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Archives » 2001 » Volume 54 , Issue 20, Published on Wednesday, May 16, 2001NewsNetwork may ease city hall process
New group takes service-oriented approach to solve city problems If anyone had asked Leslie Lodestro two years ago if she would be the person responsible for launching a community group intended to help residents push their neighborhood issues through the city hall process, the Los Altos mom probably would have laughed. Council approves smaller-scale plan for poolThe Los Altos City Council decided last week to move forward with a three-pool swimming complex at Rosita Park that would be 12,000 square feet smaller than the proposal recommended by city staff and 15,000 square feet larger than the former pool area at Covington School. The proposed plan for the Los Altos Community Aquatic Center Rambus found guilty of fraud, loses patent suitLos Altos-based Rambus Inc. suffered a major setback last week when a Virginia court ruled the intellectual property company, known for speedy computer chips, committed fraud by not disclosing patents while participating in an open standards process. Federal judge Robert E. Payne dismissed all Rambus patent infringement claims against Infineon, a German semiconductor company, who was sued by Rambus last August. Infineon then countersued Rambus for fraud. Payne awarded Infineon $3.5 million in punitive damages. News BriefsThe Los Altos City Council granted the Los Altos School District permission to use the parking lot adjacent to the tennis courts at Covington mini-park as a temporary corporation yard until this fall when the district’s new corporation yard on Fremont Avenue is scheduled to open. The school district must move from its current corporation yard at the Covington school campus by June 1 in order to move forward with the school’s renovation project. Council considers options on slope limits
Town survey results may factor in decision Los Altos Hills New ordinance to prohibit lengthy hotel staysTown Crier Staff Report Los Altos residents will get to decide whether the city should collect higher taxes from out-of-towners during a special election this November. El Camino board tells service employees to resolve hospital dispute themselvesThree of the five members of the El Camino Hospital District Board of Directors have urged service employees to resolve the question of whether the hospital becomes an agency shop among themselves, rather than forcing the board to decide for them. El Camino’s 855 service employees appear to be evenly divided on the issue. Board members Dr. Edward Bough, Dave Reeder and Mark O’Connor spoke during the public hearing portion of the May 9 board meeting. Their comments came after a second mediation session between Service Employees International Union, Local 715 and hospital management, held two days earlier, apparently failed to make progress in reaching an agreement. CommentCity of Los Altos: Get out of the commercial development businessEnough is enough. The city’s preoccupation and the politicalization about what to develop on the high-profile piece of property at Main and First streets clearly demonstrates that local government should not be in the commercial real estate development business. While the pros and cons of theater vs. hotel vs. spa have been bandied about, some residents have also been vocal recently about no development at all at the site. Keep the consignment store and dry cleaner there, they say, or consider a more viable public use, such as a park, in the years ahead. OpinionLetters to the EditorOK, so the Town Crier is opposed to the hotel and theater plans for First and Main? It’s going to wipe out the landmark tree. Its films would promote sex and violence. It’s going to lead to traffic congestion. It’s going to crowd University Avenue with more traffic. It’s going to destroy our precious “village.” You’ve made your point. Even though the town’s survey found that the largest contingent - 44 percent of polled residents - favor the theater idea, you know better than the people. You know better than the Youth Commission which favored the theater idea. Mama was a flirtReflections Now that Mother’s Day is over for this year, I can share some private thoughts about my Mom - at first glance, as conservative and correct as a woman could be. Thinking back to all my memories of her, I realize that she always was aware and proud of her femininity. ‘Fine Art in the Park’ features east/west artist LeuThe Los Altos Rotary Club selected the internationally renowned artist Michael Leu, as the featured artist for “Fine Art in the Park,” scheduled 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, in Lincoln Park at Foothill and Main Street. Leu