Photograph by Robert Scheer
Sunnyvale Mayor Robin Parker pins a ribbon to a post at Community Congregational Church in August as a reminder of the churches burnt down recently in the South.
January
* A gunman pursued by a Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department deputy fired at least five shots at the deputy in the Valley Church's parking lot on Stelling Road. Several shots hit the deputy's car. Police closed Homestead High School, and residents themselves in their homes during a nine-hour manhunt. With the help of a small army of law enforcement officers, police caught up with the suspect, Kristin Ray Himmelberger, 21, under a hot tub at a home on Olympus Court in Sunnyvale. Pipe bombs, bomb-making material and Nazi literature were found in the suspect's car.
* Major defense contractors with key facilities in Sunnyvale announced a $9.1 billion agreement to combine their businesses and spin off a new company. Lockheed-Martin Missiles and Space Inc. and Loral Corp. said their defense-electronics and system-integration businesses would enhance business opportunities and promote growth. Under the agreement, Lockheed-Martin would acquire several Loral units, including Loral Space and Range Systems in Sunnyvale, which employs 1,600 people. As result of the agreement, Loral Space and Communications was formed.
* A five-month search for a man suspected of raping several women throughout the Peninsula ended in Sunnyvale on Jan. 15 with the arrest of Romel Demetrius Reid of Palo Alto. Reid, 25, was arraigned on 17 felony charges, including those connected with the Sept. 8 rape of a Sunnyvale woman.
* Ken K. Munechika, director of NASA's Ames Research Center, was named director of Moffett Federal Airfield.
* Citing an $8 million school reserve, the Fremont Education Association asked the Fremont Union High School District board of education to increase teacher salaries by 14 percent to 20 percent. Under a proposed one-year contract, the union sought a 20 percent raise for incoming teachers and a 14 percent to 15 percent increase for veteran teachers.
* The Cupertino Union School District board of education approved a $3.2 million contract with BFGC Architects to redesign the district's four junior high schools. The Bakersfield company will spend the year planning designs for Cupertino Junior High School in Sunnyvale. Future plans would be drafted next for Kennedy, Hyde and Miller junior high schools.
February
* A 55-year-old Sunnyvale man was critically injured when an unidentified hit-and-run driver struck the bicyclist on Mathilda Avenue. Rafael Mata Villalobos had added lights to his bicycle to prevent accidents, police said.
* After 35 years, Rafael De Leon Davalos announced plans to close his barber shop on Murphy Avenue, becoming the last of a handful of longtime merchants who continued to operate businesses in an area that constituted Sunnyvale's business hub 40 and more years ago. "I am the last," said Davalos, 85, who started his career in Los Angeles at age 15. "I went from two chairs to one after the canneries closed."
March
* The Sunnyvale Community Center removed an art exhibit that included nude sculptures, saying that staff members had not previewed the show for appropriateness and other factors. Center personnel explained that they did not object to displaying nudity, but Nancy Steward, the city's superintendent of arts and youth services, said that the sculptures were removed because the exhibit organizers did not communicate properly with center administrators during installation.
* One Sunnyvale employee and a former city employee were chosen to take part in the 1996 Olympic torch relay. Jim Web, an administrative assistant to Sunnyvale's city manager, was selected as a torchbearer for his work with the city's Libraries Commission. Former Public Safety Officer Tony Maranon was selected in part for his work with Canine Companions for Independence in Santa Rosa. Maranon became a paraplegic after an on-duty motorcycle accident in 1990.
* Dan Tellep, former chief executive officer of Lockheed-Martin, received the California Manufacturer of the Year award from Gov. Pete Wilson on March 18. Tellep began his career with Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. in 1955 and retired in 1995.
* Fremont High School adopted a firebird logo to replace an Indian-head mascot that Native Americans deemed offensive. Longtime residents wanted to retain the Indian mascot, which was emblazoned on the school gymnasium wall. It had been associated with the school for nearly 70 years.
April
* Owners of a Sunnyvale nightclub accused former Mayor Frances Rowe and Director of Public Safety Regan Williams of harassing and intimidating the business and its patrons. In a lawsuit filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, Cheers nightclub's management said that Rowe abused her powers and adopted an agenda to "clean up Sunnyvale." The nightclub management further charged that Rowe sought the help of Williams to "run the club out of town." The state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control received more than 50 police reports about the club at 685 E. El Camino Real from the Department of Public Safety from 1994 to 1996.
* San Jose police arrested a man on April 12 on a charge of homicide in connection with the beating death of a 21-year-old Sunnyvale man. Police arrested Felipe Garcia and also sought five to eight other men believed to be involved in the beating of Humberto M. Villar on March 30 following a traffic dispute. Villar died on April 2.
* Dolowries Wulfhorst resigned March 11 from her post on the city's Planning Commission. Wulfhorst believed she had accomplished what she set out to do and that it was time to leave, Wulfhorst's daughter said.
* Walter Jones, who led the city as mayor for four terms, passed away on April 13 at age 85. Among other achievements, he was credited with helping create the city's Public Safety Department in 1950.
