Simple and savory MexicanAmerican cuisine WEEKEND | 16 AUGUST 3, 2012 VOLUME 20, NO. 28
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CLASS GUIDE | 21
PG&E plan will rip up backyards CAUSING HEARTBREAK, PG&E TO AXE BACKYARD TREES ON GAS LINE EASEMENT By Daniel DeBolt
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or several decades, Eileen and Beto Telleria’s backyard has been a respite from their daily stresses, a Japanese garden with a heavy stone bench, a pool for their two ducks, and as its centerpiece, a majestic plum tree with a trunk shaped like a human torso. When PG&E told them the yard would have to be stripped and their trees removed because a major gas pipeline runs underneath, Eileen said it was so upsetting for her and her husband, a PG&E representative began crying as well “For 50 years they let families plant things, build things and
this is their little castle,” Eileen said. “No one came by and said, ‘You have to take that baby tree out.’ No one did that. Their decision not to pay attention has caused a lot of pain.” PG&E officials have been going door to door on San Lucas Avenue, breaking the news to households that their backyard trees — some nearly 50 years old — have to be torn out. The roots may eventually damage the infamous gas line 132, the 67-year-old line which exploded in San Bruno. The Tellerias say only one of their neighbors knew the pipeline even existed under See PG&E, page 12
MICHELLE LE
Eileen Telleria sits on a stone bench in the shade of her plum tree, both of which will have to be removed, PG&E officials say.
New parent group forms to oppose Bullis By Nick Veronin
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group of parents and concerned citizens have formed a coalition to defend the Los Altos School District against what the members of the “alliance” say is the overzealous and overreaching leadership of Bullis Charter School. “The Huttlinger Alliance for Education was formed by local Los Altos School District community members — both parents and people in the community who don’t have children in the schools — to do what the community thinks is the right thing to protect the top-quality, high-performing schools in the school district,” said Noah Mesel, one of the group’s founders. Established in July, the group has not wasted any time in taking action. They have already
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spent out-of-pocket money to hire lawyers and file papers with the Santa Clara County Superior Court urging the rejection of Bullis’ “motion to compel compliance with judgment and writ,” which the charter school filed on July 3. The Bullis motion was not a legal action, per se, but just an official nudge intended to push the courts to take more decisive action in making the Los Altos School District agree to guarantee the charter school a campus within the district by the 2013-14 school year, as officials at Bullis say the court has clearly stated the district must do. The bottom line, according to Ken Moore, chairman of the Bullis board, is that the district continues to ignore the law. BCS is simply trying to get what it is due and the district is obstruct-
ing them any way it can. The district’s lawyers aren’t so sure, however. After Bullis filed its “motion to compel,” the LASD legal team fired back arguing that the district had already agreed to more than enough. “BCS’s request to order the closure of a district school has no support in the law,” LASD officials said in a July 24 press release. Mesel and his cohorts — seven community members working to defend the district — agree that LASD should not give up an entire campus. And according to Mesel, plenty of others living within the LASD boundaries share his view — as evidenced by the about 200 signatures of support he says the Huttlinger Alliance for Education has gathered.
No biz opposition to plastic bag ban By Daniel DeBolt
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f businesses oppose the proposal to ban plastic bags in Mountain View, it’s not been obvious or apparent. Cynthia Palacio, senior analyst for Mountain View working on the ordinance, said she had not seen strong opposition from business owners, though some have asked questions about it. The Mountain View Chamber of Commerce has yet to take a position after Palacio presented the ordinance to members. Only a few residents have come out strongly against the ban at recent city meetings, many of them questioning the
See BULLIS, page 9
VIEWPOINT 14 | Movies 19 | GOINGS ON 20 | MARKETPLACE 25 | REAL ESTATE 27
claimed environmental damage the bags do and advocating for more recycling instead. As part of an effort that spans 24 cities in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, a ban has been proposed on single-use plastic bags in Mountain View, which officials say are causing a trash problem in the Pacific Ocean, the San Francisco Bay and local creeks. The bags also clog water treatment facilities, Palacio said. The ban would not cover bags distributed by nonprofits, charity-run thrift stores, restaurants and bags used for produce, meat or prescriptions. See PLASTIC BAGS, page 10