Neighbor’s water run off creating stagnant pools on widow’s property

Despite the arid landscape of Los Altos Hills, 60-year resident Ruth McMahon said she hasn’t seen a dry day in three years.

Because her Burke Lane property sits on a slight slope, dark, brackish pools of water appear from under her neighbor’s fence and collect in low areas on her property.

City to solicit second round of bids for First and Main site

The Los Altos City Council is scheduled to set down the guidelines for another round of project bids for the city’s First and Main streets property Tuesday night - this time with an eye on housing and retail.

This will be the second time city officials will solicit Request For Proposals for the site. The council unexpectedly scrapped plans to build a hotel on the .78-acre property last September following months of project negotiations with developer Roxy Rapp and an intensive selection process that included eight proposals. Rapp’s 90-room hotel beat out plans to build a movie theater with housing, another hotel project, a business complex, an expanded Safeway parking lot and retail centers designed by the property’s current tenants, The Home Consignment Center and Nielsen’s Martinizing Dry Cleaning.

New El Camino Hospital to cost $298 million

The El Camino Hospital Board of Directors Nov. 13 unanimously approved a master plan for what they’re deeming, “the hospital community of the future.”

With an estimated cost of $298 million, the new hospital will integrate technology with efficiency, directors said.

Most of Los Altos wired for DSL

The wait for high-speed Internet access is over for most Los Altos neighborhoods. The setup of vaults in all areas that Pacific Bell targeted for Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) hookup are complete, a spokesman for SBC Internet Communications, the parent company of Pacific Bell, confirmed last week.

“We’ve met our goals. There are no more planned deployments in Los Altos,” Fletcher Cook said. “There isn’t an area that is beyond the (required) distance of 17,500 feet from a DSL housing facility.”

He did chicken right KFC, co-founded by Los Altos Hills resident Pete Harman, celebrates 50th anniversary

Pete and Arline Harman’s lives changed the evening a white-haired, goateed acquaintance from Kentucky cooked dinner for them at their restaurant. That was 50 years ago and the humble beginnings of the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain, when Col. Harland Sanders cooked his famous chicken.

Today, there are more than 11,000 KFC restaurants throughout the world, and the Harmans live comfortably in Los Altos Hills. Pete, now in his 80s, still keeps in touch with the Harman Management company on First Street in Los Altos and visits his 307 restaurants in California, Colorado, Washington and Utah. Each of the restaurants is a separate corporation with individual stockholders.

Dry cleaners at First and Main contests Los Altos rent increase

The Los Altos City Council last week started eviction proceedings against a dry-cleaning establishment leasing space on the city-owned property at First and Main streets. The property is slated for a retail development or a hotel.

City Attorney Marc Hynes said Jin Lee, who owns Nielsen’s 1 Hour Martinizing, allegedly has been delinquent with rent and taxes based on a July 2001 lease renewal. Hynes said Lee has continued to make his monthly payments at the former rent rate. He owes the city $70,636, according to a city bill.

LAH residents begin referendum drive to thwart OK’d paths plan

A new residents group has emerged in protest of recent actions carried out by the lame-duck Los Altos Hills City Council.

Citizens for the Preservation of Los Altos Hills members are poised to pass a referendum to repeal council’s Nov. 7 adoption of the 2002 Master Path Plan, according to a group organizer.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

It is sad to see that there are many issues surrounding the Cupertino Union School District that trouble parents and community members alike.

One recent incident that I find troubling is the recent action item that came in front of the board. It was a vote to offer the contracts of modernization to two construction firms.

Communication gap downtown?

The city of Los Altos spent thousands in consulting fees two years back to decide that a hotel would best fit the controversial corner of Main and First streets. Now the city is trying to attract new developers for the site, while the originally approved developer, Roxy Rapp, said he has not been told that he’s out of the picture.

Rapp has offered the city $3 million cash for the lot the city purchased for about $1.9 million four years ago. His plan calls a boutique hotel and for 75 additional parking spaces for the public. Furthermore, he says he is willing to work out arrangements with the current tenants, Neilsen’s One Hour Martinizing and the Home Consignment Center, to free the city from further threats of condemnation proceedings.

Weddings

Send your wedding and engagement announcements to Richard Billings at the Los Altos Town Crier, 138 Main St., Los Altos 94022.

Photos are welcome. If you want your photo returned, include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. For more information, call 948-9000, ext. 318, or e-mail

OBITUARY POLICY

WITH PHOTOS - Wednesday prior to next week’s publication.

SJ homeless shelter more active than ever

Rose begins her day after breakfast by leaving “home” and hiking to nearby Sacred Heart Church in downtown San Jose. There she uses a phone and a computer to send out her resumes on e-mail. Rose, who once managed a law office, is actively seeking a job as a paralegal.

What is different from most of the valley residents is that Rose’s “home” is the homeless shelter sponsored by the First Christian Church on Fourth Street in downtown San Jose. Why is she homeless? Like many others in the shelter, she simply ran out of money. But with lots of freshly washed curly hair and a happy smile, Rose is optimistic about getting back to work.

Los Altos School District’s CACF presents ideas for 6-year financial plan

It was standing room only at the Los Altos School District’s board meeting, Nov. 12, as the district’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee for Finance presented its six-year financial plan. Scenarios inolving the closure of an exisiting elementary school campus or campuses were included. No action was taken or decision made at the meeting.

The volunteer committee, composed of community members and leaders, has been working with the district to develop a 6-year financial plan, using the 2001/02 educational program as its baseline.

Blue Ribbon Task Force asks for input into teacher shortage in Silicon Valley

Members of the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Blue Ribbon Task Force came to Los Altos, Nov. 14, to hear suggestions from the public about solutions for the critical teacher shortage in the county.

The task force was formed as a way to identify and solve problems facing public education in Santa Clara County, according to the office of education.

Eagles survive a scare, Lancers cruise in quarterfinals

After winning the first two games, the Los Altos High girls volleyball team almost let last Saturday’s Central Coast Section quarterfinal match slip away.

A stubborn and scrappy South San Francisco team battled back to force a decisive fifth game at Santa Clara High.

MVHS among 4 local football teams to make playoffs

In what may be a first for local football, four of the five area teams have qualified for the Central Coast Section playoffs.

Mountain View, St. Francis, Gunn and Homestead will play opening-round games this weekend.

Making history - with a little luck Adobe had right partner at right time, founders say

Luck and timing — that’s what Charles Geschke and John Warnock attribute to their Silicon Valley Cinderella story.

The Adobe Systems co-founders, who met at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center in the early 1970s, spoke at Moffett Field Nov. 12 to more than 100 people about how their software revolutionized desktop publishing and made it a $1.2 billion a year mainstay in a constantly shifting high-tech industry.

Plans on tap for new Trader Joe’s at Foothill Plaza in Los Altos

If you’re planing to dine at Caffe Dijon in the Foothill Plaza, think twice: The building is empty. It is scheduled for demolition to make room for a Trader Joe’s specialty retail grocery.

The company plans to replace the 4,500-square-foot former restaurant site with an 11,000-square-foot building.