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Archives » 2002 » Volume 55 , Issue 16, Published on Wednesday, April 17, 2002NewsChurch fire ruled arson
Authorities say they haven’t determined motive or suspects Father Samer Youssef, the Church of the Redeemer’s pastor for the past 25 years, appeared visibly shaken after learning from arson investigators that the three-alarm fire that destroyed his church in unincorporated Los Altos April 7 had been deliberately set. Finding hope among ruins
Antiochian church continues with worship despite destructive fire Prayer services took place at the charred remains of the Antiochian Orthodox Church of the Redeemer last week, just three days after a suspicious three-alarm blaze destroyed the church that borders Los Altos Hills, turning the site into a federal crime scene. Controversial pathway could be eliminatedLos Altos Hills A Los Altos Hills couple requesting removal of an off-road pathways easement on their Taaffe Road property moved a step closer to their goal last Thursday, when the planning commission voted for a second time to amend the town’s pathways plan so the easement could be vacated. Police reportApril 8, 10:33 p.m., State Street: Police responded to a complaint about loud music coming from a restaurant. April 13, 11:10 a.m., Lassen Street: Police responded to a resident’s complaint about loud music and construction noise. Fire is not the first time congregation is without a churchLast week’s destructive three-alarm fire is not the first time members of the Antiochian Orthodox Church of the Redeemer in unincorporated Los Altos have banded together without the shelter of church walls to overcome an obstacle. The church began in 1961 with a group of Episcopalians who held church services at a member’s Palo Alto home until the group could find its own place to worship. City scraps roundabout from Berry traffic plan
Town Crier Correspondent Two years and thousands of dollars in consultant fees later, the Los Altos City Council has decided to scrap the traffic roundabout planned for the Springer Road-Berry Avenue intersection. OpinionHow the district could do betterWe’ve had a week for the sour taste of the Los Altos School District’s parcel tax defeat to set in. The implications of the defeat won’t truly be felt until the fall, but impending layoffs of teachers and other staffers won’t help the quality of education our primary students now receive. The school district had grown accustomed to winning every election and supporters had high hopes it would win again, despite fallout over holding a special election, the state of the economy and a proposed 126 percent increase in the tax, an annual $333 increase. Letters to the EditorWe would like to take this opportunity to thank all the campaign volunteers who worked so incredibly hard to try and pass Measure A last week. And a special thanks to all the voters who went to the polls and voted yes: 64.7 percent of the voters in our community showed their support for our children and our future by voting to pass Measure A. In any other type of election, that would have been a resounding victory. Can we understand today’s insanities?Reflections All around us there is chaos. An entire issue of a newspaper tears apart the warring passions of the Middle East. The talking heads on TV and radio try to deal with the incomprehensible: the young people blowing themselves up and taking multitudes with them. CommunityCalendarLos Altos Parks, Art and Recreation Commission, 7:30 p.m., City Hall, 1 N. San Antonio Road. Community Health Awareness Council, 3:30 p.m., 711 Church St., Mountain View. Community BriefsThe Garden Club of Los Altos in conjunction with the Los Altos Recreation Department is holding a plant exchange 10 a.m. to noon, April 27, in the Hillview Community Center parking lot, 97 Hillview Ave., Los Altos. Visitors can bring extra plants, seedlings, cuttings, bulbs, seeds and small shrubs and trees and take home something new in exchange. Professor gives Morning Forum insights into the funny quirks of comedy todaySeth Lerer, professor of English and comparative literature at Stanford University, spoke to the Morning Forum of Los Altos on April 2 and asked whether, given the times, comedy was still possible. Lerer, who grew up in Brooklyn in the 1950s, joked that this in itself surely was a comic experience. Because of his background, he said, he was not really an American speaker. But he was jesting. Any traces of his youthful speech were long ago replaced by the language and diction of the professor that he is. His mother, a speech therapist, was pleased. Red Cross chapter trims expenses to offset shortfallThe American Red Cross in Palo Alto now closes its offices at noon on Fridays. “The reduced business hours are in response to the acute budget shortfall we are facing this fiscal year,” said Trish Bubenik, executive director