Week of June 9th

What can be found in this week's paper:

Boys & Girls Club closing for summer - Alexander Kramer

The grade books will be closing soon with the approach of summer, and so will the local Boys & Girls Club due to a lack of funding. "The La Conner Boys and Girls Club has a budget of $100,000 for the year, which allows us to stay open for four days a week, but only during school," said Kim Grams, the La Conner branch's executive director.

Congratulations, La Conner 2010 Seniors!

This week is the Graduation issue, and on the back are all the senior photos, as well as the local businesses that send their support.

The festrering fire fiasco - Sandy Stokes

Fire District 13 and the Town of La Conner have been sending letters back and forth, and it seems they've both dug in their heels. The town, which oversees La Conner Volunteer Fire Department and Fire District 13, are co-owners of the La Conner fire station near the roundabout on Chilberg Road, just east of town. In the most recent letter volley, the Town Council reject Fire District 13's request to amend their operating agreement concerning the fire station, and then the Firs District 13 commission gave six months notice it was cancelling the agreement. 

 Facing Forward - La Conner High School seniors-to-be Isabel Sible and Katherine Jensen had fun with face paint during the Spring Thing on Friday.

[Photo by Amylynn Richards]

Solar power crash course

Wondering whether putting solar panels on your home's roof is a good idea? The town of La Conner is sponsoring a public workshop for homeowners and businesses at  Maple Hall at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 17. Town Administrator John Doyle has arranged an informational evening with experts in the field of photovoltaic electricity generation on hand. There will be information on financial incentives for homeowners.  

Community Skateboard Park Fund

As of June 10, the La Conner Skatepark Fund has collected $2,320.50 from various donors, and help from the La Conner Seniors.

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.

Slack Tide - The La Conner waterfront and its canopy of clouds is reflected in mirror-like water during the still before the tide change.

[Photo by Don Coyote]

Creativity stuffed into 'Hole in the Wall' - Alexander Kramer

Hole int he Wall is more than the place where Swinomish Channel opens into Skagit Bay. It is also the name of a creative collection of writings by La Conner High School students. The fifth edition of "Hole in the Wall," the anthology, has just been released. 

Hole in the Wall is available for $5 through the high school office, 466-3173.  

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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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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!

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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.

Don't miss a single issue!

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

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.