Comfort food haven WEEKEND | 16 FEBRUARY 14, 2014 VOLUME 22, NO. 3
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Google wins lease of Hangar One, Moffet runways By Daniel DeBolt
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reservationists can rejoice — Hangar One’s restoration appears imminent. Google has won a lease deal for the massive hangar and operation of Moffett Field’s runways. NASA and the General Services Administration announced Feb. 10 that Google’s Planetary Ventures, LLC has been selected for a long-term lease of Hangar One and the Moffett Federal Airfield. The subsidiary of Google has partnered with NASA in the past, and is set to build a 1.1 millionsquare-foot campus on another portion of Moffett. The Google subsidiary proposes to use Hangar One for the “research, testing, assembly and development” of emerging technologies related to space, aviation, rovers and robotics, according to GSA’s Jackeline Stewart. She adds that Moffett’s large Hangars Two and Three “will be See HANGAR ONE, page 10
MICHELLE LE
Hangar One, a Silicon Valley landmark, has languished in skeletal form since a project to strip it of its toxic-laced siding material was completed in 2012.
Council votes to ban styrofoam Common Core worrisome CITY TO ELIMINATE USE OF POLYSTYRENE FOOD CONTAINERS STARTING IN JULY By Daniel DeBolt
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hile its use is nearly phased out in the environmentally conscious Bay Area, not everyone was in agreement about the evils of polystyrene Tuesday night when the City Council voted to ban most uses of the packaging material within Mountain View’s borders. With a 4-2 council vote on Feb. 11, Mountain View joined Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Palo Alto and many other Bay Area cities in banning disposable food con-
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tainers made of polystyrene, also known as styrofoam. Members John Inks and John McAlister were opposed and Mike Kasperzak was absent. The ban is set to take effect July 1, making it illegal for restaurants and other food outlets to distribute or sell disposable polystyrene plates, cups and containers. Polystyrene will remain legal for “prepackaged food” and businesses can apply for a one-year exemption to use overstocked supplies or if the ban places an economic hardship on them. Polystyrene ice chests were
noted for being reusable and are excluded from the ban, though the council voted to look at banning those also within a year. Council member McAlister opposed that idea, too. Council member Inks opposed the ban, saying that polystyrene was “unfairly persecuted” and a “wonderful packaging material. The economy and utility of styrofoam, it’s very, very amazing.” He admitted that it is also the hardest material to clean from local creeks. See STYROFOAM BAN, page 9
VIEWPOINT 14 \ GOINGS ON 20 \ MARKETPLACE 21 \ REAL ESTATE 23
for special ed students NEW STANDARDS MAY BE ‘OVERWHELMING’ FOR CHILDREN WITH LEARNING CHALLENGES By Nick Veronin
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arents of children with learning challenges have reason to be concerned about the new national curriculum standards, known as Common Core, according to a pair of local special education officials. “It’s going to be a big problem that’s going to lead to a lot of problems for a lot of kids,” said Christine Case-Lo, co-founder of the Learning Challenges Com-
mittee, which functions a bit like a multi-school district PTA for special needs children. Case-Lo, a Mountain View resident and the mother of a severly autistic boy, said she isn’t particularly worried for her son, who spends all day in special education classes. Her “major concern” is for the students with learning disabilities who are “mainstreamed” or taught in See COMMON CORE, page 13