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Archives » 2000 » Volume 53 , Issue 52, Published on Wednesday, December 27, 2000NewsA bang with no bug
Town Crier Staff Report The year 2000 began with a celebratory bang as Los Altos-area residents dined and danced at an elaborate New Year’s party under a large tent on Hillview Community Center grounds. A collective sigh of relief ensued, as Y2K fears of massive computer malfunctions and power outages didn’t come to pass. The economy was booming and we were all in one piece. The year was off to a good start. News BriefsThe number of injury accidents caused by drunken drivers was down compared to last year during the first weekend of the “Avoid the 13″ anti-drinking campaign, which began Dec. 15. There were seven reported alcohol-related crashes over the campaign’s first weekend compared to 11 during the same period last year, according to police. Coyotes - a threat in the hills? Specialist says not really
Life in Los Altos Hills has plenty of ups - a quiet, rural atmosphere, yet only a stone’s throw away from the retail amenities of downtown Los Altos. But try as they might to tame their environment, residents still face hordes of unwelcome wild animals that could pose a threat. Status of Access Los Altos TV still up in the air as deadline loomsThe clock is running out for the Los Altos City Council, which must choose a new interim production facility for its cable television station before the year ends. Los Altos Assistant City Manager Layne Long said city councilmembers plan to decide before Jan. 1 whether Access will produce its programs on the De Anza campus or at the KMVT studio in Mountain View. DA pursues fraud investigation against MV furniture companyThe owner of a longtime Mountain View furniture store could be charged with fraud pending an investigation by the Santa Clara County District Attorney. The district attorney launched a fraud investigation against John R. Wirth Company on Terra Bella Avenue last week after owner Abdel Babli abruptly closed his doors. Police said at least six customers had filed complaints against Babli. CommentLetters to the EditorThe Washington Post ran a very disturbing story about the destruction in China of 1,500 churches and temples since November by the Communist government. According to the article by Philip P. Pan, every Christmas season the Chinese people suffer some level of “crackdown” on religious freedom, this year being much worse. Protestant and Roman Catholic churches are not the only ones targeted for razing this year, as Buddhist and Taoist temples are also being destroyed. The persecution extends to private gatherings in people’s homes, and of course continues against the harmless meditation sect, the Falun Gong. OpinionPost office wants another penny for their thoughtsA Side of Clyde We keep hearing how the U. S. Postal Service has become such a tightly run ship that the big deficits of the past have become big surpluses. The Postal Service has turned into a real free enterprise powerhouse that now is marketing a line of clothing. That must be the reason why the price of mailing a first-class letter will go from 33 cents to 34 cents Jan. 7. My year of being 37Blue Jeans & Jelly Beans I had a lot of reasons to like the number 37 when I was a child. It was a three and a seven: the three wishes of a genie and seven swans in a fairy tale. It was two lucky numbers, both prime, joined to make a third prime number. It had to be magic. A time to reflect on our good fortunePages of the Past As I read stories about events in Los Altos during the past holiday seasons, I came across a Town Crier article that was written in 1995 which I’d like to share with you. The title of the story was ” CSA volunteer turns potential downer into Christmas dinner for the homeless.” It was about a volunteer who found 15 homeless people waiting outside the Los Altos United Methodist Church hoping to have their Christmas dinner. The volunteer couldn’t find anything to give them at that particular moment so she called several restaurants to see if they could help. Never discouraged and several telephone calls later, she decided to get into her car and drove down El Camino Real looking for restaurants that might be open. The Hunan Hone’s Chinese restaurant was the only one she found. She told the owner her story about the homeless people who will miss Christmas dinner. With his help, 15 boxes of Chinese dinner were delivered by this “miracle worker” named Mary Burkhardt. CommunityUpcoming EventsSalute to the Mayors banquet, sponsored by the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce, 6:30 p.m., University Club, Palo Alto. Information: 948-1455. Feb. 3 Farmer’s Market produces bumper crop for city this year, fertile plans for next
