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Inside this issue:
Info Palo Alto resource guide
page 31
Experts discuss how to foster emotionally healthy teens – Part 2
MOONLIGHT RUN & WALK 2 WEEKS MOONLIGHT RUN&WALK TO GO
Spectrum 14
Movies 38
Arts 35
Eating Out 42
Puzzles 72
N News Palo Alto preps for disaster
Page 3
N Sports Stanford receiver catches on as big-play guy Page 24 N Title Pages ‘Hero Found’ tells of famous escape
Page 47
Pediatric Emergency Department
Orthopedic and Plastic Hand Surgeons
Pediatric Anesthesiologists
Occupational Therapists
Stanford School of Medicine
TOGETHER THE RIGHT TEAM SAVED A RIGHT HAND.
www.lpch.org
A broken window almost closed the door on Alexandre Acra’s use of his right hand. The accident severed two major nerves and a tendon in Alexandre’s wrist. Having one of the best pediatric hand surgeons in the world right in the neighborhood came in, well, handy. After surgery, a cast and a splint, and several weeks of rehabilitation, Alexandre’s back in full force: giving two thumbs up to his team at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Visit www.lpch.org to see more success stories.
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Upfront
1ST PLACE
BEST LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE California Newspaper Publishers Association
Local news, information and analysis
Palo Alto embarks on disaster preparations City assesses its emergency readiness with series of events by Sue Dremann alo Alto is not prepared for a should be, we’re probably a 3. It major disaster, but it’s better means all of us are under-prepared,” prepared than most cities. Burt said recently. That, at least, is the opinion of Emergency preparation is one of Mayor Pat Burt, a view echoed by the city’s top five priorities for 2010, other city officials. the City Council decided in Janu“By comparison to other cit- ary. September has been declared ies, Palo Alto is an 8. To where we emergency-preparedness month.
P
Part 1 in a series In the coming months, community groups and city officials will explore just how prepared — or unprepared — Palo Alto really is for disaster. The council has scheduled a study session on the topic Monday (Sept. 13). A series of community events have been planned for Septem-
ber and October to raise public awareness and help focus neighborhoods and schools prepare for a disaster. On Saturday (Sept. 11), Barron Park residents will participate in a tent-city drill, called “Quakeville,” in Juana Briones Park. The 18-hour event will test people’s abilities to cope in the aftermath of a disaster. If a major earthquake were to strike, various city systems — elec-
trical power, water, communications and the emergency-operations center — could be rendered either inoperable or minimally operable for days or weeks, according to police and city officials. “People should plan to be on their own not for three days but for two weeks. In a real catastrophe, police and fire aren’t going to be there,” Police and interim Fire Chief Den(continued on page 9)
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Auditor’s report details Taser firings Recent Taser deployments would have violated police department’s new guidelines
tion. He would’ve been at the press conference in solidarity. He believed so deeply in our tradition that God is a God of love; Jesus is a prince of peace. There is no room for hatred; there is no room for bigotry; there is no room for the kind of prejudice we’ve been seeing. It’s really appalling that it comes from Christians,” he said. Another minister reminded participants that in the 18th century Baptists were a persecuted group who supported the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Mixon said. “What goes around comes around,” Mixon added. “Those of us who have known oppression should stand with those being oppressed.” El-Bakri said his hope was for people to build the “twin towers of
by Gennady Sheyner ncidents in late 2009 and early 2010 in which Palo Alto police officers fired their Tasers at suspects would have violated the city’s new policy for deployment of the controversial stun guns, Independent Police Auditor Michael Gennaco has concluded in his new report. The report details five recent incidents of Taser use, including one in which an officer fired a Taser at a “young” burglary suspect who tried to run away from the officer. Some of the Taser deployments would have been appropriate under the previous department policy, which permits Taser use when suspects are “actively resisting,” which includes such actions as “tensing” or “bracing” to resist arrest. The new policy, adopted by the police department earlier this year, created a stricter standard and requires that the suspect “pose an immediate threat of physical injury before firing a Taser is appropriate.” In the case of the unnamed “young man,” the officer who fired the Taser appears to have violated even the original, less strict, policy. The officer fired the weapon after the young man ignored an officer’s order to stop and then began to run away. The officer missed, but the man, hearing the sound of the Taser, stopped running, lay down on the ground and allowed police to handcuff him. He had a small knife and a screwdriver in his pocket and was arrested for possession of burglary tools, according to the auditor’s report. Though a police supervisor initially determined the officer’s use
(continued on page 6)
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I
Galen Stolee
Something to chew on Goats graze on dry grass just off East Bayshore Road in Palo Alto Wednesday. The city brought them in as a fire-prevention method.
