Palo Alto Weekly 03.05.2010 - Section 1

Palo Alto

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City raises new high-speed rail concerns Page 3

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Vocational education takes on a new meaning and gains respect page 19

Spectrum 14

Movies 28

Eating Out 32 N Arts

Puzzles 59

A rare showing of Chinese ink painting N Sports CCS hoop teams shoot for titles N Home Duveneck: Small-town Palo Alto

Page 23 Page 34 Page 41

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Upfront

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Palo Alto raising new high-speed-rail concerns City officials, watchdogs await re-release of key environmental document well-armed with knowledge and ammunition they lacked in initial 2008 EIR process

by Gennady Sheyner

A

s the California High-Speed Rail Authority prepares to release a major report on impacts of the proposed high-speed-rail line, Palo Alto officials are compiling a fresh list of questions and concerns about the controversial project.

The rail authority is scheduled to

unveil its revised environmental-impact report (EIR) — a comprehensive document that projects ridership and revenue figures and analyzes the impacts of the $43 billion project — on March 11.

The authority had completed the 1,200-plus-page document in July

2008, but had to decertify and revise it after a court challenge from Menlo Park, Atherton and a coalition of environmental and transportation groups.

A Sacramento County judge ordered the agency to revise the sections on the rail system’s vibration

impacts and on Union Pacific’s opposition to sharing tracks with the new system.

Jeffrey Barker, the authority’s deputy director for communication, said the new document would also have an expanded description of the overall project.

But even though the authority’s revisions are expected to focus only on the sections singled out by the court, Palo Alto City Council members and

staff have indicated that they will use the environmental-review process to scrutinize the entire document.

Last week, members of the council’s High-Speed Rail Committee agreed that the entire document needs further scrutiny and scheduled a study session for the council’s March 15 meeting to give residents a chance to voice their concerns about (continued on page 10)

GOVERNMENT

Palo Alto names new assistant city manager Pamela Antil, an experienced management-level city official, chosen to fill city’s number-two position

by Gennady Sheyner

P

Veronica Weber

Not quite running with a view Eunhee Kim of Atherton runs underneath a canopy of oaks on the Stanford “Dish” trail during a drizzly afternoon on March 3. On a sunny day she would have had a broad vista of the Stanford foothills.

CITY COUNCIL

Finances, infrastructure highlight ‘State of the City’ Palo Alto must become leaner, greener and better prepared for emergencies, Mayor Pat Burt says

by Gennady Sheyner

A

huge budget gap may force Palo Alto to cut staff and services but it should not keep the city from rebuilding its infrastructure and preparing for emergencies, Mayor Pat Burt said in the annual “State of the City” address Monday night.

Burt’s speech touched on all five of the priorities adopted by the City Council earlier this year: city finances, land use, emergency preparedness, environmental sustainability and youth well-being. But Burt also made it clear that the first priority

— a huge, long-term shortfall between city revenues and expenses — will dominate Palo Alto’s agenda in 2010.

With the city facing a $6.4 million budget gap in 2010 and swelling deficits in the years ahead, Burt said Palo Alto will be forced to make difficult decisions about staff levels and program cuts in the coming year.

He also said Palo Alto is in for a year of tough negotiations with its employee unions.

Last year, the council unilaterally imposed new conditions on Palo

Alto’s largest union, Service Employees International Union, Local 521, after negotiations collapsed.

The city is scheduled to renew its negotiations with SEIU this year, as well as reach new deals with police and firefighter unions.

“Many other cities are currently facing up to the realities that Palo Alto took on a year ago,” Burt said. “Namely, that government had agreed to a benefit and pension structure that was unsustainable.”

But even with the budget woes, the city cannot afford to ignore its swell-

amela Antil has been selected

by Palo Alto City Manager James Keene to serve as the city’s new assistant city manager, the number-two management position in the city.

She was selected out of 153 applicants and seven finalists, who were interviewed, the city manager’s office reported.

Keene said Antil’s hiring is part of a broader reorganization of his office.

“Pam brings the right qualifications, great energy and exemplary ‘people’ skills to help us through these challenging times,” Keene said in a statement announcing her hiring.

The City Council is expected to ratify Antil’s appointment Monday night.

The position has been vacant since May 2008 following the resignation of former Assistant City Manager Emily Harrison, who took a job as a deputy county executive for Santa Clara County.

The assistant manager serves as the operations officer for the city and “may act on behalf of the City Manager when necessary at City Council meetings and in other high-level capacities,” the announcement stated.

Antil’s salary will be $195,000 a year.

ing infrastructure backlog, Burt said.

Staff had estimated that the city’s backlog — which includes outdated facilities and deferred street maintenance — totals about $510 million.

Burt said he will appoint a task force this year to “develop a comprehensive plan for the repair of our infrastructure, from our roads and sidewalks to our major buildings.”

He also said the city might have to resurrect the business-license tax — a revenue source that Palo Alto voters emphatically struck down last November.

Burt suggested that the city’s worsening budget picture and the prospect of service cuts may prompt more residents to support the tax, provided the proposal is more fair and better written than last year’s version.

“As we struggle this year with the likely loss of some valued services, we also need to decide as a community whether we support a more fair and better designed business-license tax,” Burt said.

City officials are also considering installing red-light cameras, an idea spearheaded by Roger Smith, former CEO of Silicon Valley Bank. Burt said the new cameras could bring in “significant revenues,” while also improving safety and allowing the city to reduce staff.

Burt listed a series of critical landuse decisions Palo Alto will concentrate on in 2010. These include an update to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, its official land-use bible; the state’s $43 billion high-speed-rail project, which would stretch through the middle of Palo Alto; and Stanford University’s massive expansion of its medical facilities.

Burt called the Stanford proposal “the largest single development in the history of Palo Alto” but said he hopes to complete the city’s review of the project before the end of 2010.

“The recent events in Haiti and Chile remind us of the life-saving

(continued on page 6)

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Upfront

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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 Jeanne Aufmuth, 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 Martin Sanchez, Mike Lata, Editorial Interns DESIGN Shannon Corey, Design Director Raul Perez, Assistant Design Director Linda Atilano, Diane Haas, Scott Peterson, Paul Llewellyn, Senior Designers Laura Don, Gary Vennarucci, Designers PRODUCTION Jennifer Lindberg, Production Manager Dorothy Hassett, 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.

BUSINESS Mona Salas, Manager of Payroll & Benefits Elena Dineva, Mary McDonald, Sana Sarfaraz, Cathy Stringari, Susie Ochoa, Doris Taylor, Business Associates ADMINISTRATION Amy Renalds, Assistant to the Publisher & Promotions Director Alana VanZanten, Promotions Intern Janice Covolo, Receptionist Ruben Espinoza, Courier

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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 Š2010 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.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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The City of Palo Alto Mediation Program is now accepting applications for

volunteer mediators. This free Program handles disputes involving tenant/

landlord, neighbor-to-neighbor, and consumer and workplace issues.

It’s a different day but the emergency isn’t necessarily over. — Harold Schapelhouman, Menlo Park Fire Protection District fire chief, on meeting the needs of East Palo Alto plane-crash victims. See story on page 5.

Around Town TRASHY TACTICS ... A YouTube video starring garbage, a reusable coffee mug, bumper stickers on city vehicles and a barrage of “cute signs� are all props being considered by Palo Alto officials as they look to educate the citizenry about sound recycling practices. The city is in the midst of revising its recycling and composting ordinance — an effort scheduled to conclude this summer. The objective, according to a city statement, is to reach the city’s goals of a 15 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020 and Zero Waste by 2021 (that is, no more waste sent to landfills by 2021). In the coming weeks, residents and business owners will have a chance to attend meetings and share their own ideas for improving the city’s recycling program.

The next meeting for residential customers will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. at Lucie Stern Community Center Ballroom, 1305 Middlefield Road. Another meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on March 9 (same location). A meeting for commercial customers is scheduled for 9 a.m. on March 9 at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. BEST IN THE WEST? ... Palo Alto’s technological wizards earned major kudos from Sunset Magazine this week, which put the city on its list “20 Best Towns of the Future.�

The list, which also includes such Western cities as Tucson, Ariz., Boise, Ida., and Oakland, singles out “forward-thinking places� with commitments to “experimentation, creativity, energy efficiency, and good local food sources.� Palo Alto was chosen for its high-tech leadership, its long list of generated patents and the presence of two major electric-vehicle companies: Better Place and Tesla Motors.

THE BACKLOG TEAM ... Palo Alto may look to 18 community volunteers for help in sorting out the city’s $510-million infrastructure backlog. Vice Mayor Sid Espinosa and council members Larry Klein, Greg Scharff and

Greg Schmid proposed the idea in a colleagues’ memo, which a City Council Policy and Services Committee is scheduled to discuss on March 9. The backlog includes aged city structures that need replacement (including the city’s Municipal Services Building and two fire stations) and various road repairs (including on Arastradero and Charleston roads). “We presently allocate about $10 million per year of the general fund budget to infrastructure,� the memo states. “At that rate, we will never reduce our backlog and in all likelihood will fall further behind.�

To solve the problem, the four council members hope to create the 18-member Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission. Each council member would appoint two members. The commission would then review the projects on the list and advise the council on what to do about them. The council hopes to have the new commission seated by May and to get the group’s report by Feb. 28, 2011. The City Council would then consider whether to fund any of the most pressing items through a bond measure in November 2011.

STICK TO THE MESSAGE ...

California’s High-Speed Rail Authority’s approach to public outreach has been undermined by inconsistent messages, poor coordination among various spokespersons and insufficient information about project milestones and policies, the authority’s newly released “communications audit� argues.

The report was composed

by Ogilvy Public Relations Woldwide, the rail authority’s public-affairs consultant. Ogilvy recommends that the rail authority broaden its outreach effort, bring more transparency to its decision-making process and provide the public more informative (and better designed) materials. Ogilvy also found that some of the rail authority’s regional consultants received “conflicting direction� from the rail authority’s board members and recommends a more “topdown� approach for releasing information. N

Upfront NEIGHBORHOODS

‘Widow maker’ tree limb nearly hits Crescent Park resident Neighbors concerned about eucalyptus trees near Pardee Park playground

A

“The Pardee Park eucalyptus are among the most beautiful of trees,” he said.

But the danger to life is real, he said.

“Many arborists in Australia are experts in identifying which branches are dangerous. I would hope someone who has expert knowledge that is specific with eucalypts could identify and remove the branches that are in danger of falling. It would be better to keep the trees than not,” he said.

But if that can’t be done with certainty, the trees should be chopped down, since the area is a park where children play, he said.

City officials met with residents at the park on Wednesday, Feb. 24, and another meeting will be scheduled soon, according to Eric Krebs, city arborist.

Krebs said as many as six trees are being considered for removal.

He has been watching the trees for sulfur fungus, a disease that causes rot in certain trees.

Pardee Park has two species of eucalyptus — Eucalyptus globulus or blue gum and Eucalyptus viminalis or white gum, he said. The trees are native to Australia.

“Eucalyptus has very heavy wood

PLANE CRASH

Relief organized for EPA plane-crash neighborhood Plane-crash emergency ‘not over’ for East Palo Alto residents, fire chief says

by Karla Kane and Sue Dremann

T

he small plane that crashed into an East Palo Alto neighborhood Feb. 17, killing all three aboard and causing a citywide power outage in Palo Alto, also had a major impact on the East Palo Alto homes and residents directly affected by the collision.

At least five households on Beech Street and at least one on Cypress Street had property damaged in the crash and its fallout, and residents were traumatized emotionally and financially.

A relief effort to help the families affected is underway by the East Palo Alto Police Department, Menlo Park Fire Protection District and the Abundant Life Christian Fellowship of Mountain View, along with volunteers from the East Palo Alto community and the Palo Alto Airport Association.

Impacts on other nearby homes includes fire and explosion damage to vehicles and structures, a collapsed carport and a need for temporary housing, rent assistance and insurance help. A daycare center also needs relocation.

The Ramirez family at 1173 Beech St. lost two trucks and had an

SUV damaged by fire, leaving the family breadwinner unable to get to work. Juan Carlos Ramirez said on Thursday his father is still without a truck. His dad is self-employed and hauls scrap metal to pay the family’s rent. The family is still struggling and has no money for necessities or monthly payments, Ramirez said.

“We can’t work,” he said.

Ramirez said he has also heard that someone is trying to donate a car for him to use.

The Palo Alto Airport Association is collecting donations toward purchasing a new truck for the Ramirez’ hauling business.

Dave Hengehold of Hengehold Truck Rental in Palo Alto said he was aiding the association in finding an appropriate vehicle and would help with service and licensing costs.

“We’re going to make sure it’s serviceable so they can continue their hauling business,” Hengehold said.

Lisa Jones, owner of Eppie’s Daycare, lost her home and livelihood when a plane wing filled with fuel hit the home and burst into flames.

The home was destroyed, leaving Jones and several family members

homeless.

Neighbors say Jones, who purchased the home from Habitat for Humanity, is devastated. The family needs a three-bedroom rental home and all of the basic necessities: clothing, housewares and other items, according to Pinkie Hudleton, a direct neighbor whose carport was destroyed after part of the fuselage and landing gear plunged through the carport’s roof, narrowly missing her home by a few feet.

“She’s really shook up. She’s really hurting. I’m able to live in my home. She was self-employed. She lost her home. She lost everything,” Hudleton said of Jones.

Hudleton said she and her husband, Ervin, haven’t received any help toward rebuilding their carport yet, although “somebody voiced they wanted to do it,” she said.

Chief Harold Schapelhouman and his staff in the Menlo Park Fire Protection District took the initiative to organize a preliminary checklist of immediate needs.

“He has gone above and beyond his call of duty to attend to the needs of this community,” Rosemarie Nola, director of the Strategic

Veronica Weber

large tree limb from an aged eucalyptus tree nearly struck a Crescent Park resident and has sparked a debate about the safety of the aged trees at Eleanor Pardee Park.

Ron Eadie was taking one of his seven daily walks around the neighborhood park at Channing Avenue and Center Drive when a large limb crashed down on the sidewalk, missing him by inches, he said.

“I heard a loud crack. It sounded like a rifle shot. I ducked. Two limbs pancaked down on the sidewalk on Channing just 20 paces from where I was standing. The heavy butt ends of the branches were 5 1/2 to 6 inches in diameter. They thudded right where my head would be.

“You know what they call those trees, don’t you? ‘Widow makers,’” he said.

The Jan. 18 incident has neighbors concerned whether the 50- to 100year-old trees should be removed.

The 16 trees, which city officials say are 120 to 150 feet tall, surround a children’s play structure area and canopy two sidewalks around the park’s perimeter.

Worried residents and mothers of small children have taken up the issue with City of Palo Alto staff.

by Sue Dremann Longtime residents said the trees have been part of the landscape since Eleanor Pardee lived in a ramshackle house on the property in the early 1950s, well before it became a park.

But some residents said it’s time to reconsider if the trees are safe, given their height and the area’s high density of foot traffic.

Amy Kacher, a mother whose three young children play at the park, said a 36-foot limb fell on the path to the entry gate to the playground on the Channing side on Friday morning. She could not budge the limb, she said.

“We’re not trying to be over-dramatic. They’re beautiful. But having them there is not logical,” she said.

Steve Bisset, who was born and raised in Australia, said on the neighborhood e-mail that he was camping under a eucalyptus tree in Australia in 1965 when another eucalyptus fell over “with a deafening crash about 20 feet away, under windless conditions. More recently I was on the Stanford campus when a giant eucalyptus branch crashed to the ground nearby, again in windless conditions.”

Reached by phone, he said he didn’t necessarily want the trees removed.

Ron Eadie, who was nearly struck by a falling tree branch, stands on the sidewalk underneath a cluster of eucalyptus trees at the edge of Eleanor Pardee Park. Eadie takes a daily walk along Channing Avenue, under those trees. and has very strong wood. Without defects, it’s a pretty strong tree.

They get a bad name because they do drop limbs,” he said.

The label “widow maker” is a bit unfair to the eucalyptus, Krebs said.

Quite a few other tree species also habitually drop large limbs, he said, especially during “summer limb drop,” when trees try to reduce water loss from the trunk during drier periods. The drops occur mostly in windless or light-wind conditions between noon and 4 p.m., according to arborists’ reports.

Liquid ambar, oak, sycamore, silver maple, poplar and others drop horizontal limbs up to four inches in diameter, according to the California Tree Failure Report.

“I never say a tree is ‘safe.’ There’s no such thing. To have no hazard with trees is to have no trees,” he said.

On average, arborists inspect

each tree on city property every seven years, he said. He has regularly watched the Pardee Park trees because of the sulfur fungus and the city will properly trim all branches deemed a hazard, he said.

In 15 years, Eadie said he has never encountered such a massive limb fall. He has occasionally jumped over 2-inch branches that have dropped onto the sidewalk, but his Martin Luther King Day encounter has left him shaken. He won’t walk under the trees anymore, he said.

His wife, Pat Eadie, said she often worries about his walks.

“I worry about him with his iPod. I say, ‘You’re just a sitting duck for somebody to mug you.’ But I was not thinking it would be a tree limb.” N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

Partnerships & Homeless Ministries program at Abundant Life, said of Schapelhouman’s efforts.

“The fire department took the lead” in the early phases of relief, Schapelhouman said. But it’s more appropriate for the police department to take over coordination at this stage, he added.

He said police Community Service Officer Elizabeth Lam has been named the point person for conducting a survey of households affected and coordinating relief efforts.

“The baton has been passed” to the police department, but the fire district will continue to help if it can, he said.

David Foley, director of 2nd Mile, a faith-based nonprofit group that helps rebuild and renovate schools and homes in East Palo Alto, said he just received a priorities checklist put together by East Palo Alto Police Chief Ronald Davis.

Foley said he can’t yet discuss ways his organization and others might help to rebuild the damaged homes, but that discussions are taking place.

Nola said Abundant Life Christian Fellowship has members willing to donate money, furniture and even counseling services. But being able to connect the resources to those in need depends on the police department and others getting organized more effectively.

“We need to all get on the same page. That’s my prayer,” she said.

“There is no shortage of needs.” Her church members are ready and willing to help, she said.

“It’s just having a way to publish

the needs to them and not duplicate efforts,” that is still being coordinated, she said.

Schapelhouman said he expects the relief effort to take some time.

“It’s a different day but the emergency isn’t necessarily over,” he said. “Everyone is trying to do what they can but there is a lot that’s got to be addressed.”

“The good news is there are a number of agencies and individuals who want to help and are stepping up.”

Citing not only monetary and material needs, he said the event was emotionally traumatic for the whole community and that healing will be ongoing.

“The call isn’t over,” he said.

Hudleton agreed: “Some people are very shook up, in my opinion.

We can’t believe it’s happened. Every time we hear those planes flying from the airport we remember the whole thing over again.”

Outsiders only hear about East Palo Alto’s reputation as a tough town, but few realize that when times are tough its residents “have hearts of gold,” she said. Many have feelings that are sympathetic to the victims and those who died in the plane, she said.

Neighbors have circulated an email to help each other and are talking about getting money together to purchase a gift certificate for Jones, she said.

“Everyone is really concerned,” she said.

Those interested in offering assistance are asked to contact the East Palo Alto Police Department. N

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Upfront

State of the City

COMMUNITY

(continued from page 3)

Asst. City Manager (continued from page 3)

“Filling the position at this time is critical to the effective operations of the City and our ability to help transition our organization through challenging times while fulfilling Council priorities,” Keene wrote in his report to the council.

Antil has more than 20 years of management experience and has worked on implementing “green” initiatives and energy savings in Novi, Mich., where she has served as assistant city manager since 2006. Before that, she served as assistant city manager at Ann Arbor, Mich., and at Rancho Palos Verdes in Southern California.

She received a master’s degree in public administration from California State University, Long Beach, and has served on numerous committees for the International City/

Wells Fargo now biggest East Palo Alto landlord Bank becomes city’s biggest landlord after foreclosure auction attracts no bids Veronica Weber

importance of world-class medical care,” Burt said. “I am determined that we will move this project forward expeditiously this year through review by our relevant boards and commissions and finally the City Council.”

Burt also alluded to the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile when discussing the need for Palo Alto to prepare for major disasters. He lauded the city’s newly formed Citizen Corp Council — a group of local organizations and agencies that is preparing for a coordinated response to emergencies — and a neighborhood “block preparedness” program.

But he also said the city needs to do more to prepare itself for future disasters.

“The day after the emergency there will be no doubt what our highest priority is,” Burt said. “On that day we’ll ask ourselves what we should have done to prepare better.”

Burt pointed to some good news on Palo Alto’s economic horizon.

Despite the sagging economy, three hotels are currently going through the city’s planning process, from

Palo Alto Mayor Pat Burt presented the annual “State of the City” address in Council Chambers on March 1, with past-and-present council members listening. which the city will reap 12 percent of their profit.

And, he said, clean-technology firms such as Tesla and Better Place have set up shop in Palo Alto, underscoring Palo Alto’s reputation for world-class technology and green leadership. He said Monday was Tesla’s move-in day to its new facilities in the Stanford Research Park.

Burt said the city’s relationship with Stanford creates “even greater opportunities” to promote green technology and sustainability.

“We have both recognized that our future well-being and economic strength are tied to a sustainable, clean-tech economy,” Burt said. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

READ MORE ONLINE

www.PaloAltoOnline.com You can read the full text, or watch video highlights, of Mayor Pat Burt’s speech at www.paloaltoonline.com.

County Management Association.

The duties of promoting econom“My husband and I are very ex- ic development will be assumed by cited to be able to raise our girls in Deputy City Manager Steve Emslie, Palo Alto and be fully engaged in who will oversee the new Office of the community through my work Economic Development. Last year, within the city organization and our the city manager’s office hired family’s involvement Debra van Duynhoven to in the schools and civserve as its sustainabilic groups,” Antil said ity coordinator, replacing in a statement. three part-time environKeene touted Antil’s mental coordinators who prior experiences as an have other jobs with the assistant city manager city. and said he is “looking Keene is also planning forward to Pam helpto appoint Greg Betts ing with the city’s daythe director of the Deto-day operations.” partment of Community Kelly Morariu, asServices. Betts, who has Pam Antil sistant to the city served as a manager in the manager, said Antil’s department for 26 years, hiring is one compocurrently fills the director nent of a broader restructuring of position on an interim basis.

Keene’s office.

The council is scheduled to ratify Susan Barnes, Keene’s assistant for Betts’ appointment and Antil’s coneconomic development, will retire in tract at its meeting Monday night June after 11 years with the city.

(March 8). N

COMMUNITY

Judge upholds Palo Alto sit-lie ordinance Panhandler Victor Frost will have a jury trial on violations charges

by Sue Dremann

P

alo Alto panhandler Victor Frost must stand trial for violating the city’s sit-lie ordinance, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Lucy Koh has ruled in upholding the sit-lie ban.

In a written ruling signed Feb. 26, Koh ruled against Frost on all of his claims: that his First Amendment rights had been violated; that the law was enforced in a discriminatory manner; and that the ordinance violated the state’s equal-protection clause.

Koh, who now presides in San Jose, was not present in court on Tuesday, March 2, for a pretrial hearing. Frost says he will continue

to fight his citations. A four-day jury trial will begin April 19 in Palo Alto.

Frost is a regular fixture with his milk crate and signs in front of Whole Foods Market. He received 12 citations from city police for violating the sit-lie ordinance but Koh reduced the number to six in an earlier ruling.

Frost is allegedly the only person to have refused compliance with the ordinance. Many other persons have been warned and moved on, but Frost stayed put, the city claims.

The ordinance, which was first adopted in 1997 to cover University Avenue and expanded in 2007 to en-

Page 6ÊUÊ >ÀV Êx]ÊÓä£äÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

compass the downtown area, seeks to prevent persons from obstructing the sidewalk in the downtown retail area between peak hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The Palo Alto City Council found the area is unusually congested and individuals sitting or lying create a potential safety hazard and significant risk to the free flow of pedestrians.

But Frost provided the court with photographs of restaurants and patrons sitting at outdoor tables who were likewise violating the law and another sidewalk-encroachment (continued on page 7)

by Gennady Sheyner

W

ells Fargo took ownership of more than 1,800 housing units in East Palo Alto’s Woodland Park neighborhood Tuesday afternoon, officially becoming the city’s largest landlord.

The bank’s foreclosure auction for the properties, which were previously owned by Palo Alto-based firm Page Mill Properties, attracted no bidders Tuesday, said Elise Wilkinson, Wells Fargo spokesperson. As a result, Wells Fargo officially took ownership of the properties, which the bank valued at $142 million.

Page Mill has been vehemently criticized by its tenants and by city officials for repeatedly raising rents at the properties. Some have accused the company of “predatory equity” and demanded rent reductions. Page Mill had maintained that the raised rents are needed to fund security upgrades, seismic retrofits and other improvements at the properties.

The company is also embroiled in more than a dozen lawsuits with East Palo Alto over rent control at these properties — lawsuits that the city officials hope to settle in the coming weeks.

Page Mill lost control of its properties last fall, after it defaulted on a $50 million balloon payment to Wells Fargo. In September, the company’s property managers temporarily abandoned their buildings because the company had insufficient cash flow. A San Mateo County judge then appointed an overseer for the properties.

Wells Fargo said in a statement that it does not expect the auction results to have much impact on the building residents. The firm Investors’ Property Services will continue to manage the properties, the bank announced.

“After speaking with many members of the East Palo Alto community and carefully weighing the options, we believe Wells Fargo’s acquisition of these properties will provide the best possible outcome for the residents and the community,” Wells Fargo Managing Director Sean Barlas said in a statement. “In the short-term, we expect little or no impact to tenants at Woodland Park Apartments or the community.”

Chris Lund, a tenant advocate and leading opponent of Page Mill’s rent hikes, said the bank’s ownership of the properties comes as a “sigh of relief” for the tenants. He said Page Mill had spent about $269 million to buy up the properties.

On Tuesday, the prices for the opening bids for the housing units ranged from $323,079 for the property at 640 Circle Drive, to $17.6 million for the large apartment building at 1 Newell Court. Lund said he was heartened by the fact that the bank’s opening bids closely

reflected the building’s value, not Page Mill’s purchasing price.

“I think the bank genuinely wants to do the right thing,” Lund said. “It has closed the Page Mill chapter and that’s a positive thing for the community.”

Wilkinson said the bank enlisted BRIDGE Housing Corporation, a leading affordable-housing developer, to help it consider long-term strategies for the properties. She said it’s too early to tell if, when and to whom these properties would ultimately be sold.

“Together, we will thoughtfully look at what makes sense for the properties,” Wilkinson said. “We’ll take our time and look at all the options.”

Lydia Tan, BRIDGE executive vice president, said in a statement that the first step will be gathering as much input as possible about community concerns and possible solutions. The group now plans to meet with building residents and other stakeholders.

“We are just starting our outreach, and we will be looking forward to connecting with all stakeholders through individuals as well as townhall meetings,” Tan said.

Meanwhile, the East Palo Alto City Council is looking to tighten up the city’s rent-control ordinance to make it more consistent with state law. City officials also hope to clarify some of the language about allowable rent increases — issues that prompted a flurry of lawsuits from Page Mill.

East Palo Alto officials were forced to cancel last year’s attempt to revise the ordinance after a court challenge from Page Mill.

Councilman Ruben Abrica said the city now plans to place the revised rent-control ordinance on the June ballot.

Abrica said the city has scheduled a public meeting on March 11 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall to discuss revisions to the ordinance.

