New recruits join police force

Los Altos Police Chief Tuck Younis presents a badge to new officer Liz Checke, above, during a swearing-in and promotional ceremony Friday. New recruit Chris Cruzado marks the occasion with his daughter, right, while reserve officer Jonathan Chavoor embraces a family member, below left.

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Commissions outline wants, needs for new community center

Courtesy of City of Los Altos
Members of Los Altos’ various commissions rank their priorities for a new community center.

A handful of Los Altos city commissions met last week for one specific purpose – to create a preliminary wish list of programming for a new community center.

Members of the city’s Senior, Parks and Recreation, Youth and Public Arts commissions met Feb. 26 for more than two hours at Hillview Community Center, part of the ongoing 10-month effort to update plans to replace Hillview with a new community facility as outlined in the 2009 Civic Center Master Plan. Participants split into groups and prioritized programming needs for the various constituencies the new facility would serve, such as seniors, teens and children.

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LAH water, fire districts working to make pipes, tanks more quake-proof

Photo by Ellie Van Houtte/Town Crier
Engineer Joubin Pakpour enters the Neary No. 2 Tank, above, scheduled for retrofits

Nestled on a plot of land in Los Altos Hills with a picturesque view of San Francisco Bay, the 3-million-gallon Neary No. 2 Tank – the size of a football field and approximately 6 feet high – sits empty in anticipation of seismic retrofits.

As part of the $2.7 million Neary Tank Utilization Project, the Purissima Hills Water District and the Los Altos Hills County Fire District are upgrading infrastructure and preparing the community for emergencies – including the possibility of a catastrophic earthquake. Although the town’s current water storage capacity and pressure have been deemed adequate for day-to-day use, building codes and emergency preparedness needs have changed significantly since the town’s first tank, Neary No. 1, was installed in the 1960s.

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BCS counters that LASD preliminary offer isn't enough

Bullis Charter School officials claimed that the Los Altos School District continues to miss the mark in providing reasonably equivalent facilities for its in-district students.

As part of the annual facilities-allocation process, the charter school replied over the weekend to the district’s preliminary facilities offer for 2014-2015, accusing the district of shorting the charter school 15.5 standard portables and 4 acres of campus space.

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Police Blotter

Ex-felon arrested for weapons possession

Los Altos police arrested two San Jose residents during a vehicle stop Monday morning – including a man with a prior conviction found in possession of a weapon.

Police arrested 28-year-old Antonio Enrique Rojas on multiple charges, including driving on a suspended license, providing false information to police and illegal possession of a stun gun. In addition, police arrested 34-year-old passenger Octavio Villa on an outstanding drug warrant out of Santa Clara County. Both men were booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail.

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MROSD board votes to place bond measure on June ballot

MROSD board votes to place bond measure on June ballot

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Board of Directors voted unanimously last week to move forward with a bond measure slated for the June 3 ballot. MROSD is based in Los Altos and has a seven-member board.

The bond would enable the district to fulfill major regional open-space projects within its tri-county boundaries, according to an MROSD press release issued after the Feb. 26 board meeting.

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