The Skagit County Fire Marshal’s Office declared a complete burn ban effective Wednesday, Aug. 12. The burn ban prohibits all outdoor open burning in unincorporated Skagit County. The only exception is agricultural burning. Propane fire tables and other gas-fueled cooking appliances are permitted during this ban. Charcoal grills are permitted under certain conditions.
Local firefighters are lending a hand in the massive effort to battle wildfires across Eastern Washington this summer. Skagit County Fire District 13 has already participated in two wildfire mobilizations this season, Battalion Chief Jami Jurdi said. District firefighters spent four days helping fight the Neff Jones Fire in Franklin County, and a three-member crew led by Jurdi recently returned with the district’s brush truck from a two-week deployment assisting firefighting efforts near Beverly and Tonasket in Central Washington.
As communities across the country question police use of Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras and the privacy implications of tracking motorists’ movements, a similar debate is emerging in nearby Stanwood. A new citizen campaign, “Deflock Stanwood,” is calling on the city not to renew its contract for Flock cameras, which organizers say were installed in 2024 without sufficient public discussion. Opponents argue the cameras raise privacy and civil-liberties concerns for Stanwood residents as well as Camano Island motorists who routinely travel through the city, and they are urging local officials to consider alternatives to automated vehicle surveillance.
Unionized journalists at the Skagit Valley Herald, Anacortes American and Stanwood Camano News have voted unanimously to authorize an open-ended strike against parent company Adams MultiMedia if the two sides fail to reach an agreement at their Aug. 24 bargaining session. AI use in the newsroom and wage increases are at the heart of the labor dispute. The journalists have also launched a strike GoFundMe, titled “Help Keep AI Out of Your Newsrooms,” to provide financial support in the event they walk off the job.
Three women detained by the Department of Homeland Security while returning to their Friday Harbor homes from a housecleaning job July 7 will not return to San Juan Island, according to an Aug. 11 report by The Journal of the San Juan Islands. Reporter Kristina Stucki wrote that two of the women were quickly deported and dropped off in Mexico with only the clothes they were wearing — without even a phone charger or other belongings to help them start over. The third woman, whose husband and child are U.S. citizens, remains at the Northwest ICE Processing Center and has decided to self-deport following what was described to the Journal as “aggressive questioning” by an immigration judge. Her husband plans to move to Mexico with their U.S.-citizen child so the family can remain together. All three women are mothers, and local organizations have been raising money for legal representation, detention commissary expenses and families suddenly left without a mother, caretaker and provider.
Travelers on SR 20 south of Anacortes should prepare for 19 consecutive days of single-lane traffic beginning in mid-August as work ramps up on a new roundabout at Campbell Lake Road. A temporary signal will alternate traffic through the intersection 24 hours a day, and WSDOT is warning of delays, particularly during busy travel times between Skagit County and Whidbey Island. The $3 million project, funded by the Samish Indian Nation, will improve safety and access to Campbell Lake Road and the tribe’s nearby fuel station and convenience store. Work will pause for about six months this winter before roundabout construction resumes in 2027, with completion expected next summer.
