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Archives » 2002 » Volume 55 , Issue 11, Published on Wednesday, March 13, 2002

News

Inspiring others to aspire

LAH resident Gwen Jones uses business, faith to help felons, children to reach their potential

While jogging near her Los Altos Hills home one spring morning in 1976, Gwen Jones was confronted by several youths shouting racial epithets and hurling unopened beverage cans at her. The young men might have hoped to humiliate the African-American woman, but they failed. While Jones was cut and bruised by the one can that hit its mark and momentarily shaken, she did not become bitter or cynical as a result of the incident. She was then, as she has always been, an energetic, determined person with a strong and abiding faith in God and her fellow man.

Los Altos identifies 80 sites for new housing developments in city’s updated General Plan

The Los Altos City Council approved a new housing plan last week that identifies more than 80 sites where 162 state-mandated housing units could potentially be added to the city’s inventory between now and 2006.

The Agency of Bay Area Governments determined that over the next five years, Los Altos needs to add 38 very-low income units, 20 low-income units, 56 moderate units and 147 market-rate units to its housing inventory under state law.

Property values not declining from single-story overlays

Town Crier Report

Eighteen months ago, the city of Los Altos approved a single-story overlay zone for a section of the city which includes more than 100 homes. Opponents cited property values as a key reason not to allow overlay zones in Los Altos.

News Briefs

Two dogs and a bird died from smoke inhalation during a structural fire on Ranchito Way in Mountain View Thursday, a spokesman from the Mountain View Fire Department said.

Firefighters said the blaze took 90 minutes to control, causing an estimated $100,000 in property damages.

Police report

March 5, 6:49 a.m., El Camino Real: Police responded to a commercial alarm.

Traffic hazard

LAH’s Ravensbury Avenue no longer a street divided

Ravensbury Avenue is no longer a street split into two jurisdictions - Los Altos Hills and unincorporated Santa Clara County. Thursday night, three Los Altos Hills City Council members voted to annex 57 acres of developed property to the town. Mayor Toni Casey and Councilman Steve Finn were not at the meeting.

The vote followed a public hearing, set to allow property owners and registered voters living in the unincorporated area located east of Los Altos Hills and south of Los Altos to voice objections to the annexation or to a town requirement that street repairs be made to portions of Old Ranch Road and Old Ranch Lane prior to annexation.

Lieber in, Home Depot voted out

Town Crier Staff Report

Mountain View Mayor Sally Lieber won last week’s primary election for District 22 State Assembly for the Democratic party, in spite of several pulled endorsements and a local recall campaign to prematurely end her city council term.

Few speeding cyclists on open space trails, report indicates

Town Crier Editorial Intern

The vast majority of cyclists take it easy on trails in the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, thanks to a district monitoring program.

Rosita neighbors may sue city for more environmental review of pool project

The report

Coalition members criticized a traffic report included in the city’s draft study, saying it significantly underestimated anticipated traffic counts and included information contradictory to previous traffic studies conducted by the same company, TJKM Transportation Consultants.

Opinion

Los Altos, king of recycling?

Congratulations, Los Altos. You are in first place. Our city was recognized last week as one of seven Bay Area cities meeting goals of diverting at least 50 percent of their trash from landfills by the end of 2000. However, Los Altos, at 64 percent, was the highest of the Bay Area cities. Some 26 cities were recognized by the state’s Integrated Waste Management Board out of 500 entries.

Los Altos residents’ conscientious efforts to separate the papers, cans and plastics from trash have made it by far the most trash-efficient, recycling-friendly community in the Bay Area.

Hey Home Depot, power to the people

Though some of us would enjoy having a Home Depot close by, we’re glad Measure N was voted down by Mountain View residents last week.

Supporters promised sizable tax revenues and sensitivity to surrounding residents. Yet the slick “yes” campaign, which sent promotional videos to residents, had everything to do with skirting the city development process rather than respecting it.

Voting with the head and the heart

The Living Experiment

In life the head and heart are often at odds. The heart longs for a second slice of cheesecake and the head says no. The head wants to watch a show on PBS but the heart wants an extra long bedtime snuggle with a child. The heart craves a longer vacation but the head knows responsibilities await at home.

Letters to the Editor

We want to express our gratitude to the hundreds of community members who supported Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC) during our recent fund-raising campaign. From $20,000 to $25,000, donations were received from people who value the gift of helping others. We are pleased to announce that more than $200,000 has been raised to help create healthy lives for the children and families of our local community.

By providing alternatives to self-destructive behavior, CHAC counselors and interns enable and motivate young people to live productive and healthy lives. CHAC’s executive director, Monique Kane, has seen that the need for CHAC’s services increases as life gets more difficult, complex, and even sometimes, for some, incomprehensible. This year, CHAC has met the challenges of changing times and has been there to counsel children and their families under stress.

Community

Holiday Fund recipients give thanks, share goals

Representatives of non-profits serving the needy visited the Los Altos Town Crier last week to talk about their programs and collect shares of $78,000 raised through the paper’s 2001 Holiday Fund. The number was $18,000 more than the inaugural 2000 campaign, despite an economic downturn that spelled hard times for non-profits.