hasn’t missed an opportunity to participate in the annual fund-raising event since his first appearance in the late 1980s. Why does Leu, whose art is exhibited in galleries around the world from New Zealand to Japan and South Africa to Germany, return year after year to the Los Altos Rotary art show? CommunityPeninsula Symphony fan base strong in Los Altos - new office opened hereTown Crier Staff Report The venerable Peninsula Symphony, in its 52nd season, will feature 24-year-old Angela Fuller, an Irving M. Klein International String Competition winner, at its next concert, 8 p.m., Saturday, at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center. The symphony performed last Saturday at Flint Center. Pages of the Past28 years ago in the Town Crier: According to the May 16, 1973, edition of the Town Crier, in an effort to spur the teaching of environmental appreciation in area elementary schools, several conservation-minded members of the local branch of the American Association of University Women wrote a 155-page teaching handbook, “Child Ecology: A Resource for the Elementary School Teacher.” Approximately 100 copies of the book were distributed to teachers. The remaining 100 copies were sold. Requests for the manual began coming from many places, some outside California, which the AAUW group was unable to meet. Interest was also expressed by the California State Department of Education, Santa Clara County, other AAUW branches and neighboring cities. Comparison of health insurance options at AARP meetingAccording to a national AARP (American Association of Retired Professionals) survey, understanding and making choices about health care insurance options ranks near the top of the list of problems facing America’s older adults. The latest information on this subject will be presented at the AARP Los Altos Chapter meeting May 24, 1 p.m., at the Los Altos Senior Center, 97 Hillview Ave. Library NewsCatharine Fouts, head of the Los Altos main library for three years, retired in mid-May. She looks forward to traveling in her new-found free time. Cheryl Houts, who has been children’s program librarian at Los Altos, is now the acting Los Altos head librarian. Michele Benitez, who has been a children’s librarian, is serving as acting children’s program librarian. Community BriefsCongresswoman Anna Eshoo will be the guest speaker at Saturday’s meeting of the Peninsula Democratic Coalition. The meeting is scheduled for noon at Chef Chu’s Restaurant, corner of San Antonio Road and El Camino Real, Los Altos. Eshoo has served in Congress since 1993, representing the state’s 14th Congressional District, which stretches from southern San Mateo County through Sunnyvale and includes Los Altos. Eshoo has worked on high technology, environmental and health care issues in Congress. Parcel tax hike request may be in offing as LASD officials discuss deficitFacing a $3 million deficit for next year, the Los Altos School District’s Citizens Advisory Committee for Finance (CACF) has recommended another hike in the district’s parcel tax among other options presented to the school board May 7. “Our recommendation is really in two phases,” committee chairman Dick Hasenpflug told the board. “The long-term solution has got to be some kind of increase in the district’s parcel tax. But it’s too late to do this for the 2001-2002 school year, so we are looking at fund-raising as a short-term solution, primarily from the Los Altos Educational Foundation, the PTA, and other appropriate organizations and foundations.” SchoolsFoothill College tech center receives $100,000 grantThe Foothill College Center for Innovation (CFI) was presented with a check for $100,000 May 9, from the Juniper Networks Foundation Fund. Juniper Networks of Sunnyvale is a leading provider of Internet infrastructure systems. “The grant will be used to support the CFI, specifically technology equipment and furnishings for the center,” said CFI Executive Director Gay Krause. The breakfast of champions
Three honored with awards for youth activism, advocacy The Mountain View-Los Altos-Los Altos Hills Challenge Team honored three residents with the 2001 Challenge Team Champion for Youth award, at its sixth annual benefit breakfast Thursday. Gunn Sports Boosters hosting fund-raising dinnerThe Gunn High School Sports Boosters are at it again. After soliciting both public and private funds to build the school’s $330,000 all-weather track, which was dedicated in October 2000, they are pushing forward with plans to build their “Field of Dreams.” Achieving their goal of $220,000, of which $85,000 is already committed, will bring major renovations to Gunn’s baseball and softball fields. SportsSports On The SideMountain View-Los Altos Pop Warner Football will hold signups for players and cheerleaders, ages 7-15, 6:30-8 p.m., today, and 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, at the Mountain View Recreation Center. Coaches are also needed. For more information, call Marty at (408) 736-7801. Get your kicks St. Francis, MV’s Choe qualify for CCS golf championshipsTown Crier Intern With strong performances last week, the St. Francis High golf team and Mountain View High golfer Ben Choe qualified for this week’s Central Coast Section championships. Lancers land 7th spot in CCS Div. II playoffs
