Palo Alto Weekly 03.16.2012 - section 1

Palo Alto

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City questions ‘new vision’ for high-speed rail Page 3

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Through art, kids reflect on growing up in Palo Alto Page 14

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Pulse 10

Spectrum 12

Eating Out 23

Movies 26

Puzzles 53

N Arts Interior designers offer art exhibitions

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N Sports Another kind of dance for Stanford

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N Home The ‘orchid lady’ shares her secrets

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Upfront

Local news, information and analysis

Palo Alto skeptical about ‘new vision’ for high-speed rail City worried its concerns will be ignored under pending agreement between transportation agencies

by Gennady Sheyner

A

new proposal by the California High-Speed Rail Authority to invest in rail improvements in the northern and southern sections of the controversial rail system is facing skepticism from Palo Alto and neighboring cities, where some elected officials argue that their cities are still being left

out of the statewide conversation.

The revised business plan, which top officials from the rail authority discussed at a crowded public hearing in Mountain View Tuesday night, March 13, will emphasize the “blended” approach — a design under which high-speed rail and Caltrain would share two tracks on the Peninsula.

The rail authority’s original design envisioned four tracks running along the Caltrain corridor, with high-speed trains running on the inside tracks and Caltrain on the outside tracks.

Rail authority board Chair Dan Richard and board member Jim Hartnett said Tuesday that the new plan, which the authority plans to release later this month, will rely heavily on existing rail infrastructure and that it would call for “early investments” in the Bay Area and in southern California.

But while the plan provides numerous carrots to the Peninsula, including a potential funding source for the long-awaited electrification of Caltrain, city officials have indicated that they aren’t willing to bite just yet.

The project continues to face intense scrutiny in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton, three cities that have sued the rail authority over its environmental documents. The Palo Alto City Council called for the project to be terminated, as the city’s official position. Early reactions from Peninsula

officials indicate that the authority’s latest revisions to its business plan are unlikely to change that.

Palo Alto’s skepticism over the latest plans by the authority bubbled up Thursday morning, March 15, at a meeting of the council’s Rail Committee, which approved a letter to Caltrain summarizing the city’s concerns about the new proposal from the authority. The city and its partners in the Peninsula Cities Con(continued on page 6)

EDUCATION COMMUNITY

Teachers question stiffer graduation rules Parents assert Palo Alto failing minority, low-income students

by Chris Kenrick

A

Kelsey Kienitz

Sabina Davis and Alan Lewis play in an open practice session at the Palo Alto Table Tennis Club at Cubberley Community Center in Palo Alto in early March. The club is one of the sponsors of the Mayor’s Challenge.

‘Mayor’s Challenge’ takes on neighborhood unity Residents could meet and find new connections at the first citywide athletic tournament

by Sue Dremann

W

hat if the mayor issued an invitation — and nobody came?

On March 25, the Mayor’s Challenge — a series of athletic events designed to bring neighborhoods together — will kick off with an open-play table tennis competition, which will take place at five venues around Palo Alto.

The challenge came out of discussions with Palo Alto Neighborhoods (PAN) leaders who said residential relationships have shifted toward less discourse and less interaction, Mayor Yiaway Yeh said.

As of Thursday, out of the city’s 64,000 residents, only 15 people had signed up for the inaugural event, according to Stephanie Hannah, director of communications

for the Palo Alto Family YMCA. The table tennis tournament, the first of the mayor’s challenges, is focusing on five locations throughout the city (see map).

The challenge is open to all age groups and there is no age limit.

So far three neighborhoods are represented — Barron Park, Green Acres and Triple El — and Hannah said she hopes there will be many more signups, even on event day. Yeh lives in the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood.

Some residents said they thought the challenge is a good idea, but others seemed uncertain about whether it would create a strong incentive to be more connected.

Neighborhood building, in whatever fashion, is an asset to crime

reduction and way of life, residents said, but the means for achieving connection seems as varied as the city’s 34 neighborhoods.

“I like the mayor’s plan to engage neighborhoods with each other; it’s always a good idea to increase contact and meet others within one’s community,” Southgate Neighborhood Watch coordinator Jim McFall said.

“Within a specific neighborhood, I feel even more strongly about the importance of connectedness and communication. The more we know our neighbors, the better the neighborhood, as well as the quality of life.

“I believe getting to personally (continued on page 6)

move to stiffen graduation requirements, by itself, will not boost the achievement of struggling students, high school teachers said Tuesday, March 13.

Department heads from Gunn and Palo Alto high schools met with the Board of Education to discuss a proposed phase-in of stiffer graduation requirements, so by 2018 they would fully align with entrance criteria for the University of California and California State University.

The proposal to stiffen requirements would not affect the vast majority of Palo Alto students, who already meet or exceed the UC/ CSU prerequisite coursework, the so-called “A-G requirements.”

Rather it is aimed at raising expectations for — and performance of — the roughly 20 percent each year who graduate without fulfilling them, a group that is disproportionately lowincome, African-American or Hispanic. For students with “explicit” plans that differ from the four-year college track, the new proposal would offer an opportunity for customized “alternative graduation requirements.”

The reform proposal is backed by the Parent Network for Students of Color, the Student Equity Action Network and We Can Do Better Palo Alto, a group lobbying to reduce academic stress.

Teachers did not explicitly endorse or reject the proposed new policy, which has been recommended by Superintendent Kevin Skelly.

But they cautioned that many new supports would be needed to foster success should the new requirements be adopted.

Several also said they worried about the “opportunity costs” in the new policy — for example, forcing struggling students into extra academic periods at the expense of sub-

jects they love and thrive in.

“I disagree with the belief that helping more students with ‘A-G’ can be accomplished simply by changing the graduation requirements,” Kathy Hawes, chair of Gunn’s math department, said.

“Changing the requirement will only result in more students meeting ‘A-G’ if we change our program in a significant way.

“When students in my class have difficulty I don’t make the quiz harder with the expectation they’ll work harder and do better. I ask, ‘What can I do differently to improve my instruction?’”

Teachers from an array of disciplines discussed recent efforts to boost the achievement of struggling students. At Paly, for example, studentteacher ratios in “regular lane” math classes are 12:1, compared to 37:1 in advanced calculus, according to math department head Radu Toma.

Gunn also has lower class sizes in its lower math lanes, and both high schools said they are experimenting with online learning for students in programs like the Khan Academy.

Special-education teachers reported there have been positive early results under a newly strengthened “inclusion model,” in which specialed teachers come into mainstream classrooms to co-teach classes in history, science, English and algebra.

The high schools also reported they are extending library hours and in-school tutoring opportunities for students. Still, some worried such measures would not be enough.

“What else can we offer instead of just the same thing over and over again?” asked Paly counselor Selene Singares. “That guy that kept push(continued on page 5)

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Upfront

GRAND OPENING SPECIAL PUBLISHER William S. Johnson

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EDITORIAL Jocelyn Dong, Editor Carol Blitzer, Associate Editor Keith Peters, Sports Editor Tyler Hanley, Express™ and Online Editor Rebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment Editor Rick Eymer, Assistant Sports Editor Tom Gibboney, Spectrum Editor Sue Dremann, Chris Kenrick, Gennady Sheyner, Staff Writers Eric Van Susteren, Editorial Assistant, Internship Coordinator Veronica Weber, Staff Photographer Kelsey Kienitz, Photo Intern Dale F. Bentson, Colin Becht, Peter Canavese, Kit Davey, Iris Harrell, Sheila Himmel, Chad Jones, Karla Kane, Kevin Kirby, Jack McKinnon, Jeanie K. Smith, Susan Tavernetti, Contributors Cristina Wong, Editorial Intern DESIGN Shannon Corey, Design Director Raul Perez, Assistant Design Director Linda Atilano, Diane Haas, Scott Peterson, Paul Llewellyn, Senior Designers Lili Cao, Designer PRODUCTION Jennifer Lindberg, Production Manager Dorothy Hassett, Samantha Mejia, Blanca Yoc, Sales & Production Coordinators ADVERTISING Tom Zahiralis, Vice President Sales & Advertising Judie Block, Adam Carter, Janice Hoogner, Brent Triantos, Display Advertising Sales Neal Fine, Carolyn Oliver, Rosemary Lewkowitz, Real Estate Advertising Sales David Cirner, Irene Schwartz, Inside Advertising Sales Cathy Norfleet, Display Advertising Sales Asst.

Diane Martin, Real Estate Advertising Asst.

Alicia Santillan, Classified Administrative Asst.

Wendy Suzuki, Advertising Sales Intern EXPRESS, ONLINE AND VIDEO SERVICES Rachel Palmer, Online Operations Coordinator Rachel Hatch, Multimedia Product Manager

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Sunday, March 18 at 2:30 pm Los Altos United Methodist Church 655 Magdalena (at Foothill) Los Altos Free reception at intermission

Thursday, March 22 1pm - 7pm A Heather Moore Senior Design Consultant will be present to help you design the perfect gift in time for Mother’s Day.

BUSINESS Susie Ochoa, Payroll & Benefits Elena Dineva, Mary McDonald, Claire McGibeny, Cathy Stringari, Business Associates ADMINISTRATION Janice Covolo, Doris Taylor, Receptionists Ruben Espinoza, Courier EMBARCADERO MEDIA William S. Johnson, President Michael I. Naar, Vice President & CFO Tom Zahiralis, Vice President Sales & Advertising Frank A. Bravo, Director, Information Technology & Webmaster Connie Jo Cotton, Major Accounts Sales Manager Bob Lampkin, Director, Circulation & Mailing Services Alicia Santillan, Circulation Assistant 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) 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 ©2012 by Embarcadero Media.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

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450 CAMBRIDGE AVE, PALO ALTO, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210

If we want a healthy community, we need to constantly work on our relationships.

— Penny Ellson, of the Greenmeadow Community Association, on building a sense of community through the Mayor’s Challenge. See story on page 3.

Around Town THE PLACE WHERE WE DWELL ...

If Palo Alto officials want to improve residents’ image of the city, transit would be a great place to start. According to the recently released Service Efforts and Accomplishments Report, a comprehensive document that is put out annually by the City Auditor’s Office and that the City Council plans to discuss Monday night, March 19, residents are not at all happy with the city’s bus or transit services. The National Citizen Survey, which complements the new report and compares Palo Alto to other benchmark cities, shows bus and transit services to be the city’s Achilles’ heel when it comes to image. It was the only category in which Palo Alto ranked “much below” other surveyed cities. The rest of the survey is unlikely to dent the city’s self-esteem. Palo Alto scored “much above” other jurisdictions, as rated by residents, when it comes to “overall quality of life,” “a place to live,” cleanliness, parks, police services and public schools.

ACROSS THE TRACKS ... It’s been a busy year for citizen task forces in Palo Alto. Just months after a specially appointed citizens group released a long-awaited report detailing the city’s infrastructure deficiencies, another 17-member group is putting the finishing touches on a report that focuses on a subject almost as complex as infrastructure — the city’s Caltrain corridor. The Rail Corridor Task Force report, which is still in draft form, has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, with the City Council Rail Committee taking it up last week (a discussion it will continue next month) and its Planning and Transportation Commission and Architectural Review Board taking their early stabs at it on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. The broad and wide-ranging report, which was more than a year in the making, zooms in on the Caltrain corridor, Alma Street and El Camino Real and identifies opportunities for major improvements. The report found, among many other things, that neighborhoods along the corridor are generally underserved when it comes to things such as schools and parks and that the city should pursue more east-to-west crossings across the corridor. While early reviews of the new report have been generally positive, Chair Judith

Wasserman of the ARB wondered what exactly the city would do with the new document. Wasserman compared the city’s slew of grand, strategic documents to an Indiana Jones movie in which sought-after artifacts are ultimately filed in a crate somewhere in a dusty warehouse.

“There have been innumerable studies — charettes, task forces, design workshops. There must be a special place in the Planning Department where all these things are covered in cobwebs.” City Planner Elena Lee said the city’s intent is to reference the document in the city’s Comprehensive Plan — its land-use bible — and to use the report to evaluate future transportation projects and the city’s capital program.

Meanwhile, residents will have a chance to chime in with their own views on the Caltrain corridor at a workshop that the city is holding on the new document later this month.

The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on March 29 in the Community Room at the Lucie Stern Community Center.

WELCOME FROM ABROAD ... Palo Alto’s student-exchange program with its sister city, Tsuchiura, was halted last year after a devastating earthquake rocked Japan and heavily damaged a nuclear plant near Tsuchiura. The students returned this year and received a special welcome from the City Council, which passed a resolution this week praising the relationship between the two cities and thanking the people of Tsuchiura for “their generosity and hospitality tended toward young people from Palo Alto for the last 19 years.” The feelings were clearly reciprocated. Manami Wada, who chaperoned the student delegation, told the council Monday she was really glad to have a chance to visit Palo Alto after last year’s cancellation. She thanked the people of Palo Alto for welcoming the students and for making donations to Tsuchiura after the quake. Mayor Yiaway Yeh, who had recently visited Tsuchiura, also disclosed at the end of Monday’s meeting that Palo Alto is about to receive an official gift from its sister city in Japan — a replica of Tsuchiura’s wooden sailboat with a mast and a sail, signifying its proximity to Kasumigaura Lake. The boat, he said, will be a welcome addition to City Hall. N

Upfront LAND USE

TRANSITIONS

‘Gateway’ building sparks concerns over parking

Family: Caltrain victim lost battle against mental illness

Council members ask developers to reduce number of floors, revise application for development near Caltrain station

by Gennady Sheyner n ambitious proposal to con- change for dramatically exceeding struct a high-profile “gateway” the city’s zoning regulations. building at a prominent corner Concerns over the new buildof downtown Palo Alto is facing ing’s parking impacts also loomed resistance from residents worried large during Monday’s discussion. about the new building’s parking Residents and property owners from impacts and concerns from city of- Downtown North and other nearby ficials about its size and benefits. neighborhoods attended the meetThe issues over parking and “ben- ing, with many arguing that the projefits” bubbled up at the Monday, ect is far too large and that it would March 12, public hearing for the burden the neighborhood with more “Lytton Gateway” project, a mara- cars than it can accommodate. thon discussion that featured testimoThe project, as proposed, would ny from about 20 residents, a series of include 130 parking spaces, includsplit votes and a wide-ranging debate ing eight outdoor spaces that would by the City Council about what they be open to the public and 14 underwant to see in the new building. Faced ground spots that would be available with competing priorities, council to the public on nights and weekends. members ultimately decided to defer The development would also include a final decision on the project. a valet-parking system that would alInstead, the council voted 6-3 — low the building to accommodate 164 with Councilwomen Karen Holman, cars, and a transportation-demand Nancy Shepherd and Gail Price dis- management plan geared toward getsenting — to direct the applicants ting people out of their vehicles in fato further revise the application and vor of other modes of transportation. to consider reducing the number of This includes buying Caltrain Go stories in the project.

Passes for the building’s occupants.

The development under discussion Boyd Smith of the applicant team — a five-story building featuring told the council that his group has three stories of office space, ground- been meeting with neighborhood floor retail, 14 apartments and an residents and striving to meet their underground garage — would stand concerns about parking. Unlike most at Alma Street and Lytton Avenue, of downtown, the residential Downnear the downtown Caltrain station. town North currently doesn’t have The applicants — Lund Smith, Boyd any parking restrictions, a situation Smith, Scott Foster and Jim Baer that prompts many office workers to — characterized the project as the leave their cars in the neighborhood, perfect example of a transit-oriented various residents told the council. development — a dense, mixed-use Many have called for a parkingbuilding next to a major transit site. permit program that would limit the Various downtown property amount of time nonresidents can owners have come out in favor of park in the neighborhood. Smith the project, as has the Sierra Club, said the applicants are willing to which wrote a letter supporting pay the city $250,000 for a study to the dense development because of evaluate possible parking solutions its proximity to Caltrain. The Palo for the neighborhood.

Alto Housing Corporation, a local “We have done everything we nonprofit that manages the city’s can to be thoughtful and responsive affordable-housing stock, also en- to those (parking) concerns,” Boyd dorsed the project, which includes Smith said. seven below-market-rate units.

Many remained skeptical. SallyThe project has also received the Ann Rudd, who lives in Downtown blessings of the city’s Architectural North, said her neighborhood had beReview Board and, more recently, come the “overflow parking lot” of its Planning and Transportation downtown and encouraged the counCommission, which voted to ap- cil to institute a permit program. Anprove the project last month after other resident, Tina Peak, went a step four lengthy meetings. While few further and said the project is far too residents attended the previous big for the neighborhood. She asked public hearings on 101 Lytton Ave., the council to demand that the applimore than two dozen showed up to cants reduce the building’s size. the Monday night council hearing.

“Currently this city is not even Council members agreed that the close to being sustainable on its own site, which was previously occupied and adding more and more develby a Shell gas station, is ideally suit- opment will get us no closer to this ed for a large new development. Vice goal,” Peak said. “Please send this Mayor Greg Scharff called it “prob- project back to the drawing board ably the best site in the city” for an or, better yet, to the chopping block office building and Councilman Sid to bring it down to size.”

Espinosa said it was “the right kind Some on the council shared her of a development, from my perspec- view that the project, as proposed, tive, for the right site.” But members is too big. The building would be had different ideas when it came to 64-feet tall and would feature as its the details — namely, just how big centerpiece a tower that rises higher the building should be and which than 80 feet. It would thus exceed “public benefits” the applicants the city’s 50-foot height limit for should be forced to provide in ex- new developments. N

A

PayPal executive Eric Salvatierra, 39, of Palo Alto was killed March 9 on train tracks in Menlo Park

T

he man struck by a train in Menlo Park Friday morning, March 9, was Eric Salvatierra, a 39-year-old Palo Alto resident, according to the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office.

A married father of three daughters, Salvatierra had worked at PayPal as vice president for customer advocacy and operational excellence. He had also previously served as vice president and CFO at Skype, which was previously owned by eBay Inc. Salvatierra had spent 14 years at the three companies and had served as the first vice president for site management and fraud prevention at eBay, which owns PayPal, according to eBay CEO John Donahoe.

Salvatierra had lived in Palo Alto with his wife, Meredith Ackley, and their daughters, aged 3, 8 and 10. His family released a statement Monday, March 12, characterizing his death as a lost battle against a mental illness. Salvatierra was diagnosed last summer with bipolar II disorder and depression, according to the statement.

Salvatierra and Ackley had been working with health care professionals for the past eight months to deal with his mental illnesses, the family said.

“In the end, he lost his fight with this debilitating disease,” the family wrote in the statement.

The Salvatierra-Ackley fam-

Graduation

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ing the boulder up the hill — Sisyphus — we don’t want Sisyphus.

And that’s what I’m hearing.

“What’s also very important is the social-emotional needs of students.

As we increase the expectation we also increase the need to support students who struggle with depression,” Singares said.

Gunn counselor Monica Espinoza, who runs the College Pathways program for underrepresented minorities, described the extra struggles some of her students face.

“I have a student who works 30 hours a week to help his parents pay for food and rent. There are issues with them being so poor they have to contribute to the family not having tutors to help them meet the rigors of the classes, coming from other districts or countries and thrown into one of the most rigorous school districts in our area and not knowing how to cope,” Espinoza said.

“Other students have tutoring for many hours and access to a whole different conversation when they’re at dinner. Then there are a lot of

by Gennady Sheyner ily noted in the statement that it decided to be forthcoming about Salvatierra’s illness “to support others who are suffering, and also to help abolish the stigma associated with mental illness.”

Salvatierra was described by Donahoe in the email as “one of our longest serving and most loyal employees.” Salvatierra and Ackley had moved from New York City to California in 1998 so that he could attend Stanford Graduate School of Business. He deferred his admission to join eBay, according to the family.

Donahoe praised Salvatierra in the email for having performed every role he held at eBay “with skill and unmatched dedication.” One of Salvatierra’s many gifts included an “ability to bring out the best in all of us and compel his colleagues to be better employees and better people,” Donahoe wrote.

