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Archives » 2001 » Volume 54 , Issue 9, Published on Wednesday, February 28, 2001

News

Riding in the black

Bus Barn theater celebrates its fifth successful season

The Bus Barn Stage Company, Los Altos’ community theatrical group, is more than halfway through its fifth successful season with a contemporary adaptation of Jean Baptiste Moliere’s farce “Scapin” premiering March 23 at the Bus Barn Theatre in Hillview Park.

Committee asks city council to take lead in downtown’s parking solutions

Los Altos

A volunteer committee asked the Los Altos City Council to take the lead in coming up with a new solution to an old problem last week.

News Briefs

Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss, who represents the mid-Peninsula area, urged the California Energy Commission last week to override the San Jose City Council’s decision to deny a proposed energy center in South San Jose.

Kniss and Supervisor Peter McHugh introduced a resolution urging the energy commission to approve the Calpine/Bechtel Metcalf Energy Project sited for South San Jose, on unincorporated county land as well as a portion of the city of San Jose.

Police Report

Feb. 25, 12:03 p.m., Covington Road:

A caller told police that someone had egged the car and toilet papered a neighbor’s yard.

Los Altos to consider exclusively low-income housing complex

Los Altos could see its first affordable housing complex this year. The Architectural and Site Committee was scheduled to look over plans today that include placing a two-story, 6,232-square-foot office building and three, two-story affordable residential buildings with four rental units each at the former parking lot space near Bank of America on Fremont Avenue in South Los Altos.

Eight of the 12 units would be 600 square feet each and classified as “very low income,” which means a three-person household could earn up to $39,140 to financially qualify for such a unit under state law.

For quicker service, avoid post office’s busiest hours

Customers at busy post office branches can avoid waiting in long lines for service by avoiding peak times and by preparing ahead, thus shortening transaction times, said Barbara Spiker, supervisor of customer services at the First Street branch in downtown Los Altos.

Fewer customers come into the downtown post office between 10 and 11 a.m. and 2 and 3 p.m. than during other times of day, Spiker said.

Staffing shortages threaten to cut traffic groups

The Los Altos City Council temporarily spared the Neighborhood Traffic Task Force and the Joint City/Schools Traffic Committee from getting the ax earlier this month.

City staff had recommended disbanding both groups and forming a seven-member council-appointed Traffic Advisory Committee in order to cut down the number of staff hours needed to support two separate committees. The city’s engineering department is currently operating with a lean staff due to employee turnover.

Comment

There’s watts on my mind

Commentary

From the clever title of this op-ed piece, even my readers will be able to guess the subject matter: right, the energy crisis. More specifically, how we locals are going to cope with the bother. Anyone interested in knowing that in potato-rich Bakersfield the neon sign greeting visitors, “If you’ve got the couch, we’ve got the potato,” was turned off to save energy? No hands raised.

Opinion

Letters to the Editor

The rebuttal to my Feb. 7 letter attributed to Los Altos School District Superintendent Marge Gratiot does not accurately address the issues I raised and it misleads the Los Altos taxpayers into believing the district has its finances in proper order.

In my letter, I identified two separate budgets: (1) Measure H for capital improvements and (2) the annual budget for operations. Measure H funds will now buy little more than health and safety-related refurbishment on each elementary campus; the passage of two years since the 1998 Bond Measure approval has eroded the purchasing power of Measure H funds.

Family takes the ruff with the smooth

Blue Jeans & Jelly Beans

Readers of this space may remember my campaign for a dog last September. But we stayed dogless, because the family council was worried about the responsibility of a dog and finding a home for it when we went on trips.

Winemakers used to toast Los Altos

Looking Back, Moving Forward

Los Altos certainly is not known for great wine production today, but did you know that around 1900 this area was home to numerous vineyards?

Community

El Camino volunteers serve community, make friends

Town Crier staff Writer

The El Camino Hospital Auxiliary needs men and women over 18 as well as youths, ages 14 to 18, as volunteers.

