Spectrum 10 Camp Connection 16 Movies 25 Classifieds 55 Puzzles 56

1ST PLACEGENERAL

EXCELLENCECalifornia Newspaper Publishers Association

Arts There’s ‘fi re’ in this artist’s painting Page 21

Sports Chung is playing out his golf dream Page 27

Home Looking at laudable native landscapes Page 33

page 14

Wanted: emergency director for Palo Alto

Page 3

STANDFOR

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Page 2

P alo Alto should hire a director to oversee its emergency services, relocate its emergency-services

headquarters and forge stronger rela-tionships between city staff and the greater community, a consultant is recommending in a study released

this week.The city commissioned the report in

October to get an independent review of the city’s disaster-preparedness ef-fort — one of the City Council’s top five priorities for 2011. The report, which the council is scheduled to

discuss Monday, lauds Palo Alto for paying close attention to community safety but identifies a series of short-comings in the city’s emergency-pre-paredness efforts.

These include a lack of coordi-nation between departments, in-sufficient disaster training for staff in “non-operational” departments (all departments other than Police, Fire, Utilities and Public Works), a seismically shaky Emergency Operations Center, and inadequate

public outreach from City Hall.The report by consultant Arrietta

Chakos of the firm Urban Resilience Policy offers three main recommen-dations: a new director with cross-departmental authority to oversee the Office of Emergency Services; a plan to find a structurally safer location for the Emergency Operations Center; and consolidation of information from various studies and commissions into an “internal clearinghouse.”

Chakos estimated the recommen-

dations could be accomplished within two years.

The largely fragmented and disor-ganized structure of Palo Alto’s emer-gency-preparedness staff is a reoccur-ring theme throughout the report. The city’s public-safety departments have professionals trained in emergency response, but their coordination with other departments in City Hall is largely nonexistent. The current Of-

A Palo Alto proposal to require massage businesses to keep detailed logs of clients has

hit a nerve among local massage therapists who claim the proposal smacks of “Big Brother”-style in-trusion.

More than 30 massage therapists attended a meeting Tuesday after-noon to hear about the changes, which city officials say would bring Palo Alto in compliance with state

law. The proposed ordinance would raise the educational requirements for massage therapists, require them to purchase malpractice insurance and create a new category called “sole proprietor” for single-person massage businesses.

The most touchy aspect of the new ordinance is a requirement that mas-sage establishments keep a written log that includes the date and hour of each service; the name, address

and sex of each patron; the service provided; and the technician ad-ministering the service. Palo Alto police Sgt. April Wagner said the logs would remain at the massage establishments and would only be accessed by police during inspec-tions and criminal investigations.

“It’s for police official use only,” Wagner said. “It’s not something that would be published anywhere.

“It’s to protect the people going there, to protect massage thera-pists themselves from false accu-sations.”

Code Enforcement Officer Heather Johnson said other Penin-sula cities, including Millbrae, San Mateo and Belmont, have similar requirements.

But this explanation failed to appease some audience members, including David Bena, who called it “Big Brother stuff.” Others ar-

P alo Alto students and their fam-ilies are consistently warned against taking on too many ad-

vanced-placement classes, counselors from Palo Alto’s two high schools told the school board Tuesday night.

Parents must sign off on all AP classes their children choose, and homework levels are discussed in detail, Gunn Vice Principal Kim Cowell and Paly Vice Principal Kim Diorio said.

Students’ taking on of excessive course work is “of great concern,” Cowell said in a wide-ranging dis-cussion of counseling in Palo Alto schools.

“We have students and families from out of the country who don’t view high school in the same way.

“We help all our families under-stand what it’s like to be in a U.S. high school and also that you don’t want to ‘overcook’ your child.”

Conversely, Cowell and Diorio said counselors also nudge students who “underselect” — that is, do not chal-lenge themselves enough — to ramp up their schedules.

Next fall, Gunn High School plans to issue “balance” T-shirts to all teachers and administrators, with the lettering “there are 3,000 colleges and universities in the United States.”

Cowell said too many AP classes lead not just to mental and physical health problems for a student, but to college admission problems.

“If students are overcooked, (col-leges) are not going to take them be-cause their mental health bills will go through the roof,” she said.

In a lengthy discussion of counsel-ing at Gunn and Paly, school officials said counseling ratios in Palo Alto are far better than those in most Califor-nia schools — but still fall short of the ideal of 250 to 1.

For the past 15 years, Paly has aug-mented its meager counseling staff through a “teacher advisory” system, in which more than 40 teachers pro-vide academic counseling in weekly meetings with students.

Gunn uses a more traditional sys-tem, with six full-time counselors who meet one-to-one with students about once a year and also hold group sessions, as well as are available for appointments.

Comparing the two schools’ coun-seling programs is like comparing apples to oranges, but both schools are successful in helping students get into college, counselors said.

A group of parents questioned why two high schools in the same com-munity should have such different counseling structures, citing poll data indicating Gunn students and parents are more dissatisfied with counseling than those at Paly.

Gunn parent Kathy Sharp said al-though she has been “very satisfied” with the particular counselors at the school, the district should consider switching Gunn’s counseling struc-ture to look more like Paly’s.

Gunn parent Ken Dauber, who has launched a group called We Can Do Better Palo Alto, questioned the dis-trict’s policy of “site-based decision-making,” which can lead to consid-erable apparent differences from campus to campus.

“The district doesn’t have a process for systematically evaluating what works and what doesn’t across schools in the district. ...” Dauber said.

“The ideology of site-based practic-es puts the presumption in the wrong place, by assuming that schools should be different rather than simi-lar even on core educational practices like counseling.”

UpfrontLocal news, information and analysis

Veronica Weber

Study also urges safer location for emergency headquarters, stronger community involvement

by Gennady Sheyner

Proposed massage law breeds tension in Palo AltoMassage therapists protest city’s proposal to require

detailed logs of customer informationby Gennady Sheyner

Palo Alto families warned against too many APs

Counselor: Colleges don’t want to accept students who are ‘overcooked’

by Chris Kenrick

Taking shapeAt the construction site of the Mitchell Park Library and Community Center, an oak tree that will anchor a courtyard stands amid the steel framework. The library is taking shape behind the oak; the community center is in the foreground. To read more about the progress of the Mitchell Park and Downtown library construction projects, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com.