“Eric was one of those unique and special colleagues who was loved and admired by all,” he wrote.

In his free time, Salvatierra enjoyed snowboarding, karaoke and deejaying, according to Donahoe.

“For all of us who had the privilege of knowing and working with Eric, we will remember and miss his wit, intelligence, and joy of life both professionally and personally,” Donahoe wrote. “Our deepest sympathies and thoughts are with Meredith and the girls.”

The Friday collision occurred emotional issues — parent issues, family issues — that none of us can change,” Espinoza said.

Parent Michele Dauber of We Can Do Better Palo Alto charged that Palo Alto has constructed “basically a failing ‘school-within-a-school’ for minority and poor students.

“Regardless of race, if you’re in a basic lane in the Palo Alto Unified School District you’re attending a failing school, camouflaged by the test scores of high-achieving kids who offset and hide negative outcomes,” she said.

Dauber and others from her group called on the district to hire a thirdparty consultant to bring “a fresh set of eyes to a problem we’ve normalized,” and to assess whether the high schools truly are offering academic “basic lanes” that meet but do not exceed the A-G requirements.

“Our community has lost confidence in some of our teachers, notably the Paly math department,” Dauber said.

Calling for outside auditors, she said “we need to get on track to fix our failing school-within-a-school.”

Other parents cited the extensive use of outside tutoring by many Palo Alto families, arguing that the phenomenon points to a problem with

at about 9:30 a.m. at the tracks near Ravenswood Avenue, according to Caltrain. Salvatierra was reportedly on the tracks when a northbound train struck him.

People at the scene commented that he had been seen with a silver road bike and helmet.

This was the fourth death on the Caltrain right-of-way this year, according to Caltrain. There were 16 fatalities in 2011.

Agency spokeswoman Christine Dunn said the incident remains under investigation.

In his email, Donahoe wrote that Salvatierra’s “debilitating mental illness” had prompted him to take a leave of absence last year.

The email also noted that in recent months Salvatierra and Ackley found support through the resources of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a nonprofit that provides education on mental-health issues, and that the family is now receiving support from Kara, a Palo Altobased organization that counsels people during times of grief. Donahoe said the company would make contributions to both organizations in Salvatierra’s memory.

The Salvatierra-Ackley family has asked that donations be given in Eric Salvatierra’s name to NAMI (www.nami.org) or Kara (www.kara-grief.org). N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com. classroom teaching. Later in the meeting, Skelly rebutted what he called a “flogging of teachers.”

“This idea that we have failing schools is hard to reconcile with some of the great successes I see with kids — all kinds of kids — who come through our schools,” he said.

“There’s a tone here where this idea that, ‘if you cared more, you’d be more successful with these students,’ and I think that’s insulting.

“Nobody’s running from these issues. We’re here because we want to talk about them. I’d encourage you to be a little more gentle with staff.

These are not bad teachers, and it’s very difficult to come time and time again when people just bang on staff on a regular basis. It’s just not productive,” he said.

Board members pressed teachers for specifics on resources and supports that would help struggling students meet the more stringent graduation requirements being contemplated. Skelly is scheduled to return to the board in May with a more detailed proposal for the phase-in of the new graduation requirements. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly. com.

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Upfront

Rail

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sortium (PCC) have been particularly alarmed about the rail authority’s ongoing negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) on an agreement that would lay out early investment opportunities by the rail authority in the Bay Area.

Some, including Palo Alto Councilman Pat Burt (who also sits on the Rail Committee and chairs the PCC) have argued that the MTC, a regional planning agency, may not be the best representative for the Peninsula when it comes to high-speed-rail issues.

At Tuesday’s hearing, which was chaired by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, Burt said that while Palo Alto understands the MTC’s role in distributing regional funding, the agency “lacks both the ability to speak on behalf of our residents and the local knowledge that our council members possess.”

Palo Alto’s Rail Committee continued to question the MTC’s role Thursday morning and stressed in its letter that it believes the agreement should involve Caltrain rather than the MTC. The Peninsula Joint Powers Board, which oversees Caltrain, owns the tracks and has consistently advocated for the blended approach, which was first unveiled about a year ago by Simitian, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo and Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park.

Councilman Larry Klein, who chairs the Rail Committee, said Thursday that the greater the MTC’s role is in the new contract, the more worried he is about the agreement.

He noted that Caltrain, as the owner of its corridor, has the kind of lever-

age over the rail authority that the MTC does not.

Despite the city’s reservations, the MTC is unlikely to withdraw from the process. Jayme Ackemann, Caltrain’s government affairs officer, told the committee that the MTC — which has the authority to disperse federal funding to other transportation agencies — has indicated its intention to take the lead role in the agreement.

Richard said the authority plans to ask the State Legislature this year for $2.7 billion in bond funding for Central Valley construction. Improvements for the system’s “bookends” will not come until later, he said.

Even so, rail officials maintained that the revised business plan is a “new vision” for the agency and that it directly addresses many of the concerns it received from the community and legislators when it released its current business plan last year.

“This is an opportunity for Caltrain as much as it is an opportunity for high-speed rail,” Hartnett said Tuesday night, referring to the early investment. “We believe the plan will set out a reasonable way of doing that.”

High-speed-rail officials also said Tuesday that the project’s estimated $98.5 billion price tag will drop in the new business plan, largely because of its new emphasis on the blended approach. The new plan, he said, will demonstrate the ways in which the capital costs can be reduced.

“The key to it is the blend approach,” Richard said. “This is one of the things that will lock us into the course that I think will save us a lot of money.” N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

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Kenrick has declined by $808 per student, 6 percent, since 2008-09, Mak reported Tuesday, even more than the $788 per student she reported on Feb. 28. The current per-pupil allotment is $12,215.

The per-student reduction is a consequence of enrollment increases outpacing growth in property tax receipts, as well as state funding cuts. Mak said she expects the school district will face “large structural deficits” for the next five years, particularly if proposed tax measures expected to be on this November’s ballot are voted down.

However, the district has squirreled away surpluses for the past three years, growing its “undesignated fund balance” from $3.1 million at the end of 2008-09 to $12.9 million at the end of 2010-11. Those funds came from one-time windfalls such as federal stimulus funding.

The district has used the surplus to cushion the reductions and uncertainties in the state income and property-tax picture. N

Jordan Middle School gym 750 N. California Ave.

Gunn High School

Terman Middle School gym 655 Arastradero Road

Terman Middle School

a lot of work to find common ground — probably achievable in some areas but not others,” he wrote in an email.

“This can be done with small beginnings in local neighborhoods, not the entire city. Journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step. He’s trying to make a giant leap for mankind — if I may borrow from history,” Browning said.

Many neighborhood association leaders said residents have made connections through association activities, common-interest groups such as book groups and the environment, and through emergency preparedness and block-preparedness programs.

But although email connections are becoming the glue for many, others said they could not discount the importance of personal, faceto-face connections. In Greenmeadow, the association has had a neighborhood meeting house, park and swimming pool since the

1950s — all were built by developer Joseph Eichler as part of his community concept.

“I’m glad Mayor Yeh is being proactive about this. Having fun together is a great way to build relationships. That has been Greenmeadow’s philosophy for about 50 years. So far, it has worked pretty well,” Penny Ellson of the Greenmeadow Community Association said.

“I think stable, happy communities are like stable happy marriages. Building relationships, understanding each other, happens when we make time to be together.

If we want a healthy community, we need to constantly work on our relationships,” she said.

“A friend of mine used to say, ‘Love doesn’t just happen. It’s a habit. The habit of acting in a loving way makes love happen.’ I think community is a lot like that.” N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

Guide to the Mayor’s Challenge What: The first athletic event in Yiaway Yeh’s Mayor’s Challenge is a table tennis (pingpong) challenge.

The event is designed to bring neighborhoods together in friendly competition during a fun, interactive afternoon. Additional athletic events will be held through the year as part of the Mayor’s Challenge.

When: Sunday, March 25, 2-5 p.m.

2-2:30 p.m.

Open Play 2:30-3 p.m.

Demo by a coach volunteer 3-3:45 p.m.

Open Play with opportunities for one-on-one coaching tips

3:45-5 p.m.

Open Play Where: Five locations: Palo Alto Family YMCA, Cubberley Community Center, Jordan Middle School, Terman Middle School and the Campus for Jewish Life (see map).

How to register: Go to http://ymcamayorschallenge.eventbrite.com/ or register in person at the Palo Alto Family Y (3412 Ross Road). Additional information is available by contacting Stephanie at 650-8427167 or shannah@ymcasv.org.

Cost: $4 per person, plus $1.21 per person online processing fee.

Map by Shannon Corey

by Chris id-year school-budget cuts were approved by the Board of Education Tuesday, March 13, as officials described an ever-changing financial outlook.

About $2.1 million in mid-year cuts to the schools’ $162.4 million operating budget came atop $2.7 million in reductions made at the start of the 2011-12 budget cycle.

Cuts approved this week include $889,000 in personnel, utilities and food service; $389,000 in “routine maintenance allocation”; $200,000 in staff development budget for summer activities and $338,000 in per-student allocation of school site funds.

However, the site-specific reductions will not affect this year’s classrooms because they will come from site reserve funds, the district’s Business Official Cathy Mak assured board members.

Mak will return to the board in May with proposed cuts for the 2012-13 school year.

School funding for Palo Alto — excluding locally raised money —

know the people on your block is one of the best ways to build community on a macro level. Getting to know your neighbors is also an effective way to address crime; witness the recent incidents where observant Palo Alto neighbors have noticed unusual activity on their streets, contacted police and helped to solve recent burglaries,” he said.

Barron Park resident Bob Frost said he had signed up to play at Terman Middle School.

“I will probably watch as much as I will play,” he said. “It just sounded like fun.”

Frost said it would be interesting to see if people come out. But for others, the challenge fell flat.

“I am not big on organized events in the neighborhood. Most of our life is so ‘over scheduled’ that I just love that our little street is sort of ‘schedule free,’” Downtown North resident Corrie Sid wrote in an email.

“I personally would not go to a neighborhood pingpong tournament, mainly because I have too many scheduled events and parties already (one of which happens to be a pingpong tournament) from our school community at Addison,” she said.

There are other challenges on which her neighborhood focuses its energy, she said.

“The struggle with traffic in our neighborhood has left parents unwilling to leave their children to play on their own, even in their own front yard. ... If the mayor really wants our neighborhood to come together, we should block off some of the streets again ... I think we’d have many more opportunities to come together naturally, just because folks would be outside more often than today.

“Perhaps a block party would entice more interest, ... make it more social, versus an activity that forces folks to know a skill or how to do something other than say, ‘Hi, I’m your neighbor,’” she said.

George Browning, Charleston Gardens Neighborhood Association leader, said he did not think many in his neighborhood would participate in the pingpong tournament.

“Neighborhood building will be difficult, since the neighborhoods are quite far apart — physically and economically. It will take

Where to go for the Mayor’s Challenge

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Reductions come in personnel, utilities, food service, maintenance and staff development

(continued from page 3)

Ex py

Board approves $2.1 million in school cuts

Mayor

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EDUCATION

Which neighborhood do I belong to? Neighborhoods will earn points in the Mayor’s Challenge based on the number of people they bring to the events. To find your neighborhood, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story. php?id=15124 Who: Palo Alto Mayor Yiaway Yeh, the Palo Alto Family Y, the Palo Alto Table Tennis Club, Joola and the Palo Alto Unified School District are the event’s co-sponsors.

What else? This event is open to City of Palo Alto residents only. N

Upfront

CityView A round-up of

Palo Alto government action this week

City Council (March 12)

Lytton Gateway: The council voted to request revisions to the proposed mixed-use development at 101 Lytton Ave., including a reduction from five stories to four. Yes: Burt, Espinosa, Klein, Scharff, Schmid, Yeh Absent: Holman, Price, Shepherd

Council Policy and Services Committee (March 13)

Labor: The committee recommended approving a new “labor guiding principles� document. Yes: Unanimous

Board of Education (March 13)

Graduation requirements: During a study session, the board heard from teachers and members of the public on a proposal by Superintendent Kevin Skelly to phase in stiffer graduation requirements to fully align with entrance prerequisites to California’s public, four-year universities by 2018. Action: None

Board of Education (March 13)

Budget: The board approved the 2011-12 Second Interim Financial Report, which includes $2.1 million in mid-year budget cuts. Yes: Caswell, Mitchell, Tom, Townsend Absent: Klausner

Planning and Transportation Commission (March 14)

Capital: The commission held a study session to discuss the city’s capital improvement program for fiscal years 2013-17. Action: None Rail: The commission discussed the recent report from the Rail Corridor Task Force about the community’s vision for the Caltrain corridor. Action: None

Thank You from the

2012 Palo Alto Business EXPO

venue to the exhibitors to the “A truly amazing event—from the astic jazz ensemble. There was food—all tied together with a fant ity as businesses were able to deďŹ nitely a true sense of commun . ďŹ nd ways to support one another learn about one another and also Thank you!â€?

Nicole Tusa, Operations Manager and Air Palo Alto & Dahl Plumbing Heating

Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce Supporting Sponsors

Sponsors

City of Palo Alto

Exhibitors Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More Boomerang

Hallmark Personnel, Inc./ California Peoplesearch

Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc.

Harrell Remodeling

California Pizza Kitchen Stanford Shopping Center

Harrington Design Hewlett-Packard Company

Cardoza-Bungey Travel

HSBC Bank

Copy Factory

K1 Speed

Crown World Wide Moving & Storage

Kennedy Kruises & Travel

Oshman Family JCC Peninsula Optical Co., Inc. Polyglot, Inc. Ronald McDonald House at Stanford San Mateo Credit Union Sheraton Palo Alto Hotel Soiree Valet Stanford Federal Credit Union

Dinah’s Garden Hotel

Lone Star Limo

Eneron Inc.

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

European Car Repair LLC

MassMutual Financial Group

Family & Children Services

MDB Group

Tesla Motors Top Shelf Beverages

First Tech Federal Credit Union

Microsoft Store

Groupon

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (Michael Sosnow and Richard Seiler)

Habitat Design

TeamLogic IT Technology Credit Union

University Chiropractic Visual Cue Thermal Imaging Wells Fargo Business Banking

2IÂżFH 'HSRW Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce

400 Mitchell Lane

Palo Alto

Wemorph, Inc. 650.324.3121

PaloAltoChamber.com

City/School Liaison Committee (March 15)

Meetings: Members exchanged information about recent discussion of the Board of Education and the City Council. Action: None Transportation: The committee heard a presentation by Palo Alto’s Chief Transportation Official Jaime Rodriguez about plans for bicycle and pedestrian routes through the city. Action: None Citizen survey: The committee heard a presentation by City Auditor Jim Pelletier on the Service Efforts and Accomplishments report. Action: None

Architectural Review Board (March 15)

Caltrain: The board discussed a newly released report from the Rail Corridor Task Force about the community’s vision for the Caltrain corridor. Action: None

Council Rail Committee (March 15)

Rail: The committee discussed the proposed memorandum of understanding among Caltrain, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the California High-Speed Rail Authority regarding early investment opportunities in the Bay Area.

The committee approved a letter to Caltrain expressing the city’s concerns about the proposed agreement. Yes: Unanimous

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Public Agenda A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to meet in closed session to discuss contract negotiations with Service Employees International Union, Local 521, and the Palo Alto Police Managers Association. The council also plans to discuss the annual Service Efforts and Accomplishments Report, consider a proposal to build 10 homes and renovate three retail buildings at Edgewood Plaza and discuss options for improving connectivity between Palo Alto Art Center and the Main Library. The closed session will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 19. Regular meeting will follow in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE ... The committee is scheduled to discuss modifications to the Utilities Department’s Long-term Electric Acquisition Plan’s Renewable Portfolio Standard Strategy. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 20, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

COUNCIL RAIL COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to discuss highspeed rail and the latest legislation regarding the project. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 22, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to interview candidates for the Public Art Commission, the Human Relations Commission and the Utilities Advisory Commission. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 22. Regular meeting will follow in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

LIBRARY ADVISORY COMMISSION ... The commission plans to hear updates about the Mitchell Park Library and Main Library construction projects and to hear a presentation on rBlock, a social-media site for neighborhoods. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 22, in the Downtown Library (270 Forest Ave.).

Š2012 Bonhams Auctioneers Corp. All rights reserved. Bond No. 57bsbes3248

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Upfront Corrections The City Council voted 7-0, with Mayor Yiaway Yeh absent and Councilman Larry Klein recusing himself, on the theater and office building at 27 University Ave., which was incorrectly reported in the March 9, 2012, issue.

The correct website for Music with Toby, incorrectly listed in the Class Guide (March 9, 2012), is www. musicwithtoby.com.

To request a correction, contact Editor Jocelyn Dong at 650-2236514, jdong@paweekly.com or P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302.

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News Digest Car flips into parking garage, hits Mercedes A car that slid on a rain-slicked road fell into the Birch Street garage near California Avenue and crashed into a new Mercedes Benz Wednesday morning, March 14. The driver of the Toyota was trapped in her vehicle, Palo Alto Fire Battalion Chief Chris Woodard said.

A woman in her 70s driving a light-colored older-model Toyota Corolla was negotiating the turn from Oregon Expressway around 11 a.m. when her vehicle skidded on the curve, Palo Alto police said. The car struck two yellow road signs in the median before swerving across the roadway and plunging through the shrubbery and over the below-street-level garage wall.

Police said the parked car, a black Mercedes, broke the Toyota’s fall and prevented it from flipping onto its roof. The driver of the Toyota was not injured and no one was in the Mercedes.

Woodard said the rear wheels of the Toyota rested on the brick retaining wall, and the nose of the car had gone into the windshield of the Mercedes. The roof of the parked car was observed to be mashed down nearly to the top of the door on the passenger side.

Palo Alto fire and emergency personnel blocked the entrance to Birch from Oregon Expressway while the Toyota was lifted back up to the road. The vehicle was secured with chains and a rope and the driver was extricated with a ladder. Damage totals are unknown, but one vehicle was a total loss, Woodard said.

It is the second time a vehicle has plunged into the partially sunken garage in three months, and the structure’s property manager wants the city to do something about the hazard. Hensel Troche, the garage property manager, said there have been six crashes in the six years he has worked there. “The city should be asked to get a railing or something,� he said.

On Dec. 29, 2011, a Ford Mustang skidded on the wet roadway and plunged several feet into the same section of the garage, landing on its roof. N — Sue Dremann

Con man Simon Gann loose in Bay Area, police say Good Samaritans beware: A traveling con man has returned to the Bay Area, and may be only too eager to help relieve you of your money and peace of mind, according to police.

Simon Gann, one of the notorious Gann twins, returned to the attention of Menlo Park police officer Felicia Byars after his parole date arrived. “Knowing what I know about him, I double-checked,� she said.

Gann violated parole by departing for areas unknown, according to police, or at least unknown until people who had the misfortune of encountering the man under one of his well-worn aliases turned to Google and unearthed a trove of newspaper stories about his past activities.

He’d been sighted in Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Las Vegas, according to Byars, who started getting telephone calls. He was allegedly up to “the exact same thing.� “The exact same thing� for Gann usually involves posing as a math savant and business tycoon who just needs a helping hand to recover from losing his passport and wallet.

In December 2010 he admitted sweet-talking a Menlo Park woman into a relationship and out of approximately $1,900 by pretending to be a millionaire MIT graduate named “Saleem Dutante� who could count cards “like Rain Man,� and pleaded no contest to multiple felony charges in San Mateo County Superior Court. He was sentenced to 16 months in state prison.

While it’s nice to help someone out, Byars urged everyone to first make sure that the person asking for assistance really needs the help. Anyone with information about Gann’s activities can call the Menlo Park police department at 650-330-6300 or email FFByars@menlopark.org. N — Sandy Brundage

“One of the museum’s best exhibitions in its 10-year history!� – Los Altos Town Crier

Engaging multimedia displays and interactive activities illustrate the history and future of water in Silicon Valley.

