Sheriff comes to town

Laurie Smith weighs in on county crime, gun possession

For Laurie Smith, honesty is the best policy. It is a quality that carried her through a contentious 1998 election to her current position as the first woman sheriff in the 150-year history of the Santa Clara County office. Smith is one of only two women sheriffs in California; Yuba County has the other.

Creation of new Los Altos position results in peace officers association lawsuit

The creation of a new position at Los Altos City Hall has landed the city in court. The Los Altos Peace Officer’s Association filed a lawsuit in Santa Clara County Superior Court against the City of Los Altos June 7 to stop the city from consolidating the police and public works departments’ two part-time fleet positions into one, full-time position.

Louis Silver, attorney for the officer’s association, said the city failed “to meet and confer in good faith” with the association prior to creating the new full-time position, which would remove the half-time community service officer position from the police department and transfer the responsibilities to one facilitator in the Public Works Department. The Public Works facilitator would be responsible for all city work, including the maintenance of police vehicles.

Fong paints glowing picture of Foothill in ’state’ speech

Foothill College President Bernadine Fong delivered the “Foothill State of the College” presentation before a large and receptive audience at the Foothill-De Anza District Board of Trustees meeting June 5.

Emphasizing the mission of the college to provide lower division academic instruction and career programs, Fong reported statistics reflecting the current state of Foothill.

Crews hit the road with repairs

Even though roadwork is expected to begin winding down on Foothill Expressway, drivers can expect more traffic delays on Los Altos roads through this fall.

Santa Clara County is scheduled to begin road repairs on sections of Arastradero Road and Summerhill, Magdalena and Eastbrook avenues over the next four to six weeks, part of the county’s annual Pavement Management Program.

News Briefs

A man posing as a job applicant pulled a handgun on a store manager in Los Altos before escaping with an undisclosed amount of cash June 3, police said.

A Rite Aid Pharmacy manager told police that a man approached her at 9:50 a.m. while she was in the back of the Los Altos store at 2310 Homestead Road. After asking for a job application, the man pulled out a gun and told the manager to open a safe, police said. The store manager told police she gave the gunman an undisclosed amount of cash before he fled from the store.

LAH council prepares fiscal budget without city manager

After going through 12 annual budgets for the town of Los Altos Hills, Councilman Bob Johnson said this one was “a piece of cake.” The city council met June 1 to discuss the proposed budget for fiscal year 2000-01. A final budget may be adopted at the council’s regular meeting on Thursday.

One of the main priorities for town leaders during last year’s budget discussion was preparing for the technological challenges of the new millennium. According to Johnson, Carol Ferrell, the town’s finance director, has made a concerted effort to get the various software systems in order to prepare the 2000-2001 operating budget.

A change to the new guard? Steve Finn takes turn as Los Altos Hills mayor Thursday

The first order of business at the Los Altos Hills City Council meeting Thursday night will be the reorganization of the City Council. Councilman Steve Finn will become mayor, but the vice mayor position is speculative.

With both councilmembers Robert Johnson and Elayne Dauber deciding not to run in the November race, the position will be filled by either Toni Casey or Emily Cheng. Normally, the vice mayor position is given to the councilmember who has not been mayor before.

Editorial

Los Altos Hills City Council and the El Camino Hospital District Board are both facing three open seats in the coming November election. And now is the time for all good candidates to come to the aid of their governing bodies.

Both the town of Los Altos Hills and the hospital district are at crossroads. The hospital district faces the question of retrofitting or rebuilding the hospital. In Los Altos Hills, a new council majority promises change for the better, but the climate remains as divisive as ever.

The solidifying of stories

The Living Experiment

“When you die, your stories die with you … unless you write them down. So write what you want your kids to know.” This is the advice I gave a friend of mine recently. For years she has had a mild hankering to write but hasn’t written anything, so intimidated was she by the starkness of a blank sheet of paper.

Birds have different feathers

Other Voices

Editor’s note: The following piece is the author’s ode to “graduating seniors and freshmen” based on the work of “Johnathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach.