The City Council is also trying to negotiate a settlement over the glut of lawsuits filed by Page Mill over the past two years. A council committee discussed the long list of legal issues in a closed session Tuesday, said Abrica, a member of the committee.

Though Abrica alluded to several difficult “sticking points” in the negotiations, he said Wells Fargo’s ownership of the properties would bring some welcome clarity to the process.

“At least, now it’s clear who the owner is,” Abrica said. “Now that it’s clear that Wells Fargo is in control, the negotiations can be much more direct.” N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

GRAND OPENING

Upfront

For the Ultimate +/%$'" %(' Experience

COMMUNITY

School, city leaders rebuff queries by ‘Dr. Phil’ TV psychologist plans segment on ‘teen pressures,’ featuring students and parents from Palo Alto’s Gunn High School

by Chris Kenrick

P

alo Alto school officials have rebuffed efforts by a producer for the ‘Dr. Phil� TV show to gather Palo Alto students and parents for “a discussion about the pressures that teens face today.�

Wendi Wan, a senior associate producer for the television psychologist, has contacted school officials and the parents of at least two Palo Alto teens who have died by suicide in connection with the planned program. A round-table discussion was being arranged for Saturday in Palo Alto and a taping of the show is scheduled for Tuesday in Los Angeles — to which Palo Alto participants would be invited.

Many interpreted the bid from Dr. Phil as a veiled request to talk about the recent “cluster� of teen suicides and said they did not want to cooperate. The underlying concern is that such a prominent program could contribute to other deaths. “It hasn’t been our practice to allow media groups to report on the situation, or to make a comment on the suicides or have a story about them, and we don’t see a reason to change

it,� school Superintendent Kevin Skelly told the Weekly Thursday.

Wan’s e-mail does not specifically mention the suicides. It asks for “local Palo Alto-area teens and their parents� to participate in a discussion about pressures “from high school AP classes to college entrance exams, extracurricular activities, community work and more. “We’ll talk about how teens cope with stress and the toll that this pressure is taking on them,� the e-mail said.

Wan’s e-mail request has circulated among local parents, as well as medical and community members working to create a “safety net� for local teens following a spate of suicides at the Caltrain tracks over the past 10 months.

No one has directly asked the Dr. Phil producers not to do the show, but one person came close.

Rob deGeus, a city recreation manager who is coordinating a multi-agency response to the suicides called “Project Safety Net,� circulated media guidelines from the Suicide Prevention Resource

Center and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “Attached are the key messages Project Safety Net has developed,� de Geus said in an e-mail.

The guidelines are “the primary message that I use when asking a reporter to not pursue a story.�

Her e-mail seeks students and parents for a discussion in Palo Alto Saturday (March 6) to be followed by a taping with Dr. Phil “on this topic� Tuesday, March 9, in Los Angeles. “We plan to invite some of the students and parents who participate in the round table discussion to appear on the show in L.A. too!�

Wan’s e-mail said.

Louis DiCenzo, spokesman for Dr. Phil Show producer and syndicator CBS Paramount, said the show is scheduled to be aired on Friday, March 12. “We have reached out to parents in the area and the response has been very positive,� he said. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be e-mailed at ckenrick@paweekly.com.

Sit-lie ordinance

stitute “some evidence of discriminatory effect.� “The mere showing� of a failure to prosecute, however, doesn’t mean Frost’s prosecution was prompted by intentional discrimination, she said, citing appellate decisions. “Even assuming the defendant has proven discriminatory effect, the defense’s motion to dismiss for discriminatory prosecution must be denied for failure to prove discriminatory intent,� she wrote.

Defense attorneys said the city ordinance violated the state’s equalprotection clause, but Koh disagreed.

Frost’s case is analogous to a City of Santa Ana ordinance that was supported by the California Supreme Court, she noted.

In the Santa Ana case the ordinance was against camping and storage of personal property in designated public areas. The court supported the law because it banned the use of public property for purposes for which it was not designated.

Likening the case to Frost’s, Koh wrote, “Sitting or lying down is not the customary use of the public sidewalks. The declared purpose of the ordinance does not suggest that it is to be enforced solely against the homeless.�

In their declarations to the court, Palo Alto Police Lt. Sandra Brown and Sgt. Natasha Powers said they had given many warnings to violators who were not homeless. Powers said she had given 50 warnings and Brown’s included businesses, their patrons, high school and college students, nonprofit solicitors and a group of people performing yoga exercises. All complied and were not given citations, they said.

Frost said he is not giving up.

“My main complaint is I’m being fined for myself and the rest of the panhandlers,� he said.

Assistant City Attorney Donald Larkin said Frost has a right to a jury trial. “I’m pleased with Judge Koh’s ruling. Overall, she listened to the argument we made and she gave Victor a fair shot. I think it was a good ruling,� he said.

He said the First Amendment argument could resurface following Frost’s trial.

The city could look at changing some aspects of the encroachment ordinance to the advantage of businesses, he said. Currently, the ordinance requires an 8-foot sidewalk clearance for push carts to pass through. The city doesn’t issue push-cart permits anymore, so there could be an allowance for lesser clearance, he said.

Koh’s ruling comes as San Francisco wrestles with a contentious sitlie proposal. Mayor Gavin Newsom is proposing two ordinances to reduce harassment of pedestrians and merchants by so-called streetpersons — a citywide ban and a ban along some retail areas. Similar ordinances are in effect in other cities, including Santa Cruz, Seattle, Wash., and Austin, Texas. N

(continued from page 6)

ordinance. The city has admitted the law was not being applied by its code enforcement officers, but again took up enforcement when Frost complained.

Deputy Public Defenders Mark Dames and Meghan Piano, argued the uneven enforcement was proof of the city’s discriminatory intent against homeless persons and that homelessness is a protected class under the First Amendment.

But Donald Larkin, assistant city attorney, argued the First Amendment challenge was not yet “ripe� because Frost had not yet been convicted or sentenced.

Koh’s ruling denied the First Amendment challenge, based on previous state and federal decisions that a case is not ripe as an “applied challenge� if a defendant has not been convicted and sentenced.

Frost’s attorneys claimed prosecutorial discrimination because he is homeless and treated to a different standard than wealthy persons.

Higher courts have ruled if criminal prosecution is deliberately based upon a standard such as race or a “discriminated� or “suspect� classification, the case must be dismissed.

But “classifications based on wealth are not suspect,� Koh wrote, citing a federal case, Kadrmas vs.

Dickinson Public Schools. And Frost’s panhandling also does not support his First Amendment right to free expression, Koh wrote.

But Koh did note that affidavits regarding the city’s lack of enforcement of its encroachment ordinance against business violators does con-

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Correction A Feb. 26 story about Gamble Garden said Karen Olson was president of the Palo Alto Garden Club in 1985. Olson was chairman of the Garden Club’s Gamble Garden Founding Committee from 1981 to 1985. The club’s presidents during that time were Sara Wheaton, Marde Ross and Jane Ulrich.

To request a correction, contact Managing Editor Jocelyn Dong at 650-3268210, jdong@paweekly.com or P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302.

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Upfront

Palo Alto Historical Association presents a public program

Gamble Garden Celebrates 25 Years Presenter: Karen Olson Elizabeth Gamble House

3UNDAY -ARCH s PM Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto 2EFRESHMENTS s .O ADMISSION CHARGE

PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL CIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUE BROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1 CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL 26 (TENTATIVE) AGENDA-SPECIAL MEETING-COUNCIL CHAMBERS MARCH 08, 2010 - 6:00 PM 1.

Closed Session: Labor Negotiations 7:00 PM or as soon as possible thereafter 2.

Study Session on Compost 3.

Appointment to the Planning and Transportation Commission for One Unexpired Term Ending on January 31, 2012 4.

Approval of a Three-Year Extension to the Agreement with the United States Geological Survey in the Amount of $186,000 for San Francisco Bay Monitoring 5.

Approval of Utilities Water, Electric and Gas Enterprise Fund Contract with Enernex Corporation in the Total Amount of $140,000 for Consulting Services to Develop a Smart Grid Strategic Plan 6.

Adoption of a Resolution Committing $2.5 Million In-Lieu Fees from SummerHill Homes to Tree House Apartments, L.P. for the Development of the 35-Unit Affordable Housing Tree House Project at 488 W. Charleston Road 7.

Approval of a Water Enterprise Fund Contract with URS Corporation in the Total Amount of $482,392 for Professional Engineering Services for the Assessment, Design and Construction Management Services for Coating and Seismic Upgrades of Six Existing City Reservoirs and Rehabilitation of Three Receiving Stations Project WS-07000, WS-08001 and WS-09000 8.

2ND READING Adoption of an Ordinance Amending Section 21.04.030(a)(30) of Title 21 (Subdivisions) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code to Revise the Definition of “Private Streets” (First reading February 01, 2010—Passed 9-0) 9.

Recommendation to Direct the Utilities Advisory Commission to Consider the Fiscal Year 2011 Wastewater Collection Fund Budget and Rates 10. Adoption of Budget Amendment Ordinance for Fiscal Year 2010 to Provide Additional Appropriations of $89,196 Within the General Fund for the County of Santa Clara Registrar of Voters November 2009 Election Costs 11. Confirmation of Appointment of Pamela Antil as Assistant City Manager and Approval of At-Will Employment Contract 12. Confirmation of Appointment of Gregory Betts as Director of Community Services and Approval of At-Will Employment Contract 13. Adoption of a Resolution to Consent to the City of Palo Alto Being Included Within the Boundaries of the San Mateo County Tourism Business Improvement District, Direction to Terminate Destination Palo Alto Contract and Review of Transition Plan for Destination Palo Alto 14. Approval of and Delegation to the City Manager to Provide Answers to Google’s Request for Information for its Fiber for Communities Plan 15. Policy and Services Committee Recommendation to Direct Staff to Perform a Study Evaluating the Impact of Prevailing Wage on City Capital Construction Projects 16. Colleague’s Memo from Council Member Yeh, Holman, and Scharff Requesting for the Council to Refer to Policy & Services to Return with a Recommendation for 1) an Amendment to City Policy to Require Release of CMRs and Supporting Documents (The Packet) at an Earlier Date and 2) a Review and Recommendation for a Council Policy Regarding Late Submissions 17. Public Hearing: Consider the Approval of Water Supply Assessment to Stanford Medical Center Facilities Renewal and Replacement Project (Staff Requests Item to be Continued by Council Motion to 3/15/10) STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS The Policy and Services Committee Meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 09, 2010 The High Speed Rail Committee Meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 11, 2010 Page 8ÊUÊ >ÀV Êx]ÊÓä£äÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

News Digest Blackout due to faulty transformer A four-hour power outage that caused blackouts and brownouts in large areas of Palo Alto was caused by a faulty transformer that apparently caused an old splice in a high-voltage wire to fail, city officials concluded this week.

Power failed about 8:30 p.m. Sunday and surged back to Palo Alto residents starting about 12:30 to 12:45 a.m., turning on lights and televisions — sometimes after residents had gone to bed.

Palo Alto utilities workers finished splicing a downed powerline moments before midnight.

Substantial portions of Palo Alto suffered electrical power brownouts or blackouts Sunday night, but no city announcement was made of the outage.

The city’s dispatch center referred to a number for Light & Power, but that line was either busy or looped back to a dispatch center recording that said only that there was a power outage and no estimate of when power would be restored.

Streetlights and commercial buildings in Midtown and along Oregon Expressway were still on at about 10 p.m.

But residents posted their own bulletins about what areas were affected in the Town Square forum, and one resident, technical journalist Eric Savitz, did his own investigation when he lost power about 8:30 p.m.

Savitz, who lives in Palo Alto’s Midtown region, said he set out and found a fire truck at Colorado Avenue and Greer Road under a powerline that had fallen from a pole and was still crackling sparks in a tree.

“Here we go again,” he began his blog, referring to a Feb. 17 10-hour outage caused by a plane hitting a main power feed to the city and crashing into an East Palo Alto neighborhood, killing all three people in the plane.

“For reasons unknown, the wire seems to have come uncoupled from a utility pole, and fallen into a couple of trees, where as of a few minutes ago it was still sparking and causing smoking in several large trees.

“The incident started around 8:30 or so with a power brownout; but in the last 15 minutes, we lost all remaining power, and all is dark. (I’m online via a Verizon 3G wireless card and my laptop battery.)”

He said the downed line is just a few blocks from his house. He said a Fire Department officer at the scene said a Utilities Department crew had been called. Savitz said that as of 9 p.m. the fireman said it could take an hour for the crew to show up and start repairs.

There was no apparent reason for the line to break given the calm, dry weather, Savitz said.

“For now, time to break out the candles,” he concluded.

Utilities Director Valerie Fong Tuesday apologized for the lack of information and said she would be calling in a backup public information officer to handle public announcements. N — Jay Thorwaldson

City wins charging station funds Palo Alto has won a $12,000 grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to help fund six new electric-car charging stations in town, the district has announced.

The charging stations will be installed in the City Hall parking garage as part of a pilot program to “understand the demand for electric cars” in Palo Alto, city sustainability official Debra van Duynhoven said.

Better Place, a Palo-Alto-based electric-car services company, also received a grant, as did Santa Clara, San Francisco, Alameda and Sonoma counties and the city of Santa Rosa, according to a press release from the district.

“We really want to make it easier for the public to switch to clean electric vehicles, and charging stations will make it easier,” Bay Area Air Quality Management District representative Jennifer Jones said.

The $428,240 in grants will fund 226 charging stations. The district is still accepting grant applications and will likely award another $1.5 million before the program, which began in October, ends, Jones said.

It will take more than the district’s $12,000 to fully fund Palo Alto’s plan to install charging stations. The city has also applied for $35,000 from the California Energy Commission, Karl van Orsdol, the city’s energy risk manager, said. Van Orsdol said the city could learn the results of that grant application by April.

Palo Alto applied for the California Energy Com-

mission grant as part of a joint effort with 15 other cities and counties to install 425 charging stations across the Peninsula. Van Orsdol said that the districts hope to create an “EV (electric vehicle) corridor” in which electric-car owners can travel.

The charging stations will also help determine “the impact of electric vehicles on the city’s electricity distribution system,” van Orsdol said. The city will study how often and at what times the stations are used, how much the electricity will cost and how the stations would be affected by potential terrorist attack.

The stations will be open to the public but could require a usage fee, van Orsdol said. N — Martin Sanchez

Paly students head to Science Bowl Five Palo Alto High School students will fly to Washington, D.C., next month to compete in the national championships of the Science Bowl, a Jeopardy-style academic competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The students — Kevin Hu, Albert Lin, Rui Shu, Lynnelle Ye and Michael Yuan — claimed the Bay Area Science Bowl title last Saturday, beating out 23 teams from 18 high schools to win the all-expensepaid trip.

In the Washington, D.C., competition April 29 to May 4, the Paly students will face off against 67 other high school teams from across the country.

The Paly Science Olympiad, known as SciOly, is a club of about 30 students who participate in various science competitions, mainly focused around the Science Olympiad, a nonprofit organization that organizes national K-12 science tournaments and noncompetitive events.

The Science Bowl that the students will attend in Washington is a separate, government-sponsored competition.

The Science Bowl tests students’ knowledge in all areas of science, according to the DOE website.

“High school and middle school students are quizzed in a fast-paced, question-and-answer format similar to Jeopardy.

“Competing teams from diverse backgrounds are comprised of four students, one alternate, and a teacher who serves as advisor and coach.”

Paly’s prize was a model klystron, a kind of vacuum tube, currently on display in the Paly Science Department lunchroom.

“Please disregard the ‘radiation area’ warning on the trophy,” Leonard said. “It is neither radioactive nor functional.” N — Chris Kenrick

Stiffer fines for cell-phone violators State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) new “distracted-driving” bill would increase penalties for improper cell-phone use and extend the hands-free, no-texting laws to bicyclists.

Senate Bill 1475 would increase penalties from Simitian’s first hands-free law from $20 to $50, and for a subsequent offense from $50 to $100. It would increase the fine for texting while driving from $20 to $100. A violation would also add a point to the driver’s record.

A portion of the increased revenue would provide for a public-awareness program.

A twist to the new bill is that the existing hands-free and no-texting laws would apply to bicyclists as well as motorists.

Simitian said in a press release that there are definite links between cell-phone use and accidents, injuries and deaths, according to data from the California Highway Patrol.

“Early this year, the National Safety Council released a report indicating that 28 percent of automobile accidents in the United States involve talking or texting on a cell phone,” Simitian said.

“And a nationwide study conducted in 2009 by AAA indicated that 97.7 percent of Americans believed texting or e-mailing while driving was a serious threat to their personal safety.

“The good news is that recently released collision and fatality data from the California Highway Patrol confirms that California’s streets and highways are safer following the implementation of California’s ‘hands-free’ cell-phone law,” Simitian said.

CHP Capt. Avery Browne said anything that diverts a driver’s attention from the roadway, even for two seconds, could result in a tragedy. N — Mike Lata

Upfront COMMUNITY

Palo Alto revamps Taser policy Police department tightens standards for Taser deployment

P

alo Alto police officers will no longer be allowed to fire Tasers unless the person they use it against poses an immediate physical threat, police officials told the Weekly this week.

The department has just finished revising its policy for Taser use, Police Chief Dennis Burns said.

The revisions, which were several months in the making, establish stricter standards for when officers are allowed to use Tasers.

The department’s current policy, which was adopted in 2007, relies on the vague “reasonableness” standard and allows officers to use only the force that “reasonably appears necessary, given the facts and circumstances perceived by the officer at the time of the event, to bring an incident under control.”

But a recent court ruling and several controversial incidents on Taser use in Palo Alto prompted the department to raise the standards and clarify the policy.

The new policy specifies, “Absent exigent circumstances, the TASER X26 should only be used against persons who pose an immediate threat of bodily injuries.”

The revised policy will be presented to the City Council in the coming weeks, police said.

Palo Alto police began using Tasers almost two-and-a-half years ago and have used or attempted to use them on 12 different suspects over that time period, according to a new report from Independent Police Auditor Michael Gennaco.

by Gennady Sheyner Most of these cases involved unruly and uncooperative suspects who attacked officers or refused to leave their vehicles. But Gennaco’s newest report, released Wednesday night, also describes one case in which a Palo Alto officer mistakenly applied a Taser against an intoxicated man near a local nightclub. According to the report, the man had been trying to punch the bouncer at the nightclub when officers arrived and asked him to back away.

The man was allegedly swaying in place and mumbling, “What’s the problem?” when an officer trained his Taser on him, the report states.

The man allegedly moved his hands to his chest area, at which time the officer deployed the Taser.

The man fell to the ground and “failed to put his hands behind his back as ordered.” The officer then deployed the Taser in “stun drive” mode against the man’s leg, according to the report. The man was then taken to the hospital, received a medical check-up and was released for booking into jail, the report states.

Gennaco, who reviews every case of Taser deployment, said his review prompted him to conclude that this use of Taser “was a mistaken application of the current PAPD policy to the factual situation.” After reviewing the reports and video footage of the incident, Gennaco said he believed that the man was “simply gesturing to his own chest while referring to his own experiences in the narrative” when he was shot with a Taser.

The second use of Taser was also questionable, Gennaco wrote, because it was “unclear whether the man had time to comply with commands after his fall to the ground.”

Gennaco recommended that the officer who fired the Taser receive more training on Taser deployment and “debriefed on his failure to give warnings in this case.” The officer should also be warned that future questionable Taser uses would likely lead to a formal internal-affairs investigation and possible disciplinary action.

Gennaco has been working with the police department to clarify its Taser policy. The department also considered last December’s ruling by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals against a Coronado, Calif., police officer who fired a Taser at a man after pulling him over for not wearing a seatbelt.

The court concluded that stunning a subject with a Taser is only justified when a suspect poses “an immediate threat to the officer or a member of the public.”

Burns said the department had been in the process of revising the policy even before the federal court issued its ruling. He said he hopes the new guidelines will reduce instances of misapplied Taser use and clarify the standards for deployment.

“We want to give the officers more defined guidelines about where Taser use is appropriate,” Burns said. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

Online This Week

Menlo Park bans smoking in public

These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news or click on “News” in the left, green column.

March 3 at 11:43 a.m.)

‘Hazmat’ concern shuts down VA A mysterious substance brought to the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital Tuesday night caused Palo Alto fire officials to close portions of the hospital while fire crews checked out the “possible hazardous material.” It wasn’t. (Posted March 4 at 8:19 a.m.)

Copper-wire theft darkens Shoreline Mountain View police are investigating the theft of copper wire from the light poles in the parking lot of Shoreline Amphitheatre over the weekend. The wire had a value of about $1,000, but repairs will cost about $30,000, police estimated. (Posted March 3 at 11:50 p.m.)

Trial in ‘downtown murder’ begins The trial of Otto Emil Koloto for the killing of a South San Francisco man next to the Palo Alto police station began Wednesday morning in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose with two days of technical motions and jury selection. (Posted March 3 at 5:30 p.m.)

3.2 earthquake hits east of Milpitas The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting that an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.2 struck Wednesday afternoon in Santa Clara County.

(Posted March 3 at 1:11 p.m.)

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Menlo Park’s City Council at its March 2 meeting passed an ordinance banning smoking in public places, including ATM lines and parking lots. (Posted

College enrollment suffers California’s community colleges saw a drop in enrollment for the 2009-10 school year, but not due to lack of demand, according to the head of the state’s community college system. (Posted March 3 at 8:24 a.m.)

Property crimes in Menlo Park up Thieves got away with almost $53,000 in stolen goods in some 19 property crimes in Atherton and Menlo Park over the week that started Friday, Feb 19, according to police logs for both communities. (Posted March 2 at 2:47 p.m.)

Fire causes $100,000 in damages A fire at the Classic Residence by Hyatt on Sand Hill Road temporarily displaced 80 residents early Sunday morning and caused more than $100,000 in damages, the Palo Alto fire department announced Monday. (Posted March 2 at 9:31 a.m.)

County program to help with health care Some uninsured low-wage workers in Santa Clara County can now enroll in a new program offering inexpensive health care coverage for small businesses that otherwise can’t afford health insurance for their employees. (Posted March 2 at 8:38 a.m.)

LET’S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines and talk about the issues at Town Square at www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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High-speed rail (continued from page 3)

the report.

Palo Alto officials have repeatedly pressed the rail authority in recent months to release more information about the project and its impacts on the Peninsula. Last week, members of the council’s High-Speed Rail Committee expressed frustration at the committee’s inability to get detailed right-of-way maps of the Caltrain corridor, where the rail authority plans to stretch the new system.

City officials and members of the group Californians Advocating Responsible Rail Design (CAARD) have also peppered the rail authority with questions and concerns about the authority’s alignment preferences, revenue estimates and the cost estimates for the design alternatives for the rail line.

Mayor Pat Burt said Palo Alto will resubmit concerns it included in the amicus brief it filed in support of Atherton, Menlo Park and their coalition partners and will add fresh items to the list.

“There’s a variety of other things we’ve come to understand about shortcomings in the EIR since it was

completed (in 2008),” Burt said.

Nadia Naik, co-founder of CAARD, said the group is particularly interested in the rail authority’s ridership figures and its outreach strategies. The group discovered last month that the authority’s ridership projections were based on models that had not been reviewed by a peer group.

“We hope the information about ridership will be clarified,” Naik said.

She also said she is concerned about the authority’s outreach strategies for the new environmental report.

The council committee had initially planned to use the March 15 meeting to discuss the authority’s “alternatives analysis” — a document analyzing costs and benefits of various design options, including underground tunnels, elevated tracks and trenched trains. But the rail authority announced that document, which was initially scheduled to be completed in December but then rescheduled to March, now will not be released until April.

Meanwhile, state officials have their own list of questions and concerns about the project. The state Legislative Analyst’s Office released a report Tuesday recommending that

legislators acquire more information about the authority’s contracts before approving the agency’s budget request for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

The analyst’s report said the authority’s business plan and status reports offer inadequate details about existing contracts and lack milestones against which progress can be measured.

The authority has requested $203 million for various contracts and $250 million for right-of-way purchases in 2010-11, according to the report. Last October, the authority planned to request $750 million for right-of-way acquisitions. Barker said the authority has since determined that it won’t need that much money for right-of-way in the next fiscal year and reduced its request by $500 million.

“We realized that we’re not there yet and that we won’t need to spend that much at this time,” Barker said.

California voters approved $9.95 billion for the project in November 2008. In January, the project received another $2.25 billion in federal stimulus funding. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

Upfront

CityView A round-up of

Palo Alto government action this week

City Council (March 1)

State of the City: Mayor Pat Burt presented the annual “State of the City” address.

Burt focused on Palo Alto’s budget shortfall and the need to repair the city’s infrastructure.

City Council Finance Committee (March 2)

2010 budget: The committee discussed the 2010 budget and the midyear adjustments to the budget. The committee voted to recommend the staff-proposed adjustments to fiscal year 2010 capital-improvement-program fund as well as general fund and enterprise funds. Yes: Unanimous

Historic Resources Board (March 3)

Roth Building: The board voted to nominate the Roth Building at 300 Homer Ave. to the National Register of Historic Places in Category 2. Yes: Bernstein, Di Cicco, Bower, Kohler, Makinen, Loukianoff Recused: Bunnenberg

City Council and Planning and Transportation Commission (March 3) Comprehensive Plan: The City Council held a joint study session with the Planning and Transportation Commission to discuss the city’s ongoing update to the Comprehensive Plan. Council members and commissioners discussed the city’s projected population growth, Association of Bay Area Governments housing requirements, and the need for greater building setbacks and wider sidewalks on El Camino Real. Action: None

Architectural Review Board (March 4)

2310 El Camino Real: The board reviewed the project at 2310 El Camino Real, a proposal to renovate a restaurant that would be occupied by a Panda Express.

Board members expressed concerns about signage, building colors and the awning at the proposed project. Action: None

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Public Agenda PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL ... The council is scheduled to hold a study session on composting and hear a presentation about possible regional composting opportunities; to consider doing a study to evaluate the impacts of prevailing wage; to discuss a colleagues’ memo to release citymanager reports at an earlier date; and to consider a colleagues’ memo proposing to create an Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, March 8, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

PALO ALTO AIRPORT JOINT COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMITTEE ...

The committee is scheduled to discuss the Feb. 17 plane crash in East Palo Alto and the 2009 summary of noise complaints. The meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. on Tuesday, March 9, in the West Valley Flying Club (1901 Embarcadero Road, Suite 100).

PALO ALTO BOARD OF EDUCATION ... The board will hear a presentation on the school district’s elementary science curriculum and be asked to approve an “interim report” on the status of the district’s budget. The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9, in the boardroom of school district headquarters (25 Churchill Ave.).

POLICY AND SERVICES COMMITTEE ... The committee is scheduled to discuss a colleagues’ memo proposing to create an Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission, and to discuss the City Council priorities work plan.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

UTILITIES ADVISORY COMMISSION ... The commission is scheduled to discuss the city’s 10-year Electric Energy Efficiency Plan, hear a status report from its ad hoc subcommittee on Innovation and Technology, and to discuss long-term financial projections for the water and wastewater funds. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ... The commission is scheduled to discuss its annual report to the City Council, and to consider maximum house sizes and basement limitations in the openspace district. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

HIGH-SPEED RAIL COMMITTEE ... The committee is scheduled to consider a memorandum of understanding with the High Speed Rail Authority and the Peninsula Cities Consortium; to hear reports from Palo Alto public works and utilities officials; and to discuss filing Freedom of Information requests. The meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 11, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION ... The commission is scheduled to discuss a resolution opposing the death penalty; ways to support Palo Alto youth and teens; and efforts by the Department of Community Services to better serve diverse communities. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 11, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

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Transitions

Deaths

Mary Neumeyer Mary Victoria Neumeyer, 88, a longtime Portola Valley resident, died Feb. 14.

