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Hatfield was pacing, hopping on and off his bar stool, waiting for McCoy. As soon as his friend sat down, Hatfield flagged the barkeep for double bourbons with their beers and dove into the topic at hand. “Oh, boy, instead of one hornet nest kicked over now two hornets nests are kicked over. It's a dangerous moment. Everyone pro or con, is energized, unsettled and angry. Those hornets are mighty stirred up. There is no patching the nests back together. No one is in a mood to calm down.” His words were flying out of his mouth. "Those six sup...
With your June 26 editorial, you crossed a line Mr. Stern. Referring to former President Trump's supporters, you wrote: "They want a white nation. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans, they want them at least out of the country if not dead." With that one line, you yourself crossed a line. A line of civility, with a strong push towards divisiveness. As I sat somewhat stunned after rereading that line (twice), I began to wonder why you would print such a thing (?). George Soros, BLM and Antifa are hell-bent to divide this country. Are...
Monday is July 4, our country's 246th birthday. When the Declaration of Independence was read aloud in 1776, it was the first time the public – and people worldwide – heard, "We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America." A new country – ours – was born, birthed in revolution and won through war. Its leaders, assembled into a congress, were long upset with King George III. They understood they needed "To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world." And they did, stating their case for sepa...
After reading John Cline’s letter of June 22, I reread the June 15 editorial, “Rule of Law or Mob Rule.” I found it interesting that while the Republican Party is never called out, his letter is a full-throated defense of that party and what it has become in these times. Many observers of recent events, especially those who have viewed the Jan. 6 Congressional hearings, see that the party has morphed from its conservative foundations into the party of Trump, a party without any democratic (small “d”) moorage. The Republican witnesses before th...
I see you're still at it Mr. Stern! Oh, how the liberals love the blame game. Obama blamed Bush. Biden blames Trump. And you sir, as recently as your diatribe June 15, continue to blame Trump for the January 6 incident: "... attempted coup unleashed by then-president Donald Trump." And "... Donald Trump worked to overthrow the government ... ." And "There is the United States flag or the Trump nation flag.” Oh my. Mr. Stern, our current worst-ever president and his handlers have given us the following "achievements" including: Record high a...
I read John Cline’s letter in last week’s Weekly News, in which he accused editor Ken Stern of indiscriminately bashing Republicans. I then reread Stern’s editorial. It warned of the danger of mob rule and disrespect for the law. Not once did he use the word “Republican” but Cline, for reasons known only to him, seems to believe that the column is a direct attack on his party and him personally as a Republican. Though Mr. Stern did not bash Republicans, I will be glad to. Here at home, Skagit Republican chair Bill Bruch maintained that the...
On Sunday, June 26, two unknown dogs came onto our family farm and attacked our flock of chickens on our property. Eight chickens were killed and the dogs disappeared before they could be identified. Please leash your dogs and keep an eye on them. As owners, you have a duty to protect others and their property from your animals. Dunlap Family La Conner...
I have had the extraordinary privilege of developing a very close relationship with the amazing Father William Treacy, who celebrated his 103rd birthday in May. We met through a non-profit and realized that we had very similar values although he is an Irish Catholic priest who grew up in Ireland and I am a New York Jew and the son of holocaust survivors. Father was assigned to a parish in Seattle, where he met the equally progressive Rabbi Raphael Levine and they created the TV series...
Two weeks ago 60 seniors graduated from La Conner High School in an old fashioned indoor ceremony. The 54 students graduating last year did so in an outside ceremony at the football stadium. In 2020, each of the 33 graduating seniors was delivered to the parking lot ceremony by their parents in the family car. The last two graduating classes have been huge. Future classes will not be that big. For the fall, the La Conner School District is projecting a 11% decline in enrollment, maybe 530 students, down 56 from this year’s 586 students. This w...
Watching our new library emerge and become a reality, I am reminded again what a marvelous community we live in. Many of us worked relentlessly for years to accomplish this goal. Gratefully, many recent arrivals to the community joined in along the way. There is truly strength in numbers. Friends of the Library provided much of the support for this project. As we move closer to the opening and remarkable future of the library, “Friends” will have a new and diverse role supporting the library. We are excited! Feel free to contact us through the...
Hello, La Conner Community! We are excited to welcome Christina and Robyn Burdick-Good-Rubenstein as the new owners of Tillinghast Postal & Business Center. These lovely ladies are La Conner locals and will bring greatness to Tillinghast while maintaining all of its established products and services. Sadly, we are also saying goodbye to our beloved Renée in July, as she begins to take the next steps in her career. She will be missed but will be sure to stop by and visit! Thank you, Christi and Chris King...
Regarding your “Rule of Law or Mob Rule” column, come on man! Your lack of self-awareness and proportionality is simply stunning. Such myopic shrillness and clumsy stereotyping of Republicans is truly beneath a publication that portends to be competent and inclusive. You are better than that. Democracy and the rule of law are indeed under great threat in our country. But a reasonable argument can be made that these threats are much more resident in the ongoing mayhem released upon the American citizenry by Democrats’ embrace of open borde...
Clyde Shavers, candidate for Washington’s 10th Legislative District, grew up in a household that was strong on public service. The duty to work for your community was clearly instilled in him by his father’s service, both in the military and the police force. Clyde has served in the U.S. Navy. Like many of our veterans, his service does not end there. He has been working in environmental law, helping protect precious resources like clean water, while serving on the boards of several non-profits that address homelessness. I ran into Clyde at...
