Upfront
PUBLISHER William S. Johnson EDITORIAL Jay Thorwaldson, Editor Jocelyn Dong, Managing Editor Carol Blitzer, Associate Editor Keith Peters, Sports Editor Tyler Hanley, Express™ and Online Editor Rebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment Editor Rick Eymer, Assistant Sports Editor Chris Kenrick, Gennady Sheyner, Staff Writers Sue Dremann, Staff Writer, Special Sections Editor Karla Kane, Editorial Assistant Veronica Weber, Staff Photographer Dale Bentson, Colin Becht, Peter Canavese, Kit Davey, Iris Harrell, Sheila Himmel, Kevin Kirby, Jack McKinnon, Renata Polt, Jeanie Forte Smith, Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors Angela Chen, Ryan Deto, Robin Migdol, Georgia Wells, Editorial Interns DESIGN Shannon Corey, Design Director Raul Perez, Assistant Design Director Linda Atilano, Diane Haas, Scott Peterson, Paul Llewellyn, Senior Designers Gary Vennarucci, Designer PRODUCTION Jennifer Lindberg, Production Manager Dorothy Hassett, Samantha Mejia, Blanca Yoc, Sales & Production Coordinators ADVERTISING Walter Kupiec, Vice President, Sales & Marketing Judie Block, Esmeralda Flores, Janice Hoogner, Gary Whitman, Display Advertising Sales Neil Fine, Rosemary Lewkowitz, Real Estate Advertising Sales David Cirner, Irene Schwartz, Inside Advertising Sales Cathy Norfleet, Display Advertising Sales Asst. Diane Martin, Real Estate Advertising Assistants Alicia Santillan, Classified Administrative Asst. EXPRESS, ONLINE AND VIDEO SERVICES Rachel Palmer, Online Operations Coordinator BUSINESS Penelope Ng, Payroll & Benefits Manager Elena Dineva, Mary McDonald, Cathy Stringari, Susie Ochoa, Doris Taylor, Business Associates ADMINISTRATION Amy Renalds, Assistant to the Publisher & Promotions Director Janice Covolo, Receptionist Ruben Espinoza, Courier EMBARCADERO PUBLISHING CO. William S. Johnson, President Michael I. Naar, Vice President & CFO Walter Kupiec, Vice President, Sales & Marketing Frank A. Bravo, Director, Information Technology & Webmaster Connie Jo Cotton, Major Accounts Sales Manager Bob Lampkin, Director, Circulation & Mailing Services Alicia Santillan, Circulation Assistants Chris Planessi, Chip Poedjosoedarmo, Computer System Associates The Palo Alto Weekly (ISSN 0199-1159) is published every Friday by Embarcadero Publishing Co., 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, (650) 326-8210. Periodicals postage paid at Palo Alto, CA and additional mailing offices. Adjudicated a newspaper of general circulation for Santa Clara County. The Palo Alto Weekly is delivered free to homes in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, East Palo Alto, to faculty and staff households on the Stanford campus and to portions of Los Altos Hills. If you are not currently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 326-8210. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. Copyright ©2010 by Embarcadero Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Printed by SFOP, Redwood City. The Palo Alto Weekly is available on the Internet via Palo Alto Online at: www.PaloAltoOnline.com Our e-mail addresses are: editor@paweekly.com, letters@paweekly.com, ads@paweekly.com. Missed delivery or start/stop your paper? Call 650 326-8210, or e-mail circulation@paweekly. com. You may also subscribe online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Subscriptions are $60/yr.
City of Palo Alto Recreation Presents
26th Annual
PALO ALTO WEEKLY MOONLIGHT MOONLIGHT RUN&WALK RUN & WALK
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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450 CAMBRIDGE AVE, PALO ALTO, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210
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This isn’t my vision of Palo Alto. — Larry Klein, Palo Alto city councilman, regarding building a high-speed rail station in the city. See story on page 3.
Around Town
GEARING UP ... Palo Alto’s composting quandary will resurge next month, when a coalition that calls itself the Palo Alto Green Energy and Compost Initiative begins its drive to “undedicate” a 10-acre chunk of parkland at Byxbee Park — land that the coalition hopes could be used for a facility to convert food waste, yard trimmings and sewage into electricity. The group, led by former Mayor Peter Drekmeier, faces opposition from local conservationists who believe dedicated parkland should remain dedicated parkland, even if it means local compost fodder would be shipped to Gilroy. Now, the would-be undedicators are gearing up for their political drive. Literally. The group is selling the official Palo Alto Green Energy and Compost Initiative T-shirt, featuring its logo (a leaf inside a lightbulb) and an index of numbers relating to a proposed anaerobic-digestion plant. The group plans to start gathering signatures for its petition on Sept. 25 and to bring the issue to the voters in November 2011. HAPPY GAS ... Palo Alto’s gas service fell under a cloud of suspicion last year, when a former employee accused his bosses of falsifying workers’ tests, prompting a federal investigation. But according to a national organization of public gas utilities, the city’s gas operation is among the safest in the nation. The American Public Gas Association, a not-for-profit organization that represents about 700 utilities, awarded Palo Alto its 2009 National Safety Award. The organization recognizes utilities that have the lowest number of accidents and injuries (based on the total number of hours their employees have worked on the system). Palo Alto’s safety measures include annual leak surveys that aim to detect and repair damage as early as possible, phone surveys to make sure customers understand how to stay safe around natural gas, and new khaki uniforms for gas workers, made of flame-resistant materials, according to a statement from the Utilities department. “We have people who work in the field and office every day, and who may be called in at night on emergency response,
facing tough challenges as they strive to ensure our customers’ safety,” Director of Utilities Val Fong said. THE SMELL OF VICTORY ... A team of Stanford chemists may have just developed the Nose of the Future. If the new invention bears fruit, this new artificial nose could soon help consumers detect “everything from incipiently sour milk to high explosives,” according to a Stanford news release. To make these artificial noses, chemists equipped DNA molecules with fluorescent compounds to create tiny “sensor molecules.” These sensors change colors when they detect certain substances. These colorchanging sensors can convey far more information than most other existing sensors, said Eric Kool, a Stanford chemistry professor and senior author of the team’s research paper, which was published this week in the German journal Angwandte Chemie (Applied Chemistry). In the future, these sensors could potentially help scientists smell such things as cells related to diseases and toxins in the environment. “We want to sense everything,” Kool said in a statement. “That’s our ultimate goal.” HOUSING HUDDLES ... Palo Alto is rethinking its housing priorities, and it’s looking for a little help from its residents. The city is undergoing a long and grueling update of its Housing Element, a state-mandated document that lists the city’s housing needs and availability. The Housing Element is supposed to establish the city’s housing strategy for the period between 2007 and 2014 (the update has taken longer then expected, as evidenced by the fact that we’re now in 2010). Interested residents will have a chance to tell city officials what Palo Alto’s housing goals and vision should be. The first workshop will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 31, at Gym B in Cubberley Community Center, 4000 Middlefield Road. The second workshop will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 7, in the Palo Alto Art Center Theater, 1313 Newell Road. Those planning to attend are asked to call Robin Ellner at 650-329-2603. N