of the agency that serves the communities of Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Stanford and Moffett Field. The annual budget for the Palo Alto Area Chapter is $1.7 million. Open Studios features works of 22 local artistsMore than 350 Silicon Valley artists, including 22 from Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, will open their studios to the public on weekends from April 20 to May 4, as part of Open Studios 2002. Open Studios 2002 is a self-guided tour of artists’ studios from Belmont in the north to Gilroy in the south. SchoolsSupporters urge district to save ‘Learning Community’Students, teachers and residents made impassioned pleas to the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District Board of Trustees at the April 8 board meeting to save the Learning Community program at Los Altos High School. The program stands to be cut in the fall. The final decision is up to Principal George Perez, since the program is funded through the school’s general fund, rather than the district. Learning Community is a 30-year-old program at the high school. The interdisciplinary studies program meets four hours a day. Schools BriefsCynthia Klein, a parent guidance specialist from The Children’s Health Council in Palo Alto, and the Oak Avenue School Parent-Teacher Association have scheduled “Helping your kids solve their own problems,” 7-8:30 p.m., May 1, in the Oak School multipurpose room. Admission is free and open to parents, staff and the community. MVHS benefit golf tourneyGolfers of any age are invited to play a round of golf at Mountain View High School’s Annual Golf Tournament, scheduled for 11 a.m., May 11, at Shoreline Golf Links. This golf tournament is part of an effort by parents of the Mountain View High School graduating class of 2002 to raise much-needed funds for their annual all-night, safe, fun “Grad Night”celebration. In order to keep the price of the tickets below actual expenses and affordable to most, as well as to provide scholarships to all those students who would otherwise not be able to attend, the parents have planned a number of fund-raising activities, including this golf tournament. Egan chess team wins state championshipMembers of the newly formed chess team at Egan Junior High School in Los Altos can hold their heads high, having won first place in their division at the 27th Annual California Chess State Scholastics Championships, April 6 and 7, in Monterey. The team competed with 1,100 players from around the state. Five Egan team members also won individual trophies. SportsHard work paying off for Eagle golfersSome coaches have to plead with their players to get them to practice on their own. Dave Blasquez, however, hasn’t had that problem with his Los Altos High boys golf team. His secret? Sports On The SideJake Robbins struck out all 12 batters he faced April 6 to help the Los Altos Pony Braves beat the Rockies in a Bronco Division baseball game. The 10-year-old also hit a single, double and triple in the contest, which the Braves won 8-5. Robbins entered the game in the fourth inning, with his team trailing 5-3. Walk the ‘Earth’ SCRA swimmer Bishop qualifies in two events for Olympic TrialsLocal members of the Stanford Covington Racing Aquatics swim team made waves in meets held last month. Los Altos resident Brook Bishop placed in two events at the USA Senior National Championships, which took place March 19-23 in Minneapolis. Monta Vista ends Eagles’ winning streakSpring Sports Summary Los Altos High’s winning streak in boys tennis is over at seven matches. MV needs strong finish to keep CCS streak alive
Eagles’ Jorgensen throws no-hitter Although Mountain View High is resting near the bottom of the SCVAL De Anza Division, the softball team has shown it’s capable of beating the league’s top contenders. Barsi’s homer lifts St. Francis to 10-9 win over rival BellarmineTown Crier Correspondent Prep Baseball Report Local resident competes for Stanford in NCAA diving finalsStanford University freshman Adam Peterson of Los Altos finished 23rd in the platform diving event March 30 at the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Athens, Ga. Peterson posted a score of 391.40, helping the Stanford swim team place second overall in the NCAA finals. The University of Texas beat out the Cardinal for the championship, 512-501. Seventh-graders fall in overtimeTown Crier Staff Report Blach Junior High’s eighth-grade boys soccer team rallied from a one-goal deficit to beat Kennedy for the league championship April 8 at Graham Middle School in Mountain View. Maxey & Santoso lead MV girls; LA girls again win on final eventAround The Track Paced by Dawn Maxey and Kathy Santoso, the Mountain View High girls track and field team cruised to a 78-49 win over Monta Vista last Thursday at Foothill College. BusinessDeal with ‘commoditization’ by using an old-fashioned business