Week of June 2nd

 In this week's paper:

Full jail means criminals roam free - Sandy Stokes

Police blotter readers will recognize this line: "The jail was too crowded, so the man was booked and released." That begs the question: How many people does the Skagit County Jail hold? The quick answer: There are 180 prisoner beds. On Tuesday, there were 188 inmates in the jail; four more were being housed in Snohomish County, and another 38 were serving sentences at home wearing ankle bracelets for monitoring.

Toddler Owl - This hatchling owl, still covered in down, was found on the ground near the Swinomish Channel on Tuesday afternoon. It appeared the young bird had fallen from a nest in the rafter of the old Moore-Clark building. The owl has taken to Anacortes abd turned over to a Wolf Hollow Rehabilitation Center volunteer, who planned to transport the little animal by ferry to the rehabber's facility in Friday Harbor.

[Photo by Bill Stokes]

Community Skateboard Park Fund

We're still working on getting the official numbers for donations to the fund, and will keep a running tally until we raise the full amount. For information about the park and ways to support the campaign, you can check out the Facebook page, or call Town Hall @ (360) 466-3125.

Orange Eating - One of the "how to be a kid" lessons offered in the middle school's musical production is the proper way to eat oranges, as demonstrated by Ariana Bolton, Rachel Hastings, Madisom Smith, and Tess Bruland. The performances are 7:30 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday.

[Photo by Scott McDade]

Have some lessons in kid-style living - Scott McDade

Ever wonder why kids have more fun? You'll find the answer on stage next week! The madcap musical, "How to Eat Like A Child (And Other Lessons in NOT Being A Grown-Up)," will be presented at 7:30 p.m. next Monday and Tuesday, June 7 and 8, in the La Conner school auditorium. Admission is free. 

Eyes leave road, crash ensues - Amylynn Richards

A La Conner High School senior ran a stop sign and hit a pickup driven by an Anacortes man Friday. According to the Washington State Patrol, Derek Reinhardt, 18, of La Conner, failed to stop his 1997 Jeep Wrangler at the intersection of  Young and Best roads at about 6:22 p.m. on Friday.

No accord between fire district and town - Sandy Stokes

La Conner and Fire District 13, which surrounds the town, are at impasse. The Town Council unanimously rejected the fire district's proposed changes to the operating agreement concerning the fire station the town and district co-own. Then the district's fire commissioners gave the town six months notice that it will terminate the agreement. 

 [Editorial cartoon by A. Atoms Mousey]

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Week of May 26th

In this week's issue:

Memorial Day at Pleasant Ridge - Janna Gage

This Memorial Day you won't have to row south down Swinomish Channel, through the Hole-in-the-Wall, around McGlinn Island and up Sullivan Slough, tie your boat to a fir tree stump and then climb a steep bluff and through blackberry vines and devil's claw to reach Pleasant Ridge Cemetery. That is, however, exactly the path used by pallbearers carrying the first pioneers to their final resting place in the cemetery in Pleasant Ridge in 1876.

Playful Poet - Writer and entertainer Sherman Alexie, whose Native American ancestry is Spokane Coeur d'Alene, compares his profile to the La Conner Braves team mascot during his Skagit River Poetry Festival performance, "Sherman Alexie Unplugged."

[Photo by Anna Ferdinand] 

Word-weavers work their magic - Anna Ferdinand

Story tellers are like magicians--spinning tails out of thin air, transporting the listener to wild places, into moments, and landscape, places within our own minds and ultimately pulling the rabbit out of the hat to a place of truth within ourselves. This year's Skagit Valley Poetry Festival was rife with storytellers, crafters of words, yarn spinners, poetic musicians and musical poets. 

Community Skateboard Park Fund

We're still working on getting the official numbers for donations to the fund, and will keep a running tally until we raise the full amount. For information about the park and ways to support the campaign, you can check out the Facebook page, or call Town Hall @ (360) 466-3125.

 Gunshot - This X-Ray of an eagle that died on the way to a wildlife rehabilitation center earlier this month clearly shows the cause of death. The little white dots in the neck and head are shotgun pellets.

[Photo courtesy of Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center]

Bounty on eagle killer - Amylynn Richards

Whoever shot the eagle found fatally wounded near Pleasant Ridge has a $2,500 bounty on their head. The Humane Society of the United States and The Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust offer the reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the illegal shooting of an adult bald eagle near La Conner. 

Robot Demo - As La Conner School District Superintendent Tim Bruce loks on, La Conner Elementary students Roxy Orkney, Braden Southard, and Skyler Morse demonstrate their Lego Mindstorm abilities during Monday's school board meeting. The children have been meeting after school all year in Beth Clothier's robotics club.

