Daylight for day workers

The English class is in session Thursday morning at the Mountain View Worker Center. The sparse church room has been converted into a makeshift classroom and community space. A few dozen men and women sit at the rows of tables, speaking Spanish. To prepare them for the day ahead and the prospect of work, volunteers hand out a desayuno (breakfast) of homemade tamales and coffee.

A group of approximately 15-20 workers is gathered around Sue Sullivan of Los Altos Hills as she offers handouts and pencils. The handouts point to English names for furniture in the home. She writes the words in English and Spanish on a whiteboard. Chair is la silla, curtain is la cortina and carpet is la alfombra.

Unsolved murder from 28 years ago resurfaces in Los Altos

Laura Anne Beyerly attended first-period physics class at Los Altos High School the morning of March 28, 1978. The 17-year-old was wearing a flowered black shirt, black pants and brown platform shoes. After class, witnesses noticed her talking to her ex-boyfriend, Scott Schultz, in the school parking lot. She had stayed up all night arguing with him, according to her mother’s statement. And then she was never seen alive again.

Michael Schembri, an investigator for the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office, has reopened Beyerly’s case because he believes her murder can be solved. After his retirement from the San Jose Police Department, Schembri continues to chase down crimes nearly forgotten and still unsolved.

Negotiations close, leave redistricting uncertain

Negotiations among local school districts, the town of Los Altos Hills and Bullis Charter School ended without resolution after a final closed meeting last Thursday.

The proposed reopening of a $10 million public elementary school at the Bullis-Purissima site in Los Altos Hills by 2008 seems certain. Yet to be decided is whether Bullis Charter School will move to that site, as it has requested since being founded three years ago, or whether a Los Altos School District elementary school will reopen at that site, as proposed by the district this winter.

Union pushes El Camino Hospital for more records disclosures

The issue of public disclosure again engulfed El Camino Hospital last week. The hospital’s service workers union, and some patients and residents filed a lawsuit against the hospital April 18 to open up compensation and financial records. Hospital officials said they were already doing that.

Members of Service Employee International Union (SEIU) Local 715 marched outside the hospital, renewing calls for an election to restructure the union. Assemblywoman Sally Lieber announced the introduction of a bill Friday clarifying El Camino Hospital’s status as a public entity.

Griffin House lawsuit challenges district claims

Friends of Griffin House are pushing forward with a lawsuit that challenges the Foothill-De Anza Community College District argument for tearing down Griffin House, once the home of Willard Griffin, a founder of Del Monte Packing. The brown-shingled house, situated near the entrance of Foothill College, was bought for the college in the late 1950s.

Judge Leslie Nichols will preside over the hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court June 5. The lawsuit was filed Aug. 30 and argues that the district should follow the “environmentally superior” alternative, which involves keeping the house intact and adding an adjacent building.

Police Blotter

Burglary
April 20, 8:30 a.m., 900 block of Clinton Road: window smashed and GPS stolen.
April 20, 10:08 a.m., 100 block of Portola Ave.: $300 worth of property stolen from vehicle, including a camera and a pair of binoculars.
April 21, 7:42 a.m., 600 block of Springer Tr.: Purse stolen from vehicle.
April 21, […]

City Briefs

The Los Altos City Council is set to appoint a new member to fill a vacancy on the Planning Commission at its May 9 meeting. Paul Van Buren, Daniel Gonzales, Cameron Hamblin, Lynette Lee Eng, Pablo Luther, Fred Etemadieh, Ken Girdley, Christopher Nicholson and Megan Satterlee are scheduled for preliminary interviews with the council Thursday.

Letters to the Editor

Other options to BIDs
The Los Altos Village Association would like to respond to the front-page BID (business improvement district) story of your April 5 edition of the Los Altos Town Crier.
It is a well-known fact that services the city of Los Altos offers the downtown have been in decline the past two […]

Pagan babies

I spent Easter Sunday having brunch with my family, mulling over childhood Easter memories. Some of the images that popped into my mind qualify me for, I believe, some sort of “Weirdest Childhood Ever” prize. My family is Buddhist (though not of the consistent temple-going variety), and I grew up surrounded by Chicano and Latino Catholics. I also attended a Catholic school in downtown Los Angeles run by the Maryknoll missionary order.