COMMUNITY
Faith leaders speak up for Muslims Multifaith group convenes in Palo Alto to take a stand by Sue Dremann
C
hristian, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders spoke out Wednesday in Palo Alto against rising bigotry toward Muslims and a plan (aborted on Thursday) by a small, nondenominational Christian group in Florida to burn the Quran, Islam’s most holy book, on Sept. 11. About 15 leaders gathered at First Baptist Church in Palo Alto to express their support for the Muslim
community and to ask people of all faith groups to practice tolerance. The leaders said they are concerned with opposition to building a mosque near where the Twin Towers in New York City were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001. They decried the planned “International Burn a Koran Day” by the 50 or so followers of Dove World Outreach Center Pastor Terry Jones in Gainesville, Fla.
Jones has called Islam the “religion of the devil” and has written a book entitled “Islam is of the Devil.” Among the speakers at the Wednesday press conference were Rev. Randle (Rick) Mixon, First Baptist Church of Palo Alto; Imam Aladdin El-Bakri of the West Valley Muslim Association in Saratoga; Samina Sundas, founding executive director of the American Muslim Voice; and Rabbi Sheldon Lewis, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Kol Emeth in Palo Alto. “I just got back from 10 days in Boise, Idaho, where I grew up and was visiting my family and my 92year-old mother,” Mixon said in a separate interview. “It stirred memories of my own father, who was a Baptist minister in the conservative, evangelical tradi-
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Upfront
Invites you to their TH
20
ANNIVERSARY
Exclusive Art Show & Sale
450 CAMBRIDGE AVE, PALO ALTO, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210 PUBLISHER William S. Johnson EDITORIAL Jay Thorwaldson, Editor Jocelyn Dong, Managing Editor Carol Blitzer, Associate Editor Keith Peters, Sports Editor Tyler Hanley, Express™ and Online Editor Rebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment Editor Rick Eymer, Assistant Sports Editor Chris Kenrick, Gennady Sheyner, Staff Writers Sue Dremann, Staff Writer, Special Sections Editor Karla Kane, Editorial Assistant Veronica Weber, Staff Photographer Dale Bentson, Colin Becht, Peter Canavese, Kit Davey, Iris Harrell, Sheila Himmel, Kevin Kirby, Jack McKinnon, Renata Polt, Jeanie Forte Smith, Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors Angela Chen, Ryan Deto, Robin Migdol, Georgia Wells, Editorial Interns DESIGN Shannon Corey, Design Director Raul Perez, Assistant Design Director Linda Atilano, Diane Haas, Scott Peterson, Paul Llewellyn, Senior Designers Gary Vennarucci, Designer
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PRODUCTION Jennifer Lindberg, Production Manager Dorothy Hassett, Samantha Mejia, Blanca Yoc, Sales & Production Coordinators ADVERTISING Walter Kupiec, Vice President, Sales & Marketing Judie Block, Esmeralda Flores, Janice Hoogner, Gary Whitman, Display Advertising Sales Neil Fine, Rosemary Lewkowitz, Real Estate Advertising Sales David Cirner, Irene Schwartz, Inside Advertising Sales Cathy Norfleet, Display Advertising Sales Asst. Diane Martin, Real Estate Advertising Assistants Alicia Santillan, Classified Administrative Asst. EXPRESS, ONLINE AND VIDEO SERVICES Rachel Palmer, Online Operations Coordinator Rachel Hatch, Multimedia Product Manager BUSINESS Penelope Ng, Payroll & Benefits Manager Elena Dineva, Mary McDonald, Cathy Stringari, Susie Ochoa, Doris Taylor, Business Associates ADMINISTRATION Amy Renalds, Assistant to the Publisher & Promotions Director Janice Covolo, Receptionist Ruben Espinoza, Courier EMBARCADERO MEDIA William S. Johnson, President Michael I. Naar, Vice President & CFO Walter Kupiec, Vice President, Sales & Marketing Frank A. Bravo, Director, Information Technology & Webmaster Connie Jo Cotton, Major Accounts Sales Manager Bob Lampkin, Director, Circulation & Mailing Services Alicia Santillan, Circulation Assistants Chris Planessi, Chip Poedjosoedarmo, Computer System Associates The Palo Alto Weekly (ISSN 0199-1159) is published every Friday by Embarcadero Media, 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, (650) 3268210. Periodicals postage paid at Palo Alto, CA and additional mailing offices. Adjudicated a newspaper of general circulation for Santa Clara County. The Palo Alto Weekly is delivered free to homes in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, East Palo Alto, to faculty and staff households on the Stanford campus and to portions of Los Altos Hills. If you are not currently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 326-8210. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. Copyright ©2010 by Embarcadero Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Printed by SFOP, Redwood City. The Palo Alto Weekly is available on the Internet via Palo Alto Online at: www.PaloAltoOnline.com Our e-mail addresses are: editor@paweekly.com, letters@paweekly.com, ads@paweekly.com. Missed delivery or start/stop your paper? Call 650 326-8210, or e-mail circulation@paweekly. com. You may also subscribe online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Subscriptions are $60/yr.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
‘‘
‘‘
WHERE PICTURE FRAMING IS AN ART .
