Honors classes for all

MVHS new open enrollment policy presents opportunities and challenges

Technically, all students at Mountain View High School have the same opportunities for academic success. They all choose from the same courses, and their teachers and staff devote themselves equally to encouraging their potential.

Burglary suspect nabbed after Los Altos resident’s pursuit in traffic

One Los Altos resident’s morning commute turned into a high-speed chase last week after he discovered a man allegedly breaking into his neighbor’s car, Los Altos police said.

The University Avenue resident was on his way to work when he saw a man rummaging through his neighbor’s unlocked car parked in the driveway. The Los Altos resident drove back toward the house just as the man jumped into his getaway car and sped past him, driving as fast as 75 mph, according to the resident, said police Sgt. Mark Macaulay.

County’s improvements for Los Altos to include road work, pedestrian ramps

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors has recently approved a number of road improvements and installation of pedestrian ramps in the Los Altos area.

The County will repave Summerhill Avenue between Quinnhill and Magdalena avenues and will perform patch work on Eastbrook and Summerhill avenues and parts of Arastradero Road between Page Mill Road and Interstate 280.

Children’s exuberant performances transcend Uganda’s sad message

It seemed only appropriate that Hidden Villa in Los Altos Hills, a longtime supporter of multiculturalism, housed a dance troupe from Uganda that draws attention to its country’s struggles with an AIDS epidemic, even as it lifts the spirits of those viewing its performances.

The Children of Uganda troupe, comprising 18 orphans, stayed at Hidden Villa’s hostel last week while performing as part of Stanford’s Lively Arts series. Many members have lost their parents to AIDS.

News Briefs

In order to reduce the impact of traffic on local residents, the city of Los Altos April 11 asked the Valley Transportation Authority to modify two of its bus routes that run through the city.

City officials asked that Routes 23 and 24 be re-routed to avoid Cuesta Drive and a short segment of El Monte Avenue.

First-floor office space at city retail centers may be reconsidered

One chiropractor’s request to move into a vacant retail storefront in Foothill Plaza earlier this year may have been just the spark that could change the future direction in which the city of Los Altos chooses to develop its neighborhood shopping centers.

Burnham Pacific Properties, which owns Foothill Plaza on Homestead Road, asked the city last month for a city code amendment that would allow limited ground floor office uses in the shopping center after a chiropractor expressed interest in locating an office in one of the vacant storefronts zoned for retail space only.

Los Altos council takes first steps toward citywide traffic plan

A traffic engineering consultant and a state grant could be the first steps in putting together a citywide plan to calm traffic in Los Altos.

The Los Altos City Council agreed April 11 to hire a traffic engineering consultant, study ways to slow traffic along El Monte Avenue and to apply for a $500,000 Caltrans school traffic grant to address traffic in the Loyola School neighborhood.

Better transportation for the elderly tops foundation survey of local needs

Better transportation for the elderly and more teen activities topped a list of residents’ most pressing needs, according to survey of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills residents conducted by Los Altos High School students and members of the Los Altos Community Foundation.

The results, based on 219 responses, were presented at the foundation’s meeting last Wednesday.

Letters to the Editor

I recently had the opportunity to review plans for a second- story addition to a residence in my immediate neighborhood. The proposed addition appears to be modest and appropriate to the character of the neighborhood. That said, because of the Los Altos City Council’s action on March 28 regarding R1-S (single story overlay) zoning applications, I can neither approve nor disapprove of this proposed construction.

At the Council meeting on March 28, I spoke in favor of allowing neighborhoods to apply for a single story zoning overlay, and requested that the proposed overlay plan allow exceptions to the single-story building restriction on a case-by-case basis upon approval of neighbors who would be affected by the construction.

Vacations from mommiehood

Blue Jeans & Jelly Beans

I used to wonder why, when our family went on vacation with our very young children, I was the only one who didn’t feel relaxed.

League of Women Voters offer meetings on health care

The Battle for America’s Health Care, is the theme of two meetings sponsored by the Los Altos-Mountain View League of Women Voters in cooperation with El Camino Hospital and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.

