By What's the price for cheaper cement?
If there is any doubt as to what is causing the scar on the side of our beautiful foothills, just take a hike on Montebello trail to Black Mountain. About halfway to the summit, approximately three miles, you’ll have a bird’s-eye view of the pile resulting from Hanson Permanente Cement’s dumping of waste material. You’ll see that where the trucks are dumping, the pile and scar keep getting bigger.
Of course, dumping of this “unusable” material at this site is far more cost-effective than taking it elsewhere and therefore keeps the price of their cement lower. Unfortunately, it is creating a scar on our hillside that the residents of this community will be forced to live with long after Hanson finishes its mining.
How big will this waste pile get over the next 20 years? Give Hanson a call and ask them. If they don’t answer, call your city or county representative.
After all is said and done, I just hope we don’t regret paying for cheaper cement today at the cost of our pristine mountainside in the future.
John FarwellMountain View
Packard expansion on hold for now
In the spirit of community that makes our town such a desirable place to live and work, I want to take this opportunity to share the details of the Packard Foundation’s future plans.
As you reported earlier this year, the Foundation has been engaged in the process of re-evaluating our need for space in light of our recent growth. Over the past three years, as our assets and programs expanded, we have grown to become an institution with a staff of approximately 170. We’re proud because this means we can do more to make our world a better place.
Since 1997, we have moved from being housed in one building to having staff spread out among five buildings several miles apart. As you might imagine, that arrangement is far from ideal. So when it looked as though we could anticipate further staff growth, we began to explore the possibility of consolidating our staff in Los Altos or nearby.
However, in light of the recent uncertainty in the financial markets as well as in the world, we have decided to table our facilities plans for the time being.
The Foundation doesn’t anticipate an appreciable increase in the size of its staff in the near future, so we plan to continue to operate within the facilities we currently own and lease in Los Altos. As we re-examine our facilities needs, we will keep community leaders closely informed of our plans and communicate early on if we intend to reactivate them. Meanwhile, we intend to maintain our current real estate portfolio in Los Altos and will be negotiating 12-month leases with current and new tenants.
What we have learned in this process so far is that while we are proud to have deep roots in this community, many of our Los Altos neighbors don’t know a lot about what we do. We will be working with community leaders to find opportunities to help people in town better understand our work at the local, national, and international level. A number of such efforts are in the works and more details will emerge in the coming months.
If we have rediscovered anything these past few weeks, it is the importance of community. On behalf of the Packard family, our trustees and the entire Foundation staff, we want to reaffirm our pride in being part of the Los Altos community.
Richard T. Schlosberg IIIPresident and CEO
The David and Lucile Packard FoundationLos Altos
United we stand
What I have seen in the past few days is a call for all to follow the only rule that really matters. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. If we hurt innocent civilians for something they took no part in, then we are not the solution; we are perpetuating the problem. We too become terrorists.
Americans have been displaying our flag to unite and to show support in this time of sorrow and reflection. You have seen and experienced the effect that the display of flags has had on us all. Very touching. Imagine the effect if we display not only the American flag, but all flags. We are in fact hoping, needing to unite all people. Isn’t that the grand purpose? United we stand.
We have been given a test of colossal proportions. How will we respond? Not as African-Americans nor Asian-Americans, not as Catholic nor Jewish, not as gay nor straight, not as rich nor poor. Rather, as humans. I have seen all religions and communities coming together as of late. How magnificent! How sad that it took the loss of many innocent lives to bring this about. We are all one. We carry the same basic beliefs. First and foremost, we are the human race.
We have been tested as of late. I have been tested as of late. Everything I believe in and hold true has been put to the test. I pray that we do not soon forget the lessons we are learning while in the midst of this trial. No, my belief in the love and compassion of human beings has not failed me. Everything I stood for Monday, Sept. 10, still rings true. What amazes me now is that more and more people are beginning to believe too.
Katrina A. KerstetterSunnyvale
Bendigo extends condolences
The following letter is addressed to Mayor King Lear and the city of Los Altos:
I am writing to assure you and all our friends in Los Altos, our sister city in America, that our thoughts and prayers are with you at this time of great sadness.
Our monthly committee meeting was held only 15 hours after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, and we began it with a one-minute silence as a tribute to all who were missing and who were affected in any way by those terrible acts.
The city of Greater Bendigo has a Condolences Book in the municipal offices which the citizens of Bendigo are signing before it is sent off to America.
All the churches in Bendigo have been holding special services and here at home our American flag has been flying at half-mast until Sept. 24. Now that President Bush has directed the people of America to raise the flag again, ours is now flying proudly at the top of the flagpole.
We in Australia are thinking of our friends in the U.S.A. at this very difficult time.
Brian ReedChairman, Bendigo,Australia, Sister Cities Committee
Selling animals means death for others
I am upset that pet stores that sell animals continue to turn a blind eye to the millions of healthy, adoptable animals who are euthanized every year. Their advocacy for the purchasing of animals rather than their adoption is contributing to the deaths of more than 15 million homeless animals in our nation’s shelters each year.
Pet stores’ actions also perpetuate the callous cruelty inherent in the puppy-mill industry.
I am also appalled at the miserable lives that puppy-mill animals are forced to endure. Breeding animals spend their entire lives crammed in small, filthy cages, breeding litter after litter until they are used up and either killed or sold to research institutions.
I urge everyone to purchase pet supplies only from stores that do not sell animals and more importantly, adopt companion animals from shelters rather than purchase them.
Nancie L. SailorLos Altos
Let’s not characterize all pit bulls
Mr. Bonicelli’s Oct. 3 letter “A Pit Bull As A Pet?” merits discussion on three points:
1) “A breed that is comparable to a loaded gun”- loaded guns in the possession of decent people protect us as a nation and as individuals. Unless and until an individual misuses a gun there is no danger to anyone and no cause for alarm; a number of “pit bulls” have attacked people and other dogs. Many more have not.
2)…”responsibility to sort out the bad actors”- exactly; sort them out. Let’s not characterize guns or dogs as inherently dangerous or undesirable; rather, let us criticize and restrict those people who misuse them. This is a basic tenet of our system, and one that serves us quite well. Remember “innocent until proven guilty”? Who can honestly claim never to have invoked and benefited from this concept?
3) Now more than ever before, when our most sacred rights are under outright attack by many among us, shouldn’t we be all the more rigorous in maintaining them and temper our exercise of them with restraint and civility? Imagine for a moment a world without the United States of America in it- what a silent, horror-ridden world that would be.
Greg Sharrow
Los Altos
