Los Altos: 100 Years on the Map

These early pre-Los Altos residents probably regarded themselves as living in the greater areas of Mountain View or Mayfield, their closest urban centers. Legally they were part of the Fremont Township of Santa Clara County. It’s not possible to say precisely how many there were. The 1900 census listed 2,238 for the entire Township. The 1910 census listed people by street names, allowing us to estimate that area population was around 700. According to a U.S. Geological Survey map circa 1895, there appear to have been 158 homes here at that time. From these census figures and the map, we estimate that as many as 500 people lived in the Los Altos/Los Altos Hills area before 1907.

Founding father

LASD trustees try to find focus on thorny attendance-line issue

Los Altos School District board members last week dealt with ever-evolving scenarios for redrawing attendance lines among district schools, a thorny issue that has parents trying to protect turf and minimize impact on their students. The district must reconfigure lines to accommodate student growth and prepare for the fall 2008 reopening of Bullis-Purissima School in Los Altos Hills.

Emerging from the district’s lengthy May 21 meeting were four main proposals: “Scenario Fair,” which minimizes impact on district neighborhoods north of El Camino Real; “Scenario 2+,” which includes moving some students from Almond School to Springer School and expanding the Covington boundary to Springer Road; “Hybrid Scenario,” which includes sending 75 children from north of El Camino Real to Covington School and another 100 to Springer School; and “Plan M,” which transfers 230 students from Almond and Santa Rita schools to Bullis and Covington schools.

Downtown hotel sale delayed

Two new investors may be adding their names to the downtown hotel sale agreement, delaying the Los Altos City Council’s approval of the sale of the property at First and Main streets and the construction of the proposed 85-room hotel at least until Aug. 31.

Council members unanimously approved an extension period for hotel developers at the May 22 council meeting.

Safer crosswalks on San Antonio Road expected by fall

It is more than two years since Los Altos resident Henry Kolm, 74, was struck and killed while walking across San Antonio Road in a pedestrian crosswalk.

The busy, four-lane thoroughfare still doesn’t have flashing lights to warn motorists that a pedestrian is in the roadway.

Traffic holdup on El Monte nears end

Los Altos drivers can expect one more week of traffic delays on El Monte Avenue, but the end is in sight after six months of water-main work along the busy street.

California Water Service Company General Manager Ron Richardson said drivers might want to avoid the intersection at Foothill Expressway and El Monte Avenue Thursday and Friday, as increased traffic control will continue to impact the area. Cal Water closed a lane on El Monte between Interstate 280 and Foothill Expressway while it installed a larger water main along the arterial as part of an improvement project.

Commission seeks to expand library

An extension to the Los Altos main library that could house a quiet study area and a teen reading room could cost more than $3.3 million to build, prompting library supporters to look into other funding sources.

Last week the city council authorized the Los Altos Library Commission, a citizen advisory committee, to spearhead the expansion project and corral a group of library supporters to get the project off the ground.

Water district fetes new offices

The Purissima Hills Water District celebrated the grand-opening of its new building Thursday. The 2,000-square-foot facility, located at 26375 Fremont Road in Los Altos Hills, was constructed for about $1 million.

The new building’s architecture echoes that of nearby town hall and features office and conference space in addition to a machinery room.

News article

LAH Council raises permit fees, approves barn spending

The Los Altos Hills City Council approved a planning permit fee increase and a budget for next year at its meeting Thursday.
The council voted 4-1, with Councilman Craig Jones dissenting, to almost doubling permit fees for residents developing their property.
The council also voted […]

Police Blotter

Theft

May 16, 9:21 a.m., 4000 block of El Camino Real: A tote bag was stolen from a hotel lobby.

Residential burglary

May 18, 3:11 p.m., 900 block of N. San Antonio Road: A suspect entered an unlocked home, stole cash and fled.

Driving under
the influence

May 22, 7:25 a.m., 100 […]

Letters to the Editor

Watch for LASD funding shortages

Thank you for your coverage of the attendance boundary meetings. I was disappointed not to see any coverage of an equally important Los Altos School District meeting - the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for Finance (CACF).
In that meeting, the CACF reported that within two years the district will […]

Remembering a community hardware store

Rancho Hardware Store closed its doors at the end of March. Los Altos was fortunate to have this store for 50 years. Wilder Properties was the original owner of the entire Rancho Shopping Center. Chris Wilder and, later, his brother Harry formed the Rancho Merchants Association, comprising storeowners in the shopping center. From the beginning, the owners involved these stores in community service with a joint effort between storeowner and the association. Thus, the Rancho Hardware Store became part of this cooperative effort to support local activities.

