Non-profits on the rebound

Nearly five years out from the dot-com crash, area non-profit organizations have adjusted to an economic climate where local need is great, yet local generosity is keeping up with it.

Local organizations have risen to the challenge by finding new ways to reach contributors and collaborating to share resources and experience. They benefit from the fact that even in harder times, the community is still ready to contribute.

Observers note ‘quiet’ yet smoothly run Arts & Wine Festival

Clad in tank tops, hats and billowing skirts, visitors bore the heat this past weekend to parade through the downtown streets at the 27th annual Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival.

Nancy Dunaway, festival organizer and president of the Los Altos Village Association, said she was pleased with the entire package.

New legislation spurs food and wellness policy in LASD

Due to changes in federal and state law this year, the Los Altos School District has adopted its first food and wellness policy.

The wellness policy, which the district board of trustees adopted in June, sets goals for physical activity and nutrition education, and guidelines for all food and beverages served on campus.

Police Blotter

Mountain lion in pool
July 2, 12:30 p.m., 1200 block of Heritage Court: An 80-pound mountain lion was found swimming in the pool. The lion was gone when police arrived.
Construction theft
July 3, 7:00 p.m., 700 block of Parma Way: Suspects entered a locked construction site with pickup truck and stole approximately […]

News Briefs

Hangar One meeting scheduled
The Former NAS Moffett Field Restoration Advisory Board meeting is scheduled 7-8:50 p.m. Thursday in Building 943, Eagle Room, Mountain View, located just before the main gate on NASA Parkway. Discussions will include Hangar One update, Building 88 Presentation, Orion Park Status Update and RAB Business and related announcements.

Riding ring gets a new set of shoes

Los Altos Hills’ Town Riding Ring has seen the worst and best of times in the last two years. Town horses are reveling in the just-refurbished arena, which sports improvements from $50,000 in park bond grant money, allotted by the city council. Yet only a year ago, Bullis Charter School and Los Altos/Los Altos Hills Little League targeted the aging ring for redevelopment as a school site or playing field.

The Los Altos Hills Horsemen’s Association, previously a somewhat dormant organization, sprang into action at the threat to the ring, spiffed-up the location and scheduled regular organized equine events. The association built the ring in 1976, when the Hills was still in its horsey heyday.

Los Altos approves $23 million budget

On June 27, Los Altos city councilmembers approved a $23.7 million budget plan for the fiscal year 2006 to 2007. Councilmembers also voted to change a city financial policy to provide that half of the utility user tax revenue will be budgeted each year for capital improvement projects.

Now at the halfway mark for its two-year budget plan, the council also adopted an ordinance to set the utility users tax rate at 3.5 percent.

Weed-eating hairy weevils battle starthistle in open preserves

Amid an ongoing debate about pesticide use in weed abatement, the town of Los Altos Hills has discussed various solutions, such as mowing. The Los Altos-based Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District will employ an experimental alternative - fighting non-native weeds with a non-native bug.

The district released 6,500 Eustenopus villosus, hairy weevils, in the Skyline and Foothill-area open space preserves last week to try to to control the spread of the yellow starthistle, a non-native invasive weed. Introduced to California in the 19th century, the starthistle forces out native plants and is an aggressive roadside weed. The hairy weevil is one of several insect species researched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for use as biocontrol agents.

Solar incentive expands development area

The Los Altos Hills City Council approved another solar-power ordinance June 22, offering a development bonus of up to 500 square feet to homeowners who install roof-mounted solar panels on new homes or remodels.

The bonus, which extends a property’s maximum development area, would permit the construction of a deck, pool or other feature on a maxed-out parcel. The bonus does not affect maximum allowable floor area.

Editorials

A wise investment for preparedness
The recent $90,000 allotment in the 2006-2007 Los Altos city budget for an emergency services coordinator strikes us as a wise investment and a milestone in the police department’s effort to ensure the city is prepared for the next big disaster.
For the past several years, the police […]

Letters to the Editor

Hidden Villa changes are a ‘travesty’
Our family has been supporters of Hidden Villa for more than 30 years.
We have seen the transition from the leadership of the Duvenecks and their mission of environmental education to the wonderful facility and environmental leadership that the successive boards and directors of Hidden Villa have continued. […]

The shrine

Looks like the honeymoon may be short-lived. We had bought our new TV only a month before. It’s a beauty, with a wide, flat plasma screen measuring a whopping 50 inches. A commanding presence, the television sits on its throne and beckons all who enter our family room. When it comes to life, we gaze in wide-eyed rapture at the high-definition image.

“Look at that close-up,” I said to my husband during the “Survivor” finale. “Jeff Probst’s head actually looks life-size.” With great enthusiasm, my husband replied, “Look, you can see the pores on his face.” Talk about your reality TV.

