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News From Silicon Valley's Neighborhoods That's a Wrap Cupertino--It's not often a senior prank procures the admiration of school administrators. When students at Homestead High School last week welded around a tree a Volkswagen bus with the words "Mustangs" and "2000" painted colorfully on its sides, principal Eric Paulson actually deemed the act a "decent prank." So decent, in fact, that he's agreed to leave the bus, its floor and roof gutted out, intact until after graduation. After sweating over previous years' pranks, like crickets in the air filters, a relieved Paulson is just happy that the bus isn't sabotaging school property. Kid Care Los Gatos--Parents and neighbors just can't seem to stop quibbling over the ongoing woes of a local preschool. At what unraveled into an ill-tempered public hearing one late May day, Peppertree was blamed for everything from maintaining guns on preschool premises to neighbors videotaping the kids there. While the Planning Commission says the little tikes' school on Los Gatos-Almaden Road is now in compliance, a long history of concerns--including too many children, after-hours activities and unsafe traffic circulation--sparked fiery debate despite the ruling. Hot Heads Willow Glen--Thanks to the state's settlement with the tobacco industry, San Jose now stands on the receiving end of a hefty sum. Mayor Ron Gonzales figured he knew how to spend the 10 million incoming bucks. Seniors and education were first in line. With their own ideas, however, kids' health care advocates last week stalled the decision process when they instead asked the city to become first in the nation to foot the doctor bills of all uninsured children citywide. In San Jose, that's 36,000 youth, with an annual price tag of $6 million. The City Council will ponder the option further at its June 13 meeting. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]