Serving Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, and Woodside for 47 years.
Viewpoint IDEAS, THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS
ABOUT LOCAL ISSUES FROM PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY. EDITED BY TOM GIBBONEY
EDITOR & PUBLISHER Tom Gibboney (223-6507) NEWSROOM Managing Editor Richard Hine (223-6525) News Editor Renee Batti (223-6582) Lifestyles Editor Jane Knoerle (223-6531) Staff Writers Dave Boyce (223-6527), Sandy Brundage (223-6529) Contributors Marjorie Mader, Barbara Wood, Kate Daly Special Sections Editor Carol Blitzer Photographer Michelle Le (223-6530) DESIGN & PRODUCTION Design Director Shannon Corey (223-6560) Assistant Design Director Lili Cao Designers Linda Atilano, Rosanna Leung, Paul Llewellyn, Scott Peterson, Kameron Sawyer ADVERTISING Vice President Sales and Marketing Tom Zahiralis (223-6570) Display Advertising Sales Wendy Suzuki (223-6569) Real Estate Manager Neal Fine (223-6583) Real Estate & Advertising Coordinator Diane Martin (223-6584) Legal Advertising Alicia Santillan (223-6578) Published every Wednesday at 3525 Alameda De Las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA 94025 Newsroom: (650) 223-6525 Newsroom Fax: (650) 223-7525 Advertising: (650) 854-2626 Advertising Fax: (650) 223-7570 Email news and photos with captions to: Editor@AlmanacNews.com Email letters to: letters@AlmanacNews.com The Almanac, established in October 1965, is delivered each week to residents of Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and Woodside and adjacent unincorporated areas of southern San Mateo County. The Almanac is qualified by decree of the Superior Court of San Mateo County to publish public notices of a governmental and legal nature, as stated in Decree No. 147530, issued December 21, 1969. ©2013 by Embarcadero Media Company. All rights reserved. Subscriptions are $60 for one year and $100 for two years.
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A safer way to walk on city streets
M
enlo Park has been rocked by two serimay renew a senior citizen’s license for five years ous accidents in recent weeks. In one without testing. EDI TORI AL case, an alleged drunken driver ended This policy should be examined by the Legislature The opinion of The Almanac the lives of a couple out for an evening walk with and the governor. In our view, many elderly drivers their dog on Chilco Street when she ran them are competent to get behind the wheel. But for the down. And in another, an elderly man mistakenly accelerated for- few who are not, allowing them on the road is not responsible. Why ward from a diagonal parking space in front of Walgreen’s on Santa not require automatic testing for all drivers after age 70? And how Cruz Avenue, hitting and seriously injuring 6-year-old twins walking about retesting after two or three years, not five? This would weed down the sidewalk. One continues to recover. out those with problems before they cause an accident. One Almanac reader asked us to share some tips about how to avoid this type of accident in the future. Here are some commonsense precautions provided by AAA to guide pedestrians on a dark road with or without sidewalks. These tips will give anyone walking on a street or sidewalk a better chance of escaping a reckless or The Sequoia Union High School District distracted driver. Alan Sarver and Chris Thomsen
The Almanac recommends...
■ Always walk facing traffic, so you can see if a car coming your way is out of control. If it is, you may have enough time to jump out of the way. ■ Another easy precaution is to make yourself highly visible. Wear colorful, reflective clothing, and carry a bright light. There are many small, flashing LED lights available today for walkers, runners and cyclists that are inexpensive and very bright. Or just carry a traditional flashlight. ■ Do not cross in the middle of the street or between parked cars and cross only at intersections. Do not jaywalk. The accident on Santa Cruz Avenue presents a different problem, one that is a challenge to older drivers and their families. In this case, the driver was 90 and using a walker. We can only speculate about why he zoomed forward instead of backing out from his parking space at Walgreen’s. The children had no chance to escape, and both are lucky to be alive. This accident raises questions about DMV examinations. Like all drivers, seniors are required to renew their license every five years. And after age 70, all drivers must apply in person at the DMV office. Sometimes, after an accident for example, older drivers may be asked to take the vision, written and driving tests. But if there has been no accidents or encounters with a police officer, the DMV
Menlo Park Fire Protection District Board Peter Carpenter, Rex Ianson and Chuck Bernstein
Atherton City Council Rick DeGolia
Portola Valley Town Council Maryann Derwin, John Richards and Craig Hughes
Atherton Parcel Tax Vote yes.
Woodside Elementary School Board Wendy Warren Roth, Marc Tarpenning and Claire Pollioni
Las Lomitas School District Measure S Vote yes.
Menlo Park City School District Measure W Vote yes.
L ET TERS Our readers write
A different parking angle in Burlingame Editor: I truly hope the 6-year-old is out of critical condition and is recovering after being pinned by a driver whose vehicle jumped the curb in front of Walgreens in downtown Menlo Park several weeks ago. While I have no doubt the driver lost control of his vehicle, I prefer not to call this an accident — it was completely preventable. However, I am not writing to criticize the driver. I am writing to call attention to another way to prevent traffic crashes — often referred to as the three “Es” of traffic safety: Engineering, Enforcement, Education. I refer to the first E — the parking layout on downtown Santa Cruz Avenue. I urge all Menlo Park residents and downtown business owners to take the train up to Burlingame Avenue and observe the
18 N The Almanac N TheAlmanacOnline.com N November 6, 2013
Woodside History Committee
Our Regional Heritage Between 1898 and 1900, Swedish immigrant Capt. William Matson, of Matson Navigation Co., built a 38-room Tudor-style house, above, on 70 acres along Woodside Road near Bear Gulch Creek. The estate was given to his only child, Lurline. She later married William Roth and they purchased and moved to the Filoli estate in 1936.
entirely new streetscape being constructed. The second block is basically finished. You will enjoy a greatly widened side-
walk, complete with benches and outdoor tables by cafes. (It could use more bike parking though. No one’s perfect).
But, most important of all — the diagonal parking has been Continued on next page