More construction is coming to First Street, but not in the form of a streetscape project.

A proposal to build a two-story, 45,265-square-foot Safeway at 160 First St. received its final nod of approval Jan. 24 when the Los Altos City Council voted in favor of the project that will replace the existing 45-year-old grocery store.

The story began in a farmer’s field in Germany. It is an amazing odyssey, inspired by a woman’s 100th birthday, impacted by a vacation visit to an Air Force museum in Georgia and furthered by spots on the nightly news.

It’s a story about a soldier finding his way home.

Los Altos School District officials are crafting a preliminary budget for 2012-2013 to present to the board of trustees Monday.

After reviewing Gov. Jerry Brown’s education budget proposal, Randy Kenyon, assistant superintendent for business services, said at the Jan. 24 board meeting that the district clearly faces another year of fiscal uncertainty.

In India, one can more often than not identify another’s religion by his or her dress. Sikh males sport turbans, well-kept beards and silver bracelets. Muslim women wear head coverings for varying degrees of modesty, depending on local traditions of orthodoxy, from simple scarves to full-body burqas with only a slit to see through. Hindus, male and female, will often wear makeup on the forehead to identify their sect. Certain members of the Jain religion and some Hindu hermits of the sadhu sect wear nothing at all.

In North American Jewish communities, Hassidic males identify their degree of orthodoxy by the manner in which they manage their haircut and beard and by the type of hat they wear. Amish communities wear distinctive handmade clothing. Black Muslim members of the Nation of Islam can be identified by their bow ties for men or their sashes for women.

Los Altos residents Dee and Dave Gustavson shared stories of the lukewarm response they received when they attempted to start a Friendship Force International chapter in Iceland last August.

President Jimmy Carter introduced the Friendship Force organization in 1977 to promote grassroots diplomacy – earning the group a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for encouraging international understanding. The non-profit cultural exchange program arranges home stays, which allow participants to experience how citizens in other countries live.