Los Altos Town Crier

News Flash

1/6

All street parking along First Street between State Street and Shasta Street has been restricted as the city of Los Altos begins phase 2 of its streetscape improvement project. Travel lanes on First have been temporarily adjusted to allow room for construction on the northeast side of First Street. Motorists in the area should expect some delays along First Street during construction hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Although sidewalk work is underway, all affected businesses remain open and accessible to customers.

Library hosts discussion on heirloom gardens

The Los Altos Library has scheduled the program “Growing an Heirloom Garden” 7 p.m. June 5 in the Program Room of the main library, 13 S. San Antonio Road.

Photographer and author Rosalind Creasy will present an illustrated lecture on how to select, grow and cook with heirloom vegetables. She will also discuss how to find heirloom varieties of flowers like Love-Lies-Bleeding, Love-in-a-Puff, old roses and sweet peas.

Business

Could the Dow hit 17,000 by year-end?

The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 continued their run up the mountain, hitting record highs last week. The Dow closed at 15,354 Friday, with several analysts predicting it could reach 17,000 by year’s end.

Schools

Almond fifth-graders debate taxes

Bostonians in 1773 provided an answer to the question “Should Great Britain have taxed the colonists?” via the Boston Tea Party. More recently, before the April 15 filing deadline for U.S. taxes, fifth-graders at Almond School explored both sides of the issue through a series of formal debates conducted gradewide as part of their social studies curriculum.

Many students reported that studying colonial taxation via debate, as opposed to more traditional means, helped them to better understand that period in American history. They said they found it eye-opening to debate a point of view that they didn’t necessarily support.

Mountain View on the Move

Beloved family restaurant retires after 30-year run

Local breakfast lovers are eating final, fond orders of biscuits, omelets and homestyle potatoes at Country Gourmet this week. The 30-year-old Mountain View restaurant is closing doors as owner Herman Shaw retires from the business.

Those who live for a weekend snack of French toast topped with grilled bananas, almonds and caramel sauce – or the other specialties at the independent diner – will have to eat their fill by Sunday. The family-run restaurant and the land on which it sits have been sold to a new owner.

Senior Lifestyles

BridgePoint resident joins First Century Club

BridgePoint at Los Altos is scheduled to honor centenarian Florence “Sunny” Kane, 101, at a luncheon June 5.

Kane, a resident at BridgePoint, a Kisco Senior Living community, joins the First Century Club, created to celebrate those who reach 100 years of age. Kisco premiered the club in May, National Older Americans Month.

Travel

Give your regards: Local director leads November trip to Broadway

Broadway lights shine brightest during the holidays, and Jay Manley and Vance Martin plan a Thanksgiving to remember with their upcoming New York Theatre Tour.

The play’s the thing for those who sign up for the duo’s 33rd New York City theater trip, which will feature five new productions and an optional musical. From Nov. 26 to Dec. 2, theater-lovers will feast on a full menu of first-run plays. It’s the first time in 20 years that the tour will hit New York City on Thanksgiving.

Festival fun: Fairs offer variety of music, art, food and wine

Books

Author’s riches-to-rags tale offers redemption via Starbucks

Sometimes a book is successful not because it’s exceptionally well written, but because it strikes a nerve with a segment of the population. Such is the case with Michael Gates Gill’s “How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else” (Gotham, 2007).

Comment

Denial for all the wrong reasons: Editorial

It’s a given that no one likes traffic and noise. So it seems logical that a request by two schools at Union Presbyterian Church to expand enrollment by 20 students would increase traffic and noise around its location at 858 University Ave., right?

Not so fast. A traffic analysis conducted by Los Altos city staff reported virtually no difference in traffic if the schools’ enrollment were capped at 120 students rather than the current 100. In addition, several improvements have been made in the two years since the Los Altos City Council last denied the 120-limit request, including striping along University to help manage auto traffic and the schools’ commitment to carpooling and staggering their opening and closing times to reduce congestion.

Spiritual Life

Jonah’s message offers lessons on love, repentance and grace

For the past couple of weeks at Union Presbyterian Church of Los Altos, we have been looking at the Book of Jonah, unique among the Bible’s prophetic books.