Prep Softball Report On the surface, the St. Francis High softball team’s 14-14 record may not seem too impressive. However, it did impress those running last weekend’s Central Coast Section seeding meeting. Los Altos, St. Francis and Gunn highs slide into Central Coast Section playoffsTown Crier Correspondent Prep Baseball Wrap Up Local athletes impress at North Sub-Section meetAround The Track Los Altos, Mountain View, St. Francis, Gunn and Homestead highs all will be represented at Saturday’s Central Coast Section track and field semifinals. St. Francis diver Peterson sets new CCS standardCCS Swimming Championships Powered by stellar efforts from Adam Peterson and Steve Lipinski, the St. Francis High boys finished third at last Saturday’s Central Coast Section swimming and diving championships. Waiting for the pink slip - moving back to NebraskaJean on the Job We are sometimes so isolated here in this community. Silicon Valley woes seem to slip in and out of our consciousness. Our neighbors are not all waiting for their pink slips. They are not all saying, “I escaped this week.” BusinessRestaurant savings featured in new City Date BookCity Date Book 2001 is available for sale. For the past eight years, the restaurant coupon book has offered savings at many exclusive restaurants in the South Bay. The City Date Book was created by publisher Ken Packer, a Palo Alto native. Business BriefsSPAUG’s ( The Stanford Palo Alto Users Group for the PC ) regular monthly meeting will be 7:15 p.m., May 30, at the Elks Lodge (Lodge room) at 4249 El Camino Real, in Palo Alto. Regular monthly meetings are on the last Wednesday of the month. All guests are welcome. The meeting is free to all first-time guests. Walter Chronert helps move the Chamber out of the poor house during the 1970sTown Crier Correspondent The Los Altos Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a celebration scheduled for 7 p.m., June 1, at the Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto. Leading up to this special event, the Town Crier is printing a series of articles recalling past Chamber presidents and events. This article, about Walter Chronert, is the third in the series. Stock market waiting for yet another cut in interest ratesStock Report The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates this week for the fifth time this year. Investors want a 50 basis point. Anything less won’t get this market going again. Until the Fed makes its move, the market will be in a holding pattern. ‘Law of Fixtures’ may be changing with buyers’ marketTown Crier Correspondent There is a change in the buyer/seller attitude today when it comes to personal property that has been converted into real property. An ornate dining room chandelier or drapes offer great examples. To refinance or not to refinance? That is the questionBy Fred Hibbert and George Manaco If you currently carry a mortgage with an interest rate of 8.5 percent or higher, the Federal Reserve’s recent rate drops may “hit home” - offering many of you benefits that directly impact your wallet. Considering refinancing, but not sure if it is the right option, right now? Gifts with women in mindTown Crier Correspondent Cranberry Scoop continues under enterprising new ownership Book BeatSument Pendharkar of Los Altos announces the publication of his book for adolescents and children over 10, “Raising Yourself: Making the Right Choices.” This is a non-preachy, very realistic look at decision-making for teenagers - about values, family relationships, money issues and the lifelong consequences of staying on-track in school. Specific topics like dating, substance abuse and early parenthood are discussed in practical terms. This book is a winner for parents wondering how to talk to their children about issues of vital importance - they can first read it themselves, then pass it along to their offspring. “It really is your life, and what you decide to make of it is your choice,” is Pendharkar’s theme - scary but more manageable, with the help of this readable guidebook. To order, see www.hillviewbooks.com. PeopleEngagementsDaphne Sue Crandall and James Malcolm Hagan have announced their engagement to be married Aug. 4 at Mission Basilica San Diego De Alcala. The bride-to-be is the daughter of Susan Besser of Los Altos and Jerry Crandall of Coos Bay, Ore. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of California, San Diego, and is employed as a graphic designer for a software company in San Diego. Spiritual LifeCompanion on the journeyNo matter the disappointment or mess up, ‘All shall be well’ My 8-year-old seems to have hit a “first” recently, one that isn’t in the baby books I read. She seems to have developed a conscience. Los Altos Bahá’ís to take part in Haifa, Israel celebrationThis coming Tuesday, the Bahá’ís of Los Altos will take part in a celebration of unity and hope for the human race. The Bahá’ís of the world will open the 19 stunning terraces, formal gardens and fountains that extend from the port city of Haifa, Israel, to the summit of Mount Carmel. A twilight ceremony, featuring an open-air premier concert at the base of Mount Carmel, will conclude with the spectacular lighting of the terraces. At the heart of the terraces is the gold domed shrine of the Bab, one of the most important holy places for the Bahá’ís. The event will be televised and broadcast worldwide, live via satellite. Senior LifestylesCupertino Senior Center’s new building brings in 400 new membersTown Crier Correspondent The 20-year-old Cupertino Senior Center building was razed last year and a new 15,500-square-foot senior center opened its doors to the public March 3. World War II letters become vet’s memoirs of Navy lifeFor decades, Arnold Vezzani of Los Altos kept his memories of World War II to himself. Then, about the middle of last year, Vezzani, now 80, came across letters in a drawer at the home of his sister, Helen. There were 173 of them - letters he had written to his family while serving the Navy between 1942 and 1946. “I started to get them in sequence and it just got interesting,” Vezzani said. Interesting enough for him to organize into a new book he titles “World War II Letters to Family,” a book he has self published. Drama in her blood
90-year-old Esther Mort proves learning has no age limit She has been everything from a doctor to Shakespeare’s Juliet. Such characters are just an inkling of the many roles 90-year-old Pilgrim Haven Retirement Community resident Esther Mort has played since beginning drama classes with the Mountain-View Los Altos Adult School in 1980. Mort has appeared in 49 of the 50 performances presented at Pilgrim Haven. Society’s view of elderly needs to change, experts say at Stanford meeting on agingThe Difficult Dialogues program at Stanford hosted a town hall meeting May 4 called “Why is aging a young person’s issue?” The meeting addressed issues involved with a graying population, especially those affecting young people. While life expectancy increased by 30 years during the 20th century, social programs and cultural views of old age have not changed. Three panels of experts on aging discussed health care, retirement, and the need to change society’s views of the elderly. Joy for SeniorsToday’s retirement characterized by refocusing, not slowing down More than a naturally occurring event, seniorhood is a phenomenon which is characterized by such diversity and complexity that it can be said that there is no typical “senior citizen.” There are many seniors who are energetically and very gainfully employed, and there are many others for whom the concept, if not yet the actual experience, of retirement plays a very key role, emotionally, intellectually and, eventually, physically. In the coming decade, the older market will be changing even more, as the attitudes and lifestyles of the younger end of the market are transformed by aging baby boomers. Reverse mortgages are good for some seniorsTown Crier Correspondent The golden years in a senior’s life are not always the happiest. With today’s rising costs and fixed incomes, many seniors are trying to figure out how to stretch the income they receive from Social Security and company pensions. Older Adult Resource Center provides new Elder Care ServicesA new program at the Older Adult Resource Center (OARC) at El Camino Hospital offers counseling for people of any age faced with the problem of assessing needs for the elderly. The program is not just for older adults. In fact, many of its clients are the caregivers in an often trying situation. The center, now nearing 20 years of support for older adults, their families and loved ones, offers Elder Care Services for those who want to talk in depth to consultants who can listen and assess their needs. Stepping OutLau to solo with Palo Alto Chamber OrchestraThe Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra closes its concert season with the U.S. premier performance of “Adagio,” written in 1932 by the late Adolph Baller. The concert is scheduled for 8 p.m., Saturday, at Spangenberg Theater, 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto. Tin Hat Trio playing Palo Alto’s MOAHThe Museum of American Heritage’s Frank Livermore Learning Center is the venue for Friday’s performance by The Tin Hat Trio, which provides musical accompaniment to the films of Ladislaw Starewicz, early 20th-century Russian pioneer of stop-action and puppet animation. Showings will begin at 8 and 9:30 p.m. Afficionados of early film can also visit MOAH’s exhibit galleries, featuring “Let’s Go to the Movies: The Mechanics of Moving Images”, which will be open from 7-11 p.m., Friday. CSMA offering free look at the ‘Future’The Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) continues its free SGI Family Concert Series at 4:30 p.m., Sunday, with world fusion quartet Ancient Future. The concert series, which runs monthly through July, is held at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, SecondStage, 500 Castro St. ‘Kids’ coming to Los AltosLocal children’s choir Kids of the Kingdom performs “Go, Go Jonah” at 4 and 6:30 p.m., Sunday, in the First Baptist Church Sanctuary, 625 Magdalena Ave., Los Altos. Admission to the performance is free. Holbrook’s ‘Mark Twain Tonight!’ set for Saturday night at De AnzaHal Holbrook brings his Tony award-winning one-man show, “Mark Twain Tonight!” to Flint Center at De Anza College this Saturday for an 8 p.m. performance. Holbrook has played Twain for 46 straight years. His performance is considered a popular classic and one of the longest running shows in theater history. He has played before sold-out houses on Broadway, throughout the United States and in major European cities. Peninsula Women’s Chorus to perform Saturday nightPeninsula Women’s Chorus, based at Foothill College, presents its spring concert “Earth Tones” at 8 p.m., Saturday, at Grace Lutheran Church, 3149 Waverley St., Palo Alto. The chorus, directed by Patricia Hennings, will perform works by Ron Jeffers, Libby Larson, Lou Harrison, Felix Mendelssohn and more. Special SectionTips for creating the perfect home officeSpecial to the town Crier Fueled largely by trends in technology and telecommuting, the home office has become an important part of American culture. It’s popularity and prevalence are only expected to increase. AAUW, De Anza sponsor tech conference for girlsRobin Jeffries, distinguished engineer and the user experience architect in Sun Microsystems’ chief technologist’s office, will welcome school girls in grades 4-8 as well as interested parents and educators to the third annual miniconference, “Making Technology Work for Girls” from 12:30p.m.-4:30 p.m., Saturday, at De Anza College, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino. The conference is sponsored by the Los Altos-Mountain View branch of the American Association of University Women and De Anza College. Registration begins promptly at 12:30 p.m.; the conference begins at 1 p.m. Don’t borrow trouble - be careful of loan offersEver get a loan offer that seemed too good to be true? Chances are, it was. Too many people have become victims of abusive or “predatory” lenders that push loans that sound good, but in fact, include sky-high interest rates and hidden fees. The American Bankers Association wants consumers to know how to tell a “good” loan from a bad one. Otherwise, you could end up losing your good credit rating-even your house. The ABA offers these tips: Don’t let finances tie your marriage up in knotsJune - the most popular month for weddings - is around the corner. That means many couples about to take the plunge are spending much of their time shopping for the perfect gown, flowers and reception location. Unfortunately, most couples are so busy planning their wedding that they don’t take time to discuss how they will manage their finances after they walk down the aisle. Getting adjusted to married life can be a challenge in itself. Mounting bills from wedding expenses and the cost of setting up a household can add to the stress. Here’s a checklist to help you think about financial matters before and after marriage: BooksFriendly Los Altos book club celebrates 41 yearsTown Crier Corespondent Not only has a group of Los Altos book lovers met continuously for more than 40 years, they’ve always had the same leader. |
In Our OpinionLetters to the Editor
Leo Long earns local honorsIn the April 30 issue of the Town Crier, you were right to congratulate and thank Dick Henning from Foothill College for four decades of service to the community. I met him at Foothill as student body president more years ago than I’ll admit. Great guy. |
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