Approximately 20 people from the nine groups supported by this year’s fund gathered to say thanks for funding that ranged between $5,000 and $10,000 per organization. Local residents and foundations contributed the money.

Economics of AIDS outlined for Morning Forum

Since the first cases of AIDS appeared in the early 1980s, the disease has cost the United States 18 million years of life and more than $5 billion in lost earnings, Dr. Jay Levy told the Morning Forum of Los Altos on Feb. 19. Dr. Levy, Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco, co-discovered the AIDS virus in 1983 and has spent the last 18 years studying its ability to be transmitted and to induce disease, in hopes of finding effective treatments as well as a vaccine.

Levy said every 15 minutes another person in the United States is infected with the AIDS virus. One in every 200 men and one in every 600 women have the AIDS virus in this country, Levy said, but these numbers pale in comparison to those in the rest of the world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, where there are 8,000 deaths every day.

Spouse of Flight 93 hero to speak at LA Prayer Breakfast this month

Dorothy Garcia, whose husband Andy died in the Sept. 11 crash of Flight 93 over Pennsylvania, is scheduled to speak at the Los Altos Community Prayer Breakfast, 7-9 a.m., March 29, at Hyatt Rickeys in Palo Alto. Garcia will discuss the role of prayer and forgiveness in times of crisis.

A Portola Valley resident, Garcia carried the Olympic torch Jan. 17 through Pacific Grove, where she and Andy had their first date in 1969. A week before last Christmas, FBI agents accommodated Garcia’s request for her husband’s ring, which bore the inscription, “All my love, 8-2-69.” The agents also recovered his nearly intact wallet and luggage tags.

Community Briefs

The Friends of the Los Altos Library will sponsor Al Jacobs and Nick Szegda in a lecture addressing the history of the Oscars, scheduled for 7:30 tonight, at the Los Altos main library. The talk will include video clips of past and present winners and nominees.

Al Jacobs, professor emeritus of Menlo College, has taught film analysis, acting and scriptwriting. Szegda has a master’s in fine arts in film from the California Institute of the Arts and leads a monthly film discussion group at the Menlo Park Library. This year’s Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for March 24.

Director describes function of Hoover Institution, Stanford’s ‘best kept secret’

Town Crier Correspondent

Visible throughout the Peninsula is the 285-foot Hoover Tower, which serves as a landmark of the Stanford University campus. Completed in 1951, it is the most visible symbol of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace.

Schools

Schools Briefs

The Los Altos High School “Grad Night 2002″ committee has scheduled a fund-raiser April 3, at Chevy’s Fresh Mex, 2116 W. El Camino Real, Mountain View, and during dinner hours March 18 at Armadillo Willy’s, 1031 N. San Antonio Road. Twenty percent of the cost of meals purchased on these days will be donated to the Grad Night 2002. For more information, call 960-8811.

MV-LA PTA blood drive

Oak’s ‘Bike to School Day’ promotes safety and cycling

Oak Avenue Elementary School’s PTA has designated March 26 as Bike to School Day. The PTA’s Safe Routes to School Committee will organize the event, which encourages students, staff and parents to leave cars behind for the celebration of cycling, safety and spring.

“Bike to School Day is a perfect opportunity to get back into the habit of cycling and walking to school,” said committee co-chairwoman Merry Ann Moore. “It’s great for fitness and for the environment. And riding in a big group of cyclists is quite a feeling of power!”

LASD approves cuts to be made if parcel tax hike not passed in April

The Los Altos School District Board of Trustees accepted an Interim Financial Report at their March 4 meeting, a report that offers a glum preview of what could follow if the district’s proposed parcel tax hike goes down to defeat in next month’s special election.

The report, prepared by the district’s budget committee, shows 34 teachers targeted for termination, as the district faces another $3.6 million deficit for the 2002-03 school year.

High school theaters set for grand opening in May

Town Crier Correspondent

Early last Friday morning, with the sun still rising, the Mountain View-Los Altos High School Performing Arts Facilities Fund committee met at Los Altos High School and presented a check in the amount of $200,000 to Rich Fischer, superintendent of the Mountain View-Los Altos School District. The check was the first installment on the $350,000 needed to fully equip the new 350-seat theaters at the district’s high schools.

LASD selects on-site child-care provider for Covington School

With the reopening of Covington Elementary School in the Los Altos School District slated for this August, the race was on to find an on-site child-care provider.

The board of trustees voted at its Feb. 4 meeting to accept a final bid in the amount of $5,225 per month from the Children’s Creative Learning Centers, Inc.

Noteworthies

Kathleen Curley, of Los Altos Hills, has been named to the fall semester dean’s list at the University of Notre Dame, Ind.

Stephanie Rohrs, of Los Altos has been named to the fall semester Dean’s List at the University of Notre Dame, Ind.

Montclaire fund-raiser has all-American theme

It’s not often you hear parents encouraging their kids to walk around in circles.