Letters to the Editor

As I read last week’s editorial comments regarding the “ignorance” about Memorial Day, I recalled when my husband and I saw the movie, “Saving Private Ryan.”

As we sat close to the back of the theater I was amazed that we were the youngest people there amid a sea of gray-haired men and women. Sitting next to me was a man, all alone. Before the movie began we talked a little about his part in World War II. He seemed a little nervous and said that he didn’t know why he was even here. His eyes filled with tears as he said that he just couldn’t talk about it.

Save The Date

Los Altos Village Art and Wine Festival, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., downtown Los Altos.

July 4

Community Briefs

Boy Scout Troop 33, sponsored by the Los Altos Methodist Church, is seeking contributions to send Bay Area Boy Scouts to Camp Oljato, a Boy Scout camp in the high Sierras, this summer. Scoutmasters of more than a dozenTroops in the Pacific Skyline District were each asked to recommend a Scout, who, but for lack of funds, would be an excellent candidate to benefit from Camp Oljato. Tax deductible contributions should be made out to “BSA Troop 33 Damien Siler Memorial Fund”, and sent to Phillip C. Lyman, Trustee- Coordinator, 1305 Ranchita Drive, Los Altos 94024.

Senior center offers assistance

Police Report

June 6, 11: 22 a.m., Fremont Avenue: Child locked in car.

Malicious mischief

Hatch plays key role in annual festival

Bob Hatch has been a part of the Los Altos Village Association for 15 years and he knows in this competitive world you have to promote constantly to keep people coming downtown.

One way the Village Association has drawn significant attention is through its annual Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival. This year’s event is scheduled for July 8 and 9.

Chamber banks on new officers

When the outgoing president of the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce, Carol Hanslik, presented the gavel to incoming president, Patsy Ouye, Ouye remarked, “I never knew two bankers could get along so well.”

Incoming president Ouye works for Bank of Los Altos, and outgoing President Hanzlik is manager of Bay View Bank.

Pages of the Past

In the news: The world population reaches 2.555 billion. (World population in 2000 is approximately 6.080 billion.)

In Los Altos: Postmaster P. W. Helena has written a request to the Post Office department in Washington for larger quarters to handle the steadily-rising volume of mail in Los Altos. The matter is now in the hands of the postal inspector in San Francisco, who will furnish plans and specifications and set dates to advertise for bids. Where the post office will be located is anyone’s guess, since the location will depend solely upon the bids received. It is expected the new building will be more than twice as large as the present one on Main Street, which opened seven years ago. The population of Los Altos has grown 250 percent since then. Currently, more than 11,000 persons live in the area served by the Los Altos Post Office.

Bus Barn Stage Co. given big boost with $50,000 in grants from Packard

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation presented the Bus Barn Stage Company with a grant for $40,000 outright, plus an additional $10,000 matching grant for operating expenses.

A $25,000 portion of the initial grant will be used to restore some 1,000 costumes donated to the Bus Barn by the Manhattan Playhouse in East Palo Alto, after the death of its founder, Judith Dresch.

Happenings

The exhibit opened Saturday at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor and celebrates the artist’s 80th birthday. The Wayne Thiebaud lecture is sponsored by the Friends of the Los Altos Library and the City of Los Altos Arts Committee.

Since the late 1950s, Thiebaud has used intense light and color and richly-applied paint to depict subjects from pies, cakes and common household objects, to San Francisco cityscapes, and the Sierra foothills.

The Triton, a museum for all reasons

All About Art

The Triton Museum of Santa Clara “was born out of ideas,” said George Rivera, director since 1987, of this beautiful 22,000-square-foot space, located at the Santa Clara Civic Center.

Seniors News

Sunday: 2 p.m., Father’s Day dance, featuring the music of Ye Olde Town Band. Cost is $3 per person.

Monday and June 21: 6-10 p.m., 55-Alive Mature Driving class. Cost for this classroom driving instruction session is $10. Make checks payable to AARP. Sign-ups taken until 3:30 p.m. each weekday.

