Los Altos July 10-16: Harry Potter, Open Space, and little big burger

Los Altos Patch tries to catch you up with recent events in and about Los Altos through its stories. This week, we widen our net to include news from other publications, because Patch can't be everywhere. And we figure you will still want to know!

1.

For so many young adults who swelled the lines for , it was the coda to a story that had accompanied them throughout their lives. , re-watched earlier movies, re-read earlier books, and threw spells. Los Altan Tara Haghighi, 23, a friend and her siblings, ages 18 and 14, had tickets for more than a month in advance. She wrote about the anticipation for Patch in , and she wrote about , where many Los Altans go— on Shoreline Boulevard in Mountain View.

See if it resonates with you or someone in your life.

2. How Khan Academy Is Changing the Rules of Education

Khan Academy and its pilot program at the Los Altos School District, is the subject of another story, this time in Wired magazine speculating about how Silicon Valley is influencing education. Since going from a homely YouTube channel intended to help a young relative, to TED Talks and a full-blown educational organization with $1.5 million of Gates Foundation money, Khan Academy has its advocates and its detractors—but it's certainly worth watching.

3. After Preserving 59,000 Acres, Midpen' Open Space District Faces A Funding Shortage

Just Thursday, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District announced it had for $1.75 milion. Then Friday, an article by Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury News reported how the district is facing "an unprecedented financial challenge."

"We're not in a crisis, but we see one coming," said Steve Abbors, general manager, told the Mercury News.

Growing debt and increasing staff has the agency projecting it will run out of money to buy any more land by 2017. It is considering charging admission to some of its 26 reserves in Santa Clara and San Mateo. The board is also considering a future ballot measure to ask voters who live in the district boundaries of northern Santa Clara and southern San Mateo counties for the two-thirds majority needed to pass a parcel tax, projected for $12-$18 a year.

4. Los Altos Councilman Sues Over Condo Price

A story in the Palo Alto Daily News reported that Los Altos Councilman Jarrett Fishpaw filed a lawsuit June 27 in Santa Clara County Superior Court against Bank of America and the real estate agent who sold him his Los Altos condo, alleging they cheated him out the price he should have been offered under the city's below-market-rate housing program.

Fishpaw purchased a one-bedroom condo on Tyndall Street in April that falls under the program, which mandates artificially low prices for residents with low-to-moderate incomes.

Fishpaw said his income fell within the condo's maximum income level of $56,500 for a single-person household.He bought the condo in April for $218,000 but said it should have been priced at a maximum of $205,500 under the program, and issuing for the difference, and legal costs.

Fishpaw's mortgage lender would only finance the home at the $205,500 price, so he had to come up with $13,500 more.

5. little big burger Headed to State Street in the Fall

We all keep watching what's happening with State Street and around the corner on First Street, what with the opening of the Skate Works, and expected opening of Plates Bar & Grill and Bumble, and buzz about little big burger. Adding to the anticipation is Eater.com's reporting on the first foray out of Oregon for mini-burger purveyor. It's not the first mention, which was covered in the Town Crier on June 8. For those who want a sense of what it looks like, here's a peek at the Eugene, OR, store.