You didn’t have to be Catholic to attend the school; however, you had to be a least half-Japanese, a policy which even back then was criticized as being racist. I spent my K-8 grade years being one of four unbaptized students in my class.

Los Altos History Museum talk featuring Rich Douglas on ‘A Thread of History’

The Los Altos History Museum presents another of its gallery talks, 7:30 p.m., Thursday. Longtime Palo Alto resident Rich Douglas, of Douglas’ Sewing Machines and Fabrics, will present this spring’s talk, “A Thread of History.”

In conjunction with the museum’s current exhibit featuring the history of sewing machines, Douglas will discuss his multi generational family business.

Weddings & Engagements

Tera Meyer and Peter Martincic
Tera Meyer and Peter Martincic were married June 25 at the Valley Presbyterian Church in Portola Valley. Their reception followed at the Fremont Hills Country Club.
The bride is the daughter of Laine and Claudia Meyer of Los Altos. She graduated from Mountain View High School, received a bachelor’s […]

History museum encourages artist submissions

The Los Altos History Museum is seeking original artwork for its summer 2006 exhibition, “Los Altos Impressions.” The exhibit will run from May 25 through Aug. 20. The Los Altos- and Los Altos Hills-themed exhibit will focus on historic or current homes, businesses and buildings; landscapes, scenes and flowers; and scenes with people, local events and portraits.

To submit entries, mail or drop off photographs of up to six works with a submission form by Sunday to the Los Altos History Museum, 51 N. San Antonio Road, Los Altos 94022. Submission forms are available at the Los Altos History Museum, Gallery Nine, ViewPoints Gallery or from the museum’s Web site.

Longtime Los Altos painter brings distant fantasies to the canvas

It’s the quirky juxtapositions that make Joseph Fuchs’ paintings worth a second look. In a quiet, cobble stoned courtyard in Venice, two lovers huddle together, in a seemingly intense discussion. The man, is oddly dressed in a coarse white uniform with towering hat and dark mask. Fuchs’ painting “Paolo and Francesca” alludes to the doomed lovers from Dante’s “Inferno.”

The white-clad man is Pulcinella, a clown from the commedia dell’ arte, an improvisational theater that began in 16th-century Italy and is still performed today.

Art historian details politics behind treasures (for Morning Forum audience)

Andrew Stangel, professor of history and civilization at the University of New Hampshire, treated the April 18 Los Altos Morning Forum audience to a sampling of stories behind some of the western world’s best-known cultural artifacts, details of their discoveries and the political struggles to decide where they should permanently reside. His talk spanned treasures from Babylon in the sixh century B.C. to Heinrich Schliemann’s discovery of the city of Troy in 1873.

Stangel is an art historian who became familiar with European museum treasures and archaeological sites when he directed the Art History Tours Program for the United States Armed Forces in Europe. His position on who owns the artistic treasures of civilization is very clear: They belong to all of us as part of our collective cultural heritage. And lessons of our cultural history and appreciation of past civilizations can be most effectively understood when the artifacts appear in public venues such as museums, where they are preserved.

Hidden Villa camp’s 60th anniversary gala Saturday

Hidden Villa has scheduled a public gala Saturday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its summer camp. Josephine and Frank Duveneck, longtime owners of the 1,600-acre farm and preserve, founded the country’s first multicultural summer camp in 1945.

Hidden Villa campers and counselors from throughout the decades extolled the beauty of the sprawling Los Altos Hills wilderness preserve and touted the benefits of attending the multicultural camp.

El Camino Hospital opens new dialysis center

El Camino Hospital’s outpatient dialysis services recently began operations in the hospital’s new Oak Pavilion, located at the corner of South and Hospital drives.

The center, which came in on budget, opened just 18 months after the hospital board approved the project.