* With contract talks stalled, most of the Fremont Education Association's 400 members called for Fremont Union High School District Superintendent Mary Panucci to resign. Panucci was scheduled to be honored for academic excellence by De Anza College. In the meantime, parents urged the school board to move negotiations along.
May
* The 17-year-old Sunnyvale Town Center, co-owned by the Hahn Company of San Diego and a pension fund of Bell Atlantic, went on the market for an asking price of $34 million.
* The U.S. Navy began conducting tests to detoxify contaminated water from Moffett Federal Airfield and nearby Silicon Valley computer chip makers. A wall of iron filings was installed at the airfield to treat tainted ground water. The water apparently became contaminated during the cleaning of airplane engines and from other hazardous materials.
* In colorful tribal costume, Native American tribes from as far away as Oregon, Washington and Alberta, Canada, danced at the 16th annual De Anza College Powwow. More than 10,000 attended the event.
June
* Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole swept through Sunnyvale June 18, stopping at Lockheed-Martin and promising to increase federal defense spending if elected. Dole accused President Clinton's administration of cutbacks in crucial defense spending, which he said caused the loss of 215,000 defense-related jobs in California over the last 10 years.
* Sunnyvale's last large fruit orchard was slated to be closed to make room for a Target retail store. Deborah Olson, who runs a family fruit stand at Olson's Cherry Orchard, said that running the orchard was no longer economically viable. The Olsons announced that they would lease most of the 15.9-acre parcel to Target, which was to build a 130,000-square-foot store on the site.
* A 40-year-old man who allegedly staked out Cupertino schools to abduct children was charged with assaulting a teenage girl at Pioneer High School on May 31, police announced. Philip Arthur McLuckie of Santa Clara, who police identified as a three-time convicted sex offender, was arraigned June 5 on a charge of felony sexual assault.
* A group of residents opposing air cargo flights at Moffett Federal Airfield planned to ask the Sunnyvale City Council to determine whether Sunnyvale voters supported such a proposal. Concerns voiced by the group Alliance for a New Moffett Field arose shortly after NASA released an environmental study concluding that air cargo flights would have little impact on Sunnyvale and Mountain View. The group questioned several findings and opposed the idea of 12 daily flights--takeoffs and landings--from 4 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.
* Sunnyvale residents voted June 4 to approve Measure A, a $34 million bond to repair Sunnyvale Elementary School District buildings and replace obsolete equipment. The funding gave the school district the muscle to make long-needed facility improvements.
* Sunnyvale resident Kathy Bertsch drove, chipped and putted her way to a gold medal in the Special Olympics golf competition in Atlanta.
July
* The City Council voted to keep the issue of whether to allow air cargo carriers to use Moffett Federal Airfield off the November ballot. Councilmembers Jim Roberts and Stan Kawczynski cast dissenting votes, saying residents should vote on the matter.
* Homestead High School alumnus Don Myrah Jr. placed 20th in a field of 44 competitors during mountain bike racing at the Olympics. Myrah sustained a collarbone injury during the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, but still qualified for the Olympics.
August
* NASA officials postponed plans to allow commercial air cargo companies to use its facilities at Moffett Federal Airfield. Public concerns about air traffic noise made the potential cost of environmental studies too high, NASA officials said. Under a federal program, NASA could have allowed carriers to use the field in exchange for using their aircraft during national emergencies. NASA considered requests from DHL Worldwide Express and Federal Express.
* Mayor Robin Parker pinned a ribbon to a burnt post at the Community Congregational Church on Remington Drive to remind people of the 75 black and multicultural churches that have been hit by arsonists in the South since 1995. About 100 people joined the mayor at the ceremony.
* After nine months of fruitless contract negotiations, the Fremont Union High School District and the Fremont Education Association mutually declared an impasse, a move that pushed the union closer to a strike. Negotiators were unable to reach an agreement over salary and health issues.
* An audit criticized NASA's plans to consolidate the nation's research aircraft--including those at Moffett Federal Airfield--in Southern California. NASA Inspector General Roberta Gross's audit found NASA's claims of a money-saving maneuver unjustified. Moffett Federal Airfield would have the most to lose if the consolidation were to be approved, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo said.
* The bulk of first-time students at De Anza College last year needed to brush up their writing skills in remedial classes before they could take college-transfer courses, college President Martha Kanter said.
September
* More than 250 teachers picketed at Monta Vista High School to illustrate their frustrations over the stalled contract talks between the school district and the Fremont Education Association, fueling speculation about a full-blown strike. Later in the month, the FEA called for contract-negotiating teams to return to the bargaining table.
* Lockheed-Martin was competing with three other companies for a NASA contract to operate a flying astronomical observatory. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a large, aircraft-based telescope that studies the solar system, the stars and other galaxies from the stratosphere. U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo led a group of lawmakers in calling on the Clinton administration to locate SOFIA at Moffett Federal Airfield.
