Talking trash

That includes items that can’t be recycled and fall under the universal waste, electronic waste and hazardous materials categories, he added.

“Instead, some of them (businesses) are just leaving it up to the cities to deal with whatever waste is generated. Right now, we’re only collecting 1 to 2 percent of the universal waste created in the city,” Gustafson said.

LAH attempts buy-in at Foothills Park

Los Altos Hills residents may hold the solution to Palo Alto’s funding problems for Fire Station 8 in Foothills Park.

At its July 12 meeting the Los Altos Hills City Council authorized negotiations for a one-year trial deal with Palo Alto, offering almost exactly the amount needed to operate the fire station in exchange for access to the park for town residents. The park, located between Palo Alto and Los Altos Hills on Page Mill Road, is open only to Palo Alto residents and their guests, with the exception of through-hikers traveling between open space preserves.

Harry Potter mania hits downtown LA Friday

Harry Potter rides his Firebolt broomstick into a whirlwind of wizardry, evil and the fight for good one last time this Friday. While it may not actually be the death of Harry Potter, as many are speculating, this week marks the last time J.K. Rowling will release a tale of the bespectacled icon. Her latest and final addition to the seven-part series is “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

Amid anxious youth who have grown up with the captivating novels, Linden Tree Children’s Recordings and Books and the Los Altos Village Association have scheduled a Downtown Harry Potter Celebration Friday on Main Street just hours before the final book in the series is released at the stroke of midnight.

Adobe Creek project gets go-ahead from water district

The Adobe Creek restoration project came a step closer to completion last week when the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District voted to move forward with engineering plans and permit applications. Construction along the creek is slated to start in winter 2008.

The project suffered several false starts including one in 2003 when the town of Los Altos Hills denied approval to plans the district had developed. Plans encroached on residents’ backyards. An informal group of residents and water district representatives organized into an Adobe Creek Watershed Group to collaborate on a plan that could win broad consensus - a partnership model that was new for the water district but has gotten results. The collaborative engineering design, project plan and Environmental Impact Report have gotten informal approval from the affected residents and agencies, according to group member and Los Altos Hills resident Susan Mandel.

Speed surveys to restore radar

The speed zone surveys that are under way to restore radar gun use on Los Altos streets could also determine whether speed limits change on some streets, said Los Altos Assistant Public Works Director Jim Gustafson.

Los Altos City Council members were angered June 26 over news that mandatory speed surveys on dozens of city streets were outdated and could no longer be enforced with radar guns, an accurate way of nabbing speeding drivers.

Craig Jones takes lead as LAH mayor

Los Altos Hills Mayor pro tem Craig Jones took over mayoral duties from Mayor Dean Warshawsky July 12. The role of mayor rotates among city council members, with each member serving a one-year term. Jones, elected in 2004, is serving his first term on the council and his first year as mayor.

Jones previously served as chairman of the Bullis Charter School Board and on the town’s finance and investment committee. He has taken the lead in recent months on development of the town’s parks and recreation opportunities.

MV woman injured, poodle killed after dog attack

A Mountain View family is trying to track down two large dogs that ambushed an elderly woman and her Teacup Poodle, injuring her and killing her dog.

Tina Koza and her 6-pound dog Spike were attacked the morning of June 29 in front of her home on Preston Drive near Grant Road. The two attacking dogs ran off and remain unidentified. Their present whereabouts are unknown.

Comment

Setting record straight on church history

In connection with articles published recently concerning Los Altos history, I would like to point out that the first church built in Los Altos was Christ Episcopal Church at 461 Orange Ave.
A small group of Episcopalians met on Palm Sunday in 1913 for services. On Aug. […]

Laws that will never be

With the excess of laws inundating our society, perhaps it’s time to call a halt to new laws. Of course, then how will politicians show their “productivity” and how “important” these elected officials are?

But before stopping all new laws, here are a few that should be passed before commencing on the new program.

A light went out

I usually spend many nights deciding on a topic for this column. I had no trouble this month. How to express the loss of two remarkable friends became my overriding need: one, Gail Seager, the other, my closest friend from childhood, Bernice. Losing loved ones becomes part of most people’s lives as they age. But this felt different to me. Each of these women brought a spark of light into my life that made them irreplaceable. That light has gone out.

Gail, my teaching colleague, my mentor and friend, added spice and wit to everyday events in the English department of Mountain View High School. She ran the department with a firm hand, but gave so much of her own time and energy to it that she attained a reputation as a teacher devoted to students and to a unique teaching style.