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Upfront

Why go anywhere else for fresh Indian cuisine?

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.

Palo Alto looks for speedier union negotiations Palo Alto officials made a push this week to speed up the city’s process for labor negotiations when a City Council committee endorsed a new policy that calls for new union contracts to be approved before existing ones expire. (Posted March 14 at 4:10 p.m.)

Bay Area gas prices skyrocket in past month Average gas prices in the Bay Area have skyrocketed in the past month, jumping by 51 cents to $4.41 on average per gallon, according to a report released this week by AAA. (Posted March 14 at 1:55 p.m.)

VIDEO: Girl Scouts celebrate 100th anniversary Monday evening, March 12, hundreds of Palo Alto Girl Scouts strolled from the Lou Henry Hoover Program Center at Rinconada Park to City Hall, where Mayor Yiaway Yeh read a proclamation, and the girls and women shined lights at 7:12 p.m. in recognition of the Girl Scouts of America 100th anniversary. (Posted March 13 at 4:35 p.m.)

Former Citigroup employee gets prison sentence A former Citigroup Inc. sales assistant who stole $800,000 from the financial firm’s clients in Palo Alto has been sentenced in federal court in San Francisco to one year and 10 months in prison. (Posted

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$20K taken in Mountain View home burglary A safe containing an assortment of jewelry and more than $20,000 in cash was taken from a house in the 1600 block of Villa Street in Mountain View Monday, March 12, police said. (Posted March 13 at 3:14 p.m.)

Palo Alto to shift dispatch center to mobile unit Palo Alto’s dispatch center will be moved from the City Hall basement to the city’s state-of-the-art Mobile Emergency Operations Center later this week to accommodate seismic retrofit work — a move that will force the city to temporarily close a downtown block to traffic.

Mark Welton, MD, MHCM Professor and Chief, Colon and Rectal Surgery

(Posted March 12 at 11:12 a.m.)

Palo Alto firefighters douse rooftop blaze A fire that officials say began on the roof caused nearly $30,000 in damages to a home on Georgia Avenue in Palo Alto Saturday afternoon, March 10. No one was injured. (Posted March 12 at 9:22 a.m.)

First Person: A conversation with Linda Williams Palo Alto resident Linda Williams, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte (PPMM), speaks with Lisa Van Dusen about the challenges of leading the nation’s largest Planned Parenthood affiliate in this “First Person” video. (Posted March 11 at 10:30 a.m.)

Two caregivers sentenced for elder fraud Two East Palo Alto women were sentenced Thursday, March 8, to 11 months in jail and 5 years probation for defrauding an 82-year-old woman, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday, March 9. (Posted March 9 at 3:27 p.m.)

Want to get news briefs emailed to you every weekday?

Sign up for Express, our new daily e-edition.

Go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com to sign up.

George Fisher, MD, PhD Associate Professor, Oncology Director, Cancer Clinical Trials

Learn the Guitar this Spring Carol McComb’s “Starting to Play” workshop includes the FREE use of a Loaner Guitar for the duration of the classes.* Regular cost is just $160 for nine weeks of group lessons, and all music is included. *“Starting to Play” meets for one hour each Monday night for nine weeks beginning March 26. Students are encouraged to bring their own guitar, but both nylon-string and steel-string loaner guitars are available.

Other classes at more advanced levels are also offered.

A full brochure is available at Gryphon.

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Saturday, March 24th, 2012

The Margaret Wright Wellness 5k Run/Walk

D

o you like fun, ďŹ tness, and connecting with community in support of our youth?

Then come out on Saturday, March 24th for The Margaret Wright Wellness 5k Run/Walk at the Palo Alto Baylands! This event is in celebration of Girls To Women’s (g2W) ďŹ ve years of continuous service!

Location: Palo Alto Baylands Time: 8AM Register at: www.girlstowomen.org If interested in volunteering, sponsoring or for more information please contact Joanna at 650.326.6431 or info@girlstowomen.org

Where Girls Create Bright Futures This space donated as Community Service by the Palo Alto Weekly

City of Palo Alto and Community Environment

A weekly compendium of vital statistics

POLICE CALLS Palo Alto Photo courtesy of Talala Mshuyja

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March 8-14 Violence related Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Suicide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Theft related Credit card forgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Embezzled vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Vehicle related Abandoned auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Abandoned bicycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Driving w/suspended license . . . . . . . . .3 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .8 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . 13 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Under influence of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Miscellaneous Animal call. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Disposal request. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Misc. penal code violation . . . . . . . . . . .1 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Noise ordinance violation . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Soliciting without permit . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Trespassing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Menlo Park March 8-14 Violence related Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Theft related Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle related Driving w/suspended license . . . . . . . . .3 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Miscellaneous Animal bite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Coroner case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Information case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Probation violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Resisting arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Property for destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Resisting arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Trespassing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Violation of court order . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Atherton March 8-14

Curtis Williams, Director of Planning and Community Environment

Theft related Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle related Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Parking/driving violation . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Suspicious vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .1 Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Alcohol or drug related Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Miscellaneous Animal call. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Citizen assist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

(continued on next page)

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Transitions Adele McPartland Adele McPartland, a resident of Portola Valley, died March 2 at her home. She was 85.

Born in Connecticut, she graduated from nursing school and during hospital rounds met her future husband, Mac. They married and moved to the Bay Area, where he began his practice as an anesthesiologist at Stanford and what was then the Palo Alto Medical Clinic.

They built their home in Portola Valley 52 years ago, and she raised her family and became involved in the community. She flourished as a librarian, gardener, florist, Ikebana

master and loyal San Francisco Giants fan. She spent many years working and performing volunteer work at the Portola Valley Library.

She was preceded in death by her son Mark and her husband, Dr. Francis McPartland. She is survived by her children, Maureen Hardy, Paul, Philip and Jim. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Our Lady of Wayside, where she was a long-standing parishioner, or a favorite charity. A memorial service will be held Friday, March 30, at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of the Wayside, 930 Portola Road, Portola Valley.

Visit

Lasting Memories An online directory of obituaries and remembrances.

Search obituaries, submit a memorial, share a photo.

Go to: www.PaloAltoOnline.com/obituaries

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(continued from previous page) Construction complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Fire call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Pedestrian check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Public works call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .3 Suspicious person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Town ordinance violation . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Welfare check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

VIOLENT CRIMES Palo Alto Unlisted block Pasteur Drive, 3/8, 6:01 p.m.; battery/sexual.

Unlisted block Lytton Avenue, 3/8, 9 p.m.; domestic violence/battery.

Unlisted block El Camino Real, 3/9, 4:39 p.m.; battery/simple.

Unlisted block Encina Avenue, 3/10, 6:45 p.m.; domestic violence/battery.

Unlisted block Juniper Lane, 3/10, 10:45 a.m.; domestic violence/battery.

Unlisted block El Camino Real, 3/12, 7:41 a.m.; domestic violence/battery.

Unlisted block Louis Road, 3/12, 7:41 a.m.; family violence/misc.

Unlisted block Homer Avenue, 3/13, 11:25 p.m.; suicide/adult.

Menlo Park 600 block Willow Road, 3/9, 10:29 a.m.; battery.

1200 block Crane Street, 3/13, 1:23 p.m.; battery.

NOTICE OF FINAL DRAFT REPORT OF BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN TRANSPORTATION PLAN NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Final Draft Report for the 2012 Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan has been prepared by the Palo Alto Department of Planning and Community Environment, Transportation Division. This document is available for review and comment during the period beginning March 2, 2012 through April 2, 2012, and is available online at www.cityofpaloalto.org/bike.

Comments may be submitted via email to transportation@ cityofpaloalto.org or to Department of Planning and Community Environment, Transportation Division, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California, 94301.

Matthew David Turbow Matthew David Turbow, 36, passed away on Friday, March 9. An active member of the local deaf community, he was also an avid follower of his local teams—the Giants, 49ers and Stanford athletics, especially—consistently switching between any number of ballcaps in his collection, depending on the season. Matthew loved being surrounded by people, from Deaf Expos to sporting events to rock concerts to family gatherings. He was a graduate of Leigh High School in San Jose, attended Ohlone College, and in December completed a computer course conducted by Goodwill Industries. He is survived by his parents, Mike and Ellen Turbow,

PA I D

OBITUARY

Jeff Mill Jeff Mill passed away on March 2, 2012 in Redwood City, CA. He was 50 years old.

Jeff grew up in Palo Alto where he attended the Palo Alto schools and then Foothill College.

He worked in Silicon Valley as an IT manager for several years, solving computer and network problems.

Jeff loved spending time with his son Ryan, visiting Yosemite, reading, good movies and music. Jeff was generous with his time, always willing to help a friend.

Jeff will be missed by many who loved him: his son, Ryan, his father and stepmother, Ted

and Jan Mill of Palo Alto; his mother and stepfather, Marge and Larry MacMillen of Nevada City CA; sister and brother in-law Suesan and Jeff Larsen of Nevada City; brother Alec Mill of Palo Alto, niece and nephew, Amanda and Josh Larsen; and especially his dear friend, Amelia.

A celebration of his life will be held in Palo Alto on March 17.

PA I D

OBITUARY

Delloyd George Ulander, D.D.S. Nov. 11, 1915-March 7, 2012 Delloyd George Ulander age 96, of Sun Lakes, AZ, passed away on March 7, 2012. Delloyd was born in Stanley, WI on November 11, 1915, the son of George and Jenny Ulander. He attended the University of Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota from which he recieved a degree of doctor of dentistry. Dr. Ulander had his office in Edina, Mn and served on the teaching staff of the University of Minnesota until he was drafted in the Army at the rank of Major. Upon his discharge from the Army, the Ulander family moved to Palo Alto, CA where he practiced dentistry for 35 years. He retired to Sun Lakes, AZ for the rest of his life. He was active and served as an officer in several organizations which included President of the Palo Alto Lions Club, Shrine Club, life member of the Sequoia Yacht Club, Palo Alto Elks Club, charter member of the Palo Alto Hills Golf Club and member of the Stanford Golf Club. His hobbies were golf, music and sailing. Sailboat racing was the hobby

Printed copies of the Final Draft Report are available for review during the hours of 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 noon and 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M., at City Hall, 5th Floor, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. Additional copies are available for review at all City of Palo Alto libraries. This Report will be considered at a public hearing by the City Council shortly after the public comment period closes.

Curtis Williams, Director of Planning and Community Environment

and his brother, Jason Turbow.

Services took place last week in Redwood City.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Children’s Health Council, which helped Matthew early in his life: heep://www.chconline.org/giving/ donate-now; 650 Clark Way, Palo Alto, CA 94304.

SINAI MEMORIAL CHAPEL 650-369-3636

he loved and took the most interest.

He collected several trophies, including three national championship races with his 37 foot sailboat. In his older years, his hobbies were confined mostly to music, bridge and golf, which he loved to play.

Dr. Ulander is survived by his wife, Shirley; two daughters, Sheri Breeding and Marilyn Waldron; three grandchildren; and four greatgrandchilcren.

Family and friends may visit at 1:00 PM and are invited to attend 2:00 PM Funeral Services on Monday, March 19, 2012, Both to be held at Valley of the Sun Mortuary, 10940 E. Chandler Heights Road, Chandler, AZ. www. valleyofthesunfuneralhome.com PA I D

Give blood for life! bloodcenter.stanford.edu

OBITUARY

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Editorial

A generous offer to electrify Caltrain, but at what cost?

High-Speed Rail Authority changes course to gain ‘bookend’ support

I

n its struggle to gain credibility in the wake of more than doubling the cost to build a high-speed-rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles, state rail authority officials Tuesday offered nearly $1 billion to help electrify Caltrain and a similar amount to a Los Angeles rail system.

It is an appealing offer. Caltrain desperately needs to electrify its aging fleet of diesel engines and upgrade its rolling stock and train control system to serve a growing number of riders. But if the state High-Speed Rail Authority’s deal is accepted, Caltrain will effectively endorse blending its Peninsula corridor trains with high-speed trains on a mostly two-track system with passing lanes, which could end any talk of the four track sets in the original high-speed rail proposal which were roundly criticized on the Peninsula.

Under the blended plan, high-speed trains would reach speeds of over 200 miles per hour through the Central Valley and over Pacheco Pass to San Jose, where they would slow to just over 100 miles per hour to make the run on to San Francisco. Until recently, this plan — originally advanced by state Sen. Joe Simitian, Rep. Anna Eshoo and Assemblyman Rich Gordon, all Peninsula Democrats — was deemed unworthy by high-speed rail engineers. Then at a hearing held Tuesday in Mountain View, Dan Richard, the newly appointed chair of the high-speed rail authority and board member Jim Hartnett, embraced the idea, calling the Peninsula and Los Angeles segments “bookends” of the system, which will still include construction of a Central Valley segment that critics have called a “train from nowhere to nowhere.”

No financial details were available when the new plan was rolled out, but Richard said that officials are rethinking the entire high-speed rail concept “...so that each station (segment) in front of us will have something that is useful — like Caltrain electrification...” Whether the new approach, which would incorporate some parts of the existing system, will bring down the total price is not known. Last year estimates of the total cost jumped from about $40 billion to $98.5 billion. Rail officials believe the changes will lower the project’s cost, although no details were available.

And that is the key question that we hope stays on the mind of every state legislator who ultimately will have to vote on whether to authorize sale of more that $2 billion in bonds to begin the “bookend” portions of the rail project. So far, the rail authority has yet to find any support from private industry to add to $10 billion in state bond funds and another $3.4 billion in a federal grant that must be used to build the Central Valley segment.

Palo Alto City Councilman Pat Burt, who chairs the Peninsula Cities Consortium (made up of Atherton, Menlo Park, Belmont, Burlingame and Brisbane) said he is concerned about the early investment which would be placed with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. He said the “devil will be in the details,” and that he has already heard that the cities will not have a voice in any agreement (like financing Caltrain electrification) between the MTC and rail authority.

On the other hand, without help from the rail authority, it could be years before Caltrain ever finds the funds to electrify the rail line, which it desperately needs to accommodate more Peninsula passengers and increase speeds between San Jose and San Francisco.

Richard said the challenge for the authority is to show that construction of the Peninsula segment would provide lasting value even if the entire project does not get funded. A revised business plan “...will have a more rational basis for how the system develops...” he said.

It is no surprise that the thousands of jobs created if the project is built has great appeal to Peninsula and Los Angeles-area legislators. And by beginning work first on the “bookends” the rail authority has overcome a huge hurdle present in earlier plans, which would not have seen trains running for 10 years or so.

Nevertheless, the true test of whether the state wants and can afford high-speed rail must rest on its business plan. With the state and federal governments continuing to struggle to merely pay for day-to-day operations, the idea of adding to our debt load doesn’t make sense.

The Peninsula and Caltrain could benefit from this new design, but in our view, that is not enough to justify its approval. Until the authority produces a viable business plan, we urge the legislature to sit tight.

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Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions

Abolish the stigma Editor, I was so very sorry to read of Mr. Salvatierra’s suicide. Clinical depression and bipolar disorder run in my family as well, and I profoundly respect the family for their efforts “to help abolish the stigma associated with mental illness” by going public with the story behind this tragedy.

Going public helps all of us fight the sense of shame brought on by flawed brain chemistry. We owe the Salvatierra-Ackley family a debt of thanks.

I can recommend two books in particular, both by Kay Redfield Jamison that helped me come to terms with my own family history: “An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness” and “Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide.”

Dr. Jamison is both a psychologist and a longtime bipolar patient. I expect that her other books on both subjects are equally as helpful.

Vera M. Shadle, MHA, MHS Bibbits Drive Palo Alto

Gateway? No way Editor, I am writing in regards to the latest ugly addition to downtown. With all due respect to the city “leaders,” if this city hall truly cares about their city and its citizens, they are surely not showing it. The downtown Gateway building is so high and unattractive. It even exceeds “current” zoning laws! Why put this monstrosity of an issue at the forefront? Why not tackle clear discrimination of the disabled and elderly, instead? And also focus on the “look” of the city?

Why not solicit a ton of public opinion on issues? Rich special interests, as in the Palo Alto Bowl issue. That case also showed how this unfair status quo discriminates — in that case, against the disabled community. Once again? City officials unwilling to fight back? Once again? To stand up for those who they are supposed to serve? Once again? To stand up for this city?

Once again?

Do we not matter? Does the American Flag not matter?

Government is supposed to be for the people. Not rich developers.

Daniel Mart Awalt Drive Mountain View

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

This week on Town Square Town Square is an online discussion forum at www.PaloAltoOnline.com Posted March 10 at 10:11 p.m.

by Anon., a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood: I went downtown just now to get a bite to eat, and at Cowper and University in the space of 10 minutes two cars went right through the red light heading towards Stanford without hesitation — just drove right through the intersection on a red from a stop.

Considering that a person was killed by a bus down there a while back and it is a problem intersection, maybe someone needs to be keeping an eye on it or a camera needs to be installed.

This was blatant and there are a lot of people walking around downtown as well.

Are other people seeing the same poor driving in Palo Alto because people are really paying no attention to the rules of the road?

Posted March 12 at 9:47 p.m.

by RICHTERDAMAN, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood: What a courageous thing for this family to do — to come out and shed light on this horrible illness (re: “Family: Caltrain victim lost battle against mental illness”).

I can only imagine the grief and pain they are going through. What a wonderful family, and to be so strong during this tragedy.

Our community should come together and put our collective arms around them. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

Posted March 13 at 2:13 p.m.

by Mary, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood: As a property owner in Downtown North, I am very concerned about the parking problem that will be exacerbated by this proj-

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

What do you think? Do you think the Mayor’s Challenge to a pingpong contest can help build neighborhood community?

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 Media to also publish it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square.

For more information contact Editor Jocelyn Dong 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 blogs or just stay up on what people are talking about around town! ect (re: “’Gateway’ building sparks concerns over parking”).

Infilling is a good idea, but please, the public benefits should be true benefits, e.g. parking, not the so-called art we have seen on other buildings.

Posted March 14 at 4:35 p.m. by Marrol, a resident of the Embarcadero Oaks/ Leland neighborhood: Mr. Klein states that the city has potentially lost millions of dollars by extending existing contracts (re: “Palo Alto looks for speedier union negotiations”). He and other elected officials have demonstrated little or no fiscal restraint, however, while allocating many more millions in other nonessential services, while infrastructure and public safety needs go by the wayside.

Millions have been spent or set aside for several non-essential, niche projects such as playground construction, business district makeovers, bike bridges, golf course upgrades, public art and countless consultant fees. Additionally, public dollars are still being used to fund homeless programs that cater to few if any Palo Alto residents.

The Children’s Theatre is funded in large part by public dollars, a practice way past its time. These same elected officials that vilify the public employees so-called greed have no problem accepting lifetime medical benefits after serving their terms.

It’s (time) for these city leaders and elected officials to back up their rhetoric with some action. Although I agree that certain reforms and adjustments have to be made with our public employees salaries and benefits, to characterize them as the sole culprit of our financial woes is simply irresponsible and unfair.

They are being used as a scapegoat after years of poor civic planning and irresponsible spending on frivolous, non-essential projects and programs.

Mayor’s Challenge:

Connecting neighborhoods, neighbors Initiative begins with pingpong tournament; winner will be team with most participants

by Yiaway Yeh rowing up in Palo Alto, I enjoyed the tradition of neighbors supporting neighbors. During my freshman year at Gunn, the Class of 1996 built the class float for Homecoming Week in my parents’ backyard.

Not being expert floatbuilders, the shark we constructed easily grew in magnitude. Once we had finished hammering and creating our chicken-wire artwork, a dilemma arose: How would we get the shark out of the backyard?

