News Briefs News Briefs (May 27, 2005)

Cuesta Tennis Center still in limbo

The city has already delayed its plans to sign a new contract with an operator at Cuesta Tennis Center for several months. After Tuesday night's City Council meeting, it will have to wait a little longer.

The council tabled deliberation on the criteria that future operators must meet, appearing to get stuck on the level of subsidy, if any, that the center should receive. The 12-court complex currently generates about $14,000 per year, enough to cover about half of its operating costs. The city does not include the cost of resurfacing the courts in that figure.

Council members did unanimously pass three other recommendations from its parks commission, including a key decision to maintain a community-based model rather than attempt to maximize revenues.

Nearly 90 people, most of them members of the tennis club that operates at the center, attended the parks commission meeting earlier in the month, and Tuesday a small handful of them came to voice their support at the council meeting.

Gene Lee, a former member of the city's environmental planning commission, talked about the historical significance of the tennis center, saying it had helped put the city on the map. "This is not the appropriate place to try to balance the budget," he told the council.

Double-stabbing sends two to hospital

Police are still searching for two suspects in a brutal stabbing that occurred Sunday morning at around 1:30 a.m.

The two male victims, ages 22 and 26, were walking around California Street and Escuela Avenue when they were approached by two male suspects. According to Jim Bennett, the police spokesperson, an argument turned into a fight between the four men, and the two victims were stabbed repeatedly in the upper torso.

Police on patrol came upon the fight, but the suspects fled before any arrests could be made. Both victims were taken to the hospital, and their status was not known as of press time.

One suspect is described as a 22-year-old Hispanic male wearing a Mexican flag bandana. The other suspect is only described as a Hispanic adult male. Bennett said the investigation is ongoing and that the attack is not considered to be gang-related.

Fire guts Tyrella apartment complex

A Mountain View man is recovering after two neighbors rescued him from a fire that destroyed his apartment.

The fire started in a trash can in the man's bathroom, according to fire department spokesperson Lynn Brown. The flames spread throughout the three-unit apartment complex at 294 Tyrella Ave., ruining one unit and causing extensive smoke and water damage in the others.

Brown would not release the man's name, but said he had been admitted at Stanford Hospital. "The folks saved his life, by getting him out of the building. They did a good thing."

The American Red Cross offered assistance to the three other residents of the complex.

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