Beyond skin deep

Sri Lanka’s civil war spanned two decades, took 60,000 lives and displaced millions of people.

The war may seem far removed from the quiet bedroom communities of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, but one resident has made it her mission to alleviate some of the pain lingering in the aftermath.

Large medical office building approved at El Camino

As far back as November 2002, the El Camino Hospital Facilities Master Plan mentioned a new medical office building on the campus. A feasibility study revealed there is interest and demand for medical office space on the campus sufficient to support a minimum building size of 67,500 square feet.

At the recent board of directors meeting, the board accepted the findings and authorized $500,000 to begin an initial planning and design phase.

Housing authority to be given option to purchase First and Main site

The Santa Clara County Housing Authority will have the first opportunity to purchase the city-owned property at First and Main streets in downtown Los Altos in upcoming weeks. The council agreed last week to offer the property to the authority as well as to the Los Altos and Mountain View-Los Altos Union High school districts and several public recreational departments, as part of the state’s legal process before putting it on the real estate market for a hotel development.

If the housing authority chooses not to develop low- and moderate-income housing there and none of the other agencies express interest in purchasing the property within 60 days, the city is free to sell the lot to hotel developer Roxy Rapp.

Rosita pool environmental study open for public comment

The pool project planned for Rosita Park, which a federal judge put on hold last July after neighbors sued Los Altos, is back on the council’s agenda and open for public comment.

The city this week opened a 45-day public review period of the court-mandated Draft Environmental Impact Report by consultant group David J. Powers & Associates. The study, released Monday after the Town Crier’s press deadline, is intended to give insight on whether the city should reject a pool at the site, modify plans or move forward with the proposed three-pool complex.

LAH council OKs pursuit of ’solar orchard’ at new town hall

The Los Altos Hills City Council last week approved consideration of a 37-kilowatt solar panel system for the new town hall. The decision allows Councilman Breene Kerr, chairman of the new town hall committee and heading up the green energy program for the committee, to go forward with the plans.

“I think this is an excellent thing to do,” said Councilman Mike O’Malley after the vote to consider the solar panel system.

Hawthorne traffic calming awaits residents’ decision

Supporters of traffic calming on Hawthorne Avenue find themselves in a bit of a catch-22. They want the city to install temporary or trial calming devices such as bulbouts to sway neighborhood opinion in favor of permanent devices.

City officials, however, want the neighborhood signed on to traffic-calming improvements before they do any work.

Several LA, LAH positives to note

• Congratulations to the Los Altos Police Department - and the community in general - for Los Altos being deemed the safest place to live in Santa Clara County. The FBI’s annual uniform crime report, which noted this, also pointed out that Los Altos ranked better than the national average in every major crime category, based on 17,000 police agencies nationwide. Los Altos was the county’s only city to report fewer than 1,000 crimes per 100,000 people (930) during 2002.

• Kudos to the Los Altos City Council for progressing on the city-owned property at First and Main streets. The council began a legal process last week of offering the property to the county housing authority and the local school districts before putting the .78-acre property on the market. The intention is to sell the land to hotel developer Roxy Rapp, an action we have long advocated. This action also shows the city’s commitment to work with Rapp, who has indicated he will not build the hotel unless the city sells him the land.

Saluting Steiner, remembering Wakerly

Steiner, who is retiring as executive director of the environmental education center and preserve in Los Altos Hills, led the nonprofit through periods of tremendous growth, growth that led to more varied programs and the construction of sustainable buildings that are environmentally friendly models for energy efficiency.

Wakerly, founder of the Mountain View Voice newspaper, led a number of philanthropic efforts, including creation of St. Joseph the Worker Center to provide a base for day workers. Wakerly passed away April 5.

LETTERS OF APRIL 21, 2004

This letter is an attempt to clarify comments in the “Letters to the Editor” in the April 14 edition. The question was asked, “How do the (local) schools’ scores compare to schools in similarly affluent neighborhoods across the country?”