She was born in Ferndale, Mich.

She had six younger brothers she helped raise after her mother died at a very early age. She was very athletic and participated in gymnastics, volleyball, softball and basketball through high school. She studied design at Wayne State University in Detroit. At age 21 she met her future husband, Walter Neumeyer, while both were employed at Ethyl Corporation in Detroit. They married the following year before he enlisted for service in WWII. While her husband served in the engineering corps in Europe, Mary and her new

mother-in-law drove to California.

She worked in Los Angeles at May & Co., and then in the accounting department of Moore Business Forms in Emeryville until her husband returned from the war.

After the birth of two daughters, the family moved to Juneau, Alaska, for two years. Then they spent four years in Connecticut while Walter completed an engineering degree. The family relocated to Portola Valley in 1955 after the birth of their son.

She became active in the PTA, the Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts of America, the Ladera Community Church and United Church Women.

She and her children were instrumental in assisting Hedy Boissevain for two years at the inception of the Country Almanac. She lost her husband in 1980 to a short illness. She then traveled every year

-!29 "584/. "2/7. ,!72%.#% Mary Lawrence, 86, a resident of the Sequoias in Portola Valley passed away Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010 following a brief struggle with lung cancer.

She was born July 30, 1923 in Bristol, Rhode Island, the youngest of four children of Aylsworth Brown and Blanch Buxton Brown. Her father, a lawyer, was the son of a Federal Judge, Arthur Lewis Brown, from Providence.

Her mother was the daughter of the founders of the Buxton Billfold company, known for the “keytainer� key case.

Mary graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1935 with a degree in Zoology and went on to a career as a research scientist. After several research positions in the east coast, Mary was hired from Yale Medical School by Dr. Henry S. Kaplan to assist him in creating a new Department of Radiology for Stanford University Medical School, first in San Francisco and later on the campus in Palo Alto. The department made important discoveries in the treatment of various cancers using radiation. Among other duties, Mary was responsible for the care of a unique strain of mice from Yale that were used to develop treatments for Hodgkin’s disease and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In June of 1965 she married Douglas H. Lawrence, a Stanford Psychology Professor (deceased in 1999).

Besides Doug, one of Mary’s greatest loves was Prudence Island, located in the middle of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. It is only accessible by ferry.

She spent most summers on the Island when she was growing up. In 1970 Doug and Mary took over the Brown summer house. Since then they spent every summer on the island entertaining friends and family and participating in island life. She has been a board member of the Prudence Conservancy since 1988, playing a pivotal role in helping the Conservancy communicate with donors contemplating land donations. She also served on the Prudence Historical Society.

All her life, Mary was well known for hosting parties, particularly an annual Christmas party at their Stanford CA home and a July 4th party for Island residents. One of her final requests was to be remembered at such a gathering for July 4, 2010.

One of Mary’s many interests was photography. She operated her own darkroom in the days of film, and transitioned to digital photography when that technology replaced film. She found and restored a collection of early photographs of Prudence Island. One of her longtime volunteer jobs was serving as a Photo Specialist for the Stanford University Library Archives.

She also had a great love of sailing, swimming, golf and computers. She enjoyed excellent health until very recently, swimming daily in the ocean in front of her Prudence house each summer. She is remembered by her many friends and family for her delightful wit and her profound wisdom and downto-earth ways. She could be quite outspoken, as well as genuinely caring.

She is survived by her two sisters, Julia B. Morrow and Hope B. Brown.

Memorial service will be held at Christ Church in Portola Valley on Wednesday, March 10 at 2:00 pm. Memorial contributions may be made to the Prudence Conservancy, PO Box 115, Prudence Island, RI 02872.

PA I D

O B I T UA RY

to visit friends and relatives around the states, including Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. She made special time to be with her grandchildren while they grew up on a cattle ranch in Volcano, Hawaii.

Her friends and family enjoyed her cheerful disposition and concern for and willingness to help others.

She is survived by two brothers, Dexter Thor of Lake Orion, Mich., and Alan Thor of Fenton, Missouri; her children Terri Neumeyer and Walter Neumeyer of Portola Valley, and Lina (husband Ken) Dillingham of Glenns Ferry, Idaho; three grandchildren; and one great granddaughter.

A memorial service will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 1105 Valparaiso Ave., Menlo Park, Saturday, March 6, at 1 p.m.

Answers to this week’s puzzles, which can be found on page 59

7 1 9 5 8 4 2 3 6

2 6 3 1 9 7 8 5 4

4 8 5 6 3 2 9 1 7

5 2 8 7 1 6 4 9 3

9 7 6 8 4 3 1 2 5

3 4 1 9 2 5 6 7 8

1 9 7 4 5 8 3 6 2

8 5 2 3 6 9 7 4 1

6 3 4 2 7 1 5 8 9

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$2 %5'%.% #!2, 3!.$"%2' Eugene Sandberg, a long time resident of Palo Alto and Ladera passed away in Foster City on February 13th, he was 86. Eugene was born to Carl and Hazel Sandberg of Ashtabula Ohio on January 4th 1924.

A ďŹ rm believer in education Eugene attended Ohio State, University of Oregon, and UC Berkeley from 1942-1945 where he earned his Bachelor of Science. He then went on to get his doctorate from UC Berkeley and the University of San Francisco ďŹ nishing in 1948.

He did a one-year internship in San Francisco before going to Vanderbilt to do his residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1951. Eugene left to serve his country in the Korean War from 1951 to 1953 where he was stationed at the United States Army Hospital in Honshu Japan. After returning from the war he went back to Vanderbilt to ďŹ nish his residency training and completed in 1955.

Eugene's medical career was at Stanford University starting in 1955 and retiring in 1987.

During that time he served as an Instructor, Associate professor and Chairman in addition to his medical duties at the hospital. From 1987 till his death he was acting as an Associate Professor Emeritus.

Eugene was a man with a long list of academic and medical achievements. His many talents, interests and hobbies were remarkable. His energy was endless and his enthusiasm for life, boundless. He will be greatly missed by those who knew and loved him.

One of Gene’s proudest moments was receiving the honor as an Inductee to the Space Technology Hall

of Fame, by the United States Space Foundation and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

He was part of the NASA Ames Human Research Institutional review board from 1996 until death.

Eugene had a deep love for the written word and spent his lifetime writing books, articles and making many literary contributions. He loved reading so much that he was a regular volunteer for the reading for the blind organization.

He also loved playing the banjo and was an active participant and member of both the Happy Time Banjo’s and The Peninsula Bay Banjo Band.

He looked forward to the Banjo Jubilee held every Labor Day Weekend and many other trips with his friends from the banjo bands.

His daughter Kristin Hansen, her husband Ken and their two children Matthew and Megan survive Eugene. He is also survived by his son Kirk Sandberg and his children Autumn and Ethan.

A memorial service for anyone who would like to attend will be held on March 8th at 2pm in the afternoon at the Unity Church of Palo Alto. Address is 3391 MiddleďŹ eld Road.

In keeping with Eugene’s love for education as well as enjoying his grandson’s accomplishments in golf, an academic scholarship in his name has been established through the Junior Golf Association of Northern California. The organization can be viewed at www.jganc.com. This organization awards scholarships to high school students that participate in golf, based on character, community service and the desire to obtain a degree from a 4-year university.

In lieu of owers, the family requests that donations in his name to the JGANC for the Eugene Sandberg Academic Scholarship. Checks can be mailed to JGANC 700 Center Ct. Morro Bay California 93442.

Arrangements entrusted to Roller Hapgood & Tinney Funeral Home in Palo Alto, CA. www. rollerhapgoodtinney.com PA I D

O B I T UA RY

*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠ >Ă€VÂ…ĂŠx]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 11

Pulse

LUCKY DAY!

A weekly compendium of vital statistics

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GUIDE TO 2010 SUMMER C AMPS FOR KIDS

n n o e C c p t i o m n a C For more information about these camps, see our online directory of camps at PaloAltoOnline.com/biz/summercamps To advertise in a weekly directory, contact 650-326-8210

Nueva Summer

Sports Camps

Hillsborough

Spring Down camp teaches basic to advanced horsemanship skills. All ages welcome.

Daily informative lecture, riding lesson, supervised hands-on skill practice, tacking/untacking of own camp horse, and fun horse arts and crafts. www.springdown.com 650.851.1114

Nueva Summer offers unique and enriching summer camps for students entering PreK - 8th Grade. June 21 - July 30. We have camps that will inspire every age: from Marine Biology to Tinkering, and Model UN to West African Drumming. Half or full day camps, from one to six weeks. Healthy lunch is provided for full day campers.

Extended care available. www.NuevaSummer.org 650-350-4555

Champion Tennis Camps

Summer Institute for the Gifted

Spring Down Camp Equestrian Center

Portola Valley

Atherton

CTC provides an enjoyable way for your Junior to begin learning the game of tennis or to continue developing existing skills. The 4-6 year olds have fun learning eye-hand coordination and building self-esteem! www.alanmargot-tennis.net 650-752-0540

SOLO Aquatics

Menlo Park

Berkeley/Hillsborough

Gifted students in grades K-12 can participate on the renowned Summer Institute for the Gifted (SIG) program. Hosted at some of the most famous colleges and universities in the U.S., SIG combines both traditional summer fun and a challenging academic schedule. Day programs are available for younger students. www.giftedstudy.org 866-303-4744

Two great programs — SOLO Day Camp: One-week sessions of 5 full days (9:00 – 4:00) featuring instruction in swimming and fun activities; lunch included. SOLO Sharks Program: Spring/Summer weekly afternoon swim clinics for all ages and abilities. www.soloaquatics.com 650-851-9091

The Girls’ Middle School Summer Camp

YMCA

Oshman Family JCC Camps

Peninsula

Mountain View

New from GMS - Day camp for girls entering grades 4-7. Explorations in Science, Technology, and the Arts in the morning, Moving and Making, includes sports and games, swimming, arts and crafts, in the afternoon. www.girlsms.org/summercamp 650-968-8338

Palo Alto

Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Redwood City day and overnight camps for youth Pre-K through 10th grade. Enriching lives through safe, fun activities. Sports, arts, technology, science, and more. Field trips and outdoor fun. Accredited by the American Camp Association. www.ymcasv.org/summercamp.com 408-351-6400

The Oshman Family JCC offers outstanding camps for preschoolers through teens.

With both traditional camps and special focus camps like sports, travel, performing arts and more, our innovative staff will keep campers entertained all summer! www.paloaltojcc.org 650-223-8600

Matt Lottich Life Skills

Academic enrichment infused with traditional summer camp fun—that’s what your child will experience at Camp Socrates. Sessions begin on June 28 and end on August 13 with the option for students to attend for all seven weeks or the first four weeks (June 28-July 23). Full or half-time morning or afternoon program are available to fit your schedule. 12 locations. www. stratfordschools.com 650-493-1151

Woodside

At Matt Lottich Life Skills, all of our camps focus on giving high-level basketball instruction while highlighting the life skills that this sport reflects. Grades 2-11, two camp styles — Day and Elite Camps. www.mllscamp.com 1-888-537-3223

Academic Camps iD Tech Camps and iD Teen Academies

Stanford

Experience North America’s #1 Tech Camp — 4 Bay Area Locations! Ages 7-18 create video games, websites, movies, iPhone® & Facebook® apps, robots and more during this weeklong, day and overnight summer tech program. Teen Programs also available at Stanford. Save w/code CAU22. www.iDTechCamps.com 1-888-709-TECH (8324)

Summer @ Harker

San Jose

K-Gr. 8 Morning academics – focusing on math, language arts and science – and full spectrum of afternoon recreation. Highly qualified faculty and staff. Also: swim lessons; swimming, tennis and soccer camps; academics for high school students. www.summer.harker.org 408-553-0537

Summer at Saint Francis

Mountain View

Summer at Saint Francis provides a broad range of academic and athletic programs for elementary through high school students. It is the goal of every program to make summer vacation enriching and enjoyable! www.sfhs.com/summer 650-968-1213 x446

Woodland School Summer Adventures

Portola Valley

For kindergarten through 8th grade. Offers academics, sports, field trips and onsite activities. June 28 - July 30. www.info@woodland-school.org 650-854-9065

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Stratford School - Camp Socrates

Write Now! Summer Writing Camps

Bay Area

Palo Alto/Pleasanton

Emerson School of Palo Alto and Hacienda School of Pleasanton open their doors and offer their innovative programs: Expository Writing, Creative Writing, Presentation Techniques, and (new!) Media Production. Call or visit our website for details. www.headsup.org 650-424-1267, 925-485-5750

TechKnowHow Computer & LEGO® Camps

Peninsula

Fun and enriching technology classes for students, ages 6-14! Courses include LEGO and K’NEX Projects with Motors, Robotics, and Game Design. Many locations, including Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Sunnyvale. Half and all day options. www.techknowhowkids.com 650-474-0400

ISTP Language Immersion

Palo Alto

International School of the Peninsula camps offered in French, Chinese, Spanish or ESL for students in Nursery through Middle School. Three 2-week sessions, each with different theme. Students are grouped according to both grade level and language proficiency. www.istp.org 650-251-8519

Theatreworks Summer Camps

Palo Alto

In these skill-building workshops for grades K–5, students engage in languagebased activities, movement, music, and improvisational theatre games. Students present their own original pieces at the end of each two-week camp. www.theatreworks.org/educationcommunity 650-463-7146

Violence related Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Strong-arm robbery attempt. . . . . . . . . .1 Theft related Burglary attempt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Check forgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Commercial burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Residential burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Shoplifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle related Auto burglary attempt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Auto theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Suspended license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle accident/major injury . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .5 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Under influence of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Miscellaneous Bomb disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Casualty fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Misc. penal code violation . . . . . . . . . . .1 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Municipal code violation . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Noise ordinance violation . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Psych. subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Resisting arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Menlo Park Feb. 24-March 2 Violence related Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Theft related Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Residential burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Shoplift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle related Abandoned vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Auto theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Driving w/ suspended license. . . . . . . . .7 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Lost/stolen plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Recovered vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Vehicle accident/prop damage. . . . . . . .1 Alcohol and drug related Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Drug activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Miscellaneous Gang validations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Graffiti abatement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Info. case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Mental evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Resist arrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Sex registraint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Shots fired . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

VIOLENT CRIMES Palo Alto 1000 Block East Meadow Circle, 2/24/10, 9:47 a.m.; battery/simple.

South Court, 2/24/10, 1:00 p.m.; domestic violence.

Menlo Park 500 block of Glenwood Avenue, 3/01/10, 11:19 p.m.; battery.

900 block of Roble Avenue, 2/26/10, 7:11 a.m.; battery.

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*> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ >ÀV Êx]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 13

Editorial

Unacceptable lapse in blackout information Palo Alto failed to inform community about major power outage Sunday night, raising longstanding questions about readiness for serious emergencies

W

hen lights and televisions went dark Sunday evening about 8:30 p.m. in large sections of Palo Alto, residents understandably wanted to know what was happening and when power might be restored.

They got no answer from the City of Palo Alto or its Utilities Department.

The Weekly and other news organizations tried in vain for hours to get answers to even basic questions, but couldn’t get through to anyone. City dispatchers only would give out a Light & Power phone number that was either busy or kicked the caller back to a stale dispatch recording giving vague information.

Residents finally started informing each other about the blackout, using cell phones and the Weekly’s Town Square forum.

This is not the first such “information blackout.” A core problem is that police, fire and utilities persons designated as public information officers, or PIOs, have a primary duty of dealing with the situation at hand. They either don’t have time or simply forget to tell residents and the media what is going on.

The city did well in keeping the public informed during the 10hour citywide outage caused by the tragic plane crash Feb. 17, and earlier when a severe storm was expected to hit the Palo Alto area hard. But the plane crash occurred at the beginning of a regular workday, and the storm was expected.

It is after-hours and weekend incidents that confound the city the most, when people are called back to work to respond to a crisis or emergency — and are least likely to think about the public-information aspect of their jobs. This constitutes a failure in training and supervision, and backup.

Almost precisely a year ago a wayward duck caused a huge predawn outage in south Palo Alto when it ran into a high-voltage line, and nearly three weeks later another outage left 1,500 homes without power. In neither case was the city able to provide timely information, despite a high-tech telephone-alert system and many digital-age communications channels such as Twitter, Facebook, the city’s website and the Weekly’s community website (www.

PaloAltoOnline.com), and radio or TV news.

City Utilities Director Valerie Fong Tuesday apologized for the lapse in information this time and said in such cases she will pull in a second PIO person to handle communications, freeing the primary on-duty person to find and fix the problem. City officials also are working on restructuring the city’s disparate emergencypreparedness programs into a more cohesive network, which should also improve communications.

In March 2009, after the two big outages, the Weekly editorialized: “As the Weekly has asked repeatedly for years: If the city can’t get information out in a timely manner on localized situations, what will happen when (not if) there’s a truly major event or catastrophe, when lives may be at stake? Such repeated communication failures seriously undermine community efforts to prepare for major emergencies.”

City officials said then they were working on an improvement plan. It undermines public confidence that a year later no such plan is in place, and that the community once again literally and figuratively was left in the dark.

A businesslike, sobering ‘State of the City’ report

I

n a businesslike and sobering report to the community, Mayor Pat Burt warned Monday night that Palo Alto will face a worsening budget shortfall for several years — meaning cuts in city services and staff retirement benefits.

He also discussed the five city priorities for the year, each of which faces substantial challenges: city finances, infrastructure needs, well-being of youth, the environment, and land-use/ transportation. The latter means considering the massive expansion and rebuilding plan for Stanford Medical Center and hospitals and confronting plans for a Peninsula high-speed-rail connection through town.

Burt outlined several successes, such as attracting three new hotels, a financial boon to the city, and cutting back on city staff positions. Burt, fighting a sore-throat, still delivered his comments smoothly, outlining a solid action plan for the city for 2010.

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Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions

Park vs. ‘footprint’ Editor, The Feb.17 power outage was a stark reminder that our reliance on imported electricity comes at a cost.

When the grid goes down, we are vulnerable.

Fortunately, Palo Alto has an incredible opportunity to generate 1.6 megawatts of electricity (enough to power 1,400 homes) within the city limits through a process called “anaerobic digestion.” This technology could convert our 60,000 tons of organic waste (food and yard spoils and sewage sludge) into biogas and compost, and allow us to retire our sewage sludge incinerator, which uses $800,000 worth of energy per year and creates a hazardous waste ash (the copper content is too high) that costs $234,000 per year to dispose of.

Anaerobic digestion has the potential to reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions by 25,000 tons per year — 5 percent of our community-wide emissions. It would generate $1.4 million per year in energy sales and $588,000 in high-grade compost.

During these tough economic times, converting our waste to resources makes great sense.

Opponents of this plan argue that it would interfere with the plan to convert our dump into Byxbee Park.

However, the facility would require only eight acres of the 126-acre site, and could be built with a “green” roof that makes it virtually invisible from the park.

Undedicating future parkland (aka the dump) would require a vote of the people, so this would be an opportunity for residents to say, “Yes, we want to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint while generating badly needed revenue and preparing our city for future emergencies.”

The City Council will consider this issue at a study session on Monday, March 8.

Peter Drekmeier Fulton Street Palo Alto

Landfill use Editor, The whole issue of the usage, or not, of our landfill seems to me full of contradictions. That land has been planned as “open space” and part of the contiguous Byxbee Park. Therefore, some people have fought the notion of continuing to have our recycling center there, or anything besides open space.

It seems to me that sustainability measures go hand in hand with open space and can be mutually supportive, and of course supportive of our community and potentially to others as well.

I would like to see the City Council open up again for discussion the uses of our baylands, specifically our current landfill and recycling center, in view of recent studies and available

technology and the long-range good of our community and the planet.

Elisabeth Seaman St. Francis Drive Palo Alto

Green solutions Editor, Last week, the Palo Alto Weekly applauded artificial turf as a “green solution.” Fake grass certainly looks green and saves on water bills, but what are the environmental costs of making the switch?

When sod, dirt, and rock are scraped off to prepare the yard for artificial turf, as a gardener I wonder, “What was living there?”

I’ve learned that the soil beneath our feet, although it does not look alive, is actually teeming with biotic life. Invisible to the eye, billions of underground creatures play a major role in supporting all life.

The artificial turf “green solution” causes a buildup of heat around and under the lawn and promotes the use of herbicides to treat perimeter weeds, practices that not only destroy the biotic life in the soil but also create a hostile environment for wildlife, banishing the beneficial insects and pollinators that we need so desper-

ately to support plants, birds, and other wildlife.

Many gardeners are recognizing that the Bay Area is a summer-dry Mediterranean climate, not a region blessed with year-round rain. We have available many beautiful, water-wise, and soil-friendly alternatives to lawns — whether real or artificial.

A wonderful resource for anyone struggling with the thirsty-lawn dilemma is the California Native Plant Society’s Going Native Garden Tour, a free event that takes place throughout the Peninsula on Sunday, April 18. For more information and to register (required), go to goingnativegardentour.org.

Over time I have adjusted my own aesthetic sense to see the beauty in seasonal changes and imperfection — the budding, the flowering and the dying.

My wish for the Bay Area is that 2010 becomes the year that real green solutions overtake our yards to honor and support all of life. Imagine beautiful native and Mediterranean and food plants replacing static artificial carpets of green plastic.

Romola Georgia Tippawingo Drive Palo Alto

YOUR TURN The Palo Alto Weekly encourages comments on our coverage or on issues of local interest.

What do you think? Will you support ‘Google Open Fiber’ bid – and tell Google?

Submit letters to the editor of up to 250 words to letters@paweekly.com.

Include your name, address and daytime phone number so we can reach you.

We reserve the right to edit contributions for length, objectionable content, libel and factual errors known to us. Anonymous letters will generally not be accepted.

You can also participate in our popular interactive online forum, Town Square, at our community website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Read blogs, discuss issues, ask questions or express opinions with you neighbors any time, day or night.

Submitting a letter to the editor or guest opinion constitutes a granting of permission to the Palo Alto Weekly and Embarcadero Publishing Co. to also publish it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square.

For more information contact Editor Jay Thorwaldson or Online Editor Tyler Hanley at editor@paweekly.com or 650-326-8210.

Check out Town Square!

Hundreds of local topics are being discussed by local residents on Town Square, a reader forum sponsored by the Weekly on our community website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Post your own comments, ask questions, read the Editor’s blog or just stay up on what people are talking about around town!

Guest Opinion How you can help Palo Alto win Google Open Fiber

by Bob Harrington alo Alto needs your help now to land a ‘game changing’ offer.

Palo Alto has a special opportunity to bring even more benefits to our community — and the world — thanks to an innovative offer to selected cities from Google. Should we be selected it could represent a $50 million investment in Palo Alto by Google. That translates into about $2,000 for every premise in town.

Google seems willing to invest millions to develop “Google Open Fiber” test networks in selected cities delivering 1 gigabit-per-second speed to every place in town. That is 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today.

Rock solid reliability, super low prices, choice, speed, competition — that’s what Google Open Fiber may offer.† Google will select the community or communities they want to work with based on the nominations they receive.

Google is accepting nominations from cities — a compelling submission will be made by the City of Palo Alto.

Google is also accepting nominations from citizens and community groups who want Google Open Fiber for their community.

Here’s where you come in: every citizen is needed — that means you — to help Palo Alto win.

Here’s how: Residents, businesses, employees; volunteers, students and every community group in Palo Alto should simply click

P

a Google button nominating Palo Alto. Then write, “I want Google Open Fiber for Palo Alto.” Add reasons why you think Palo Alto should be selected by Google — lower prices, blazing speed, rock-solid reliability, choice, competition, builds community, uses not yet known. Finally, click “send nomination.” The Google button is: http://www.google.com/ appserve/fiberrfi/public/options , Submissions may be made until March 26.

Palo Alto has a tremendous history of being an international leader when it comes to creating new technologies. Many of our innovations and great ideas come from the people who live and work in our city.

There are few other places in our nation, or the world for that matter, where you can find a garage that was christened a historic monument because it was the birthplace, not just of Hewlett Packard, but the very spirit that created Silicon Valley itself.

Today, that spirit is not only alive, it thrives in Palo Alto. Our citizens continue to create — from our homes, garages, offices and businesses — new and innovative breakthroughs for the world in technology, health care, medicine, business and the environment. Think nanotech, biotech, cleantech.

There are tremendous benefits for us — and for Google — when Palo Alto is selected. For Palo Alto, it will help our city continue to be a leader in Silicon Valley innovation and technology. For Google, the company gets the best and brightest of Palo Alto to bring new, bold entrepreneurial ideas to create new worldchanging technologies.

Ask yourself: Would I like a Google public/ private partnership to, in effect, invest $2,000 in my place as well as in every premise in every neighborhood in our community, plus hook-up

every business, school, non-profit, faith-based organization (you get the idea) as well?

When you study it closely, as I have, deciding to support Palo Alto for Google Open Fiber becomes the biggest no-brainer in history.

Risk to our city approaches zero. Yet our entire community will benefit from open fiber from day one.

Here are the benefits for all of us.

Everyone wins with lower prices. Tantalizingly low prices are likely to entice you to sign-up quickly. But here’s the real payoff for everyone. Whether you voluntarily subscribe to a fiber service or not, everyone in the market served by Google Open Fiber will likely be offered†lower prices, not just from Google but also from the incumbent service providers.

Like 25 percent lower for starters.† Google wins, too. Should Google select Palo Alto for its open fiber program, it will be getting the most technologically friendly and entrepreneurial-minded city on the planet to be their partner. The City of Palo Alto will work hand in hand with Google to ensure that its open fiber program gets up and running efficiently and fast with the full support of the city staff and residents.

Open means open to all comers. Fiber means virtually unlimited capacity. Coupling them with 1 gigabit speed creates an awesome competitive environment.

Choice. Google, the number-one brand in the world, is likely to attract the finest services to Palo Alto and this world-class test-bed.

Speed. Blazing-fast 1 gigabit symmetric speeds — symmetric means the same speed both ways, download and upload. No throttling of upload speed like the incumbents. Everyone can send giant files (photos, x-rays, videos , all in full screen HD), host your own website, or

Streetwise

Which movie should win the Academy Award for Best Picture?

whatever is in your wildest dreams.

Video experience. Click any news outlet on the Web today. Video is everywhere. But it is still the size of a postcard. Think back to dial-up, when photos were postage-stamp size.

Google Open Fiber will fill your entire wide screen with HD video, soon HD 3D video.

Innovation brings positive surprises and world-class services. Example: The world today relies on an 11-year-old for much of its news and information. Google has yet to celebrate its 12th birthday, Facebook is just 6, YouTube 5. Each one a ‘Wow’ experience, each one growing here.

We are on a roll. Let’s keep our innovation ball rolling by adding a powerful new tool, Google Open Fiber.

As you can see, I am personally excited and talking to my friends about this opportunity for Palo Alto. I hope you do, too. Please join the City of Palo Alto, its elected leaders, me and many other civic leaders, schools, students, non-profits, entrepreneurs, the young, the old, and the bold-minded in supporting Palo Alto’s selection for the Google Open Fiber project.