Topics for discussion include Medicare HMOs, prescription drugs for seniors, patient protection under managed care, universal access and the uninsured.

Seniors News

Friday: 1 p.m., birthday bingo.

May trip: Visit Filoli Garden and lunch in Half Moon Bay. Tour the 43-room mansion and drive over the hill to Half Moon Bay to The Distillery for lunch. Cost is $72 for members, $77 for non-members.

Library News

To celebrate State Parks Month in May, the California State Parks are offering free admission to participating parks. The Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Road, has a limited supply of coupons good for one free day use.

The coupons are available in the main lobby near the bulletin board. They are not good for Memorial Day weekend.

Calendar

Los Altos Senior Center, 9-3 p.m., Monday through Friday, 97 Hillview Ave., Los Altos.

Wednesday

Community Briefs

The 17th annual Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival will be celebrated from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, at Memorial Park on Stevens Creek Boulevard, across from De Anza College. The festival is held in honor of Cupertino’s sister city, Toyokawa, Japan, and its gift of 200 cherry blossom trees.

The festival features Japanese entertainment, arts and crafts, cultural exhibits and demonstrations, foods and beverages, and a special area for children’s activities and hands-on crafts.

Cousteau, Titanic discoverer go deep at Celebrity Forum

Ironically on the very day the stock market took its biggest point dive in history, April 14, undersea explorers Robert Ballard and Jean-Michel Cousteau took an attentive Foothill College Celebrity Forum audience on a “dive” to a dark and mysterious portion of the planet, deep down in the ocean.

Often referred to as visionaries, Ballard and Cousteau shared the stage before a nearly full house at Flint Center. Over the past half century, these two have independently explored the world’s oceans from top to bottom, transforming our vision of the earth.

Police Report

April 22, 5:35 p.m., 1000 block of Grant Road: A caller told police a motorist in a white porsche hit and fence and curb and then drove away south bound on Grant Road.

Malicious mischief

‘Olympic Wannabes’ begin frolic in Conner Park starting Friday

The Los Altos Arts Committee members and other organizers will unveil the “Olympic Wannabes” bronze sculpture at 5:30 p.m., Friday, in Conner Park, at the corner of Edith Avenue and San Antonio Road.

The Egan Intermediate School band will open festivities beginning at 5:15 p.m. The band will provide background music for the Gold Star Gymnastics group of Mountain View as they perform routines ending with the statue “pose.”

Artists inviting aficionados (and prospective customers) in homes this weekend

Once a year, many local artists open their studios to visitors - a tradition which began in 1986 with 26 studios opened for one weekend. This year’s participation includes 334 artists at 226 tour sites, this weekend and on May 6 and 7 in Santa Clara, San Benito and San Mateo Counties.

“Silicon Valley Open Studios 2000″ self-guided tour hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. all four days. A preview exhibit of one example of each artist’s work will be open to the public through May 7 at 500 South First St., San Jose (corner of E. William St.).

Happenings

Silicon Valley Open Studios, 741 Esplanada Way, on the Stanford campus, will include the plein-air oil sketches of Los Altos resident Agnes Derbin-Caulfield among the artists participating, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday (April 29 and 30). Maps for Open Studios artists are available at the Los Altos library and local art stores.

Save The Date

Mayfest activities, including the Kiwanis Pet Parade and Rotary Fine Art in the Park, downtown Los Altos.

July 8 and 9

Pages of the Past

In the News: President Harry S.Truman asks for statehood for Alaska and Hawaii.

In Los Altos: Several hundred members of the congregation were in attendance as the new parish house of the Union Church was christened. The guest speaker was Roger Deas, secretary to Gov. Earl Warren.

Immediacy important to this local watercolorist

All About Art

Jean Warren is a recognized professional watercolorist and published artist.

Los Altos Community Prayer Breakfast speakers attest to faith as guide through life’s challenges

Three inspired speakers took advantage of the forum offered them at a Good Friday Los Altos Community Prayer Breakfast to talk about how their Christian faith helps to cope with the stress of everyday life.

