World Series bound Page 22 VOL. XVIII, NUMBER 29 • AUGUST 11, 2017 WWW.PLEASANTONWEEKLY.COM Seniors Living Well A day at the Senior Center, Kottinger Gardens update, wildlife photography and more INSIDE THIS ISSUE 5 NEWS School board OKs first round of bond sales 5 NEWS County earns innovation award for STEP-UP 10 PULSE Driver arrested after injury crash on Foothill SIMON COHEN Optical Engineer Severe back pain stopped his life Spine surgery started it again Now he’s back on track Four years ago, Simon injured his back. He tried everything to stop the pain— chiropractors, injections, massage —and nothing worked. After extensive research into spine surgeons and area hospitals, Simon chose a surgeon at Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare, where the team is highly experienced in the latest techniques. His herniated disc was repaired with a small incision and his back pain was gone. Today, his life is back in gear. See his story and find a doctor: ValleyCare.com/Spine Or call: 844-530-0640 Page 2 • August 11, 2017 • Pleasanton Weekly AROUND PLEASANTON PLEASANTON BY JEB BING Rotary: Doing good in Pleasanton he Rotary Club of Pleasanton Winners are invited to attend a Ro- has awarded 12 Pleasanton tary lunch meeting where they are Thigh school students schol- honored for their accomplishment. Life arships totaling $31,950, with an- The two Pleasanton Interact clubs, other $3,000 in scholarship fund- with the one at Amador Valley High ing given to three students by the School sponsored by Downtown Ro- Pleasanton’s annual resource guide coming Rotary Club of Pleasanton North. tary and the other at Foothill High Together, these two clubs, along sponsored by Rotary North, are to homes Friday, September 29 with a third — Tri-Valley Evening part of Rotary International’s service Rotary — have provided millions clubs for young people ages 12 to FEATURING: • 2017: A year of progress • Recreation & Outdoor Activities of dollars in funds and services, in- 18. There are 20,372 Interact clubs • Top stories to watch • Schools & Education cluding nearly $1 million in schol- worldwide with a total of 468,556 • A look to Pleasanton’s future • Kids’ Stuff arships to Pleasanton students in members. The clubs meet during the • Arts & Entertainment • Non-Profit Organizations recent years. The clubs are also school year and members occasion- known for the thousands of wheel- ally join the two sponsoring clubs at chairs members have contributed their weekly luncheons. Advertisers: It’s not too late to advertise. and personally distributed in Mex- All three Rotary clubs also raise Contact 925-600-0840 to reserve your space. ico and South America to those in funds for community needs with need of mobility. members joining in local charitable Nancy Harrington, who with her efforts. These range from spon- husband Gary is an advocate and soring local Scout troops to host- contributor for public art in Pleas- ing holiday dinners for seniors. anton, named this year’s scholarship Representatives of the Rotary Club winners at a luncheon of the Rotary of Pleasanton Foundation recently Club of Pleasanton, where I am presented checks totaling $22,200 also a member. They are Bryce Tay- to 11 different local organizations lor, Matthew Reyes, Amrit Singh, through its “October Grant” fund, Martha Vazquez, Francisco Flores, including $2,000 each to Hope Jason Roney, Jordan Plumridge, Hospice, Tri-Valley Haven, the Kimberly Snyder, Mariah Raygoza, Pleasanton school district’s mariachi Jason Castro, Abigail Richardson program, Sunflower Hill and the and Ivan Ramos. The funds were Valley Humane Society, along with raised through the club’s 2016 an- $3,100 to Open Heart Kitchen. nual Father’s Day Run. Over the years, Pleasanton Ro- In addition, the club — also tary North has raised and distrib- known as the Downtown Rotary uted over $2 million to special Club — awarded five Pleasanton programs both here, regionally and college juniors and seniors scholar- internationally. Earlier this year, ships totaling $11,000. These stu- members of Rotary North gathered dents are Angelica Flores, Mahi at Shepherd’s Gate in Livermore Nagar, Isabel Ashley, Lauren Liao to present a $7,000 “fund-a-need” and Cheyenne Harper. Harrington check and to offer helping hands said these funds came from private with maintenance projects. donations. Tri-Valley Evening Rotary spon- Scholarships given by Pleasanton sors and supports local youth North Rotary North went to Mi- through its annual speech