EDUCATION

CITY HALL

Report: Palo Alto needs new emergency director

(continued on page 6)

(continued on page 6)(continued on page 9)

1ST PLACEBEST LOCAL NEWS COVERAGECalifornia Newspaper Publishers Association

Page 3

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Around Town

‘‘‘‘

SPOTTY RECEPTION ... AT&T’s quest to plant cellular towers and Wi-Fi antennas in Palo Alto has proved taxing for company of-ficials, city staff and concerned residents around the proposed sites. This week brought mixed results for both the company and its opponents. The City Council approved on Monday AT&T’s request to install Wi-Fi antennas on the sixth-floor balcony of Hotel President on University Avenue but prohibited the company from going through residents’ apart-ments to install or maintain the antennas. An AT&T employee will have to use a cherry picker to reach the balconies on Univer-sity Avenue, taking up parking spots on the city’s busiest com-mercial strip while work is done. On Thursday, the city dealt AT&T a blow when the Architectural Review Board panned the com-pany’s plans to install a cellular antenna at 1095 Channing Ave., at St. Albert the Great Church. The board called the application incomplete and continued its vote to a later date. Board member Judith Wasserman, the sole dis-senter, called for AT&T to start over. “I just think it’s a poor de-sign,” Wasserman said. “In order for this to work architecturally, it’s got a long way to go.” Planning & Community Environment Director Curtis Williams told the council this week that the city is anticipat-ing more cell-tower applications and proposed a study session to discuss the myriad contentious issues around the subject, includ-ing visual impact, public-outreach requirements and the antennas’ impacts on property values.

JUST MANAGING ... Two years of cost-cutting have taken their toll on Palo Alto’s managers and pro-fessionals — the only major City Hall employee group without a union. Gone are the days of salary raises, bonuses and free medi-cal care. In April, the roughly 230 workers in the category began to chip in for 10 percent of their health care costs. Managers and professionals have also accepted a new two-tiered pension formula, with lower pension payments to new employees — the same arrangement that the Service Employees International Union, Local 521, has grudgingly ac-

cepted. All the while, their work-load has spiked because of re-tirements and position cuts. This week, the City Council adopted a largely retroactive agreement with the managers effective until the end of the current fiscal year, June 30. After that, other perks could be on the chopping block. Councilman Greg Scharff, who supported the new contract, said he wants to revisit some of its provisions before a new agree-ment is approved. These include “professional development” re-imbursements for things like gym memberships and job-related iP-ads and other computing devices, which employees are allowed to purchase once every three years. “It strikes me that gym/health club membership is not provid-ing the professional development that our staff probably needs,” Scharff said. “Buying computer equipment probably doesn’t do the same thing — it probably doesn’t provide professional de-velopment.” The council will have a chance to review all the details in the compensation report in the fall, when it considers the next contract with the management group.ALL THAT BUZZ ... In what could be the least controversial land-use project in Palo Alto’s history, hundreds of beetles, butterflies, ants and spiders will soon have a new and refurbished home in the city’s Junior Museum & Zoo. The museum has just received a $3,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for archival supplies and expertise to re-house its insect and spider collection, which includes about 1,560 specimens. The museum announced that once the collec-tion is re-housed, the insect and spider collection would be used to expand its school-outreach programs. It will also be used in its upcoming insect exhibition, Buzzzz. The museum expects to provide science instruction to more than 3,000 Palo Alto and East Palo Alto students this year. “These collections are a vital component of the real objects, scientific equipment and live ani-mals that our science instructors use to engage children in sci-ence,” John Aikin, the museum’s executive director said in a state-ment.

It’s an infringement on the privacy of clients.

— Donald Howard, a massage therapist, on the proposed new Palo Alto ordinance regulating mas-sage services. See story on page 3.

PUBLISHER William S. Johnson

EDITORIAL Jocelyn Dong, Editor Carol Blitzer, Associate Editor Keith Peters, Sports Editor Tyler Hanley, Express™ and Online Editor Rebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment Editor Rick Eymer, Assistant Sports Editor Tom Gibboney, Spectrum Editor Chris Kenrick, Gennady Sheyner, Staff Writers Sue Dremann, Staff Writer, Special Sections Editor Karla Kane, Editorial Assistant Veronica Weber, Staff Photographer Dale Bentson, Colin Becht, Peter Canavese, Kit Davey, Iris Harrell, Sheila Himmel, Chad Jones, Kevin Kirby, Jack McKinnon, Jeanie K. Smith, Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors Sarah Trauben, Zohra Ashpari, Kareem Yasin Editorial Interns Joann So, Arts & Entertainment Intern

DESIGN Shannon Corey, Design Director Raul Perez, Assistant Design Director Linda Atilano, Diane Haas, Scott Peterson, Paul Llewellyn, Senior Designers Gary Vennarucci, Designer

PRODUCTION Jennifer Lindberg, Production Manager Dorothy Hassett, Samantha Mejia, Blanca Yoc, Sales & Production Coordinators

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EXPRESS, ONLINE AND VIDEO SERVICES Rachel Palmer, Online Operations Coordinator Rachel Hatch, Multimedia Product Manager

BUSINESS Penelope Ng, Payroll & Benefits Manager Elena Dineva, Mary McDonald, Susie Ochoa, Cathy Stringari, Doris Taylor, Business Associates

ADMINISTRATION Amy Renalds, Assistant to the Publisher & Promotions Director Janice Covolo, Receptionist Ruben Espinoza, Courier

EMBARCADERO MEDIA William S. Johnson, President Michael I. Naar, Vice President & CFO Walter Kupiec, Vice President, Sales & Marketing Frank A. Bravo, Director, Information Technology & Webmaster Connie Jo Cotton, Major Accounts Sales Manager Bob Lampkin, Director, Circulation & Mailing Services Alicia Santillan, Circulation Assistants Chris Planessi, Chip Poedjosoedarmo, Computer System Associates

The Palo Alto Weekly (ISSN 0199-1159) is pub-lished 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 news-paper 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 ©2011 by Embarcadero Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Printed by SFOP, Redwood City. The Palo Alto Weekly is available on the Internet via Palo Alto Online at: www.PaloAltoOnline.comOur e-mail addresses are: editor@paweekly.com, letters@paweekly.com, ads@paweekly.com.Missed delivery or start/stop your paper? Call 650 326-8210, or e-mail circulation@paweekly.com. You may also subscribe online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Subscriptions are $60/yr.

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Upfront

S U M M E R 2 0 1 1

Camp ConnectionA special publication produced by the Palo Alto Weekly,

The Almanac and Mountain View Voice

Summer 2011

G U I D E T O 2 0 1 1 S U M M E R C A M P S F O R K I D S

Camp ConnectionATTENTION PARENTS!

Find the camps for your kids this

summer in our newspapers

and peninsula

websites.

We have all

the camps you

could possibly

want!

Also, pick up

a copy of the

Camp Connection

magazine at family-

oriented retailers on

the Peninsula.

The Downtown Palo Alto

Clean Green Street SceneAn Earth Day education celebrationFriday. April 224pm-8pm

Lytton PlazaUniversity & Emerson

Poetry Slam

RecycledFashion

Show

FREE giveaways throughout downtown

Kids artwork displays

throughout downtown

Demos

Info booths

LiveMusic

Page 4

Upfront

We never forget it’s your home.®

Creating a Low Maintenance HomeThursday April 21st 6:30 – 8:30pmRegistration and light dinner at 6:15pm

Harrell Remodeling Design Center, Mountain ViewFor more information on this class call or go online today

Less work, less money and a lot healthier! This educational workshop will give you the facts about what risks your home (and pocketbook) face if you continue to ignore its routine maintenance needs. Your home may be your single most expensive investment, and with the right educational “tools” you can ensure your home’s longevity, reduce your energy and maintenance costs and create a healthy and durable space.

n What does your home need today, this year, and in the upcoming years?

n Spring and Summer are around the corner…is your home ready? Learn what you can do to prepare your home and reduce your expenses.

n When to caulk, paint and seal your home’s surfaces and why!

n Peeling paint is not just ugly, it can quickly “lighten” you wallet.

n Don’t gamble with the roof above your head. What will this winter’s storms and plant debris cost you this year? Learn 5 steps to keep your roof protected and in tip top shape.

n How to spend less time with your vacuum cleaner, have better indoor air quality and a clean house!

n Learn from our experts about new products and ideas that can create the lower maintenance home you’ve always wanted!