The morning devotion, held at Hyatt Rickeys in Palo Alto, featured psychotherapist Normajean Hinders; Jim Stump, spiritual mentor to Stanford athletes; and football player Steve Stenstrom, former San Francisco 49er and current Detroit Lions quarterback. The speakers discussed their belief in personal prayer .

Foothill College Flea Market schedules new Saturday dates

The 2000 Foothill Flea Market dates are Saturdays, May 20, June 17, July 15 and Aug. 19 in parking lot No. 7.

Vendor space is available for market dates. A single space (16×16 square feet) is $18, $15 for vendors over age 65 and Foothill students.

CHAC duck race waddles downstream May 6 in MV

An estimated 10,000 ducks will take to the water for a swim down Stevens Creek in Mountain View on May 6 to raise funds for the Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC) in the first Great CHAC Duck Race sponsored by Microsoft.

With a goal of raising more than $60,000 to benefit kids and their families through CHAC counseling programs, corporate sponsors and the general public can adopt a duck for $5 each or in a Quack Pack of six for $25.

Federated Woman’s Club picks winners in student art contest

Members of the Federated Woman’s Club of Los Altos took a turn as art critics last month, awarding each first-place winner in their annual art contest a $50 savings bond.

Entries from the winners of the contest are on display in the the Los Altos main library through May 6.

Morgan Center for autism faces closure at Covington

The Morgan Center, an educational facility for autistic children and adults, faces the prospect of closing if its staff doesn’t find a new location in the coming weeks.

Located at the former Covington school site, the Morgan Center serves 50 children and 32 adults affected with autism, a neurological disorder. These individuals, and the center’s staff, may have no place to go come December.

Poet Tree creates interest in the genre

Among the trees and flowers blooming all over Los Altos this spring is the Poet Tree at Santa Rita School.

Members of Santa Rita’s School Site Council planted the tree and sponsored two other events to celebrate National Poetry Month and encourage elementary school students to develop their writing skills.

German language students ‘viel Vergnuegen!’ at SF

It may have looked like Mountain View, but it sounded, tasted and felt like Germany when St. Francis High School hosted the annual German Immersion Day, or Deutschvergnugen, April 1.

The event drew 85 students of German language classes from all over the Bay Area, including Monta Vista High School in Cupertino and the German American School in Menlo Park.

Noteworthies

Ilene Raffi, a fifth-grader at Montclaire School, won fourth place in the Cupertino Union School District’s “American Heritage” essay contest. The Cupertino Sertoma Club, a local community service organization, sponsored the contest, which encouraged students to write on topics related to heritage and freedom.

Elizabeth Crites of Los Altos Hills, a sophomore at Lewis and Clark College in Oregon, is spending her spring semester studying in Italy. She is majoring in art design.

Schools Briefs

The Cupertino Union School District, of which Montclaire School in Los Altos is a member, honored its volunteers last month with the Honorary Service Awards. This year’s recipients, who were nominated by their peers, are Deborah Golzen, Mimi Hawini, Barbara Loebner, and Cecile Vaughters-Johnson.

Springer fifth-graders featured in premiere

St. Francis still perfect in division

Prep Softball Scoop

Pinewood splits a pair

PA Tomahawks look to end skid

The Palo Alto Tomahawks Lacrosse Club’s boys varsity hopes having last week off will help the team recover from a two-game losing streak.

The Tomahawks dropped a 7-6 overtime game to visiting O’Dowd April 11 and then fell 11-10 at Pebble Beach April 15.

On Deck:

the local sports lineup for April 26-May 2

Baseball

Sports On The Side

Alfred Galedrige, a 9-year-old from Los Altos who races quarter-midget cars, set a world record in the heavy mod class April 15 at the Bose Recorder Breaker in Pomona. Alfred was the youngest driver in the race, which included competitors up to age 16. He also captured the Heavy A and Heavy B classes at Pomona to become the first driver to win all three races in one day.

Swimming to success

Lancers claim boys golf title

Swimming

Gunn High proved no match for perennial SCVAL De Anza Division power Palo Alto April 19.

Chisam makes a statement at Top 8

Around The Track

League win for Lancers

Foothill’s men’s tennis coach hoping to go out on top

Foothill Roundup

This is Tom Chivington’s last chance to lead the Foothill College men’s tennis team to another state championship.

