News Worth Knowing: Los Altos Artist Honored by State Senate, Bullis Charter School Gets a New Library and More Los Altos Headlines

Sidle up with a cup of coffee or tea as Los Altos Patch tries to catch you up with recent events in and about Los Altos.

We've widened our net to include news from other publications, because Patch can't be everywhere each day. And we think you'll want to know.

1.

Los Altos artist Steve Curtiss received a high honor recently when

In addition to having one of his paintings, "Attorneys in the Wild," displayed at the State Capitol in Sacramento for a full year, and being included in the Senate's contemporary art catalogue, Curtiss (D-Palo Alto) on Friday night at Los Altos' Gallery 9 on Main Street. Simitian presented Curtiss with a framed resolution commemorating his honor.

2. Los Altos/LAH Mansions in High Demand Thanks to Tech Boom

Fox News reported this week that, thanks to a boom in Bay Area tech jobs, mansions in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View and Palo Alto are one of just a few economicaly robust sectors in the country.

Thanks to successful local companies like Facebook, Google and LinkedIn, Bay Area executives appear to find large homes in this area desirable, for their short commute, and access to top public schools.

The article discusses unprecedented, recent real estate deals, such as the executive from Russia who recently purchased a mansion in Los Altos for $100 million, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's new Palo Alto home, which he nabbed for $7 million.

Read the full story here.

3.

At the start of summer, it looked as though Bullis Charter School (BCS) might have no library, come the start of the new school year this month.

BCS operates on the Egan Jr. High campus. Under Proposition 39, the Los Altos School District (LASD) must provide "reasonably equivalent" facilities for charter schools.

However, BCS and LASD have been in constant litigation almost since the charter school first opened in 2004. School officials say the district does not live up to its obligations under Prop. 39 and does not provide sufficient facilities for the rapidly-growing school, which is adding another grade this year.

Just this week, it was announced that LASD would provide a newly-built and bigger library for BCS.

Read the full story

4.

The California Department of Education released figures Thursday for graduation and drop-out rates amongst high schools statewide.

High schools in the Mountain View-Los Altos district were amongst the highest in the state. Statewide, around 74 percent of high school seniors graduated from high school, whereas all the schools in MVLA were at 93 percent or higher.

Around 18 percent of students in the state dropped out of high school, compared to under 3 percent of local students.

Read the full story

5.

The Foothill-De Anza Community College District announced Monday that officials were taking steps toward acquiring space at the decommissioned Onizuka Air Force Station in Sunnyvale for a new education center.

After failed attempts to purchase space at other locations, including Palo Alto's Cubberley Community Center, it appears Onizuka is the perfect place for the community college district to expand. And, the space can be acquired for free, and will only cost $5 million to prepare for construction, which will be paid from a bond measure approved by voters.

Read the full story