Obituary Notices

LOYA HUNT KOUTZ MOTT

With sorrowful hearts, we announce the passing of our dear mother (pictured here on her ninetieth birthday) who succumbed to pneumonia two days after suffering a stroke. Our joyful and loving mother was born April 15, 1914 in Santa Barbara, CA. to LeRoy and Winifred Hunt. Her sister, Nada […]

With path to save Griffin House paved, Foothill-De Anza board set to vote again

In what may be the final push to preserve the historic Griffin House, architects presented several reuse designs at a Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees meeting last week.

The board has debated whether to tear down, move or restore the 1901 structure for nearly 50 years, since the district bought the property. The site on the Foothill College campus was once home to Del Monte Packing Company owner Willard Griffin.

Gas station fuels girl’s trip to Disneyland

Four-year-old Los Altos resident Ella Goodwin took a break from hospitals and illness this spring when she visited Disneyland, sponsored by the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The leukemia patient wished to meet Dumbo, so the foundation made her a big pair of Dumbo ears and flew her to Anaheim, where she rode the Dumbo ride and rubbed elbows with a wide cast of Disney creatures and princesses.

Vintage Affaire salutes LAH founders at 25th wine gala

Vintage Affaire, the popular Peninsula wine auction and fundraiser, ushers in its 25th year this Saturday by celebrating the event’s original organizers at an estate garden in Woodside.

In the last 24 years, the event has raised more than $5 million to help fund programs for the Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Palo Alto.

Los Altos High honors ‘wholistic’ teaching

The Los Altos High School PTSA awarded two “inspiring” teachers the Wholistic Teacher Award in June. The teachers were nominated by parents for being not only motivating in the classroom, but also concerned with students as people.

Ted Ferrucci, director of instrumental music, and Keren Robertson, chairperson of the English department, received top honors this year for their long hours dedicated to students outside the classroom, leading and assisting students in various facets and writing more than 30 letters of recommendation.

Discuss content of dubious Web sites with your teens

Q: Both my husband and I work, which leaves our three kids home alone two days in a week. We have two teens and a 10-year-old. We are concerned about what they may see on the computer. Do we have need to worry?

A: Only if you care about your children! Seriously, summer days are long, lazy days when kids left with unstructured time can easily find themselves in trouble. Since seeing is believing, get into your kid’s world and check out Youtube.com or jakesteed.com. I got to jakesteed.com from a link on YouTube while watching a quite

Oaks are singing the ‘Blues’ after dropping two games in SLO

The Palo Alto Oaks are perfect no more. Traveling to the Central Coast last weekend with a 12-0 record, the semipro baseball team returned home 12-2.

Both losses to the San Luis Obispo Blues were by one run, the second of which went extra innings.

Stars come out tonight

For some participants, today’s Charlie Wedemeyer High School All-Star Football Game is the final chance to play their sport on an organized level. For others, it’s a chance to get back in football mode before their college practices begin.

Yousef Saadeh, who graduated from Los Altos High last month, is in the first group. He’s headed to UC Santa Cruz, which doesn’t have a football team.

Sports

It’s a rare summer day when Tessa The isn’t swinging a driver, iron or putter.

If there’s a junior golf tournament happening in the Bay Area - or maybe beyond it - expect the Los Altos resident to be there.

Local Gallagher warms to running

For a girl who spent several freezing winters in Minnesota, Kieran Gallagher sure knows how to handle the heat.

The Los Altos resident beat the heat - and most of her competitors - in the 800-meter run at the Region 14 Junior Olympics, held in temperatures reaching 95 degrees June 30 and July 1 in Fresno. Gallagher placed third in the Midget Girls division (ages 11-12) race, qualifying for the upcoming national meet in Southern California.

How to get ‘cool’ cleaning your pool

Local resident’s 28-year service takes headache out of ownership

For backyard pool owners, the pleasure of owning a pool can quickly become drudgery when they have to clean it.

Local cities join the trend to employ solar energy

Portola Valley’s doing it. So is Mountain View. Now Los Altos and Los Altos Hills residents will have an opportunity to purchase solar panels at a discount through SolarCity, a Foster City-based company that offered significant price breaks to the earlier cities’ residents who bought in bulk.

Los Altos Hills resident Preston Roper, who consults with alternative energy companies, realized that the same calculations that made solar power attractive to his business customers, made sense for consumers. For both, rising energy costs plus the increased efficiency of today’s solar panels and the credits available for clean energy installations made solar profitable. So he approached SolarCity about starting a community program for his hometown.

