By Julia Scott PORTOLA VALLEY -- When you live on the San Andreas fault line, as all Portola Valley residents do, earthquake science is taught in school and geologists lead expeditions through town.

By Neil Gonzales Two local schools have earned national honors from the federal Department of Education.

By Patty Fisher PORTOLA VALLEY -- When you consider Bill and Jean Lane's lifetime of contributions to open-space preservation, their campaign to prevent two houses from being built in their Portola Valley neighborhood may seem like small potatoes.

By Patty Fisher, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Dec. 18--When you consider Bill and Jean Lane's lifetime of contributions to open-space preservation, their campaign to prevent two measly houses from being built in their Portola Valley neighborhood may seem like small potatoes.

Bill and Jean Lane are using a well-established open space conservation tool in a new way that they hope others may pick up. Bill Lane, the former publisher of Sunset Magazine and former U.S.