Library News

The Los Altos Library will host two book discussions March 7.

The Whodunit? mystery readers’ group will discuss “Ratking” by Michael Dibdin 10:15-11:30 a.m. in the group study room.

Calendar

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

Wednesday

Community Briefs

The March Chefs Who Care dinners benefiting the local Community Services Agency are scheduled for 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., March 12, at the Echo Restaurant, 1579 Miramonte Ave. Los Altos. Half of the cost of the dinners will be donated to the agency’s Food and Nutrition Center, which serves needy area individuals and families.

Tickets purchased by March 8 are $20 for adults and $10 for children, ages 6 to 12. Tickets at the door are $22 for adults, $12 for children. To purchase tickets in advance by credit card, call 961-3584.

Starbucks to award four local charities $400,000 in grant funding

The program will award grants to projects that are consistent with Starbucks’ strategic-giving focus areas: Arts and Culture, Literacy, AIDS, Environment and Youth, but also may include Bay Area issues of concern.

Los Altos is included in the regions that Starbuck’s plans to award grant money. One award will be made in each of the following regions: North Bay, South Bay, East Bay and San Francisco. In addition, four other non-profit organizations will be recognized with grants of $5,000 each.

New Los Altos History Museum to feature family biographies

What do a research administrator, a retired CEO, a former librarian, an informatician and a past mayor all have in common? Answer: they have joined together to collaborate on a unique biography database developed for the new Los Altos History Museum.

While Los Altans have watched the exterior structure of the history museum take shape, a program committee has been working behind the scenes, envisioning what the rooms within will encompass. This committee determined early on that they wanted to tell both the larger narrative of the changing land over time and the stories of individuals, famous and obscure, who lived, loved and labored here, determining the events that took place.

Los Altan offers test to diagnose dyslexia

A new 45-minute exercise may help parents determine if their children are dyslexic.

Facilix Company is offering a home diagnostic test complimentary to local families to use as the first step in diagnosing dyslexia.

Weather

Friday through Sunday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain.

Click for Los Altos, California ForecastClick for current weather and forecast

Los Altans honored for stand against violence and hate

Stories of violence and hate in Los Altos don’t typically dominate the news pages, but those were the key elements that brought two Los Altos residents together in front of the media last week.

Dr. Ashraf Zahedi and Judge Eugene Hyman were among the honorees at the Santa Clara County Human Rights Commission awards banquet at the Wyndham Hotel last Thursday. Zahedi and Hyman received special awards acknowledging their outstanding contributions in eliminating prejudice and discrimination in Santa Clara County and for promoting peace in the community. The annual event pays tribute to people for their outstanding service to the community in the area of human rights. This is the 29th year of the commission’s existence.

Los Altos Hills resident wins top science honors

Junior Tevis Howard of Los Altos Hills won first place honors in the Medicine/Health/Behavior category and received a scholarship award from the San Francisco Chronicle. His project concerned the development and purification of a protein as a potential therapy for multiple sclerosis.

Classmate Evan Lodes of Menlo Park took first place honors in the Biology category and received scholarship money from the Oracle Corporation for his project, designed to find a new method for DNA purification to be used for protein synthesis in vitro.

Schools

Students study race, gender and class issues at diversity forum

What can our society do for generations growing up in a world full of intolerance and prejudice? Certainly one solution is creating dialogues on these issues. Mountain View is leading the charge as the city prepares to bring 100 young people together to discuss prejudices and stereotypes.

The annual Diversity Youth Forum, now in its fourth year, was created to provide an avenue for students to interact, exchange ideas, and develop action plans regarding issues of diversity. A dozen local schools will send students to this year’s Youth Forum, titled “Our Perceptions, Our Realities.” It is presented by Oriki Theater and the Chamber of Commerce of Mountain View. The Forum will be held at ALZA Corporation on from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., March 2.

