In the March 2, 2011 issue...

We joined the flood map fight

Posted by Sandy Stokes

The town of La Conner has signed on with Mount Vernon and Burlington in their effort to convince federal officials to correct flaws in the government’s final rendition of the federal Flood Insurance Rate Maps.

The cities have teamed up to appeal the maps and have until the end of this month to convince the federal officials to fix them. City officials say that flawed data went into the maps, which were developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The town will pay $1,000 to get on board with Mount Vernon and Burlington, which are funding the $150,000 map fight. Read today's paper to find out why these maps affect everyone, not just people on low ground.

 Photo by Danya Wolf

La Conner High School seniors Brandon Drye, BG Miller and Samie Miller served breakfast to Smelt Derby attendees at Maple Hall on Saturday. The royalty in their midst is Her Highness the Smelt Queen, Linda Reynolds Gravley. 

It's prunin' time again

Residents of La Conner can schedule a free pickup of yard waste during the week of March 21 through March 25 by calling Town Hall, 466-3125. Plant matter and branches only. The town crew will not pick up felled trees, grass clippings, rusted out water heaters or smelly sofas.

 

La Conner journalist Mary Evitt was at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle last week when she caught up with John Christianson of Christianson's Nursery. The garden display by John and his wife, Toni, took the Gold Medal, People's Choice and three other top awards in the show. Details in today's paper.

From the police blotter: 3:04 a.m.: Disorderly – Neighbors complained of a disturbance coming from an apartment, 900 block Maple Ave., La Conner. The deputies went to the residence and found one of the people asleep and the other watching television. It was determined that all the action was on the TV. They turned it down.  Read what else happened in town in today's paper!

Pick up a newspaper at the red news boxes, or at the usual places -- gas station, drug store, produce store, book store and the liquor store.  Or subscribe and have it delivered.

Weekly La Conner High Sports capsule, March 2, 2011

Braves Raves

By Amylynn Richards

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

The boys’ basketball team is in Spokane today, ready to battle for the Washington State 2B State Championship title.  The first game will take place on Thursday, Mar. 3 at the Spokane Arena; the Braves take on Northwest Christian High School.

Northwest will have the “home-court advantage,” as that high school is a mere 13 miles away from the Arena. The boys would certainly appreciate some hometown faces to cheer them on to victory against the Northwest Christian team, which is currently rated number one in the 2B state division, and boasts a 91 percent winning record.  The Braves have an 84 percent winning record and are currently ranked tenth in the 2B state division.

The winner of the first round on Thursday, Mar. 3 will compete again on Friday, Mar. 4 against either Adna or Colfax at 3:45 p.m. The championship will take place on Saturday, Mar. 5 at 9 p.m. Go, Braves!  

Should the boys lose Thursday’s game, the team will have two games ahead of them to win fourth place in State. Should the boys win Thursday but lose Friday’s game, they would compete for third place in State.

The boys played two games last week to get where they are today. The Braves played the first round of the sweet sixteen against Napavine in Longview on Friday, Feb. 25 at 9:15 p.m. Napavine won, 78-58. Coach Scott Novak reports that Mike Wilbur scored 17 points, and senior Kyle McKnight brought in 12 points. 

On Saturday, the Braves played a loser-out game against Riverside Christian. The Braves won 62-53. Landy James was 6 for 6 from the free-throw line, scoring 19 points total for the Braves; Spencer Novak scored 17; and senior Sten Mejlaender scored 10 rebounds.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

The girls played North Beach high school at Mount Vernon high school on Friday, Feb. 25.  North Beach, out of Ocean Shores, won 72-23. “Friday's game was a tough way to end the season after having such a magical week the previous week,” says Coach Marla Quesnell, “every game that we were able to play past the regular season were bonus games for this young team” 

Nikki Finley was the teams’ high scorer with 8 points.  “She did much of the ball handling throughout the game and she played hard no matter what the scoreboard said,” reports Quesnell. Priscilla Ponce-Venegas brought in 5 rebounds.  It was great to be one of the top sixteen teams in the state.  Winning three loser-out games in a row was something we were proud of.  We will take a bit of time off and then start getting better for next season.  Thanks to all the fans who supported us this year. 

 On Saturday, Feb. 26, North Beach faced Darrington.  Darrington won 55-37, and so the Darrington Loggers have survived the sweet 16 and move forward to state competition next week. 

Quesnell looks forward to next year, “We bring back all players, except for our lone senior Samie Miller.” Quesnell said of Miller, “She has meant a great deal to this young team.  She has been a mentor, a role model for toughness and hard work and a lot of fun to be around.  Samie provided instant offense through the season and she also was a calming force on the floor at the end of close games.  We will miss her, but we feel lucky she will still be in the valley and hope she comes back to visit.”