But on Saturday, parents of the more than 500 students attending Montclaire Elementary School in Los Altos won’t just be encouraging their kids, they’ll be cheering them on.

Sports

On Deck: the local sports lineup for March 13-19

Baseball

Today

Sports On The Side

Los Altos High’s senior class hosts the annual silent auction and students vs. staff & alumni basketball game Friday. The auction will include tickets to San Francisco 49ers and San Jose Sharks games and cabin rentals in Lake Tahoe. The game will pit Los Altos High seniors against a group of teachers and graduates. Senior dancers will perform at halftime. The auction begins at 6:30 p.m., the game at 7:30. Tickets are $5 and will be sold at the door. Proceeds benefit the senior class.

Fit weekend

Panthers win for ‘the heck’ of it

Town Crier Correspondent

“What the heck.”

Eagles looking to soar to old heights

Prep Boys Tennis Report

Panthers rout Redwood

Foothill headed to state tourney after squeaking by Reedley

As the third seed in the north at this week’s state tournament, the Foothill College women’s basketball team isn’t considered among the favorites to take home the crown.

But that’s just fine with the Owls (26-9).

New Valley beats Alta Vista 47-36 in basketball

Alta Vista High, a continuation school in Mountain View, fell 47-36 to New Valley of Santa Clara last Thursday in boys basketball.

The host Aztecs were led by Luke Kieninger (nine points), Josef Sugarman (eight) and Hector Avilla (six). Teammate Joseph Tugade hauled in 13 rebounds in the game, played at Cubberley Community Center.

St. Francis earns chance to defend NorCal crown

The crowd-pleasing alley oops and nothing-but-net three-pointers are all well and good, but St. Francis coach Steve Filios said they aren’t the reason his boys basketball team won last Saturday’s Northern California Division II semifinal.

“We won with defense,” Filios said of the Lancers’ 65-54 home victory over Shasta. “It was our defensive pressure and our ability to not let them get into a comfort zone.”

Coach Mansfield leaves LAHS for Stanford

Town Crier Intern

Jason Mansfield is excited about his new job as an assistant coach for Stanford University’s women’s volleyball team.

Business

Men fight or flee; women tend or befriend, says landmark study

Jean on the Job

The University of California at Los Angeles recently conducted a landmark study on stress in women. The study, led by Dr. Shelley Taylor, determined that much of the major work on stress had been conducted with male subjects. Of course, most of the stressed executives in the last several decades have been men. But women are now catching up, with increased responsibility and the accompanying anxieties.

Market investors kept happy

Stock Report

Stocks closed higher last Friday on news of falling unemployment, and for the first time in months, investors are thinking of buying and not selling.

Home is where the wealth is, according to Realtors’ national association study

The Silicon Valley Association of Realtors

Home is where the largest portion of wealth resides for three out of four homeowners, and many use the value of their homes when making important financial decisions, according to a recent survey on the effect of home wealth conducted by the National Association of Realtors.

Transactions

Cupertino

10094 Bret Avenue - R. Hammond to H. & E. Chen for $510,000.00

Owners out to pamper pets need to know about ‘Delight’-ful new store downtown

Town Crier Correspondent

Business Profile

Special Section

Master Sinfonia to perform this weekend

Master Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra is set to perform a pair of concerts this weekend.

The orchestra, led by David Ramadanoff, will first perform at 8 p.m., Saturday, at Valley Presbyterian Church, 945 Portola Road, Portola Valley. The second concert is set for 2 p.m., Sunday, at Los Altos Methodist Church, 655 Magdalena Ave.

Getting Started

25 shots of Irish whiskey for coffee

12 bottles of wine (each couple should donate one bottle)

The best sauvignon blancs now come from New Zealand

Australia is famous for its Shiraz and chardonnays while New Zealand (NZ) is renowned for its sauvignon blancs. There are many wonderful wines coming from these long skinny islands.

There are eight designated wine growing regions in New Zealand, stretching from Auckland in the north to Queenstown in the Otago region in the south. Over 425 wineries spread out in these regions, less than 10 years ago there were only 200.

Neighbors share in St. Patrick’s Day celebration

Irish roots

Diana said both she and Cliff grew up in households steeped in Irish traditions: hers in San Francisco and his in Dublin, Ireland.

Colcannon

The country meal of mashed potatoes, onions and cabbage came to the United states in the 1800s with the huge wave of Irish immigration.

In Ireland, colcannon was traditionally associated with predicting marriages. Charms hidden in the mash were supposed to mean a marriage proposal. Unmarried women hung socks filled with colcannon on the front door, believing they would marry the next man to enter their homes.

Food Bites

Chef Gregory Tom recently joined Mountain View’s Vivaca Grill. Tom, an award-winning chef, spent the last 11 years at Dal Baffo in Menlo Park. He plans to introduce new entrees to the menu, including fresh fish, Black Angus meats, fresh pastas and risotto.

Owner David Morris, who worked for Tom, said he has given Tom free reign of the kitchen.