Blog Entries tagged 'Editors Blog'

The Herald: 100 degrees at Skagit Airport; not!

art@artshotwell.com — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Reporter Marta Murvosh reported in Monday's edition of the Skagit Valley Herald that Skagit Regional Airport recorded 100 degrees on Saturday.

In Skagit County, the automated weather station at the Skagit Regional Airport, west of Burlington, recorded temperatures hitting as high as 100 Saturday and the low 80s Sunday.

As it happens, Skagit Airport's automatic weather data is available online at wunderground.com. It shows a high on Saturday (and Sunday) [...]

Magnitude 3.6 quake near Port Townsend

art@artshotwell.com — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

A minor earthquake, measuring 3.6 magnitude, was registered near Port Townsend at 10:03 last night. The epicenter was 3 miles north-northeast of Port Townsend, about 25 miles from Anacortes.

No damage was reported in the temblor, which was felt in many areas of East Jefferson County. KING 5 said viewers from Seattle, Snohomish and Everett called or wrote in to the station to say they felt the jolt.

The University of Washington Earth and Space Scienc [...]

Upriver oil spill on the Skagit

art@artshotwell.com — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Word around the North Cascades Institute is that there was a small spill of transmission fluid into Diablo Lake, way up the Skagit River.

The spill apparently occurred on June 18. Seattle City Light closed the lake to swimmers and boaters for a few days while cleanup crews worked.

Anacortes' drinking water comes from the Skagit River, miles downriver from Diablo Lake.

Then, Seattle City Light closed it again this weekend, telling the Institute, which operates an Envir [...]

Summer has arrived

art@artshotwell.com — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

For weeks now, everyone around town has been askin "So, where's Spring?" Well, Summer is here. Officially, at least. Did we miss Spring? Or, was it just the last few days?

I enjoyed lunch on my patio yesterday. The warm sun fel [...]

Survivor recounts struggle to escape sinking fishing boat

art@artshotwell.com — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Anacortes American News Editor Elaine Walker interviewed one of the surviviors of the 36-foot gill-netter that sank in the Bering Sea recently. Mitch Trujillo describes the ordeal. "By the time we got our survival suits on the whole bow of the boat was submerged," he said. The story is worth reading. And, it's online.

New weekly feature: The Police Blotter

art@artshotwell.com — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 09:50:38 +0100

Starting this week, we'll be publishing a weekly Anacortes Police round up. The roundup is prepared by the Anacortes Police Department and edited by Anacortes Now. Not all police activity is reported, but the most interesting events. Watch for it weekly in the News section at Anacortes Now.

Inside a caucus

art@artshotwell.com — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 14:47:28 +0100

It was a chaotic and exciting adventure to go to a caucus. I estimate that 300-400 people participated in the Democratic caucus at Anacortes High School this afternoon. It included voters from six of the Anacortes precincts.

The sign-in process was easy and quick, but it took time waiting in line to get to the sign-in form. The form left a spot for voters to choose their first and second

choice for the Democratic Presidential nominee.

Once every [...]

ONE issue we can all agree on

art@artshotwell.com — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:50:18 +0100

As a voter and a member of a local chapter of the poverty-fighting group ONE, I have been working with the more than 2.4 million ONE members nationally to make the fight against extreme poverty and global disease an issue in the 2008 presidential election.

I know global poverty is usually not part of the conversation when it comes to presidential politics. But through ONE Vote’08, ONE’s non-partisan effort made up of ordinary voters and some of the most experi [...]

Homeless count this Friday

art@artshotwell.com — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:10:26 +0100

The Anacortes Point-in-Time count of the homeless population will occur on Friday, January 25. We plan to be at the three food banks in town on that day, asking people if they're homeless, and questions like how many people are living with them and where they last received mail.Based upon what we did three years ago, it would be nice to have two or three volunteers at each food bank, because the regular volunteers are so busy that they really don't have time to sit down for the two or t [...]

How to drive on ice

art@artshotwell.com — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:17:49 +0100

Since we've seen some icy roads recently, I thought I'd pass along some tips for driving on ice and snow.

1. LOSE THE CELL PHONE
Keep your hands at ten and two o'clock, just like you learned in driver's ed. The position makes it easy to know when your wheels are straight, which is critical in slick conditions.
2. ANTICIPA [...]

Looking for Bloggers

art@artshotwell.com — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 09:13:35 +0100

We're looking for local people who'd like to contribute regular items to our Anacortes blogs. If you want to write about politics, the goings-on in Anacortes, your business, or just about anything...just go ahead...right here at Anacortes Now.

This is a place for your voice to be heard. For Anacortes folks to interact, discuss the events of the day.To write a blog, you'll need to register, but we promise to keep your email address hidden (and encrypted) and won't give i [...]

North Cascades Highway closed

art@artshotwell.com — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:39:03 +0100

We're trying to keep this Web site focused on Anacortes, so this item isn't directly related, but the state has decided to close North Cascades Highway for the winter. It seems that heavy rain in the past couple of days has soaked the snow that fell last weekend, causing big piles of heavy, wet snow to be dumped on the highway.

Wash. DOT had closed the highway last Friday, anticipatingsnow, and said they would reopen it if possible. But, have now decided not to try to reopen it [...]

Stormy Weather

art@artshotwell.com — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:26:32 +0100

We've sure had a range of weather in the past few days. From snow on Saturday, to rain and wind on Sunday and today. But, perhaps thanks to our position in the Banana Belt, we haven't had it quite as bad as Seattle, say, or the Washington coast.

Burlington airport recorded a low of 32 degrees and a high of 37 degrees. That's a far cry from the 60 degrees that Burlington airport recorded this afternoon.

As to wind...Burlington airport recorded gusts up to 38 miles per [...]

Island Hospital signs not useful

art@artshotwell.com — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 17:53:55 +0100

I have been watching, with some interest, as Island Hospital installed and revised new directional signs on the West side of their campus, along M Avenue. Large, backlighted, new signs signs were installed a few days ago. One sign pointed the wrong direction to the Emergency Room. If you heading North on M Avenue, the sign at the corner of 24th pointed further North to ER. That sign was fixed fairly quickly.

But, there's still an interesting aspect to the sig [...]

Vote

art@artshotwell.com — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 09:15:33 +0100

Tomorrow is Election Day, though what with mail-in ballots, I suspect few people actually vote on Election Day. I voted today and will place my ballot in the ballot box tomorrow.

It is important to vote even though this is an off-year. Some Anacortes residents must choose between two City Council candidates. There are numerous other offices on the ballot, but many candidates seem to haveno opposition. And, there are statewide issues to decide.

If you're going to deliver your [...]

Moving ahead

art@artshotwell.com — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:52:56 +0100

I've been working on AnacortesNow for the past couple of months in my spare time. Yes, I do have a job... as an independent Web designer. I've created this site because I think the community needs a voice. It's own voice. Not a voice that gets lost and mixed in with the voices of other communities to our east. Anacortes has many issues that differ from issues that face folks livingin Mount Vernon, Burlington, Sedro-Woolley and other smaller towns. I'm hoping that members of [...]

Get Involved!

art@artshotwell.com — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:24:33 +0100

Okay, word is out now. Time for you to get involved.

Just send us an email . There are many different ways to participate -- you can blog, you can monitor local campaign events, or, if you're an expert in a particular subject area, you can write as column for AnacortesNow.

This is an effort at community journalism right here in Anacortes.