Local teams fighting for playoff spots

Prep Baseball Report

With local prep baseball teams scrambling to earn Central Coast Section playoff berths, most teams went out of league last week to compete in tournaments and tune-up for the stretch run in their respective leagues.

Mustangs have score to settle with Bells

The Homestead High boys volleyball team will be seeking revenge Thursday night when it hosts Bellarmine at 7 p.m. in a non-league contest.

That’s because the Bells spoiled the Mustangs’ bid for an undefeated season last Saturday in the finals of the Fremont Firebird Invitational in Sunnyvale.

Job satisfaction, not millions, should be goal, says Andreessen

Stanford News Service

Job seekers should look for employers that have long-term vision, not companies that just want to cash in, get bought or sell out, 28-year-old Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen told a packed crowd of student entrepreneurs April 7 at Terman Auditorium at Stanford University.

Your car used to be a sign of your personality

Jean on the Job

Your car used to be identified with you. A Volkswagen beetle or a red Cadillac meant something about you. Your car reflected your personality, your values, your risk quotient. Now it simply determines whether you have children, a ski habit or are building your own home. There are still some amazing Porsches or Beamers around, which spell the distinguished guy or gal of good taste. But for the most part, it is hard to guess your persona by the Jeep you drive.

Bank of Los Altos shows hefty profits in first quarter 2000

Bank of Los Altos, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Holdings Bancorp, reported first quarter 2000 earnings of $479,000 ($0.17 per share) compared to $297,000 ($0.10 per share) for the same quarter in 1999.

Total assets increased $45.3 million, or 24.6 percent over March 31, 1999. Total loans increased $24.7 million, or 22 percent. Total deposits increased $64.2 million, or 42.3 percent over March 31,1999.

Business Briefs

The 12th annual Los Altos Chamber of Commerce Business EXPO 2000 is scheduled for 4-7 p.m., Thursday, in the Los Altos Youth Center, 1 N. San Antonio Road. EXPO 2000 showcases Los Altos retailers, restaurants, professionals and service businesses.

Chamber officials said visitors will have opportunities to sample from several Los Altos restaurants, including Armadillo Willy’s, Chef Chu’s, Le Boulanger, Papa Murphy’s Pizza and Peet’s Coffee & Tea.

Promoting dot-coms proves a specialty for this Los Altos business

Business Profile

There are thousands of dot-coms all over the Web. The only way you locate them is by accidentally finding them while surfing the Internet - unless you see a promotional item referring you to the link.

Blue-chip stocks continue come back as technology stocks tumble further

Stock Report

Blue chip stocks continued their comeback and are now only 80 points below where they were before the free fall two weeks ago. The big question is, did the bull resurrect itself, or will the bear hang around?

Take advantage of homeownership with taxes

Was there a pained look on your face as you wrote your check to Uncle Sam this year? Or did you have a much smaller return than you would have liked? It’s too late to change the results of your 1999 return, but according to Kaufman and Broad (NYSE:KBH), you still have time to make next year’s return a little less painful.

When it comes to lowering your taxes, home ownership is one of the best options available.

Transactions

Cupertino

20678 Celeste Circle - K. Noguchi to J. Hilbun for $352,000.00

Los Altos gas prices higher than other cities

Gas prices in Los Altos have declined slightly from recent peaks quoted in the March 22 edition of the Town Crier, but remain higher than in adjoining cities.

Regular unleaded gas now costs an average of $1.87 a gallon in Los Altos, down from a high of $1.93 on March 20. In San Jose, prices have dipped to $1.83 a gallon from $1.88 a gallon during the same period. Prices for unleaded regular in other cities are as follows: Fresno, $1.71, Santa Rosa, $1.78, Sacramento, $1.77 and San Francisco, $1.92.

Engagements

Doré Allean Liston and Kevin Meyers have announced their engagement to be married Nov. 4, at Stanford Memorial Chapel.

The bride-to-be is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Liston of Los Altos. She graduated from Saint Francis High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University. She is employed at British Petroleum, Anchorage.