We know we can live together peacefully. —Rabbi Sheldon Lewis, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Kol Emeth, who joined leaders of different faiths this week in decrying bigotry against Muslims. See story on page 3.
Around Town
A TALE OF TWO TIGERS ... There are many brown-and-gray tabby cats in the world, but only one Tiger Samson. And if he could talk, he’d have quite a tale to tell. Tiger, a nearly 2-year-old tomcat belonging to the Samson family of Palo Alto, embarked on a weeks-long adventure when he escaped from Palo Alto’s Classic Pet Grooming on Arastradero Road in early August — where he was to stay while his human family was on vacation. When Mark Samson and his kids, Emma and Craig, ages 10 and 6, returned to pick up Tiger, they were presented with one who looked similar to Tiger. But the Samson children insisted he was not their beloved pet. Besides, he was growling at the family. At first, Samson said the owner of Classic Pet Grooming said it was indeed their cat, but she eventually admitted that Tiger had escaped his kennel and disappeared shortly after arriving. The impostor cat turned out to belong to a neighbor. He was found in the yard to which the real Tiger had escaped and was presumed to be the right cat, the owner said. “We had hardly seen Tiger because he had been in his carrier and then escaped so quickly,” she said of the mistaken identity. An opening in the ceiling through which Tiger escaped has now been sealed off to prevent any future escapes, she added. She apologized, waived the boarding fee and put up lost-cat posters in the area. Then, a miracle: After 21 days of “heartache, tears and several false leads,” Samson said, a Mr. Sakazaki of Los Altos called the Samsons. He had recognized Tiger as a cat he’d seen hanging around his neighborhood, taken a photo of the “lost cat” poster with his iPhone to compare it, and tracked down the Samsons. A short trip to Los Altos later, with Sakazaki leading the way and Samson’s wife and children calling Tiger’s name, the wayward feline was joyfully reunited with his family and is now back home. Sakazaki has earned the Samsons’ gratitude — and a $200 reward. “He’s a hero,” Samson said of Sakazaki. MEN OF INFLUENCE ... He has conquered the world of social media and united 500 million people under his banner. It’s no wonder then that Facebook CEO
Mark Zuckerberg now tops Vanity Fair’s list of 100 most influential people of the Information Age. In anointing Zuckerberg as its “new Caesar” this month, the magazine alludes to a toga party he threw two years ago, when the company attracted its 100 millionth user, and mentions his sweaty, uncomfortable June interview with Wall Street Journal columnists over privacy issues. Zuckerberg isn’t the only notable local presence on the magazine’s 16th annual list, the Vanity Fair 100. Palo Alto resident and Apple CEO Steve Jobs is second on the list, while Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page (who met at Stanford University and had their office in Palo Alto before moving into the company’s current Mountain View headquarters) share third spot with the company’s CEO Eric Scmidt. In its introduction, the magazine acknowledges Palo Alto’s prominent role in the Information Age and calls the city “the Rome of our nascent millennium.” WANTED: A CLEAN, WELLLIGHTED PLACE ... It’s been a rough month for Friends of the Palo Alto Library, a group of volunteers that sells books and raises money for the city’s library system. On Aug. 9, a fire damaged the group’s headquarters at Cubberley Community Center, scorching walls, singeing thousands of books and leaving the group scrambling to find a new place for its book sales. Despite the setback, the plucky group will proceed with its monthly book sale, which will be held this Saturday and Sunday. The group announced that its main sale area would now be located next to the temporary Mitchell Park Library at Cubberley. In addition to this “main” room, the Friends group will also be selling books from the Children’s Room and the Bargain Room. Meanwhile, the group is seeking a permanent headquarters to accommodate future sales. Friends want the new place to be about 4,000 square feet, to have parking and to be located near Cubberley so that books and volunteers could be easily transferred between sales locations. Anyone with knowledge of such space is asked to e-mail info@friendspaloaltolib. org. N
Upfront LAND USE
Palo Alto shifts housing strategy City looks to transit corridors, mixed-use buildings to meet housing needs by Gennady Sheyner
P
alo Alto, a city with a reputation for affluence and astronomical property values, is banking on small apartments scattered near rail stations and bus corridors to meet its daunting “fair share� requirement for affordable housing. The city is in the process of putting together its Housing Element, a state-mandated document that lays out the city’s housing needs and its strategies for meeting those needs. The document also has to address what many city leaders agree is an impossible task: finding room for 2,860 units of new housing in a city that officials say has almost no land to spare. City planners discussed this dilemma with residents at a Tuesday evening workshop on the new Housing Element, which they hope to complete by early next year and which covers the period between 2007 and 2014. Though the final details are still being hashed out, planning officials indicated the new document would