contest, kayla Tran, recipient of the club’s clothing and coat drives, and youth Chuck Pickens Scholarship; Au- education and leadership activities, drey Goodman, the Stephen Parker although it does not offer college Scholarship, and Madison Cring, scholarships. the Robin Barnett Scholarship. The club also runs a yearly coat Mark Linsky, the club’s youth drive, which provides over 1,200 services director, said the scholar- coats to local children and families ships were provided in recognition in need. Additionally, it partners of the students’ achievements in with the school district to assist in volunteering for community work, The Hangar, a vocational project school involvement and academic that supports community clothing achievement. needs. It also sends students to The Rotary clubs also participate Rotary’s Youth Leadership camp, in a wide variety of local and inter- where they are helped to develop nationally focused projects. Each leadership skills. Q month, students from Pleasanton Editor’s note: Jeb Bing is editor emeritus high schools are selected for special for the Pleasanton Weekly. His “Around recognition based on academic and Pleasanton” columns run on the second other noteworthy achievements. and fourth Fridays of every month. About the Cover Bill Staack takes a shot on the bocce court at the Pleasanton Senior Center on Sunol Boulevard. Photo by Daniel Kim. Cover design by Paul Llewellyn. Vol. XVIII, Number 29 Pleasanton Weekly • August 11, 2017 • Page 3 FD #429 LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 1891 Streetwise ASKED AT 1ST WEDNESDAYS Burial & Cremation Celebration of Life Services How do you feel about the Reception Facilities new school year resuming Advance Planning on Monday? Made Easy for a free consultation Robin Taggart or in-home visit call High school teacher Oh, I am so ready. I wish it could have 9:00amBarn - 3:00pm [ 200 Ray St.a S [ 925.600.0460le resumed two weeks ago. I was just hired as a ninth- and 10th-grade English th th th th th teacher at Granada High in Livermore, August 17 , 18 , 19 , 25 and 26 and I am looking forward to an excellent year and to getting to know and teach all of my new students. Overstock, Christmas jewelry, ribbon, Deanna Moser antiques, yard & barn 925.846.5624 Vicki Hubbard to view our facilities visit: Mom, school volunteer finds, angels www.grahamhitch.com The start of a new school year is always and more! 4167 First Street, exciting. I get to hear about my chil- Pleasanton FD#429 dren’s new challenges. I especially like to hear from my middle-schooler since he has five or six new teachers this com- ing year. I think raising and teaching children takes a village, and when school resumes the village gets bigger. David Hubbard Marketing executive I’m really looking forward to it because my youngest son will be taking geom- ZZ etry. I’m eager to sit down at the kitchen A at table with him and his homework each J evening in order to help him find the IREHO point. E F US TH E Gina Piper Lisa Xenakis Proud Supporter and Interior designer, child caregiver Board Member I’m looking forward to it because one of Valley Humane Society the little boys I care for is an extraordi- narily bright child, so I’m really eager to hear him tell me all about his school day and the interesting things he learned and did. I also love the whole back-to-school thing because it is a sign of the begin- ning of fall, my favorite season. www.PleasantonRealEstate.com David Glick College student I’m excited. It will be great to see all of An Evening my friends, and I’m taking a class in advanced Excel that I know I will find fascinating. I will learn how to sum- With Calvin Keys marize and organize large sets of data, Today’s news, and how to make the best use of pivot sports tables. And all with just a few clicks. Tickets now on sale at & hot picks ^^^ÄYLOV\ZLHY[ZVYN Fresh news —Compiled by Nancy Lewis and Jenny Lyness Have a Streetwise question? 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Page 4 • August 11, 2017 • Pleasanton Weekly Newsfront DIGEST School board approves initial round Bus route changes The Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA) is set to of Measure I1 bond sales implement service and schedule adjustments to most Wheels and New elementary school, budget revise also topics at Superintendent Haglund’s first meeting Rapid routes effective Saturday. Changes include a modification BY JULIA REIS The district anticipates proceeds elementary school feasibility study.