Creating a Low Maintenance Home

5

Baby Bullet trains on Caltrain chopping block

Faced with potential loss of service, Caltrain board urges staff to come up with more funding

by Sue Dremann and Jocelyn Dong

C altrain’s Baby Bullet trains, which have been credited with boosting Caltrain’s ridership

since 2005, could stop running July 1 in order to close a projected $30 million deficit in the agency’s fiscal year 2012 budget, Caltrain staff pro-posed this week.

But the rail line’s governing board, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Pow-ers Board, urged the agency’s staff Thursday to find another $3.5 mil-lion to save the Baby Bullet service and preserve the current 86-train weekly schedule.

Caltrain has faced a daunting and financially precarious future for several months. On March 3, the board declared a fiscal emergency for the third year in a row after Caltrain’s partner agencies — San Mateo County’s SamTrans, Santa Clara County’s Valley Transporta-tion Authority and San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency — expressed doubt that they would be able to fund Caltrain to the degree they have in the past.

Caltrain staff warned that, as a re-sult, no trains would run during week-ends and weeknights, service south of San Jose would end, and up to seven Peninsula stations would close.

On Monday, the three partner agencies along with the Metro-politan Transportation Commission hammered together an eleventh-hour proposal to close only three stations and eliminate 10 train runs per week. In addition, 12 stations would close on the weekends.

The $97 million in revenues would come from fares ($47.4 million), partner agencies ($25.3 million), parking fees ($2.8 million), shuttle service ($1.1 million), rental income ($1.8 million), AB434 and grants ($6.7 million), other income ($2.9 million), and other sources ($9 mil-lion), according to agency staff.

The proposed budget includes increases in fares and parking fees, as well as reductions in staffing, ac-cording to Caltrain.

But board members were not satis-fied that the proposed 76-train week-ly schedule was the best the agency could offer.

Board member Adrienne Tissier, a San Mateo County supervisor, made a motion Thursday to delay voting on the proposed budget until April 21 to give staff time to find an additional $3.5 million to preserve the current 86-train schedule, including Baby Bullet service.

“For $3.5 million, we can bring all of those trips back. I will not sup-port cutting the Baby Bullet or those three stations. We have been able to craft almost all of it,” a frustrated Tissier said.

Possible funding sources could include the Dumbarton Rail project or a reimbursement from the VTA,

board members said. Board member Liz Kniss, a Santa

Clara County supervisor, seconded the motion, which passed 9-0.

She contrasted taking the train with driving a car.

“This is a habit when one gets used to it. It’s that kind of habit we want to encourage people to have,” she said.

Other board members said the idea of making any cuts puts their stom-achs in knots.

They said they did not want to jeopardize the existing system for short-term savings that might cause a greater budget gap in 2013. Further-more, the board may ask the public in the future to approve a dedicated funding source for Caltrain, and their case for supporting the rail line would be hampered without a robust and viable system.

Caltrain Deputy CEO Chuck Har-vey estimated that 1,000 riders could stop taking the train each weekend due to scaled-back service.

Some members of the public who addressed the board Thursday said they wanted the agency to devise a sustainable budget now.

But Kniss tried to soften those expectations, saying that all lev-els of government have had to find band-aids in the current economic climate.

“I don’t think there is a sustainable budget” right now to build on, she said. Though one-time funding is a concern, it’s more important to main-tain a viable Caltrain system that can be the building block for a future rail line ringing the bay.

Former Palo Alto mayor Yoriko Kishimoto, who spearheads the grassroots group Friends of Caltrain, Wednesday morning expressed regret that the Baby Bullet service, which makes either six or eight stops, could be eliminated. The slower “limited express,” which stops at 12 or 13 sta-tions, would become commuters’ fastest option.

“It’s still faster than non-express trains, but it’s a significant trade-off. The Baby Bullet is the reason Cal-train saw a skyrocketing of rider-ship. The savings in time is needed to make the train competitive with driving,” she said.

Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn said trains during the peak com-mute would be limited-express trains.

“This will give more riders more choices and may even reduce travel times for some people who are not able to take advantage of the current Baby Bullet service,” she said.

Harvey, however, said the time de-lay could be 4 to 5 minutes for some limited-express riders who used to take the Baby Bullet.

Staff Writer Sue Dremann and Editor Jocelyn Dong can be reached at sdremann@paweekly.com and jdong@paweekly.com.

TRANSPORTATION

Page 5

Upfront

INSPIRATIONSA resource for special events and ongoing religious

services. To inquire about or make space reservations for Inspirations, please contact

Blanca Yoc at 223-6596 or email byoc@paweekly.com

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UCC

Easter Services – April 24 at 9:30 & 11:00

This Sunday: Big, Scary TheologyA dialogue sermon about Judgment, Hell, and Why

Jesus Died with Eileen Altman and David Howell

Gunn parent Jennifer Jones Schroeder praised the support of-fered by counselors after her daugh-ter, a competitive skater, transferred in from a private middle school and found the workload more intense than she had expected.

“There’s something deeper and richer that Gunn is doing for the whole student body,” Schroeder said.

Board Vice-President Camille Townsend suggested the board take up the schools’ “structural differences” at its two-day retreat this summer.

“I’ve heard (about the different counseling systems) for too long, for too many years,” Townsend said. “I would like to tee this up very specifically.”

Board President Melissa Baten Cas-well said, “Since joining the board I’ve felt we really need to take a look at alignment on a lot of things.

“We want to have comparable op-portunities for students,” Caswell said. “That doesn’t mean it’s going to be exactly the same, but we need to make sure we understand what com-parable opportunity means.”

Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be e-mailed at ckenrick@paweekly.com.

fice of Emergency Services, the study found, “does not have the authority to overcome planning and preparedness deficiencies.”

“Departments do not fully con-sider beforehand their responsibil-ity in crisis situations that cut across boundaries, sectors and jurisdic-tions,” the report states. “No single group has demonstrated crisis man-agement or leadership on a compre-hensive level, resulting in a frag-mented and ineffective approach to response and readiness.”

A new director of emergency ser-vices would seek to remedy that prob-lem. The position would be respon-sible for the city’s “overall emergency/disaster readiness” and have “organi-zation-wide authority.” The report also recommends two professional staff positions for the office — one to coordinate the city’s planning efforts and another one to serve as a liaison with the community.

