Home Briefs

Yerba Buena Nursery, the oldest California native plant nursery, is seeking volunteers to work side by side with nursery professionals, especially in the demonstration garden. The nursery is located off Skyline Drive in Woodside. For more information, call the nursery at 851-1668.

Homeowners may arrange to receive a custom planting plan for their home garden from a Yerba Buena professional. The plan costs $250 and includes an in-person visit, a consultation and a written report on which native plants would be most appropriate for your location. To schedule an appointment, call the nursery.

For gardening ideas and inspiration, there’s nothing like a spring tour

Roominations

The month of May brings so many wonderful garden tours. I had a feast of garden delights this year, starting with the Filoli Flower Show 2001. The annual two-day event features a flower show of perfect specimens from private gardens, a plant show of unusual container plantings by private estate and botanical garden plantsmen, an array of flower arrangements throughout the Filoli mansion, and special “tea party” garden vignettes scattered through the gardens.

Saving doomed trees

Jenna Bayer to the rescue

Most of us know how and where to plant a six-pack of pansies and if we want a new tree, we plant something small and wait 10 or 20 years for results.

Painting classes, supplies at Holly Hocks

Located in the shopping center at the corner of Foothill Expressway and Homestead Road on the border of Los Altos and Cupertino, Holly Hocks provides a peaceful haven for fans of decorative painting. For absolute beginners through experienced artists, there are ongoing classes, special weekend seminars and even, once a year, a “Paint till You Drop” all-night session.

“The depth of talent here is wonderful,” said Nan Oram, a Holly Hocks teacher specializing in Scandinavian, Russian and Dutch-style designs.

Make lawns as low-maintenance as possible

Whether your yard was just recently sodded, or existed for years before you moved in, low-maintenance routines can reduce the efforts required to keep a lawn healthy and increase the lawn’s overall quality.

Here are some guidelines:

Indoor and outdoor water conservation tips

There are many ways to conserve significant amounts of water inside and outside the home, and doing so makes sense because it lowers water and sewer bills, extends the water supply and helps the environment. Homeowners can take some simple steps to help preserve this precious resource.

Your water-delivery system

Reconciliations require acceptance of blame, patience

When you are trying to repair with a colleague or a customer or a vendor, everyone has to give up blame and begin to be more patient.

I usually tell employees in the new recovery period that they are lucky to make it from my office to the parking lot without getting into a disastrous upset again. It’s frightening to be trying to connect again. At least one of you has been disillusioned and it’s hard to make it up easily.

Do you need a financial plan?

Steve Zeller

Many people want to retire early or send children to college, but not everyone has a plan to reach these goals. A financial plan is a road map that you develop and follow to reach your financial goals. It is a process of making all your assets work for you, so you can afford the things you want in life.

Business Briefs

Sanwa Bank California and Tokai Bank of California have agreed to merge under a new name - United California Bank. More than 110 branches from San Diego to Sacramento will make the change.

United California Bank will be formally established July 2, after receiving approvals from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the California Department of Finance Institutions.

Investors still unsure and skittish about stock market

Stock Report

The stock market opened Monday morning with no direction, and the tech news was still negative. Investors are unsure and skittish about the market.

Transactions

128 Cuesta Drive #5 - J. Bose to D. Sereni for $785,000.00

1244 Lisa Lane - Witmer Trust to A. & A. Mendhekar for $1,500,000.00

Weddings

Chrissie Fowler and Tim Hopkins were married May 6 at the Thomas Fogarty Winery, Woodside.

The bride is the daughter of Randolph and Karen Fowler of Los Altos.

Obituaries

Obituaries run on a space-available basis. All items will be edited for length and newspaper style. Notices must be typed and include name of the deceased, death date, age, place of birth, occupation, club affiliations, service date, connection to Los Altos, Los Altos Hills or Mountain View and names of surviving family members. Please include a contact name and phone number. Mail obituaries to Town Crier, 138 Main St. Los Altos 94022; fax 948-6647; or e-mail lindat@latc.com.

Roger L. Frelier, co-founder of Chez Yvonne Restaurant in Mountain View, died May 23 in Los Altos. A native of Cooye, France, he was 79.

Slow ‘Legs’

Theater Review

Comedy gets off to sluggish start

Stanford concert to go out with a bang

The San Jose Symphony and a fireworks display will highlight a pre-Independence Day concert scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, at Stanford University’s Frost Amphitheater.

Gates will open at 5:30 p.m., with the concert at 7:30 p.m. and fireworks to follow.