WISH List pays tribute to John, Elaine Chambers

The Women in the Senate and House (WISH) List will honor “Leaders who Master the Middle” at its eighth annual Bay Area Reception today at the Los Altos Hills home of Sigrun and Wilfred Corrigan, chairman of LSI Logic. Elaine and John Chambers, president and chief executive officer of Cisco Systems will headline the event. The WISH List will also recognize Jean Curtiss, the San Jose Councilwoman Pat Dando, Sally Herrick and Cathie Bennett Warner for their leadership in the community.

“We are pleased to be honoring these courageous individuals who have worked to unify the Republican Party and our community,” said Charwoman Danelle Storm Rosati. “Through their support for moderate Republican politics and governance, these extraordinary community leaders have ‘Mastered the Middle,’ while others have taken another path.”

120 dogs hop for Easter treats in Los Altos Hills

More than 100 dogs and their owners braved morning rain to attend Los Altos Hills’ third annual “Hoppin’ Hounds Easter Egg Hunt” April 15 at Westwind Barn and Byrne Preserve.

Many different breeds and ages of dogs attended the event, which raised more than $650 for Palo Alto Animal Services. The youngest dog was a 12-week-old Vizsla, the oldest was an 18-year-old mixed breed.

Community Briefs

Open Studios to display art
Silicon Valley Open Studios 2006 will feature 21 artists from Los Altos and Los Altos Hills among the approximately 330 artists participating in this year’s event. Local residents will display their artwork in their homes May 6 and 7. As a preview, members of the Open Studios board […]

Driving rules toughened for teenagers

Local high school students feeling the pinch from city restrictions on street parking near campus also are prohibited from carpooling for a year under the state’s graduated licensing system.

The city has banned students from parking in the Valencia Drive neighborhood bordering Los Altos High School, and Mountain View High School neighborhoods may soon follow suit.

Refinancing and parcel tax renewal expected to bolster LASD finances

With 20 percent of Los Altos School District’s funding coming from parcel tax dollars, the district plans to seek a renewal of its $597 annual parcel tax in the November election.

The district receives most of its funding from the state. But as statewide budget cuts have multiplied, the district has turned to bond measures, a parcel tax and fund raising to fill in funding gaps.

Schools Briefs

LASD holds annual Junior Olympics
The Los Altos School District will host the Junior Olympics at Los Altos High School Saturday, an annual tradition that allows fourth- through sixth-graders to select and participate in various athletic events.
The opening ceremony, where the students parade around the track carrying their school banner, wearing their school […]

LASD increases abuse-awareness funds

The Los Altos School District unanimously approved a 10 percent funding increase for the Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC) at its April 17 meeting. The organization will receive $27,192 this year.

CHAC’s executive director, Monique Kane, said she was delighted. “The extra money will enable us to enhance our programs in the schools and help to pay stipends for our interns.”

Woodside Priory students canvass capital

Museums and monuments, U.S. Supreme Court justices and Japanese drummers were the order of the day when eighth-graders from Woodside Priory School visited Washington, D.C., April 4-8.

David Bessin of Los Altos and Ali Goodyear and Lani Wenger from Los Altos Hills joined their classmates on the trip, which included an audience with Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Eagles victorious in return from long layoff

In its return to action after nearly two weeks off due to rainouts and spring break, the Los Altos High baseball team showed few signs of rust.

The Eagles won both their games last week, improving to 10-5-2 overall.

Mtn. View golfers shooting for championship - and pizza

There’s more than pride and a competitive spirit that drives the Mountain View High boys golf team. There’s also pizza.

“They are constantly trying to break par so that I have to buy pizza for the team,” coach Steven Miyano said. “But if they shoot poorly, they have to buy me a pizza.”

Review Godwin captures snapshot of Cubans waiting for Castro to go

In “Queen of the Underworld: A Novel” (Random House, 2006), Gail Godwin writes flawlessly; there isn’t a sentence in the whole book that makes you stumble. You always know exactly what she means. Though it’s not a book for speed-reading, many of the sentences warrant a second read.

I find it refreshing that the book is not plot driven, and there is no plot resolution; the book just ends, with loose strings left hanging.

Expressions add spice to Australia train trip

“For a ripper of a time, join us for a journey on The Ghan railroad,” declared Tim Scott, president of Pionair, the company providing ground services for Town Crier Train Tours’ journey across Australia, Sept. 3 - 14. Scott has an endless fund of Aussie expressions that can make conversation akin to solving crossword puzzles.