Profits from the newly-implemented downtown Farmer’s Market may produce a partnership agreement for a Maintenance Fund to provide mutually agreed-upon projects for Los Altos. According to Economic Development Coordinator Laura MacEachen and Los Altos Village Association executive director Kathleen Byrne, the market produced exactly what was intended. Town Crier Holiday Fund tops $55,000 with three weeks to goThe holiday spirit is alive and well in the Los Altos area. Readers have already made contributions to the Town Crier Holiday Fund in excess of original goals. As of this press date, the fund had $55,000, well beyond publisher Paul Nyberg’s original goal of $50,000 for the first-ever Town Crier Holiday Fund. A new goal of $60,000 has been set for Jan. 10. Library NewsJon Eckels, the 2000 winner of the American Book Award for poetry, will give a poetry reading at the Los Altos Library, 13 S. San Antonio Road, at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 10. A Palo Alto resident, Eckels is an educator, philosopher, minister and social activist, as well as a poet, and holds two degrees from Stanford University. CalendarLos Altos Senior Center reopens. Hours are 9-3 p.m., Monday through Friday, 97 Hillview Ave. Jan. 3 Community BriefsMany graduate students and scholars temporarily at Stanford University bring family members who lack opportunities to practice their English language skills. They are often left without the resources to meet residents of the local communities. The Community Committee for International Students, a volunteer organization based at Stanford, sponsors an English-in-Action program to address that problem. Police ReportDec. 18, 3:17 p.m., Main Street: Wire down in the back of the Cook’s Junction retail store. Traffic stop Packard Foundation awards a $489,160 grant for Learning in Communitieshe David and Lucile Packard Foundation of Los Altos recently awarded a $489,160 grant to the Regional College Consortium for Model Learning Communities, a program developed by instructors of De Anza College’s Learning in Communities program. Last year, De Anza instructors formed a consortium of faculty and administrators from 12 community colleges in Monterey, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. LASD board approves ratification of teachers’ contractLos Altos School District Trustees approved ratification of a new 2-year contract for teachers among a host of items at their Dec. 11 meeting. Laura Bence, Los Altos Teachers’ Association president, formally presented the ratification of the negotiating agreement to the board. Requesting board concurrence, Superintendent Marge Gratiot said, “This is the most important thing we do during the year.” Foothill, De Anza colleges increase math requirements for studentsIn a long and deliberative discussion with protesting students Dec. 4, the Foothill-De Anza Community College Board of Trustees approved a general education requirement that requires students to study more math. “We are not doing a good job,” explained Chancellor Leo Chavez. “We are not preparing people for the majority of jobs in Silicon Valley to allow them to get paid enough to support themselves. The high schools are not doing a good job with a certain group of students either. The problem is the digital divide. It’s an education gap, an income gap and an opportunity gap.” SchoolsSchools BriefsMountain View High School students and staff collected food for Mountain View’s Community Services Agency in November. The Associated Student Body Cabinet organized and led a food drive that brought in a total of 6,100 pounds of canned goods and other non-perishables, doubling last year’s record collection. Students from Homestead High School, part of the Fremont Union High School District, concluded their canned food drive Dec. 8. They collected approximately 30,000 food items, along with more than $3,500 collected from a penny drive, and delivered the goods to Sunnyvale Community Services. Sports On The SideLos Altos resident Juli Inkster joined forces with fellow LPGA player Dottie Pepper to capture their fourth straight Hyundai Team Matches title Dec. 17 at Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Beach. Inkster and Pepper beat the team of Annika Sorenstam and Lorie Kane in the finals of the three-day event. The final round went to 21 holes, the longest in tournament history for the LPGA Tour, and was decided after Pepper and Inkster won the par five 17th hole with a birdie. The winning team split $200,000. Soccer tryouts SportsThe year in sports
TC counts down the best stories of 2000 With 2000 coming to a close, it’s time to look back on the year in local sports. The Town Crier typically counts down the top 10 stories of the year, but we’ve extended the list to 15 this time around because there were so many items worthy of inclusion. FH men’s basketball team gets a wake-up callAfter last week’s surprising 78-62 home loss to West Valley, Foothill College men’s basketball coach Todd Petersen thanked his counterpart for giving his team a wake-up call. “I told their coach we needed this,” Petersen said. “It’s better to lose now than in conference. Hopefully, we can learn from this and realize we’re not as good as we think we are.” St. Francis Holiday Basketball Tournament opening todayThe 24th annual St. Francis Holiday Basketball Tournament starts today and runs through Friday in Mountain View. The eight-team tournament features boys teams with some of the finest basketball traditions in Northern California, according to St. Francis High basketball coach and athletic director Steve Filios. Business BriefsThe integration of the Dominguez Services Corporation into California Water Service Company has progressed without incident. Prior to the merger date, a team consisting