Bodywork as art brings new healing to old pain

Angelo dela Cruz has created a novel form of sports massage that may convert even the skeptical.

I am no stranger to bodywork. You name it, I’ve tried it. In one case, I even named a technique. After my friend Ida Rolf had been calling her work Structural Integration for 40 years, I suggested she call it Rolfing.

Shield your skin from sun sun

As you enjoy and absorb the sun’s rays this summer, be prepared to slather on the sunscreen and don a hat and other protective clothing.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States and the number of new cases in this country each year continues to increase faster than any other form of cancer in humans, according to the University of Michigan’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Revamping the usual school lunch fare

Caesarine Cordon of Los Altos is passionate about food - not just any kind of food but what school children are fed at lunch.

Three years ago, on her daughter’s first day of school, Cordon asked her what she’d had for lunch. “Corn dogs and Oreos” was the reply.

Difficult ‘Cloud Atlas’ worth the effort

David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas” (Random House, 2004) is a novel that demands much of the reader. After a previous attempt, I finally finished it this year because my cousin Susi and I decided to read it at the same time. Read this book with a buddy, a book club or some other support system. Before you lose heart, let me also add that the book is worth the effort.

The unbelievably gifted Mitchell can write in tongues, and he uses this talent to serve his story rather than show off. (Tom Wolfe comes to mind.) Six stories unfurl forward and backward, leaving a double chapter in the center of the novel. Experienced novelists know that part of a writer’s job is to teach readers how to read the book. Mitchell explains this six separate times in vastly different voices that each take some getting used to. At the end of every chapter, I would find myself taking a breather before tackling the next one, occasionally even reading another book as a palate cleanser.

‘Bill and Dave’ highlights local business legends

Here is a home-town book if ever there was one, a book that has a pretty good chance of making you proud of someone you know. “Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World’s Greatest Company” by Michael S. Malone (Portfolio/Penguin, 2007) is about our friends, relatives and neighbors in Los Altos.

Did Dave Packard live in your neighborhood? Do you hang out with Art Fong’s grandchildren Kelly and Michael? Did you go to Terman Middle School? If you can read this book without finding a name you recognize, you probably have not lived here very long.

Hawaii’s ‘Garden Isle’ perfect for the nature-lovers

Kauai, the small northernmost Hawaiian island, is a tropical paradise, full of lush vegetation, probably offering the greatest variety of plant life in the world. Everything grows well here with the humid climate and temperatures nearly always between 70 and 85 degrees year-round. Long sleeves, long pants? Leave ‘em at home. The scenery, from Waimea Canyon to the Na Pali Coast, is spectacular.

The 550-square-mile island, said to be Hawaii’s oldest, lacks the volcanic activity of the big island, the freeways and congestion of Honolulu on the island of Oahu, and the shopper’s variety of Maui. What it does offer is a calm, scenic, relatively uncrowded environment - perfect for hiking and biking nature lovers who like to feel the earth beneath their feet.

Travel agents provide expertise, recommendations and explanations

The tropical islands of the Caribbean, the classic cities of Europe and many additional fascinating and fun-filled destinations around the world await you.

Many travelers now research and book their holiday adventures online. Even if you are one of them, you may have questions or want to speak directly with a travel expert. Here are some of the ways a travel agent can be a great resource.

Helping the abled and the disabled

Don Scheiman, 74, a personal trainer at the El Camino YMCA in Mountain View, has clients who call him a miracle worker. Not bad for a man on a second career.

Scheiman, who worked in hazardous containment until he was diagnosed with a brain tumor at 60, specializes in what he calls “special population training.”

El Camino Hospital volunteers call the lonely every day

Molly Girard has spent the last 20 years talking on the telephone three hours a day.

And, while it might appear to be casual chitchat, Girard, the chairwoman of El Camino Hospital’s Telecare service, is making an emotional connection of vital importance to elderly people who live alone.

Estate sales work for seniors downsizing or moving

There doesn’t have to be a death in the family to have an estate sale.

Rather than leaving it to heirs to dispose of household property, more and more older adults are holding estate sales as they downsize or move to a retirement facility.

The show ‘Goes’ on

Los Altos Youth Theatre’s production of “Anything Goes” runs through July 28 at the Bus Barn Theater.

The musical comedy is set on the S.S. American ship. On board: a gangster on the lam posing as a minister; an evangelist-turned nightclub singer accompanied by four tap-dancers; and a society miss, her English fiancé and her ex-boyfriend who stowed away in an effort to win her back. Comical mistaken identities ensue as the ship sails across the Atlantic.

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