Talking about recent acquisitions by the National Railway Museum in Adelaide, Scott referred to “historic PA car.” That’s shorthand for “pay car,” a carriage like a miniature bank, with a safe and money cage as well as the usual tables and chairs. Early in the 1900s the train stopped wherever it came upon someone, railroad employees, for example, authorized to receive funds from the onboard paymaster. Town Crier participants can see the car during their curator-led visit of the museum.

Eclipse over Egypt proves memorable sight

Sallum - On a high desert plateau overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, just a few miles from the Libyan border, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak joined an estimated 6,000 tourists and scientists and 2,500 local residents to watch the total solar eclipse March 29.

Just before noon, the moon began its transit across the face of the sun in a cloudless sky. As the eclipse neared totality at 12:38 p.m., the wind picked up and it grew cold and dark. The planets Venus and Mercury were clearly visible in the night sky, while a beautiful orange-yellow sunset ringed the horizon. For 3 minutes and 58 seconds, we stared with unshielded eyes at the deep black circle that hid the sun, revealing only its flaring corona, until the brilliance of the sun returned.

Alice in real estate

Some people are born leaders. Alice Nuzzo, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in the Los Altos San Antonio office, is one of them. The company has honored Nuzzo for her outstanding career by naming her the Agent of the Year for Coldwell Banker in Silicon Valley.

Nuzzo of Los Altos Hills is a highly regarded veteran realtor. Beginning her career as an escrow officer with Cornish & Carey, she co-founded Seville Properties in 1979. The prestigious local real estate firm served the community for 20 years before being acquired by NRT Inc. in 1997 and folded into Coldwell Banker.

Alain Pinel: Higher-end home

Sales of resale homes priced above $1.5 million and $2.5 million in some Northern California counties are showing signs of fatigue while others are holding steady, based on a first quarter report by Alain Pinel Realtors, which has 24 offices in Los Altos and the region, and more than 1,000 sales professionals.

According to public records gleaned from the leading multiple listing services in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Contra Costa and Alameda counties, overall units of homes sold above $2.5 million in the first quarter totaled 141 homes, compared with 150 homes sold in the same period a year ago - Jan. 1 to March 31. Sales volume declined from $580.71 million for the 150 homes in the first quarter 2005 to $531.88 million this year, an 8 percent decline. At the $1.5 million to $2.499 million level, 575 homes sold in the seven counties in the first quarter this year, compared with 646 homes sold in that price range in the first quarter 2005, an 11 percent drop. Sales volume fell from $1.508 billion to $1.344 billion, also approximately an 11 percent decline. The figures show, however, that sale prices in the upper end are holding steady and are in fact, comparable on a year-to-year basis.

Datebook

Datebook items are run on a space-available basis for entertainment, non-profit events, low-cost classes and groups of wide interest in our circulation area. The deadline is noon Tuesday for the next week’s paper. Items may be submitted via e-mail (peteb@latc.com); fax (948-6647) or post (138 Main St., Los Altos, CA 94022). Please include a contact phone number.

THEATER

A fantasy on the economy of the future

April 15, 2025 - The Dow Jones industrial average collapsed 1,000 points from its recent peak of 25,000 making it the most auspicious down day since January. Securities analyst Boris Kameroff cited weak economic reports from Chinese offshore drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and slowing growth at Wal-Mart, the only retailer left in the United States. Kameroff made public his forecast for a drop in the popular average of 2,000 points this year, a more than 8 percent decline. Rumor has it he is privately predicting a 10 percent rise in the average but is required to predict a decline by the firm’s lawyers as a result of continuous consumer lawsuits. The investor class paid little attention, however, since the law was revised to require the stock market to go up 8 percent per year.

Meanwhile the 10-year bond yield retreated to 1 percent for the below 30-year-old investors, down to 4 percent for the 30- to 45-year-old holders and advanced to 15.25 percent for the older crowd. Since the retirement age was dropped to 45, more than 200 million generation X adults have retired, making most of them pretty darn glad the mandated bond yields are 15 percent and above.