News Briefs News Briefs (June 25, 2004)

Preliminary hearing in murder trial

Prosecutors will attempt to convince a magistrate on Monday in San Jose that the three suspects in last October's murder of 77-year-old Doris "Dottie" Condon should stand trial.

Enrique Chavez, Jose Sosa and David Olayo are accused of breaking into Condon's home on Jardin Avenue and beating her so severely that she would later die from her injuries. If the judge determines that the prosecution presents enough evidence to proceed, an arraignment should follow within two to three weeks in a Palo Alto courthouse.

Lieber moves district office to Mountain View

State Assembly member Sally Lieber's district office has come back to her hometown. Her new office is now located on Castro Street.

Lieber's fond hometown feelings may have contributed to the choice of the new location, but so too did the fact that the previous office location in San Jose was outside of the district boundaries, according to spokesperson Matt Moretti. Lieber will be spending time at the district office as the legislative calendar permits, according to Moretti.

Local cops carry Special Olympics torch

On June 18, Capt. Bruce Barsi and Officers Frank Rivas, Evan Evans and Katherine Comesana represented the Mountain View Police Department in the Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run. MVPD joined forces with the Los Altos Police Department to carry the flame through the city with the encouragement of onlookers. The 2004 Special Olympics Northern California Summer Games is being held from June 25 to June 27 in Stockton.

Mountain View named bike-friendly community

Mountain View is among 38 communities nationwide to earn a Bicycle Friendly Community award from the League of American Bicyclists this year. The city council accepted the bronze-level designation, the second highest of five levels, at its June 8 meeting. Last year, Palo Alto and Stanford earned gold and silver designations, respectively.

Senior center design approved

The city council approved a design for the new Senior Center on Tuesday night after months of public input. Construction on the lodge-style center at 266 Escuela Ave. is slated to begin in the fall of 2005.

The final design plan left the interior of the building open, rather than broken up by an acoustic partition. It also incorporates green-building practices and materials in some aspects of the design, including extensive use of natural light and the potential for solar panels on the roof.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.