Plans afoot to give downtown a leg up

It’s a gloomy afternoon in downtown Los Altos. A brisk chill fills the air, as a cloudy gray sky hints that another winter drizzle is on the way. Hardly the ideal day for a stroll down Main Street, yet that doesn’t seem to dissuade local resident Evita Twerdahl from attempting to knock out a chunk of her Christmas shopping.

Surely, given the murky conditions, an indoor mall would seem a more fitting option. However, Twerdahl has a reason for keeping her shopping close to home.

Robert Staver, a WWII hero, inventor, artist and loving father

To his loving sons, Robert Staver was more than a lieutenant colonel who tipped the balance of rocketry intelligence - and possibly the balance of power - from Nazi Germany to the United States during World War II. He was a wonderful father who was as loving as he was brilliant.

Mr. Staver, a Los Altos resident for more than 40 years, died Dec. 8 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Palo Alto. He was 86.

Organizers call Latino boycott a moral victory in Los Altos area

Mountain View’s Latino community is calling Friday’s statewide economic boycott a moral victory. Strike organizers Monday were still sorting through the economic impacts that the one-day event had on the community, but estimated that hundreds of local Latinos voluntarily took a day off from shopping, attending school and contributing to the work force as part of a protest against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s repeal of SB60, which would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. Nearly 20 cities from Medicino County to Los Angeles participated in the event, including 10 cities from the greater Bay Area.

Mountain View day laborers lined up along El Camino Friday, but not to look for work. From the early morning commute to dusk, abut 100 workers held signs - “We are not terrorists” - protesting the repealed law.

Police caution public against car burglaries

The holiday shopping season came with a police warning in Los Altos this month as the number of car burglaries hit double digits in town. Police have reported as many as three car burglaries in one afternoon and at least 12 break-ins since Oct. 25. Car burglaries recently surpassed identity theft as the city’s top crime, police said.

The ongoing crime pattern and approach of the holidays - a time when thefts typically increase, according to police - prompted police to send out crime alert bulletins to local churches and schools, where the majority of the burglaries have occurred.

District attorney’s office pursues Condon murder case with plea hearing Friday

Three suspects accused in the highly publicized beating death of a Mountain View woman are scheduled to enter a plea Friday.

The three, Leonel J. Cantor, Jose G. Sosa and David A. Olayo of San Jose, also will be appointed defense attorneys during the hearing, set for 9 a.m. in Dept. 89 at Santa Clara County Superior Court’s Palo Alto courthouse. All three are charged with murder in the Oct. 25 incident involving Jardin Drive resident Doris Condon, 77.

Living through tragedy: Los Altos woman copes with losing her home during Thanksgiving fire

When Anabel Pelham flipped a switch to light her gas fireplace after Thanksgiving dinner, she was expecting a cozy little fire to warm up the autumn evening. What she got was a raging blaze through the crawl space between the ceiling and roof that gutted her Los Altos apartment in a matter of minutes.

Pelham, a San Francisco State University professor, is adjusting to life in a temporary apartment, across the street on Gabilan Street from her burned-out residence . Despite a valiant attempt by Santa Clara County firefighters to save her belongings, much of what she owned was either burned or doused with water or foam used to fight the fire. What belongings remain carry a heavy, foul smell of smoke.

Police publish drunk drivers on crime list during ‘Avoid the 13′ holiday crackdown

Some local motorists may find themselves on a felons list for public review this holiday season. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office is publishing the names and descriptions of those wanted for DUI-related felony charges on the Sheriff’s Crime Target list as part of the county’s annual “Avoid the 13″ holiday crackdown on drinking and driving, which began Friday.

This is the first time the sheriff’s office has included this type of crime on its published wanted list.

Reflecting on a century of flight

A hundred years ago today, two bicycle mechanics, Orville and Wilbur Wright, made a quantum leap in transportation and added another dimension: altitude. They combined a small engine with their latest glider design.

As the result of coin toss, on Dec. 17, 1903, Orville Wright became the first man to fly under power and control. Aeronautical engineers use a concept called the “flight envelope” to measure aircraft performance. It is simply a graph with altitude on the vertical axis and speed on the horizontal.

Setting the record straight over public ed meetings

We believe that the Town Crier has adopted and published in error (Dec. 10 editorial) the impression that the Los Altos Hills Public Education Committee is intending to meet in private.

This is not true. There is no agendized item nor approved discussion to do this.

LETTERS OF DECEMBER 17, 2003

The Jack Huston family wishes to thank the individuals and organizations who contributed so generously to the Los Altos Festival of Lights Parade in Jack’s name.

OBITUARIES FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 17, 2003

born in Youngstown, Ohio on June 30, 1923, passed away peacefully December 2, 2003 in Acapulco, Mexico.

Bill was educated in England at the Birmingham Technical School and followed in his father’s footsteps in becoming a mechanical engineer. After serving in the Royal Air Force and the US Army during WWII, he settled in the US and eventually in Silicon Valley where he worked for over 25 years at GTE Sylvania. After leaving GTE he continued his successful career at ESL until his retirement in 1993. Bill had a wealth of interests including sailing on the San Francisco Bay, traveling for pleasure, passionately celebrating his Welsh heritage, researching his family genealogy, artistic wood working, and discovering nature, but most of all he loved sharing music, laughter, and good times with his family and friends. He will be missed by all who knew him.