The city could staff this office by recasting some of its existing posi-tions, the report states.

Among the director’s tasks would be making sure City Hall staff is trained in disaster response. The report notes that staff in non-operational depart-ments “would benefit from more in-depth briefing on their disaster roles and duties.”

The report’s recommendation of a director follows similar advice from community volunteers. An-nette Glankopf, co-chair of Palo Alto Neighborhoods and a leading pro-

ponent of emergency preparedness, urged the council during its annual retreat in January to formalize the city’s emergency-preparedness efforts with a new director and possibly even a new commission. She described the city’s existing efforts as an “orchestra” in need of conductor.

City Manager James Keene said at the retreat that the city currently has an “ad hoc structure and staffing” in emergency services and that a direc-tor would make it easier to consider improvements to this structure.

The new report also confirms some the findings of a recent fire-service study by TriData and International City/County Management Associa-tion (ICMA). The two groups ana-lyzed the city’s Fire Department and uncovered what they called a “leader-ship malaise” in emergency planning. The Urban Resilience Policy study states that “authority and responsibil-ity for disaster readiness is indeter-minate” and that “staff is caught in a confusing leadership gap.”

Staff in the Office of Emergency Services would be charged with clos-ing the gap and also with strengthen-ing the city’s partnerships with Stan-ford University, neighborhood groups and other organizations involved in emergency preparedness.

“Staff is perceived, for the most part, to shy away from community involvement,” the report states. “There are exceptions to this, but in general, it is time to change the or-ganizational culture and enliven the interactions between the community and City staff.”

Police and Fire Chief Dennis Burns told the Weekly that it has not

yet been determined whether staff-ing for the new Office of Emergency Services should come from within the city’s existing organization or from the outside. The key attribute of staff members would be a “capability and know-how to coordinate cross-depart-mentally,” Burns said.

He also said he generally agrees with the report’s recommendations.

“I think it’s important to try to le-verage the resources of the entire city and of all the city departments to the extent we can,” Burns said. “We’ve gone through transitions with regard to the Office of Emergency Services over the years and the recommenda-tions are sound — they would give us a better emergency-response profile.”

The study also calls on local community groups such as Palo Alto Neighborhoods and Palo Alto Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) to “align” their ef-forts, promote more diversity in their membership and bring more young people, including students and young families, into their organization. It also calls on the city to provide “ongoing support for growing and maintaining engaged community networks and activities.”

“Palo Alto’s community is a strong partner in disaster preparedness — people are engaged and clamoring to work with City leaders,” the report states. “This opportunity can be used to good purpose; it is too rare a situa-tion to squander by eroding the good-will and trust of community leaders with indecision and inaction.”

Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@paweekly.com.

Counseling(continued from page 3)

Emergency(continued from page 3)

TALK ABOUT ITDo you think Gunn and Paly’s counsel-ing programs should be identical? Share your opinions on Town Square on Palo Alto Online.

TALK ABOUT ITwww.PaloAltoOnline.com

Page 6

Upfront

Grocer eyes Edgewood Plaza for new market A North Carolina-based, European-style specialty market is eyeing

Edgewood Plaza to launch its first West Coast store.Representatives from The Fresh Market attended Monday evening’s

Edgewood Eats, a near-weekly public gathering of food-trucks at Edge-wood organized by residents last year to create a positive attraction at the defunct neighborhood shopping center.

Hundreds of people showed up at the event, with long lines for lobster rolls, Indian, Chinese and Thai cuisine, and barbecue. Two parking lots and street parking were filled to capacity, leaving hungry truck-food connoisseurs in a holding pattern for parking spaces.

An anonymous source said Fresh Market representatives were im-pressed. Edgewood’s developer, John Tze, has not returned phone calls regarding the potential deal and a Fresh Market spokeswoman said the company could not comment on the status of any potential market at Edgewood at this time.

The Fresh Market has 101 stores in 20 states from Massachusetts to Arkansas and west to Illinois. Ten more stores will open soon, according to the company website. It offers fresh produce and meats, specialty food products, a bakery and coffee bar, among other amenities.

The company issued an IPO in November 2010 and listed fiscal-year sales increases of 13 percent, on a net income of $22.9 million, according to its Feb. 23 report.

— Sue Dremann

Deadline for city’s Internet cut-off rescindedAn Internet service provider that last week threatened to pull the plug

on the City of Palo Alto’s Internet connection has agreed to keep the city hooked up until a formal agreement is reached.

The nonprofit Internet Systems Consortium (ISC), which has been providing free Internet access to Palo Alto for 17 years, gave the city a two-week notice of termination March 29. The service was to end April 14.

Stephen Stuart, a Crescent Park resident who built the original In-ternet server and arranged the deal for the city, decided to rescind the informal arrangement after city planners gave a tentative approval to AT&T to put a 50-foot cell tower on St. Albert the Great Church at 1095 Channing Ave.

Stuart, who lives on the block, argued in a letter to the city that the approval violates the city’s zoning regulations and threatens to bring down the property values on the block. His severed relationship surprised city officials and prompted them to scramble to find a new Internet provider.

Since then, however, the ISC and Palo Alto City Manager James Keene reached an agreement to keep City Hall plugged into the Internet until the city either reaches a formal agreement with the consortium or finds a new provider, Keene announced in a statement Monday. The consortium is now putting together a proposal listing the services it provides to the city and the terms under which it would continue to provide these services.

Keene said in the statement that the consortium has also agreed to give some technical assistance to Palo Alto along with a “reasonable amount of time” to switch to a new provider if the city opts to do so.

Keene said city and consortium officials have agreed to meet soon and determine the best way to move forward.

— Gennady Sheyner and Sue Dremann

Wi-Fi antennas approved for downtown Palo AltoPalo Altans treasure their privacy, even at the expense of wireless

reception.So when AT&T proposed installing two Wi-Fi antennas on the balcony

of Hotel President in downtown Palo Alto, dozens of Hotel residents came out to Monday night’s City Council meeting to protest the plan.

Despite the residents’ concerns about the potential health and privacy impacts of the new antennas, the council voted 8-1, with Karen Holman dissenting, to give AT&T permission. The company claimed that the new equipment is necessary to keep up with swelling demand for wireless services downtown. The company already has antennas on the roof of the seven-story building.

“This is the least intrusive means for filling the increasing gap in ca-pacity that AT&T has identified in this downtown area,” AT&T attorney Paul Albritton told the council Monday.

The council’s approval followed recommendations from planning staff and the Planning and Transportation Commission, which voted 5-1 to support the project. The planning commission also required AT&T to submit evidence that the new technology’s radiation would be within federal guidelines and asked the company to install and maintain the new technology without entering residents’ apartments.

“Having Palo Alto become known as an area where we don’t have dead zones is very critical for our economic development and our emergency preparations,” Councilwoman Nancy Shepherd said.

— Gennady Sheyner

News Digest

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

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Page 7

Upfront

Palo Alto schools brace for state cutsPalo Alto school officials are battening down the hatches in anticipa-

tion of a state funding cut that could be as high as 9 percent of the dis-trict’s operating budget. (Posted April 7 at 9:53 a.m.)