Our neighbor advised us. He showed us how to raise the entire structure over the backyard shed and use rooftop rollers to smoothly move the structure in one piece. Any passerby would have witnessed a group of teenagers cheering that our weeks-long project was now ready for the big time and didn’t need to be reassembled.

Late in 2011, 20 years later, the leaders of the Palo Alto Neighborhoods group approached me as vice mayor and let me know that the relationships between neighbors has shifted to one characterized by less discourse and less interaction.

Consequently, in my State of the City address last month, I provided more details on the Year of Infrastructure and Renewal, promising it would cultivate our community’s human assets through the Mayor’s Challenge, a year-long effort to create and renew neighbor-to-neighbor relationships.

The benefit of new or rekindled relationships with neighbors can be understood from a city perspective. Anecdotally, the police department has received more complaints about barking dogs that in the past would have been resolved

G

at the neighbor level. For example, if you have a newborn baby who can’t get to sleep because of your neighbor’s dog barking, rather than call the police, you would have the existing relationship with your neighbor to ask if the dog could be kept inside for the night. Jim Keene, our city manager, shared a report with me from a colleague in another city who said that 80 percent of calls received by the police department didn’t need a uniformed officer. They needed a neighbor. More neighborliness will enhance the quality of life for all of us in Palo Alto.

Strong neighborhoods have been a long tradition in the City of Palo Alto. When a Palo Altan meets another Palo Altan, often one of the first questions asked is which neighborhood they live in. It reflects a sense of community and identity within the city. It’s also a tradition that benefits from renewal in Palo Alto. More than 64,000 people call Palo Alto home. Many have been here for decades with families that have lived here for generations. Some have just moved into the community from nearby. Some have recently immigrated from another country and are creating roots here in Palo Alto.

Looking at 2010 Census data shows that over the last two decades Palo Alto has experienced significant demographic shifts in its population.

Two trends stand out. First, the graying of our population: 17 percent of Palo Altans are now over 65 years old. Second, the growing Asian population: Nearly 30 percent of Palo Altans now identify themselves as Asian or Asian-American.

As a community, the relationships we have as neighbors are always in need of renewal and are built through pro-active efforts.

What is the Mayor’s Challenge?

The Mayor’s Challenge is an initiative designed to bring neighbors together. As the community

changes when people move in or away, the Mayor’s Challenge aims to bring people of different life experiences and backgrounds together through a series of athletic events. New relationships created by meeting neighbors through social, active ways benefit the strong tradition of engaged neighborhoods and maintains the sense of community that Palo Alto has long enjoyed.

The first community-wide athletic event is table tennis (pingpong) and will be held Sunday, March 25, from 2 to 5 p.m. at five locations: Palo Alto Family YMCA, Cubberley Community Center, Jordan and Terman middle schools, and the Campus for Jewish Life.

The Palo Alto Family YMCA has agreed to head up the Mayor’s Challenge for the year.

For this first event, the Palo Alto Table Tennis Club, the table-tennis company Joola and the Palo Alto Unified School District are the event’s co-sponsors.

Three additional athletic events will be held during the year. Each will pit neighborhood against neighborhood. The winning neighborhood will be determined by having the greatest number of residents participating. The goal of the Mayor’s Challenge is that by the end of the year, many Palo Altans will feel the foundation for the tradition of neighborhood identity and activism has been strengthened.

To register for the Mayor’s Challenge and to select your preferred site for table tennis, visit the website: ymcamayorschallenge.org. N Yiaway Yeh is the Mayor of Palo Alto, and is a graduate of JLS Middle School and Gunn High School. He grew up in the Green Acres II neighborhood, now lives in the Evergreen Park neighborhood, and can be reached at yiawayyeh@yahoo.com.

Streetwise

Should high schools raise graduation requirements to meet UC and CSU entrance criteria?

Asked on Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Interviews and photographs by Cristina Wong.

Robert Menjivar

Starbucks supervisor Emerson Street “I think they shouldn’t increase the requirements because they already have a hard time with the requirements they have to meet now.”

Becky Zinzius

Starbucks store manager Middlefield Road “If you increase the high school criteria, not only do you increase classes, but it requires extra help from teachers, tutors ... Who’s going to help?”

Chris Barcelona

Community training instructor Charleston Road “I feel like a lot of it is kind of pointless. If a high school student wants to go a certain route with their education, they should be able to pick and choose what courses they want to take, like a college-type atmosphere.”

Bryce Facchino

Community training instructor Middlefield Road “Let you choose what you want to do. ... It’d be nice to have a bunch of counselors to help you out. ... No one is told they can do other things besides go to a UC.”

Paul Gowder

PhD candidate Serra Street “It’s kind of amazing what these incredibly wealthy communities spend their time worrying about, when they already have a high school district advantage.”

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Cover Story

The

wisdom of teens Through art, kids reflect on growing up in Palo Alto

by Chris Kenrick | photographs by Veronica Weber

W

ell-meaning but overzealous “tiger parents,” social pressures and the pleasures of solitude are among the themes of a teen art exhibit on display in Palo Alto this weekend and through April 1.

The non-traditional “self portraits’’ — most of them created by Gunn High School students in acrylic on canvas — come with narratives explaining each artist’s ideas behind the work. All are displayed anonymously to protect the privacy of students and families.

The project, in which students were asked to portray what it’s like to be “themselves growing up in Palo Alto,” was part of the curriculum in this year’s drawing and painting classes taught by artist and veteran Gunn art teacher Deanna Messinger.

Additional self-portraits were produced by local teens in two recent “art retreats” held by Break Through the Static, a Bay Area nonprofit that aims to support teens affected by suicide.

Starting this week, the works are hanging in local small businesses — Mike’s Cafe, Bon Vivant, Vino Locale and two Philz Coffee shops — culminating in a City Hall exhibit from March 19 to April 1.

Though some of the student work touches on a devastating cluster of Palo Alto student suicides in 2009 and 2010, most of the self-reflections focus on the wider array of concerns facing teenagers almost anywhere — gossip, fear of not fitting in, college-admission pressures, smothering (continued on page 18)

Top: “Icarus,” a piece of art featured at the exhibition, symbolizes one young artist’s feeling of burning out from being spread too thin. Above: Gunn art teacher Deanna Messinger, second from left, demonstrates to students how to use a printing press during their Advanced Drawing and Painting II class at Gunn High School on March 12.

‘It’s really about what it’s like being “you” in Palo Alto, with all that you bring.’

—DEANNA MESSINGER ART TEACHER, GUNN HIGH SCHOOL

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Cover Story

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Top: “Fulfilling Solitude” represents the young artist’s embrace of being alone. “Solitude doesn’t have to be loneliness,” the artist wrote. “The Difference” uses a zipper to illustrate the tenuousness of what separates two emotional extremes — “infectious happiness” and “oppressive sadness.”

Facing page: Carolyn Digovich (left), Deanna Messinger and Jade Chamness coordinated to create the city-wide art exhibition featuring art by teens from Gunn High School and by teens at “art retreats” held by local nonprofit Break Through the Static, which aims to support teens affected by suicide.

Support Palo Alto Weekly’s print and online coverage of our community.

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A community health education series from Stanford Hospital & Clinics

After Disease Claims Lungs, A New Life Begins With Care Center’s Expert Help Eight years after Jennifer Julian began to feel a bit short of breath, she sat in an exam room at Stanford Hospital & Clinics and listened to her doctor tell her that her right lung was failing and her left soon to follow.

At just 48 years old, she would need a transplant to live to see her next birthday. “My head was spinning,” Julian said.

Bit by bit, however, as the lining of her lungs scarred and prevented oxygen from passing through, each breath Julian drew grew shallower and she developed a cough that wouldn’t go away. The summer before she found herself in that exam room, she’d gone to that cabin in Montana and the altitude was too much. “I had a really, really tough time. It was horrible and I thought, ‘I’m never going to see this place again.’”

Then came that conversation with her doctor and the beginning of a journey toward a new life with new lungs. Julian’s vibrance and enthusiasm makes her a glowing example of reclaimed health supported by expert medical care at the Stanford Center for Advanced Lung Disease.

Once damaged, no repair The recently established center is one of a small handful of treatment locations in the US to offer special experience and knowledge in diseases and disorders that can impede

“All of these diseases are interconnected. With the center, we can share resources. We have a critical mass of doctors, nurses, dieticians and social workers who can closely follow our patients.”

– David Weill, MD, director, Stanford Center for Advanced Lung Disease The lining of the lung, the interstitial space, is particularly remarkable, Rosen said. “It needs to be very thin so that air can pass quickly from the air sacs into the blood. Disease’s like Ms. Julian’s inflame and scar the space so you can’t get enough oxygen in or carbon dioxide out. Once that scar tissue appears, it can’t be dissolved.”

Unfortunately, science has not yet learned how to heal the lung from those most common lung diseases like emphysema, cystic fibrosis and hypersensitivity pneumonitis. There are more than 100 chronic lung disorders in the interstitial lung disease group. “We are looking at finding ways to repair the lung with stem cells,” Rosen said. “We’re at the early stages of that and we’re learning more about the specific cells in the lung that are at risk.”

Norbert von der Groeben

As Julian’s disease progressed, an oxygen tank became her constant companion. With each passing month, she could do less and needed more oxygen. Since her transplant, Julian has few restrictions on what she can do. She flies, and golfs, bikes, scuba dives and hikes.

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Bringing all Stanford’s lung specialists together in one working group was a means to enhance collaboration for care that is best when multidisciplinary, said David Weill, MD, director of Stanford’s lung transplant program and now also director of the new center. “All of these diseases are interconnected. With the center, we can share resources.

We have a critical mass of doctors, nurses, dieticians and social workers who can closely follow our patients.”

For many lung diseases, the only cure is new lungs. “You want to delay that as long as you can,” Rosen said. “You don’t want to do it too early because it’s a big operation and lungs can be rejected. But we don’t want to wait too long, until the patient is too weak.

There’s a balance. We’re constantly assessing.

We have a caring, empathetic team that works to create a comprehensive, individualized treat“When I was first told that I needed to get a double lung transplant, I didn’t ment plan. We also work know that that existed,” said Jennifer Julian. “As I went through the process of trying to understand more, I didn’t know if I was going to live or not. You face closely with referring the reality of death.” physicians—that’s critical because we’re not the primary care doctors for a lot of our patients.” come away from the clinic, whether they’ve received positive or negative news, feeling like a multidisciplinary group of experts has given their case a thorough review and addressed all possible treatment options.”

Watching each patient carefully, with different points of view, is essential. “Everybody plays a role—it is very much a team “The last thing I said to the team approach,” said Susan Jacobs, who along was, ‘I have the utmost confidence with another nurse coordinator, Virginia in you guys,’ and I’ll see you on the Adi , coordinates evaluations for about 30 flip side.’” new patients each month and follows over 300. “People are searching for information,” – Jennifer Julian, patient, Jacobs said, “to confirm a diagnosis or to Stanford Hospital & Clinics find out their diagnosis. They always want to know how serious it is, how quickly it’s With Julian, as she does with other pagoing to progress and what their treatment tients, Jacobs is very honest. “I always tell options are.” them I can’t really know what it’s like in their position, but I’ve done this a long time More than anything else, Jacobs said, the Stanford team wants their patients “to

Norbert von der Groeben

For years, Julian had known that her lungs were stiffening, altered by a reaction to something in the environment from a condition called chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

Medications and close monitoring had kept her going, even allowed her to scuba dive, ski, golf and visit one of her favorite places, a family-owned cabin in Montana at 7,000 feet.

that most basic of body functions. With each breath in and each breath out, oxygen and carbon dioxide pass through the delicate filtering system of the lungs. “The lung is the only organ in our body that’s exposed to the environment 24 hours a day. The rest of the organs in the body, except the skin, are protected in some way. It’s a physiologically very complex organ,” said Glenn Rosen, MD, director of the Center’s Interstitial Lung Disease program, who became Julian’s doctor.

Covering all the angles

Not until two days after her double lung transplant, as she walked with the help of a therapist, sipping air with shallow when Julian felt something different. “It was one of the deepest breaths I’d taken in two years and it was incredible,” sh lessons, something she’d wanted to do since childhood.

special feature

The Lung: From Illness to Transplant t Symptoms can include shortness of breath, fatigue and weakness, dry cough, labored breathing, chest discomfort, fatigue and weakness. t What causes such illnesses remains under study. Environment, however, can play a major role. Family history, radiation and some medications can also contribute. t Diagnosis may include pulmonary function tests, bronchoscopy, blood tests, X-rays or CT scans. t Treatment choices can be influenced by age, overall health, extent of the disease and tolerance of medication. t According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, about 1,800 lung transplants took place in the US in 2010. Stanford Hospital performs between 50 and 60 lung transplants annually, which places it in the top 10 for lung transplant volume.

t Of the 30 heart-lung transplants in the US, eight were done at Stanford. The average waiting time for a lung transplant at Stanford is between 45-90 days; the national average is nine months. t Potential donors must be 18. Registration is available online at https://www. donatelifecalifornia.org/register/, or when renewing or obtaining a California Drivers License or California ID card. There are no disqualifying age or health condition requirements to register.

For more information about the Center for Advanced Lung Disease, call 650.736.5400 or visit stanfordhospital.org/lungtransplant Join us at http://stanfordhospital.org/socialmedia. Watch the new Stanford Hospital Health Notes television show on Comcast: channel 28 on Mondays at 8:30 p.m., Tuesdays at 3:30 p.m. and Fridays at 8:30 a.m.; channel 30 Saturdays at 10:30 p.m. It can also be viewed at www.youtube.com/stanfordhospital.

and I do understand their needs. I want to educate them and give them a sense of control and to let them know we will be there to support them.”

Moving towards a new life Support was what Julian needed to convince Stanford that she would be a good candidate for a transplant. Apart from her lung condition, she was healthy but overweight. She needed to lose at least 35 pounds, a difficult challenge considering the limits on her ability to exercise. Jacobs directed her to a pulmonary rehabilitation therapy program for people with chronic lung problems. In that program, Julian learned to control shortness of breath during exercise and followed an exercise routine. With the help of a nutritionist, she followed a special diet. She lost 47 pounds and was put on the list.

The disease progressed and an oxygen tank became her constant companion. With each passing month, she could do less and needed more oxygen. “I couldn’t do the simplest

Norbert von der Groeben

“When I was first told that I needed to get a double lung transplant, I didn’t know that that existed,” Julian said. “As I went through the process of trying to understand more, I didn’t know if I was going to live or not. You face the reality of death. You really do ask yourself, ‘Is Stanford going to get me in time?’”

Julian has made her first solo flight, but has a ways to go before she’ll earn her pilot’s license from federal officials – there are few transplant patients who’ve been granted approval, but Weill and Rosen are on her side. things—laundry, preparing meals. I would walk to the bathroom and it would take me 20 minutes to recoup.”

Her partner, Gail Strzepa watched her slowly fade away. Friends pitched in. “We had an incredible circle of friends who cooked meals, watched the dogs, called her, sent her cards, relieved me. Everybody was willing to help,” she said. Finally, the call came.

Strzepa, who’d packed a bag, forgot it.

“A lot of people don’t get second chances. I did.”

– Jennifer Julian, patient, Stanford Hospital & Clinics “It was a long night,” she said. As they wheeled Julian into the operating room, she had a smile on her face. “The last thing I said to the team was, ‘I have the utmost confidence in you guys,’ and I’ll see you on the flip side.’”

When she woke up after the surgery, she still had a breathing tube in her throat and couldn’t feel any change. Not until two days

w breaths as she had for years, did there come that moment he said. With her second chance at life, she began flying photos: Norbert von der Groeben

later, as she walked with the help of a therapist, sipping air with shallow breaths as she had for years, that there came a deeper breath. “It was one of the deepest breaths I’d taken in two years and it was incredible. I was crying and the therapist said,’ What happened?’ She’s looking at all my tubes, and I said, ‘Yes! I just took my first breath!”

Always in mind Another three months would pass before she really began to regain her strength. But, with permission from her doctors, she was skiing by January, just six months after her transplant. She had to wait a year to go scuba diving again, but that happened, too.

She went back to golfing and brought home a gold medal in that sport from the Transplant Games competition. She got back on her bike. “I did everything I did before and something I’d always wanted to do—I’m learning to fly.”

She has a ways to go before she’ll earn her pilot’s license from federal officials—there are few transplant patients who’ve been granted approval, but Weill and Rosen are on her side.

“Jen has a unique attitude,” said Rosen. “She looks at setbacks as challenges, tries new things and lives life to the fullest. She’s a

great example of someone who is passionate about wanting to enjoy her life. She’s a real fighter.”

She also spends a good portion of her time coaching other lung disease and transplant patients at support group meetings and individually. “I’m honored to be able to do that,” she said. And she begins each day with a few moments focused on that gift that gave her a second chance at a future. She’s written a letter of thanks that’s been sent to her donor’s family and hopes one day to give them the gold medal she won at the Transplant Games.

“Before the transplant we’d just kind of go through life, but after the transplant, it’s appreciating every single day waking up going, ‘Oh my god, it’s a beautiful day. Thank god I’m alive. Thank you, donor family,” Strzepa said. “The donor family made that very difficult choice to give life to others. They are the real heroes.”

“A lot of people don’t get second chances,” said Julian. “I did.”

Norbert von der Groeben

t Interstitial lung diseases can be unpredictable. Their symptoms can vary from mild to severe.

Kelly O’Dea, Julian’s flying instructor, is another admirer of what Julian’s doctor, Glenn Rosen, calls Julian’s unique attitude. “She looks at setbacks as challenges, tries new things and lives life to the fullest. She’s a great example of someone who is passionate about wanting to enjoy her life. “

Stanford Hospital & Clinics is known worldwide for advanced treatment of complex disorders in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer treatment neurosciences, surgery, and organ transplants. It is currently ranked No. 17 on the U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” list and No. 1 in the San Jose Metropolitan area. Stanford Hospital & Clinics is internationally recognized for translating medical breakthroughs into the care of patients. The Stanford University Medical Center is comprised of three world renowned institutions: Stanford Hospital & Clinics, the Stanford University School of Medicine, the oldest medical school in the Western United States, and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, an adjacent pediatric teaching hospital providing general acute and tertiary care. For more information, visit http://stanfordhospital.org/.

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Cover Story

Wisdom of teens (continued from page 14)

parents, spreading oneself too thin, the joys of solitude.

In an untitled painting of a child overshadowed by a roaring lion, a Gunn junior pondered the contradictions of parental love and ambition.

“Without a doubt parents have only the best of intentions for their children,” she wrote.

“They wish only the greatest success for them, and yet their love, which drives them to push their kids for a better future, is often misinterpreted. As teens we often don’t see the love behind their actions but only a ferocious and snappy predator attempting to enforce their will on us, the unfortunate and reluctant prey of their high ambitions.”

Another Gunn junior described his overscheduled life in the painting, “Icarus.”

“Just like how Icarus wanted to get a closer look at the sun, this year I wanted to try a lot of things,” he wrote.

“As I threw myself at things, I found myself spread thinner and thinner. Eventually, I felt worn out and mentally dead. I wanted to illustrate this, so I chose the Greek myth of Icarus. Just as he ventured too close to the sun and burned his wings off, I feel like I tried to do too much and ended up only tiring myself.”

The emotions of “infectious happiness” and “oppressive sadness” were explored by another Gunn ju-

nior through an image of a zipper, titled “The Difference.”

“In anyone’s life there is one or more thing that ultimately controls our happiness,” the artist explained.

“This zipper holds the two extremes of infectious happiness and oppressive sadness together but has the potential to pull them apart at any time.”

In “Harvard,” a painting of toy wooden blocks marked with “A,” “B” and “C,” a student reflected on the often-frustrating struggle for good grades.

“In the Palo Alto community many students are pressured into getting ‘A’s’ in all their classes,” the junior wrote.

