Two distillation towers, one longer than 200 feet, are expected to be moved through Anacortes early in January en route to the Shell Refinery on March Point. 

The fee the Anacortes Library charges library users who live outside the city will go up $1 per quarter, starting with the first of the year.

Members of the Key Club, the Kiwanis Noon Club, and the Kiwanis Sunrisers Club will pick up Christmas trees for recycling on January 9, starting at 9am.

Updated Dec. 28. - 'Twas the week before Christmas and police cases included: 2 men tossed 2 Christmas trees into a truck and drove off without paying...and a car and several chainsaws stolen in Friday Harbor, but which appeared here.

Two new films in town this Christmas weekend: Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Alvin and the Chipmunks" The Squeakquel. Continuing is the blockbuster Avatar. 

Assessed property values in Anacortes have dropped, on average, 7.6 percent from one year ago, according to the county Assessor's Office, the first drop since the early 1990s.