Fire chief: Veterans’ home was not up to codeA Valentine’s Day fire at a home for veterans in East Palo Alto in which

one resident jumped from a second-floor window to escape the flames was particularly dangerous because the house was not up to code, a fire chief said. (Posted April 6 at 4:25 p.m.)

VIDEO: Students, parents in tune at Jordan danceIn late March, Jordan Middle School hosted a barn dance for students

and parents following “folk dance week.” Video by Veronica Weber/Palo Alto Online. (Posted April 6 at 3:16 p.m.)

Four Stanford students named Truman ScholarsFour juniors from Stanford University have been selected as Truman

Scholars by a foundation that recognizes students in the field of public service. (Posted April 6 at 1:56 p.m.)

Man robs bank in Ladera, makes off with $5,000Authorities are looking for a suspect in the Monday morning (April 4)

robbing of Chase Bank in Ladera. About $5,000 was taken in the robbery at the County Shopper mall, 3130 Alpine Road, which occurred at about 9:15 a.m., authorities said. (Posted April 6 at 12:25 p.m.)

Palo Alto seeks fairness in trash ratesPalo Alto may soon reduce its street-sweeping services, raise garbage

rates and begin charging for recycling as part of its effort to stabilize its volatile refuse operation. (Posted April 6 at 10:05 a.m.)

Caltrain unveils less-drastic-than-projected cutsCaltrain has released a tentative financial plan that would preserve

much of the commuter rail’s train service while cutting 12 trains and three stations, according to a Tuesday (April 5) press release. (Posted April

5 at 6:50 p.m.)

Backpack leads police to alleged burglarA teenage boy dropped a backpack, lost a shoe, and left behind the

laptop he was allegedly trying to steal while fleeing from a Menlo Park home Monday morning (April 4). (Posted April 5 at 4:13 p.m.)

President Obama coming to Facebook April 20President Barack Obama will visit Facebook headquarters in Palo

Alto April 20, where he will host a “town hall” meeting that will be streamed live on the Internet. Americans are invited to submit ques-tions, and Facebook executives will select those to pose to the president. (Posted April 5 at 4:02 p.m.)

Palo Alto man arrested for stalking familyA Palo Alto resident was arrested Monday (April 4) and booked at the

Marin County Jail on suspicion of stalking and harassing a San Rafael family, according to a San Rafael Police Department release. (Posted April

5 at 3:05 p.m.)

Nurses’ union, Stanford reach tentative agreementThe Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement (CRONA)

and Stanford and Lucile Packard hospitals reached a tentative contract agreement Friday (April 1) after more than a year of discord that resulted in both sides breaking off communications at one point. (Posted April 5 at

10:10 a.m.)

Palo Alto police nab serial robberPalo Alto police arrested 18-year-old man Monday night (April 4) who

may be responsible for five unsolved robberies in Palo Alto and several others nearby, a police spokesman said. The arrest stemmed from an at-tempted robbery and carjacking on the 1200 block of Hamilton Avenue Monday at 10:15 p.m. (Posted April 5 at 9:43 a.m.)

Palo Alto police focusing on distracted driversPalo Alto police will be extra vigilant this month in citing drivers

who are texting or using hand-held phones behind the wheel as part of a nationwide “Distracted Driving Awareness” campaign. (Posted

April 4 at 2:23 p.m.)

Online This WeekThese 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.

Want to get news briefs e-mailed to you every weekday? Sign up for Express, our new daily e-edition. Go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com to sign up.

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4/2011_GS

Fill Vacancy on Board of Directors of Public Facilities Financing Corporation

Notice of intent

Topic: Santa Clara Valley Water District Notice of Intention to Fill Vacancy on Board of Directors of Public Facilities Financing Corporation.

Who: The Santa Clara Valley Water District is the primary water resources agency for Santa Clara County, California. It acts not only as the county’s water wholesaler, but also as its flood protection agency and steward for its streams and creeks, underground aquifers and district-built reservoirs.

What: The Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District intends to fill a vacant director position on the Public Facilities Financing Corporation (PFFC).

The PFFC is a nonprofit public benefit corporation whose primary purpose is to provide assistance to the Santa Clara Valley Water District in financing the acquisition, construction and improvement of public buildings, works and equipment for the Santa Clara Valley Water District, together with site development, landscaping, utilities, furnishings and appurtenant and related facilities. The PFFC directors serve

as volunteers.

Duties of the PFFC director will be to perform any and all duties imposed by law, by the Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws, or by resolution of the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District. PFFC directors meet at such times and places as required to

conduct Corporation business, usually from one to three times annually.

In order to be eligible for appointment, an interested party must reside within the County of Santa Clara and must continue to reside therein while serving on the PFFC. The Board is seeking interested candidates with experience

and understanding of the financial market and the issuance of bonds.

When: Interested parties should notify the Clerk of the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District in writing

no later than 2:00 p.m. on April 29, 2011, at 5750 Almaden Expressway, San Jose, California, 95118. Please submit a letter of interest which includes your name, contact numbers, residential address, occupation, summary of interest in the position, and qualifications and experience.

Information packets can be obtained online at www.valleywater.org or in person at District

Headquarters, 5700 Almaden Expressway, San Jose, California.

883 Santa Cruz Ave. Menlo Park

(650) 353-7550Open Mon-Sat 11am-6pm

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Page 8

City Council (April 4)Hotel President: The council approved a proposal by AT&T to install two Wi-Fi an-tennas on the sixth-floor balcony of Hotel President at 488 University Ave. Yes: Burt, Espinosa, Klein, Price, Scharff, Schmid, Shepherd, Yeh No: HolmanElection: The council directed staff to return on Aug. 1 with an ordinance calling for a special election in November on the Palo Alto Green Energy and Compost Initia-tive. Yes: Burt, Espinosa, Holman, Price, Scharff, Schmid, Shepherd, Yeh Absent: Klein

Board of Education (April 5)Gunn air conditioning: The board approved the award of a $1.75 million contract for installation of air conditioning in existing classrooms at Gunn High School this sum-mer. Yes: UnanimousTenure: The board approved “permanent status,” as governed by the California Education Code, for 41 teachers who have served two probationary years, passed evaluations and received the recommendation of supervisors. Yes: UnanimousBudget: The board heard a staff report indicating the district could face reductions in state revenue of up to $14.7 million because of failure to place a tax-extension measure on the June ballot. Action: NoneCounseling: The board heard a presentation from high school vice-principals about the services offered by counselors in the district’s three middle schools and two high schools. Action: None

Finance Committee (April 5)Grant funds: The committee approved funding for the Community Development Block Grant and the Human Services Resource Allocation Process. Yes: UnanimousRefuse: The committee heard a presentation on the preliminary results of a cost-of-service study for the city’s Refuse Fund. Action: None

Historic Review Board (April 6)Hoover Pavilion: The board discussed a proposal by Stanford University Medical Center to perform external renovations to Hoover Pavilion as part of its expansion project. Action: None