“The attitude that is portrayed by students and their parents makes it seem that any grades other than ‘A’s’ are unacceptable. However, this is not true; moreover, getting straight ‘A’s’ can also be unattainable and out of reach for some, leaving them frustrated as they struggle.”

Another Gunn junior discussed the unexpected rewards of spending time alone in “Fulfilling Solitude.”

“Solitude doesn’t have to be loneliness,” she wrote.

“There is a peace to being alone, waiting to be discovered if you let go of your emotion and simply embrace the solitude. You may find that you’re not really by yourself after all.”

The exhibit grew out of a chance meeting last summer between Messinger, who has taught art at Gunn for 12 years, and Carolyn

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This untitled piece of art by a Gunn junior depicts parents with high expectations as ferocious predators attempting to enforce their will on their children, “the unfortunate and reluctant prey of their high ambitions.”

Digovich, the parent of a Palo Alto High School graduate, who promotes local small businesses.

They met when Messinger won a prize in a raffle sponsored by a small business Digovich was promoting — two amethyst bookends from the Nature Gallery.

“We talked about art,” Digovich said.

“I was thrilled to meet an art educator of Deanna’s caliber, and

I told her about this potential series of exhibits I’d talked with the businesses about. She was ready to get involved.”

At a 2010 Palo Alto Youth Council meeting following the suicides, Digovich volunteered to work with small business owners to make their shops more welcoming for teens.

“There are a lot of communitybuilding opportunities here. I feel these independent businesses are

the backbone of our community, make our communities livable,” Digovich said.

“This is really a very first effort, and we just wanted it to be a great effort.”

Jade Chamness, CEO of the suicide-recovery group Break Through the Static, said she contacted Digovich when she heard about the project, offering to contribute the art of some of the teen members of her

Cover Story

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“Harvard� symbolizes the often-frustrating struggle for good grades and the pressure on students to get straight A’s. organization. “This project lined up with what Break Through the Static is all about — organizing and executing projects where teens feel supported, cared for, loved and heard,� said Chamness, who launched the organization after losing her own father to suicide.

For Messinger, the project fit nicely with another topic she has worked with in her drawing and painting classes — prejudice. “Instead of being about prejudice or discrimination, this was turning it into a non-traditional self-portrait — defying the boundaries of what a self-portrait is,� Messinger said. “It’s not about their face or their body but about who they are, in concentric circles starting with the question of ‘What it’s like being you’ with your religious background, ethnic background ... bringing it to, ‘How’s that in Palo Alto’ and ‘How’s that at Gunn?’� she said. “It’s really about what it’s like being ‘you’ in Palo Alto, with all that you bring.’�

Students began with their sketch-

books, incorporating lessons of color theory, composition and arranging elements in ways that communicate.

One Gunn student, a close friend of one of the children who died, “began with fairly graphic imagery,� Messinger said. “As she processed it and continued the sketches before painting, she realized she didn’t need to do those graphic images anymore.

She’d actually worked it through and come up with more positive and hopeful imagery in the end.�

The resulting exhibit is cosponsored by the Palo Alto Youth Collaborative, the Gunn High School Visual Arts Department and Break Through the Static.

Mike’s Cafe, Philz Coffee, Bon Vivant and Vino Locale all plan receptions for the artists (see sidebar).

A “Grand Exhibit and Reception� will be held at Palo Alto City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave., March 23 from 5 to 7 p.m. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly. com.

The Business-Teen Art Exhibition receptions Music will be performed by local youth at every reception.

March 15: 2:30-4 p.m. Mike’s CafÊ, 2680 Middlefield Road March 16: 5-7 p.m. Philz, 101 Forest Ave. March 17: 12-3 p.m. Vino Locale, 431 Kipling St. March 17: 4-6 p.m. Philz, 3191 Middlefield Road March 18: 3-5 p.m. Bon Vivant, 535 Bryant St. March 23: 5-7 p.m. Grand Exhibit and Reception at Palo Alto City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. Mayor Yiaway Yeh will speak on youth empowerment. All of the pieces of teen art will be hung at City Hall from March 19 to April 1.

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

Art

by

Interior designers display the work of many artists in their new pair of galleries

by Cristina Wong photos by Kelsey Kienitz

design

W Top: Artwork in the group exhibition “Anima: The Self Within,” in which artists explore the unconscious mind. Center right: Exhibit curator Shira Adriance, who is also general manager of the Fibre Arts Design Studio. Above: The recent solo exhibition “Dreamscapes,” with paintings on silk by Ellen Brook. (The show has since been replaced by “Object As Memory,” which features Lynn Powers’ collages, paintings and assemblages.)

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alking through the Fibre Arts Design Studio in Palo Alto, visitors are drawn into stories told through collages, layers upon layers of metallic pigment and quilted visions on display. In the studio shop are colorful handcrafted felted scarves and pieces of ceramic jewelry.

Open entryways allow visitors to roam freely into a group art exhibition, or experience a different atmosphere in a solo show. There is a modern feel throughout, with white walls and high ceilings.

The Industrial Avenue studio, which opened its two exhibition spaces to the public last fall, is also an interior-design studio offering residential and commercial services. Fibre Arts general manager Shira Adriance is both designer and head curator of the galleries.

Adriance said she and her team, the majority of whom have lived in Palo Alto for years, chose the area to be a part of its thriving design community.

The studio’s galleries are a dominant part of the 5,000-square-foot Fibre Arts space. Adriance and her team plan to feature more than 80 artists and a dozen solo exhibitions throughout the year. Seven group shows each year will feature a particular theme or medium. Overall, Fibre Arts will show a variety of media, including mixed media, oil painting, clay, glass, textiles and photography.

At the moment, the studio is hosting the group exhibition “Anima: The Self (continued on next page)

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Arts & Entertainment (continued from previous page)

Within,” which was inspired by Jungian psychology’s exploration of the unconscious mind. The 11 featured artists portray various interpretations of the mind, through abstract expressions, figurative sculptures, colorful textiles and layered mixed media.

Colorado artist Kathryn Hart is one of those featured. She created a series of mixed-media pieces titled “Mind Mapping,” based on the struggle she faced when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The 15-work collection includes the titles “Synapse,” “Mind Mapping I,” “Journey,” “Memory Trail,” “Cry Freedom” and “When the Noise Dies.”

Through her raw colors and abstract forms, Hart said viewers can see how “the aggressiveness of each piece dissipates a bit more with each subsequent piece.”

The last piece, “When the Noise Dies,” is about “what is left of the memories after the confusion and disorientation has taken over,” she said.

When choosing the themes for exhibits at Fibre Arts, Adriance and two other curators generally make a list of about 50 interesting ideas and vote on them, she said. “It’s a personal process we go through, but it’s definitely a team process,” she added.

Adriance said this traditional collaborative process is common to the design world and ultimately influences the Fibre Arts staff members’ decision-making as curators. The group is “used to examining things, pulling them apart, and putting them back together,” she said.

The staff members also believe the themed exhibitions add an unexpected twist on the usual gallery space.

“It’s about finding artists that can delve into that and really explore the themes rather than just saying, well, this guy is a landscape painter,” Fibre Arts marketing manager Dan Caple said.

The studio gathers works from Bay Area artists, as well as those who live out of state. Adriance said that exhibiting in her studio provides a good opportunity for emerging artists to make a name for themselves in the art world.

“When you’re so deep into your own art, it’s hard to step back and determine how you should create a sellable, marketable show,” she said.

A gallery can partner with new artists to help them learn how to present themselves to the world “in a successful way, and have people appreciate their work and get a lot out of it.”

In the Fibre Arts shop, the staff choose pieces that reflect themes of sustainable and urban designs, Caple said. Items have included serving dishes made from traffic lights; Italian-designed teapots; and wooden cutting boards.

The studio also hosts tours and open visits, and acts as a community resource for local school and senior groups.

Benefits are planned as well. Later this month, Fibre Arts will exhibit artwork made by residents of Moldaw Family Residences, a senior community at Palo Alto’s Oshman Family Jewish Community Center. Proceeds will go toward art classes at the center. N Info: Gallery and shop hours at the Fibre Arts Design Studio at 935 Industrial Ave. in Palo Alto are

Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The group exhibition “Anima” runs through March 24, with “Object As Memory,” a solo exhibition of mixed-media and assemblages by Lynn Powers, through April 29.

For more on these and later events, go to fibreartsdesign.com or call 650-485-2121.

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Palo Alto writer Janet Silver Ghent is premiering a play she wrote with fellow scribe Matt Surrence as part of a new-play reading series at the Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond.

Ghent, who has written many an arts story for the Weekly, describes “The Agony of the Leaves” as a “contemporary comedy of manners in the wisecracking vein of Neil Simon.” The table reading is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 1 at 105 Park Place; admission is $5. For more, go to masquers.org.

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Arts & Entertainment PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL CIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUE BROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1 CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL 26 ***************************************** THIS IS A SUMMARY OF COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS. THE AGENDA WITH COMPLETE TITLES INCLUDING LEGAL DOCUMENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT THE BELOW WEBPAGE:

(TENTATIVE) AGENDA–SPECIAL MEETING COUNCIL CHAMBERS MARCH 19, 2012 - 5:30 PM CLOSED SESSION 1. Labor 2. Labor SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY 3. Proclamation Honoring the Palo Alto Kiwanis STUDY SESSION 4. SEA Report CONSENT CALENDAR 5. Adoption of a Budget Amendment Ordinance in the Amount of $900,000 to Capital Improvement Program Project PE-86070 to be used in the San Antonio Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) Project; and Approval of a Contract with Granite Construction in an Amount Not to Exceed $1,302,963 for the San Antonio Highway Safety Improvement Program 6. Approval of a Mitigated Negative Declaration and Initial Study and Approval of a Record of Land Use Action for construction and associated site improvements at 830 Los Trancos Road. * Quasi-Judicial 7. Resolution to Modify the Long-term Electric Acquisition Plan Implementation Tasks Related to the City’s Study of Energy Storage Systems to Conform to Requirements Under the Public Utilities Code 8. Approval of an additional $108,730 for the Consolidated Maintenance Contract between the City of Palo Alto and Public Safety Systems, Inc. For Computer Aided Dispatch, Police Records Management, Fire Records Management, Mobile Data, and Geovalidation 9. 2nd Reading: Ordinance to Amend the Contract Between the Board of Administration of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the City of Palo Alto to Implement California Government Code Section 20475: Different level of Benefits Provided for New Employees, Section 21363.1: 3.0% @ 55 Full Formula, Section 20037: Three Year Final Compensation, and Without Section 20692: Employer Paid Member Contributions for Safety Fire Employees. (1st Reading 3-5-12 Passed 8-0, Yeh absent) 10. 2nd Reading: Ordinance Amending Two Sections of Chapter 2.30 of the Municipal Code Relating Facilitation of the Clean Local Energy Accessible Now Program. (1st Reading 3-5-12 Passed 8-0, Yeh absent) 11. Adoption of Resolution Amending 2011-2014 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Local 1319, International Association of Fire Fighters to Add One Additional Classification of Fire Fighter Trainee.

12. Approval of Appointment of Chief People Officer/Director of Human Resources ACTION ITEMS 13. PUBLIC HEARING: Edgewood Plaza Shopping Center - Approval of a Resolution Certifying a Final Environmental Impact Report, and Adoption of An Ordinance (1) Amending Section 18.08.040 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code (The Zoning Map) to Approve a Planned Community Zone District Allowing Renovation of Three Retail Structures, Relocation of One Retail Structure (Eliminating a Parking Lot and Expanding the Main Parking Lot), Construction of Ten Single Family Homes and Creation of a 0.2 Acre Park (Replacing a Second Parking Lot) and Associated Site Improvements, and (2) Approving a Tentative Map to Merge Three Parcels into One Parcel for Re-subdivision into Eleven Parcels (One Commercial Parcel and Ten Residential Parcels) and Off-Site Improvements, for a 3.58 Acre Site Located at 2080 Channing Avenue. * Quasi-Judicial 14. Finance Committee Recommendation to Approve a Resolution Revising the Gas Utility Long-term Plan Objectives, Strategies and Implementation Plan 15. Approval of Options for Connectivity Between the Art Center and the Main Library (CIPs PE-11000, PF-07000) SPECIAL MEETING-COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM MARCH 22, 2012 5:00 PM The City Council will be meeting to conduct interviews for open positions on the Public Art Commission, Human Relations Commission, and Utilities Advisory Commission.

STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS The Finance Committee meeting will be held on March 20, 2012 at 6:00 PM. regarding; 1) Auditor’s Office Quarterly Report as of December 31, 2011, and 2) Utilities Advisory Commission Recommendation to Adopt a Resolution Modifying the City of Palo Alto Utilities’ Long-term Electric Acquisition Plan’s Renewable Portfolio Standard Strategy.

The City Council Rail Committee will be held on March 22, 2012 at 8:30 AM to discuss the Palo Alto Rail Corridor Task Force Report.

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Museum guides meet cute, follow a predictable but charming romantic path in modern play

by Chad Jones n so many ways, Carly Mensch’s “Now Circa Then” is a timeless romantic comedy. Two people find each other in a quirky way, tussle, fall in love and ride the relationship wherever it may chance to go. Each brings something that the other desperately needs and ends up as a more complete human being for having known the other.

That’s a lot of romantic territory to cover in a 90-minute, one-act play, but Mensch does an admirable job of creating an interesting setting in which to place intriguing people — two costumed tour guides/reenactors in a New York museum — falling into their romantic evolution. Though full of familiar sitcom, rom-com rhythms, “Now Circa Then” is also an intelligent musing on connecting to the past through the evanescent flurry of life in our digital age.

The TheatreWorks production of “Now Circa Then” now at the Lucie Stern Theatre is about as slick a production as you could imagine of this likeable two-hander. Director Meredith McDonough doesn’t miss a beat with two sturdy actors and a stage beautifully dressed by scenic designer Andrew Boyce and lighting designer York Kennedy.

In fact, the set threatens to become the most memorable element of the evening simply because it’s so graceful and picture-perfect. When depicting three rooms in a museum very much like the Tenement Museum on New York’s Lower East Side, Boyce could easily have just slid a living room, kitchen and bedroom set on and off the stage, but his rooms blend into one another in surprising ways, and watching the set morph from one room in a late19th-century immigrant apartment to another is absolutely captivating.

That’s not to take anything away from actors Kimiye Corwin as Margie, a new tour guide at the museum, and Matt R. Harrington as Gideon, a highly experienced hand in the “living history” business. Both performers are charming and make you want their characters to emerge more fully from the strictures of romantic comedy.

The costumed guides in this particular apartment are playing West Prussian immigrants Julian and Josephine Glockner, who toiled in the garment trade and raised five children in these three small rooms. We hear bits of the guides’ spiel, which has them dropping in and out of character as they instruct their tour groups on the challenges of being poor in 1890s New York.

Gideon is an experienced re-enactor (he’s done Gettysburg and Plymouth), but Margie, a recent New York transplant from the Midwest, is a complete novice. Of course they clash, especially when Gideon tries to give her acting lessons. Professional actors playing amateur actors can be hilarious, and it is here. But through Gideon’s coaching, Margie starts to connect with her character

I

Tracy Martin

http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/knowzone/agendas/council.asp

‘Now Circa Then’ is timeless

Matt R. Harrington and Kimiye Corwin play costumed tour guides in a New York history museum in the romantic comedy “Now Circa Then.” while at the same time connecting with Gideon.

As the romance heats up, it becomes clear that Margie is running from her family, and though ambitious, she is clueless about what she’s doing with her life. Gideon, a New York native who still lives with his widower father, is a history fanatic.

He says his brain is a “24-hour History Channel,” and he shows complete disdain for modern society and its digital temples and devices (he doesn’t own a mobile phone, naturally). Our times, he says, are culturally bankrupt. That’s why he prefers the richness of the past.

Margie, on the other hand, says history is bull and that we should “stop worshipping old facts.” She needs to bring him into the present, and he needs to ground her in the past.

Both tasks will be accomplished before show’s end, but not before Mensch offers some crackling scenes of Margie and Gideon at work in their Josephine and Julian characters in which the past and the present are working on each other in surprising and intriguing ways.

By the time “Now Circa Then” is history, the characters of Margie and Gideon have not emerged as fully as we might hope. They each make the necessary evolution, but the play’s brevity and its light tone prevent them from becoming truly interesting characters. It’s especially disappointing that the Julian and Josephine personas remain so much in the background — sort of as tour-guide jokes. Their fraught

lives, while the subject of a by-rote museum tour, should land more powerfully if Mensch’s take on the resonance of history is going to make a significant impact.

It seems Mensch is aiming lower than that. She wants to entertain, which she does with her fresh take on the “meet cute” New York romance. But the notion of history as a vital and necessary element of the present is actually more interesting than the play lets it be. We get glimpses and tastes of this theme, especially as Margie takes control of her life, but it seems there’s more to “Now Circa Then” than its present incarnation reveals. N What: “Now Circa Then” by Carly Mensch, presented by TheatreWorks Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto When: Through April 1, with 7:30 p.m. shows Tuesday and Wednesday, 8 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. shows Saturday and Sunday and 7 p.m. shows Sunday (no 7 p.m. show on April 1).

Cost: Tickets are $19-$69 with student, senior and educator discounts.

Info: Go to www.theatreworks.org or call 650-463-1960.

Eating Out FOOD FEATURE

A taste of Ireland On St. Patrick’s Day, pubs in Palo Alto and Mountain View celebrate the Irish way

by Tyler Hanley

S

the first set of tables and hooks to the left like a shillelagh. Irish soccer matches play on flat-screen televisions, and there’s a plethora of Irish-themed decor.

Owner Erik Barry and general manager Des Whelan both hail from County Wexford, and operations manager Gwen Browne hails from County Dublin. Barry bought St. Stephens in 1999 and brought Whelan aboard as manager in 2003. St. Stephens is one of several spots on the Peninsula celebrating St. Patrick’s Day the Irish way: serving a cornucopia of Irish-themed food and drink to ring in the popular holiday.

For Whelan, celebrating St. Patrick’s Day at St. Stephens is more than just a business opportunity. It is a reminder of the times he enjoyed

Michelle Le

everal years ago I traveled to Roscommon, Ireland, to explore my Irish roots with my father, uncle and twin brother.

Together we traversed the quaint town where my great-great-grandfather was born, and absorbed the Celtic culture. The enchanting community was rich with pleasant residents, small shops and intimate pubs that served traditional cuisine and, naturally, Guinness stout.

Upon returning home I set out to find a place that most reminded me of those pubs we had discovered in Ireland. I wandered into St. Stephens Green on Castro Street in downtown Mountain View, and the search was over. The inviting restaurant/bar is authentically Irish from its management to its menu.

The bar is on the right just past

Guinness and fish & chips at St. Stephens Green. the holiday in his native Ireland, when the tantalizing scent of his mom’s cooking would drift through the house.

“My mother would always make fresh Irish soda bread, and you would smell it and know dinner was nearly ready,” he said.

FREE

Weekly restaurant critic Dale Benson dubbed the pub a place where “everything is sturdy ... from the tables and chairs to the hearty fare turned out by the kitchen,” he wrote in his May 2011 review. “Lest anyone forget where they are, there is a digital

countdown to St. Patrick’s Day that starts March 18 and subtracts every day, hour and minute until the next shamrock celebration.”

Well that “shamrock celebration” is right around the clover ... er, corner.

On Friday night, March 16, fans of Irish liqueur can stop by St. Stephens to rub elbows with the Bushmills and Baileys girls from 11 p.m. to midnight. Bushmills is an Irish whiskey with a 400-year history and Baileys is a popular Irish cream sold in more than 180 countries, according to their respective websites. St. Stephens will rise to the St. Patrick’s Day occasion Saturday morning by serving a full Irish breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. The restaurant also features a regular menu that gives eager eaters an array of traditional Irish options.

