Behind the call

They’re allowed to whistle while they work, but their workplace is always a potentially hostile environment. They’re often cursed at on the job and occasionally harassed on the way to the parking lot. They are paid little - if at all - yet many observers expect them to be perfect.

They’re sports officials.

CSMA teacher leaves for Russia after deportation order upheld

Despite local support and relentless pleading from the Russian Jewish community, U.S. immigration officials were coldly unswayed: An early January decision to deport young piano teacher Yana Slobodova must stand.

As a result of last week’s affirmation, the former Community School of Music and Arts teacher left the country on Sunday for St. Petersburg, Russia. She leaves behind her husband and 20-month-old son to face an uncertain future with few friends and relatives awaiting her arrival.

Los Altos council launches hotel talks with Rapp

The newly elected Los Altos City Council met with developer Roxy Rapp for the first time Tuesday night to discuss the possibility of building a boutique hotel on the city-owned property at the corner of First and Main streets.

The former council had placed the project on hold indefinitely last May and severed ties with Rapp after neither party could agree on lease arrangements.

Driver involved in Hwy. 280 fatality pleads ‘no contest’

The San Francisco woman who killed two motorists during a head-on collision on Interstate 280 in Los Altos Hills last summer pleaded no contest to manslaughter charges Feb. 23.

Cheryl Lynn Morden, 37, was driving a yellow utility truck southbound on 280 just north of El Monte Road when she drifted across the dirt and foliage median Aug. 4 and collided head-on with a green Geo Prism. The impact instantly killed the Prism’s passenger Nanu Quintnan Guerrero, 25, of Marin County, according to the California Highway Patrol. Oleg Shcherbakov, 73, was driving behind the Prism in a different lane when the collision occurred. His Mazda Protege struck the back of Morden’s truck and spun his car out of control. Police said he hit the center median several hundred feet away from the other two vehicles and died on the scene.

Controversial LAH landscape plan gets the go-ahead, solicitors don’t

Los Altos Hills residents Bill and Betty Kerns will be allowed to move forward with controversial landscape plans for their Francemont Drive property, but not before beefing it up and increasing the maintenance deposit by $20,000.

The Kernses will be allowed to move into their already completed house after completing the landscaping on its northeast side.

LA lawyers launch national low carb lawsuit

Do you check ingredient labels? Runners, bikers, dieters, diabetics and anyone else who depends on nutritious snacks to supplement their diet do. They trust the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to guarantee accurate representation. But what you see is not always what you get.

A Los Altos law firm, Packard, Packard and Johnson, spearheaded by attorney and city council member Ron Packard, has filed a class action suit to force five vendors to comply with FDA requirements. The plaintiffs include Jamie Pesek, a trainer at Axis Personal Training and Spa in Mountain View, The trial is scheduled Aug. 2 in Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco.

Local robberies may be linked to home services

Police warn that Los Altos homes are prime targets for burglaries facilitated by cleaning services. Although Los Altos police have not linked any recent burglary cases to specific cleaning agencies, they are investigating potential leads, said Los Altos Police Sgt. John Hughmanick.

The most brutal case possibly connected to house cleaners is the Oct. 25 murder of Mountain View resident Doris Condon, who lived behind Los Altos High School, Hughmanick said. Three burglars allegedly beat Condon to death after they broke into the senior’s home. Another recent burglary case involved a cleaner who stole checks and then forged them.

Sumo has avoided the vices of modern sports

“That guy has boobs!” my son observed, whereas my daughter had only one, incredulous question: “Who fixes their hair?”

We were watching sumo wrestling highlights on television, and clearly my children were missing the finer aspects of the sport. However, they were also sharing what I considered to be quality time with their visiting grandmother, for whom I had ordered “TV Japan” on cable so she could watch Japanese language programming during her stay.

LETTERS OF MARCH 3, 2004

Before Berry Avenue was “improved” to be a Safe Route to School, the street was congested during the times students were driven to and from Loyola School. This was frustrating for nearby residents seeking to navigate the street. So they sought a “fix” and necessarily left the final decisions and solutions to the powers that be.

OBITUARIES FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 3, 2004

age 50, died on February 6, 2004 at his parent’s home after a long and courageous struggle with schizophrenia. He is survived by his parents Dr. and Mrs. G. Melvin Stevens of Los Altos, brother Charles Stevens and his wife Ada, sister Susan Goldberg and her husband Glenn, and four loving nieces. Grant grew up in Palo Alto, graduated from Cubberly High School and attended UC Santa Cruz. He was a resident of Santa Cruz for many years until his death. Private services were held. Donations may be made in his memory to: Stanford University Dept. of Psychiatry, 401 Quarry Rd, Stanford, CA 94305. Please designate your gift for Schizophrenia Research Fund. Attn: Brad Cherry. Arrangements under the direction of the Los Altos Chapel of Spangler Mortuaries, 399 S. San Antonio Road, Los Altos.

at rest December 25, 2003 in Mountain View, CA. He was 79. Preceded in death by his wife, Josephine A. Zelski in 1998. Beloved father of Jo Ann Fishpaw, Diane Zelski and Denise Zelski. Devoted grandfather of Janel, Jonathan and Jarrett. Mr. Zelski was a native of Waterbury, CT.

