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.
In a lively discussion on KQED's Forum program this morning, Salman Kahn along with professors at Stanford, MIT and the founder of The Minerva project, defend online learning such as the experiment at Los Altos School District.
A poem about the baleen whale inspired Shannon Burks' winning entry in the California Coastal Commission'a Art & Poetry contest, K-1st grade category .
Do you have a go-to place when it comes to finding equipment for your sporting needs?
Who knows what they were saying? Los Altos City Council Member Ron Packard and Santa Clara County Librarian Melinda Cervantes were deep in conversation last Thursday at the Garden House in Shoup Park.
Famed 'Painter of Light' dies at age 54.
A woman struck by Caltrain in Redwood City just before noon appears to have survived and was taken to a hospital.
If you're not off on Spring Break, maybe this weekend is a good chance to miss the crowds and get a jump on what's out there.
With four days under her belt, the new city manager was feted at a reception at the Garden House in Shoup Park.
Boy Scout Troop 75 honors the Homestead High School senior, who led a team to design and build five redwood planter boxes for the Living Classroom, at his old school, Covington Elementary.
Brian Rathgen, the man accused of hitting two pedestrians in Sunnyvale, also allegedly struck a Volvo in Los Altos, then fled into Shoup Park, and crossed Adobe Creek. Rathgen faces murder charges.
You bet. And April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month in California.
The Los Altos School District district's final offer expands the acreage and shared space, across two campuses, Egan Jr. High School and Blach Intermediate School.
California schools mega-benefitted by the huge rush for tickets—to the tune of an estimated $100 million, the California Lottery said.
A 59-year-old man pedestrian died of his injuries, and a woman was dragged and critically injured.
The Los Altos School District district's final offer expands the acreage and shared space, across two campuses, Egan Jr. High School and Blach Intermediate School.
With a 5-of-6 ticket sold in Hanny Salim's and Marcelle Dabbas' Sunnyvale store, Liquor, Tobacco, & Gifts, come new bragging rights: A Mega Millions Lottery winner.
In Los Altos, the stormy weather was the most eventful one yet. Read along!
It's the season ... and it's getting down the wire. Who, in Los Altos, provides excellent tax preparation service?
Ten homes were placed on the market this week, among 34 on view over the weekend.
Head over to Santa Rita School Saturday, 10 to 1 p.m., if you missed Friday's fun and safety event at Oak School,