“Two of our favorites are staples in any good Irish pub,” Whelan said. “Our fish and chips are one of our top sellers, which we make with our own recipe beer batter, and the (continued on page 24)

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Eating Out (continued from previous page)

obvious corned beef and cabbage, which we have on the whole month of March.”

St. Stephens also offers potato and leek soup served with homemade Irish soda bread; Guinness steak pie with fresh vegetables and mashed potatoes; Irish-style chicken curry with a choice of rice or fries; and Irish stew, among other choices (including fresh corned beef rolls served at the bar until 11 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day).

And what would a good Irish meal be without a fresh brew to complement it? St. Stephens features several Irish beers, including Guinness (stout), Harp (lager) and

Smithwick’s (ale). Those who celebrate a tad too much may wish to stop by St. Stephens Sunday morning, March 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a Bloody Mary that’s $4 with a breakfast purchase.

While St. Stephens might be the most authentic Irish restaurant between Mountain View and Palo Alto, there are other places ringing in the holiday with similar enthusiasm. Standing just a skip down the road from St. Stephens like an Irish sister (although unrelated) is the popular Irish pub Molly Magee’s.

The Castro Street entrance to Molly’s is like a tunnel that leads visitors to the bar on the right and an assortment of tables — and a bil-

liard table — on an upper platform.

The pub includes a back patio with its own separate bar and more seating (particularly inviting when the weather is nice). Molly’s will serve green beer from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.

March 17, and always has Guinness, Harp and Smithwick’s on tap, not to mention a host of others.

Even Palo Alto’s long-standing English bar/restaurant, the Rose & Crown, is getting in on the Irish action — an annual tradition. The Rose & Crown is a solid representation of Britain’s classic pubs and includes an outdoor patio, expansive bar and dartboards. On March 17, the Rose & Crown will offer corned beef and cabbage with potatoes and

carrots “until it runs out,” owner Kasim Syed said.

And Rose & Crown will be trying something a little different this year by giving the overseas taste of Ireland a local flair.

Rose & Crown will feature 10 craft stouts — Ireland’s most popular style of beer — from West Coast breweries “for the people that are really into the beer,” Syed said.

Stouts from Palo Alto Brewing Co., Drake’s Brewing (San Leandro), Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Paso Robles) and Green Flash Brewing Co. (San Diego) will be among those available on tap.

St. Stephens Green, Molly Magee’s and The Rose & Crown are proudly

providing patrons a taste of Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day and beyond.

And you won’t have to travel all the way to Roscommon to get it. N St. Stephens Green 223 Castro St., Mountain View 650-964-9151 ststephensgreen.com Molly Magee’s 241 Castro St., Mountain View 650-961-0108 mollysmtview.com The Rose & Crown 547 Emerson St., Palo Alto 650-327-7673 roseandcrownpa.com

G U I D E TO 2012 S U M M E R C A M P S F O R K I D S

n n o e C c p t i o m n a C Summer at Saint Francis

Athletics

Bald Eagle Camps

Mountain View

Bald Eagle Camps is the only camp Approved by the nationally recognized Positive Coaching Alliance, teaching their principles to every camper through our Certified Coaches. We offer 3 uniquely FUN Summer Camps, each of which exude our encouraging team culture: Non-Traditional Sports Camp(1st-8th), Basketball Camp(3rd8th), and Leadership Camp(7th-8th only). Come experience our positive atmosphere, great coaching, unique structure, inspiring life message and 5-STAR service. Bald Eagle Camps is guaranteed to be a highlight of your child’s summer. www.baldeaglecamps.com 888-505-2253

Kim Grant Tennis Academy & Palo Alto/ Summer Camps Menlo Park/Redwood City Fun and Specialized junior camps for Mini (3-5), Beginner, Intermediate 1&2, Advanced and Elite Players. Weekly programs designed by Kim Grant to improve players technique, fitness, agility, mental toughness and all around tennis game. Camps in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City. Come make new friends and have tons of FUN!! www.KimGrantTennis.com 650-752-8061

Nike Tennis Camps

Stanford University

Dick Gould’s 43rd Annual Stanford Tennis School offers day camps for both juniors a&dults. Weekly junior overnight & extended day camps run by John Whitlinger & Lele Forood. Junior Day Camp run

by Brandon Coupe & Frankie Brennan. www.USSportsCamps.com/tennis 1-800-NIKE-CAMP (645-3226)

Oshman JCC

Palo Alto

Exciting programs for preschool and grades K-12 include swimming, field trips, crafts and more. Enroll your child in traditional camp, or specialty camps like Pirates, Archery, Runway Project, Kid TV and over 25 others! www.paloaltojcc.org/camps 650-223-8622

Spartan Sports Camp

Mountain View

Spartans Sports Camp offers multi-sport, week-long sessions for boys and girls in grades 3-5 as well as sport-specific sessions for grades 6-9. There are also strength and conditioning camps for grades 6-12. Camps begin June 11th and run weekly through July 27th at Mountain View High School. The camp is run by MVHS coaches and student-athletes and all proceeds benefit the MVHS Athletic Department. Lunch and extended care are available for your convenience. www. SpartansSportsCamp.com 650-479-5906

Spring Down Equestrian Center

Portola Valley

Spring Down camp teaches basic to advanced horsemanship skills. Ages 6-99 welcome! Daily informative lecture, riding lesson, supervised hands-on skill practice, safety around horses, tacking/ untacking of own camp horse, and arts/crafts. www.springdown.com 650.851.1114

Stanford Water Polo Camps

Stanford

Ages 7 and up. New to the sport or have experience, we have a camp for you. Half day or full day option for boys and girls. All the camps offer fundamental skill work, position work, scrimmages and games. stanfordwaterpolocamps.com 650-725-9016

Summer at Saint Francis

Mountain View

Sports & Activity Camp (ages 6-12): This all sports camp provides group instruction in a variety of field, water and court games.

Saint Francis faculty and students staff the camp, and the focus is always on fun. The program is dedicated to teaching teamwork, sportsmanship and positive self-esteem. After camp care and swim lessons available. www.sfhs.com/summer 650-968-1213 x650

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Mountain View

Write Now! Summer Writing Camps

Palo Alto

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. Also Pleasanton. www.headsup.org 650-424-1267, 925-485-5750

Arts, Culture and Other Camps Camp Imagineerz

Mountain View and Los Altos

Advanced Sports Camps (5th-9th grades): We offer a wide selection of advanced sports camps designed to provide players with the opportunity to improve both their skill and knowledge of a specific sport. Each camp is run by a Head Varsity Coach at Saint Francis, and is staffed by members of the coaching staff. www.sfhs.com/summer 650-968-1213 x650

Building i-can attitudes....In a FUN environment, children discover that when you believe you can, you can! Creating and performing original stories, building/making with recycled materials and lots of outdoor play. Grades 1- 4. Fabulous Early-bird discount up to March 15. See website for details www.imagineerz-learning.com 650-318-5002

YMCA of Silicon Valley

Castilleja Summer Day Camp

Peninsula

Palo Alto

Say hello to summer fun at the YMCA! Choose from enriching day or overnight camps in 35 locations: arts, sports, science, travel, and more. For youth K-10th grade. Includes weekly fieldtrips, swimming and outdoor adventures. Accredited by the American Camp Association. Financial assistance available. www.ymcasv.org/summercamp 408-351-6400

Castilleja Summer Day Camp (grades 2-6, CILT grades 8-9) offers ageappropriate activities including athletics, art, science, computers, writing, crafts, cooking, drama, music classes and field trips. Two and four week sessions available. www.castilleja.org 650-470-7833

Academics

Children entering Grades 1 to 8 are invited to explore the arts July 16 - 20, 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Workshops available in guitar, dance, voice, and songwriting. Put together a musical from start to finish.

Performance on Friday night. Register online. www.mppc.org 650-323-8647

GASPA German Summer School Camp Menlo Park Learn German by way of Fairytale! GASPA is taking Summer Camp into the world of fairy tales and everything that comes with it…in German of course! Offering a 4 week program for children ages 3-12. www.gaspa-ca.org 650-520-3646

Harker Summer Programs

San Jose

K-12 offerings taught by exceptional, experienced faculty and staff.

K-6 morning academics - focusing on math, language arts and science - and full spectrum of afternoon recreation. Grades 6-12 for-credit courses and non-credit enrichment opportunities. Sports programs also offered. www.summer.harker.org 408-553-0537

iD Tech Camps - Summer Tech Fun!

Stanford

Creative Kids Camp

Menlo Park

Community School of Music & Arts (CSMA )

Mountain View

50+ creative camps for Gr. K-8! Drawing, Painting, Ceramics, Sculpture, Musical Theater, American Idol Workshop, more! Twoweek sessions; full and half-day enrollment. Extended care available.

Financial aid offered. www.arts4all.org 650-917-6800 ext. 0

India Community Center Summer Camps

Palo Alto/ Sunnyvale/ Milpitas/Olema

Take hobbies further! Ages 7-17 create iPhone apps, video games, movies, and more at weeklong, day and overnight programs held at Stanford and 60+ universities in 27 states.. Also 2-week, Teen-only programs: iD Gaming Academy, iD Programming Academy, and iD visual Arts Academy (filmmaking & photography). www.internalDrive.com 1-888-709-TECH (8324)

Join ICC’s Cultural Camps which give campers a quick tour of India and its vibrant culture. These camps include arts, crafts, folk dance, bollywood dance, music, yoga, Indian history and geography. Over 10 different camps all through the summer for Grades K-12. To register or for more details visit: www.indiacc.org/camps 408-934-1130 ext. 225

iD Teen Academies

Palo Alto Community Child Care (PACCC)

Stanford

Learn different aspects of video game creation, app development, filmmaking, photography, and more. 2-week programs where ages 13-18 interact with industry professionals to gain competitive edge. iD Gaming Academy, iD Programming Academy, and iD Visual Arts Academy are held at Stanford, and other universities. www.iDTeenAcademies.com 1-888-709-TECH (8324)

Mid-Peninsula High School Summer Program

Menlo Park

Mid-Peninsula High School offers a series of classes and electives designed to keep students engaged in learning. Class MondayThursday and limited to 15 students. Every Thursday there’s a BBQ lunch. The Science and Art classes will have weekly field trips. www.mid-pen.com 650-321-1991 x110

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

Synapse School & Wizbots

Menlo Park

Cutting-edge, imaginative, accelerated, integrated, and hands-on academic summer enrichment courses with independent in-depth, project-based morning and afternoon week-long programs for children ages 4-12. Young Explorers, Thinking Math, Leonardo da Vinci’s Inventions, Nature Connections, Girls’ & Soccer Robotics, and more! synapseschool.org/curriculum/summer 650-866-5824

Palo Alto

PACCC summer camps offer campers, grades kindergarten to 6th, a wide array of fun opportunities! K-1 Fun for the youngest campers, Nothing But Fun for themed-based weekly sessions, Neighborhood Adventure Fun and Ultimate Adventure Fun for the more active and on-the-go campers! Swimming twice per week, periodic field trips, special visitors and many engaging camp activities, songs and skits round out the fun offerings of PACCC Summer Camps! Registration is online. Open to campers from all communities! Come join the fun in Palo Alto! www.paccc.com 650-493-2361

TechKnowHow Computer Palo Alto/ & LEGO Camps Menlo Park/Sunnyvale Fun and enriching technology classes for students, ages 5-14 Courses include LEGO and K’NEX Projects with Motors, Electronics, NXT Robotics, 3D Modeling, and Game Design. Many locations, including Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Sunnyvale. Half and all day options. Early-bird and multi-session discounts available. www.techknowhowkids.com 650-638-0500

Theatreworks Summer Camps

Palo Alto

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

JAPANESE & SUSHI Fuki Sushi 494-9383

of the week

4119 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Online Ordering-Catereing-Chef Rental Sushi Workshops-Private Tatami Rooms Online Gift Card Purchase fukisushi.com & facebook.com/fukisushi

MEXICAN

AMERICAN

CHINESE

Armadillo Willy’s 941-2922

New Tung Kee Noodle House

408 California Ave, Palo Alto

1031 N. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos

947-8888

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Range: $5.00-13.00

520 Showers Dr., Mountain View

Palo Alto Sol 328-8840

(inside San Antonio Shopping Ctr.) Hobee’s 856-6124 4224 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Special Pearl Drinks $2.75 Noodle Soups/ Egg Roll/ Rice Plates Meals starting at $5.00

Also at Town & Country Village, Palo Alto 327-4111

Su Hong – Menlo Park Dining Phone: 323–6852

Burmese

To Go: 322–4631 Winner, Menlo Almanac “Best Of”

Green Elephant Gourmet

8 years in a row!

494-7391 Burmese & Chinese Cuisine

INDIAN

3950 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto (Charleston Shopping Center) Dine-In, Take-Out, Local Delivery-Catering www.greenelephantgourmet.com

Darbar Indian Cuisine 321-6688 129 Lytton, Downtown Palo Alto Lunch Buffet M-F; Open 7 days

WE DELIVER PIZZA Spot A Pizza 324-3131

115 HAMILTON AVE

115 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto

650.324.3131

Voted Best Pizza in Palo Alto

PALO ALTO, MENLO PARK, ATHERTON

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 Available for private luncheons Lounge open nightly Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-6 pm

CHINESE

Janta Indian Restaurant (650) 462-5903 Fax (650) 462-1433

Chef Chu’s 948-2696 on the corner of El Camino, Los Altos

www.jantaindianrestaurant.com

751 El Camino Real, Menlo Park

LOS ALTOS, LOS ALTOS HILLS, MOUNTAIN VIEW

Seafood Dinners from

2010 Best Chinese MV Voice & PA Weekly

ITALIAN

$6.95 to $10.95

Jing Jing 328-6885

La Cucina di Pizzeria Venti

STEAKHOUSE

254-1120 1390 Pear Ave, Mountain View

Sundance the Steakhouse

www.pizzeriaventi.com

321-6798

Fresh, Chef Inspired Italian Food

1921 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

www.jingjinggourmet.com

Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30 am-2:00pm Spalti Ristorante 327-9390

Dinner: Mon-Thu 5:00-10:00pm

Ming’s 856-7700

417 California Ave, Palo Alto

Fri-Sat 5:00-10:30pm,

1700 Embarcadero East, Palo Alto

ÝµÕ Ã ÌiÊ `ÊUÊ"ÕÌ` ÀÊ }Ê

Sun 5:00-9:00pm

www.spalti.com

www.sundancethesteakhouse.com

www.mings.com

650.947.SPOT

369 Lytton Ave., Downtown Palo Alto Cook’s Seafood 325-0604

Food To Go, Delivery

133 MAIN STREET SAN ANTONIO & MAIN STREET

SEAFOOD

Lunch Buffet M-F;

Authentic Szechwan, Hunan

LOS ALTOS

www.spotpizza.com

1067 N. San Antonio Road

443 Emerson St., Palo Alto

PALO ALTO

Search a complete listing of local restaurant reviews by location or type of food on PaloAltoOnline.com

*> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ >ÀV Ê£È]ÊÓä£ÓÊU Page 25

Movies OPENINGS

CHARMING COTTAGES OF PALO ALTO Twenty-ďŹ rst annual house tour FRIDAY, MARCH 30 & SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2011 11:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. To buy tax-deductible tickets online — go to www.charmingcottages.org. $30.00 through March 22, $35.00 afterwards.

Tickets may be used either day.

Sponsored by the Palo Alto Area Mills College Club, a non-proďŹ t organization, to beneďŹ t the scholarship program for students of Mills College from San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties

Media Sponsor: Palo Alto Weekly and Palo Alto Online

!"# $ "#

Paul Dano and Robert De Niro in “Being Flynn.�

Being Flynn --1/2

(Century 16) “We were put on this earth to help others,� says Nick Flynn, protagonist of the memoir-based film “Being Flynn.�

Pity that his father doesn’t agree, setting the stage for a longstanding conflict.

In competing narration, Nick’s father Jonathan reveals his epic self-absorption: “Everything I write is a masterpiece, and soon, very soon, I shall be known.� This and even more egregious delusions of grandeur help to explain Jonathan’s absent fatherhood, from his divorce of Nick’s mother (Julianne Moore) to his 18-year disappearing act.

Circumstances thrust Nick (Paul Dano of “There Will Be Blood�) back into his needy father’s life, and soon they’re in the “father� of all awkward situations. Now homeless, Jonathan becomes the lightning-rod problem case of a

bustling homeless shelter, the very same one where Nick works and struggles to contemplate a brighter path for his life. Nick has trouble enough without the present shame of his father, but the son’s frustrations compound as Jonathan provides a vision of a worst-casescenario future where Nick must become his father. “You are me!�

Jonathan rails. “I made you!�

The real Nick Flynn’s memoir, “Another Bulls--t Night in Suck City,� provides a template for wrenching drama, but the adaptation by writer-director Paul Weitz (“About a Boy�) follows it too perfunctorily. The script is at its best with clever turns of phrase, uncomfortably canny insights bandied between father and son, and the odd blunt juxtaposition (like Nick’s little-boy-lost past with his big-boy-lost present).

But even these at times lend the film a certain smug polish at odds

ACADEMY AWARD WINNER WINNER WINNER ÂŽ

Š A.M.P.A.S.Ž

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARD FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

ÂŽ

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

A SEPARATION A FILM BY ASGHAR FARHADI DreamLab WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY ASGHAR FARHADI

LANDMARK’S GUILD 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (650) 266-9260

ŠHFPA

WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM

CENTURY 20 DOWNTOWN REDWOOD CITY 825 Middlefield Rd, Redwood City (800) FANDANGO

VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.ASEPARATION.COM

ACADEMYBESTAWARD NOMINEE FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM ÂŽ

“SINGULAR AND SUPERBLY DRAMATIC. AGNIEZSKA HOLLAND’S BRAVE EPIC.�

A TRUE STORY

-Joe Morgenstern, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

IN DARKNESS FROM THE DIRECTOR OF “EUROPA EUROPA�

WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM

NOW PLAYING

On Visit iTunes.com/SPC for a look at In Darkness and other SPC films

VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.INDARKNESSFILM.COM

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

with what should feel inescapably, claustrophobically real.

Dano’s performance, a sort of bound-and-gagged aria of moroseness, deserves trappings that would enhance and complement it.

Ironically even the casting of De Niro, once the highest standard of authenticity, fails to deliver.

Though technically sound, the self-aware actor’s turn as an unself-aware man feels showy rather than lived in, and skips the nuances that would make Jonathan’s life on the border of mental illness truly moving.

Instead Jonathan becomes much more of a foil than a genuine personality — so too Moore’s pain-masking mother, wasted in a fleeting few scenes: These are the influences that formed Nick Flynn. And so, the film asks, whaddya gonna do about it, Nick? The predictable answers: drugs, selfpity, climactic confrontation, and arrival at a sort of acceptance.

There’s an air of therapy about it all, which becomes amusingly apparent when Nick hijacks a shelter check-in session to serve as a de facto writers’ group. Moments like this and the rare screen acknowledgement of lower-class America suggest the better film “Being Flynn� might have been.

But it’s simply difficult to throw in with the film’s reality, if not its essential story, then its details. “Being Flynn� feels indie art-directed instead of observed.

Rated R for language, some sexual content, drug use, and brief nudity. One hour, 42 minutes. — Peter Canavese

NOW PLAYING John Carter --(Century 16, Century 20) In dire need of a cinematic sugar rush? Look no farther than Disney’s blockbuster offering “John Carter,� a fantasy extravaganza brimming with eye candy. The visual effects are, literally, out of this world. Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ groundbreaking novel “A Princess of Mars,� the film follows a Civil War-era cavalryman from Virginia who is whisked away to Mars courtesy of a mystical amulet. Meanwhile, a war is brewing between Mars’ more human-looking denizens. A soldier is taking the fight to the land of Helium in hopes of conquering it and marrying its battle-ready princess. The picture drags at times and at least 20 minutes could have been left on the cutting-room floor. The film relies heavily on its visual elements, so it’s a boon that that portion is so stunning. “John Carter� pays a nice homage to Burroughs and honors the novel while falling neatly alongside other Disney escapades such as “Pirates of the Caribbean� and “Prince of Persia.� It might not be the healthiest dose of eye candy, but it certainly satisfies. Rated PG-13 for violence and action.