Palo Alto Children’s Theater opens 3-play season

The Palo Alto Children’s Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, has announced its 2001 Hotdog Suppertime Season.

The three-play season opened earlier this month with “The Princess and the Pea,” which runs through Thursday. “Little Red Riding Hood” plays Tuesday through July 13 and “Jack and the Beanstalk” runs July 17-26.

Local resident to make debut this Saturday

Mahesh Srinivasan, an 18-year Los Altos resident, will give his debut performance in South Indian classical vocal music at 7 p.m., Saturday, at Cubberley Theater, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

Admission to the concert is free.

Unusual plant sale scheduled at Strybing

The nursery is located in the southwest corner of the arboretum, a five -minute walk from the Main Gate at Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way.

Water’s the star in Rewa’s garden

Town Crier Correspondent

I’m a Pisces - March 14 - born in the Year of the Dragon, and I’ve always loved fishponds and swimming,” said Rewa Hulden-Hodges.

Sports On The Side

The 12th Annual Second Harvest Food Bank Golf Tournament is scheduled for July 9 at Stanford University Golf Course. The benefit tournament features 18 holes of golf with a shared cart, tee prizes, lunch, a cocktail reception and an awards banquet with a raffle and auction. Players can also compete for prizes in the longest drive, closest-to-pin and hole-in-one contests. Cost is $300 for individual players, $550 to be a corporate sponsor with tee signage. For information or to register, call (408) 694-0040.

Girls soccer camp

Choe dominates PGA Jr. event; Sollers shine in Florida

Local Golf Roundup

Another Jr. juggernaut

Post 375 hopes to continue its winning ways

Town Crier Intern

The American Legion baseball season is getting into full swing and Palo Alto Post 375 has designs on repeating - or exceeding - last year’s success.

Oaks need pitching, pop

The Palo Alto Oaks’ summer league baseball season is already eight games old, but coach Tony Makjavich hasn’t stopped searching for more local college players to add to the roster.

“We’re still looking for pitching and pop,” said Makjavich, who’s been coaching the Stan Musial League team since 1954. “If we can get that, we can be right up there (in the league standings).”

TC seeks names of athletes set to play in college

If so, please let the Town Crier know via phone, fax, mail or e-mail so we can publish a list in an upcoming issue.

Include the athlete’s name, sport, class and where he or she went to high school.

Colonial Mortuary wins Babe Ruth title

Colonial Mortuary outlasted Independent Order of Odd Fellows 10-2 last Saturday to win Mountain View Babe Ruth’s 13-15 division at McKelvey Ballpark.

Joe Guarnera’s Colonial Mortuary (16-6) jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, keyed by a bases-loaded double smashed into the right field corner by pitcher Chris Crook.

Los Altos wins battle of the Rockies

Town Crier Staff Report

The Los Altos Rockies routed the Sunnyvale Southern Rockies 7-1 last week in a Little League District 44 Majors Tournament of Champions game in Santa Clara.

Fewer jobs doesn’t mean no jobs, author says

The high-tech job market has changed in the last year. There are fewer jobs and more competition among job candidates, so new college graduates, as well as those who have been laid off and those looking for something better, may feel frustrated and discouraged in their search for a position.

They don’t need to be, said Brian Barton, a 35-year-old Menlo Park resident who has worked as a contractor and permanent employee in communications and project management for over 40 Silicon Valley companies. “The key thing is, the Bay Area economy is still very healthy,” he said. “There are over 20,000 job openings … Think of it as a competition. For one job, there’s only one winner.”

The class of 2001: this year’s graduates from area high schools

Donald Dutra

Jose Gomez

St. Francis graduate O’Brien named baseball coach at SCU

St. Francis High graduate Mark O’Brien has been named the new head baseball coach at Santa Clara University.

The Mountain View native signed a five-year contract on June 11. O’Brien becomes the Broncos’ 35th head coach in the school’s 119-year baseball history.

Defining ‘achluophobia’ and the meaning of MAFIA

The Pinhead Chronicles

The combination “ough” can be pronounced in nine different ways. The following sentence contains them all: “A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful plough man strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.”

Letters to the Editor

I’d like to comment on the crying need for a community pool in Los Altos.

As a resident and a parent, I’ve supported the pool project for several years. I witnessed the many Los Altos residents who spoke at City Council and Park & Recreation Commission meetings over the past two years expressing a strong interest in expanding community aquatics programs beyond what was available at Covington Pool to ensure that there is sufficient time and water space to accommodate family recreational swimming year-round. It is to meet those needs for family swim time - so strongly expressed by our fellow citizens - that the city is moving forward with a two-pool plan.