of representatives from the two companies worked to accomplish the smooth transition in Southern California. Oriental antique store opens on Main StreetBusiness Profile Jian Wu opened his Oriental Antique Corner in Los Altos Dec. 16. Wu said the shop presents fine Asian art for the collector and it will be a positive addition to the community. BusinessStock market investors had no place to hideStock Report here was no place to hide last week. The Nasdaq plunged to a 21-month low, and the Dow industrials went deeper and deeper in the red. By noon Friday, contrarians were beginning to nibble in the ashes. Luxury home values see largest gains of the yearFirst Republic Bank of San Francisco Prestige Home Index reports that if you purchased a home in 1985 for $578,548, it is worth $2,225,161 today. Using regression analysis and calculated for each year including the third quarter of 2000, California luxury home values are experiencing the largest gains of the year. Next for former president of Bank of Los Altos: head of new institution by Boston Private Financial HoldingsJames C. Wall, former president and CEO of the Bank of Los Altos, has been appointed president and CEO of a proposed new private bank in Silicon Valley by Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc., organized in July 1988, is incorporated as a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. Headquartered in Boston, the bank pursues a private banking business strategy and is principally engaged in providing banking, investment and fiduciary products and services to high net worth individuals, their families and corporate businesses. Roy Alley, a distinguished attorney with a penchant for creative pranksObituary One of the town’s favorite characters, Roy Alley, passed away on Nov. 27 in Eureka after a long battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He was 81 years old. WeddingsMichelle Sander and Jay Ferracane were married on Sept. 10 at the home of the bride’s parents, Mona and Gerhard Sander, Los Altos Hills. The bride graduated from Saint Francis High School and earned an interior design degree and is now employed as a realtor with Alain Pinel Realtors in Los Altos. PeopleObituariesSusan Ahlbrand died Dec. 9 in Los Altos. A native of New Jersey, she was 63. Mrs. Ahlbrand is survived by her husband, Gary Ahlbrand; children, Gretchen Marie Hays and Scott Michael Ahlbrand of Los Altos; sister, Joan Shoemaker; and grandchild Caleb Hays. Stepping OutWestern Ballet holding first major fund-raiserMountain View-based Western Ballet presents its first major fund-raiser, a masquerade ball, at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 6, at the historic Redwood City Courthouse, 777 Hamilton St. The theme for the formal dance and masked ball is “Twelfth Night,” inspired by the British tradition of ending the Christmas season by taking down holiday decorations and packing them away for the next year, Local dance troupe entertains seniorsJohn Travolta danced the night away and “My Fair Lady” could have danced all night, but the women of That’s Dancin’ dance to entertain residents at elder-care retirement centers in the local area. The dozen or so women in the group, ranging in age from 8 to 65-plus, volunteer their time to practice and perform in between managing Silicon Valley careers and families. Van Sant spreads some ‘Good Will’ into ‘Forrester’Film Vitals - Movie Review The aura of “Good Will Hunting” looms large over Gus Van Sant’s latest work, “Finding Forrester.” Special SectionLAH councilmember Fenwick nurtures roses for fun and frustrationRetired inventor and entrepreneur Bob Fenwick is best known these days as a new member of the Los Altos Hills City Council. But for years, his love of roses has kept him in constant combat with deer, rust, fungus and overly-enthusiastic rose catalogs. “Every catalog says every rose is just wonderful; they gush with superlatives. But the truth is that this is a constant learning process,” Fenwick said. No shortage of garden resolutions for the new year in Los AltosRoominations In other parts of the country, gardeners can loll about for months on end, eating bonbons and perusing seed catalogs, as blizzards rage outside. Home sweet home
Holiday traditions of family, food and fun for the Curatolas of Los Altos Hills It’s a good thing the Curatola family of Los Altos Hills has a big attic. “Literally, every square foot of it is filled with things for Christmas,” Dr. Dominick Curatola said. “Valerie really has an eye for making beautiful decorations; she’s like a professional in what she creates.” Your HomeHome Briefs“A Member’s New Garden” is the topic for Santa Clara Valley branch of the American Fuchsia Society 7:30 p.m., Jan. 2, at the Hillview Community Center in Los Altos. No charge to visitors. Crazy about orchids Traditional Accents combines Asian, English treasures with a California flairBusiness Profile The classic combination of Asian porcelains, English-style animal and hunting pictures, Majolica vases and candlesticks and fine wood chests makes Traditional Accents on Main Street a favorite of area interior designers, as well as walk-in clients. |
In Our OpinionEditorialHere are our quick takes on recent local news events: |
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