Obituary Notices

JEANNINE MILDRED MOLL
January 26, 1929 - June 23, 2006
Jeannine Moll, beloved mother, grandmother, sister and friend, passed away suddenly on the morning of June 23, 2006 in Sunnyvale, California. She was 77.
Jeannine was born in Mount Vernon, Washington and grew up in Northwest Washington, graduating from Western Washington University with a […]

Bringing touches of home to Fisher House

Members and friends of American Legion Post 558 in Los Altos brought a homey touch to soldiers’ families June 27 when they delivered handmade quilts and blankets to Fisher House. The house, located on the grounds of the Veteran Administration’s Palo Alto Health Care System’s Palo Alto campus, opened its doors April 19. Its 21 rooms provide a place to stay for the parents, spouses and children who travel to the hospital to support their active-duty military personnel and veterans receiving treatment.

Members Hank Nagao, Lou Miller, Bill Goss and Ken Girdley accompanied by Chris Nagao, Virginia Miller, Verlain Goss and Jan Vargas represented the legion at the presentation.

Hidden Villa introduces a series of summer concerts

Hidden Villa has scheduled a summer concert series 6-8 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 6 in the Visitors Welcome Center, 26870 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills. The concerts are free and open to the public.

The Town of Los Altos Hills, the Kalish team at Intero Real Estate, Borel Private Bank and Trust Co. and the Los Altos Community Foundation are sponsoring the concerts.

MVHS grad ranks among nation’s top debaters

Prashant Rai, a recent Mountain View High School graduate, placed sixth in the Lincoln-Douglas National at the National Forensic League Tournament in Dallas last month, capping four years on the Mountain View-Los Altos High School speech and debate team.

Earlier this year, Rai took third place at the Tournament of Champions in Lexington, Ky. - the most competitive debate tournament in the nation - and was champion of the Stanford University Round Robin and the UC Berkeley Invitational.

Botball team prepares for robotics competition

The Los Altos Community Botball Team is preparing to compete in the National Botball competition in Norman, Okla., in July.

Botball is an educational outreach program that aims to engage students in learning practical applications of science, engineering, technology and math through robot building and programming. In the competitions, different teams use their robots to compete in a game of object retrieval.

Foothill College dean receives Diversity & Equity Award

The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges presented Foothill College Dean of Student Affairs & Activities Don Dorsey with the 2006 John W. Rice Diversity & Equity Award at its meeting in Sacramento Monday.

The governors recognized Dorsey’s contributions toward advancing faculty and staff diversity and student equity in the California community colleges.

Schools Briefs

Underground teen center gears up for summer
The Underground, a free, drop-in facility for students entering grades 7-12, is open Tuesdays through Saturdays noon to 6 p.m. The teen hangout offers a variety of recreational activities for a fun, safe place to relax. The Underground boasts pool tables, air hockey, foosball, Xbox, PS2, music […]

Vision 15 Gold team finds positives in disappointing finish at Jr. Olympics

Although disappointed by their finish in the Junior Olympics, local members of the Vision 15 Gold club volleyball team found some bright spots along the way.

Los Gatos-based Vision placed 23rd out of 28 teams and won only one match, but it nearly upset eventual champion Kiva 15 Red of Indiana.

LAHS hires Green as girls basketball coach

Teaching math and coaching basketball aren’t that different, according to the new girls basketball coach at Los Altos High.

“I approach coaching like I do teaching,” said Scott Green, hired last month. “I see it as an extension of the classroom,”

Oaks rolling toward another title

Undefeated in league and 15-2 overall, the Palo Alto Oaks are looking as good - if not better - than last summer when the team reached the Western Regional Tournament.

The semipro team of college baseball players, including graduates of St. Francis and Homestead highs, looks to be in good position to defend its championship of the San Jose Western Baseball Association Stan Musial League. The Oaks are tied for first with Fontenetti’s, a team it won’t meet any earlier than the playoffs.

Pick productive portfolio positions

The stock market displayed its ability to gyrate in the second quarter, with April ahead full throttle and the brakes firmly engaged in May and June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the quarter up a mere 0.33 percent, but on the positive side, 2.7 percent for the full year.

One method of evaluating your portfolio is to take the high (set around the end of April) and tally up the negatives. After all, if you had sold out, that is what you would have. But a more realistic approach is to take into account the natural volatility in this highly liquid market and make sure your portfolio is in the most productive position for your investment objective for the longer term.

New ownership delights in unusual pet products

Tatiana Boulankine doesn’t mind when dogs come into her store and sniff the food.

“Most of the dogs in Los Altos have good manners,” she said with a smile.

Realtors’ association offers tips to protect against identity theft

Identity theft has struck homebuyers and real estate professionals across the nation. To help consumers better protect their credit, the National Association of Realtors and the Federal Trade Commission recently unveiled a new nationwide campaign, AvoID Theft: Deter, Detect, Defend, which recommends the following safety tips.