Library News

Summer reading activities for children and teens will begin next Monday at the Los Altos and Woodland libraries. “Library Kids Lead the Way” will be the theme for this year’s summer reading club. Those reading 10 or more books will receive a paperback book.

For more information, call 948-7683, ext. 3511.

Los Altos seniors approve bocce ball courts for Hillview Community Center site

The Los Altos Senior Center’s board of directors adopted a change in the by-laws at its May 24 meeting, acknowledged the many senior volunteers who keep the center operating, and approved two bocce ball courts. The meeting agenda included noting the merging of the Senior Coordinating Council with the Senior Center.

The change in the by-laws set the number of directors between five and nine. Included would be representatives from the town of Los Altos Hills and the Los Altos representative to the Santa Clara County Council on Aging, both of whom will be directors with voting power.

Calendar

Ongoing

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

SN seventh-graders combine computers and ancient myths

St. Nicholas seventh-graders rose to the Challenge earlier this year, when they won the Language Arts award for the Challenge 2000 Multimedia Project, combining technology and the humanities to design their own Web pages.

Carlos Eulate, the seventh-grade language arts and history teacher at the school, obtained a grant last summer to learn how to design and build Web pages.

LAH foundation gives $2 million to community college district

The Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation has awarded a $2 million grant to the Foothill-De Anza Community College District to help fund a $12 million De Anza Environmental Studies Center.

De Anza President Martha Kanter recommended at the board of trustees meeting June 5 that the board approve the grant and honor the donor by naming the new building the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies.

AMT honors SF’s ‘West Side Story’ production

The cast and crew of St. Francis High School’s spring production of “West Side Story” were among the honorees when the American Musical Theater of San Jose (AMT) recognized its future stars at the awards ceremony for the 6th Annual High School Musical Theater Honors Program.

AMT nominated “West Side Story” as one of the top three productions out of the 20 participating schools, which included “Once Upon a Mattress” at Mountain View High School, “Kiss Me Kate” at Menlo School, “Guys and Dolls” at Notre Dame High School and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” at Monta Vista High School.

Schools Briefs

The Santa Clara County Office of Education is scheduled to host a districtwide recruitment fair 9 a.m. to noon, June 24, at the San Jose office.

Available positions include teachers, teaching assistants, aides, nurses, occupational and physical therapists, nurses, tutors, communication language specialists and secretarial and clerical staff.

LASD faces lawsuit over Egan construction

For the first time in its history, the Los Altos School District is facing a lawsuit.

Alexander Glew, Lynda Kaye and Breda Murphy, under the auspices of the Los Altos Park Association, expressed their displeasure with the district’s construction plans at Egan Intermediate School by suing to force district officials to halt construction on the site and redesign their plans.

Dan Navarro appointed MVHS athletic director

In his 21 years at Mountain View High, Dan Navarro said he’s been asked three times by fellow faculty members to apply for the athletic director job.

The first two times, Navarro declined.

Sports On The Side

The annual Westwind Barn Hunter-Jumper Horse Show is scheduled for 8:30 a.m., Saturday, at Westwind Barn, 27210 Altamont Road, Los Altos Hills. The show will feature hunter and jumper classes, competitions in equitation, halter showmanship, bareback riding, trail riding and dog obedience. For more information and entry forms, call Erika Westrate at 572-1519 or visit Westwind’s Web site at www.westwindbarn.com.

Football sign-ups

Town Crier seeking ideas for summer sports stories

The Los Altos Town Crier sports department isn’t on a break, though, and is on the lookout for summer sports stories.

If you or someone you know is participating in a sport this summer, please contact us for a possible story.

Cannon makes 6 saves, but San Jose still winless on road

The San Jose Earthquakes’ road woes continued last Saturday, as the Major League Soccer team fell 3-0 to the New England Revolution in front of 14,109 fans at Foxboro Stadium.

San Jose, which includes local residents Joe Cannon (Los Altos Hills) and Jamie Clark (Mountain View), is now 0-7-2 on the road.