Let Google know how important this is to our community now. If you are a citizen or a community group, click on the Google button and nominate Palo Alto at: http://www.google. com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/options .

Let’s keep Palo Alto the enduring symbol of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit.

The deadline is March 26. But please don’t wait until the last minute — act now. N Bob Harrington has been a close follower of discussions about high-speed fiber-optic possibilities for Palo Alto for more than 10 years. He presently is adviser to the mayor on broadband issues. He can be e-mailed at harrington_bob@msn.com.

Asked on California Avenue. Interviews by Martin Sanchez. Photographs by Vivian Wong.

Ed Baker

Jon Iverson

Shelly Pederson

Tim Smudski

Riah Forbes

“’Avatar.’ I thought it was not only a great movie but it had great 3-D effects as well.”

“I would say ‘Avatar’ has got my vote, no question there. It’s just gorgeous!”

“I would say ‘It’s Complicated,’ even though it didn’t get nominated!”

“’Avatar.’ It was amazing — special effects, James Cameron’s return and Sigourney Weaver. I like her.”

“’Avatar.’ I haven’t seen most of the movies and I really liked that one.”

Start-up Founder Wellesley Street, Palo Alto

Mechanic Sevilla Street, Half Moon Bay

Mother Alannah Court, Palo Alto

Chef Delmas Road, San Jose

Student Campus Drive, Stanford

*> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ >ÀV Êx]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 15

Book Talk LOCAL FAME ... Heidi Durrow, whose debut novel, “The Girl Who Fell from the Sky,” won the Bellwether Prize recognizing fiction that addresses issues of social injustice, will be reading from her book on Wednesday, April 7 at 5:30 p.m. at Stanford Bookstore, 519 Lasuen Mall, and on Thursday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Kepler’s, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park. A Stanford University graduate, Durrow went on to earn graduate degrees from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and Yale Law School.

Her book is described as a haunting coming-of-age story set in the 1980s that explores biracial and bicultural identity. Joan Silber, author of “The Size of the World,” calls her “a writer to watch.”

LOCAL AUTHORS ... Upcoming readings by local authors at Kepler’s, Menlo Park, include: Elif Batumen who teaches literature at Stanford, “The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them” (Thursday, March 11, 7:30 p.m.); Stanford medical student Blake Charlton, “Spellwright” (Friday, March 19, 7:30 p.m.); Frances Mayes, former Title Pages editor and author of New York Times bestsellers “Under the Tuscan Sun” and “Bella Tuscany” who now splits her time between Italy and North Carolina, “Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life” (Wednesday, March 24, 7:30 p.m.); and Jack Bowen, Menlo School philosophy teacher and water-polo coach, “If You Can Read This: The Philosophy of Bumper Stickers” (March 25, 7:30 p.m.).

A monthly section on local books and authors,

edited by Sue Dremann

Vivan Wong

THE GREEN HOME ... Bridget Biscotti Bradley, owner of ecohome store Reclaim in Menlo Park and Palo Alto Weekly columnist, has written a Sunset Design Guide — “The Green Home” — that takes home remodelers from assessing green living to choosing flooring, window treatments, countertops and more. Included are passages from local contractors, architects and interior designers with tidbits such as “pay attention to interior color selection because of the impact it has on lighting. More light will be required when it bounces off a dark surface,” from architect Peter Pfeiffer.

Title Pages

WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED

ARE THEY OUT THERE? ... The Commonwealth Club will present Palo Alto resident Seth Shostak, author of “Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence” on Thursday, March 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Menlo Park City Council Chambers, 701 Laurel St., Menlo Park. Shostak will talk about the challenges of detecting alien communications and why the almost 50-year effort has yielded nothing.

Info: Call 1-800-847-7730 or visit www.Commonwealthclub.org/sv. (continued on next page)

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Dr. Abraham Verghese in his quiet Stanford School of Medicine office.

Epic debut novel is a story of love, medicine and intrigue

“Cutting for Stone,” by Abraham Verghese; Alfred A. Knopf, 2009; 541 pp.; $26.95; Vintage Books, 2010; 667 pp.; $15.95

by Carol Blitzer omewhere at Stanford University’s medical school Abraham Verghese, professor of medicine and senior associate chair, has a second, secret office. There’s no name on the door, no telephone — just the subtle clacking of computer keys as he types away on his next project. Or the luxury of silence.

Dr. Verghese had nearly completed his first novel, “Cutting for Stone,” when he was recruited by medical school chief Dr. Ralph Horwitz in 2007 to his dream job: teach at a major medical school with time to write.

A native of India who grew up in Ethiopia, the child of two teachers, Dr. Verghese always wanted to be a doctor. Choices for middle-class Indian children were clear: “doctor, lawyer, engineer or failure,” he said recently at his official office.

“If I’d grown up here, I wonder if I’d been something else,” he said.

But the doctor who wrote a book — actually three — came to medicine because of another book, “Of Human Bondage” by Somerset Maugham, which suggests that “anyone with empathy for the human condition can be a very good physician.”

In Dr. Verghese’s first published book, a memoir called “My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story,” he writes about the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and his experience in rural Tennessee.

Throughout that nonfiction account, his love of medicine is a constant theme — no matter how daunting the circumstances.

Medicine played a large role in his second

S

memoir, “The Tennis Partner: A Story of Friendship and Loss,” a personal account of a fellow doctor’s drug addiction while his own personal life was in shambles.

So it’s no surprise that the key characters in his first novel are all doctors.

Set in Ethiopia, with many characters originally from India, “Cutting for Stone” is an epic novel that spans continents, generations and cultures, spinning the tale of conjoined twins born of an illicit joining of a nun and a British doctor.

It’s an ambitious first novel that took him eight years to complete.

The idea for the book bubbled up from an image of a very beautiful South Indian nun.

“I had an image of her far away from home, giving birth to twins in an operating room. ...

I didn’t really have a plot for the whole story, just a voice and a tone that I was trying to keep pushing forward.

“The result was a lot of dead ends. I would write hundreds of pages in one direction — months and months — only to find that’s not the book,” he said.

At one point he met with his editor and agreed that there were too many options: He had created well-developed characters, but he needed to know what to do with them.

So they hammered out the rest of the story.

“Even then, there were huge surprises in the book. (A character’s) dying I didn’t see coming.

When I am surprised, I’m pretty sure the reader is surprised,” he said.

Dr. Verghese cites John Irving as saying, “If you don’t know the whole story and you’re trying to tell it, you’re not a story teller, you’re just a liar; you’re just making it up as you go along.”

Dr. Verghese, on the other hand, prefers to discover as he writes.

Book Talk

(continued from previous page)

UPCOMING READINGS ... at Books Inc., Town & Country Village, Palo Alto, include: Peter Abaci, “Take Charge of Your Chronic Pain� (March 12, 3 p.m.; and at Kepler’s March 31, 7:30 p.m.); David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth, “What’s Wrong with My Plant� (March 20, 3 p.m.); Peter Nathaniel Malae, “What We Are� (March 26, 7 p.m.); Kristen Horler, “Baby Boot Camp� (March 27, 2 p.m.); and at Books Inc., 301 Castro St., Mountain View, Cara Black, “Murder in the Palais Royal�

(March 8, 7:30 p.m.; and at Kepler’s March 10, 7:30 p.m.); and Shilpi Somaya Gowda, “Secret Daughter,� (March 16, 7:30 p.m.).

“You never know quite what’s going to come out until you sit down.

Writing is a serious act. I write in order to understand what I’m thinking. That’s really the joy of it,� he said.

But he had the title from the beginning, based on a quote from the Hippocratic Oath, repeated at all medical-school graduations. The expression harks back to Medieval society, when bladder and kidney stones were rampant and itinerant surgeons traveled from city to city removing stones. But the patient often died of infection, he said, so the expression really means if you’re not expert, don’t try it.

Today Dr. Verghese devotes regular time to writing and researching, yet he describes himself as “an inconstant diarist.� “It is hard to find time to do anything outside of medicine,� he said.

Each of his memoirs took him four years. In Tennessee, he kept notes, but “I had no intention of what they were for. I was also writing short stories at that time. I had the sense I could not control the world I was in, in the daytime, but at night through fiction, I could cross all boundaries,� he said.

He got more serious about writing after attending the Iowa Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa and earning a master of fine arts degree in 1991.

After Iowa, he accepted a position in El Paso, Texas, “where all they wanted was for me to take care of patients and teach. My evenings were free. I love to teach, I love medicine,� he said, and he loved having discretionary time to write.

He had written a short story on AIDS, called “Lilac,� for The New Yorker, when an editor suggested he submit a proposal for a two-part series on the topic. When the editor left, “Essentially we were left with a book proposal. It was this strange moment in time, when there was enormous interest in the subject.

The door subsequently closed. “But at that moment in time, the idea of a heterosexual male physician, a foreigner too, telling the story of HIV in rural America — that hit a lot of chords,� he said.

As for what’s next, Dr. Verghese isn’t sure whether he wants to venture into another novel or nonfiction. When “Cutting for Stone� was

AUTHOR, AUTHOR ... Further readings at Kepler’s in March include: Raj Patel, “The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy� (March 8, 7:30 p.m.); Elaine Beale, “Another Life Altogether� (March 9, 7:30 p.m.); Kevin and Hannah Salwen, “The Power of Half: One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back� (March 12, 7:30 p.m.); Lionel Shriver, “So Much for That: A Novel� (March 15, 7:30 p.m.); Roy Morris, Jr., “Lighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemons Became Mark Twain� (March 16, 7:30 p.m.); Sara Houghteling, “Pictures at an Exhibition� (March 16, 7 p.m., at the Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto); Anil Ananthaswamy, “The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth’s Extremes to Unlock the

published, “I felt the tank was empty. I felt I hoarded every anecdote, aphorism, joke, and found a way to put it in the book,� he said.

But he recently received a letter from a physician he knew in McAllen, Texas, who had practiced there for 45 years. “There was something about the man; his family had lived there for six generations. I don’t know quite what, but I’d like to write a story set there,� he said. “I always am curious about why people make so much of the doctor/ writing thing. “Writing and medicine are not separate. My writing emanates from this stance that I take, looking at the world, and the stance is purely from being a physician — it’s one of observing, cataloguing, being in wonder and awe of what I see. Writing comes directly out of that impulse. “Training as a physician, at least in internal medicine, you’re always looking at the body as text, you’re always looking at what people say as a story and you’re trying to match

Secrets of the Universe� (March 17, 7:30 p.m.); Anthony Brandt, “The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage�

(March 20, 2 p.m.); Aaron David Miller, “The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace� (March 22, 7 p.m., at the Oshman Family JCC, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto); Yoram Bauman, “The Cartoon Introduction to Economics: Volume One: Microeconomics�

(March 23, 7:30 p.m.); and Paul McHugh, “Deadlines: A Novel of Murder, Mystery, and the Media�

(March 30, 7:30 p.m.). N

Items for Book Talk may be sent to Associate Editor Carol Blitzer, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 93202 or e-mailed to cblitzer@paweekly.com by the last Friday of the month. it to your repertoire of stories.�

At 54, Dr. Verghese lives with his second wife, Sylvia, in Menlo Park, and his 12-year-old son, Tristan. So far, neither of his two older sons, whom he wrote about in his memoirs, has shown a proclivity for medicine. “I’d enjoy one of them in medicine, but they have to feel a passion for it,� he said.

And his own passion never ceases.

Referring back to why he came to Stanford, he said: “It happened because of my boss, Ralph Horwitz, chairman of medicine. He valued the art and craft of medicine, the very thing I’ve written about and am interested in. “All my writing — fiction and nonfiction — is driven by the love of medicine. If you took me out of medicine, I would worry that I have nothing to say.� N Associate Editor Carol Blitzer can be e-mailed at cblitzer@ paweekly.com.

Join the community discussion on the California Avenue Streetscape Improvements Project, Phase II

Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 6:30 PM Escondido Elementary School 890 Escondido Road Stanford, CA 94305 The City of Palo Alto invites public input on planned streetscape improvements designed to further enhance the California Avenue area, from El Camino Real to the CalTrain Depot.

Meeting hosted by City of Palo Alto Public Works (650) 329-2151

Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District 25 Churchill Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306

February 19, 2010

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS Labor Compliance Consulting Services The Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District (“Districtâ€?) is requesting proposals and a statement of qualiďŹ cations from qualiďŹ ed ďŹ rms and persons to provide professional services for labor compliance consulting services (“Servicesâ€?) for various new construction and modernization projects throughout the Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District over the next ďŹ ve (5) years.

If interested and qualiďŹ ed, proposal packets may be obtained from the Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District Facilities ofďŹ ce located at 25 Churchill Avenue, Building “Dâ€?, Palo Alto, CA 94306 Phone (650) 329-3927.

Statements of qualiďŹ cations must be submitted on or before 2:00 p.m.

March 24, 2010. Statements of QualiďŹ cation must be marked clearly on a sealed package “RFP No. 02-Lâ€? and delivered to: Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District District Facilities OfďŹ ce 25 Churchill Avenue, Building “Dâ€?

Palo Alto, CA 94306 Attn: Arnold Teten Questions regarding this request for proposals (“RFP�) may be directed to Arnold Teten at FAX# (650) 327-3588.

This is not a request for bids or an offer by the District to contract with any party responding to this RFP. The District reserves the right to reject any and all Proposals. All materials submitted to the District in response to this RFP shall remain property of the District and may be considered a part of public record.

Dynamic Sales Assistant Needed Embarcadero Media Company is looking for a dynamic Sales Assistant in our advertising department in Palo Alto. This is a key position and is integral to the communication between our clients, sales, ad services and ad design departments. We are looking for a customer focused individual who can build excellent internal and external relationships and manage projects in conjunction with various departments.

Job responsibilities include: , " & " #$" $ & #% "$ $ $ #% # " * $ , " $ $ $# " %# ) # # $ , $ $ $ " # # $ " $" + $ # ## ") , ## #$ ' $ " $ " $ $ " , # $ !% " # " & " # $ & $# ' $ # " $ " $ , $ $ $# # # " " # $ $ & # , ## #$ # # " # ' $ " # " $# , ## #$ # # " # ' $ " ## $# $ # "& # , ## #$ # "& # %$ # # ## ") $ # ' #$" $ $ ' , " $) %# " # $ + $ # , ( $ '" $$ & " % $ # # , " * ' $ #$" ' " $ # , " $ $$ $ $ $ , ' " #$ & " $ This position offers salary, beneďŹ ts, 401k, vacation and a collaborative work environment with signiďŹ cant career growth opportunity. Please submit your resume with salary requirements to: Walter Kupiec, Vice President Sales and Marketing wkupiec@embarcaderopublishing.com

# # ' $ $ !% + $ # " $ "& '

*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠ >Ă€VÂ…ĂŠx]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 17

FOR SOME NEWS, YOU ARE THE BEST REPORTERS WE HAVE. When large parts of Palo Alto lost power Sunday night, it was residents posting on Palo Alto Online that got the story out.

Comments

Posted by Zerochief, a resident o neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 10:10 pm

Posted by Neighbor, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 9:02 pm

Please inform us

wires down at Colorado and Greer Posted by pcw, a resident of the Leland Manor/Garland Drive neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 9:04 pm

Same low voltage in Leland Manor - about 50V since ~8:30pm.

Posted by Member, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 9:11 pm

Same here on Middlefield and California Posted by mgz, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 9:26 pm

Lost all power now Posted by Palo Verde Resident, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 9:27 pm

Power gone completely now.

Posted by Resident, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 9:31 pm

Posted by J Madej, a member of the El Carmelo School community, on Feb 28, 2010 at 10:10 pm

No Power Loss on my en here, only heard of powe loss. :) Posted by Steve, a resident of th Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 2 2010 at 10:21 pm

I still have power on Waverley Street in midtown.

Looking down the street, neighbors still seem to ha power and the street ligh are on.

Posted by nm, a resident of the P Verde neighborhood, on Feb 28, 10:22 pm

Down here in midtown as well.

Power line down: Web Link

Posted by Needs power, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 9:35 pm

Posted by Student, a member of Alto High School community, on 2010 at 10:24 pm

Lost all power now Posted by Addison, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 9:37 pm

Power down then out weird to have a brown out wonder what is up????

Posted by tom f, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 9:45 pm

No power here. All power lost in our neighborhood at about 9:40 Posted by Lomaverderesident, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 9:53 pm

No power at all. Does anyone know what happened.

Posted by Miranda, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 10:01 pm

Lights out in Downtown North. Channing and Cowper completely dark.

Posted by Crazy Jak, a resident of Los Altos, on Feb 28, 2010 at 10:06 pm

Maybe it’s space men. Eatin’ the power for their dinner...

What do they want with us?

We have power over by Rinconada Posted by Sergey, a resident of t Crescent Park neighborhood, on 2010 at 10:26 pm

“The culprit this time is a high voltage wire at the c Colorado Avenue and Gr For reasons unknown, the seems to have come unc a utility pole, and fallen in of trees, where as of a few ago it was still sparking a smoking in several large Posted by jeff, a resident of the P borhood, on Feb 28, 2010 at 10:

arece u q S n w o T lto’s online gathering pla Palo A

uation e Palo Verde t i s r e w o Weird ps, posted by JSD, a res9idepnmt of th

, eir homes re Issue 010 at 8:4 Palo Alto tricity in th c Feb 28, 2 ea n le w o e , t, d d n o e e o s ecrea quipm e d neighborh f g o in e c c s n ie e to one p e experi street look ls st of the ccording Anyone e t 8:30p? A s in. The re u lt o o b v a 7 g 6 t in u start g abo only gettin hts out. currently lig t with stree dim, too,

omments

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are es still on but the on , ut nothff b o , k re c a tes ba lights u e in th m f o w t s fe o sy... sa e here. M etually bu ome siren s rp e rd p a is e Yup, sam h e I n s li re. Weird. the Utilitie barely the b 28, umber to n e th od, on Fe d n A eighborho n rk a ing since.

P t n Cresce

r, a re Midtowne Posted by 8:52 pm

nt of the r, a reside e rn e h rt o n Posted by :56 pm , as well.

2010 at 8 cent Park s re C 2010 at in here r n Feb 28, e o , w d o o p o rh w o Lo eighb ssorville n f the Profe o t wer n e id s ough to po ave, a re n D e y y b tl n d te re s Po ppa .

62 volts. A ut of juice 8:56 pm e. I’ve got ’s almost o

orvill my laptop in Profess battery on e Ditto here th t u 0 at b r, b 28, 201 e route od, on Fe o rh my U-Vers o b h ig rde ne e Palo Ve sident of th re inutes a v, e e Z ince 15 m S . a Posted by re a n w ouis midto 8:57 pm Verde & L a m o L . ething???

Same here post som to r e m th p o b ago, 8:45 lities don’t , 2010 at eck PA uti h on Feb 28 e th y h W borhood, igh

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N Posted by 9:02 pm

I went over and confirme at Colorado & Greer. The there said it will be about fixed. It was an old wire w from fatigue.

Posted by mari, a resident of the neighborhood, on Feb 28, 2010

Power is out here too on F lincoln and kingsley. Of co sleep because they are af

Your 24/7 source for community news, information and conversation.

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8, 2 ne comple , on Feb 2 hborhood Power go ig e n n w e Midto ident of th ent, a res id s e R y b Posted 9:31 pm s well. midtown a od, on in re e h eighborho Down alo Alto n P ld O e ident of th wer, a res Needs po

Cover Story

Veronica Weber

Gunn High School students Austin Lewis, left, Anton Savinov and Hayley Geiselharat work on restoring the blown-out engine of a 1979 Mazda RX-7 in the school’s rebuilt auto shop.

Career tech answers the question: ‘Why do I need to learn this?’

by Chris Kenrick

hat do you do with shop class in a community where all the children are above average?

For local advocates of “vocational education” — high school classes with careerrelated content — that question has been a decades-long source of frustration.

A history of assumptions about the vocational track — entirely separate and distinct from the college track — has been deeply embedded in Palo Alto’s college-obsessed culture.

But a new model for vocational education, strongly backed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was a voc-ed student himself when he was in high school in Austria, is upending the timeworn distinctions.

The new voc-ed — now known statewide as Career Technical Education — has been elevated to the college track and caters to everyone from future Ph.D.s to students with learning disabilities.

Gunn High School’s new $4 million Career Tech Building, which opened in November, is emblematic of the change.

Inside the state-of-the-art building, hands-

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on classes run the gamut from auto shop to biotech to robotics.

“For a lot of kids, this class is where the light bulb goes on,” Tom Jacoubowsky, Gunn’s assistant principal, said.

“It’s where they discover something they love. It’s the biggest joy of their day.” tudents in Gunn’s bright new auto shop, overseen by veteran Mazda mechanic Mike Camicia, can tinker with a ‘74 Chevy Nova, a ‘79 Mazda RX-7 or a ‘65 Surf Woody chassis.

“I just kind of point the students in the right direction and they do what needs to be done,” Camicia said.

“This car right here is kind of interesting,” he said, pointing to the Surf Woody-inprogress, consisting of a chassis, suspension, engine, transmission and rear axle.

“It started out with some girls a couple of years back — in fact, one of them was the homecoming queen.

“They took a plastic model car kit that was 1/25th scale and said, ‘OK, we’re going to duplicate this.’

S

“They had to do all the math and figure out all the dimensions” to make it full scale.

“The next thing we’re going to do is start building the body — all built from a plethora of car parts lying around.”

‘She was so thankful for this program and what it did for her son.’

— Tom Jacoubowsky, assistant principal, Gunn High School For some, Camicia’s auto shop is the launching pad for careers in the industry.

Jacoubowsky recalled a student from an academically oriented family who discovered his passion in fixing cars.

While his siblings went off to universities, the student entered De Anza College’s automotive program and become a certified mechanic for BMW. “A couple of years after he graduated I saw his mother and asked how he was doing and she said he had a high-paying job and

was doing great.

“She was so thankful for this program and what it did for her son.”

Tinkering under the hood creates natural opportunities for bonding among students and teachers, Camicia said.

“This is the kind of class where you get pretty close to people, standing next to them and talking about other things — not just cars. It’s kind of a family thing.

“We stay pretty tight. I see some of the kids on a daily basis from 12 years ago, go to their weddings.

“That’s what’s nice about this particular class. It’s more than just auto.”

Indeed, Career Technical Education has grown far beyond the traditional auto, wood shop, cooking and sewing classes.

In rooms adjacent to Gunn’s new auto shop, pre-engineering students design and build circuit boards. Others work on stresstesting their robotic creations for international competitions.

And in the video-production studio, each (continued on next page)

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Career tech

weekday morning, teens produce the Titan News, a five-minute segment televised at 7:55 a.m. in every Gunn classroom.

“The way Career Technical Education has morphed, it’s created more opportunities for the college path than before — new avenues for students,” Jacoubowsky.

Palo Alto’s high schools require two semesters of Career Technical Education to graduate, with choices ranging from animation to food to Web-page design.

“There’s going to be something for everybody,” Jacoubowsky said. “No student is going to Gunn or Paly and say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to have to take something I don’t like.”

Meanwhile, Palo Alto High School’s planned new Media Arts Building, set to break ground next year, also will house a smorgasbord of Career Tech choices.

C

The metal chassis of a 1965 Surf Woody sits in the new auto shop at Gunn High School. The car was started in 2007 and built by students who reproduced the car full scale from a 1/25-scale plastic model. ways.

“So to me it is very important that we also let our students know that what they are learning, they can use that for the rest of their lives.”

‘... What they are learning, they can use that for the rest of their lives.’

— Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on career tech education Another reason Schwarzenegger may be passionate about career tech is that “California’s high schools are not working for large numbers of young people,” according to the Coalition for Multiple Pathways, an alliance of business, education and industry groups.

“Almost a third of new ninthgraders drop out before graduating.

Another third finish high school but lack the academic and technical readiness to succeed in college or career.

“Only a third of high school students in California graduate on time and transition easily to postsecondary education and lasting career success.”

Schwarzenegger said California will need 132,000 nurses by 2014, 73,000 carpenters, 25,000 electricians, 12,000 welders and 250,000 workers in nanotechnology production.

While the governor’s notion of career tech stresses traditional skilled labor, the “multiple pathways” model promotes the idea of a career “pathway,” which allows students to branch off at any number of levels, from washing lab ware to caring for lab animals to pursuing Ph.D.-level research.

“The great promise of pathways is the ability to make learning real and exciting for the thousands of students who are bored with conventional high school curricula,” the coalition stated in its fact sheet.

“Whether they aspire to become doctors or medical technicians, architects or carpenters, all students hunger for the answer to the simple question: ‘Why do I need to learn this?” little-known opportunity for Paly and Gunn students to knock off their Career Tech requirement exists in the Exploratory Experiences and Work Experiences programs.

There, students can receive credit

A

Veronica Weber

areer tech received an important boost from Schwarzenegger, who has backed focused investment in the field and held California’s first “Career Technical Education Summit” in 2007.

At that time, Schwarzenegger said he learned to be a salesman between age 15 and 18.

“I learned about selling, marketing products, publicizing, how to elevate your products and make them shine compared to others, and how to do inventory, how to do bookkeeping, accounting, writing business letters, how to deal with customers, math, language skills, and on and on and on.

“Little did I know then that I would be using this kind of information and knowledge that I’ve gained the rest of my life. I was able to use those skills in selling body building; I was able to use those skills in marketing my movies. And now as governor I’m very happy that I had this training, to go out and to sell California products worldwide on our trade missions and in other

Veronica Weber

(continued from previous page)

Gunn High School students Robert Chen, left, and Neil Sood work on assembling a robot for the Robotics Team in the new Career Tech Building.

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Sports

Veronica Weber

Gunn High School senior Mitchell Mayman welds the chassis of a robot being assembled for the FIRST Robotics competition. FIRST is an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

“It’s really cool to be part of finding out more about the world, figuring out how the sun works and things like that,” said Ji, a senior who says she’s considering majoring in physics.

Though the sunspots project revolves around physics, the Lockheed job also has offered Ji handson experience in programming.

“I learned most of the programming on the job,” she said. “I really like learning about the tools that can get you the information, allowing you to look at things systematically, or process a lot of information in a

shorter amount of time.

“It definitely helps me think about different problems in a different way.”

S

pecial education students also make good use of Career Tech options.

“I’d like to believe we prepare all students for life after high school, not just college,” said the district’s Career Technical Education Coordinator Dave Hoshiwara.

“We have a contract with the De(continued on next page)

Veronica Weber

for unpaid or paid work in Stanford University laboratories, solar-research firms, local restaurants, theaters, animal shelters and more.

The highly competitive — and paid — Lockheed Martin internship is run through the Work Experiences program.

Alums of that program have gone on to earn Ph.D.s and return to the company’s advanced development program, known as Skunk Works.

Paly senior Erika Ji puts in about 12 hours a week at Lockheed, working on measuring the rotation of sunspots.

Sam Neff, a Gunn High School senior, works on assembling a robot that will be entered in the upcoming FIRST Robotics competitions.

Palo Alto Unified School District 25 Churchill Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306

February 19, 2010

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS Division of State Architect Approved Inspectors of Record The Palo Alto Unified School District (District), is seeking qualifications from Division of State Architect (DSA) Approved Class I and, II Inspectors of Record (IOR). The District intends, through this RFQ, to establish a shortlist of qualified professionals eligible to provide Inspection Services for various construction projects that will take place throughout the Palo Alto Unified School District over the next five (5) years.

If interested and qualified, proposal packets may be obtained from the Palo Alto Unified School District Facilities office located at 25 Churchill Avenue, Building “D”, Palo Alto, CA 94306, Phone (650) 329-3927.

