One small seed WEEKEND | 18 JULY 31, 2015 VOLUME 23, NO. 27
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MOVIES | 21
Competition heats up for open school board seat MOUNTAIN VIEW WHISMAN BOARD TO APPOINT NEW TRUSTEE NEXT MONTH By Kevin Forestieri
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Johnny Martinez, with wife Buranda in his Mountain View cabinet-making shop. After a devastating motorcycle accident, Martinez has struggled to regain his memory and rebuild his business.
Rebuilding a life LOCAL CABINETMAKER AND FAMILY STRUGGLE TO RETURN TO NORMAL AFTER DEVASTATING ACCIDENT By Mark Noack
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ept. 5, 2012 started out as another agonizing day for Buranda Martinez — the day of her wedding anniversary. She was at her husband John-
ny’s bedside at the Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, as she had been every day since his traumatic motorcycle accident about one month earlier. Her life had become a routine of hospital visits and
Clearing up the hazy rules surrounding drones AMES EVENT DRAWS EVERYONE FROM AMAZON TO ENTHUSIASTS TO DISCUSS UNMANNED AIRCRAFT By Mark Noack
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ook up in the sky these days and you might just see a drone buzzing around. These small autonomous flyers are getting cheaper and more ubiquitous, but one thing they currently lack is a clear set of
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boundaries for how and where they can be used. This week, more than 1,000 attendees are flocking to the NASA Ames Research Center with the goal of zeroing in on better rules and tools for the growing drone market. Considered by some as the industry’s
heartbreak, and doctors were preparing her to accept a grim future. Johnny was conscious but he couldn’t talk or acknowledge others, and they warned her he might be mentally disabled for the rest of his life. Buranda said she was devastated. They had known each other since they were kids, been married for 17 years, and were on the path toward a brighter See REBUILDING, page 8
premiere event, the Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management Convention brought various stakeholders together to discuss a future where the skies are populated with hundreds of little drones. The global market for drones is already estimated to be a $2.5 billion industry, much of which is derived from the huge push to adopt drones for commercial uses. Nevertheless, aviation rules as set by the FAA are almost entirely based on the days when flying meant formally certified See DRONES, page 9
VIEWPOINT 13 | GOINGS ON 22 | MARKETPLACE 23 | REAL ESTATE 25
he deadline to apply for the vacant school board seat on the Mountain View Whisman board of trustees is fast-approaching, and severa l more parents have announced they will be throwing their Jill Rakestraw hats in the ring. The board decided last month to appoint a new member from a pool of applicants, who have until Aug. 3 to apply. The newest member will replace former board president Chris Chiang, who resigned last month, citing the hostile atmosphere caused by fellow board member Steve Nelson. Lisa Garcia, Christina Oran and Jill Rakestraw, all parents who are active in the district, told the Voice that they have applied or plan to apply for the seat on the board. The district has also received
three additional applications, but district staff refused to disclose their names or provide copies of the applications when requested by the Voice. Superintendent Ayindé Rudolph did not return calls seeking his comment on why the information was being kept under wraps, but board president Ellen Wheeler, who is on the board’s subcommittee to screen applications, said she did not want to release any information prior to the closing of application period. The Voice has filed a public records request seeking the applicant information, but had not received a response as of its Wednesday press deadline. Rakestraw, a former tech writer and high school English teacher, has been a Monta Loma resident since 1998 and held leadership roles in the Parent Teacher Associations at Graham Middle School and Monta Loma Elementary over the past decade. She was a parent in the former Community Enhanced Learning (CEL) program at Monta Loma See SCHOOL BOARD, page 6
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An endurance quadcopter drone, called Trevor, is on display at the drone convention at Moffett Field this week.