Friends, family recall former MV-LA trustee as loving, generous

Tributes poured in last week from numerous family members and friends of Richard G. Bell, a longtime Los Altos resident who cared deeply about family and community, and was there to help anyone who asked.

A memorial service for the former Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District trustee is scheduled for 4 p.m. today at Christ Episcopal Church in Los Altos, where he was an active member. Mr. Bell, 56, was killed Dec. 5 while hiking with his son, Stephen, in Kauai, Hawaii.

Wedding announcements

Send your wedding, engagement or anniversary announcements to Avinell Johnson 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. 335, or e-mail bruceb@latc.com.

Town Crier staff merits City Pride Award

The Los Altos Chamber of Commerce presented its quarterly City Pride Award to the staff of the Los Altos Town Crier last week.

Speaking on behalf of the Community Pride Committee, Ron Labetich explained that the newspaper staff was selected “because the Town Crier has consistently demonstrated its commitment to help build the community week after week.”

City urges residents to start New Year right with ‘Fun Run’

The Los Altos Recreation Department invites families, friends and neighbors to the 2004 New Year’s Day 5K Fun Run, Walk and Roll.

This noncompetitive and free event begins at 9 a.m., Jan. 1, at the Community Plaza, located on the corner of State and Main streets in downtown Los Altos.

Gingerbread house creators turn in ambitious works for LA Rec exhibit

Los Altos gingerbread creations will be on display at the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose through Christmas. The edible works of art had been on view in the Los Altos Community Center, Dec. 8-12.

The gingerbread project dates back to 1987 when the idea first baked in Los Altos. A community volunteer took the recreation director to Coyote Point Museum in San Mateo to view the gingerbread display. They liked what they saw and decided to do the same thing in Los Altos, said Marie Backs, a recreation department office assistant.

What a difference a year makes for Los Altos’ Main Street Café & Books

When Marjolaine French Pastries on Main Street went out of business last January, building owners Paul and Liz Nyberg decided to maintain the location as Main Street Café & Books. They imagined a place that combined savory eats with a relaxing, hometown atmosphere.

Coming up on its first anniversary, the café/bookstore is becoming a social hub for downtown Los Altos, as well as filling the bookstore vacuum in the village.

Budget, school calendar are key challenges for new school board

Bill Cooper was sworn in for his first term and Margot Harrigan for her second term on the board of the Los Altos School District on Dec. 8. Victor Reid is the board’s new president, Jay Thomas is now vice president, and Harrigan is clerk.

Before taking his seat as a regular member, Duane Roberts made his final statement as board president, saying that “the hardest thing a board has to do” is to close a school. Roberts congratulated David Casas on jumping out of the frying pan into the fire as Casas stepped down from the school board to begin his first term on the Los Altos City Council. Casas would have been the board’s new president; as it is, he is the new mayor pro tem.

CLC challenges students to succeed

All teenagers are at risk, because they “have to make difficult decisions armed only with the experiences of a child,” says Emily Johnson, executive director of Challenge Learning Center.

CLC’s work with teens is increasing the odds that those decisions will be the right ones. The non-profit recruits both mainstream and at-risk students from Palo Alto, Menlo-Atherton, Woodside, East Palo Alto, Mid-Peninsula and Alta Vista high schools, from Castilleja, Menlo and other schools, and from Caravan House, a group home in Palo Alto for teenage girls.

Oak Elementary School principal to transfer to Covington in January

Leslie Crane, in her fifth year as principal of Oak Elementary School, will take over as principal of Covington Elementary School immediately after the December break, the Los Altos School District announced last week. Dave McNulty, Covington’s current principal, will take a medical leave of absence beginning in January.

Superintendent Marge Gratiot plans to ask the school board to appoint Diane Finch interim principal of Oak until McNulty returns from his leave, at which time he will become Oak’s permanent principal.

Spartans, Mustangs play to a 3-all draw

In a final tuneup before the league season, the Mountain View High girls soccer team battled visiting Homestead to a 3-3 draw last Thursday.

Despite the less-than-ideal outcome, the game gave both teams positive vibrations as they headed into league play.

New downtown stationery store offers paper imported from Italy

The magic of Italy has inspired one of downtown Los Altos’ newest retail stores, Piacere Mio (”My Pleasure”).

The stationery store, at 308 State St., offers fine paper products for custom-made wedding and birth announcements, thank-you cards, photo albums and journals. For hopeless romantics, the store sells paper imported from Italy so that love letters to Sophia Loren can be crafted without having to leave Los Altos.

Ronald McDonald House reopens

Eight-year-old Julie Rodriguez almost lost her heart, quite literally, when she took a turn for the worse after undergoing surgery to receive an artificial pulmonary valve last summer. Cardiomyopathy, damage to the heart muscle, took hold of Julie’s heart and put her life in jeopardy.

This twist of fate brought Julie to Stanford, where she could be treated by doctors at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Like other organ transplant candidates, Julie is waiting until a heart becomes available. The Ronald McDonald House at Stanford has become a home away from home for Julie, her parents and her three siblings, who have traveled from Albuquerque, N.M.