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IN THIS ISSUE JUNE 11, 2010 VOLUME 18, NO. 23
INSIDE: WEEKEND | PAGE 19
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MountainViewOnline.com
Landslide victory for Measure A By Nick Veronin
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upporters of Measure A made their voices heard at the polls, soundly approving the bond to help build new classrooms, labs and other facilities, as well as improve school infrastructure at both Mountain View and Los Altos
“We’re ecstatic to have the bond pass.” BARRY GROVES DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT
A PROUD MOMENT
JAMES TENSUAN
Aneesa Salaam is overcome with emotion as she accepts her diploma from Alta Vista High School principal Bill Pierce at the June 2 ceremony in Mountain View High School’s theater. Hundreds of local teens graduated from high school last week. The Voice’s coverage of the ceremonies and lists of the graduates begin on Page 11. To post your own graduation photos online, go to www.MV-Voice.com and click on the “Photo Gallery” feature.
high schools. Nearly 77 percent of the 15,484 votes cast were in favor of the $41.3 million school bond measure, which passed, 12,640 to 3,844. The measure needed only 55 percent of the vote to carry. A little over 29 percent of the district’s registered voters cast ballots, roughly equal to the voter turnout percentage in See MEASURE A, page 7
Medical pot user busted for growing POLICE SAY 53 POT PLANTS WAS TOO MANY By Daniel DeBolt
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man arrested May 25 for allegedly possessing large quantities of marijuana for sale has the full support of his mother, who disputes several felony charges filed against her son. She says he was legally possessing marijuana to treat pain
INSIDE
from a car crash that left him with numerous injuries. Police have charged Pasha Kharazi, 29, for possessing marijuana for sale after he was found growing 53 pot plants in his apartment on the 500 block of Ortega Avenue. Police said they also found a pair of brass knuckles, a smoking pipe with metham-
phetamine residue, just over five ounces of harvested marijuana and evidence that the marijuana was going to be sold. Pasha’s mother, Susan Kharazi, said Pasha had a doctor’s prescription for the marijuana and was growing it legally to treat chronic pain resulting from a car accident in 2000, she said. After
the accident he was in a coma for six weeks and was left with his face half-paralyzed, no hearing in one ear, nerve damage, rods and screws in one of his legs, and anxiety and insomnia, among other problems. “He’s really struggled with life since the accident,” she said.
GOINGS ON 24 | MARKETPLACE 25 | MOVIES 22 | REAL ESTATE 28 | VIEWPOINT 18
While Kharazi does not want to dispute all of the facts of the case publicly, she spoke in a City Council meeting last week, pleading for help. “He’s a good kid. He followed all the regulations and that’s what happened to him,” Kharazi said. “I’m hoping the chief of police will speak to me because I’d really like to get some help.” Kharazi was able to talk to police chief Scott Vermeer at the end of the meeting. See POT BUST, page 9