Utility Advisory Commission (April 6)Feed-in tariffs: The commission approved the staff-recommended policies and guidelines for renewable energy feed-in tariffs. Yes: UnanimousGas: The commission discussed the long-term financial projections and revenue requirements of the city’s gas utility. Action: NoneElectricity: The commission voted not to transfer funds from the Calaveras Reserve to the city’s electricity fund until further analysis is conducted. Yes: Berry, Cook, Foster, Waldfogel No: Keller, Melton Absent: Eglash

Architectural Review Board (April 7)Cell tower: The board voted to continue its hearing on AT&T’s proposal to install a cell tower at St. Albert the Great Church, 1095 Channing Ave. Yes: Lee, Lew, Malone Pritchard, Young No: Wasserman

CityViewA round-up of Palo Alto government action this week

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

CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to discuss a new study on the Office of Emergency Services, hear a presentation from the Palo Alto Library Foundation and discuss the draft of the feasibility study for an anaerobic digester at Byxbee Park. The study session on emer-gency services will begin at 6 p.m. Monday, April 11, in the Council Conference Room. The rest of the meeting will follow in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

RAIL COMMITTEE ... The committee will discuss Caltrain and high-speed-rail issues with Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. Wednesday, April 13, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

INFRASTRUCTURE BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION ... The commission will continue its discussion of the city’s infrastructure backlog and possible ways to pay for some of the items on the list. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 14, in the Lucie Stern Community Room (1305 Middlefield Road).

HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION ... The commission plans to hear a report on the Mandatory Response Program by the Palo Alto Mediation Program; review the survey results for 41 Developmental Assets; and discuss the recommendation process for the Human Services Resource Allocation Process and Community Development Block Grant funding . The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

Public AgendaA preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week

Upfront

april highlights

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4/2011_GS

2011/2012 Groundwater Production ChargesPublic hearing

The Santa Clara Valley Water District has prepared an annual report on the Protection and Augmentation of Water Supplies documenting financial and water supply information which provides the basis for recommended groundwater production charges for fiscal year 2011/2012.

The report includes financial analyses of the water district’s water utility system; supply and demand forecasts; future capital improvement, maintenance and operating requirements; and the method to financesuch requirements.

The water district will hold a public hearing to obtain comments on the report which will be available at the hearing.

Based upon findings and determinations from the public hearing, the water district Board of Directors will decide whether or not a groundwater production charge should be levied, and if so, at what level, in which zone or zones for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011.

All operators of water-producing facilities within the water district or any person interested in the water district’s activities with regard to protection and augmentation of the water supply may appear, in person or by representative, and submit comments regarding the subject.

For more information on the public hearing, please visit our website atwww.valleywater.org, or contact Darin Taylor, (408) 265-2607,ext. 3068.

Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate persons with disabilities wishing to attend this public hearing. To request accommodations for disabilities, arrange for an interpreter, or obtain more information on attending this hearing, please contact the Office of the Clerk of the Board at (408) 265-2600, ext. 2277, at least three days prior tothe hearing.

You are invitedTopic:

Who:

What:

When:

Place:

2011/2012 Groundwater Production Charges

The Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors

Public hearings on proposed groundwaterproduction charges 2011/2012 and receive comments

April 12, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. – open hearingApril 19, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. – continue hearing – South CountyApril 26, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. – close hearing

April 12, and April 26, 2011Santa Clara Valley Water District Board Chambers 5700 Almaden Expressway, San Jose, CA

April 19, 2011Morgan Hill Council Chambers17555 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA

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gued that their profession is being unfairly singled out by the city for onerous new regulations.

Donald Howard, a massage ther-apist who has been practicing in California since 1975, described the clause as “totally outrageous and absurd” and claimed that his clients would object to having their names submitted to the police for possible use in criminal investigations.

“It’s an infringement on the pri-vacy of clients,” Howard said. “I personally work on clients that live in Atherton and Menlo Park that I’m sure would not appreciate hav-ing their names on a list and think it’s just as absurd as I do.”

Susan Nightingale, co-owner of Watercourse Way, said the new or-dinance should require the police to go through the due process and get a court order before the client information is released. She en-couraged staff to add the require-ment for a court order to the new ordinance.

“I think the laws are in place to protect everyone,” Nightingale said. “I don’t see why we have to leave the step out.”

Interim City Attorney Donald Larkin said the broader purpose of the massage-ordinance over-haul is to abolish the obsolete law currently on the books and to bring the city in compliance with Senate Bill 731, a 2008 law that requires message therapists and technicians to carry certification. Larkin said the state bill has given the city the motivation to update its own code.

Palo Alto’s existing ordinance allows massages (defined as “any method of pressure on, or friction against, or stroking, kneading, rubbing, tapping, pounding, vi-brating or stimulating the external parts of the human body with the hands or with the aid of any me-chanical or electrical apparatus, or other appliances or devices, with or without such supplementary aids as rubbing alcohol, liniment, antiseptic, oil, powder, cream, lotion, ointment or other similar preparations”) to take place only in “massage establishments.” These establishments, under the existing definition, have more than one massage technician. The new ordinance would allow single-person establishments to legally function.

“We’re missing a whole segment of the population of therapists try-ing to do work in Palo Alto,” Wag-ner said. “They’re trying to operate successful businesses, but we don’t have certification of them.

“We’re bringing those businesses into compliance.”

Palo Alto officials plan to hold several more meetings and make further revisions to the massage ordinance before it’s presented to the City Council in the fall. Lar-kin said the new ordinance would likely take effect in early 2012.

Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@paweekly.com.

Massage(continued from page 3)

Page 9

Ban cell phones?Editor,

I have read your readers’ con-cerns about radiation from cell tow-ers being harmful to their health. To relieve their fears I propose that the Palo Alto City Council pass an ordinance banning the use of cell phones within the city limits. This ordinance would also prohibit the sale of cell phones and require all cell phone towers be removed.

This action would protect their health and especially that of their most vulnerable children by forbid-ding the use of cell phones, which are usually placed next to the brain.

And what about the radiation from Wi-Fi and other wireless networks?

John HydeCenter Drive

Palo Alto

College costsEditor,

As high school seniors are receiv-ing their “thick” acceptance letters for admission to private colleges and universities, dismay over higher-ed-ucation tuitions escalates. Why are tuitions so high and why do they in-crease at rates well above inflation?

Leaving aside specialty schools and church-related universities, consider four California “privates” and their 2010-11 tuitions: Stanford ($38,700), University of Southern California ($40,384), Pomona Col-lege ($38,087) and Occidental Col-lege ($39,870). All top-tier institu-tions, and all with nearly identical tuitions. Why?

Are their costs of education all the same? Not likely, as two have very luxurious endowment-per-student (Stanford, Pomona) and two have substantially lesser endow-ment-per-student. Earnings on the endowments augment the revenue from tuition, but to very different extents.

