I was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Los Altos. What else do you think L.A. Chung stands for?
My first Los Altos event was walking in the Pet Parade in 1962 with my Collie, Laddie. We all went down to the pancake breakfast at Rancho after that. I remember riding my bicycle on Interstate 280 the day before it opened to the public and passing under it to ride up to Maryknoll, before it was a retirement home for priests.
My elementary school was close enough to walk to, and is now Grant Park and community center. I learned how to swim at Los Altos Covington Pool and Los Altos High School in the summers. I learned to ride from Herman Koopmans, following him from Los Altos Hills to Portola Valley.
I've been in journalism since 1980, when I participated in the Maynard Institute's Summer Program for Minority Journalists. I've been a reporter for the Hartford Courant in Connecticut and the San Francisco Chronicle. During a 12-year career at the San Jose Mercury News, I was an editor supervising reporters in community news, weekend breaking news and business. I had a column through which I wrote about local events, the travails of ordinary people fighting City Hall, and the intersection of race, culture and public policy.
Since leaving the Mercury News, I've worked on the Chauncey Bailey Project, the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism and done research Hewlett Foundation projects.
In the old days, once I told people my name, I'd have to quickly add— "No relation to Connie." But no one knows who she is, anymore.
My Beliefs
Always say "Please" and "Thank you." It goes a long way toward making life more civil. Play nicely. Stand your ground if you believe you're right. Admit when you're wrong.
Politics
I believe in sanity, and in public officials striving to do the right thing for the greater good.
I vote in each and every election, and have, at different times in my life, been registered as a Democrat, Independent and Republican.
Religion
My mother raised me at the Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church. It's the closest thing to "my" church, even if I don't attend.
Local Hot-Button Issues
Los Altos elementary schools are the top in the state. But maintaining school standards during a very sluggish economic recovery period, with limited and unreliable state funds, will be difficult this year and in the coming years. It will require the school community to reach out to the broader community and make the case for donations and perhaps taxes.
Downtown economic vitality is a deep concern.
The apartments being built at the new San Antonio Shopping Center come with a one-time payment to help initially offset the bump in new students that may live there.
You can 'Run With the Wind,' but if your style leans more towards a walk in the park, they've got that too—with a view.
The Los Altos School District and the Bullis Charter Schol announced Monday night they had a long-term agreement, potentially ending eight years of strife.
Bullis Charter School promises no more litigation, support for a bond measure, in the tentative 10-year, long-term facilities agreement that will be further hammered out this month.
Our top 5 from the Los Altos Police log present a noisome 5th of May weekend, whether it people or animals.
Interested in hearing the discussion over a possible bond measure for a 10th campus and more? Check in here!
If you've ever wished you could vote for a candidate in the another party, California's new Open Primary Act presents some opportunity to do so.
Fifteen homes among the 51 on view this weekend were placed on the market this week. There are a few homes that have seen price reductions.
Board approves electrification agreement with high-speed rail.
This smart and passionate young lady loves to surround herself with people who challenge and help her grow intellectually.
Can summer be far away if the Farmers' Market has opened?
Get ready for some fun leisure this weekend
Resident Les Earnest holds out little hope that Pulitzer-prize-winning author Wallace Stegner's writing studio will be saved, after Thursday's Planning Commission vote. The Los Altos Hills Town Council will consider the matter on June 21.
A look at Wednesday's reports show three bikes stolen at Los Altos High School. Those are among the top five in the Los Altos Police log.
Bike thefts lead Tuesday's Los Altos Police incident report. Some occur because kids leave their bikes at school overnight, police said, but other bikes were stolen in a very short time frame in the middle of the day.
The farmers market at Rancho will not be returning because there was not enough support.
The board also decides to revive a plan to hold a forum in Los Altos before the of the school year.
Bullis Charter School prepares for classes at both Egan and Blach schools for the 2012-13 academic year.
Noontime political theater urges shoppers to support small businesses and family farms, and eschew the corporate organic store leader from Texas.
An enterprising Pinewood 9-year-old spotted a way to have fun with friends and raise money for his school to buy Kindles for the classroom: Enter Pinewood App Lab.