In 1972, Troy Underwood became the owner of the Rancho Hardware Store, and in 1988, he bought the property after Harry Wilder died. Troy was president of the Rancho Merchants Association for more years than he can remember. During his reign, the Merchants Association and individual storeowners supported Little League baseball teams and the annual Rancho Pancake Breakfast. How many boys remember playing on the Rancho Hardware baseball team? Later, Troy involved Stanford Athletics by selling football tickets as a fundraiser for local PTAs. All Los Altos elementary schools, including Montclaire, benefited from these monies.

Renaissance of the clothesline

Ever since I saw the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” I have been thinking of ways I could help reduce global warming and make a difference in my own local “sphere of influence” - namely, my home, my work and my activities.

This was one of the things missing from the movie - a simple, realistic call to action for its viewers with tangible, easy, implementable solutions on how we could each help. I already recycle everything I can, ride my bike to run errands, walk or use public transport when available and turn off lights and heat at home. So where could I find other ways to save energy?

LA teacher Michael Durket, 84, did mural project

Michael Durket, who died May 22 at the age of 84, left an enduring legacy for the schoolchildren of Los Altos.

The murals preserved on the outer walls at Blach and Egan junior high schools represent the personal commitment and talent Mr. Durket brought to his 32 years teaching in the Los Altos School District.

Obituary Notices

JOSEPH GUSTAUV PAZMANY

Born September 9, 1954 in Budapest Hungary. Passed peacefully at home in Los Altos on May 16th, 2007, after a short battle with cancer. Joe immigrated to the United States in 1957. His family moved to the Bay Area in 1961 and he saw the many changes of the Valley […]

‘Speechless’ Los Altos novelist a finalist in ‘American Idol’-type book competition

Geeta Menon of Los Altos is one of five finalists in the Gather.com First Chapters Writer Competition, dubbed by some media outlets as an “American Idol for books.”

The competition, sponsored by Gather.com, which specializes in social media for adults, and the Touchstone imprint of Simon & Schuster, drew 2,676 manuscript submissions since its inception in January.

El Camino Hospital uses robot for surgery

State-of-art da Vinci

system may be boon

Foothill College instructor receives award for excellence in teaching astronomy

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) has named Foothill College astronomy instructor Andrew Fraknoi the recipient of the 2007 Richard H. Emmons Award for Excellence in College Astronomy Teaching. Fraknoi will receive the award at the society’s 2007 annual meeting and conference in Chicago in September.

“I’m delighted that there now exists a national award for teaching astronomy to college nonscience majors and that I am fortunate enough to be the second recipient of this prize,” Fraknoi said. “So often what happens behind the doors of our nation’s college classrooms is left only to the public’s imagination. Yet, it is behind those doors that the crucial transformation of our students from kids to adults and from passive to active learners happens. My life’s missions have always been to share the excitement of astronomy with those who are not particularly science-oriented and foster in my students a lifelong interest in the wonders of the universe.”

MV German school offers double diplomas

The German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV) is a private bilingual school in Mountain View serving children from age 2 through the 12th grade. Graduating students earn both a German International Abitur and an American high school diploma, qualifying them for acceptance into European and American universities.

The aim of the school is to provide Germans as well as Americans with a multilingual, multicultural education, preparing students to become future leaders transcending national, cultural and language barriers and qualified for the coming global workplace.

Noteworthies

Benjamin Tucker of Los Altos was among more than 1,500 students recognized for academic achievement at St. Olaf College in Minnesota’s annual Honors Day convocation May 4. Honors Day recognizes students who have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.3 or higher.

Victoria Rose Tyler of Los Altos was on the dean’s list for winter quarter 2007 at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Eagles advance

Scoring the first run in Thursday’s Central Coast Section Division II baseball semifinal against Los Altos High may have backfired on Monterey.

Instead of rattling Eagles pitcher Erik Johnson, it riled him up.

Eagles double up at CCS

Los Altos High doubled its chances of advancing in the Central Coast Section Boys Individual Tennis Championships, sending two doubles teams to last week’s tournament.

But the two Los Altos teams - both unseeded - had the misfortune of running into the top-seeded duo from Bellarmine on the first day of play, May 22.