principleNorth American Precis Syndicate For many companies, the rules of business have changed. “Commoditization”-and the declining profit margins associated with this market dynamic - has become one of the main challenges facing most industries today. From the entertainment field to telecommunications, commoditization is a growing trend. Business BriefsThe Los Altos Chamber of Commerce’s 14th annual Business EXPO is scheduled 4-7 p.m., April 25, at the Los Altos Youth Center, 1 N. San Antonio Road. The event will feature businesses from all seven Los Altos shopping districts. Admission is $5. Big-name stocks giving investors williesStock Report This is a tough time for investors. The Dow closed lower for the fourth consecutive week, while the Nasdaq extended its losing exposure to five weeks. Even the Town Crier index absorbed a couple of body blows. Questions, answers about dot-coms, ETFs and economic recoveryRick Glaze Q:At a party recently, people were talking about spiders as some sort of stock. Is a spider a stock or possibly a mutual fund? How you can protect your organization from fraudIt may profit businesses and other organizations to answer the following question: Could we be the victims of an office supply scam? If a group doesn’t have adequate purchasing controls, the answer is probably yes. Bogus office supply firms scam businesses, churches and fraternal and charitable organizations out of millions of dollars every year. The typical scam involves goods or services that a group routinely orders, such as copier paper, maintenance supplies, and classified advertising. Fraudulent telemarketers will call an organization and lie to get it to pay for items it didn’t order or more than it agreed to for the goods. Run PC software on your Mac and mirror your hard drive for securityTech Talk This column offers solutions to personal technology questions from our readers. Neither the author nor this newspaper endorses products or companies mentioned. Your HealthMindfulness can help ease your stressHouse Calls Stress-reduction courses are sprouting like mushrooms - to the point where it’s becoming difficult to tell them apart. One course, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), is distinguishable for its combination of practices and proven beneficial effects on the health and well-being of people who practice it regularly. Children get confused when parents’ words and body language don’t matchKeys to Parenting Q: Not long ago, at a multigenerational party, I overheard a parent berating her child in the ugliest tone of voice. It was so awful in tone and verbal content that I, as an adult who was not even the object of the attack, felt sick to my stomach and started shaking. Anger does that to me. When I turned around, I felt even worse as my eyes dropped to this little 6-year-old who was standing absolutely paralyzed under the assault of words outlining his stupidity and clumsiness. However, the worst was yet to come. I saw that all the angry, ugly words coming out of the mother’s mouth were accompanied by a smile! My question is, am I crazy to think this child was getting some kind of mixed message - I mean, anger linked with a smile? FamiliesCAN doLos Altos-based foundation assists cancer patients and families with nonmedical expenses In February 1998, less than a month before their first child was born, Bruce and Jackie Whittier Kubicka traveled from their Portola Valley home to Los Angeles so that Bruce could begin cancer treatment at UCLA Medical Center. Health BriefsThe Palo Alto branch of the YMCA of the Mid-Peninsula has scheduled Healthy Kids Day, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., April 27, on the grounds of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, 795 El Camino Real. The family event features performances, demonstrations and other activities. The event is free. For information, call the Palo Alto YMCA at 565-9295. Managing high blood pressure Earn $200 for having your teeth cleanedIf you are age 18 or older, have few or no fillings and are available July 27 and/or July 28, the Dental Hygiene Clinic may be able to use you as a patient. The program will pay up to $200 to qualifying applicants. Screening appointments are held 1:30-4:30 p.m. on Mondays in April, May, June and July, at the Dental Hygiene Clinic, Room 5312, Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Road, Los Altos Hills. Foothill’s dental hygiene program scores high among nation’s schoolsTown Crier Correspondent School’s success has teeth to it Shape up for summerEl Camino therapist offers advice on getting fit without getting hurt Summer brings long, clear, sunny days and many people are eager to enjoy more outdoor activities, from sports and hiking to gardening and sprucing up home exteriors. |
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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