he was born the same date as Henry Thoreau – the 110 paintings and drawings being displayed were crowded with people circling around them as if they were rock stars. These were mostly locals on this January, Friday morning low-tourist-season day. I was amazed and...
The lead articles and photo in last week’s paper came from interns in Olympia employed by the Washington Publishers Newspapers Association. Throughout the 60-day state legislative session, articles from these journalism students will continue to appear. Their trainer and editor is Sandy Stokes, this paper’s former co-owner. The Weekly News is a member of WNPA. Part of its dues, along with the other member newspapers, support the next generation of journalists. Support also came from Nell Thorn, the Country Inn, The Planter Hotel, the La Con...
Driving through California’s Sonoma County wine country with my brother and his wife, we weren’t tourists: we drive the main highway to their wine club membership winery. Five miles from their house, Cindy said, “this is as close as the fires came.” A half hour later Phil pointed out trees green on top and brown below, telltale sign where the fires had been. And then there were chimneys on concrete foundations, hulks of burnt out cars and banner signs thanking first responders. The first two seem post war zone, the last are from a grateful comm...
Starting a dialogue — THE IDEAL The face and greeting of our town are our homes, our residents, our churches and town hall. And, of course, our beloved small businesses, which give our community such pride. No box stores here! We love creativity, art, crafts, forward-thinking farmers and our progressive Swinomish neighbors, with those great hats that we so enjoy: They are creative and lyrical. And then there is our beloved Mayor Ramon Hayes, who put so much hard work into making the boardwalk a reality. It is a major improvement! We hope...
La Conner Schools are thriving. I feel so blessed to be in such an amazing school district surrounded by a caring, involved and supportive community. Thank you to everyone who is part of our success. As we look ahead to what we expect to focus on in 2018, a few themes come to mind. Relationships. We are a people business, and spending time strengthening our relationships is a critical priority. Both within our district as well as the larger community, we hope to build more connections. An excellent example of this is our new and improved after...
A new year doesn’t have to bring new things. La Conner did see significant intuitional changes in 2017, first with an overwhelming passage of a school levy and Whitney Meissner’s hiring as school superintendent and then John Doyle’s retirement and Mayor Ramon Hayes tapping Scott Thomas as town administrator and attorney. Meissner and Thomas will, hopefully, be administering their respective ships of state for years, even decades. They are just getting started. Change sometimes come as a surprise. Last January would Meissner and Thomas have been...
In my 11th year as mayor I can honestly say that I am a much different person than when I started. Thank you for the opportunity to represent you throughout the county, state and national levels. As we enter 2018, La Conner has so much of which to be thankful. We live in one of the most beautiful communities in the country and are blessed to have an eclectic group of neighbors and friends that create a dynamic and wonderful atmosphere. Over the past decade the town has been focused on projects. Of course, the most visible project has been the...
