Schools and the ‘H’ factor

Los Altos School District supporters are bringing their annual $597 parcel tax back to the ballot for renewal Nov. 7. The measure is vital to, as their slogan states, “Keep Los Altos Schools Strong.”

“The parcel tax allows the school district that opportunity to do additional programs for children that general-fund dollars we get from the state won’t allow us to,” said Superintendent Tim Justus. “Parcel tax dollars allow a district to be creative and offer programs to students that allow it to be a sort of step above a basic program.”

LASD narrows options for Bullis Charter location

The Los Altos School District Board of Trustees voted 3-2 Oct. 9 not to place Bullis Charter School at any K-6 LASD school site where sharing of facilities, such as a library and a multipurpose room, would be necessary. No alternate site was chosen.

The board decision noted that sharing a campus would pose too many problems, including equity between the schools, jeopardizing school cultures, restricting school identities, traffic, access and overall safety.

Los Altos Council OKs Silverstone condominiums

After a two-year process, the Los Altos City Council Oct. 11 unanimously approved plans for Silverstone Communities to build a 78-unit housing complex at the corner of El Camino Real and Los Altos Avenue.

Site development is set to begin next fall, said Silverstone President John McMorrow, who estimates completion in early 2009. The L-shaped project area includes the former Red Lobster site, now vacant, and the Round Table Pizza site, and wraps around the Unocal gas station facing El Camino Real.

Election mailers heat up in LAH

After a relatively tranquil election forum, the Los Altos Hills City Council race heated up last week when former city councilman Steve Finn sent residents a mailer lambasting incumbent candidate Breene Kerr for potential conflicts of interest.

The letter, which advised residents to vote only for challenger John Vidovich, criticized both Kerr and incumbent candidate Dean Warshawsky, but focused on Kerr’s association with companies that worked on the new town hall and solar energy.

Cherry Avenue home named Historic Landmark

The Los Altos Historical Commission’s review of the status of a Cherry Avenue house came to fruition last week when the city council unanimously designated the private residence a Historic Landmark.

Built in 1929, the approximately 1,300-square-foot Spanish revival home is one of the few of that design remaining in Los Altos. Popularized in the early part of the century, Spanish Colonial, as the design is also known, spans a catalogue of styles including Spanish and Portuguese architecture.

El Camino Hospital Board passes bond issuance

The El Camino Hospital Board of Directors unanimously passed a motion at its board meeting Oct. 11 to issue $148 million in general obligation bonds to finance part of the construction of its $480 million hospital, which will include the seismic upgrades mandated by the state. Voters approved the bonds under Measure D in 2003.

“This is a historic moment for the hospital,” said Marla Gularte, chief financial officer of El Camino Hospital. “The vote this evening allows us to offer the bonds into the market,” she said.

News Brief

Foundation faces lease hike
Members of Los Altos Community Foundation may soon have to pay significantly more money to run operations out of their 183 Hillview Ave. property.
A lease in effect since 1997 with property owners, the California Water Service Company, is set to expire this month. Cal Water had been […]

LA woman running for county school board

Lynette Lee Eng of Los Altos is running for a seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Education on Nov. 7, hoping to bring inclusivity and expanded services to the county level.

Eng’s work on volunteer projects for the Cupertino Union School District and Santa Clara County gave her an interest in expanding educational programming. She worked with the district to start a Mandarin immersion program that, while initially controversial, has become successful.

Measure A highlights open space debate

Measure A, environmentalists’ latest attempt at thwarting hillside housing development on Santa Clara County land, has supporters and opponents throwing punches and counterpunches as the Nov. 7 election draws near.

Measure A backers, including environmental groups such as the Committee for Green Foothills in the Los Altos area, said the initiative would shore up the county’s general plan to preserve agricultural and ranch lands that might otherwise be subdivided and turned into housing. Such subdivisions, now subject to a vote of the County Board of Supervisors, would have to go before the people under Measure A.

Letters to the Editor

Residents cross over undue influence
We agree with your editorial in last week’s paper regarding the city council’s decision to deny a cell-tower permit at St. William Church. We attended the council meeting and agree that the council was influenced by the inflammatory statements of Covington school parents who spoke at the meeting. It […]

Extended family vs. in-laws

What does it mean to have an in-law? Sounds simple, right? People who become part of one’s family through marriage become in-laws. It is not, however, so simple in today’s social atmosphere. Some in-laws become part of one’s extended family. Others are people we rarely see or even think about.