Schools Briefs

Los Altos High School has scheduled a blood drive for the Stanford Blood Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday in the Bloodmobile, which will be parked next to the baseball field at Jardin Drive. The Stanford Medical School Blood Center provides blood products and services for patients at Stanford University Hospital, Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital and El Camino Hospital, as well as other area hospitals and clinics.

Any healthy adult between 17 and 74 weighing at least 110 pounds may donate blood. Bring photo ID the day of the drive. Students under 18 must have parental permission.

Robotics team puts the final pieces in place for regional match

The competition is still a month away, but the Los Altos High School Robotics Team has already put more than a thousand hours into building its robot. When it came time to ship the robot off Feb. 20, the team watched the truck pull out of the drive like parents watching their children go off to kindergarten.

From the third weekend in January to the shipping day in February, the team converted Blach Junior High School’s woodshop into a robot shop.

Kaider Foundation to benefit local students

Los Altos couple endowed $1.4 million in scholarships for working women

Thanks to a newly-invigorated scholarship program at Foothill College, working adults may qualify for a financial boost and the opportunity to receive a college degree.

On Deck: the local sports lineup for Feb. 28-March 6

Boys Basketball

Today

Sports

Sports On The Side

Mountain View resident Mark Marquess won his 1,000th game as Stanford University baseball coach Feb. 9. Marquess’ Cardinal team beat Florida State 6-2 to open its home season. Marquess, 53, is in his 25th year at Stanford.

Stabler on the Web

Wildcats end Lancers’ CCS title run

Prep Girls Soccer Playoffs

Mustangs knocked out

Owls rally from 20-point deficit to win playoff opener

Foothill College Sports Roundup

The Foothill College men’s basketball team survived a lackluster effort in the first half to beat visiting Consumnes River 78-71 last Saturday in the first round of the Northern California playoffs.

Fong’s goal puts Gunn in CCS Div. II title game

Prep Boys Soccer Playoffs

The bumps and bruises should be fading by now, but the memories of the 2000-01 season should still be fresh in the minds of the Gunn High boys soccer players.

Three local teams shoot for CCS final

Girls Basketball Playoffs

Los Altos, Mtn. View bow out early

Los Altos baseball team sinks to 1-3

Boys Golf

Town Crier Staff Report

Lancers, Panthers reach CCS semifinals

Boys Basketball Playoffs

The St. Francis High and Pinewood School boys basketball teams are each a win away from reaching respective Central Coast Section championship games and earning berths in the Northern California playoffs.

St. Francis sending 5 wrestlers to state

Town Crier Staff Report

By finishing among the top four in their respective weight classes at the Central Coast Section finals, five St. Francis High wrestlers have qualified for this weekend’s state championships.

Optimism, athletics and business

Jean on the Job

My favorite mentor, Martin Seligman, author of Learned Optimism, proclaims that teams win or lose in the second game or the succeeding season by their explanatory style.

Business

Tips for dealing with a volatile market

In recent months, the stock market has been on a wild ride, and many investors are feeling a little queasy. According to experts, the best way to deal with market volatility is to remember some basics:

Take the long view

Making the right choices on investment advice

Guest Column

ore investment firms these days are giving their clients a choice on how they want to pay for the investment advice and transactions made in their investment account.

Business Briefs

KAL Equity Capital Fund, an affiliate of Los Altos-based KAL Equity Group, sponsored the Rudy Ruettiger Foundation Celebrity Dinner and Golf Tournament earlier this month at Sun City Anthern and Anthern County Country Club in Las Vegas. The foundation was founded by Rudy Ruettiger and his wife Cheryl, on which the movie “Rudy” was based.

KAL is an investment fund that focuses its efforts by providing mentoring, marketing and funding opportunities for early-stage Internet, telecommunications and technology companies.

Los Altos resident offers energy solutions

Business Profile

While many consumers are struggling to find ways to reduce their energy consumption during the recent power crisis, one Los Altos resident says he knows the answer.