[Photo by Kirsten Morse]


 

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Paper is on sale in stores and newsracks in La Conner, WA. Or it can be mailed to any address in the United States.

Don't miss a single issue!

To subscribe or for ad rates, please call us at (360) 466-3315.

Week of May 19th

In this week's issue:

Skateboard Park - This sign went up on Sunday, with volunteer labor from skateboarders and people who want to help them have a place to skate. Some of the workers, shown here from left, were Kelly Gilkey, Bradley Kramer, Nick McCormick, Myca Gilkey, Ashley Norton, Alexander Kramer, Travis Smith, and Simon Van Pelt. 

[Photo by Bill Stokes]

Skaters tag their turf - Bill Stokes

Yeah, Buddy! Taking time out from "ollies," "kick flips" and "tail drags," about a dozen young people--La Conner's skateboarders and their supporters--convened at the end of N. 6th Street on Sunday to mark the location of the future Community Skateboard Park. The town Public Works Department marked off the site with white lines on the ground, so the young skaters could get a feel for the actual size and shape of the park being planned.

 There is an album of artwork from the day's worth of painting.

Skater Design - Here are some of the artists who created the new skateboard park sign on Sunday. The sign is decorated with broken skateboards that have been painted by their former owners and reflect the creativity of the individual artists. Shown here from left are Alexander Kramer, the lead graphic artist on the project, with Kane Stokes, Nick McCormick, Bradley Kramer and Travis Smith.

[Photo by Bill Stokes]

Community Skateboard Park Fund
Really soon we'll get the official numbers for donations to the fund, and keep a running tally until we raise the full amount. For information about the park and ways to support the campaign, you can check out the Facebook page, or call Town Hall @ (360) 466-3125.

Yacht builder leaving town - Sandy Stokes

The Pacific Mariner yacht building company, along with the 38 jobs it provides, will leave La Conner this summer. Last week Westport Shipyard, Inc., the large yacht builder that owns Pacific Mariner, revealed plans to move the La Conner operations to Grey's Harbor County.

Skagit River Poetry Festival is this weekend! 

Events and workshops with renowned artists from all over (some local) will be happening May 20 through May 22 all over town.

A simple life; a profound legacy - Anna Ferdinand

Robert Sund, the iconic poet of his era, comes alive in a new documentary to be shown during the Skagit River Poetry Festival this week. The film is an ode to the poetry of a man whose attentiveness to the world was translated through his calligraphy pen. 

Tribe and State turn island to park - Janna Gage and Sandy Stokes

The state Parks and Recreation Commission and the Swinomish  Indian Tribal Community have approved a plan that would turn a small island near La Conner into a park under state and tribal ownership. Kiket Island in Similk Bay, which lies entirely within the boundaries of the Swinomish Reservation, will become a state park for day use by kayakers and canoeists. 

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Paper is on sale in stores and newsracks in La Conner, WA. Or it can be mailed to any address in the United States.

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Week of May 12th

What you can find in this week's copy:

Tensions flare between Fire District and Town - Sandy Stokes

The town of La Conner and Fire District 13 each own half of the La Conner Fire Station, located on Chilberg Road, and have shared equipment and response areas for years. Now, the Fire District proposes to move its own firefighters into the La Conner Fire Station and terminate the portions of the operating agreement that allows La Conner fire fighters to use its truck and respond to calls in the District 13 territory east of the Swinomish Channel. Town officials fear that the proposed changes could have a bad impact on town residents' fire insurance rates and could increase the town's costs.

 Skate Park Commission meeting tonight! 6 p.m. at the Civic Garden Club--on 2nd Street, across from the Quilt Museum. Tonight they will be discussing fundraising ideas.

Long Jump - La Conner Braves' Kristin Dorr leaped to win third place in the long jump at last week's league championship track meet.

[Photo by Amylynn Richards]

La Conner taps sun for power - Alexander Kramer

La Conner is growing greener with two solar energy projects going online. Residents Gary and Leigh Giovane's Third Street home has a roof sporting new solar electric panels and a solar water heater, and the town's sewage treatment plant is the site of the first town-owned solar electric generating station. The Giovane's system powered up just this week. For weeks they were anxious: "I see the sun and think we could be 'catching' all that energy, and we can't yet," Gary Giovane said. But on Tuesday, he said, "We are now officially active energy generators!"

