Tootsie’s: Just what the doctor ordered WEEKEND | 16 SEPTEMBER 28, 2012 VOLUME 20, NO. 37
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Neighborhood questions the council candidates By Daniel DeBolt
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f you attended the Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association City Council candidate forum on Monday night, chances are your question was answered by one candidate, but not by all of them. The association’s unusual format for the event, allowing residents to submit questions directed at a particular candidate, resulted in some unique opinions on dozens of topics. Below are the highlights from the two-hour event. MICHELLE LE
Endeavour soars above Hangar One at Moffett field last Friday, as the space shuttle made its farewell flight over California.
Space shuttle’s last flight delights crowds By Daniel DeBolt
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massive crowd gathered on the tarmac at Moffett Federal Airfield Friday morning, Sept. 21, to watch the historic last flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour as it was ferried to a museum in Los Angeles.
After causing traffic jams on Highway 101 as it flew down the Peninsula perched atop a specially modified jumbo jet, Endeavour made its appearance at 10:37 a.m., turning in from the Bay and aiming at Moffett’s historic Hangar One, which briefly blocked the crowd’s
view. Flying little more than 200 feet above NASA Ames Research Center, it then flew south over Mountain View and into the horizon to end its 123million-mile journey, having orbited the earth 4,671 times See SPACE SHUTTLE, page 10
Third-graders set to get their hands dirty LIVING CLASSROOM TEACHES KIDS SCIENCE, HISTORY, EVEN MATH, THROUGH GARDENING By Nick Veronin
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ountain View thirdgraders will be digging into education this fall with a new program that teaches science, social studies and math concepts through hands-on gardening. The Living Classroom program will begin on Oct. 5 with a pair of lessons at Theuerkauf Elementary School, where children will sow seeds, examine what grows
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and complete lessons related to the plants they are tending in their schoolyard gardens. Vicki Moore, Living Classroom’s founder, said the lessons taught by her all-volunteer staff are mostly science related, but some tie in to the histories of indigenous peoples and others involve number-crunching skills, such as taking measurements and planning for the future. “Learning doesn’t have to only
occur inside the walls of the classroom,” Moore said. She was inspired to create the outdoor education program after serving as a chaperone on a youth field trip to Los Trancos Open Space Preserve. Moore and the group of children had just boarded the bus back home when she noticed something. Upon taking their seats, the majority of the kids immediately stuck their noses into some kind of elec-
VIEWPOINT 14 | GOINGS ON 21 | MARKETPLACE 22 | REAL ESTATE 25
Jim Neal Neal staunchly defended his opposition to the city’s proposed plastic bag ban and new outdoor smoking ban near publicly accessible buildings, which launched his effort to join the council. He Jim Neal claims cigarette butts are now littered around Castro Street more than before, and says he
saw a major fight behind several bars the night the ban went into effect. “My grandmother died from cancer, she died from smoking,” Neal said. “But she had the best parties. She died doing what she loved to do. I hope to be just like her.” Neal disagreed with calls from parents for the city to share its Shoreline Fund revenues, including Google’s property taxes, with local schools, saying the city’s companies should be asked to donate on their own accord. “We don’t need to rob Peter to pay Paul,” Neal said. Neal introduced himself by saying he wanted to be a “representative” of residents, interested in getting them what they want, as opposed to a “politician.” “When you talk to a politician, ask them a yes or no question,” Neal said. “If you get a paragraph answer, that’s a politician.” The comment set the stage for an exchange later when Neal was asked, “Are you a member of a political party?” “I consider myself to be indeSee COUNCIL CANDIDATES, page 11
tronic device, she said, “instead ever leaving campus. of looking out the window at this The program got its start glorious view coming down Page during the 2008-09 school year Mill Road.” in the Los Altos Moore is no LudSchool District, dite. She supports it has been ‘Learning doesn’t where technology in the steadily growclassroom. Still, have to only occur ing ever since, she was dismayed Moore said. This when she saw the inside the walls is the first year children were so the program will of the classroom.’ be active in the quick to tune out nature. “I thought Mountain View VICKI MOORE, FOUNDER to myself, ‘We need Whisman School OF LIVING CLASSROOM to have everyday District. experiences with “We wanted nature in the schoolyard.’” Liv- to provide an opportunity to ing Classroom gives teachers an enhance our science curriculum opportunity to take their students on a “field trip” without See LIVING CLASSROOM, page 12