If Stanford and Pomona are so well endowed, why do they need to charge such high tuitions? They may not need to, but they can — that is, the market allows them to do so. And so, why shouldn’t they? Their students and faculty will be the beneficiaries of this added revenue: more recreation amenities, lighter “teaching loads,” richer financial aid packages, close-in parking.

Simple economics: demand and supply tell the story. Note the in-crease in numbers of applications at these institutions. Stanford, Pomona and most other colleges increase tu-ition each year, yet this year alone applications grew 10 percent at Pomona and 7 percent at Stanford. The “buyers” of higher education — applicants and their families — seem not to balk at these high tu-itions. Yes, many get financial-aid help in varying amounts from these institutions, but others pay full price. The colleges and universities play Robin Hood.

Will tuition rates at prestigious colleges and universities continue to escalate in the years ahead? You can count on it, so long as “demand” continues to out-run “supply” by a wide margin. Top-tier institutions set prices, publish them widely, and less well-endowed and less presti-gious places follow suit.

Henry E. RiggsPeter Coutts Circle

Stanford

Seismic retrofitsEditor,

While the public’s attention is on earthquakes, we should consider what we should do to prepare for the next big quake.

It will probably come from the Hayward Fault, which for thou-sands of years has reliably produced a major earthquake around every 140 years and is now three years overdue. The USGS says it could hammer us the way the 1989 Loma Prieta quake hammered downtown Santa Cruz. And the biggest damage here will probably happen in older apartment and condo complexes built over garages (called soft-story buildings).

They can be retrofitted to current

standards for around $9,000 per unit.

But whenever homeowners’ asso-ciations try to do this, they’re invari-ably opposed by a few suspicious, shortsighted homeowners who claim the retrofit is just a scheme to defraud them — that the board of directors is getting kickbacks from the engineering firm — that it’s un-necessary because the Loma Prieta quake in Santa Cruz didn’t level us here — anything to avoid spending anything for any purpose.

And if they can’t browbeat the board of directors, they turn to law-suits (usually thrown out), then try to get on the board.

Few homeowners care who’s on their board, but look what just hap-pened in Japan. They didn’t prepare for the worst, with tragic results.

Condo owners need to make sure their board isn’t captured by people who reflexively oppose infrastruc-ture investment and who use mis-leading candidate statements to con-ceal their penny-wise, pound-foolish goals.

Lee TheSan Antonio Road

Palo Alto

SpectrumEditorials, letters and opinions

City learns a lesson in Internet protocol

Threat to cut off service defused but not before disgruntled resident creates a scramble at City Hall

I n what was clearly a black eye for one of Silicon Valley’s most high-tech cities, Palo Alto found out last week that a little-known Internet provider planned to cut off the free service it had given

the city for 17 years due to an unrelated spat with one of the non-profit’s volunteers.

Although it appeared this week that saner heads prevailed and the 14-day termination deadline will be pushed back, the city was blindsided when Stephen Stuart, one of the founders of the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC), announced March 29 that he was going to pull the plug on Internet service to City Hall and several other municipal buildings after the city approved a cell tower he opposes at St. Albert the Great church on Channing Avenue, in the Crescent Park neighborhood.

An obviously relieved City Manager James Keene announced Monday that the city had reached an agreement with the ISC to keep the Internet up at City Hall until either a new agreement can be reached or the city finds a new provider. The threat to end ser-vice by April 14 was not mentioned in the press release issued by the city.

Keene’s statement said the city will have a reasonable amount of time to make a transition if it is decided to part ways with the con-sortium, which has promised to provide some technical assistance if needed. The two sides will meet soon to work out the details, Keene said in the press release.

When playing back the way this incident unfolded there are plenty of missteps to consider.

For example, it appears that over the years the city may have simply lost track of the fact that it had no signed contract with the consortium to provide Internet service for City Hall and other city buildings. This is a shortcoming that should have been discovered long ago by the city’s information technology department, which apparently did not realize that the service could be shut down at any time.

Such a contract could have protected the city from the threat to cut off service by Stephen Stuart, who built the original server and arranged the deal to provide free Internet service to the city back in 1994.

Stuart’s fit of pique and mean-spirited threat to end the service came after the city’s planning department tentatively approved a permit for a 50-foot cell tower on St. Albert’s church at 1095 Chan-ning, across the street from his home. It also showed an inability to understand the city’s limitations when it considers applications to install cell-phone equipment, and at the time, left no room for negotiations.

Stuart claims that the planning department chose to ignore city laws when it approved the tower, is misreading the Telecommuni-cations Act of 1996 and is ignoring ordinances it has in place that would protect residents. He also contends that a tower would lower property values in the neighborhood.

“This is not a threat. This is not a punishment. This is the conse-quence of the city not enforcing its laws,” Stuart said in his letter to the city, adding that the failure “has vaporized 17 years of good will in one thoughtless act.”

Besides threatening to cut off service to City Hall, Stuart said that service to the Arts Center “...will be physically disconnected.”

In an attempt to explain the city’s position, Keene said the Plan-ning Commission approval was just the first step in a process that sends the cell-tower application to the Architectural Review Board this week and to the Planning Commission, which plans to hold a public hearing on the tower May 4.

In the long run, it is fortunate that this brouhaha brought the city’s Internet connection up for public scrutiny. The lack of a formal agreement or service guarantee can now be remedied, and we hope the city will find an Internet provider that will not be swayed to ter-minate service by the whim of a volunteer worker, who in this case was highly upset by his perception that the city was not listening to residents who opposed the cell tower on his street.

In a March 23 editorial, we suggested that the city find another way to approve cell-tower requests. Rather than forcing residents and wireless carriers into needlessly confrontational hearings, the city should write a new ordinance that would not violate federal telecommunications regulations but simply create a framework for industry and the public to cooperatively decide where new towers are needed.

A model ordinance exists in Richmond, which was patterned after similar measures in the East Bay cities of Berkeley, Albany and Orinda. They are proof that cities can stop the often contentious, and needless, debates about cell-phone towers that can, as it did last week in Palo Alto, lead to clearly counter-productive controversy.

Editorial

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

What do you think? Should Gunn and Paly offer the same school-counseling services?

YOUR TURN

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 ac-cepted. 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.

Page 10

When was the last time you went to the library? Asked on S. California Avenue, Palo Alto. Interviews and photographs by Kareem Yasin and Zohra Ashpari.

Ewa GavrielovArtistWebster Street, Palo Alto“I went a couple of weeks ago. The library means a great deal to me. Reading is very important — I can’t emphasize it enough.”

Elena KowalskyStudentEdlee Avenue, Palo Alto“To me, the library doesn’t have new stuff that I really want to read. I buy my plea-sure-reading books. They are so cheap now. The invention of the Kindle and iPad has also changed the way we read. Libraries are good for student research but more funding is needed to make it at-tractive for the average person.”

Ike ShinMarketing ManagerRosewood Drive, Palo Alto“The last time I went was a few months ago. I usually go for CDs and it wasn’t really up-to-date because some of mu-sic I was searching for I couldn’t find. The library is a good resource though.”