Locality Inc. focuses on community

Locality Inc. is a Mountain View-based company designed by its founder and CEO Lou Doctor as a way local businesses can use the Internet to connect with customers in their own community.

The company offers what Doctor considers a better alternative to grouping advertisers by large metropolitan areas as do Microsoft’s Sidewalk, City Search’s City Sites and AOL’s Digital Cities.

Transactions

Cupertino

1480 Aster Court - D. & M. Carlson to R. & C. Yun for $940,000.00

How to avoid home buying mistakes

With the home buying season under way, many consumers are looking for ways to lessen the frustration involved in the process.

“Buying a home is a major investment and there is no substitute for taking time to educate yourself,” says David Weekley, president of David Weekley Homes. Here he lists 10 common home buying mistakes and suggestions for avoiding them:

Seven ways consumers can get financially fit

The Internet is an increasingly valuable resource for consumers who strive to become “financially fit” - whether they’re looking for tips on investment strategies, saving techniques or money management.

MSN MoneyCentral (www. moneycentral.msn.com) is one Web site that offers services to help consumers manage their money and set reasonable financial goals. The site’s tools and services can help users:

Strictly Candids

A belated happy Chinese New Year

CHINESE NEW YEAR, THE YEAR OF THE SNAKE: The first day of the New Year, Jan. 24, was determined by the Chinese lunar calendar and solar movements The new year started with the new moon and ended on the full moon, 15 days later on Feb. 8. This holiday is similar to the American spirit of Thanksgiving and is a reunion with the family. This means getting together for family dinners, wishing older relatives well and contacting relatives in the old country.

People

Obituaries

Evelyn Talboy died Feb. 6 in Los Altos. A native of California, she was 94.

She was the widow of Irwin Talboy. She is survived by children, Alan Talboy and Wilma Ker; seven grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

Noteworthies

The event was hosted by Troop 37 at the Los Altos Youth Center, the troop’s regular meeting place on Monday nights.

Awards were presented to six boys as “Scout of the Year” for their troop. Nine adults received the district’s own “Flame of Leadership” award for their support of their troop. And three adults received the highest district award, the Award of Merit.

Stepping Out

LAYT opening ‘Little Women’ Friday night

Los Altos Youth Theater this week opens its stage adaptation of “Little Women,” the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott.

Directed by Molly Bell, “Little Women,” tells the story of four sisters who learn the comical and painful lessons of life, love and the importance of family.

‘Pollock’ earns Harris another Oscar nomination

Film Vitals

Movie Review

West Bay’s ‘Tartuffe’ filled with wit, delightful music

Opera review

West Bay Opera brightened rainy February with “Tartuffe,” the exceptionally entertaining opera written by Kirke Meachem.

Special Section

For adults only

At Home in Los Altos

A hideaway in the heart of town for Marilyn and Jim Schlater

And the wedding flowers were absolutely divine, my dear

Roominations

“On Feb. 17, I met the biggest flower arranging challenge of my life so far: with my sister’s help, I “did” the wedding flowers for our older son, Steve, and his bride, Mara Lisa. What started out as a very small wedding kept growing, but we planned the whole thing in six weeks and, maybe because of that, it was an absolutely perfect day for all of us.

Your Home

Peninsula Stitchery Guild nurtures creativity and longtime friendships

“The thought of a women’s guild thing kind of put me off,” Barbara Gray of Los Altos said about the first time she heard of the Peninsula Stitchery Guild.

Little did she know that seven years later she would be president of the organization, which is dedicated to the promotion of creativity in the fiber arts.

Home Briefs

Lucy Tolmach, director of horticulture at Filoli in Woodside, will be the speaker at the Western Horticultural Society meeting, 7:30 p.m., March 14 at Loyola School, 770 Berry Ave., Los Altos. Tolmach will discuss how the gardens at the estate are maintained and preserved.

There will also be a plant raffle and plant discussion. Admission is free and visitors are welcome.