On Sept. 28, 1919, the New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-1 in a game that lasted 51 minutes – a record for a nine-inning game that has stood the test of time for 99 years.
Baseball’s longest single inning tick-tocked at 1 hour, 8 minutes on May 8, 2004, between the Tigers and Rangers, 17 minutes longer than baseball’s shortest nine-inning game.
I’m not really the type of person to get all freaked out about medical procedures. To me, they are what they are and you just keep moving.
But for years, I had been terrified by the prospect of my first prostate exam. It was as if every trip to the doctor throughout my 40s was a stressful countdown to that inexorable moment when my physician would strap on a glove and give me the look.
You’ve probably already noticed – I sure have. A trip to Davis from Mountain View and Los Altos used to take under two hours. Our last few times up there, it took four. We are now LA North.
I remember a stat a few years back from a retired Santa Clara County planner: an estimated 300,000 additional people moving into the north of the county (from Palo Alto to San Jose) over the next 15 years. The reason? Job growth, of course. Obviously, Silicon Valley is a highly desirable place to live. But there’s a domino effect – clogged freeways, lack of available housing and lack of employees filling non-high-tech positions such as teacher, waitress and retail worker because of the lack of affordable housing.
Do you live in a neighborhood with no curbs and gutters? Do you enjoy walking in these neighborhoods? Look down these scenic streets and imagine an additional 3 feet of asphalt running along both sides and around every corner.
The Los Altos City Council will soon be asked by city staff to approve a revised Shoulder Improvement Policy (SIP) that addresses the public right-of-way, the area between the city street and private property. The policy continues a requirement for new homes and large remodels to install a 3-foot-wide asphalt drainage swale along the street edge, property line to property line, including around every corner lot.
As we travel the byways of our town’s peaceful streets, rutted routes and insane interstates, we are seeing more and more rear-end collisions.
We now witness and endure things that weren’t problems 40 years ago: People living in RVs parked on the streets of Mountain View and Palo Alto. Freeways slowing at 3 p.m. People renting rooms in houses because they can’t afford an apartment. Homeless people living along creeks. People taking four hours to get from Mountain View to Davis when it used to take less than two.
The Los Altos School District invites the community to share its perspectives through a convenient and confidential online forum called ThoughtExchange, which is a critical next step in our bold collaboration with the city of Mountain View to provide a 10th school site. We want your perspectives because we believe that the district will best serve the needs of all of our students and community with the new school when everyone’s voices are heard.
Your participation will help us resolve school overcrowding for decades to come. Current student enrollment exceeds 5,000 students, including Bullis Charter School – a level last reached in the 1970s when we had 12 school sites rather than the nine we have now. We house 10 schools on nine sites, with Bullis Charter School sharing campuses with Blach Intermediate and Egan Junior High schools.
The Town Crier welcomes letters to the editor on current events pertinent to Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View. Write to us at 138 Main St., Los Altos 94022, Attn: Editor, or email editor Bruce Barton at bruceb@latc.com. Because editorial space is limited, please confine letters to no more than 200 words. Include a phone number for verification purposes. Anonymous letters will not be printed.
You can also have your say right here at losaltosonline.com – scroll to the bottom of any story to add a comment.