To deter identity theft:

Changing negatives into positives

We can divide most employees into two categories: actor-outers, who are demonstrably angry, dramatic or temperamental; and actor-inners, who are generally repressed, nonassertive and often paint themselves as victims.

Which character type costs an employer more? Actor-outers are more expensive for the organization - by thousands. Actor-inners internalize their feelings and take home their frustrations. They don’t cost nearly as much as the escalating problem-maker. The victims eventually burn out, or they can passive-aggressively “forget” to perform tasks, which can be costly, but the actor-outers cause others to go home with headaches.

First Republic Bank opens preferred banking office in Los Altos

First Republic Bank, a leading provider of wealth management and private banking services, opened a preferred banking office in Los Altos July 6. The new location at 400 South San Antonio Road is a full-service office, providing private banking, business banking, real estate lending, investment management, brokerage and trust services.

Managing Director Cynthia Luedtke and Preferred Banking Manager Wyatt Allen, who have been serving Los Altos clients from the Palo Alto office, will manage the local office, the sixth on the Peninsula.

Mr. Mayor’s candy factory

Los Altos Mayor Ron Packard wears many hats, as lawyer, elected official and chairman of the board - of a candy factory.

Marich Confectionery Co. in Hollister produces candy sold all over the Bay Area and throughout the world. Have you tried a bright red, chocolate-covered dried cherry at a local coffee shop? That was a Marich invention, which it sells under private labels for area retailers. But high-end goodies with the Marich label are also to be found at the factory store and fine-food stores on the Peninsula.

Flying care packages to the troops

During the Fourth of July weekend, the reminders of life in war-ravaged Iraq and those moments of silence on the evening news honoring the young men and women who have died had an especially heart-rending impact.

Sharing this concern, a friend of mine recently recalled sitting next to a serviceman on his way to duty in Iraq during a plane flight. From a discussion on their shared love of horses, they moved on to talking about how he felt being so far from home. Finally she asked, “What, if anything, can we do?” His reply: “Bake cookies.”

Pisoni Vineyards & Winery spawns one of world’s greatest vintages

Wine Enthusiast Magazine selected Pisoni Vineyards & Winery as one of the five best Pinot Noir growing sites in America. Wine & Spirits magazine chose it as one of the top 10 greatest international fruit vineyards. You get the idea this is one terrific place to grow grapes. The vineyard is located between Soledad and Gonzales, about seven miles west of Highway 101 in the Santa Lucia Highland appellation.

Our wine-tasting group has an outing at Pisoni every other year, and it is always eagerly anticipated. The vineyards are nestled in the foothills at a 1,400-foot elevation. The soil is granite and the rootstock is not grafted - therefore not resistant to phyloxera - but it doesn’t seem to be a problem, as the original 1982 plantings remain healthy and vigorous.

‘Twelve Sharp’: Dull details, humorous lines

With subdued enthusiasm, I tell you about “Twelve Sharp,” by Janet Evanovich (St. Martin’s Press, 2006). Evanovich fans will read it with or without a reviewer’s recommendation, and I’m not sure I would suggest it to non-fans.

This is, obviously enough, the 12th in a series of numerically titled books - “One for the Money,” “Two for the Dough” - about Stephanie Plum, a plucky heroine who works as a bounty hunter in New Jersey; loves two guys; spends time with her family, including her nutty grandmother; gets noodles in her hair; partners with a plus-size former prostitute; blows up cars; eats a lot of dessert but stays cute; lives alone with her hamster but never stays home; wrestles with the bond-skippers she is trying to bring in; gets stalked by a murderer, and captures the murderer with help from the guys.

Voyage to the white nights of the Baltic

Twenty-four hours of daylight every day makes this a great season to visit the Baltic nations.

My husband Roy and I led a group of Rotarians on a Baltic cruise last month after the Rotary International Convention in Copenhagen.

Facebook is 21st century meet-and-greet for Stanford students

Wendy Hagenmaier grew up in Los Altos and studies English and film at Stanford University. She likes writing, fireworks and tomato soup in bread bowls. Among her musical favorites are Fiona Apple and Beethoven. The movie “Amelie” is on her best movie list, which may not be surprising since a photo of Hagenmaier shows that she bears more than a passing resemblance to the film’s lead actress.

What is surprising is that one doesn’t need to meet Hagenmaier to learn any of these details about her. One only needs to be logged on to Facebook, the college community’s largest online networking service.

Datebook

THEATER

Children’s Theater in the Park. Series of children’s theater productions from Peninsula Youth Theatre and the city of Mountain View. 6:30 p.m. Fridays, through Aug. 11. ParkStage, Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St. 903-6000; pytnet.org.