Tomahawks Lacrosse League plans summer sessions

The Tomahawks Lacrosse League has scheduled summer league practices and games for Wednesdays and Sundays, starting June 21.

The Tomahawks Lacrosse League is based in Palo Alto, but includes players from Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View.

Locals to play in regional soccer tourney

The Snickers® U.S. Youth Soccer Far West Regional Championship kicks off next week in the Bay Area, and three of the qualifying teams feature Los Altos-area girls.

The Santa Clara Sonics, San Ramon Crunch and Sunnyvale Roadrunners have all earned spots in the tournament, which brings together the top boys and girls teams from 14 state associations in the west.

Gordon makes a difference on and off the field

Although The King’s Academy’s annual trip to Tijuana, Mexico, to build homes for poor families took place during the softball season, standout player Cecily Gordon wasn’t about to miss out.

So Gordon, a Los Altos resident, took a week off from playing in April to join a contingent of more than 300 students, staff members and parents who made the Tijuana trek. The group wound up building 12 homes in six days.

Local players on the winning side of all-star baseball series

With help from three area baseball players, the North won two of its three games against the South in the recent Santa Clara County All-Star High School Series at PAL Stadium in San Jose.

St. Francis High’s Eric Cherrstrom and Gunn High’s Doug Govan and Anthony Rea contributed to the North’s success with their play in the field and at the plate. All three players are seniors.

Business Briefs

Several representatives of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors traveled to Washington, D.C., recently to meet with key congressional leaders as part of the 2000 National Association of Realtors Mid-Year Directors Meetings and Hill Visits.

Local representatives included Lissi Bedford, Fine Homes & Estates; Carole Feldstein, Coldwell Banker; Melanie Johnson, Coldwell Banker; Denise Ewings, Alain Pinel; Steve Blanton, government affairs director, Silicon Valley Association of Realtors; and Penny Pompei, executive vice president.

New downtown store features casual, colorful women’s clothes

Business Profile

Lawrence Mardini looked for a retail location in downtown Palo Alto for two years.

CerOx: can it sell without the hype?

SV perspective

Silicon Valley is famous for a lot of things: for innovation, for brilliance, for defining the leading edge of technology.

Good investment tips for graduating seniors

Stock Report

hree weeks ago hints began to appear the economy was slowing. Last week, those hints were a bit stronger and suggested the six Federal Reserve interest rate hikes since last June may finally have an impact.

Online realtor makes first sale from from Web site

ExploreRealty.com, a Palo Alto based online real estate broker, announced it completed its first home sale over the Internet.

“The speed in which this first sale took place validates the fact that residents of the Bay Area region are turning to the Internet to save time and money and achieve a competitive advantage,” said Rick Hayes-Roth, ExploreRealty.com chief executive officer. “We believe there is growth in the on-line real estate business and we are poised to deliver quality service and bottom-line results. The seller on the first sale saved nearly $14,000 in real estate commissions.”

Transactions

Cupertino

21901 Almaden Avenue - Field Trust to S. & V. Deshpande for $995,000.00

Jean on the Job

Retention of employees the big Valley woe

How do you keep the employee who gets a better offer? Silicon Valley recruiters are dizzy with companies begging for employees. At the lowest unemployment rate in my history in the corporate world, technical and professional people are the hottest commodity around. This, then, trickles down to the non-professional. Before you know it, companies like Lyons will be offering stock options to the dishwashers.

West Bay’s ‘Mahagonny’ strays from original script

Opera review

West Bay Opera presented a new production of “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny” May 26-28 and June 2-4 at the Lucie Stern Theater in Palo Alto.

Picking fresh produce for color and quality

Town Crier Staff Report

Farmers’ markets often offer the freshest produce this time of year. Even with modern harvesting and transportation, locally-grown fruits and vegetables still generally make their way to markets faster than those shipped longer distances.

44 wineries less than an hour away

The western boundary ends at 400 feet above sea level to the west and at 800 feet to the east. It was the first mountain range in the United States to be defined as a viticulture area.