“These are the times that try men's souls” Thomas Paine wrote in his first issue of “The American Crisis,” his 1776-1783 pamphlet series. These times, today, are trying many an American’s soul. A good portion of our society does not believe in or trust the rest of us. Many want to save the nation – from us. In this moment that will decide our country’s future, it is not a matter of agreeing with or supporting the Democratic Party. Continue to believe the Democrats are evil, socialists and coming after your guns. Hold on to that till t...
Be aware of the changes going on in our town. The town codes need to be studied and revised for enhancement of our small town’s character. Do we really need housing in every vacant spot? Is it the developers telling us that? There is a concerned group of townspeople now trying to negotiate changes to the size of the proposed giant condos with Airbnb rooms on Fourth and Center streets. Also be aware of the Port of Skagit’s idea of condominiums and such around the waterfront at the La Conner Marina and former Dunlap Towing site. Do your hom...
I appreciate Stuart Welch’s letter illustrating just how exorbitant is the budget proposal for the Maple Avenue “park.” We are left with precious little green space after the Hedlin ballfield debacle. Why junk-up and pave-up most of what is left? The surveys many of us completed supposedly soliciting input from La Conner residents must have been round filed, as I believe many respondents wanted to leave it as a predominantly open green space. It’s just another in a long line of the self-proclaimed “powers that be” ignoring the wishes of L...
The final document on young people, composed by young adults themselves at the invitation of Pope Francis for the 2018 Synod of Bishops, says: “Lots of young people, having lost trust in institutions, have become disaffiliated with organized religion and would not see themselves as ‘religious.’ However, young people are open to the spiritual.” Perhaps even longer before this document was published, I have been thinking about the expression “spiritual but not religious.” Part of this has to do with my identity as a pastoral minister and Catholi...
Once there was a story about a women named Cassandra. She was conjured up in Greece, during a time of deceit and destruction, when shrill voices drove men to war against their brothers. Cassandra was a princess of Troy, said to be the most beautiful of the king’s daughters. The god Apollo fell for her, naturally. He wooed her by promising her the power of prophecy, to see accurately into the future. Cassandra said yes, was given the gift, but then changed her mind, refusing Apollo's advances. In revenge, Apollo cursed her, decreeing that her pr...
Beauty: The Padilla Bay nature trail located five miles north of La Conner, across Highway 20, on Bay View Edison Road, is one of the best outdoor visits in western Skagit County. The 4-mile out-and-back trail tops District 5’s dike and separates very productive farmland (potato now, grass seed in the prior planting) from two sloughs that pour into Samish Bay. The trail is maintained by the Skagit County parks department. It is a very popular place for walkers, strollers, family outings, birders, painters, joggers, runners, bikers, snoozers. O...
Friday 60 La Conner High School students graduate, a great accomplishment and the real start, certainly not the end, of their education. Four times editorials on this page have saluted and extolled La Conner’s graduates, lifting them up as the hope of the world, pointing out the monumental challenges all adults are facing and extolling them to be brave and sensitive and thoughtful and to peer into the future to find a sane, sustainable world that their elders have refused to grasp. Not this year. This year, it is graduates, be aware. High s...
Here is a great title for this column: COVID-19 at work. Since I am not surprised, I cannot call last week’s COVID-19 coming to the Weekly News office – and going home with the staff person who brought it – a scare or even unexpected. I cannot even remember if I have only been saying for a matter of weeks or if it has stretched to months since I started a mantra of “we are all going to get COVID-19.” I know that more than once I have editorialized about our forever pandemic and that however much we are done with the novel coron...
“We the People”, our Constitution starts off. Who is “we?’ Apparently only white XY males at the time of the writing of the Constitution. Women weren’t considered, Blacks weren’t considered and LGBTQ weren’t part of their thinking. Society and culture change over time. But there are some Supreme Court justices who think we should be thinking in the 1700s. Let’s update to 2022. I couldn’t put this point clearer than “Unknown,” who posted this on social media recently: “How about we treat every young man who wants to buy a gun like every woman...
I noted in last week’s paper the towns intention to submit a proposal for $ 539,325 to develop the new park on maple Ave. I’m not sure how one can spend this much tax money. I researched public picnic tables. One of the most expensive I could find was $2,006.65 let’s say we need four, $8,026.60. Public playground equipment? Again one of the most expensive I could find is $62,881. Public benches made of recycled material last forever $1,998.85. Say we need four, $ 4795.40 . Best of all a trike track, how about a Formula 1 road course at $9,12...
Georgia Johnson says, "They didn’t know the history of the place." Bruce Cornwell says, “It was a gas station since time immemorial, and a car dealership before that.” I enjoyed the moment of (unintended ?) humor. Mike Elliott LaConnor...
Because any newly penned editorial on gun violence and the prevalence of weapons of war in the hands of seemingly everybody only adds to long held positions, this editorial is being reprinted from Feb. 21, 2018, after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.Add the numbers up: 58, 17, 13, 10, 27, 2012. That is an old exercise, written in 2018. Here are only the latest, late May, last week, murders: 10 in Buffalo, May 15 and now 21 in Uvalde, Texas, May 24. Include Joe Garcia, dead of a heart attack –...