Josephine Bouladier, 95, lifelong learner, mother to former LA mayor Marge Bruno

Josephine Bouladier died at Redwood Villa in Mountain View Feb. 20. She was 95.

Mrs. Bouladier was the mother of Marge Bruno, longtime resident and former mayor of Los Altos.

Wedding announcements

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

LAH resident among JA ‘Hall of Famers’

Los Altos Hills resident and high-tech heavyweight Bill Krause will be among five Silicon Valley leaders honored March 30 at Junior Achievement’s 18th annual Business Hall of Fame ceremony.

Krause, a co-founder of 3Com among other ventures, will be honored along with: Intel CEO Craig Barrett; Irwin Federman, partner at U.S. Venture Partners; Dan and Charmaine Warmenhoven, Network Appliance CEO and associate director at the San Jose Diosese’s Special Ministries, respectively; and county schools superintendent Colleen Wilcox.

Helping seniors help themselves

Cathy Chavez, senior services program director at Community Services Agency (CSA), visits clients at the hospital and later in their homes to assist them with their most pressing needs. Those needs most frequently include medical care, prescriptions, transportation, housing or specialized foods.

“We service about 200 seniors a year with two case managers,” said Chavez. “Our services are supported by the cities and are free, compared with other agencies that charge up to $100 an hour.”

Defense analyst says we could lose terrorism war

John Arquilla, an associate professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, addressed the Morning Forum of Los Altos Feb. 17 on “How we could lose the war on terror.”

An active, informed populace is key in the fight against modern terrorism, Arquilla said.

Bullis supporters ask for traffic studies

A group spearheaded by Bullis Charter School supporters asked the Los Altos School District last week to conduct environmental impact reports at the former Bullis-Purissima School and two other possible sites for the charter school.

The group holds that traffic at Covington Elementary School and the Santa Rita Elementary camp school on the Egan Junior High campus is already heavy and will become worse if the charter school is co-located at either site.

Students have good use for spring-cleaning castoffs

One morning in 1995, 12-year-old Craig Kielburger of Ontario, Canada, sat down to read the comics. Instead, an article on the front page of the Toronto Star that detailed the murder of a young Pakistani boy for speaking out against child labor caught his attention. Horrified that a 12-year-old had worked 12 hours a day, six days a week making carpets, and then was killed for protesting such inhumane conditions, Kielburger decided to take action. He founded an organization to free children from abuse and exploitation - Kids Can Free the Children.

Last Spring, seven students at Woodside Priory School in Portola Valley learned of the impressive work of Free the Children and decided they wanted to help. They founded a chapter of Free the Children called Woodside Priory Youth in Action.

Unable to shoot straight, Lancers fall in playoffs

For two quarters, the St. Francis High boys basketball team played like it belonged in the postseason, despite owning a 10-17 regular-season record.

Unfortunately for the Lancers, a slow start and an equally anemic finish knocked them out of the Central Coast Section Division III contention in a 52-40 loss to Burlingame last Saturday at Piedmont Hills High.

Low inventory of homes for sale in area

“If you price your home at a comparable neighborhood price, it will sell with three to five offers.” That statement was repeated numerous times at last Friday’s Silicon Valley Association of Realtors district tour.

On the other hand realtors also said, “If the house is overpriced people won’t look at it.”

Creating your own good luck

Can you plan to have good luck? Isn’t luck something that just happens? Well, several career experts think you can create your own good fortune.

Dr. John Krumboltz and Kathleen Mitchell define “Planned Happenstance” as a way of being that makes good luck more likely. For job hunters, this means finding a great job and career!

This Lexus line is a blurry one

We don’t get it. The model numbering system used by Lexus, that is.

Where other carmakers spend money - sometimes tons of it - to invent names that try to convey what a particular model is supposed to be about, Lexus just uses a system of letters and numbers. ES, GS, GX, IS, LS, LX, RX, and SC cover the Lexus range of eight models, but we challenge anyone to correctly put these into order by price, or tell us without any hints what each model is supposed to do.

Los Altos families open hearts and homes through adoption

The Bay Area is home to more than 200 adopted Russian-born children, many of them living in Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.

Adoption Adventure Network which facilitates these adoptions, also arranges American Culture Camps for disadvantaged Russian children, 4 to 10 years old. The organization was founded by David Avilla, who serves as its director.

Jobs for teens will be scarce this summer

Teens may find that snagging this year’s summer job is a job in and of itself. Given the bleak job market, adults with college degrees and work experience are competing for minimum wage employment that used to be fair game for high school students. The fact is teenagers are being squeezed out of the summer work force.

“It’s bleak right now,” said Russell Brunson, Nova’s youth employment program supervisor in Sunnyvale. “A lot of adults are taking survival jobs because they need to, so 14- or 15-year-olds need to be open to interning