Statements of qualifications must be submitted on or before 2:00 p.m.

March 23, 2010. Statements of Qualification must be marked clearly on a sealed package “RFQ No. 01-I” and delivered to: Palo Alto Unified School District District Facilities Office 25 Churchill Avenue, Building “D” Palo Alto, CA 94306 Attn: Arnold Teten Questions regarding this request for proposals (“RFQ”) may be directed to Arnold Teten at FAX# (650) 327-3588.

This is not a request for bids or an offer by the District to contract with any party responding to this RFQ. The District reserves the right to reject any and all Proposals. All materials submitted to the District in response to this RFQ shall remain property of the District and may be considered a part of public record. *> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ >ÀV Êx]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 21

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Career tech

(continued from previous page)

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eteran teacher Meri Gyves oversees both the Work Experience and Exploratory Experiences programs, shuttling among Gunn, Paly and student worksites to make sure things are running smoothly. Work Experience covers students with paid jobs, while Exploratory Experiences covers unpaid internships.

Workplaces in Gyves’ programs are widely varied — from a cupcake shop to a stem-cell research lab at Stanford. Another intern works with local novelist Harriet Chessman.

Gyves meets weekly with Work Experience students on each campus to dispense advice and keep tabs on student progress.

“We have some good news,” Gyves announced last Tuesday to Paly students at a class meeting, motioning for a student, Emily, to share it with the class.

“Due to Ms. Gyves’ recommendation I got a job at Sundance Steak House and should be starting within the next week,” Emily said to the applause of her classmates.

Following such announcements, Gyves devoted the rest of the class period to interviewing skills, covering everything from first impressions, eye contact and handshaking skills, and the art of the thank-you note.

“Get to your interview early, because late is late,” she advised.

“Employers don’t care what your excuse is. They don’t care if you

V

‘I’d like to believe we prepare all students for life after high school, not just college.’

— Dave Hoshiwara, Career Technical Education coordinator Paly student Jessica Lin summed up her experience as a volunteer at Westwind Barn in Los Altos Hills, helping children with disabilities enjoy horseback riding.

Lin, a sophomore, had briefly taken riding lessons as a child and knew her interests lay in writing and helping people.

The experience at Westwind helped her to fill in the details about what a career might look like, and to refine her thoughts, she said.

Earlier she wrote in an essay: “I learned to work both with horses and with disabled people, and to see the difficulties and the benefits of helping in a therapeutic program for the disabled.”

“Through this experience I learned to develop more patience.

“I loved the environment — green hills, with lovely trees, a nice barn and a supportive atmosphere.

“I also loved the work — both with horses and with the children.

It gave me great joy to make the children happy, to provide a place for them where they could not be marked by their differences, but rather, appreciated for the beautiful human beings they are.” N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be e-mailed at ckenrick@paweekly. com.

About the cover: Ethan Glassman, a senior at Gunn High School, works on assembling a robot for the upcoming FIRST competition, inside the new Career Tech Building.

Photo by Veronica Weber.

Veronica Weber

Vivian Wong

Ivan Zhou, a Palo Alto High School senior, uses a pipette in his work in a pediatrics lab at Stanford Medical School. Zhou said he has always been interested in science and is leaning toward a medical career.

partment of Rehabilitation that specifically works with students who have barriers to employment, and 90 percent of those have (special needs),” he said.

Beyond work-readiness, a particular goal of the program is ensuring that students with special needs get connected to state resources and agencies that can help them after graduation from high school.

Every day a group of students, along with their “job coaches,” head up to the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital where they work stocking shelves in the gift shop or wiping down tables in the VA canteen.

Other local enterprises, including Papa Murphy’s Pizza and Evvia Estiatorio restaurant, have helped the program by employing students.

were in traffic or if it’s raining. In this economy, there’s someone else who wants that job and they won’t be late.

“Be sincere, smile, be friendly, don’t be nervous,” she continued.

“Most of you are in customer service, dealing with people, and they want to see friendly faces.”

Gyves helps students write resumes and, at semester’s end, asks them to reflect on their experiences in writing.

Gunn High School student Nick Clark stocks shelves at his part-time job — part of the Career Technical Education program — at the retail store in the VA Medical Center in Palo Alto.

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Arts & Entertainment

Vivian Wong

A weekly guide to music, theater, art, movies and more, edited by Rebecca Wallace

Artist Pan Tianshou created “Water Buffalo in a Summer Pond,” an oversized work of ink and color on paper, with a particular tool: his fingers.

A rare

uartet Q Vivian Wong

Works by four Chinese ink painters come to the Cantor Arts Center, many on display in the U.S. for the first time

by Janet Silver Ghent The playful “Mice Romping in a Mountain Dwelling” is one of Qi Baishi’s many animal studies.

Left: A 1907 folding fan by Wu Changshuo. Right: Huan Binhong’s 1952 hanging scroll “Discourse on Tang Blue-and-Green Painting.”

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ith subtly colored berry branches, whimsical mice cavorting atop a book, abstract brushwork and panoramas that play with perspective, the current exhibition of Chinese art at Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center offers a mélange of images to intrigue even a jaded eye.

But to fully fathom the richness of “Tracing the Past, Drawing the Future: Master Ink Painters in 20th-Century China,” it helps to know the backstory.

The exhibition took two years and several trips to China to mount. Curators say most of the 110-plus

works have never before been displayed in the United States and some have never been shown in China. Because the works are on paper and are unframed, often on scrolls, they’re rare, fragile and light-sensitive, so the works are being divided into two rotations.

Small bamboo blockades prevent viewers from inching too close to the works.

The show runs through July 4, and is augmented by a book, a symposium, a music performance series and a Family Day. Free docent tours help illuminate the period of (continued on next page)

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Arts & Entertainment

Steppin’ Out for Ecumenical Hunger Program (formerly the crabfest) Saturday, March 6, 2010 5:30-9pm Bistro 412 412 Emerson St. Palo Alto Support EHP’s critical programs by attending our major fundraising event. We need your support now more than ever!

Tickets are a steal at $60.00 ($40.00 is tax deductible) available online at: www.ehp.eventbrite.com or call 650 323-7781 This space donated as a community service by the Palo Alto Weekly.

Vivian Wong

Enjoy: delicious food, complimentary wine, no-host bar, live entertainment and of course our phenomenal silent auction.

Because the works on paper are fragile, small bamboo blockades prevent viewers from inching too close.

NOTICE NOTICE INVITING SEALED BIDS for WINDOW AND GLASS DOOR REPLACEMENT in one building composed of 5 units (3020 – 3028 Emerson Street) of Plum Tree Apartments, 3020-3038 Emerson Street, Palo Alto, CA 94306.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project is to remove and replace old windows and wooden French doors with glass energy-efficient products in one building with five residential units.

GENERAL SCOPE OF WORK: 1. Remove existing windows and wooden French doors and screens.

2. Contractor to supply storage for supplies and materials 3. Furnish and install screens and double-paned Low-E glass sliding windows and doors to fit individual dimensions of existing openings 4. Seal and caulk installations as appropriate 5. Furnish and install locks on glass and screen doors 6. Remove and dispose of all old material each day 7. Clean glass and window/door frames All materials to be used must be manufactured in the USA. Bid specifications pertaining to this project are available from Monday, March 1, 2010 to Friday, March 12, 2010. Please call to schedule a mandatory job walk. Bid closing date is Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 5:00 PM. Bid opening at 725 Alma Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 10:00 AM. This project is funded by the City of Palo Alto Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. All federal regulations listed in the Bid Specifications will apply, including equal opportunity, non-discrimination, and Federal Labor Standards provisions (Davis-Bacon). Reference is hereby made to bid specifications for further details, which specifications and this notice shall be considered part of the contract.

For information and bid walk-through, contact Jim Brandenburg at 650-321-9709 ext. 14.

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change represented by the painters, known in China as the “Four Great Masters.” The pivotal paintings of the four — Wu Changshuo (1844-1927), Qi Baishi (18641957), Huang Binhong (1865-1955) and Pan Tianshou (1897-1971) — reveal the transition between ancient and modern traditions during a time of major changes, Western influences and upheavals. They incorporate calligraphy, poetry, portraiture and landscape, and in the case of Pan, perhaps political commentary.

“This is the first exhibition from China (in the Western world) that contains so many masterpieces of these four great artists,” according to Xiaoneng Yang, curator of Asian art at the Cantor Arts Center.

At the gallery entrance, the viewer is immediately struck by the portrait of Wu, a collaboration of two artists. His face is painted in photographic detail by Zhu Wenyun while his billowing red robes are painted by Pan. The contrasting styles, embodied in a single work, are a fitting entry to the exhibit.

Behind it are three other portraits by Wu’s associate and mentor Ren Yi, including one of Wu as a “Bitter Junior Officer,” his head covered by a bowl-like helmet. These works are the only ones in the gallery that are not by the four key artists. Like Wu, who broke away from his path as a civil servant to become an artist, each of the four ink painters departed from traditions while continuing to honor them.

The works are neatly arranged in four chronological sections delineated by the color of the wall, helping viewers grasp the distinctiveness of each artist. In a nutshell, Wu is best known for his delicate flower and bird paintings. Qi’s works often have a lighthearted quality, with humorous portraiture as well as animal studies of crea-

Top: A detail of Qi Baishi’s 1923 hanging scroll “Banyan Leaves and Autumn Cicadas.” Above: Wu Changshuo’s 1902 hanging scroll “Tripod Ding Cauldrons.”

tures including the aforementioned mice. Both Wu and Qi favor vivid tones in many of their works.

By contrast, Huang’s landscapes reveal heavy, dense brushwork, while Pan paints massive landscapes and animal studies with abstract rocks and cliffs, or floral branches with blackened blossoms.

How are their works different from those of earlier ink painters?

It’s “the spirit and the style,” curator Yang says during a visit at the opening of the show on Feb. 17.

The four artists mastered the traditional techniques of calligraphy and seal painting (the small red rectangles that served as the artists’ signatures), and flowers, birds and landscapes. But they were also innovators, bringing in their own observations and influences from the West, expanding their subject matter and techniques. Among those techniques were freehand brushwork, Western-inspired abstraction and even finger painting.

In most of the works, the black of the ink serves as the primary color, augmented by subtle shades of peach, green or blue and large amounts of white space. Huang, a scholar and editor, created dense landscapes, some with strokes resembling a van Gogh work, says Yang, while Pan, who also had an academic background, painted oversized works, sometimes using his fingers. Pan’s “Water Buffalo in a Summer Pond” shows a massive beast with a golden eye, and has a red seal at the center that says “Chan of the Finger.”

Pan is the painter who may most intrigue the Western viewer, in part because he ran afoul of the notorious “Gang of Four” during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s.

Even earlier, after he painted “This Land So Beautiful” in 1959, showing a high blue cliff topped by a signal flag, he was advised to substitute a red flag instead.

He refused. Another of his paintings, of vultures leering ominously

Arts & Entertainment

More museum events The February opening of “Tracing the Past� at the Cantor Arts Center drew scholars and artists from China and throughout the United States for lectures, art demonstrations and performances. Still ahead are two “elegant gatherings,� in which scholars and artists share their knowledge; and the museum’s Family Day. The gatherings, held in the Cantor auditorium, take place on two Thursdays, April 8 and May 27, with discussions at 7:30 p.m. followed by an 8 p.m. performance. Various performers will take part, introduced by Stanford Director of Orchestral Studies Jindong Cai. The April event, “Healing: Mind, Body and Music,� focuses on such practices as qi gong and acupuncture. The May gathering, “Cultivating the Self: Poetry, Painting and Music,� will look at the relationships between language and poetry, and music and art.

Family Day takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 25, and is geared toward children ages 5 to 12, but all are welcome. Kids can choose from such activities as ink drawings, dragon puppets, paper lanterns, opera masks and paper blossom trees. Chinese lion dancers will perform and storyteller Margaret More will entertain in the galleries. Admission is free, with food for sale.

Go to museum.stanford.edu or call 650-723-4177. N

atop a cliff led one member of the “Gang� to conclude not only that the vultures were spies, but so was Pan himself.

Pointing to the work of 1966’s “Plum Blossoms in Moonlight,� the last large work by Pan, Yang notes the dark tones in the work and says that Pan’s career was halted by the political turmoil of the late 1960s. Pan, who had been president of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, was falsely accused of being counterrevolutionary or “nonrevolutionary,� was forbidden to paint, and was imprisoned and tortured, dying in infamy.

However, Pan’s reputation has been restored, and China now has a museum dedicated to his work, points out Patience Young, the museum’s curator for education. “The tide turned after he died,� she says.

Young, who trains docents and serves as the museum’s liaison with students and faculty, continues Yang’s discussion on the four transitional artists. She walks over to Wu’s 1902 “Tripod Ding Cauldrons,� a hanging scroll that contains brass rubbings and calligraphy, with flowers and blossoming branches placed in the cauldrons.

Using “ancient bronze cauldrons as containers for flowers was not done,� she said. Combining manmade elements, like the brass rubbings, with botanicals was also innovative.

Moving to Qi’s hanging scroll titled “Pine Grove and Hobbyhorse,� painted in the late 1920s, she observes that in most Chinese landscapes, the eye moves from the foreground at the bottom to the top. In “Pine Grove,� that rule is tossed aside, as are the normative rules of perspective.

The largest elements are the rocks or cliffs in the background, which not only dwarfs a house and people in the middle but also looms over the pine trees in the foreground. The effect is one of childlike charm. Other favorites with viewers include the brightly colored “Longevity Peaches� and his humorous portraits, including one of “Iron-Crutch Li, the Daoist Immortal,� examining the interior of a gourd. The caption: “What medicine is in that gourd?� A spirit of lightness permeates his work.

trying to view it at close hand.

Huang’s use of color was sparing, and Huang’s own notes for “Verdant Summer Mountain,� painted in the early 1950s, reveal that he intentionally merged his colors with the black ink, burying or muting the greenery and the peach-toned houses amid the black brushwork “to avoid misuse of color.�

Armed with hours of training and slide viewing before getting ready to lead the tours on their own, the Cantor docents seem able to easily distinguish the works of the four artists from one another as well as from the artists of the past.

But they cited other challenges. “Many of the Asian visitors are going to know more (than we do),�

Norma Schlossberg says. N

Huang’s work, by contrast, is “more intense,� Young says. Although “inspired by earlier styles� — some of his works pay homage to traditional artists — he uses color and brushwork in a denser, more expressionistic manner, particularly late in life, when his sight was compromised by cataracts.

Leading a tour for docents and other guests, Young says Huang’s work can be challenging for Western eyes to grasp at first glance.

She suggests that viewers stand back from the work rather than

What: The exhibition “Tracing the Past, Drawing the Future: Master Ink Painters in 20thCentury China�

Where: Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University When: Through July 4, Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays until 8 p.m. Free docent tours 12:15 p.m. Thursdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; and by appointment.

Cost: Free Info: Go to museum.stanford. edu or call 650-723-4177.

Szechwan & Hunan Gourmet ',

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Please be advised that Thursday, March 18, 2010, the ARB shall conduct a public hearing at 8:30 AM in the Council Chambers, 1st Floor, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. Any interested persons may appear and be heard.

1213 Newell Road 09PLN-00306: Request by the City of Palo Alto Utilities Department for Architectural Review for the construction of an emergency water well facility adjacent to the Community Gardens at the Main Library facility. Project includes a 260 square foot building, landscape improvements, and other minor improvements. Zone: PF Public Facility.

222 University Avenue [10PLN-00003]: Request by Steve McLeod on behalf of Toya Family Trust for Minor Architectural Review of exterior building improvements including a new front facade and awnings of an existing retail building. No new oor area will be added to the building. The project also includes a request for a sign exception to allow a projecting sign of 11.1 square feet that extends to a maximum height of 19’3� and is not under a covering structure, where a three square foot sign extending to a height of twelve feet located under a covering structure would be maximum allowed. Environmental Assessment: Exempt from the provisions of CEQA, 15301 (Existing Facilities). Zone District: CD-C(GF)(P).

The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations to access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn more about the City’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), please contact the City’s ADA Coordinator at 650.329.2550 (voice) or by emailing ada@cityofpaloalto.org.

Amy French Manager of Current Planning

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City of Palo Alto ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration has been prepared by the Palo Alto Department of Planning and Community Environment for the project listed below. In accordance with A.B. 886, this document will be available for review and comment during a minimum 30-day inspection period beginning March 5, 2010 through April 5, 2010 during the hours of 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 noon and 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. at the Development Center, 285 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California.

This item will be considered at a public hearing by the Planning and Transportation Commission on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Palo Alto City Council Chambers on the ďŹ rst oor of the Civic Center, located at 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California.

805 Los Trancos Road [04IPT-2217]: Request by Mark Conroe on behalf of Langenskiold Family Trust for Site and Design Review of an 11,184 square foot single family home and related fsite improvements, including construction of a culvert under the new driveway to allow Buckeye Creek to ow underneath, at 805 Los Trancos Road. Environmental Assessment: An Initial Study has been completed and a Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration has been prepared in accordance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements. Zone District: Open Space (OS).

Curtis Williams, Director of Planning and Community Environment In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, listening assistive devices are available in the Council Chambers and Council Conference Room. Sign language interpreters will be provided upon request with 72 hours advance notice.

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Arts & Entertainment

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Terence Blanchard performs with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra this Saturday, playing his suite “A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina).�

Remembering Katrina

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This Sunday: It's Not Too Late to Change, Y'all Rev. Dr. Eileen Altman preaching

Orchestral work penned by New Orleans trumpeter is a kaleidoscope of emotions

Jazz Concert with Taylor Eigsti on March 28 at 7:00 pm An Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ

Stanford Memorial Church University Public Worship Sunday, March 7th, 10:00 am

“My Way or the Highway�

Rev. Scotty McLennan

All are welcome.

Information: 650-723-1762

Dean for Religious Life Music featuring the Memorial Church Choir under the Direction of University Organist Dr. Robert Huw Morgan http://religiouslife.stanford.edu

We Invite You to Learn and Worship with Us.

FPCMV welcomes our new Pastor Timothy R. Boyer.

Biblically based Sermons and Worship Service 10:30 AM. www.fpcmv.org 1667 Miramonte (Cuesta at Miramonte) 650.968.4473

INSPIRATIONS A resource for special events and ongoing religious services. To inquire about or make space reservations for Inspirations, please contact Blanca Yoc at 326-8210 x6596 or email byoc@paweekly.com

Page 26ĂŠUĂŠ >Ă€VÂ…ĂŠx]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

by Rebecca Wallace

J

azz tr umpeter Terence Blanchard has devoted a major portion of his career to writing scores for films of different genres.

Many were directed by Spike Lee: “Inside Man,� “The 25th Hour,� “Malcom X� and “Jungle Fever,� to name a few.

It’s the documentaries that he especially immerses himself in.

The narrative is key, and he doesn’t want his music to get in the way of a single word. “When I’m working on a documentary, I try to watch it at least four or five times before I start.

Then I break it down into components,� Blanchard said in a recent phone interview. “The film will tell you what it needs.�

Writing the score for Lee’s 2006 documentary “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts� proved to be an even more intense project than usual. Blanchard, a New Orleans native, wrote much of the score for the Hurricane Katrina film while in his city. He was back in town after evacuating during the 2005 storm, and the devastation was all around him. “That was the hardest thing about it,� Blanchard said. “Other projects, whether they be fiction or reality, I could always take a break from those things. This was the first one when I couldn’t do that. It was a bit of a strain. But also very therapeutic.�

After a thoughtful pause, he continued, “I felt a sense of obligation, you know, to make sure that the music that I had written for that could give people a sense of the pain and

suffering and the resilience of the people who had gone through the tragedy.�

Shown on HBO, the four-hour film won a host of awards, including an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking.

Blanchard and his band then expanded the film score into “A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina),� an orchestra work that they will perform on March 6 at Stanford University with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra. The recording of “A Tale of God’s Will� won the Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for 2007.

Blanchard couldn’t have foreseen this success when he was writing the score. As he composed, he was struggling to control his anger. Besides all the other damage and aftermath of Katrina, the hurricane had wrecked his mother’s house.

He appears in a scene in “When the Levees Broke� with his weeping mother, Wilhelmina, revisiting the home for the first time.

While writing, he said: “One of the things I was worried about was sounding like I was angry in my playing. But I had to let that go. I started to realize it wasn’t just anger.

It was pain. It was a lot of different things.�

A kaleidoscope of emotions comes through in the work’s 13 movements, from “Funeral Dirge,� underscored by powerful, grieving drums, to the gentle “Ashe� (which means “and so it shall be� in the African language Yoruba).

After Katrina, Blanchard said: “There was a lot of optimism about

moving forward, but also astonishment about the reality of what had happened. There was a long process of coming to terms with the truth.

You could walk around, you could smell it, you could see it, but in a weird way you were still asking yourself, ‘Did this really happen?’ I was still in the midst of that while writing the music. “At the same time, there was a certain amount of guilt on some of our parts. There were a lot of people who suffered much more than we did.�

Blanchard’s house had only broken windows and water damage, and his mother was able to rebuild her home. He wrote the last movement in his work, “Dear Mom,� for her. It’s a softly nostalgic piece, with Blanchard’s trumpet tracing a continuous narrative thread above lyrical strings, seeming to pass through childhood into the pain of today. Like many of the movements, it’s marked by a sense of restrained grief.

How did his mother react to the piece? “Just like most moms would: ‘Oh, that’s nice,’� Blanchard said, laughing.

Other tracks include “Ghost of Congo Square,� which mixes African beats with the repeated chant “This is the tale of God’s will.�

Buoyed by the energy of the beats, the chant lends a sense of acceptance, but also the hope of moving forward after a disaster.

Wordless human voices add a haunting note to “In Time of Need,� which was written by saxophonist Brice Winston from Blanchard’s quintet. Periodically in the recording studio, other band musicians contributed to the creation process. “We never had any discussion about who was going to write what,�

Blanchard said. “We were amazed at how everything fit together. ...

That’s another reason why the album is called what it is. This was from a higher power, bigger than us as individuals.�

At Stanford, images from Lee’s film will be shown as “A Tale of God’s Will� is performed. Stanford Symphony Orchestra conductor Jindong Cai likened the music to a concerto, in which the orchestra supports the soloists, playing steadily below while Blanchard and the other soloists improvise “shining passages� on top.

Calling the work “enchanting,�

Cai noted that he feels a personal connection as well. Originally from China, he taught at Louisiana State University before coming to Stanford. Katrina hit the year after he left. “A Tale of God’s Will� has visited other colleges as well. At Skidmore College in New York, a freshman class recently spent a year studying the orchestra work, Katrina and the hurricane’s aftermath. Blanchard served as artist in residence, addressing the class and performing.

Blanchard, 47, is also artistic director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in New Orleans.

Nowadays, he’s looking ahead to Lee’s volume two of “When the Levees Broke,� which he’ll also score.

Blanchard says it’ll be interesting to see what New Orleans-related topics Lee covers, especially due to past racial issues and the fact that the

Arts & Entertainment city recently elected the first white mayor in 30 years, Mitch Landrieu.

“I never looked at him as a white candidate,” Blanchard said. “One of my friends said, ‘When you’re in a foxhole, you don’t care what the race of the person is.’ We’re just trying to survive. Our schools are better, we’re better, but we have a long way to go.” N What: The Terence Blanchard Quintet performs “A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina)” with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra Where: Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University When: 8 p.m. Saturday, March 6 Cost: Tickets are $24-$56 for adults and $10 for Stanford students, with other discounts available for groups, other students and young people.

Info: Go to livelyarts.stanford. edu or call 650-725-ARTS.

Movies for the reel world Earth Day festival seeks films on eco-friendly topics

J

Art

Theater

The weather these days may call for galoshes one minute and a parasol the next, but at least your plants may be enjoying it (they get sunshine and rain all in one half-hour).

As a tribute to the flora of winter, Lyons Ltd. Antique Prints in Palo Alto is displaying a variety of antique botanical prints in its gallery.

Recently exhibited at the Filoli mansion in Woodside, the works of art span four centuries, including lithographs, engravings and other prints. The blossoms that are the stars of the show include daffodils, primroses, hyacinths and camellias.

The collection will be on exhibit at Lyons, located at 10 Town & Country Village, through March 31.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, go to lyonsltd.com or call 650-325-9010.

It’ll soon be margarita season at Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theatre, when José Cruz González’s play “Sunsets and Margaritas” has its West Coast premiere next week.

Family clashes and crashes (courtesy of a red Cadillac) fuel this tale that centers on faint-hearted Gregorio’s relationship with his macho father, Papa Calendario.

Gregorio (Tommy Gomez) has many other issues to deal with in his family, including his lesbian Republican daughter, activist son, and visions of the Virgin. Papa Calendario is played by Daniel Valdez, who began his career as an actor and performer with Cesar Chavez and the University Farmworkers Union.

TheatreWorks presents “Sunsets and Margaritas,” with previews March 10-12 and opening night on March 13, all at 8 p.m. The show then runs through April 4, Tuesday through Sunday, with matinee and evening shows on the weekends.

Tickets are $27-$39 for previews and $29-$62 for regular performances, with some discounts available.

Go to theatreworks.org or call 650-463-1960.

‘Winter Blooms and Blossoms’

Dance

Company C Contemporary Ballet The program encompasses both the music of Otis Redding and modern minimalist Steve Reich, and tosses in a whimsical piece called “Nine-Person Ball Passing.” That’s this year’s winter program of Contemporary C Contemporary Ballet, the Walnut Creek-based group performing in Mountain View this weekend.

Reich’s music is paired with a Lar Lubovitch dance piece called “Cavalcade,” billed as an “explosion of movement.” The program also includes a new work choreographed

by Amy Seiwert, set to the soulful tunes of Redding.

This is the second season for Company C, whose artistic director is Charles Anderson, at the Mountain View Center for

31st ANNUAL TALL TREE AWARDS April 29, 2010 Crowne Plaza Cabaña 4290 El Camino Real Mediterranean Ballroom 5:30-7:00 p.m. Silent Auction 7:00-9:00 p.m. Dinner and Program

Honoring OUTSTANDING CITIZENS

VIC & MARY OJAKIAN OUTSTANDING PROFESSIONAL

ROXY RAPP OUTSTANDING BUSINESS

STERN MORTGAGE COMPANY OUTSTANDING NON-PROFIT

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Online registration: www: PaloAltoChamber.com FOR RESERVATIONS AND INFORMATION Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce

(650) 324-3121

St. Elizabeth

‘Return of the Prodigy’ Los Altos student Stephen Waarts has racked up a lot of acclaim for a 13-year-old violinist. He’s already made his Carnegie Hall debut, of course, and has appeared with the Kostroma Symphony Orchestra in Russia. Recently, he took the top prize in the youth division of KDFC radio’s Classical Star Search. He’s also pretty good at math.

Next Friday, March 12, Stephen may have a home-court advantage when he takes on the difficult Violin Concerto by Brahms. He’ll be performing in Menlo Park with the Silicon Valley Symphony, featured as violin soloist. The program also includes Beethoven’s “Egmont Overture” and four of Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dances.”

A few kids will get to emulate their elder when music director Michael Paul Gibson gives a mini-conducting lesson and invites some youngsters up to conduct a little Rossini.

The concert, called “Return of the Prodigy,” starts at 7:30 p.m. in Holy Tr i n ity Episcopal Church at 330 Ravenswood Ave.; tickets are $20 general, $15 for seniors and students, and free for kids ages 12 and younger accompanied by an adult.