Growing up in a large family on my mother’s side made choice easy - there was no choice. In most cases, aunts and uncles become an essential part of a family. Not until I was grown up did I think about the difference between those who married into our clan and those who were born a part of it. As a child, I made judgments about relatives according to who was nicest to me, paid real attention to me or gave me lovely birthday presents. Children are like that.

Editorials

Yes on Measure H for strong schools
There can only be one reasonable vote on Measure H, the Los Altos School District’s parcel tax renewal: a vote in favor of it.
The measure funds 20 percent of the district’s budget for everything from classroom teachers to library hours. Whatever your feelings about the […]

Obituary Notices

LOIS ELAINE WILLIAMS
Lois Elaine Williams, a long-time resident of Los Altos Hills, passed away October 3, 2006 after a long illness. Her loving husband and daughters were at her side.
Born June 24, 1930 in Hartford, Connecticut, Lois graduated with a B.A. in Nursing from Skidmore College. She came to San Francisco […]

Weddings

Katie Beman and Matt Ginder-Vogel
Katie Beman and Matt Ginder-Vogel were married April 7 at the Los Altos History Museum.
The bride is the daughter of Ginger and John Beman of Los Altos. She graduated from Los Altos High School and Stanford University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English. She is employed […]

A girl and her pumpkin squash the competition

Amanda Zunino and her 1,191-pound gourd won second place at the Half Moon Bay World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off Oct. 9.

The 12-year-old Los Altos Hills seventh-grader, a first-time competitor, planted a pumpkin seed in May. As her vine took off over the course of the summer, her pumpkin - which she named Artemis after the defiant Greek huntress - achieved a maximum growth rate of 34 pounds a day.

Los Altos man named to open space board

Curt Riffle of Los Altos, the newest member of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s Board of Directors, has been waiting a long time to work with the open space district he loves.

The equestrian, runner and hiker first ran for the board in 1998, but the seat went to Dean Little, who served until moving to Colorado last summer. Now, Riffle will fill Little’s post until it expires in 2008.

Pear Ave.: Small local theater bears fruit

Tucked into a row of warehouses off Shoreline Boulevard in Mountain View, a small theater has ignited a burgeoning Peninsula art community that demands to be taken seriously.

Word has gotten out, and for serious art patrons and rebellious artists alike, Pear Avenue Theatre, in its fifth season, may offer a refreshing outlet for new and classic works that don’t quite stand on the creative fray but don’t cross the avenues of big budget musicals, either.

LAHS pipe organ is in place, fundraising efforts continue

Choral music students at Los Altos High School eagerly looked on as the new Oberlinger pipe organ from Germany was unpacked in September. The new organ, dedicated to the choral program’s late accompanist Virginia Hebel, is housed in the school’s choir room.

The instrument represents more than 20 years of teamwork, with $5,600 remaining to complete the purchase. Alumni from the Main Street Singers, the award-winning choral program at the school, presented the organ as a surprise for choir director Mark Shaull at a September reunion.

Schools Briefs

Santa Rita gears up for Witches’ Delight
Santa Rita Elementary School PTA’s 46th annual Witches’ Delight Halloween Carnival is scheduled 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 28 at the school, 700 Los Altos Ave. The event provides a safe and fun family afternoon for preschoolers through sixth-graders.
Happy Birds will provide professional entertainment. Children […]

Mtn. View teacher marks 50th anniversary

This fall, Ruth Rogers is back in the classroom as a part-time music teacher at Benjamin Bubb Elementary School in Mountain View - the same school where she started as a full-time classroom teacher in 1956.

After teaching fifth and sixth grades for four years, Rogers retired for 20 years to raise her family and to continue her education in music. In 1980, she said she realized that shrinking budgets had decimated music and arts in the elementary schools, and founded a Kodaly vocal music program for the Mountain View elementary schools. The program continues under the direction of the Community School of Music and Arts, headquartered in Mountain View.

FijiFiji Eco-Adventures offer a summer alternative

It was habit to go to my biology classroom at the beginning of the lunch period to eat or sit and read until the break ended and my bio class actually started. So, when Bill Maston and his daughter, Nicole, came in and set up a presentation for their summer camp, my first and only question at the time was, “Can I stay in here during the presentation and read?”

The answer was yes, so I stayed. Eventually the presentation of colorful tropical fish underwater surrounding a beautiful Fiji island proved more interesting than my book.