SPLASH plan for pools ‘community demanded’

Other Voices

The folks at SPLASH (Swimmers Promoting Los Altos Aquatics, Safety and Health) are ready to dive into a project that has been two years in the making. Acting as fund-raisers and lobbyists they have worked with the city and residents to propose what they believe to be the perfect community aquatic center.

‘Glorious 4th’ celebration to occur at Shoup Park

The sponsors of “Glorious 4th”, Los Altos’ annual Independence Day celebration, are ready for the annual day of food, music and entertainment scheduled 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., July 4, at Shoup Park, 400 University Ave.

Ye Olde Towne Band will begin playing at 10:30 a.m. as residents, friends and family gather at the park.

Today’s farmers’ market recalls fruitful past

Looking Back, Moving Forward

Just a few weeks ago, Los Altos welcomed the arrival of the Thursday evening Farmers’ Market. Summer is here! While not yet as historic as the Pet Parade, the Arts & Wine Festival or the Festival of Lights Parade, the market is another event that adds to the family oriented, small town atmosphere that makes our village the “Crown of the Peninsula.”

Library News

Mad Science of the South Bay will show children how to make movie special effects.

The library is closed on July 4. The next program will be on July 11, when Walter the Giant Storyteller will entertain youngsters.

Calendar

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

Wednesday

Cheeseballs bring back funky tunes

Town Crier Editorial Intern

Los Altos Arts and Wine Festival

Weather

Thursday through Sunday: Patchy late night and early morning low clouds and fog near the bay. Otherwise mostly clear and warmer. Lows upper 40s to mid 50s. Highs from the lower 70s near the bay to the upper 80s well inland.

Courtesy of the Weather Underground.

Los Altos School District budget balanced, but not without cuts

The Los Altos School District approved a balanced budget for the 2001-2002 school year at its June 18 meeting. To achieve a balanced budget, plus the state required 3 percent reserve, cuts in expenditures had to be made. The cuts followed the recommendations the Budget Review Committee made to the school board at its April 9 meeting. The committee made its recommendations based on the projection of a $3 million deficit for the 2001-2002 school year.

“We went through our normal, careful deliberate process of reviewing our programs and making recommendations for next year’s budget,” said Randy Kenyon, assistant superintendent of Business Services. “I think we have a good and fair process for determining our priorities. Our budget reflects those priorities.”

A soccer league of their own

Women with local ties get a kick out of their new jobs with WUSA

In the mid-1990s, the idea of forming a professional women’s soccer league in the United States seemed as far-fetched as colonizing the moon, driving around in water-powered cars and employing robot housekeepers.

LA council vote spurs hotel plans

Mayor’s motion for hotel baffles Los Altos residents

he Los Altos City Council’s decision to move forward with a hotel on the corner of First and Main streets earlier this month left many in the community scratching their heads, including developer Roxy Rapp, who is slated to build a boutique hotel on the site.

New town hall proposal stuns LAH audience

Some Los Altos Hills residents at Thursday’s city council meeting gasped audibly as Mayor Toni Casey revealed her No.1 goal: to break ground for a new town hall, funded by residents’ donations.

Casey said the council planned to pick a firm this Friday to design and manage the town hall project. Casey said the plan will allow residents’ donations.

Police report

June 22, 9:09 a.m., Almond Avenue:

Someone was allegedly in possession of a controlled substance at Los Altos High School, police said.

Blues great Hooker remembered at Shoreline

Thousands of fans mourned the death of legendary blues artist John Lee Hooker Sunday during a brief remembrance at the annual New Orleans by the Bay celebration at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View.

Musician Bonnie Raitt, who sang with Mr. Hooker in the duet “I’m in the Mood,” which earned him his first Grammy award in 1990, dedicated the show to her “dear friend,” she told the audience. “We lost a great one. He will always be in my heart … This one’s for you, baby.”

El Camino Hospital and union reach agreement

After more than five months of negotiations, El Camino Hospital Management and Service Employees International Union, Local 715, settled their first contract, hospital and union officials announced Friday.

The two-year contract, ratified by union members Thursday, includes wage increases, improvements in health-care benefits and recognition of long-term employees. It does not include the hospital’s becoming an agency shop, a contentious issue between union and nonunion service employees that proved a major stalling point in the negotiations.

Music part of education

Blue Jeans & Jelly Beans

Every morning from 7:30 to 8, the neighbors must be shutting their windows. Our house is overflowing with loud tootles and burbles, scales and wails.