Go to www.siliconvalleysymphony.net or call 408-873-9000.

So

15th annual A Benefit Golf Tournament for St. Elizabeth Seton School

Stanford Golf Course Monday, May 17, 2010 11 AM Shotgun For information, please call the Development Office

650-326-1258

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the Performing Arts. The company performs at the theater at 500 Castro St. this Saturday, March 6, at 8 p.m. and this Sunday, March 7, at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $21-$43 for adults and $19-$41 for seniors, students and children ages 12 and under.

Go to companycballet.org or call the center at 650-903-6000.

Music

rty

Aaron Jackson and other dancers from Company C Contemporary Ballet perform at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts this weekend.

‘Sunsets and Margaritas’

Ma

by Rebecca Wallace ust think: That argument you’re always making against rampant consumerism would be so much cooler in claymation.

Fortunately, there’s a festival for that. The city of Palo Alto is once again seeking submissions of short films for its annual Greenlight Earth Day Film Festival.

Projects must deal with issues of “environmental citizenship and show how individual actions can reduce our environmental impact,” according to a festival flier. Topics could include: climate change, ecofashion, endangered species, local policy-makers on the environment, and carbon offsets used during travel.

There are three entry categories: students in grades six through eight, students in grades nine through 12, and non-student folks. Filmmakers must live, work or attend school in Palo Alto, Stanford, East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Menlo Park, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Atherton, Sunnyvale or San Jose.

Sometimes the best argument is a short one. Submitted films must be 10 minutes or less, although it is possible to hand in a 10-minute excerpt from a longer piece. There is no entry fee or limit on genres, so bring on the satires, animation, music videos, documentaries, sci-fi films and reality-TV pieces.

Judges for the festival are drawn from the film industry, environmental agencies and local schools.

The entry deadline is March 26, with the film festival planned for April 15. That night, the top entries in each category will be shown starting at 7 p.m. in the Cubberley Theater, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Monetary prizes will be granted to winners, and entries will be shown on cable TV and online.

For more information, go to www. cityofpaloalto.org/greenlight or go to 650-494-8686, ext. 39. N

Worth a Look

THE PALO ALTO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND THE PALO ALTO WEEKLY are pleased to announce the

*Sponsors needed - various levels available

St. Elizabeth Seton School is a Catholic Community school that offers a realistic private school choice for East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park families. Seton’s doors are open to all students regardless of their ethnic, religious and socio-economic background. *> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ >ÀV Êx]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 27

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tertaining, especially with mindnumbing CGI exhaustion setting in early. Only one element consistently fires on all cylinders: the spot-on Red Queen. Carter has a grand old time emotionally abusing everyone in her path and, of course, ordering beheadings. In the film’s most artful use of digital effects, Carter’s head balloons into a wide-angle without the lens; her noggin is the one part of the film you’ll be glad to find overblown.

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Page 28ĂŠUĂŠ >Ă€VÂ…ĂŠx]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

From left, Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska and Anne Hathaway in “Alice in Wonderland.� puzzle of body consciousness to Alice in Wonderland gain entry into Wonderland.

-Thus begins an unconvincing (Century 16, Century 20) As we know all too well by now, the mashup of “The Wizard of Oz� pernicious next step from Holly- and, oh, let’s say “Beetle Juice.� wood’s culture of sequels has been Depp’s carrot-topped, Kabukia culture dominated by remakes faced Mad Hatter is a partly efand “reboots� and “reimagin- fective, insane but sweet stand-in ings.� This commercial imperative for the Scarecrow, while the Red has made stylists like Tim Burton Queen and White Queen (Anne very much in demand to bring Hathaway) have a Wicked Witch fresh perspectives to shopworn of the West, Good Witch of the stories. So when Disney decided North thing going on. It doesn’t to dust off “Alice in Wonderland� help that Hathaway charmlessly for another go — recognizing the acts as if lost in a druggy haze, concept has been done to death in and that the literary Alice’s definevery medium — the studio opted ing characteristic, her precocious impertinence, becomes somewhat for a 3D romp, Burton-style.

It couldn’t have been too hard lost in Wasikowska’s sleepy transa sell: mega-bucks to burn and lation.

Woolverton replaces the quaint choice, tailor-made parts for Burton’s two most frequent screen charm of Carroll’s set pieces with partners, Johnny Depp and Hel- a plot built around the “Jabberena Bonham Carter. But despite wocky� poem from “Through the Depp’s Mad Hatter and Carter’s Looking-Glass.� A magic parchRed Queen, the “inspiration� on ment known as the “Oraculum� display feels, well, old hat. Here lays out Wonderland’s day-at-aagain are the gnarled trees, blasted time destiny, predicting “the frablandscapes, and coterie of weird jous day� when Alice will assume characters, except more garish and the “vorpal sword� and slay the lacking in the narrative vitality Red Queen’s agent of destruction, needed to complement the design. the Jabberwock. It’s a (rote) jourToo much of the film flies on au- ney to self-discovery of a throwtopilot, turbulence and all, to an down woman-warrior role, comill-at-ease destination. (This Alice plete with suit of armor.

It’s all more tiresome than enfaces a capitalist fate that leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.)

Screenwriter Linda Woolverton (“Beauty and the Beast�) takes a similar approach to “Hook,� Steven Spielberg’s revisit of “Peter Pan�: a time jump and convenient amnesia allow an older hero — in this case Mia Wasikowska’s 19year-old Alice — to rediscover the childhood adventures depicted in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland� and “Through the Looking-Glass.�

This Alice is a runaway bride of sorts, taking “a moment� away from the marriage proposal of a Victorian prig. In short order, she tumbles down the ol’ rabbit hole (the film’s one notably effective 3D sequence). In the chamber below, Tahar Rahim in “A Prophet.� she reenacts Carroll’s pre-feminist

Rated PG for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar. One hour, 48 minutes. — Peter Canavese

A Prophet ---1/2

(Palo Alto Square) A prophet is a sign of the times: past, present and future. To hear him tell it, 19-year-old Malik El Djebena has no past to speak of, other than to profess his innocence on a charge of tussling with cops. Wisely, he’s more focused on the present concern of survival in prison as he serves a six-year sentence.

And filmmaker Jacques Audiard suggests Malik is the future, an up-and-coming Arab lad who, though unwelcome, carves out a space in French society. The French crime drama “A Prophet� also covers the spread from past to future, with its distinctive genre take and anointing of a new leading man in Tahar Rahim.

Days into his sentence, Malik (Rahim) gets tangled up with the Corsican mobster who runs the joint. CĂŠsar Luciani (Niels Arestrup) is the go-to guy, even for knocking off soon-to-be-witnesses like Reyeb (Hichem Yacoubi). But since Reyeb is both wary and almost entirely inaccessible, CĂŠsar “recruitsâ€? Reyeb’s fellow Arab Malik with a do-or-die ultima-

MOVIE TIMES A Prophet (R) (((1/2

Palo Alto Square: 1:30, 4:45 & 8 p.m.

A Single Man (R) ((((

Aquarius: 3:30 & 9:15 p.m.

Alice in Wonderland (PG) ((

Century 16: 11:40 a.m.; 1, 2:25, 3:45, 5:10, 6:30, 7:55, 9:15 & 10:30 p.m.; In 3D at 11 a.m.; 12:20, 1:45, 3:05, 4:30, 5:50, 7:15, 8:35 & 9:55 p.m. Century 20: 11:55 a.m.; 1:20, 2:40, 4:05, 5:20, 6:40, 8:05, 9:25 & 10:45 p.m. (Sat. & Sun. also at 10:40 a.m.); In 3D at 11:15 a.m.; 12:45, 2, 3:20, 4:45, 7:30, 8:45 & 10:15 p.m. (Sat.-Thu. also at 6 p.m.)

Avatar (PG-13) (((

Century 16: Fri. & Sun.-Thu. at 11:55 a.m.; 3:30, 7 & 10:25 p.m.; Sat. at 11:55 a.m.; 3:30, 7:10 & 10:30 p.m. Century 20: 10:25 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 7:10 p.m.; In 3D at 12:35, 4:20 & 8 p.m.

Best Picture & Best Century 16: Sat. at noon. Century 20: Sat. at noon.

Director Festival (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) The Blind Side (PG-13) ((

Century 20: 1:40 & 7:05 p.m.; Tue.-Thu. also at 4:25 & 10:05 p.m.

The Boondock Saints Century 16: Thu. at 7:30 p.m. Century 20: Thu. at 7:30 10th Anniversary p.m.

Event (R) (Not Reviewed) Brooklyn’s Finest (R) ((1/2

Century 16: 1:10, 4:10, 7:10 & 10:10 p.m. Century 20: 11:35 a.m.; 1:05, 2:45, 4:10, 5:50, 7:15, 8:55 & 10:20 p.m.; Sat. & Sun. also at 10:20 a.m.

Cop Out (R) ((

Century 16: 12:05, 1:15, 2:40, 3:55, 5:15, 7:50 & 10:20 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 6:35 & 9:10 p.m. Century 20: 11:50 a.m.; 1:10, 2:30, 3:50, 5:10, 6:35, 7:55, 9:15 & 10:30 p.m.; Sat. & Sun. also at 10:10 a.m.

The Crazies (R) (Not Reviewed)

Century 16: 12:15 & 2:55 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 5:25, 8 & 10:25 p.m. Century 20: 11:40 a.m.; 12:50, 2:25, 3:35, 4:55, 6:10, 7:25, 8:40 & 10:10 p.m.; Sat. & Sun. also at 10:20 a.m.

Crazy Heart (R) (((

Century 16: 11:15 a.m.; 1:50, 4:25, 7:25 & 10 p.m. Century 20: 11:30 a.m.; 2, 4:45, 7:20 & 9:55 p.m.

The Ghost Writer (PG-13) (((1/2

Century 20: 11:25 a.m.; 1, 2:20, 3:55, 5:15, 6:55, 8:10 & 9:50 p.m.; Sat. & Sun. also at 10:15 a.m. Palo Alto Square: 1:25, 4:20 & 7:15 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 10:10 p.m.

It’s Complicated (R) (((

Century 16: Fri., Sun. & Mon. at 1:40 & 7:20 p.m.; Tue. at 1:20 & 4:15 p.m.; Wed.-Thu. at 1:20, 4:15, 7:20 & 10:05 p.m.

The Last Station (R) ((1/2

Guild: 3:15, 6 & 8:45 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 12:30 p.m.

Oscar-Nominated Aquarius Theatre: 2 & 7 p.m.

Animated Shorts (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Oscar-Nominated Aquarius Theatre: 4:30 & 9:30 p.m.

Live-Action Shorts (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Percy Jackson & the Century 16: 11:20 a.m.; 2:05, 4:50, 7:35 & 10:20 p.m.

Olympians: The Century 20: 11:10 a.m.; 1:55, 4:40, 7:35 & 10:20 p.m.

Lightning Thief (PG) (Not Reviewed) The Rocky Horror Guild: Sat. at midnight.

Picture Show (R) (Not Reviewed) Shutter Island (R) (((

Century 16: 11:05 a.m.; 12:35, 2:10, 3:40, 5:20, 6:55, 8:25 & 10:15 p.m. Century 20: 11:30 a.m.; 12:55, 2:35, 4, 5:45, 7:15, 8:50 & 10:25 p.m.

Tooth Fairy (PG) (Not Reviewed)

Century 20: 11:45 a.m.; 2:15 & 4:50 p.m.

Up in the Air (R) (((1/2

Century 16: Fri., Sun. & Mon. at 11:10 a.m.; 4:45 & 10:05 p.m. Century 20: Fri., Sun. & Mon. at 11:10 a.m.; 4:30 & 10:05 p.m.

Valentine’s Day (PG-13) ((1/2

Century 16: 1:05, 4, 6:50 & 9:40 p.m. Century 20: 11:20 a.m.; 2:15, 5:05, 7:50 & 10:35 p.m.

The White Ribbon (R) ((((

Aquarius: 6 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 12:30 p.m.

The Yellow Century 16: 11:30 a.m.; 2, 4:35, 7:05 & 9:35 p.m.

Handkerchief (PG-13) (Not Reviewed)

ON THE WEB: The most up-to-date movie listings at www.PaloAltoOnline.com Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (266-9260) Century Cinema 16: 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View (800-326-3264) Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City (800-326-3264) CinĂŠArts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (493-3456) Guild: 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (266-9260) Internet address: For show times, plot synopses, trailers and more information about films playing, go to Palo Alto Online at http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/

tum: Kill or be killed. The early turning point that is the death match of Malik and Reyeb will haunt the rest of the film, not least because of Reyeb’s lesson: “The idea is to leave here a little smarter.�

Ironically, the advice is offered by a man who will never leave to the man assigned to kill him. Still, Malik will take the lesson to heart. And Reyeb will take up residence — for quite some time — in Malik’s stillmalleable psyche.

Yes, Malik’s story is “an education,� for the young man and the audience (and despite the lack of Carey Mulligan, “A Prophet� is

also up for a prominent Oscar: Best Foreign Language Film). The tension between Arabs and Corsicans palpably hits upon social discomfort in contemporary France, but Audiard’s film — co-scripted by the director, Thomas Bidegain; and Abdel Raouf Dafri and Nicolas Peufaillit — focuses more on the gangster archetype of a naif’s rise to power.

It’s sometimes clumsy, constantly threatened, and reliant on strategy and timing.

Audiard has called his film “the anti-‘Scarface,’� presumably because of the overstatement and gangster-chic of that tale’s Ameri-

And the Oscar goes to ... you tell us!

The 2010 Academy Awards are right around the red carpet, and now you have a chance to voice your opinion on which films will gather gold. Will “The Hurt Locker� blast “Avatar� in the Best Picture category? Go online to select your picks for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and the rest of Oscar categories in the first annual Palo Alto Online Oscar Challenge.

The person with the most correct picks will win tickets for two to Century Theatre and dinner for two ($50 value). The winner will be announced Monday, March 8, and the deadline to enter is Sunday, March 7, at 5 p.m. One entry per person.

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards are being co-hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin and will air live Sunday, March 7, at 5 p.m. Think you’ve got your finger on the pulse of the Academy? Well, then on with the show.... Go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/Oscars to vote.

(unnamed) ghost writer hired to rewrite the autobiography of former Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). Disconcertingly, the ghost’s predecessor lately washed up on the shores of Cape Cod, not far from Lang’s seaside property.

Though the circumstances are suspicious, the death is deemed an accident; still, no sooner does the new ghost arrive than a scandal involving Lang blows up in the press.

Suddenly facing war-crime charges, Lang appears to have authorized the illegal use of British Special Forces for a secret kidnap culminating in CIA torture. And with that, the book becomes a hot commodity, with editors demanding that the ghost cut his one-month work time in half.

Paring down Lang’s windy tome will be no easy task. “All the words are there,� the ghost deadpans. “They’re just in the wrong order.�

Adding to the pressure: the louche Lang’s hair-trigger temper; his wife (Olivia Williams), also emotionally unstable; and protestors swarming the property line. But all else pales next to a growing suspicion that Lang and his friends in high places have conspired to cover up yet more damaging secrets, secrets that just may have gotten one ghost

killed and his replacement in mortal danger.

The plot of “The Ghost Writer� is serviceable, but it’s basically an “airplane read� elevated by dialogue (Polanski shares screenplay credit with the source novel’s author, Robert Harris). Unlike many of Polanski’s earlier exercises in the mystery, thriller and horror genres, from “Chinatown� to “The Ninth Gate,� this film isn’t much interested in well-placed shock tactics. The most delicious scene here is a long, squirmy dialogue between the ghost and Paul Emmett (Tom Wilkinson, superb): a high-powered old friend of Lang who would rather not be known for it.

The director’s shrewd and witty approach to the material demonstrates his finely tuned sense of the absurd. Partly, he takes a personal interest in boundaries and the escaping of them. The story’s many gated communities seem to hold people in as much as they hold people out (and, ironically, Polanski had to finish cutting the film from jail).

Polanski also tells several sharp visual jokes, at least one of which doubles as a metaphor: a servant sweeping up brush on the deck of (continued on next page)

can tellings. Malik is all about flying under the radar, and his film’s aesthetic, though as nightmarish as “Scarface,� is grotty rather than gaudy.

Malik’s boxed-in circumstances certainly press ethical questions for the viewer, but in Rahim’s psychologically acute performance, Malik is never less than understandable.

More often than not, he’s disturbingly sympathetic. Quietly, Malik develops from someone whose only hope is to survive to someone who finds pride in his ability to thrive, albeit within a corrupt system.

He knows he’s smarter than the next guy, more instinctive, built to last. Luciani’s role likewise gives Arestrup (who also appeared in Audiard’s “The Beat That My Heart Skippedâ€?) an opportunity to play more than a stereotype. Callous and a bit careless, CĂŠsar is a hurtful man, but he hasn’t lost the capacity to be hurt. The years-long negotiation of terms between CĂŠsar and Malik leads to a future only one of them was visionary enough to see.

Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material. Two hours, 35 minutes. — Peter Canavese

The Ghost Writer ---1/2

(Palo Alto Square, Century 20) Few filmmakers make a better case that the story is in the telling than Roman Polanski. The director’s 18th feature, the conspiracy yarn “The Ghost Writer,� exudes excellence in its confident rhythm and incisive attention to intellect and emotion.

Above all, there’s an ineffable je ne sais quoi to Polanski’s style, an audio-visual elan.

Like other cinematic old masters, Polanski has his pick of top-tier talent. Ewan McGregor plays this mystery’s dogged flatfoot, a professional

NO PASSES ACCEPTED

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Movies

STANFORD THEATER

The Stanford Theatre is at 221 University Ave. in Palo Alto. Go to www.stanfordtheatre.org or call 650-324-3700.

Ikiru (1952) A man with terminal cancer tries to make his last six months meaningful. Fri. at 7:30 p.m.

! " #

One Wonderful Sunday (1947) Amongst the rubble of war, a poor Tokyo couple find a way to make one day memorable. Fri. at 5:30 & 10:05 p.m.

Stray Dog (1949) A young homicide detective has his pistol stolen. Sat.-Tue. at 7:30 p.m. (Sat. & Sun. also at 3:25 p.m.)

“MASTERFUL. . �

Drunken Angel (1948) A tippling doctor bonds with a gangster.

Sat.-Tue. at 5:40 & 9:45 p.m.

â€œâ€Śdelectably amusingâ€Śâ€˜The Ghost Writer’ is irresistible‌ this very fine film from welcome start to finish.â€?

High and Low (1963) An executive falls prey to extortion. Wed.-Fri at 7:30 p.m.

–– Roger Roger Ebert, Ebert, CHICAGO CHICAGO SUN-TIMES SUN-TIMES

–– Manohla Manohla Dargis, Dargis, THE THE NEW NEW YORK YORK TIMES TIMES

“Deliciously unsettling. A dark pearl of a movie whose great flair makes it Polanski’s best work in quite a while.� –– Kenneth Kenneth Turan, Turan, LOS LOS ANGELES ANGELES TIMES TIMES

I Live In Fear (1955) An elderly Japanese man, terrified of nuclear war, wants his family to leave the country with him. Wed.-Fri. at 5:35 & 10:05 p.m. (continued from previous page)

the windy beachfront home. It’s as comically futile a task as anything any character attempts in the film.

Rated PG-13 for language, brief nudity/sexuality, some violence and a drug reference. Two hours, eight minutes. — Peter Canavese

Brooklyn’s Finest --1/2

Š 2010 SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

MOBILE USERS: For Showtimes, Text Message GHOSTWRITER and Your ZIP CODE to 43KIX (43549)

STARTS FRIDAY, MARCH 5 Cinemark "# % $ " $ Cinemark "! " !

Redwood City 800/FANDANGO 990# 3000 El Camino 800/FANDANGO 914# " " " % ! # " ! $" !

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(Century 16, Century 20) Director Antoine Fuqua’s bad cop-bad cop movie looks like a bleak follow-up to “Training Day.� Ethan Hawke’s ethical rookie cop in the 2001 movie has seemingly moved from L.A. to Brooklyn and crossed over to the dark side. He has plenty of company walking the questionable edge of the thin blue line.

Sound familiar? After Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed� and television fare like “The Shield,�

the dirty-cop genre feels as weary as the policemen patrolling the urban jungles. Fuqua has spit-polished the production with his signature flair, giving the movie’s dangerous exteriors a slick yet ominous visual look.

And the tension? Tautly stretched from start to finish.

But somewhere along the way, the message gets cut down by bullets and drowned in blood. Too bad.

Screenwriter Michael C. Martin sets a promising philosophical tone with the first dialogue exchange as Carlo (Vincent D’Onofrio) sits in a parked car with Sal (Hawke), talking about a case not being about “right and wrong but righter or wronger.� The narrative threads three storylines about stereotypical cops in different phases of their career and with different moral dilemmas: the burnedout patrolman (Richard Gere) slated for retirement in seven days, the narcotics detective (Hawke) in need of money to provide for his sick wife

(Lili Taylor) and growing family, and the undercover cop (Don Cheadle) who befriended a drug kingpin (Wesley Snipes) but wants his life back.

The cast performs with such intensity that the characters are riveting, even when their choices make little sense other than to pump up the action. Violence erupts out of nowhere, surprising the viewer as much as the victim. Sal, in particular, wields the way of the gun with the same disregard for human life as the drug dealers operating in the highest crime precinct of Brooklyn.

That’s the point. Good cops turn bad. Innocents die. The projects become a tinderbox, and police cover-ups ensue. The NYPD stories unspool independently, until they conveniently — and unconvincingly — cross paths in “Crash� fashion at the blood-splattered climax.

In one powerful scene, Fuqua exercises his music-video chops with a nod to Hitchcock’s famous “knife� sequence from his first sound film, “Blackmail.� Sal goes rogue cop to steal money from a bigtime drug operation. As he moves alone through the apartment, blowing people away and rifling through cupboards for cash, the word “money� resounds repeatedly from the song lyrics playing on the radio. Sal can think of nothing else.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing else for the viewer to think about either.

Rated: R for bloody violence throughout, strong sexuality, nudity, drug content and pervasive language. 2 hours, 13 minutes. — Susan Tavernetti To view the trailer for “Alice in Wonderland,� “A Prophet,� “Brooklyn’s Finest� and “The Ghost Writer go to Palo Alto Online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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1313 Newell Road

March22nd 10 January Doors open at at7pm 7pm Doors open Movie 7:30pm Movie 7:30pm

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Eric Rohmer‘s series “DELICATESSEN� �Comedies and Proverbs�

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Jean-Pierre Jeunet Pauline at the Beach�

(Director of Amelie)

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Fri & Sat Only 3/5-3/6 The Ghost Writer 1:25, 4:20, 7:15, 10:10 The Prophet 1:30, 4:45, 8:00 Sun - Thurs 3/7-3/11 The Ghost Writer 1:25, 4:20, 7:15 The Prophet 1:30, 4:45, 8:00

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Jean-Marie Apostolides, Pascal Benezech Stanfordwith French Film Professor, Moderator Pinon 1 9 8 3Dominique film b y E ric Ro h m e r.

Karin Viard Wo n 3 Awa rd s + N o m in a tio n WJean-Claude ith Am a n d aDreyfus L a n g le t Arie lle Do m b a s le Reserve your seat, get a discount Pa s c a l Gre g o ry online at: www.frenchfilmclubofpaloalto.org

Reserve your seat, get a discount online at

www.frenchfilmclubofpaloalto.org Established Established in in 1977, 1977, the French Film Club Club is is an an independent independent non-profit non-proďŹ t Organization, Organization, open open to to the public.

Forfull fullprogram programand anddiscounted archives, go to: For tickets

or to email us, go to: frenchďŹ lmclubofpaloalto.org frenchfilmclubofpaloalto.org

MEXICAN The Oaxacan Kitchen 321-8003 Authentic Mexican Restaurant 2323 Birch Street, Palo Alto 1 ÊUÊ

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of the week

also visit us at 6 Bay Area Farmer’s Markets www.theoaxacankitchen.com

PIZZA Pizza Chicago 424-9400 4115 El Camino Real, Palo Alto This IS the best pizza in town

AMERICAN

CHINESE

Armadillo Willy’s 941-2922

Peking Duck 856-3338

1031 N. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos

2310 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Range: $5.00-13.00

We also deliver.

Hobee’s 856-6124

Su Hong – Menlo Park

4224 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Dining Phone: 323–6852

Also at Town & Country Village,

To Go: 322–4631

Palo Alto 327-4111

Winner, Palo Alto Weekly “Best Of”

Spot A Pizza 324-3131 115 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto

Burmese

www.spotpizza.com

POLYNESIAN Trader Vic’s 849-9800 4269 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Dinner Mon-Thurs 5-10pm; Fri-Sat 5-11pm; Sun 4:30 - 9:30pm

8 years in a row!

Available for private luncheons

INDIAN

Lounge open nightly

Green Elephant Gourmet (650) 494-7391

Darbar Indian Cuisine 321-6688

Burmese & Chinese Cuisine

129 Lytton, Downtown Palo Alto

3950 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto

Lunch Buffet M-F; Open 7 days

(Charleston Shopping Center)

Voted Best Pizza in Palo Alto

Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-6 pm

SEAFOOD Cook’s Seafood 325-0604 751 El Camino Real, Menlo Park

Janta Indian Restaurant 462-5903

Seafood Dinners from

Dine-In, Take-Out, Local Delivery-Catering

369 Lytton Ave., Downtown Palo Alto

$6.95 to $10.95

CHINESE

Lunch Buffet M-F; Organic Veggies

Scott’s Seafood 323-1555

Chef Chu’s (650) 948-2696

ITALIAN

1067 N. San Antonio Road

Spalti Ristorante 327-9390

lunch and dinner

on the corner of El Camino, Los Altos

417 California Ave, Palo Alto

Happy Hour 7 days a week 4-7 pm

2008 Best Chinese

ÝµÕ Ã ÌiÊ `ÊUÊ"ÕÌ` ÀÊ }

Full Bar, Banquets, Outdoor Seating

MV Voice & PA Weekly

www.spalti.com

www.scottsseafoodpa.com

Jing Jing 328-6885

Pizzeria Venti 650-254-1120

THAI

443 Emerson St., Palo Alto

1390 Pear Ave, Mountain View

Thaiphoon Restaurant 323-7700

Authentic Szechwan, Hunan

www.MvPizzeriaVenti.com

543 Emerson St., Palo Alto

Food To Go, Delivery

Fresh, Chef Inspired Italian Food

Full Bar, Outdoor Seating

www.jingjinggourmet.com

JAPANESE & SUSHI

www.thaiphoonrestaurant.com

Open 7 days a week serving breakfast,

Ming’s 856-7700 1700 Embarcadero East, Palo Alto www.mings.com New Tung Kee Noodle House 520 Showers Dr., MV in San Antonio Ctr.

#1 Town & Country Village, Palo Alto

Fuki Sushi 494-9383 4119 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

(Charleston Shoppping Center)

TEL: 650.494.7391 Fax: 650.494.0645

Best Thai Restaurant in Palo Alto 3 Years in a Row, 2006-2007-2008

STEAKHOUSE

Open 7 days a Week Sundance the Steakhouse 321-6798

MEXICAN

3950 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA

1921 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30 am-2:00pm

Voted MV Voice Best ‘01, ‘02, ‘03 & ‘04

Palo Alto Sol 328-8840

Dinner: Mon-Thu 5:00-10:00pm

Prices start at $4.75

408 California Ave, Palo Alto

Fri-Sat 5:00-10:30pm, Sun 5:00-9:00pm

947-8888

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www.sundancethesteakhouse.com

Search a complete listing of local restaurant reviews by location or type of food on PaloAltoOnline.com

Palo Alto Weekly • March 5, 2010 • Page 31

Eating Out RESTAURANT REVIEW

Turn up the heat Sri Lankan dishes come alive at Spicy Leaves in Los Altos

by Sheila Himmel been pining for since being introduced at a short-lived Sri Lankan restaurant in San Jose. They soak up sauce but retain their integrity.