Two hours, 17 minutes. — T.H. (Reviewed March 9, 2012) Silent House --1/2 (Century 16, Century 20) As cheap little chillers go, “Silent House� is one of the good ones. The haunted “House� may be

MOVIE TIMES Showtimes for the Century 20 Theatre are for Friday through Wednesday only unless otherwise noted.

2 For 1 - The Artist/The Iron Lady (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Century 20: 12:10, 2:25, 4:45, 7 & 9:20 p.m.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (PG) (Not Reviewed) Century 20: Fri 11:10 a.m.; In 3D at 6:55 p.m.; In 3D Fri., Sat. & Mon.-Wed. also at 1:40 p.m.

21 Jump Street (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 11 a.m.; noon, 1:40, 2:40, 4:30, 5:30, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 8:50 p.m.; Mon.-Thu. also at 8:30 p.m. Century 20: 11:40 a.m.; 1:10, 2:20, 3:55, 5, 6:35, 7:45, 9:20 & 10:30 p.m.

LA Phil Live: Gustavo Dudamel and Herbie Hancock Celebrate Gershwin (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Sun. at 2 p.m. Century 20: Sun. at 2 p.m.

A Separation (PG-13) (((1/2 Century 20: Fri.-Tue. at 2:40 & 7:55 p.m. Guild Theatre: 5:30 & 8:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 2:30 p.m.

A Thousand Words (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 11:50 a.m.; 2:30, 5 & 7:45 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 10:15 p.m.; Thu. also at 9:55 p.m. Century 20: 11:55 a.m.; 2:35, 5:10, 7:40 & 10 p.m.

Laura (1944) Stanford Theatre: Fri.-Mon. at 7:30 p.m.; Sun. also at 3:40 p.m.

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake in 3D (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Century 20: Tue. at 7:30 p.m.

Pina 3D (PG) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 12:20, 3:10, 6:40 & 9:30 p.m.

Act of Valor (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Fri.-Wed. at 11:20 a.m.; 1:50, 4:30, 7:10 & 9:55 p.m. Century 20: 11:35 a.m.; 2:10, 4:55, 7:35 & 10:20 p.m.

Project X (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 12:10, 2:50, 5:10 & 7:50 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 10:10 p.m. Century 20: 11:30 a.m.; 1:45, 4, 6:15, 8:30 & 10:45 p.m.

The Artist (PG-13) (((1/2 Palo Alto Square: 2, 4:20 & 7:25 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 9:45 p.m.

Richard III (1955) Stanford Theatre: Tue.-Thu. at 7:30 p.m.

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) Stanford Theatre: Fri.-Mon. at 5:20 & 9:10 p.m.

Safe House (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 11:10 a.m.; 1:55 & 4:45 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 7:40 & 10:20 p.m. Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; 1:55, 4:35, 7:30 & 10:10 p.m.

Being Flynn (R) ((1/2 Century 16: 11 a.m.; 1:30, 4 & 7 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 9:50 p.m.; Thu. also at 9:30 p.m.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Palo Alto Square: 1:50, 4:30 & 7:15 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 9:50 p.m.

Can U Feel It: The UMF Experience (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Thu. at 8 p.m. Century 20: Thu. at 8 p.m.

Casa de Mi Padre (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 11 a.m.; 1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 8:10 & 10:30 p.m. Century 20: 11:20 a.m.; 1:30, 3:40, 5:50, 8 & 10:10 p.m.

The Secret World of Arrietty (G) (((1/2 Century 16: 12:15, 3:15, 6:20 & 8:40 p.m. Century 20: 11:45 a.m. & 2:15 p.m.; Fri.-Mon. & Wed. also at 6:50 p.m.

Casablanca (1942) (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Wed. at 2 & 7 p.m. Century 20: Wed. at 2 & 7 p.m.

Silent House (R) ((1/2 Century 16: Fri., Sat., Mon. & Tue. at 12:30, 3, 5:20, 8 & 10:15 p.m.; Sun. at 5:30, 8 & 10:15 p.m.; Wed. at 10:15 p.m.; Thu. at 12:30, 3, 5:20 & 8 p.m. Century 20: 11:30 a.m.; 1:35, 3:45, 6, 8:15 & 10:35 p.m.

Chronicle (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Century 20: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 4:40 & 9:10 p.m.

This Means War (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Century 20: 11:50 a.m.; 2:20, 4:50, 7:15 & 9:45 p.m.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (PG) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 11:40 a.m.; 2:10, 4:50 & 7:20 p.m.; In 3D at 11 a.m.; 1:20, 3:50, 6:30 & 8:55 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. (standard 2D) also at 9:45 p.m.; Thu. (standard 2d) also at 9:30 p.m. Century 20: 11:10 a.m.; 1:30, 3:50, 6:10, 8:30 & 10:45 p.m.; In 3D at 12:25, 2:45, 5, 7:20 & 9:40 p.m.

The Vow (PG-13) ((1/2 Century 20: 9:20 p.m.; Fri., Sat. & Mon.-Wed. also at 4:20 p.m.

Friends with Kids (R) (Not Reviewed) Aquarius Theatre: 4:15, 7 & 9:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 1:30 p.m. Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; 2, 4:35, 7:15 & 9:55 p.m.

The Godfather (1972) (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Thu. at 2 & 7 p.m.

The Hunger Games (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Thu. at 12:01, 12:02, 12:03 & 12:04 a.m. Century 20: Thu. at 12:01, 12:03 & 12:05 a.m.

In Darkness (R) (Not Reviewed) Aquarius Theatre: 5:15 & 8:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 2 p.m.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 11:30 a.m.; 2, 4:40, 7:20 & 9:40 p.m. Century 20: 11:25 a.m.; 1:35, 3:45, 5:55, 8:05 & 10:15 p.m.

John Carter (PG-13) ((( Century 16: 2:20 & 9:20 p.m.; In 3D at 11 a.m.; noon, 3:30, 6:10, 7 & 10:20 p.m. Century 20: 11:20 a.m.; 2:30, 5:35 & 8:35 p.m.; In 3D at 12:05, 1, 3:15, 4:05, 6:20, 7:10, 9:25 & 10:15 p.m.

built on a shaky foundation, but its scare tactics are sound, and its gimmickry is enough to stand out in a crowded genre neighborhood. It bears an unavoidable stylistic similarity to Alfred Hitchock’s “Rope,� which stitched together just 10 takes to give the appearance of seamless action. “Silent House� uses digital technology to create a more convincing illusion of continuous action. Beyond the exploitable stunt appeal of realistic real-time, the approach well suits this thrill ride. The story begins just outside a summer home bordered by shoreline and woods, where college student Sarah meets her father and uncle who are renovating the house. But matters take a nasty turn when strange noises and a violent attack demonstrate to left-alone Sarah that she has everything to fear. The shaky-cam’s proximity to Sarah solves the dullness problem that plagued the house-wandering longeurs in “The Woman in Black.� When the directors run out of “Rope� towards the end of the film’s hide-and-seek phase, the story freakishly breaks open its realism to reveal the psychological expressionism of symbolic horrors. “Silent House� may disappoint in the end, but not before it serves up plenty of armrest-gripping situations. Rated R for violent content and terror. One hour, 26 minutes. — P.C. (Reviewed March 9, 2012) The Secret World of Arrietty ---1/2 (Century 16, Century 20) Great things come in small packages. That’s one of the lessons of “The Secret World of Arrietty,� the charming animated adventure based on Mary Norton’s kid-lit classic “The Borrowers.� This is a tale of tiny people living underfoot of human “beans,� and “borrowing� what they need to survive. But it’s also a reminder that the seemingly small package of a hand-drawn animated film remains a warmly welcome alternative to computergenerated imagery. Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi takes the story at a leisurely pace, which allows it to breathe. Along with the gorgeously detailed art, lush color and swoony music, the film is all but guaranteed to entrance children. The animation style, emphasizing meticulous design, perfectly lends itself to the source material.

Everything about “Arrietty� is as vivid as it is (deceptively) simple, which places it in the

top ranks of animated movies. With tenderness, the story brushes against big fears — Shawn grapples with mortality, Arrietty with losing her home — while retaining the view that friendship can mean mutually solving, or at least alleviating, problems. Rated G. One hour, 34 minutes. — P.C. (Reviewed Feb. 17, 2012) The Vow --1/2 (Century 20) If the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore chuckler “50 First Dates� had been recast as a romantic drama and produced by the Oprah Winfrey Network, “The Vow� might have been the result. Fortunately, leads Rachel McAdams (“Midnight in Paris�) and Channing Tatum (“Haywire�) serve up solid performances and help keep the film somewhat grounded. The fledgling marriage between sweethearts Leo (Tatum) and Paige (McAdams) crashes to a halt when a truck slams into their car, sending Paige into a coma. When she awakes, she has no memory of Leo, who endures one awkward situation after another to win Paige back. Tatum and McAdams have a comfortable chemistry and their relationship is mostly believable. The romantic scenarios that abound range from endearing to saccharine. The characters in Paige’s life are moderately fleshed out, including her parents and sister (Jessica McNamee), but those in Leo’s life are numbingly onenote. While most films nowadays include 3D glasses, “The Vow� comes with the rose-colored variety. Rated PG-13 for sexual content, partial nudity, language and an accident scene. One hour, 44 minutes. — T.H. (Reviewed Feb. 10, 2012) The Artist --(Palo Alto Square, Century 20) Any filmgoer undaunted by something different will walk out of this new silent film with a grin. Michel Hazanavicius’ feature has an emotional generosity that speaks louder than words.

Opening in 1927, “The Artist� begins with a premiere of a silent film starring George Valentin (Jean Dujardin). When Valentin stumbles into a photo op with Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), the ground for a relationship is paved. Peppy sees her star begins to rise with George’s fall, precipitated by the arrival of talkies and the crash of 1929.

Writer-director Hazanavicius mostly steers

Wanderlust (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 20: 10:40 p.m.; Fri.-Tue. also at 12:15 & 5:30 p.m.

( Skip it (( Some redeeming qualities ((( A good bet (((( Outstanding Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (2669260)

Guild: 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (266-9260)

Century Cinema 16: 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View (800-326-3264)

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Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City (800-326-3264)

Internet address: For show times, plot synopses, trailers and more information about films playing, go to PaloAltoOnline.com/movies

CinĂŠArts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (493-3456)

clear of comparisons to the era’s epics and screen comics, instead inhabiting melodrama. The acting is inventive, and the film joyously celebrates the movies. Rated PG-13 for a disturbing image and a crude gesture. One hour, 41 minutes. — P.C. (Reviewed Dec. 2, 2011)

Ed Douglas, COMINGSOON.NET

A Separation ---1/2 (Guild, Century 20) Even as she defends her divorce filing, an Iranian woman says of her spouse, “He is a good, decent person.�

But “A Separation� — a film from Iran that just won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film — tests its every proposition, from the wisdom of the couple’s separation to the ethical rectitude of the spurned husband. The opening scene of writer-director Asghar Farhadi’s drama lets wife Simin (Leila Hatami) and husband Nader (Peyman Moadi) vent their sides of the dispute that threatens to end their marriage. The two separate, forcing 11-year-old Termeh (Sarina Farhadi) to play one parent against the other in the hope they’ll see the errors of their ways. The climate of cultural repression in Iran has only made its cinema more vital. The film’s separations can be familial, but also those of class and culture and between citizen and state; above all, Farhadi’s parable teaches that a rush to judgment inevitably turns back on the judge. Rated PG-13 for thematic material. Two hours, three minutes. — P.C. (Reviewed Feb. 3, 2012)

Fri-Sat 3/16-3/17 Salmon Fishing in the Yemen: 1:50, 4:30, 7:15, 9:50 The Artist: 2:00, 4:20, 7:25, 9:45 Sun-Thurs 3/18-3/22 Salmon Fishing in the Yemen: 1:50, 4:30, 7:15 The Artist: 2:00, 4:20, 7:25, 7:25

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Sports Shorts

MEN’S BASKETBALL

It’s not the big dance

CARDINAL CORNER . . . Stanford senior Chris Derrick has been added to The Bowerman Watch List for the first time, the award’s watch list committee announced on Wednesday. Derrick is among a select group of 10 athletes for collegiate track & field’s top award as a result of a successful indoor track & field season that culminated last weekend at the NCAA Championships. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Derrick had a pair of gutsy runner-up performances in the distance events that had the track world buzzing. In the 5,000 meters, Derrick took the race’s lead with four laps to go (800 meters) from Arizona duo of Lawi Lalang and Stephen Sambu. Sambu would drop off by the next lap and it became a one-on-one battle with Lalang. At the bell, the two were just seven-hundredths-of-a-second from each other side-by-side. Although Lalang would close with a 28.09 final lap to take victory, Derrick’s 29.79 and final 400 meters of 60.32 gained great acclaim. The following evening in the 3,000 meters, the two squared off again. Derrick took the lead with two laps to go and the duo again was side-by-side through the tape where Lalang was declared the victor by just 17-hundreths-of-a second. Derrick also anchored the Cardinal to a second-place showing at the MPSF Championships in the distance medley relay and was second in the mile at 3:59.13 . . . Ten days after landing one of the top rated quarterbacks in the country, Stanford landed one of the top rated linebackers when Punahou High’s Isaac Savaiinaea gave his verbal commitment to the Cardinal on Wednesday. Quarterback Ryan Burns, from Virginia, gave his verbal on March 4. Savaiinaea was a hot commodity, drawing at least 11 official offers, including nine Pac-12 schools and Notre Dame. The Irish offered him before his junior year. According to 247sports.com, the five-star recruit from Honolulu had trimmed his list to Stanford, Oregon and Texas A&M.

ON THE AIR Saturday

Monday Men’s basketball: Postseason NIT: Illinois St. at Stanford, 8:30 p.m.; KNBR (1050 AM); KZSU (90.1 FM)

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Stanford’s Josh Owens knocked down shots like this while scoring 15 points in a 76-65 victory over visiting Cleveland State to open the Postseason NIT on Tuesday, earning the Cardinal a second home game on Monday.

The Cardinal (22-11) earned another home game in the Postseason National Invitation Tournament without even playing Wednesday night. Stanford, seeded third, took care of business Tuesday night with its 76-65 victory over Cleveland State.

Dawkins and his players had to enjoy watching No. 7 seed Illinois State beat host and No. 2 Mississippi, 96-93, in overtime Wednesday night. It meant not having to make travel plans, being able to sleep in their own beds, and getting the extra time to study for finals.

Even better, Stanford is now the highest seed remaining in its region.

That means the Cardinal can win its way to Madison Square Garden for the Final Four (March 27-29) on its home court.

Bucknell knocked off top-seeded Arizona, 65-54, and travels to Nevada for its second-round contest (continued on page 32)

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Ogwumike sisters lead Stanford into yet another NCAA opener

by Rick Eymer here is a two-year age gap between sisters Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike and you’d almost swear they were twins, or at least best friends. When they play as one on the basketball court, which they often do, it’s simply a beautiful thing to watch.

Second-ranked Stanford (31-1) depends on the Ogwumike’s for most of its offensive production and defensive intensity. There are games, though, in which the entire team is engaged and playing in synch and those are the days when the Car-

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dinal, seeded first in the Fresno Region of the NCAA tournament, resembles a national championshipcaliber squad.

Stanford coach and Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer has been to the mountain top, though it’s been 20 years since she was able to hoist the championship trophy. The road to the Final Four in Denver this season is fraught with intrigue, peril and hidden traps, yet more than any other team in women’s college basketball, the Cardinal understands what it takes to navigate the twists (continued on next page)

David Bernal/stanfordphoto.com

Women’s basketball: NCAA Tournament: Stanford vs. Hampton, 10:30 a.m.; ESPN2; KZSU (90.1 FM)

by Rick Eymer ohnny Dawkins won’t be letting his team look too far ahead. There’s another game to be played Monday night and he’s busy preparing for it. There must be times, though, when he sneaks a peak at the possibility of ending Stanford’s season on one of basketball’s grandest stages.

Bob Drebin/stanfordphoto.com

ON THE LINKS . . . Gunn High sophomore golfer Jayshree Sarathy was the runner-up in the San Francisco Women’s Championships on Sunday at Harding Park, dropping a 36-hold match-play final to Alexandra Wong of St. Ignatius. The tournament, which is open to all amateurs, came down to a pair of high school students after Sarathy eliminated three-time California Amateur champion Lynne Cowan in the quarterfinals and Clovis East High senior Hannah Sodersten.

But Stanford is still happy to be playing in Postseason NIT

Stanford sisters Nnemkadi (left) and Chiney Ogwumike will lead the Cardinal into its NCAA first-round game on Saturday.

NCAA hoops

(continued from previous page)

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and turns.

Is this the year Stanford finally punches its way back to the top?

That will depend, of course, if the Ogwumike’s supporting cast will step up and get into synch. “Studying and school come first,�

Nneka Ogwumike said. “But there is no possible way to ignore March Madness. It’s exciting no matter what. This is the most exciting time of the year.�

The journey begins Saturday when the Cardinal takes on Hampton at 10:40 a.m. (ESPN2) at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va. Stanford earned the No. 1 seed in the Fresno Regional.

The Lady Pirates (26-4), winners of three consecutive MEAC titles, will make the short drive to nearby Old Dominion. “We don’t mind going to Old Dominion,� VanDerveer said. “It’s a place with a great basketball tradition. It’s a major incentive to win down there and come back and play here.� “Just put us anywhere, I don’t care,� Ogwumike added. “As long as we are playing basketball. The legacy builds every day, with every team and it’s not over yet.�

A victory against Hampton would set up a meeting with either Texas or West Virginia on Monday, also in Norfolk.

Two wins and Stanford would advance to the Sweet 16 in Fresno and a possible matchup with fifth-seeded South Carolina or fourth-seeded Purdue a week from Saturday. “The brackets seem balanced because there are a lot more good teams,� VanDerveer said. “Our bracket is full of great teams like Duke, Purdue and St. John’s, who go into UConn and beat UConn. You know they’re a great team.�

The Elite Eight, should Stanford accept its mission, would likely mean a game against No. 2 Duke, No. 3 St. John’s or No. 6 Oklahoma.

An intriguing matchup could occur in the national semifinal if overall No. 1 seed Baylor and Stanford hold serve. The Bears (34-0) seem to be everybody’s favorite to win the national title and become the first team ever to win 40 games in a season. “Last year no one thought Texas A&M would win,� VanDerveer said. “Baylor is a great team and (Brittany) Griner is a great player and a tremendous talent. I hope we have a chance to play them.�

The trip to Norfolk is the first time since 2001 that Stanford plays a tournament game east of the Rocky Mountains to open the tournament.

The Cardinal opened in 2001 in Norman, Okla.

The last time Stanford began the tournament in the Eastern Time Zone was the 2000 tournament, when the Cardinal traveled to Athens, Ga. and lost to the host Bulldogs in the second round.

Stanford has a record of 11-4 in first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games away from home.

Key players for Stanford include sophomore guard Toni Kokenis, named to the All-Pac-12 team and earning All-Defensive Team honorable mention. She averages 9.5

Nnemkadi Ogwumike (30) was named a finalist for the Naismith Trophy after leading Stanford to the Pac-12 title last weekend.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Stanford’s Neka Ogwumike finalist for Naismith Trophy

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tanford senior forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike has been named one of four finalists for the 2012 Naismith Trophy for Women’s College Player of the Year, the Atlanta Tip-Off Club announced Thursday.

Ogwumike is joined by Elena Della Donne (Delaware), Skylar Diggins (Notre Dame) and Brittney Griner (Baylor) on the list of finalists.