Multiple locals expected to qualify for state meet

A group of local students should be heading to Sacramento this week - and they won’t be there to meet with the governor.

The Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships - held Friday after the Town Crier went to press - provided athletes from four area high schools a chance to visit the capital city for the state meet. The CIF State Track and Field Championships are scheduled Friday (trials) and Saturday (finals) at Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College.

Winds, course prove daunting to Fletcher & others at NorCal

Spencer Fletcher loves playing golf and taking on new courses, but don’t expect to see him back at Brookside Country Club in Stockton anytime soon.

The Mountain View High junior shot an 8-over-par 80 there last week to finish in an eight-way tie for 28th place at the Northern California Regional Boys Golf Championships.

LA resident closes his restaurant after 31 years

Fine Italian dining has become harder to find in downtown Palo Alto.

Los Altos resident Freddy Maddalena, owner of Maddalena’s Italian restaurant, known for upscale dining and live music, closed his restaurant May 19 after 31 years of operations.

How high can stocks go?

Can the stock market keep going higher? Doesn’t it just peter out and fizzle after a few years?

When we turned the page on the calendar from 1989 to 1990, the pundits screamed that the 17 percent or so level that the big-company stocks averaged during the 1980s could not be sustained. They claimed the market would revert to the mean, back to the 9 percent to 10 percent return of previous decades. But of course the pundits had egg on their faces after the next 10 years of midteen-average returns. The prognosticators didn’t really suffer the public humiliation they deserved, primarily because no

Develop a crush in Amador County, wine country’s laid-back frontier

As a novice wine drinker - you might charitably describe my taste as “of the people” - I am not ready to dress the part, or open my wallet to experience Napa Valley’s finest. Luckily for me, there are still frontier towns in California that host wineries where fledgling imbibers can taste some wines, chow down on some barbecue and maybe play with the vintner’s dog.

I love Amador County because of its dusty, backroads feel - spacious and undiscovered. The cluster of wineries that make up the Amador Vintner’s Association are well established - Montevina, the only large producer, is becoming a familiar name in the Bay Area. But the excellent wine from this area hasn’t picked up the attention, or pretension, of other wine areas.

Garden by Design

The hobby that Patricia Evans had little time for as a management consultant for Fortune 500 companies has blossomed into a growing design business. Evans parlayed her passion for gardening into her Los Altos home-based Natural Landscape Design. The large backyard of the home she shares with her family is her test garden.

“I don’t like to put anything in a garden I’m designing that I haven’t personally grown,” she said.

Fresh tea from the garden is easy, cheap and healthful

Fresh tea from the garden is an easy, inexpensive and healthful indulgence. The tea herbs attract bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects to the garden to collect the flowers’ pollen, drink of the flowers’ nectar and pollinate vegetable plants and fruit trees as they move from plant to plant.

This year it is most important to provide our dwindling native bees, bumble bees and honey bees with colors and food galore to sustain their lives. They especially like the flowers of spearmint, lemon verbena, German chamomile, crimson clover, lemon balm (bee balm), catnip, anise hyssop, shungiku and rose.

Expert dispels oak myths

Native oaks don’t like to be watered in the summer, yet you may have heard of an oak somewhere that has lived happily in a lawn for decades. That’s what consulting arborist and horticulturist Deborah Ellis calls the “George Burns syndrome”: all his adult life he smoked heavily and drank excessively, but he lived to 100 years. Why? A genetic quirk.

More commonly, water in the dry season will weaken a native oak and make it susceptible to pests and diseases that could eventually be fatal. Other abuses include disturbing the root zone, covering roots with excess soil or rocks, removing the leaf litter, pruning excessively, fertilizing unnecessarily or spraying for oak moths whether the trees need it or not.

Expert answers common home improvement questions

Do you have questions about hiring and managing building contractors? The California Contractors State License Board has answers.

Q: I am planning to landscape my backyard this summer. After asking friends and neighbors for referrals, I’ve found a landscaper I really like. However, this landscaper has a recently expired license. He said he is in the process of renewing it and showed me documents stating that he would be licensed by the time he finished. Can I hire him now and have him begin work without a license?

Window coverings pose potential safety hazards

Parents and caregivers may know that window coverings manufactured prior to 2001 could have looped pull-cords that pose strangulation risks for small children. They may not be aware, however, that interior cords running through the slats of certain window blinds could be hazardous as well.

According to information provided by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, since 1990 more than 200 infants and young children have died from accidentally strangling in window cords.

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).

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