* Sunnyvale resident Michael Tang, 14, won a $25,000 scholarship in the FuncoLand National Video Game Championships. Tang, a freshman at Sommerset High School, beat out 12 other regional champions.
* About 1,000 north Sunnyvale families and children got their first chance to explore the newly opened Columbia Neighborhood Center, hailed as a unique joint venture between local government, schools and industry. In part, the center offers a new approach to helping reduce crime and encouraging students to value education. A $3.5 million sports and service center houses a gym, counseling rooms, a health-information center and offices. The city of Sunnyvale, the Sunnyvale Elementary School District and Advanced Micro Devices, which contributed $1 million to the facility, collaborated on the project.
October
* The lead contract negotiator for the Fremont Union High School District, Bebe Sellers, accused school board member Andrew Springmeyer of harassment and said Sellers would file a discrimination complaint against him. Springmeyer dismissed the charges and said he only asked her about the delays in the contract talks between the district and the 400-member Fremont Education Association.
* High school teachers announced that they would withhold from students certain services not required under their contracts, including tutoring and writing letters of recommendation for college-bound graduates. A district representative said administrators would write the letters.
* U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo sharply criticized a congressional action that would allow NASA to move nine research aircraft from the Ames Research Center in Sunnyvale to the Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California. Other lawmakers were able to prevent consolidation of research aircraft stationed in their congressional districts. House and Senate negotiators worked on a bill that would prohibit NASA from consolidating the aircraft from centers east of the Mississippi River. The legislation, however, left Ames aircraft vulnerable to consolidation.
* Sunnyvale's SunDisk Corp. walked away with honors as one of the fastest-growing companies in Silicon Valley. The 8-year-old company, which manufactures flash data devices, such as film for digital cameras, was honored at the Silicon Valley Technology Fast dinner for its accomplishment of growing 2,035 percent since 1991.
* Nancy Tivol, who heads Sunnyvale Community Services, a nonprofit organization that helps the needy, received the Athena Award. The Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce award recognizeswomen who provide outstanding service to the community. Tivol was also singled out for demonstrating excellence, creativity and initiative in her profession and helping women become leaders.
* Eleven months after The Sun published information from confidential city documents on the conduct of former Sunnyvale mayor Frances Rowe, she presented other documents explaining her departure from public office. The documents contained allegations that city officials met illegally in closed session on several occasions to discuss employee complaints that led to Rowe's departure.
Rowe, who met with reporters, also expressed concern over the city's decision to spend more than $100,000 to defend a San Jose Mercury News lawsuit last year. The paper sued the city to obtain the documents The Sun secured last year. The documents detailed complaints against Rowe.
* Hip-hop, rock 'n' roll, traditional dances and modern poetry blurred religious lines at the Good Samaritan United Methodist Church during that congregation's first South Bay celebration of diversity and tolerance. The presentation, called the Celebration of Heritage, transformed the church at 19624 Homestead Road into a theater for about 300 people.
November
* While cleaning his parents' Mountain View home one day, Joseph Ekman of Sunnyvale discovered historical items that might be accepted by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco's Presidio National Park. In three boxes labeled "old magazines," he discovered pictures, newspapers and books relating to the Spanish-American War, in which Ekman's great-grandfather, Rolla Drake, fought. He also found a yearbook filled with black-and-white photographs and soldiers' biographies.
* Patrick Katzka was indicted and arrested for allegedly defrauding NASA while performing research contracts, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Katzka, who conducted business as AOTF Technology Inc. and contracted with NASA in 1991 and 1992, allegedly billed the space agency for work that was never performed. AOTF's contract called for the company to develop small electrical optical filters for use in space probes. Katzka faced up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted.
* City Council member Stan Kawczynski took over as mayor, saying that he hoped to get more residents involved in local government. Kawczynski took over for Robin Parker, who became mayor last year. Parker was the first mayor to ascend to the post under a new system that allows councilmembers to serve as mayor in turn.
The rotating mayorship came under attack from some, such as former Mayor Larry Stone, but Kawczynski said that anyone selected by voters to be a councilmember is also qualified to serve as mayor.
December
* Use of a colored-flag system at Homestead High School to gauge student conduct cleared up behavioral problems at Loehmann's Plaza, the site of merchants' complaints against students. Several store managers and residents complained that students from Homestead and other campuses have loitered, sold drugs and littered at the shopping center, located a short distance from the high school. Homestead officials began using green, yellow and red flags to gauge student behavior. Only green flags, meaning students have displayed good behavior, have been flown thus far.
* Longtime Sunnyvale resident Anna Ribas turned 100 years old and became the first female centenarian in the Bayview Seniors Club. A party was thrown for Ribas, who moved to Sunnyvale in 1917.
* Former Sunnyvale City Council candidate Dallas Lawrence faced impeachment by the West Valley College student senate over charges of sexual harassment. Two female students filed grievances against Lawrence, who serves as president of the college's student body. Lawrence, in turn, accused the two of sexual harassment and filed complaints. One of the students said Lawrence made sexually suggestive comments. The student senate, meanwhile, voted to conduct its own investigation.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 1, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.