This season has been a banner year for Ogwumike, who has powered Stanford to a No. 2 national ranking as well as to the program’s 12th straight conference title and 21st in 26 years.

Ogwumike was named Pac-12 Player of the Year for the second time in her career, and earned three Pac-12 Player of the Week honors, including a USBWA National Player of the Week honor on Dec. 27.

In addition to the Pac-12 Player of the Year award, Ogwumike was named to the All-Pac-12 Team and All-Defensive Team honorable mention.

Ogwumike was named Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging 23.7 points and 10.3 rebounds with a 56.3 field-goal percentage over Stanford’s three victories. The Cardinal claimed its sixth straight and

points and 3.66 assists per game and ranks among the national leaders with a 2.34 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Junior Joslyn Tinkle has recorded a pair of double-doubles this season, reached double figures in scoring 10 times and is enjoying one of the best seasons ever at the free throw line, making 89 percent of her fouls shots, third best in school history.

Freshman Amber Orrange, also a Texas product, had a big game against California. She also enjoyed a nice game in the season-opening win at Texas. She needs to be a consistent presence against pressure defense and should continue to go strong to the basket, as she did against the Bears.

ninth overall tournament crown.

She leads the Pac-12 with 21.8 points per game and ranks second with 10.5 rebounds a game and an 83.2 free-throw percentage. Her 54.1 field-goal percentage ranks fourth. Ogwumike also ranks in the national Top 15 in scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage.

Ogwumike, a consensus national player of the year and AllAmerica candidate since the preseason, is also on the final ballot for the John R. Wooden Award Ogwumike scored 29 points, including a 3-of- 4 effort from 3-point range, and grabbed 12 rebounds as Stanford beat California, 77-62, Saturday in the championship game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Ogwumike became the all-time scoring leader in Pac-12 tournament history, surpassing former Cardinal All-American Candice Wiggins.

Chiney Ogwumike added 17 points and 13 rebounds and freshman point guard Amber Orrange added 13 points. Joslyn Tinkle added nine points and blocked five shots.

The Cardinal improved to 30-2 in the event that began in 2002. It was its 78th consecutive victory against a Pac-12 opponent. N

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The Cardinal also need quality minutes from redshirt junior center Sarah Boothe, freshman forward Taylor Greenfield, senior guard Lindy La Rocque and freshman forward Bonnie Samuelson.

The Lady Pirates have won 11 straight after beating Howard, 54-53, on Saturday for their third straight MEAC tournament title.

Stanford, making its 25th straight NCAA appearance, enters the game on a program-best 28-game winning streak, last losing (68-58) at Connecticut on Nov. 21.

This will be the first-ever meeting between Hampton and Stanford, and just the second time the Pirates have played a team from the Pac-12.

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Sports

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SHP boys can’t be overlooked any longer after reaching finals

by Keith Peters he Pinewood boys have been here before, albeit 25 years ago. The Eastside Prep girls also have played in a CIF Northern California basketball championship match, just four years ago.

But Sacred Heart Prep? Not the boys’ team. Not ever.

Despite winning six Central Coast Section titles, including its first in 1995, and playing in 12 section championship games, the Gators had yet to reach the NorCal finals until now.

While the No. 2 -seeded Pinewood boys and No. 2-seeded Eastside Prep girls were almost expected to reach their respective Division V title game this Saturday at Folsom High, Sacred Heart Prep was not.

The Gators were seeded No. 3 but seemingly were getting by with one standout senior and a handful of role players — many of whom were playing on the JV team a year ago.

That, says SHP coach Tony Martinelli, is one reason why his team has been overlooked much of the season.

“These guys, so many people over looked them and questioned their ability to win,” said Martinelli. “It kind of challenged them to keep that Sacred Heart identity.”

This was not the team Martinelli was supposed to take to the NorCal finals. The 2010 and ‘11 squads — filled with depth, talent, size and experience — were supposed to be those teams. Imagine, teams with the McConnell brothers — 6-foot-6 Will, 6-5 Cole and 6-4 Reed — not challenging for a berth in the state finals.

When the twins, Will and Reed, graduated along with five other very

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talented players following last season’s 26-3 season performance, the Gators’ fortunes expected to go with them.

True, SHP did not defend its West Bay Athletic League title this season. The Gators lost twice to Pinewood and suffered six losses during the regular season. But, since losing to Marin Catholic on January 14 to stretch a rare losing streak to three games, Sacred Heart has gone 14-1 while losing only to Pinewood — a one-point setback.

“That three-game losing streak in the middle of the season kind of shook them up,” Martinelli said of his players, who responded favorably to the adversity.

“I knew what we had,” said Martinelli, who probably was the only one who did. “These juniors, they all played JV last year. And these seniors, they didn’t much playing time but they practiced against some of the best players in the section last year.”

That’s why, Martinelli said, “It’s been one of my favorite coaching experiences, not only at Sacred Heart, but anywhere. All these guys are pulling for each other and no one wants it to end.”

Sacred Heart Prep (23-6) kept the

season alive for at least one more game with a 58-57 victory over host and No. 2-seeded Modesto Christian (27-6) on Tuesday night in a NorCal Division IV semifinal. Cole McConnell scored 25 points and hit the winning free throw with four seconds left.

McConnell got 22 of his points in the first half as SHP grabbed a 37-32 lead at intermission. Ian Bennett’s three-pointer with less than a minute to play put SHP on top, 5755. Modesto Christian tied it up before fouling McConnell, setting up the winning free throw.

Bennett, a 6-5 junior who was on the JV team last season, finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

McConnell added five rebounds, four steals and was 10-of-19 from the field for 53 percent.

The Gators will face top-seeded Salesian of Richmond (32-2) on Saturday at Folsom High at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to the state finals at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento on March 23. Salesian advanced with an 80-41 romp over No. 13 Arcata.

Salesian is ranked No. 1 in the state in Division IV by MaxPreps, No. 6 in the state overall and No. 38 in the nation. SHP, for comparison sake, ranks No. 16 in the state in Division IV. Division V boys Second-seeded Pinewood (27-2) will have a chance to equal and make program history when it takes on No. 1 St. Joseph Notre Dame of Alameda (28-4) in the NorCal finals on Saturday at Folsom High at 3 p.m.

The Panthers, who have yet to play in a state championship game, can accomplish that with a victory that would give them 28 wins — tying the 1989 team (28-3) for the most ever.

Pinewood, which is 7-0 this season in games decided by five points or less, held off Branson, 50-47, in the CIF NorCal semifinals on Tuesday night as senior center Solomone Wolfgramm had a team-high 17 points and 12 rebounds.

St. Joe’s, meanwhile, advanced with a 66-45 win over No. 3 Capital Christian.

“A great team win tonight against a very tough opponent,” said Pinewood senior Cameron Helvey, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds in his final home game. “We played as one tonight, and that was the key to our victory. We’re very excited to go to the NorCal championship and we’ll be ready to go.”

In a game where neither team led by more than five points, both squads got off to slow starts. Branson led by only 12-8 after the first quarter, but the Panthers used an 11-2 run to end the second quarter with the score 21-19. Wolfgramm and Helvey combined for 12 of Pinewood’s 21 points.

Branson had a solid third quarter (continued on next page)

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Sports (continued from previous page)

as senior guard Gabe Moynihan contributed eight points, including two three-pointers, and trimmed the Panthers’ lead to one. Pinewood senior guard Bradley Naumann finished off the third quarter with a bang, hitting a three-pointer as time expired to give the Panthers a 40-39 lead.

Pinewood was down in the fourth quarter until Wolfgramm made a clutch put-back to tie the game at 47 with 1:08 to play. On Branson’s next possession, senior Josh Gray was called for a critical five-second violation and turned the ball over with 1:00 remaining. Helvey made a huge put-back layup with 25 seconds left to put the Panthers up 4947 and seal the win.

“It just feels great,” said Wolfgramm. “Going up against a good team like that, we have a tremendous respect for them.”

Division V girls Eastside Prep can’t accomplish what its 2008 team did, going 31-2 for the most victories in program history. That team, however, lost in the NorCal finals.

The Panthers of 2012 are only 17-14, but can surpass the ‘08 team by winning Saturday’s CIF NorCal championship game and advance to the state finals for the first time ever.

The Panthers will play top-seeded Brookside Christian on Saturday at Folsom High at 1 p.m., with the winner advancing to the state finals at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento on March 24. Brookside Christian (28-4) ended Pinewood’s season, 60-37.

Second-seeded Eastside Prep advanced to its second NorCal title game with a 47-41 victory over No. 3 St. Joseph Notre Dame (22-11) on Tuesday night in East Palo Alto.

The victory avenged last year’s 45-38 loss to St. Joe’s, when Eastside Prep was also the No. 2 seed and the Pilots were No. 3. Hashima Carothers, a sophomore last season, managed only three points in that season-ending loss.

Carothers redeemed herself with 18 points and 18 rebounds on Tuesday while her teammates provided solid defense once again. The Panthers took control with a 17-1 run between the third and fourth quarters. Sophomore Charmaine Bradford added 12 points while sparking the second-half rally by Eastside.

In another Division V semifinal, Pinewood’s streak of back-to-back state titles and three straight appearances in the state finale come to an end following its 23-point loss to top-seeded Brookside Christian at Chavez High in Stockton. The No. 5-seeded Panthers finished 20-13 with a young team that featured only two seniors on their 11-player roster.

Pinewood connected on only seven of 26 attempts from three-point range and suffered 18 turnovers. The Panthers trailed at the half, 33-16.

Division I girls For the past two months, Gunn has had a magical run as it shared a league title, won a Central Coast Section crown and was on the doorsteps of a NorCal final appearance for the first time ever.

COMMUNITY MEETING

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Review the proposed design options for the Magical Bridge Playground at Mitchell Park Saturday, March 17, 2012, 11AM-1PM Cubberely Community Center, Room M-2 4000 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303 The City of Palo Alto seeks the community input on this new universally-accessible playground.

Email pwecips@cityofpaloalto.org for more information.

Meeting hosted by City of Palo Alto Public Works (650) 617-3183

Math Tutoring Zoe Zwerling (L) Cat Perez Gunn High Zwerling, a sophomore, had 20 points and 13 rebounds in two NorCal basketball wins, including the winning basket in a 35-33 first-round win, while Perez (a senior) added 18 points and 19 rebounds in the victories.

Cole McConnell Sacred Heart Prep The senior forward scored a career-high 33 points, making eight 3-pointers, while adding five rebounds and four steals to lead the No. 3-seeded Gators to an 8078 overtime victory in the CIF NorCal Division IV basketball quarterfinals.

Honorable mention Leeana Bade Pinewood basketball

Charlotte Biffar Palo Alto lacrosse

Jenny Hansen Pinewood basketball

Martha Harding Castilleja lacrosse

Selby Sturzenegger Sacred Heart Prep swimming

Kindle Van Linge Menlo-Atherton swimming

Ian Bennett Sacred Heart Prep basketball

Andrew Buchanan

✔ Call for assessment and free onehour Mathnasium session ✔ Learn about our Summer Programs Offer available for grades 1st - 8th

650-321-MATH (6284)

Free Trial Offer!

605 Cambridge Ave., Ste. A, Menlo Park www.mathnasium.com | email: paloalto-menlopark@mathnasium.com

Menlo golf

John Dickerson Palo Alto baseball

Dante Fraioli* Pinewood basketball

Jack Larson* Sacred Heart Prep baseball

Solomone Wolfgramm*

Inspirations a guide to the spiritual community

Pinewood basketball * previous winner

To see video interviews of the Athletes of the Week, go to www.PASportsOnline.com

All that came to an end, however, as the No. 7-seeded Titans fell to No. 3 Kennedy of Sacramento, 44-40, in the final seconds on Tuesday.

The toughest moment for the Titans was a questionable foul call on freshman Meghan Mahoney with 2.3 seconds remaining with the score tied at 40. That allowed Jessica Lauderdale of Kennedy to hit the two free throws that put Kennedy ahead.

“That was a tough call to end the game,” said Gunn coach Sarah Stapp. “But I’m proud of the way our girls battled all night.”

What made the decisive foul call difficult was the fact that Gunn’s Julia Maggioncalda had tied the game at 40 on a three-pointer with 14 seconds left and then Gunn appeared to send the game in overtime when Kennedy’s star player, Lynette Johnson, missed a shot with five seconds to go and Mahoney grabbed the rebound.

Lauderdale aggressively wrestled the ball away from Mahoney and made a motion toward the basket — with Mahoney being called for a foul and Lauderdale awarded two free throws.

With the Gunn team and fans stunned by the call and a delirious

Experts.

Kennedy crowd delighting in their good fortune, Lauderdale basically ended the Titans’ season at 21-7 with her two free throws that made it 42-40.

Gunn’s ensuing inbounds pass went out of bounds and Kennedy got the ball back, with Lauderdale being fouled. She again made both free throws for the final points of the night.

“Our girls did a great job staying composed,” said Stapp. “When we went down by six early in the fourth we could have folded, but we didn’t.

This has been a real special group and it has been an incredible year.

“Sharing a league title, the firstever CCS title in basketball in school history and making a great run in NorCal has been great,” said Stapp.

“What has really been rewarding is having all the fans come out and support us. It has made such a difference for us all year long.”

The past four years, Gunn has made three CCS title-game appearances along with three NorCal appearances. In addition, Gunn is the only public school in the past eight years (in girls’ basketball) to make the NorCal semifinals twice. N (Andrew Preimesberger and Tom Jacoubowsky contributed)

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UCC

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10:00 a.m. This Sunday: Born Again (But not in the bad way) Rev. David Howell preaching Come experience our new 5:00 p.m. service! Vibrant, Engaging and Arts-Based

Inspirations is a resource for ongoing religious services and special events. To inquire about or to reserve space in Inspirations, please contact Blanca Yoc at 223-6596 or email byoc@paweekly.com

*> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊ >ÀV Ê£È]ÊÓä£ÓÊU Page 31

Sports

Men’s hoops (continued from page 28)

on Sunday. Stanford hosts Illinois State (21-13) on Monday night at 8:30 p.m.

Should Stanford win, it would host a quarterfinal game on Wednesday against the winner of Bucknell and Nevada.

The Cardinal is attempting to become just the fourth team to play at Madison Square Garden in both the Preseason and Postseason NIT during the same season. Notre Dame (1999-00), Syracuse (2001-02) and Ohio State (2007-08) have done it previously.

Stanford got this season under way by going 3-1 in the NIT Season Tip-Off, losing only to Syracuse in the championship game, 69-63. Syracuse is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which also got under way this week.

“I’m excited for the ability to keep playing,” Dawkins said. “It’s an opportunity to keep growing. It’s great for our seniors too. They had a good year and deserve to play in the postseason.”

Stanford reached the postseason for the first time in three years, drawing 1,339 fans against Cleveland State. A few more are expected to show up at Maples Pavilion this time.

L U C I L E PA C K A R D

Stanford improved to 31-22 alltime in 23 postseason appearances overall, including an 8-4 record in six NIT appearances. The Cardinal captured the 1991 postseason NIT championship and finished second, to Syracuse, in this year’s preseason NIT championship, also played at Madison Square Garden.

Illinois State, which shot 63 percent in winning Wednesday night, finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference and lost in overtime to Creighton in the conference tournament final.

The Redbirds (21-13) lost at Fresno State earlier in the year. Stanford beat the Bulldogs to open the preseason NIT.

C H I L D R E N ’ S H O S P I TA L

PROVIDED BY LUCILE PACKARD CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

Your Child’s Health University Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital offers classes and seminars designed to foster good health and enhance the lives of parents and children.

CHILD CPR & FIRST AID Designed for parents and care-givers of children one year of age to adolescence, this class will cover cardio-pulmonary resuscitation techniques, choking and first aid for common childhood injuries.

- Saturday, April 14: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

BRINGING BABY HOME A two-part workshop for expectant couples and new parents in their first postpartum trimester, this program designed by Drs. John and Julie Schwartz Gottman will assist in preserving the couple relationship and developing the relationship between parents and baby.

- Two Sundays, April 22 & 29: 10:00 am – 3:30 pm

COMFORT TECHNIQUES FOR LABOR For couples who have already completed Childbirth Prep, this class provides additional tools and practice for relaxation, breathing and comfort measures for labor.

- Tuesday, April 24: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

MARCH OF DIMES, MARCH FOR BABIES Packard Children’s Hospital is a proud supporter of the March of Dimes and sponsor of the March for Babies walk event at San Pedro Square Market in San Jose. For more information about the March for Babies or the March of Dimes mission, initiatives, and ways to get involved, please visit the March of Dimes website at marchofdimes.com.

- Saturday, April 28

Call (650) 724-4601 or visit calendar.lpch.org to register or obtain more information on the times, locations and fees for these and other courses.

Stanford is one of three Pac-12 teams remaining in the NIT along with Washington and Oregon. The only way the Cardinal would run into one of them would be in the NIT championship game.

On Tuesday night, Aaron Bright produced a prolific second half, scoring all 17 of his points, to help the Cardinal beat Cleveland State.

His awakening gives Stanford another outside shooting threat, with Anthony Brown and Chasson Randle.

“I was happy to see Aaron step up,” Dawkins said. “He took ownership and came out in the second half and made us Aaron Bright better, not just with his play but also with his leadership.”

Josh Owens and Anthony Brown each added 15 points for the Cardinal, which has won four of its past six games.

“It was not a different approach,”

Owens said. “The ball just happened to go in. It’s nice to get out of that slump.”

Brown also led the team with a career-high 12 rebounds, recording his first double-double of the season and the second of his career.

“I was proud of Anthony and I think he can be a terrific rebounder,” Dawkins said. “He really stepped up and made a lot of plays for us.

That was one of the best games he’s had here.”

Brown reached double figures in scoring for the third time in five games. He need the prior 17 games to reach double figures three times.

“I think the team was excited to play,” Brown said. “The consensus was that we were not going to the NCAA and the NIT was the nextbest thing. Getting a home game was nice for us.”

Now he gets another one. N

NOTICE OF A PUBLIC MEETING of the Palo Alto Planning & Transportation Commission Please be advised the Planning and Transportation Commission (P&TC) shall conduct a public meeting at 6:00 PM, Wednesday, March 28, 2012 in the Council Chambers, Ground Floor, Civic Center, Palo Alto, California. Any interested persons may appear and be heard on these items.

Staff reports for agendized items are available via the City’s main website at www.cityofpaloalto.org. and also at the Planning Division Front Desk, 5th Floor, City Hall, after 2:00 PM on the Friday preceding the meeting date. Copies will be made available at the Development Center should City Hall be closed on the 9/80 Friday.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS. Other Items: 1. Consider revisions to Commission policies and procedures regarding private meetings and other forms of communications (“ex-parte” communications) between Commission and the public and project applicants on development projects. (contd. from March 14th meeting).

NEW BUSINESS. Public Hearing: 1. Review and Recommendation to Council for Adoption of the Revised Draft Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan.

Environmental Assessment: A Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration has been prepared.

2. 885 Seale Avenue: Request by Maryam Haq and Zahid Rahman for a Variance from R-1 Zone required and special setbacks associated with the remodel and one-story addition to an existing one-story single-family residence including accessory structures (swimming pool and equipment, below grade patio) encroaching into the special 24’ setback, and a portion of the bedroom addition (27” across a 5’-6” length) encroaching into the 20’ front setback. Zone: R-1.

Environmental Assessment: Exempt from CEQA per section 15301.

Questions. For any questions regarding the above items, please contact the Planning Department at (650) 329-2441. The files relating to these items are available for inspection weekdays between the hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. This public meeting is televised live on Government Access Channel 26.

ADA. 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 e-mailing ada@cityofpaloalto.org.

VI S IT LP CH.ORG TO S IG N U P FOR CLAS S E S Page 32ÊUÊ >ÀV Ê£È]ÊÓä£ÓÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii Þ

*** Curtis Williams, Director of Planning and Community Environment