concentrate new housing near Caltrain stations, within a quarter mile of El Camino Real and in mixed-use buildings. The strategy is a far departure from the city’s current Housing Element (1996 to 2006), which calls for the city to develop non-residential lands as residential and mixed use. It also calls for the city to “aggressively pursue a variety of housing opportunities that enhance character, diversity and vitality of the City� but does not dictate where this housing would be built. One reason for the city’s change in strategy is the recent mushrooming of dense, multi-family housing developments, particularly in south Palo Alto. Between 1996 and 2006, the city approved 1,713 units of housing, 316 more than its “fair share,� as determined by Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). Of these new units, 1,372 were built for residents of “above moderate� income. Since then, many residents
(continued on page 6)
COMMUNITY
Faith groups lobby for teen ‘connectedness’ Following suicides, local congregations worry about kids who ‘fall through the cracks’ by Chris Kenrick
P
alo Alto’s religious congregations have taken an active role in community discussions about the social and emotional health of local teens in the past year. Amid a multitude of plans to address teen mental health in the wake of five student suicides, faith-community representatives are insisting that programs be structured in such a way that no student can fall through the cracks. Beyond services in which students can participate on a voluntary basis, they are pushing for programs, such as JLS Middle School’s Panther Camp, that reach all kids, particularly those who never sign up for anything. “We think it’s fantastic that the (school) district is putting ‘student connectedness’ at the top of the agenda,� parent Greg Smitherman told the Board of Education recently. “We want to make sure the result is systematic, that it reaches every kid — especially the kid who’s not going to raise his hand and volunteer to be part of athletics, choir or a school team.� Smitherman is one of a group of
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church members who have met regularly since last October. The Midtown neighborhood church long has had an active youth program that welcomes teens from across the community. But, shaken by the suicides, a group of up to 30 St. Mark’s parishioners, from young parents to seniors, gathered to go beyond what was traditional. Their meetings evolved into a research-and-discussion forum about how to better support teens. Similar concerns were raised in other local congregations, including All Saints Episcopal Church, Congregation Beth Am, First Presbyterian Church, Iglesia Fuente de Vida, St. Bede’s, St. Thomas Aquinas, Our Lady of the Rosary and Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto. Once the St. Mark’s group satisfied itself that immediate concerns about suicide prevention were being addressed by others, members turned their attention to research on overall youth well-being. “When you looked through all
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Upfront
Multifaith
(continued from page 3)
love and compassion” and spoke of how many times in the Quran that Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus are mentioned in positive ways. Mohammad is mentioned only four times, he said. When burning the Quran, people are really burning the teachings of the Judeo-Christian traditions as well, he said. Lewis noted that Jews have experienced the burning of their sacred texts many times, including during the Nazi era. “I hope the result (of standing together) will be that we learn to relish each others’ sacred texts,” said Lewis, who said he planned to read the Quran again. He also said that rising anti-Islamic sentiment has spurred groups to “join hands with one another and to come to a new resolve about how important interfaith relations are and ... how much we (should) relish the diversity in community.” “In some ways, Muslims are newcomers in terms of their public presence and increasing number,” Lewis said. But Muslims are “just the kind of people we want. We share core values.” Extremism, however, can be found in all religious groups, he said. “Every faith tradition is capable of distortions, usually from extreme elements. It’s true in the Jewish tradition. It’s true in the Christian tradition. And it’s true in the Islamic tradition,” he said. “But the much larger moderate middle, the community of devoted adherents — we know we can live together peacefully.” He said his involvement in interfaith groups over the years has been
“a blessing.” “I can’t express how I’ve been blessed by the dialogue and by working together in so many ways,” said Lewis, who added that he found the press conference profoundly moving. Samina Sundas, founding executive director of American Muslim Voice, said that she believes most Americans are compassionate, kind and open-minded people and they don’t feel the same as Jones. “I believe that these groups (of extremists) are few and far between but they are loud and funded by special-interest groups. Write letters; speak. And join the human family,” she said. An interfaith rally will take place on Friday (Sept. 10) at James McEntee Plaza, 70 West Hedding St., San Jose, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Sundas said she hopes Palo Alto residents will attend. Multifaith Voices is hosting an Interfaith Witness for Peace gathering on Sept. 19 at Heritage Park on Channing Avenue in Palo Alto from 3 to 5 p.m. The World Peace Village, an inter-generational event where families and individuals can walk through six centers representing a center of worship for different faiths, will be on display at the park. At 4 p.m., an interfaith peace service at will be held at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 751 Waverley St., Palo Alto, with music, prayers and speakers from Palestine/Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan. Wednesday’s press conference was organized by The Santa Clara Council of Churches, Interfaith Council on Economics and Justice and was endorsed by dozens of interfaith and inter-community groups. N Managing Editor Jocelyn Dong contributed to this report.
