Upfront
PUBLISHER William S. Johnson
Reef Sandals best selection in Palo Alto
EDITORIAL Jocelyn Dong, 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 Tom Gibboney, Spectrum 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 Jeff Carr, Janelle Eastman, Aaron Guggenheim, Casey Moore, Editorial Interns Leslie Shen, Arts & Entertainment Intern DESIGN Shannon Corey, Design Director Raul Perez, Assistant Design Director Linda Atilano, Diane Haas, Scott Peterson, Paul Llewellyn, Senior Designers Gary Vennarucci, Designer
For you. For him. For kids.
PRODUCTION Jennifer Lindberg, Production Manager Dorothy Hassett, Samantha Mejia, Blanca Yoc, Sales & Production Coordinators
526 Waverley Street Downtown Palo Alto TOYANDSPORT COM s
ADVERTISING Walter Kupiec, Vice President, Sales & Marketing Judie Block, 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, Cathy Stringari, Doris Taylor, Business Associates
Celebrating 2 5 years
ADMINISTRATION Amy Renalds, Assistant to the Publisher & Promotions Director Janice Covolo, Receptionist Ruben Espinoza, Courier
19 8 7-2 011
MENLO PARK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
w w w. m e n l o p a r k c h a m b e r. c o m
July 16-17, 10am-6pm Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park s Contemporary Fine Art & Crafts s Fabulous Food & Wine s Refreshing Margaritas & Mojitos s Home & Garden Exhibits s Artisan Specialty Food Purveyors s Green Products Showcase s Health & Wellness Displays s Microbrew & Wine Tasting Tent s The Popular Chefs’ Demo Tent s Hang Out In The CUDA LOUNGE: Couches, Flat Screen TVs, Free Swag
ION ADMISSEE IS FR
s Stellar Lineup of Rock’n Roll, Blues, Jazz & Party Music OTR, Wally’s Cocktail Combo, Brian Ho Trio, SF Bay Jazz, HeartStrings Music, Bob Culbertson, Jeffrey Michael
s Free Saturday After-Hours Concert David Martin’s House Party 5:30 – 8 p.m. in Fremont Park s Action-Packed Kids’ Fun Zone s AutoVino Collector Car Show s Experience the FORD DRIVE ONE TOUR: Browse, Compete, Win!
Info-line: 650-325-2818 | www.miramarevents.com
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 Š2011 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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450 CAMBRIDGE AVE, PALO ALTO, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210
The darn thing is a mess. — John Elman, who lives off Arastradero Road, on the new lane configuration that the Palo Alto City Council just extended for another year. See story on page 3.
Around Town UP, UP AND AWAY ... Palo Alto resident Todd Heapy had the chance of a lifetime last week, traveling to Florida as an official Weekly blogger to watch the final launch in NASA’s Space Shuttle program. For Heapy, it was a 30-year-plus dream come true. It was not, however, a sure thing, as any number of factors, from weather to technology, could have scrapped the July 8 launch. Heapy woke up at 3 a.m. that day to be prepared to see the scheduled 8:26 a.m. take-off. “I scouted my photo spot and optimistically watched the Web feeds for weather and other progress reports,� Heapy wrote in his blog, which is posted along with photos on the Town Square forum at www. PaloAltoOnline.com. “Launch was a go. Launch was not a go. It was, it wasn’t. Back and forth it went for a few tense hours. Wait, is that a bit of blue sky I see? ... Anticipation builds. The countdown proceeds. Is this it? The countdown pauses. Oh no! More tension, but thankfully ... it’s short lived. 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... Main engine ignition! Blastoff!!� An exuberant Heapy managed to get entry to an employee barbecue following the launch, which he said “brought the launch experience full circle.� The employees will no longer be employed due to the end of the shuttle program, but their successful contributions to America’s space adventures gave them much to celebrate that day. AUF WIEDERSEHEN ... Although his parents are members of the Lions Club, Philipp De Fries managed to snag a Rotary scholarship to study in Palo Alto this past year. The 16-year-old hails from the cutlery city of Solingen, Germany. On the eve of his departure for home after attending Palo Alto High School, De Fries mused on the year. Students here work harder and party less than their counterparts in Germany, he said. And Palo Alto is far more diverse than Solingen, where only about 3 percent of the students are from different cultures. De Fries wore a vest, issued by Rotary on his arrival here, on which he collected 60 or 70 pins from various Rotary clubs. On it he had added a few other mementos from his American tour: a pin from the Hard Rock
Cafe, and his Paly varsity tennis letter. GREEN LANES ... Palo Alto officials shook up the Chinese Zodiac this year when they declared 2011 the “Year of the Bike.� This week, they showed they mean business. The city’s planning staff held two public meetings to discuss projects that officials hope will make life easier for bicyclists and pedestrians (the verdict on drivers isn’t out yet). The more significant of the two was the Arastradero Road re-striping project (see story on page 5). On Tuesday night, transportation officials hosted a smaller, more low-key meeting on proposed changes to Channing Avenue, between Newell Road and Lincoln Avenue. The goal, according to Chief Transportation Official Jaime Rodriguez, is to create an “enhanced bicycle way� on Channing Avenue with green bike lanes, speed tables and road markings to encourage cars to slow down. Other local neighborhoods will probably see similar changes in the coming months and years. The city plans to release on July 25 a draft of its new Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan — an ambitious document that will propose a long list of road modifications aimed at making Palo Alto a top-tier city for bicyclists. BITS OF TRASH ... Palo Alto officials have grand plans for reforming the city’s troubled garbage operation. In the next year, city officials will consider whether to close the Recycling Center at Byxbee Park; whether the city should start charging customers for recycling; and whether a local composting facility is worth pursuing. The first change customers will likely notice is a bump in their trash bills this fall. Under a new proposal from the Public Works Department, all customers will see a new $4.62 fee added to their trash bills starting Oct. 1. The City Council’s Finance Committee will weigh the proposal Tuesday night. The goal of the new fee is to close the $3.7 million hole in the Refuse Fund, which has been bleeding cash as customers went “green� and switched to smaller trash cans, thereby slashing their bills and creating a revenue crisis in the Refuse Fund. N