 1950s Flash Back - Some La Conner alumni probably remember a high school classroom very similar to this one--which was created with original lights and furnishings and some replica desks made by the drama tech class. Here, Lexie Butler plays the title role of "Our Miss Brooks," with Cecily Hahn as Jane during the weekend production.

[Photo by Amylynn Richards]

Mother Flight Farm - Fred Owens

Glenn Johnson's compost pile is a source of pride: It's hot--reaching over 150 degrees Fahrenheit--and it's made from a recipe he customized for his Fir Island organic farm. His composted mixture of dairy manure, cattle bedding, seed hulls and old pea hay works wonders on the clay and silt at Mother Flight Farm, where Johnson and his wife, Charlotte, have been growing organic produce for 20 years. 

 High Jump - La Conner Braves' Steven Bell as he clears the 5-foot-high jump during the league championship track meet last Thursday.

[Photo by Amylynn Richards]

Verse, song and creativity coming to town - Sandy Stokes

Poets from all over the U.S. and from around the world will convene in La Conner next week for the Skagit River Poetry Festival--a celebration of literature held every two years. The festival headliners include Sherman Alexie, National Book Award winner for the "Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian" and Pulitzer Prize winner, and former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser. Two days of poetry readings and  writer workshops with dozens of professional wordsmiths will follow a sold out fund-raising kickoff dinner on Thursday night, May 20. After the dinner, the festival events begin with a raucous adults-only evening featuring writer, social critic and stand-up comedian Sherman Alexie "unplugged."

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Paper is on sale in stores and newsracks in La Conner, WA. Or it can be mailed to any address in the United States.

Don't miss a single issue!

To subscribe or for ad rates, please call us at (360) 466-3315.

Week of May 5th

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

What you can find in this week's copy:

Blacktop Omelet - Most eggs were goners when the La Conner Elementary School students held their annual science fair experimental egg drop. Some students were shocked at the outcome. Pictured here from left are Gavin Brown, Luke Lowry, Katie Wilkins, Bryce Bolsinger, in back, Elijah Porter, under a hat, Daniel Rapada, in front, and Kennedy Miller. 

[Photo by Amylynn Richards]

Our Miss Brooks -- 1950's sitcom on school stage - Scott McDade

Our Miss Brooks, one of the most popular comedies of all time, returns to La Conner auditorium this week for five performances, Thursday through Sunday. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. There are two matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. 

You can order tickets--$5 a seat-- in advance by calling the District Office (360) 466-3171

Wild 'N Crazy Birds - This is the good ship Tangywasser, owned by Gary Baugh, who, with his brother Bill, put on feathers to become the Flying Flamingo Brothers, delighting spectators for Saturday's Swinomish Yacht Club opening day boat parade on Swinomish Channel. The parade theme was "Get Your Flamingo On," and the Baugh brothers' creation took first place.

[Photo by Steve Elston]

A new way to hire teachers: Let the kids decide - Amylynn Richards

Applicants for teaching jobs in La Conner School District need to impress more than just school administrators--they have to pass muster with students. As part of a new program this year, 19 high school students were included on panels to interview prospective teachers for four positions at the middle and high school.

Tribe and state team up for island park - Sandy Stokes

The on-again, off-again purchase of a small island for a state park near La Conner is back on the State Parks and Recreation Commission agenda this week. Recommended for commission approval on Thursday is a deal that would make the state and Swinomish Indian Tribal Community co-owners of the 97-acre property that is presently in private ownership and lies within the boundaries of the Swinomish Reservation.

 Now Showing - This work of art is the "Slippa Quilt" and part of the Collaborative Journey exhibit on display now at La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum.

[Photo courtesy of the museum]

Fireworks Fund

The goal this year to raise money for this year's Fourth of July fireworks show was $4,700. Marci Plank from the Chamber of Commerce says the show is for certain, with $4,705 donated total by:

• Dunlap Towing
• WAVE Broadband
• Shelter Bay Community
• La Conner Country Inn
• La Conner Pub & Eatery
• La Conner Yacht Sales
• La Conner Weekly News
• Nell Thorn Restaurant
• Pionner Potatoes & Thulen Farms
• Olive Shoope & Ginger Grater
• Garry and Zayna Cline
• Corky and Carol Erikson
• Dana and Charles Heald
• Janis Hatch
• Liz Theaker
• Rotary Club of La Conner
• Soroptomist International of La Conner
• Swinomish Yacht Club

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Paper is on sale in stores and newsracks in La Conner, WA. Or it can be mailed to any address in the United States.

Don't miss a single issue!

To subscribe or for ad rates, please call us at (360) 466-3315.