City talks water | P.5 MARCH 26, 2010 VOLUME 18, NO. 12
INSIDE: WEEKEND | PAGE 15
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Dramatic final hearing for Minton’s project RESIDENTS SHARPLY DIVIDED OVER PROPOSED APARTMENT BUILDINGS DURING FIVE-HOUR CITY COUNCIL MEETING By Daniel DeBolt
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t was a house divided in a packed City Council chambers Tuesday night, as supporters and opponents clashed over a proposed 203-unit development project on the site of Minton’s Lumber and Supply. The discussion began around 7 p.m., and by 11 Mayor Ronit Bryant was still looking at a long line of people at the public speaker’s podium. “I turn into a pumpkin at midnight and I’d rather do that in private,” she said, trying to speed up the comments. The council will make a final decision on the project on April 7. Prometheus Real Estate Group proposes to build 203 one and two bedroom rental apartments where Minton’s now stands on 3.5 acres at 455 West Evelyn Ave. Two apartment See MINTON’S, page 8
Foothill College student Etienne Bowie leads fellow marchers toward the state Capitol building in Sacramento. Bowie was among the organizers who helped bring four busloads of Foothill students to Monday’s demonstration. Below: Foothill student Huda Tahboub makes a protest sign during the bus ride to Sacramento. Photos by Michelle Le.
Council approves $100,000 contract for HSR designs
Foothill students join march on Sacramento
By Daniel DeBolt
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THOUSANDS PROTEST CUTS TO STATE’S CASH-STRAPPED COMMUNITY COLLEGES By Kelsey Mesher
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ooming final exams and papers didn’t stop four busloads of Foothill College students from taking Monday to go to Sacramento, where they marched alongside their peers and delivered a message to legislators: Stop the budget cuts to education. And after students chanted that message over the Tower Bridge and down
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Capitol Mall, some of them relayed their own personal stories to staff members in the Capitol building. “Our goal is to present our own story,” explained Johnson Chan during the bus ride to Sacramento Monday morning. Chan, who serves as the school’s student body vice president of finance, said more student groups than ever have asked the student government for financial support this year.
“Legislators are sitting in meeting rooms,” he said. “They don’t know See MARCH, page 12
GOINGS ON 20 | MARKETPLACE 21 | MOVIES 18 | REAL ESTATE 23 | VIEWPOINT 14
n an attempt to ensure that high speed rail doesn’t ruin Mountain View’s landscape, the City Council on Tuesday decided to pay a design firm $100,000 to create 3-D sketches of high speed rail crossings at Rengstorff Avenue and Castro Street. Freedman, Tung & Sasaki, a San Francisco firm which designed the redevelopment of Castro Street, will also design several alternatives for the two major street crossings for high speed rail in Mountain View. The city hopes that the California High Speed Rail Authority will take note. See HSR, page 8