Friars made the first plantings in the 18th century at the Junipero Serra Mission in Santa Cruz. They planted table grapes.

Prep bowls help you organize

Time Savers

What:

Father’s Day Recipe: Jerked Veggie Burgers

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Servings: 8

Healthy French fry recipe

Q: What’s the big deal about oven-baked french fries? Are they healthier?

A: Eating french fries usually comes at a high price. Fast food versions often contain 450 to 500 calories and up to 25 grams of fat in a large order. A similar size of oven fries made at home contains only 170 to 190 calories and five grams of fat. To prepare oven fries, cut each potato into 10-12 wedges. Spread one teaspoon of olive oil on a shallow pan. Bake at 425 degrees F for about 25 minutes.

Farmers’ Markets furnish fresh, frugal, flavorful foods - and fun

This Thursday local farmers will be bringing their produce to downtown Los Altos for the city’s first-ever Downtown Farmers’ Market. The downtown market on State Street is one of the latest to pop up in California during the ever-growing trend of farmers’ markets in recent years.

In 1977, California had four farmers’ markets. Today there are more than 185 statewide, more than 1,800 nationally, and the momentum continues.

Nine instant fruit desserts for summer

1 Gingered navel oranges: Cut away the skin and white pith under it, allowing one orange per person. Slice the fruit crosswise into 1/2-inch slices and arrange on a serving plate or in an attractive bowl. Sprinkle with minced, candied or preserved ginger, using a tablespoon per orange.

2 Pineapple with black pepper: Arrange 2-3 rings of fresh pineapple per serving on a dessert plate. Grind fresh pepper over the fruit. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and serve.

Food Bites

Teams of amateur and professional chefs will battle it out in the kitchen for cash and prizes during the 19th annual Summer Festival and Chili Cook-off noon to 5 p.m., July 4, at Mitchell Park, 600 East Meadow Drive in Palo Alto.

The event will feature gallons of chili, children’s activities and music by Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers.

Milan in Mountain View offers pizza specials, earns mixed reviews

Town Crier Staff Report

Blossom Valley Shopping Center in Mountain View has been home to a number of pizza restaurants over the years, the latest being Milan Pizza Restaurant. Unlike Old Cal, Mountain Mike’s and Rafferty’s before it, Milan could stick around for a while - or not, depending on which Lunch Buncher is writing this review.

Obituaries

Tad Malachowski died June 6. A native of Chicago, he was 81.

Mr. Malachowski practiced dentistry in Chicago until his second call into military service during the Korean War, serving as an Army Dental Corps Captain. Upon discharge, he relocated to California for graduate study and then chose Los Altos for his practice.

Noteworthies

The selection was based on the Garbetts’ use of plants and groundcovers, best portraying the spirit of garden railroading.

Births

A son was born Feb. 2 to Mollie and Kevin Hudner-Thompson of Los Altos.

A son was born Feb. 3 to Francesca and Angelo Vallerani of Mountain View.

P.A. Players closing season with comedy ‘Bermuda’

“Bermuda Avenue Triangle,” penned by the husband-and-wife team of Renee Taylor and Joe Bologna, is the final production of Palo Alto Players’ 69th season.

The comedy previews Friday and opens Saturday at Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. “Bermuda” runs through July 1.

CSMA capping free series of family concerts

The Community School of Music and Arts concludes its SGI Family Concert Series at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, with a free outdoor performance at SGI’s corporate campus in Mountain View.

The concert, titled “Jazz in June,” will feature CSMA faculty artists Mike Morris (sax), Jim Kassis (drums), Jim Witzel (guitar) and John Shifflet (bass), plus guest performer Murray Lo (keyboard).

Los Altos Youth Theatre performing a ‘Miracle’

Los Altos Youth Theatre is scheduled to present “The Miracle Worker” Saturday through July 1 at the Bus Barn Theater, 97 Hillview Ave.

To prepare for the play, which tells the story of how instructor Annie Sullivan teaches deaf and blind youngster Helen Keller to communicate, cast members recently explored downtown Los Altos with blindfolds on.