For now, that job is accomplished by rice and Spicy Leaves’ range of very good flatbreads, from plain naan ($2.25) to a sweet Peshawari naan ($3.95) stuffed with nuts and dried fruits, glazed in honey and butter. Ajwaiu paratha ($3.95) is made from wholewheat flour sprinkled with aromatic, caraway-like ajwaiu fruit.

While perusing the menu, nibble on crisp, cone-shaped lentil wafers with very good tamarind and cilantro chutneys.

Michele Le

F

In one of Spicy Leaves’ appetizers, aloo tikki, deep-fried potato patties are served with garbanzo beans.

DINNER BY THE MOVIES AT SHORELINE’S

Pizzeria Venti

or once, the name of a restaurant gives you a hint about what to expect. The Sri Lankan food at Los Altos’ Spicy Leaves, our one and only local Sri Lankan restaurant, is a little spicy.

Frequently called “the teardrop of India� because of its geography and history, the island nation formerly named Ceylon has a lot going for its cuisine. Manager Haran Shaik and chef Rajesh Selvarathnam are gradually upping the Sri Lankan quotient of the menu at Spicy Leaves, which also features such local favorite Indian foods as butter chicken and lots of vegetarian dishes.

Soon there will be string hoppers, the thin rice noodles I’ve

(continued on next page)

The History Spaghetti alla Carbonara The origins of Spaghetti alla Carbonara are obscure but few dishes conjure up a more loyal following. The name is derived from the Italian word for charcoal where the dish was made popular as a meal for the charcoal makers. Still others going so far as to say it was named for a secret society the “Carbonariâ€? as tribute during Italy’s uniďŹ cation. Since the dish is unrecorded prior to 1927 it will forever be intertwined with the closing days of World War II. And while some historians attribute its creation TO HUNGRY !MERICAN SOLDIERS IN 2OME IT RARELY REACHES THE HEIGHTS IN THIS COUNTRY THAT IT DOES IN 2OME "EYOND ASSUMPTIONS IT IS MOST LIKELY AN OLD RECIPE PASSED DOWN FOR GENERATION TO GENERATION IN THE SHEPHERDING REGIONS SURROUNDING 2OME Carbonara is the pinnacle of perfection in pasta, surpassing even the more foundational Aglio e Olio (garlic and oil). In a good Carbonara, the creaminess comes not from cream, but from the perfect use of eggs against the residual heat of the spaghetti. Correctly done, spaghetti alla Carbonara is a textural and sensual study in classic cooking. Never MADE AHEAD OF TIME ONLY TO ORDER YOUR CULINARY JOURNEY TO 2OME DURING THE WAR YEARS begins here at Pizzeria Venti.

From our kitchen to yours.

Buon appetito!

Chef Marco Salvi, Executive Chef

Spaghetti alla Carbonara s EGGS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE s CUP PECORINO 2OMANO 0ARMIGIANO 2EGGIANO OR A COMBINATION s TEASPOON FRESHLY ground black pepper

s OUNCES PANCETTA CUT ABOUT INCH THICK SLICES CUT INTO INCH LONG STRIPS s TABLESPOON SALT s POUND IMPORTED SPAGHETTI

To cook: In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the cheese and black pepper and

1390 Pear Ave., Mountain View (650) 254-1120 www.mvpizzeriaventi.com

Page 32 • March 5, 2010 • Palo Alto Weekly

Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday

set aside. In a medium skillet over low heat, cook the pancetta slowly, turning the pieces occasionally, for until they are cooked through and beginning to crisp. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti. Cook, until the pasta is al dente. Save 1 cup hot pasta water. Drain the pasta, add back the hot pasta water and return it immediately to the skillet. Stir to combine pasta and pancetta. Stir in the egg and cheese mixture and toss well to coat the pasta thoroughly to distribute it evenly.

Serve with a sprinkle of pecorino cheese.

Eating Out

ShopTalk

by Daryl Savage

SOUL FOOD AT THE TRACKS ... A big change is taking place at 109 California Ave. in Palo Alto, the site of numerous coffee shops throughout the years.

The last shop, Plantation Cafe, abruptly closed in June 2008 and the corner of California Avenue and Park Boulevard has sat vacant ever since. Enter Anthony McFadden, a local businessman who had an auto detailing shop for 15 years. “It was time to retire from detailing and open a restaurant,” he said of his soonto-open Mac’s by the Tracks. But opening at this particular location was a stretch. “This place had no kitchen so I had to build one, and no natural gas so I had

(continued from previous page)

The lunch buffet ($10.95) is a good way to sample both Sri Lankan and Indian sides of the menu. Have a little green salad and all the naan you can eat, but on our visit many of the dishes, including naan, were impoverished by being just lukewarm.

Best were creamy butter chicken, juicy tandoori chicken, and bengan bharta, in which eggplant is cooked down to a smoky jam with onions and garlic. I would go back and order each of those dishes.

My advice is to get a table where you can see buffet dishes as they are replenished, and eat accordingly. As it happened, the gulab jaman dessert, deep-fried milk balls that often are sticky and heavy, had just come from the fryer to the buffet table and were delicious.

Spicy Leaves’ soups ($3.50) include the traditional mulligatawany and an intriguing pumpkin-carrot. The chef’s chicken soup is well-stocked with tender pieces of breast meat, little curls of ramen-type noodles, corn, green beans and cilantro. It’s like a Thai coconut-milk soup.

Sri Lankan chicken curry ($13.95) also has coconut inflections, with two drumsticks slathered in a thick, salty-spicy-sweet tomato-onion curry.

Soupy yellow dal also has a nice kick. Pour some over rice.

Sri Lankan fish curry, made with tilapia ($12.95), packs a mouthful of harmonious spices including tiny cardamom seeds, tomato and coconut milk. Sri Lankan fish mackerel and potato cutlets ($4.95) were heavy and oily.

From the tandoor oven, chicken tikka kebabs ($13.95) were served on a sizzling platter with raw onions that keep cooking, and a lime for squeezing. Big, boneless hunks of breast meat were tender, the juices held in by slightly charred edges.

There wasn’t a lot of meat in the lamb biryani ($13.95), but it too was boneless and tender, nestled

to add a gas line,” McFadden said. Mac’s by the Tracks is one of the latest restaurants to go into Palo Alto, but McFadden is certainly not new to soul food.

“My grandma was a great cook. I grew up with the pressure cooker and the black cast-iron skillets.

That’s the kind of equipment I’ll use here. It will be a newfangled kitchen with old-fashioned ways,” he said. And plenty of comfort food. “It’s an itch that needs to be scratched. People want greens with meat in it. They want mac and cheese with real elbow macaroni, not the scalloped kind.

And they want real fried chicken,” he said. As far as a signature dish for the restaurant, he said:

in fluffy rice.

Most of the appetizers and a half-dozen entrées are vegetarian (all $9.95), including a cheese dish and a marinated cauliflower entree from the tandoor oven.

Nafiz palak paneer sets chunks of slightly sour farmer’s cheese into a bath of spicy spinach.

After all these acidic, fruity, spicy flavors, a palate-cleansing dessert seems like a good idea.

Disappointingly, the restaurant was out of its signature dessert, wattalappum ($4.50), the Sri Lankan crème caramel. To compensate, the cheerful host gave us a surprisingly light and aromatic rice pudding.

Amid the restaurant row at the Village Court Shopping Center, Spicy Leaves is not a decor standout. The carpet, the banquet chairs, the handful of design touches feel tired. Maybe they are leftovers from the previous tenant, Bombay Cafe.

Restrooms are upstairs. Note the “Watch your step” sign on the way down.

The first people of Sri Lanka were the Sinhalese, from Northern India. From the 16th century until independence in 1948, the island was ruled by a succession of Europeans: Portuguese, Dutch and British. But if Sri Lanka rings a bell today, it is probably because of the horrible, ongoing ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists.

Now we have a happier reason to think of Sri Lanka. Bring on the string hoppers! ■

“I’ll let the people decide. But personally I’m a catfish man. I love deep-fried catfish, made the old-fashioned way.”

the extensive menu that includes such items as schweinshaxn and rouladen, Nio says her best seller still is basic bratwurst.

ONE DOOR CLOSES, ANOTHER OPENS ... That’s the way German-food aficionados might view the turn of events in the restaurant business. It looks like Esther’s German Bakery and Cafe, at 987 San Antonio Road on the Los Altos/Palo Alto border, may be picking up the slack created when Elbe’s, Palo Alto’s only German restaurant, closed two months ago. For two years, Esther’s was open only for breakfast and lunch. It started serving dinners this week, with an expanded menu featuring traditional German supper fare.

“People have been asking me for a long time to open for dinner and I finally decided to do it,” owner Esther Nio said. “I’ve done my best to try to keep reasonable prices. With this economy, who can afford a big dinner?” Despite

SLIDERS HIT DOWNTOWN ...

A modern-day diner is about to open its front door in downtown Palo Alto. The Sliderbar Cafe at 324 University Ave. is restaurateur Ashwani Dhawan’s latest venture. Applying the concept of old-fashioned sliders to popular culture, Dhawan will be serving the all-day slider. “We’ll have sliders for breakfast, sliders for lunch and sliders for dinner,” he said. But these are a sharp contrast to the sliders of the 1950s.

The term “sliders” is thought to have originated at White Castle, a chain of restaurants known for its small square burgers.

The burgers were on the greasy side and as a result, they would easily slide down the throats of the customers. White Castle even trademarked the name of its burgers, but spelled it as

“Slyders.” Dhawan’s sliders could be viewed as several steps up from the original — nothing in the cafe will be fried. “We are going to bake our fries, chicken wings and onion rings,” Dhawan said.

“We use Niman Ranch beef and everything is organic,” he said. In addition, breakfast sliders come in different styles. “We have the Mediterranean breakfast slider, the Italian breakfast slider and the California breakfast slider,” he said. Breakfast sliders start at $1.99. The narrow 1,600-squarefoot site, which is half the former Gleim the Jeweler spot, will seat 45. Dhawan said 1 percent of all sales from the restaurant will go to local charities. He also owns Mantra, a 4-year-old Indian restaurant at 632 Emerson St. in Palo Alto.

Heard a rumor about your favorite store or business moving out, or in, down the block or across town? Daryl Savage will check it out. She can be e-mailed at shoptalk@paweekly.com.

Question: Where can you get a 4 course dinner in Palo Alto for less than $15?

Answer: The only authentic French crêperie on the Peninsula

Bistro Maxine

"Le Menu" prix fixe Served after 6pm Includes

548 Ramona Street j Palo Alto 650-323-1815 www.bistromaxine.com -------Tuesday - Friday: 8am to 2.30pm 6pm to 10pm Saturday: 8am to 10pm Sunday: 9am to 4pm

Soupe du jour (vegetarian) House salad Savory crêpe of your choice Dessert Only $14.95

PUBLIC NOTICE FORMER NAVAL AIR STATION MOFFETT FIELD Restoration Advisory Board Meeting February 2010 The next regular meeting of the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) for former Naval Air Station (NAS) Moffett Field will be held on: Thursday, March 11, 2010, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. at: Building 943 Eagle Room 1 NASA Parkway Mountain View, CA 94025 *Building 943 (Public Affairs Building) is located just before the main gate on NASA Parkway

Spicy Leaves 4546 El Camino Real, Suite A5 Los Altos 650-948-9463 www.spicyleaves.com

The RAB reviews and comments on plans and activities about the ongoing environmental studies and restoration activities under way at Moffett Field. Regular RAB meetings are open to the public and the Navy encourages your involvement.

Hours: Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. Dinner: 4-10 p.m.

Mon.-Thurs., 4-11 p.m. Fri.Sat., 4-9 p.m. Sun.

For more information, contact Ms. Kathy Stewart, Navy Base Realignment and Closure Environmental Coordinator at: (415) 743-4715 or kathryn.stewart@navy.mil.

To review documents on Moffett Field environmental restoration projects, please visit the information repository located at the Mountain View Public Library, 585 Franklin St., Mountain View, CA 94041, (650) 903-6337.

Visit the Navyʼs website at: http://www.bracpmo.navy.mil/basepage.aspx?baseid=52&state=California&name=moffett Palo Alto Weekly • March 5, 2010 • Page 33

Sports Shorts

Friday College baseball: UC Santa Barbara at Stanford, 6:30 p.m.; KZSU (90.1 FM) Men’s volleyball: UC San Diego at Stanford, 7 p.m.; KZSU (90.1 FM)

Saturday Women’s basketball: Stanford at Cal, 12:30 p.m.; Comcast Sports Net Bay Area College baseball: UC Santa Barbara at Stanford, 1 p.m.; KZSU (90.1 FM) Men’s basketball: Cal at Stanford, 3 p.m.; Fox Sports Net; XTRA Sports (860 AM); KZSU (90.1 FM) Men’s volleyball: Long Beach St. at Stanford, 7 p.m.; KZSU (90.1 FM)

Sunday College baseball: UC Santa Barbara at Stanford, 1 p.m.; KZSU (90.1 FM)

SPORTS ONLINE For expanded daily coverage of college and prep sports, please see our new site at www.PASportsOnline.com

Members of the Menlo-Atherton girls’ basketball team jump for joy as the buzzer sounds, signaling the Bears’ 54-51 overtime victory over Evergreen Valley on Wednesday night in a Central Coast Section Division I semifinal. The No. 10-seeded Bears earned a trip to the section finals on Saturday.

GIRLS’ CCS BASKETBALL

Some special shots at section titles Menlo-Atherton, Castilleja and Pinewood all driven to bring home a championship

by Keith Peters he Central Coast Section playoffs provide something for everyone who advances to the postseason, whether it’s a chance to chase a season goal, seek redemption or prove what everyone already may know.

Three local girls’ basketball teams head into section championship games this weekend seeking to achieve just those things.

For Menlo-Atherton, getting to the Division I finale on Saturday night is a fitting finish to the Bears’ goal of honoring one of their teammates, who lost her father last year.

For Castilleja, getting to the Division V final on Saturday morning is a chance to avenge last year’s loss to Pinewood in the title game.

And for Pinewood, reaching the Division V final against Castilleja provides just another opportunity to show everyone why the Panthers have been ranked No. 1 in the state in their division and why they have a legitimate chance to return to the state finals.

All this comes together on Saturday at Santa Clara University, which is just a stopover before all three teams head into the CIF NorCal playoffs beginning Tuesday. The

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CCS champs will earn a first-round home game (and quite possibly host through the semifinals) while the losers will have to travel.

For Menlo-Atherton, everything is just extra at this point in the season. The Bears set a goal of reaching their division title game and they have. They accomplished that with a 54-51 overtime victory over No. 3-seeded Evergreen Valley on Wednesday night at Mission College in Santa Clara.

The Bears (15-15), who have beaten the No. 2 and 3 seeds back to back, will play No. 1 seed North Salinas (23-3) in Saturday’s section title game at 6 p.m. North Salinas advanced with a 25-24 win over No. 5 San Benito. Menlo-Atherton last won a CCS title in 1993.

“We’ve been looking forward to this (title game) for a long time,” said M-A senior Jessica Tuliau.

“This is just amazing.”

Tuliau was in tears as she spoke, for a number of reasons. She was both happy that her team achieved its goal with the victory, but sad that her father was not there to see it.

Jeremiah Tuliau passed away last year. He had been a big supporter of (continued on page 39)

Keith Peters

ON THE AIR

Keith Peters

OF LOCAL NOTE . . . Palo Alto High grad and Harvard University senior Jeremy Lin is the Player of the Week in the Ivy League for helping the Crimson sweep Brown and Yale in basketball games last weekend. Lin has won the award four times. Lin had another stat-stuffing weekend as he averaged 17 points, six assists, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals despite playing just 28 minutes per game. He shot better than 61 percent from the floor (11-18 FG), 67 percent from long range and made 10-of-12 free throws (83.3 percent). In his final regularseason home game, Lin had a game-high 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting with five rebounds, five assists and five steals in only 30 minutes against Yale. He had eight points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals in the Brown win . . . Stanford graduates Jill Camarena and Erica McLain both won individual titles last weekend at the 2010 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M. Topfinishing athletes at the championships earn the opportunity to compete at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, March 1214, in Doha, Qatar. Camarena, a 2008 Olympian, won the women’s shot put with a best throw of 61 feet, 1 1/2 inches. For Camarena, it was her fifth career U.S. Indoor title to go along with her triumphs from 2005, ‘06, ‘07 & ‘09. McLain, the 2009 USA Outdoor runnerup and 2008 NCAA outdoor champion in the women’s triple jump, captured the national title despite fouling or passing on five of her six attempts. Her first leap of 46-1 1/2, however, was good enough to win the competition . . . Gunn High grad Ricky Navarro has been drafted by the Normal (Ill.) Cornbelters of the Frontier League following a solid showing in the 2010 Arizona Winter League — the nation’s premier winter instructional league for professional and aspiring professional baseball players.

M-A senior Jessica Tuliau (34) produced 12 points, hitting a big threepointer in overtime in a 54-51 overtime victory.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

MEN’S SWIMMING

Good shots for titles at CCS

The Streak at stake in the Pac-10 finals Winning a 29th straight conference meet title will be more difficult for the Cardinal after losing a top team member

Sacred Heart Prep, Pinewood take aim at section crowns against top-seeded opponents

by Keith Peters

I

by Keith Peters

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Keith Peters

Pinewood senior Max Lippe (15) had 23 points and 15 rebounds in 5345 CCS Division V semifinal win over Marina.

member the year of the meet. There have been simply too many team victories over the years.

This week, the No. 3-ranked Cardinal will be up against No. 1-ranked Arizona and No. 4 Cal, among others. The Bears feature sprinter Nathan Adrian, who won a gold medal on the USA’s 400-meter free relay that won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. He is the reigning Pac10 Swimmer of the Year.

Should Stanford make it 29 straight this week at the Belmont Olympic Plaza Pool in Long Beach, Kenney might not forget this one for some time. That’s because of who is not swimming for the Cardinal — junior Austin Staab.

Staab left the team, and school, in midseason for personal reasons. In doing so, he left a huge hole to fill.

He won the 100 fly at last season’s NCAA Championships. At the 2009 Pac-10 meet, he won the 100 fly, took second in the 50 free and 100 (continued on page 37)

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Stanford women continue their preparation for NCAA title bid No. 2-ranked Cardinal (17-0, 27-1) can finish off perfect year in Pac-10 by beating host Cal

by Rick Eymer “We have challenges ahead,” Pedayne Appel has plenty of moti- ersen said. “We’ll see how we can vation as the Stanford women’s use these last two games to get us basketball team prepares for its ready for California and to go into regular-season finale Saturday at the Pac-10 tournament with some California. Tipoff is scheduled for momentum.”

12:10 p.m.

The Cardinal, which has won 18 The ultimate goal is the national straight since losing to Connecticut, championship but in the meantime also can claim its first undefeated there are things which conference season in she and her team can eight years. work on correcting.

“They are so consis“It was be bad if we tent day in and day out were content,” Appel with what they do,” Arisaid. “We need to handle zona State coach Charli pressure better and we Turner Thorne said. need to rebound better.

“You have to give them Ultimately we need to credit.” work on all things.”

Appel, in particular, On the surface, the has become more of a second-ranked Cardinal presence the past two (17-0, 27-1) has little to weeks. She became the fret over. There’s anoth- Jayne Appel Pac-10 all-time rebounder Pac-10 championship ing leader in last Thursbanner to jam into Maples, the top day’s 63-42 win over Arizona State seed in the conference tournament and has 13 of her career 45 doubleis assured and likely a top seed for double contests this season. the NCAA tournament.

“It’s her senior year and it’s “Weíre not guaranteed anything in March,” Turner Thorne said. “She’s the NCAA,” Stanford’s Kayla Ped- really stepping it up and I’m sure ersen said. “So winning the (Pac-10) she will continue to do so.” tournament would be great, and, of The Cardinal beat Arizona, 75course, trying to show everybody 48, last Saturday. why we deserve a No. 1 seed.”

During the wining streak StanThis is not the time to relax ford has won 15 games by 20 or though, the players insist. It’s, really, more points. time to focus even sharper, to make “Every team gives you a puzzle to things crisper, to take their game to solve,” Stanford coach Tara VanDeranother, higher, level. veer said.

J Keith Peters

he Sacred Heart Prep and Pinewood boys’ basketball programs have a history in the Central Coast Section playoffs, although not much of one.

In 1995, the Gators defeated the Panthers in the Division V finals, 51-50. In 1992, Pinewood handed SHP a 64-50 defeat.

Both teams are back in the section championships this weekend at Santa Clara University, just not in the same bracket and certainly not playing each other. Both, however, have the same goal.

That would be to add to their previous section titles. Sacred Heart Prep has won three, the most recent in 2008 under current head coach Tony Martinelli. Pinewood has won two, the first in 1987 and the second in ‘92.

Both teams will be in similar situations this week. The Gators and Panthers are both seeded No. 2 in their respective divisions and will be facing No. 1-seeded teams.

Sacred Heart Prep (21-5) will bring a 13-game winning streak into the CCS Division IV championship game on Friday at Santa Clara University at 4:45 p.m. The Gators’ opponent, No. 1 Palma (23-3), will bring a 17-game winning streak.

“One of the streaks has to end,” said Martinelli. “This is a great opportunity. We haven’t won there (at Santa Clara) and would be our first Division IV title in school history.”

While both teams already have qualified for the CIF NorCal playoffs that begin next Tuesday, neither is looking past Friday’s showdown.

Martinelli, for one, believes his team has a pretty good shot “We’ve seen them a couple of times, and have a pretty good idea about them,” Martinelli said. “They have a big guy inside, but they don’t play much with a post presence.

(But) If they get it going from the 3, they could be tough.”

The main common opponent for both teams this season has been Pacific Grove. The Chieftans held on for a 58-56 on Dec. 18 while the Gators handed PG a 51-35 loss in the CCS quarterfinals last weekend.

“That’s kind of interesting,” Martinelli said of Palma’s game with Pacific Grove. “But I think the Palma game is a big one for Pacific Grove and all the other teams down there so they always get up for them.”

Menlo School is the other common opponent. Sacred Heart handled the Knights easily in two WBAL games this season while Palma beat Menlo in the CCS quarterfinals, 5343. Thus, SHP certainly won’t be in over its head on Friday.

Sacred Heart Prep advanced to its third CCS championship game since 2006 with a thrilling 55-54 victory over No. 3 seed Santa Cruz (19-10) on Tuesday night at Hartnell

t is known simply as The Streak, and there is nothing else like it in Division I men’s swimming.

As a matter of fact, it would take some digging to unearth another college team with more consecutive conference titles.

The Stanford men’s swimming and diving team owns The Streak.

It stands at 28 straight Pacific-10 Conference championships. It is monumental, twice as many as legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden won with his teams.

Stanford’s streak has taken on a life of its own, providing both motivation and fear each season.

“You don’t want to be the team that lost it, or the senior class that lost it,” said Stanford senior Eugene Godsoe.

It most years, winning the Pac-10 title was a slam dunk for Stanford.

Head coach Skip Kenney, however, recalled one year where his team had to win the final 400 free relay in order to steal away another title.

Kenney, however, couldn’t re-

Sacred Heart Prep junior Reed McConnell hit the game-winning shot in a 55-54 CCS Division IV semifinal win over Santa Cruz.

College in Salinas.

“It’s tough when you play a team three times,” said Martinelli, whose team beat the Cardinals twice in December. “We knew they had some film on us.”

Santa Cruz played man-to-man defense the last time the teams met.

This time the Cardinals played a 2-3 zone that collapsed on SHP’s interior players, most notably Ty Cobb.

“They were really focused on him,” Martinelli said of Cobb, who had 16 rebounds in the previous game. Against Santa Cruz, however, he rarely got his hands on the ball and thus one key offensive component for SHP was removed.

With the focus on the inside, Sacred Heart sophomore Cole McConnell came off the bench for five 3-pointers and a career-high 17 points.

Sacred Heart grabbed a five-point halftime lead but trailed by one entering the final period after scoring just six points in the third. The Gators trailed by two points with seven seconds to play when junior Reed McConnell hit a three-pointer from NBA range to give SHP a one-point lead.

With four seconds left, Santa Cruz called a time out. The Cardinals had (continued on page 36)

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Sports

Boys’ basketball (continued from page 36)

to go the length of the floor to score, but didn’t get a shot off.

Sacred Heart played without three key players — Spencer Rosekrans, Cal Baloff and Zach Watterson. All were out with injuries. All three are key players, especially late in the game when the Gators need to press. Martinelli believes all three will be ready for Friday’s championship game.

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SHP girls a win from CCS final Gators take on soccer No. 1 seed Scotts Valley in delayed CCS semfinal

by Keith Peters ans and parents of the Sacred Heart Prep boys’ basketball and girls’ soccer teams will either have to make a decision on Friday, or be able to negotiate the highways in the south Bay in quick fashion.

The Gators’ basketball squad will be playing in the Central Coast Section Division IV championship game at Santa Clara University at 4:45 p.m. The SHP girls’ soccer team will be playing a CCS Division III semifinal at Valley Christian High at 7 p.m.

For those who want to see both, there should be time. But, there’ll be no time to waste for those who want to see the start of both events.

The busy schedule came about as a result of the rainy weather this week. The soccer match originally was scheduled for Wednesday night, but Valley Christian’s FieldTurf facility received enough rain to make the field unplayable.

The big problem due to the switch is the Division III championship match, scheduled for Saturday at Valley Christian. Last year’s girls’ finals went off at 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. Should the Gators win on Friday night, there will be little turnaround time before the finals — unless they are pushed back.

The No. 4-seeded Gators (14-4-3) will face No. 1 Scotts Valley (152-3) in the Division III semifinals on Friday.

Sacred Heart, the defending champion, kept its hopes alive of repeating following a 2-0 quarterfinal victory over No. 5 Harbor last Saturday at Valley Christian High in San Jose.

The got the eventual winning goal from senior Lizzy Weisman in the second half, off an assist from Lauren Espeseth. Just to make sure, Geena Graumann added an insurance goal with Espeseth assisting again.

Scotts Valley advanced with a 5-4 penalty-kick win over No. 9 Saratoga after the teams played to a scoreless deadlock through regulation and overtime.

In another Division III quarterfinal, seventh-seeded Priory (106-6) saw its season end in a 1-0 loss to No. 2 Live Oak (13-4-4) at Piedmont Hills High. The Panthers outplayed Live Oak for most of the match, especially in the first half, but could not connect on any of their numerous scoring opportunities.

Early in the second half, Priory lost Alex Schnabel to an ankle injury. The Panthers already were missing Sarah Zuckerman (ankle injury) and Darrah Shields was only

F

Palo Alto junior Davante Adams (4) scored 17 points against Mitty and will be a key member of the senior class next season.

Keith Peters

Division II If the Mitty boys’ basketball team was still smarting from those backto-back losses to Palo Alto in the 2005 and ‘06 Central Coast Section championship games, well, the Monarchs certainly got some payback for them.