Obituaries

John D. “Woody” Woodward, a former Los Altos resident, died March 31. He was 78.

Mr. Woodward was a veteran of World War II. He served as a B-25 pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps, completing 50 combat missions in Asia during 1944 and 1945.

PYT performing ‘Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’ this weekend in MV

Peninsula Youth Theatre presents “Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle,” based on the book by Betty MacDonald, this weekend at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St.

Show times are 9:30 and 11 a.m., Friday, and 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., Saturday. Tickets are $3-$5.

PA Players presenting ‘Godspell’

The next production of Palo Alto Players’ 69th season is the musical “Godspell,” opening this weekend at the Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

A special preview performance will be at 8 p.m., Friday. The opening night performance will be at 8 p.m., Saturday.

Composers transform students’ poetry into music

Musicians, composers and student poets will come together Sunday to celebrate the creation of new music originating from the poems of Bay Area elementary school children.

Five hundred elementary students from 17 Peninsula classrooms and three respected composers have joined forces with the Peninsula Women’s Chorus and California Poets in the Schools for the program.

Humor props up ‘Cripple of Inishmann’

Theater review

Oddly enough, Martin McDonagh’s “The Cripple of Inishmaan” has the audience breaking into laughter every few minutes.

French flower master thrills local garden club

There’s definitely something about the French. Not only do they excel in fashion, fabric and furniture design, they also arrange flowers fantastically.

At the March meeting of the Los Altos Garden Club at the United Methodist Church of Los Altos, Benoit Ballon, owner of Essence Floral Design in San Francisco, fascinated his audience with his forceful yet delicate handling of spring flowers.

Main Street’s IKB: new name, same remodeling, design services

Business Profile

Think of IKB as a mellow, long-respected wine decanted into a new bottle. It is the familiar Ilona Kitchen & Bath Inc., established in 1986, with a name change to better reflect the true extent of the company’s expertise.

Ruth and Bob Polata choose the mobile home option

Daring to downsize

“If you had told me a couple of years ago I’d be living in a mobile home, I’d have turned up my snobbish little nose,” Ruth Polata, a 33-year Los Altos resident, said last week. But she and her husband Bob became mobile home enthusiasts after selling their 2,500-square-foot Los Altos ranch home last year and considering options such as buying a condominium or moving to a continuing care senior community. They chose to buy at Sunset Estates in Mountain View because there they share no common walls nor ceilings, own their own home, and enjoy a strong sense of community and security.

Home Briefs

A plant exchange sponsored by the Garden Club of Los Altos and the Los Altos Recreation Department is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, at the Hillview Community Center parking lot, 97 Hillview Ave., in Los Altos.

People can bring their extra plants, seedlings, cuttings, bulbs, seeds, small shrubs and trees to exchange for something new.

Home Briefs

A plant exchange sponsored by the Garden Club of Los Altos and the Los Altos Recreation Department is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, at the Hillview Community Center parking lot, 97 Hillview Ave., in Los Altos.

People can bring their extra plants, seedlings, cuttings, bulbs, seeds, small shrubs and trees to exchange for something new.

Palo Alto private gardens on view this week

Five private Palo Alto gardens, all featuring water, star this week on the Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden Center’s 15th annual garden tour, “Festival of Flowers.”

Sandy Withers of Los Altos Hills co-chairs the event which benefits the Center’s educational programs. Not only will the private gardens be open to the public, but the Center itself will offer a volunteer-grown plant sale, a boutique of garden goods and decorative items, a silent auction, music and boxed lunches in a cafe setting at the Gamble Carriage House.

Create a permanent souvenir of a special trip

Roominations

When you return from a wonderful trip - or even a special weekend - here’s a way to continue enjoying the people, places and experiences.

Wildflower show, native plant sale this weekend at Foothill

At the height of their colorful glory, California wildflowers and native plants take center stage at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills this weekend.

“There is nothing else like it for several counties,” said Carolyn Curtis of Palo Alto, chairwoman of the wildflower show. Chairwoman of the accompanying native plant sale is Jean Struthers of Los Altos Hills.