Online This Week
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.
Is San Antonio shopping center revamp ahead? After being “underwhelmed” by the plan in May, a majority of the Mountain View City Council did not entirely reject revised plans to revamp a major portion of San Antonio shopping center at a study session on Tuesday. (Posted Sept. 9 at 10:05 a.m.)
Multi-vehicle crash cleared on Highway 101 A multi-vehicle crash snarled traffic on southbound Highway 101 at San Antonio Avenue Wednesday afternoon. (Posted Sept. 8 at 4:46 p.m.)
Palo Alto ‘Airport Day’ to be held Saturday The Palo Alto Airport Association is holding its biennial Airport Day event this Saturday, Sept. 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the airport on Embarcadero Road. Admission is free. (Posted Sept. 8 at 11:34 a.m.)
Power restored in downtown Palo Alto Power was restored to the 1,290 customers in downtown Palo Alto whose homes and businesses went dark for about 3 hours Tuesday night. (Posted Sept. 7 at 8:30 p.m.)
Coroner identifies Sept. 2 plane crash victims
10 AM to 4 PM
The third victim from Thursday’s plane crash into the Redwood Shores lagoon that killed all three passengers aboard has been identified by the San Mateo County Coroner’s office as 73-year-old William Heinicke of San Francisco. (Posted Sept. 7 at 8:48 a.m.)
Three Palo Alto fire engines heading for Oaxaca Some firefighters in Oaxaca, Mexico, will soon jump on El Marinaro to race to a fire. That will be the new designation — named for retired Palo Alto Fire Chief Nick Marinaro — for one of three older fire engines being transferred to Oaxaca in a bargain sale by the City of Palo Alto. (Posted Sept. 6 at 12:42 p.m.)
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Housing strategy (continued from page 5)
and city officials have criticized the new developments for increasing neighborhood traffic, providing inadequate parking and forcing local schools to accommodate more children. Others have lamented the transformation of local institutions such as the Hyatt Rickey’s and Palo Alto Bowl into housing developments. Though the bowling alley continues to operate, the city last year approved a proposal to build a hotel and townhouses on its land. Planning Director Curtis Williams said the influx of dense housing developments over the past decade, particularly in areas far from transit corridors, encouraged city planners and City Council members to be more selective about housing locations in the current Housing Element. The last Housing Element was much more “scattered” than the one staff is currently working on, he said. City Planner Ron Babiera said the city’s approach now is not to rezone sites from commercial to residential and to consider smaller units in mixed-use developments near major transit corridors, as the City Council had directed in May. The council specifically requested the city evaluate possible housing locations within areas that are “well-serviced by transit or are likely to be well-served.” The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is eyeing El Camino Real as one of several corridors on which it could launch its Bus Rapid Transit service. The city isn’t required to build the new housing but merely plan to accommodate it. Some residents at Tuesday’s workshop said they were skeptical about the prospect of more housing along El Camino Real, which they said isn’t particularly transit friendly. If the busy corridor doesn’t see an improvement in transit, the new housing could further worsen the driving and parking conditions in nearby neighborhoods, they said. “We feel real transit can lead to certain housing, not potential or theoretical transit,” said College Terrace resident Doria Summa, who participated in one of two “break-out groups” that discussed the city’s housing needs and challenges. “We agreed that it would be a mistake to base (housing) on some theoretical transit.” Babiera said the city faces a series of steep obstacles to meeting the “fair share” quota, including an existing shortage of affordable housing, limited available land and high property values. It’s not uncommon for people to spend five to seven years on the waiting list to get into one of Palo Alto’s existing affordable-housing facilities, he said. Palo Alto has been working on the new Housing Element for more than three years. In 2008, the state granted the city a two-year extension. Babiera said the city hopes to have a draft of the Housing Element approved by the council in December. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.
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