Second-seeded Mitty dominated in all facets of the game while rolling to a 62-39 victory over the No. 3 Vikings in a CCS Division II semifinal on Tuesday at Foothill College.

“They thoroughly outplayed us,” said Paly coach Bob Roehl. “When you get outplayed like that, you have to give the other team credit.”

Palo Alto (19-7) had only 11 points in the first half and turned the ball over 10 times during that time as Mitty (19-9) made a statement that it is a team to be reckoned with now, and in the future as the Monarchs return four starters next season.

Mitty advances to Friday’s section championship game against No. 1 seed St. Francis (26-2) at Santa Clara University at 8:30 p.m.

It was evident from the start that Palo Alto was going to be in for a long night as the Vikings had dif-

PREP ROUNDUP

Keith Peters

Division V Pinewood advanced to the CCS finals for the first time in 14 years with a 53-45 semifinal victory over No. 3 Marina (16-11) on Wednesday at Los Altos Hills. The No. 2-seeded Panthers (19-6) will face No. 1 St. Francis-Central Coast Catholic (26-1) in the section title game on Saturday at Santa Clara University at noon. St. Francis-CCC advanced with an 81-50 romp over No. 4 St. Tomas More.

“Marina was unbelievably athletic and scrappy and they fought hard,” said Pinewood coach Jason Peery.

“I’m proud of our guys who made a huge breakthrough tonight for our school. It’s been a long time and I’m so impressed with the poise they keep showing and they way they’re executing down the stretch in close games.”

Pinewood started with a dismal 1-for-15 shooting but rallied with a 20-point third quarter to take a lead it never surrendered. Senior Max Lippe led Pinewood with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Kyle Riches, who returned last game from a broken hand that had sidelined him for most of league play, started slowly but provided 11 second-half points and shutdown defense on Marinaís leading scorer, Thor Wiles. He was held to four points on 1-of-5 shooting in the second half.

Pinewood’s man-to-man defense held Marina to 8-of-26 shooting in the second half with no three pointers.

ficulty just getting off a good shot while never getting a second-shot opportunity as Mitty swept the boards.

“We thought we could drive and get some fouls, but we couldn’t,” said Roehl, who watched his team go without a field goal the entire second quarter.

The Monarchs, meanwhile, either made their first shot or followed misses in while racing to a 32-11 halftime lead. That effectively ended Palo Alto’s hopes of an upset. In the second quarter, the Vikings had more turnovers (seven) than points (four).

What did those 11 points mean to Roehl?

“That we get beaten by a lot,” he said.

The Vikings righted their sinking ship in the second half and played the Monarchs fairly evenly — Mitty held only a 30-25 scoring advantage. The Monarchs pulled four of their starters to begin the fourth quarter, but Paly rallied to trim its significant deficit to 47-29, forcing Mitty to return its starters to the floor.

Mitty’s talented 6-foot-6 freshman Aaron Gordon (brother of former Mitty standout Drew) threw down his second dunk with 4:01 left to play for a 56-30 lead, the Monarchs’ biggest of the game.

Despite the lopsided loss, Roehl thought his team’s second-half performance better represented the program than in the first half.

“We played the second half to compete,” he said. “And we did. We played like Paly basketball should play, so I’m very proud.”

Roehl was emotional as he spoke those words, tears welling up in his eyes. He took over the team six games into the season and pretty much started from scratch.

He did just that. After taking some lumps early, the Vikings battled their way to am 11-1 record during their championship run in the SCVAL De Anza Division. As the season progressed, the Vikings got better and followers began making comparisons to this team and the 2006 squad that won the CIF Division II state title.

Roehl was an assistant coach in ‘06 and made a large impact on those players. His presence this season also was felt as the Vikings played unselfishly and like a team.

The squad came a long way in a short time, thus Roehl was moved by the sudden end to the season on Tuesday.

Palo Alto junior Davante Adams led his team with nine points while senior Joseph Lin added seven. Gordon paced Mitty with 14 points and 16 rebounds while Stephen Meade, Mitty’s only senior starter, also had 14 points.

Five Palo Alto seniors walked off the court Tuesday — Brendan Rider, Niklas Wahlberg, Steven Kerr, Kevin Brown and Lin. The Vikings will return six — Adams, Max Schmarzo, Bill Gray, Tori Prati, Charlie Jones and freshman E.J. Floreal. It’s a solid group, certainly something for Roehl to work with next season — should he return.

The Vikings, however, know that Mitty may be even better next season. The future was on the floor for both teams Tuesday night. N

Palo Alto senior Joseph Lin (22) found himself dwarfed by the taller and talented Mitty defenders throughout Tuesday’s semifinal loss.

(continued on page 38)

Sports

Swimming

Pac-10 hoops

free and swam on four relays — one winning and three taking second.

“Austin is a bigger hole than we’ve had in the past,” Kenney said. “I’ve never had a team that depended on one guy so much.”

Staab holds school records in the 200 free (1:32.71) and 100 fly (44.18), ranks second all-time in the 100 free (42.06) and No. 3 in the 50 free (18.96). He’s also a member of the school record-holding 400 medley relay (3:06.43), along with Godsoe.

With Staab gone (he may return to school at a later date), Godsoe said Staab’s points need to be absorbed by the 19 swimmers who will compete this week.

“I think the math of it is that we have to score 2 points each (extra) to make up for Austin,” Godsoe said.

“Two points, that’s just moving up two spots. Definitely the hardest part of replacing Austin is on the relays.”

Godsoe swam on two relays at last year’s Pac-10 meet. This week he’ll likely swim on four. Godsoe, for one, is no slouch. He’s the defending champion in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes and ranks No. 2 all-time in school history in the 200 back (1:40.08) and No. 3 in the 100 back (45.49). He also is No. 5 all-time in the 100 fly (45.99), an event where he place fourth at Pac10s a year ago.

Since having shoulder surgery his freshman year and missing much of the season, Godsoe has improved each year.

“The confidence levels have risen every year,” he said. “I know my competitors now, how to swim against them and how to beat them.”

Godsoe has improved to the point where he has passed some of the school’s all-time greats like Olympians Jeff Rouse and Markus Rogan.

Kenney would not be surprised if Godsoe breaks school records in both backstrokes at either the Pac10 or NCAA meets.

“He’s one of those guys who are really, really gifted,” Kenney said.

“He’s a guy you can really count on.”

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Godsoe arrived from Greensboro, N.C., knowing full well the tradition of Stanford swimming and with its backstrokers.

“At every point in Stanford history, there’s a world-class backstroker,” said Godsoe, who is close to joining that elite group.

Godsoe knows his role at Pac-10s, which is to swim to his potential and lead by example. Often, a great swim can provide a wave of momentum for a team. Not having Staab available also has been a motivating factor as Stanford seeks to keep its legendary streak alive.

Stanford also will be without diver Dwight Dumais, who has been out with a shoulder injury. He won the 1-meter springboard at Pac-10s last season. With Dumais out, Stanford was down to one diver, Brent Eichenseer, during last weekend’s diving finals. Eichenseer finished third in the platform and 3-meter and fourth on the 1-meter board,

The Stanford men are also motivated to play California in its noon regular-season finale Saturday at Maples Pavilion and for different reasons.

Winning the last game would send the Cardinal (7-10, 13-16) into the Pac-10 tournament on a positive note and into the offseason upon which it has something to build.

The tournament seeding is of more immediate concern and when Stanford might have to play. The dreaded Wednesday game looms nightmarishly on the horizon. The Cardinal rests in sole possession of eighth place (seventh when you remove USC from the equation) and on the brink of having to play the first day.

Worse than playing the first game of the tournament is the shame associated with finishing so low in the standings.

Only the bottom two teams are eligible for Landry Fields the opening act.

“It’s good that we have a week before our last game,” Stanford senior Landry Fields said. “I expect we will work hard in practice and hopefully bounce back.”

Whoever winds up playing Wednesday will have to play three additional games in as many days to win the tournament title and the Pac-10’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

Never before has the conference tournament held as much importance for teams on the bubble and otherwise. Talk has it that unless someone else rather than Cal wins the tournament, only one Pac-10 team will be going dancing.

The RPI ratings, as of Monday, have three conference teams — California (21), Washington (53) and Arizona State (54) — ranked among the top 65. The Huskies and Sun Devils are definitely on the bubble, which should help Stanford this weekend.

A pair of wins by each would guarantee both, at the least, a good, long look as well as second and third in the conference.

If those two teams win out, then Stanford could finish as high as fifth in the conference. That’s providing the Cardinal can beat Cal, which has already clinched a tie for the Pac-10 title and the top seed in the conference tournament.

“Any time you play against your rival you’re always going to get up for it,” Cardinal coach Johnny Dawkins said. “It doesn’t matter what the records are, you can throw them out. I expect we’ll be prepared for a tough challenge against Cal.” It would also be nice if Washington State splits its two games as long as the loss is to Oregon.

In the end it’s all about pride for the Cardinal, and sending Fields off on a winning note. The postseason is another story. N

(continued from page 35)

(continued from page 35)

David Gonzales/Stanford Photo

Stanford senior Eugene Godsoe will play a key role in this week’s Pac-10 Championships in Long Beach while attempting to pick up points lost when Austin Staab left school for personal seasons at midseason.

David Gonzales/Stanford Photo

matching his performance from last year.

Kenney said yet another factor will be the absence of the full-body suits that made historic waves the past two years with countless world records. Those suits have been banned in collegiate competition.

The men are back to wearing the “jammers” or half suits that stretch from the waist to the ankle.

“How are swimmers going to make the adjustment?” Kenney questioned. “There is a difference in the suits. They (full-body) really affect speed into the wall and the breakout off the wall.”

Kenney believes the change in suits might affect the freshmen, who probably have been wearing the full suits most of their young careers.

That goes for his own freshmen, who will be counted upon more than ever to help keep The Streak alive.

“I really believe in this team, but we have to have a lot of help from the freshmen,” Kenney said.

Among the first-year swimmers who rank among the team leaders are Aaron Wayne (50, 100, 200 free), Matt Swanston (100 fly), Matt Thompson (100, 200 fly, 100 breast, 200 IM, 400 IM). Thompson, in fact, leads the team in both IM as well as the 200 back.

Kenney, of course, will look to his veterans like junior John Criste, the school recordholder in the 100 breast; sophomore Bobby Bollier, the school recordholder in the 200 fly; and sophomore Chad La Tourette, who holds the school mark in the 1,650 free.

Stanford men’s swim coach Skip Kenney, in his 31st season, has won an unprecedented 28 straight Pac-10 championship titles.

Sprinters like junior Alex Coville and senior David Dunford, plus sophomore breaststroker Curtis Lovelace and junior middle-distance standout David Mosko also will be counted upon for a lot of points.

Heading into the championships, Kenney wasn’t planning on any special speeches to his team.

“I say less than I used to,” he said.

“Because of The Streak, they all

know. They feel the pressure. (But), they all know what to do. The last thing I want to do is stand up and talk about that streak.”

All Stanford needs to do is pull off another team title on Saturday night. That will say it all.N (For daily updates on the Pac10 Championships, go to www.

PASportsOnline.com)

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Sports

Prep roundup (continued from page 36)

50 percent due to an ankle injury. To make matters worse, scoring leader Massiel Castellanos got taken out by the Live Oak keeper with about 15 minutes to play, quite possibly suffering a broken ankle. Live Oak wound up scoring in the final five minutes. “It certainly was not our best match, but a match I feel we let go because we failed to convert on good opportunities,� said Priory coach Armando Del Rio. “Adriana Cortes had very good shots from the outside, barely missing the top corners on three occasions. Defenders Melissa Perna and Molly Simpson were superb, in that very little (scoring) chances were allowed. So, it stings to lose on a long throw-in set piece, but that’s the game of soccer!�

At Valley Christian, No. 6 Menlo (14-3-4) had its season end with a 2-0 overtime loss to No. 3 Santa Cruz.

The match was scoreless at the end of regulation and the first overtime

before the Cardinals scored twice in the second OT period. “They scored twice in the 97th minute, four minutes from penalties,� said Menlo coach Donoson FitzGerald.

Santa Cruz scored on a header by Jordan Jenkins after a nice long run and cross. When FitzGerald moved up one of his fullbacks in an attempt to get the equalizer, Santa Cruz quickly scored again.

FitzGerald singled out Shannon Lacy, Mila Sheeline, Kelly Cavan, Nicole Fasola, Elle Laub and freshman Maya Norman for their play.

In a Division I quarterfinal at Terra Nova High in Pacifica, No. 9 seed Palo Alto (9-9-2) played No. 1 Woodside tough before finally falling, 1-0. The Wildcats (18-0-3) scored in the 77th minute with Chelsea Braun providing the goal.

Paly played without starting keeper Alex Kershner, who was called up by the Olympic Development Program to represent the western region in a tournament in Portugal.

Replacing Kershner was freshman Erin Chang, who played well in her first varsity start.

Softball A second straight outstanding pitching performance by Castilleja senior Sammy Albanese went for naught as the Gators had to settle for a 5-5 deadlock with visiting Live Oak in a nonleague softball game on Tuesday. Albanese did her part by striking out a season-high 20 in 7 1/3 innings. The game was finally called by darkness after nine innings. Albanese struck out 19 in her last game, also a tie. The Gators are now 1-0-2 while Albanese has 58 strikeouts. She had a triple and two RBI on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, freshman Claire Klausner tossed a no-hitter and struck out 13 as Gunn evened its season record with a 6-0 nonleague triumph over visiting Menlo-Atherton. Klausner, who just finished her basketball season last week, helped herself at the plate with two hits.

Teammates Brooke Binkley and Nicole Grimwood also had two hits. The Titans (1-1) also had their way on the basepaths as Grimwood swiped five bases, Nikki Schwardt stole four and Binkley two.N

Meet Jewelry Designer Donna Vock

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Victoria Fakalata

Will McConnell

Menlo-Atherton High

Sacred Heart Prep

The senior center scored 51 points in three CCS Division I basketball victories, including 20 points and a defensive effort that held No. 2 Gilroy’s 6-3 center to six points in a 50-46 upset triumph by the No. 10 Bears.

The junior forward produced 16 points with eight rebounds, two steals and a block as the No. 2-seeded Gators advanced to the semifinals of the CCS Division IV playoffs with a 51-35 triumph over No. 7 Pacific Grove.

Honorable mention Sammy Albanese

Davante Adams

Castilleja softball

Palo Alto basketball

Nicole Fasola*

Ty Cobb

Menlo soccer

Sacred Heart Prep basketball

Melissa Holland

Patrick Grimes

Sacred Heart Prep basketball

Kelly Jenks Palo Alto soccer

Menlo basketball

Darrah Shields

Donna and her deliciously unique jewels will be with us for an exclusive showing on: Ă€Âˆ`>Ăž]ĂŠ >Ă€VÂ…ĂŠÂŁĂ“ĂŒÂ…ĂŠUĂŠÂŁĂ“ÂŤÂ“ĂŠĂŒÂœĂŠĂˆÂŤÂ“ ->ĂŒĂ•Ă€`>Ăž]ĂŠ >Ă€VÂ…ĂŠÂŁĂŽĂŒÂ…ĂŠUĂŠÂŁÂŁ>Â“ĂŠĂŒÂœĂŠ{“

Menlo golf

Richard Harris Charlie Jones

Priory soccer

Palo Alto basketball

Jessica Tuliau

Max Lippe*

Menlo-Atherton basketball

Pinewood basketball * previous winner

To see video interviews of the Athletes of the Week, go to www.PASportsOnline.com

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her own on defense while Mitchell mixed it up under the boards. Mitchell hit one of two free throws with 1:48 left in regulation and Watson made two with 1:26 left for a 4443 lead. Evergreen’s Rachel Orosa made one of two with 45 seconds left to tie the game at 44. M-A had the ball for the final 17 seconds, but couldn’t game off a winning shot.

In the four-minute overtime, Mitchell hit four clutch free throws on consecutive trips down the floor for a 48-44 lead. The Cougars, however, tied it up with 1:49 to play.

That’s when Tuliau stepped up with perhaps the most important basket of her life, a clutch three-pointer with 31 seconds left for a 51-48 lead.

M-A’s Sela Tupuo made one of two free throws with 20.2 seconds left, with the missed shot going out of bounds in the Bears’ favor.

Tuliau was fouled on the inbounds play, making one of two for a 5348 lead. The Cougars rushed down court, with Jennifer Le firing in a three-pointer from well beyond NBA-range for a 53-51 game with 7.6 seconds to play.

Tuliau was immediately fouled and again made only one of two, keeping the door open for a possible game-tying trey. It never came and the Bears charged onto the court to celebrate.

Wimberley, who has been coaching the Bears since 1968 and won three straight CCS titles from 199193 (she also won in 1984), was exhausted and amazed once again.

“We knew Evergreen would swarm us on defense,” she said.

“But, we hit the free throws down the stretch and there was Jessica’s big shot . . . wow.”

Wow is right, and now the Bears have a shot at continuing their very special season.

“They believe,” Wimberly said.

the M-A girls’ team, always providing encouraging words after wins or losses.

“I always remember him sitting in the second or third row, wearing a blue jacket,” said M-A coach Pam Wimberly. “He was very supportive of the girls, the program and Jessica.”

Wimberly recalled how she first met the Jessica and her father.

“I remember Jessica and her dad were shooting around on our outdoor courts. She was in the fifth grade, I think, and she was shooting around with her two sisters. I remember him telling me that she’ll be here in five years. Sure enough, she was.”

Since the passing of her father, Jessica and her teammates banded together to honor him. The team dedicated this season to him while Jessica had her own personal tribute.

“Before each game,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks, “I have this little prayer that I do. I dedicate every game to him. I know he was here today.”

Tuliau’s father would have been proud of his daughter, and the M-A team. The Bears overcame some horrendous shooting and ballhandling as the shorter, quicker Cougars forced M-A into numerous turnovers throughout the game.

The Bears, however, never gave in and never gave up. They battled through the tough times, just like they did this season when senior Victoria Fakalata was academically ineligible for the first 15 games of the season. When she became eligible in January, M-A lost starting point guard Melody Turner for the same reason.

The 5-foot-11 Fakalata played Girls’ Division V herself into shape and lit a spark that Castilleja advanced to the chamhelped carry the Bears into the post- pionship for the second straight year season, where she has as junior Natasha von scored 69 points in the Kaeppler scored 27 four victories. points to spark the Fakalata contribNo. 3-seeded Gators uted 18 points in to a 45-34 victory over Wednesday’s victory.

No. 2-seeded Eastside However, both she Prep on Wednesday and sophomore Tennight at St. Francisnyson Jellins, fouled Central Coast Cathoout in the fourth lic in Watsonville. quarter. When FakaCastilleja will face lata left with 3:08 to top-seeded Pinewood play in regulation, (22-6) in the CCS Wimberly still wasn’t finals on Saturday overly concerned bemorning at Santa cause she had the 5-9 Clara University at Jellins as a backup 10 a.m. Pinewood, post. But when Jellins which defeated host fouled out with 2:13 St. Francis-CCC, 51left, Evergreen Val27, will be playing for ley converted a free Alexandria Flowers its 12th section crown throw for a 42-41 lead scored two big baskets. while Castilleja will and Wimberly was be seeking its first. worried.

The Gators (20-8) never trailed “When Victoria fouled out, it against Eastside Prep as they kept a was like, OK, we’ve got Tennyson,” safe distance from the Panthers for Wimberly said. “When when we lost the most part. Leading by a point Tennyson, I’m thinking we’re not after a quarter, Castilleja opened going to be able to win this thing.” the second frame with 10 straight to Sarah Mitchell and Sarah Watson push its lead to 11. Eastside fought both came off the bench to replace back, answering with seven straight Fakalata and Jellins. of its own to pull to within four, but “We had two bench players on the Castilleja pulled ahead and led by floor at the same time and not a lot seven at halftime. of scoring,” Wimberly said.

In the second half, Castilleja conThe 5-11 Watson, however, held tinued its shutdown defense while

Keith Peters

(continued from page 34)

M-A’s Sarah Watson (left) and Sarah Mitchell both played big roles in overtime. von Kaeppler scored 10 of her gamehigh 27 points, a school record for CCS play. Eastside was only able to trim two points off of Castilleja’s halftime advantage. In the fourth, the Gators slowly put the game out of reach. Castilleja scored the first eight points in the final frame, receiving timely baskets from Tayo Amos and Lauren Rantz as the Gatorsí lead grew to 13. Castilleja was able to bleed the clock over the final four minutes as Eastside failed to cut away at the deficit.

Eastside’s leading scorer, Ahjalee Harvey was held to 17 points as Amos and Riya Modi did not allow the versatile junior to get into a rhythm. What really hurt the Panthers was not having senior Felicia Anderson in the lineup for the second straight game. With Anderson out for unspecified reasons, it was easier for the Gators to concentrate their efforts in slowing Harvey down. In two earlier victories over Castilleja, Harvey had scored a total of 56 points.

Castilleja senior Eve Zelinger was held without a field goal for the first time in her career, snapping a school-record streak of 109 games with at least one basket. The Panthers were determined to not let Zelinger take over the game as they played a box-and-one defense on the senior shooting guard. That, however, allowed von Kaeppler to dominate inside.

In the other Division V semifinal in Watsonville, Pinewood will have the opportunity to shoot for a 12th section championship following an impressive 51-27 victory over host St. Francis-Central Coast Catholic.

The CCS finale on Saturday will be a rematch of last season’s title game won by the Panthers, 43-41.

M-A sophomore Tennyson Jellins (42) had 10 points and battled on the boards.

Keith Peters

CCS girls

Keith Peters

Sports

Menlo-Atherton senior Victoria Fakalata (40) scored 18 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

Pinewood blew the game open with a 25-3 run over the final 11 minutes of the first half, triggered by a 17-3 bulge in the second quarter. St. Francis-CCC was held to 1-of-12 shooting during that run as Pinewood’s swarming defense forced 10 turnovers. Holding on to a 34-14 halftime lead, the game was effectively over at that point as Pinewood had too much depth, talent and quickness for the host Sharkes.

Pinewood junior Hailie Eackles led the way with 21 points while fellow junior Miranda Seto added nine.

Girls’ Division IV Fifth-seeded Sacred Heart Prep saw its postseason run end in a 6428 loss to top-seeded Santa Cruz (23-5) in a section semifinal on Tuesday in Santa Cruz. The Gators (10-18) had trouble with the Cardinals’ press in a game matching SHP’s inexperienced freshmen and sophomores against a home team with the veteran experience of eight seniors. SHP freshman Helen Gannon led her team with 10 points and seven rebounds while fellow freshman Melissa Holland contributed seven rebounds. N

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Community Health Education Programs Palo Alto Center 795 El Camino Real Lecture and Workshops 650-853-4873 Managing Chronic Pain Presented by Norman Banks, M.D., M.S., PAMF Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Tuesday, Mar. 9, 7 – 8:30 p.m.

Your Baby’s Doctor Wednesday, Mar. 17, 7 – 9 p.m.

Living Well Classes 650-853-2960 Functional Spine Training First Monday of each month, 5 – 6:30 p.m., 650-853-4873

What You Need to Know About Warfarin (Coumadin) Call for dates and time.

Mountain View Center 701 E. El Camino Real Lecture and Workshops 650-934-7373 Improving South Asian Health: Heart Disease and Diabetes Prevention Presented by Ronesh Sinha, M.D., and Seema Karnik, R.D. Thursday Mar. 11, 7 – 8 p.m.

Sleep and Your Child Marvin Small Memorial Parent Workshop Series Thursday, Mar. 25, 7 – 8:30 p.m.

Nutrition and Diabetes Classes 650-853-2961 Adult Weight Management Group Thursdays, 5:30 – 7 p.m.

Living Well with Diabetes Tuesdays, 4:30 – 7 p.m., or Fridays, 9:30 – noon

Bariatric Pre-Op Class First Tuesday of each month, 9:30 a.m. – noon

Heart Smart Class Third and fourth Tuesday of every other month, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Bariatric Nutrition SMA First Tuesday of each month, 10:30 a.m. – noon

Healthy Eating Type 2 Diabetes Every other month on the third Wednesday, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Prediabetes First Monday of the month, 9 – 11:30 a.m., and every other month of the third Wednesday, 4:30 – 7 p.m.

Gestational Diabetes Wednesdays, 2 – 4 p.m.

Feeding Your Toddler Thursdays every other month. Also in Los Altos, 650-853-2961

Preparing for Birth Thursdays, Mar. 4 – Apr. 8, 7 – 9:15 p.m., Saturdays, Mar. 6, 13 & 20, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., 650-853-2960 Preparing for Childbirth Without Medication Sunday, Mar. 21, 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., 650-853-2960 Breastfeeding: Secrets for Success Saturday, Mar. 27, 10 a.m. – noon, 650-853-2960

Free orientation session. Tuesdays, noon – 1 p.m., and Thursdays, 5 – 6:30 p.m.

Living Well Classes 650-934-7373 Teen Skin Care Saturday, Apr. 3, 10:30 a.m. – noon Supermarket Wise Thursday, Mar. 4, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Feeding Your Toddler Tuesday, Apr. 6, 7 – 9 p.m.

For all, register online or call 650-934-7373.

Heart Smart Class Second Tuesday of each month, 3:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Diabetes Class (two-part class) Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. – noon and Wednesdays, 2 – 4:30 p.m.

Prediabetes Third Thursday of each month, 2 – 4 p.m. Fourth Tuesday of each month, 3 – 5 p.m.

Sweet Success Gestational Diabetes Class Wednesdays, 9 a.m. – noon

Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and Child Care Classes Feeding Your Preschooler Thursdays every other month. Also in Los Altos, 650-853-2961 Introduction to Solids Offered in Palo Alto. Please call for dates, 650-853-2961.

Support Groups Cancer 650-342-3749 CPAP 650-853-4729 Diabetes 650-224-7872

HMR Weight Management Program 650-404-8260

Nutrition and Diabetes Classes 650-934-7177

Pregnancy, Breastfeeding & Child Care Classes Moving Through Pregnancy Mondays, Mar. 1, 8 & 15, 7 – 9 p.m., 650-853-2960

Effective Communication Strategies with Children Marvin Small Memorial Parent Workshop Series Presented by Susan Stone-Belton, ParentsPlace Tuesday, Mar. 9, 7 – 8:30 p.m.

Drug and Alcohol 650-853-2904 Healing Imagery for Cancer Patients 650-799-5512

Kidney 650-323-2225 Multiple Sclerosis 650-328-0179

Infant Emergencies and CPR Wednesday, Mar. 3, 17 & Apr. 7, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

What to Expect With Your Newborn Tuesday, Mar. 16, 7 – 8 p.m.

OB Orientation Thursdays, Mar. 4 & 18, 6:30 – 8 p.m.

Baby Care Saturday, Mar. 27, 10:30 a.m. – noon

Childbirth Preparation Thursdays, Fridays or Saturdays, Mar. 5, 6, 18 & Apr. 2 ,3 & 15.

Times vary by class.

Breastfeeding Your Newborn Monday or Tuesday, Apr. 5 or 6, 6:30 – 9 p.m.

Preparing for Baby Tuesday, Mar. 9, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

For all, register online or call 650-934-7373.

Free Appointments 650-934-7373 HICAP Counseling, Advance Health Care Directive Counseling, General Social Services (visits with our social worker)

Support Groups 650-934-7373 AWAKE

Bariatric Surgery

Breastfeeding

For a complete list of classes and class fees, lectures and health education resources, visit: pamf.org.

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