Four San Jose residents are facing forgery charges after allegedly trying to pass a stolen check at the Bank of Los Altos on El Camino Real.
Los Altos police Sgt. Mark Macaulay said police responded to a noontime call on March 1 from the bank, regarding a "suspicious person cashing a stolen check."
Officers took four into custody and found the suspects had several additional stolen checks in their possession, police said.
Police found that the suspects were using a laptop computer and printer allegedly to manufacture or alter stolen checks, officials said. The suspects had tried to pass other checks at local check-cashing facilities in the area, police said.
Graffiti incidents reaching epidemic
In 1998, there were fewer than 24 incidents of graffiti reported in Los Altos for the year, police said.
So folks were surprised when during one recent week there were five: Graffiti downtown Feb. 20 on the back of a First Street business; graffiti Feb. 21 at Grant Park on the multi-purpose room; graffiti Feb. 23, again at Grant Park, on a door near the bathroom; graffiti Feb. 24 on the rear of a State Street building; and graffiti Feb. 27 at McKenzie Park.
"It could be a little group, working together," said Lucy Carlton, Los Altos police chief. In fact, police arrested four juveniles Feb. 20 at Grant Park on charges of misdemeanor marijuana.
The next day the graffiti was reported on the multi-purpose room walls at Grant Park. Police said there could be a connection.
The Los Altos City Council recently passed a graffiti abatement ordinance that allows the city to paint over graffiti if the property owner does not take care of it.
In 1996, Los Altos police received 24 graffiti calls; in 1997 there were 52 calls; in 1998 the numbers went back down.
Power outages on Fallen Leaf
Fallen Leaf Lane residents in south Los Altos had the misfortune of lengthy power outages three times in one week, PG&E officials and residents reported.
PG&E spokesman Scott Blakey said outages on Feb. 26, Feb. 28 and last Thursday were caused by a variety of problems. The Feb. 26 outage was due to a blown connector and bad cable, while the Feb. 28 blackout was caused by a shift in power from one circuit to another which blew fuses.
The last outage, which lasted about eight hours according to one resident, was caused by a tree in a power line that "blew" the circuit, Blakey said.
"None of these things of themselves is major," he said, "but together, they're huge headaches for the homeowners."
He said crews will be on Fallen Leaf Lane this week for a planned outage so that crews can make repairs on a malfunctioning circuit and prevent a recurrence of these problems.
Housing issues discussed at League forum
The League of Women Voters of Los Altos-Mountain View Area sponsored a community meeting Feb. 24 with a panel of local housing experts to talk about availability and cost of housing.
Jim Mackenzie, Los Altos senior planner, said the city is doing well working to meet its current goals for affordable housing units. One method used to meet goals is to ask developers of multiple living units to offer a percentage of their units below market rates.
Some of the discussion centered on how communities can work together to share responsibility for providing affordable housing. Mackenzie said there are currently no financial incentives for offering aid to other cities, such as Mountain View, to provide that housing.
- Joanne Griffith Domingue
and Town Crier Staff Reports