St. Nicholas science teacher returns to Indiana

Deborah Bodony, member of the science department at St. Nicholas School since 1999, bid farewell to the local community Sept. 15.

Bodony will return to Indiana with her husband, Dan, who has accepted a position teaching aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While the decision to leave was difficult, Bodony said she looks forward to being near their families again.

Bells best Lancers, who lose third straight

Friday’s much anticipated matchup between rivals St. Francis High and Bellarmine College Prep was not only a football game the Lancers wanted to win for pride, but, more importantly, to avoid an 0-3 start in league.

It didn’t work out that way for St. Francis, which finds itself in an unusual position - last place in the West Catholic Athletic League after a 26-21 loss to the Bells at San Jose City College. The Lancers sunk to 3-3-1 overall.

Gourmet potpie eatery opens in Los Altos

It’s been said that everything old is new again. And the potpie, that relic of a simpler age in culinary sensibilities, is undergoing a bit of an upgrade right here in Los Altos.

Stop in the Cravery, the new potpie restaurant that opened on Main Street Oct. 9, and you’ll notice that the unpretentious dish has come a long way since the C.A. Swanson company started selling its frozen chicken potpie in 1951 to Americans interested in convenience over taste.

Federal Reserve System juggling interest rates well

Since the Federal Reserve Bank began ratcheting up interest rates 18 months ago, housing has probably experienced the biggest slowdown of all the economic sectors.

One of the Fed’s most important jobs is keeping inflation low without creating a recession. Inflation acts like a tax on all citizens, raising prices and costs for almost everything. The tighter your budget, the more the price increases hurt. If the Fed tightens too much, a downward spiral could start, resulting in a slowdown in business, which leads to fewer jobs and higher unemployment. So the Fed walks a fine line, and by all accounts they have done a good job balancing the current vibrant economy.

An uncommon family

The Evans home in Los Altos Hills is its own whirlwind. Mother and wife Jane is trying to finish a sentence while 12-year-old Mikala and 10-year-old Michael shout at her, pull on her arm and otherwise compete for her attention. The new Golden Labrador Retriever puppy jumps up and down whatever set of legs happens to come nearest. Sunburned Midwestern friends of the Evanses interrupt their backyard landscaping to wave hello. Turn a corner, and there are two more dogs. In the garage are a work-in-progress jalopy that one of the teenage sons is fixing up, and a chinchilla in a cage. Jane apologizes that Nicholas, 16, and Stephen, 17, aren’t home. She begs visitors not to look at the mess in the house, because, try as she might, she’s just barely keeping up.

“Welcome to our chaos,” she said.

Dangerous sleep apnea should not be ignored

Sleep apnea is a disorder characterized by interrupted breathing during sleep. Individuals with sleep apnea often snore loudly at night, followed by pauses in breathing that last 20 to 30 seconds and end with a gasp or sigh. They may also experience a choking sensation or shortness of breath. Sleep apnea can even result in sudden death from cardiovascular complications.

Sleep apnea occurs in people of all ages. It also affects all ethnicities, but is more common in African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Prevent E. coli infection by washing hands, vegetables

It would have been quite impossible to pick up a newspaper in the past two weeks without seeing something about the E. coli scare. Its seriousness was highlighted by the coverage of tainted spinach not only in print but on television. Should you and your family be concerned? Should you avoid all leafy vegetables for a while? Let’s review the facts so that you can be informed about your decision.

E. coli 0157:H7 is a leading bacterial cause of food-borne illness. This particular strain of E. coli produces a toxin that can cause severe illness. This is a different strain of E. coli that causes most common urinary tract infections. It is estimated that close to 73,000 cases of infection and 61 cases of death occur annually. Infection with E. coli often leads to bloody diarrhea and occasionally (only in the worst cases) to kidney failure.

Theater review ‘Dessa Rose’ blooms all around

The creators of the American musical phenomenon “Ragtime,” playwright Lynn Ahern and composer Stephen Flaherty, have once again combined lyric force in an evocative chamber musical “Dessa Rose” - now playing at Mountain View’s Theatreworks.

It’s the experienced cast that makes this production - the first to hit the Bay Area - so richly informed and poignant.

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. Notices must be typed and include a contact name and phone number. Items may be submitted via e-mail (peteb@latc.com); fax (948-6647); or post (138 Main St., Los Altos, CA 94022).

THEATER