OBITUARIES FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 21, 2004

age 87, passed away on March 19, 2004. Marjorie was a resident of Los Altos since 1950. She is survived by her son Kel Carson of Los Altos Hills, CA.

of Mountain View passed away on April 8, 2004. She was 99. Wife of the late John Guerrero, mother of Dorothy Whelan and her husband Larry of Mi Wuk Village and Juanita Winkleman and her husband Wink of Sunnyvale, grandmother of Larry Whelan and his wife Traci, John Winkleman and his wife Kim and Julie Nakamura and her husband Rob and great grandmother of Corie, Kiely, Miles and Maile. She was a native of Russia.

Richard Gross, Los Altos Hills resident, longtime Stanford social studies instructor

Education Professor Emeritus Richard E. Gross, a Stanford University alumnus who broadly influenced more than a generation of history and social studies teachers, died April 2 of natural causes at his home in Los Altos Hills. He was 83.

“Gross developed a concept of social studies education that was not limited to history or civics,” said education Professor Elliot Eisner, his longtime colleague. “In doing so, he helped democratize (it). He wrote in a progressive orientation to education.”

Mary Marsh speaks about cyber-attacks, threats to national secrets

By Joan Garvin / Town Crier Correspondent

The Federal Bureau of Investigation can no longer rely on the storied methods of the last century. Eliot Ness needed only a battering ram and submachine guns to confiscate illegal goods. But that’s not the case for today’s FBI.

Author Amy Tan charms Celebrity Forum crowd with childhood tales, inspirations

When acclaimed writer Amy Tan walked on stage at the Celebrity Forum April 16, the first thing she did was point to the projection screen that super-sized her every movement.

“I don’t think I noticed this when I came here last night,” she said. “It’s a good thing I dyed my roots.”

Stanford education professor gives community tips on changing schools

Local citizens and educators heard Stanford Professor Steve Davis discuss what it takes to change our schools at the third in the series of Community Dialogues on Education.

Davis said that the most important actions community members can take include:

Students find E. coli but no mercury in river

The Guadalupe River contains a high concentration of E. coli but no mercury, concluded Los Altos High School students who spent three months studying six sites along the river from the pristine highland stream to San Francisco Bay.

On six Saturdays from November to February, 30 students in Carl Babb’s freshman biology class investigated water in the hills, the Almaden mining area and metropolitan sites in Saratoga and San Jose.

Lacking size, not skill

It may be the smallest varsity team in the history of Los Altos High gymnastics, but the Eagles are showing there can be strength without numbers.

“They have great skills on the varsity team,” said Los Altos head coach Lina Slack. “They’re still a treat to watch - even if there are only four of them.”

Eighty new properties went up for sale over weekend

Last Friday more than 80 properties were put up for sale in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View. Two weeks before only 60 properties were put up for sale.

Several trends are beginning to develop with homeowners. The one most prevalent is the current tax law in the United States that allows homeowners to sell their homes and pocket up to $500,000 in profits tax-free. The other trend is moving up to a larger house.

Send your wedding, engagement or anniversary announcements to Myrna Hayes at the Los Altos Town Crier, 138 Main St., Los Altos 94022.

Guy and Martha Cutler celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on March 9.

Follow the rainbow to health

Choose variety, color and freshness. Exercise, eat - go for taste - and sleep. Then do it all over again! Life is good.

This prescription for a healthful life style sounds like instructions on how to be a child again; and it does help adults stay young. The Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Karen Ross shares it with the earnest shoppers she guides through a local grocery once a month as she teaches them how to choose foods for a healthful diet.

Former Olympian joined by her sons to teach swimming

Susan Roy Jones has spent more time in the water than most fish. The former Olympian and one-time world record holder in the 100-meter breast stroke is in her fourth decade teaching people how to swim and has just begun a new year of swimming lessons.

The likable Roy Jones, 55, has been teaching from the quiet confines of her parents’ Los Altos home since 1988. This year, she has help. Two of her four sons, Kevin, 19, and Ricky, 15, will teach as well, combining with Roy Jones to offer lessons six days a week during the summer.