Experience community: Come sing, learn, and pray.
Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback January 7th and 8th 4161 Alma Street, Palo Alto (650) 813-9094 www.EtzChayim.org
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Upfront 450 CAMBRIDGE AVE, PALO ALTO, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210 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, Chad Jones, Kevin Kirby, Jack McKinnon, Jeanie K. Smith, Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors Sally Schilling, Sarah Trauben, Zohra Ashpari Editorial Interns Vivian Wong, Photo Intern 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 Rachel Hatch, Multimedia Product Manager BUSINESS Penelope Ng, Payroll & Benefits Manager Elena Dineva, Mary McDonald, Susie Ochoa, Doris Taylor, Business Associates ADMINISTRATION Amy Renalds, Assistant to the Publisher & Promotions Director Janice Covolo, Receptionist Ruben Espinoza, Courier
Is There a Future for Christianity? A Day With Dr. Diana Butler Bass Saturday, January 22, 2011 8:45 am to 2:00 pm The Trinity Conferences Program at Trinity Church in Menlo Park invites you to join us as Dr. Diana Butler Bass, noted speaker and academic, helps us explore whether there is a vital future for Christianity in North America in a cultural climate where “none of the aboveâ€? and “spiritual but not religiousâ€? are the fastest growing religion categories. What do these trends really mean? How do they impact our lives? Can we learn from the spiritual longings of our culture? Cost is $25 per person including lunch Register at www.trinitymenlopark.org (click on the Trinity Conferences Website link) Dr. Bass will also be the preacher on January 23 at our 10 am worship service. Trinity Church In Menlo Park, An Episcopal Community 330 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park (Between El Camino and Middlefield) 650-326-2083 Page 4ĂŠUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊÇ]ÊÓ䣣ÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž
EMBARCADERO MEDIA 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 Media, 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, (650) 3268210. 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 Š2010 by Embarcadero Media. 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.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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Congregation Etz Chayim
We need to put many more great teachers in front of our kids, working relentlessly. — Emily Bobel, executive director of Teach for America’s Bay Area organization, on advocating for school reform. See story on page 6.
Around Town HISTORIC ‘PARADE OF CHAMPIONS’ ... Saturday will be an historic day for Palo Alto when it honors Palo Alto High School’s football and volleyball teams with a late-afternoon parade through the downtown area. The event begins at Webster Street and University Avenue at 4:30 p.m. and will conclude at King Plaza in front of City Hall. It is the first time in memory that any city high school team has been so honored, much less two teams. Both teams last month captured the school’s first state championships in each sport. The Paly girls’ volleyball team, coached by Dave Winn, got the ball rolling Dec. 4 by winning the CIF Division I state title with a five-set victory over Long Beach at San Jose State, finishing the season with a 41-1 record. The Vikings’ football team, coached by Earl Hansen, followed that Dec. 17 by upsetting heavily favored Centennial-Corona, 15-13, to win the CIF Division I title in Carson, to finish the season 14-0. Both teams established school records for single-season victories, giving Paly four state championships overall. The Palo Alto boys’ basketball teams also won state titles in 1993 and 2006. The parade is sponsored by the city. HEY COACH! ... Paly’s state title in football also helped earn varsity football coach Earl Hansen the ESPN RISE Cal-Hi Sports State Coach of the Year honor for the 2010 season. The honor, like the Saturday parade to acknowledge the two state-championship Paly teams, is historic for Palo Alto: Hansen is only one of six football coaches from the Central Coast Section to win the honor since 1970. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES ... During his 18-year career in Palo Alto, Glenn Roberts had helped to maintain roughly 35,000 trees. These days, however, many residents remember the recently retired Public Works director for the 63 trees he didn’t save. Roberts took much of the heat for the city’s hasty removal of holly oaks on California Avenue in September 2009 — an action that violated city procedures, infuriated residents and forced Roberts to issue multiple public apologies. His career ended on a sour note
in October, when the city reached a settlement with Roberts to avoid litigation. Roberts had agreed to retire and to not seek another job in the city in exchange for $130,655 and a special resolution “consistent with proclamations for other employees who have retired voluntarily from City service in good standing.� The City Council is scheduled to discuss this proclamation Monday night. A draft of the proclamation, released Wednesday, doesn’t mention California Avenue or the large hole in the city’s refuse fund that suddenly materialized a year ago, but focuses on the positives — namely, Roberts’ years of budget oversight, his efforts to improve the city’s storm preparedness, prevent water pollution and encourage waste reduction. BREAD GETS A BREAK ... Breads and cakes have gotten a last-minute reprieve. At least at Esther’s German Bakery, which had been scheduled to close Dec. 31 in the San Antonio Shopping Center in Mountain View. The bakery is still open for business. The shopping center is remodeling, and the bakery location was to be one of the first places for work to begin. “Things change quickly around here,� bakery owner Esther Nio said. “I will now be open for at least another month. And they also offered me another location in the center. Next to Daiso,� she said. Nio is not sure what she will do yet. “I’m crunching the numbers,� she said. BOTTOMS UP! ... As any new parent knows, babies go through diapers faster than Dario Franchetti finishes the Indy 500. But an estimated one in three U.S. families finds buying diapers a financial hardship, if a study commissioned by Huggies is to be believed. That factoid prompted Palo Alto health and tech company HealthTap to sponsor a diaper drive, which has successfully brought in more than 14,000 (new) diapers. The drive was organized by TapMommies, the tech company’s online community, with the help of nonprofit Help a Mother Out, and the diapers were handed off to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Friday (Jan. 7). N