Nearly 50 supporters wearing red, the Chinese color for good luck, lobbied the Los Altos School District for a Mandarin-language immersion program at a board of trustees meeting Sept. 23.

Led by Stephanie Lau and Matt Thompson, district residents with young children, the group said neighboring school districts in Palo Alto and Cupertino have Mandarin immersion programs, and they urged the Los Altos School District to add a similar program to its curriculum for kindergarten through eighth grade.

LPGA golfer and Los Altos resident Juli Inkster, a three-time winner of the Samsung World Championship, has received a sponsor’s invitation to play in the 2008 edition of the 20-player event, scheduled today through Sunday in Half Moon Bay.

Inkster not only brings a Bay Area presence to the LPGA event at the Ocean Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links, but she literally brings a hall-of-fame resume as well. A 31-time champion on the LPGA tour who owns seven major championship trophies, Inkster was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1999 and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000.

It can be argued that the best deals in real estate are foreclosed properties. Real-estate-owned (REO) and short-sale properties have flooded the market, and buyers are taking advantage of the lower prices on distressed properties. The REOs are some of the hottest properties right now, with many being sold within days or even hours because of their attractive prices.

But it’s important to understand what is involved with REOs and short-sale properties and to know what you’re getting into if this is the route you decide to take.

If you are the parent, grandparent, babysitter or friend of a 12-year-old girl, chances are you know all about “Breaking Dawn” (Little, Brown Young Readers, 2008), the final installment in Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series. And if you are the young person in question, this review will be preaching to the choir. But for the uninitiated: although Meyer’s series targets young adults, it has found fervent fans in nearly every age demographic.

This may seem strange for a 750-page teenage vampire romance novel, especially one that follows three other equally long novels in a series, but Meyer’s descriptions and characterizations are surprisingly compelling.

When 6-year-old Matthew Reynolds came home from basketball camp complaining of pain, it was more than a case of sore muscles – he was subsequently diagnosed with bone cancer. So began three years of suffering for Matt and the Reynolds family of Mountain View. Matt died in 2000 at the age of 8.

Matt’s mother, Tess Reynolds, will tell how the family coped with the loss of their child as the next speaker in the “Faith Alive” series at Los Altos Lutheran Church. Her appearance is scheduled 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at the church, 460 S. El Monte Ave.