Melody YuanAccountantEmerson Street, Palo Alto“I go every week and get cooking books. My husband gets videos and my son and daughter get children’s books. Mitchell Park Library is being rebuilt, which I think is one of the best things that has happened in the area in a while.”

Adam PlattiSoftware EngineerGreenmeadow Way, Palo Alto“Last time I went I got bunch of chil-dren’s books for my son. When you buy children’s books, you read them several times then get rid of them. The library is a great resource because af-ter you read them, you can just return them.”

by Stephen Levy

S ilicon Valley is leading an eco-nomic recovery

that is slowly building strength in California and the nation. The region added 21,900 private-sector jobs during the past year for the largest percent-age gain statewide.

Job growth in the Valley is led by firms that apply technology and innovation to the devel-opment of goods and, increasingly, services that capture the approval of customers around the world. Three companies that develop new technology services, Facebook, Google and Groupon, have recently announced plans to hire additional tech workers in the Valley.

On the product side, the number of tech-nology manufacturing jobs increased by nearly 4,000 last year as technology exports surged in California. One final data point is that the Bay Area captured nearly $2 of every $5 invested in venture capital start-ups in the nation, higher than the 32 percent share we captured in 2000 at the height of the dot-com boom.

Silicon Valley is no longer the only center of innovation in the world but we are still the largest center of innovation activity. This is happening without huge cash incentives to firms and despite a constant barrage in the media about how terrible California is for starting a business. Why, then, did venture capitalists invest $8.5 billion last year in Sili-con Valley and why are companies in a frantic search for new talent and hiring here?

Currently I am participating in two work-

force studies of innovation sectors in the Val-ley. I also serve on the workforce investment board (NOVA) that serves our area. We are being told that companies locate and expand here for one primary reason — access to tal-ent and an environment that promotes inno-vation.

Silicon Valley has the largest talent pool for technology and innovation in the United States. Companies tell us that they have to be here for their most innovative activities although they also say that more routine ac-tivities are being located in lower-cost areas around the world.

In most discussions about strategies for economic prosperity the focus is on attracting companies — asking them what they want. But the implications of what potential Silicon Valley companies want — access to a large pool of talented workers — are profound for reshaping the debate about regional economic prosperity strategies.

The bottom line is that we compete for workers and their families. Now ask, what do they want, and you begin to see the outlines of Silicon Valley’s major competitiveness strat-egy. We must strive to create and maintain communities that workers and their families want to live and work in.

In the past this was our strength, not a chal-lenge. We had great weather, great access to cultural and recreational amenities, and great schools and universities. Transportation and housing were always challenges in terms of affordability and long commutes but these challenges have grown worse over time.

Now the attraction of having great schools and universities is threatened except for the wealthiest of families. People in the industry tend to think of education in terms of supply-

ing a workforce of talented workers. This is true but it misses the importance of education as being a criteria for families choosing where to live and work — the opportunities for their children.

Making Silicon Valley communities great places to live and work has elements that are beyond local control. One example is state education funding. It has elements that are purely local, such as world-class public ser-vices and neighborhoods that are attractive places to live.

But many of the challenges are regional. Remember, firms are attracted by our talent pool. They pick the region first and the exact location second. Therefore, we compete as a region.

The important concepts for regional suc-cess are connectedness and cooperation. Two of our most difficult challenges in creating a

region where people want to live and work are transportation, including both roads and public transit, and housing. Santa Clara and San Mateo counties will soon start the process of participating in the regional requirement to develop a Sustainable Communities Strategy, which is primarily about how land use, hous-ing and transportation are linked.

The communities in Silicon Valley are connected to each other in our quest to cre-ate places where talented families and en-trepreneurs will want to live and work. It is our collective housing opportunities and our collective system of roads and public transit that create an attractive region. That means we must cooperate to address regional housing and transportation issues. In a real sense we prosper or not as a group of connected com-munities.

I recently attended a Joint Venture Silicon Valley retreat, where most participants were staff or elected leaders from Silicon Valley communities. The meeting was focused on ways communities could cooperate and, po-tentially share some services to relieve the tremendous budget pressures our communi-ties are facing.

But, without any prompting, table after table reported that their chief concerns for creating a vibrant future were the need to address the challenges of transportation, education and regional land-use planning.

I left with the hope that there was a chance that connectedness and cooperation could emerge at our regional level despite the enor-mous political gridlock continuing in our state and nation.

Stephen Levy is director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Econo-my and a Palo Alto resident.

Innovation climate is leading Valley out of recessionGuest Opinion

The bottom line is that we compete for workers and their families. ...We must strive to create and maintain communities that workers and their families want to live and work in.

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 com-munity website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Post your own comments, ask questions, read the Editor’s blog or just stay up on what people are talking about around town!

Streetwise

Page 11

PulseHerb Rauch, 75, died on March 29 of

metastatic melanoma, shortly before his 50th wedding anniversary. He passed away peacefully at his home in Los Altos, surrounded by loving family.

He left his wife Margie; his children Marta, Erik, and Loren, and their families, including five grandchildren; his sister Joanne Nelson; and his cousin John Forster and family. He was predeceased by his son Evan, in whose honor he had endowed the U. C. Berkeley “Evan Rauch Chair of Neuroscience.”

Born and raised in Saint Louis, Missouri, Herb moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico at age 13 with his parents, Herbert and Vera, and sister, Joanne. His electrical engineering interest was piqued by an early morning noncredit radio course taken his senior year in high school.

He received his BS from the California Institute of Technology, and his MS and Ph.D. from Stanford University, all in Electrical Engineering. At CalTech, he was active in journalism, student government, drama, and the Tau Beta Pi honor society. He also lettered in Varsity basketball, and was elected president of the student electrical engineering organization.

While at Stanford, he met Margie, the love of his life. As he always said, “the best thing ever” happened when they were married in 1961. They made their home in Los Altos, where they raised their children, Marta, Erik, Evan, and Loren.

A devoted father, Herb loved to spend time with his family. He encouraged his kids in school and in sports, and was assistant coach for his daughter’s A.Y.S.O soccer team, The Valkyries, and his sons’ CYSA soccer teams. To help enable good education, he served two terms on the Los Altos School District School Board. He always remembered his family on holidays and birthdays, and they looked forward to his thoughtful cards and letters.

For many years, Herb was employed at the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory (now called Lockheed-Martin Advanced Technology Center), where his area of expertise was control systems. With John V. Breakwell, he wrote several papers on interplanetary trajectories, including creating a Venus swing-by trajectory that was part of an optimal low thrust Earth-Mars-Earth round trip. This work led to the development of the Rauch-Tung-Striebel (R-T-S) algorithm, which is now used for tracking interplanetary spacecraft and earth satellites. He was recognized at Lockheed with numerous service awards, including the Robert E. Gross award for Technical Excellence.

Among his many notable contributions to the engineering field were his terms as President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Control Systems Society, and Editor-in-Chief of three publications: the Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, the IEEE Control Systems Magazine, and the IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks, of which he was Founding Editor. He was also Associate Editor for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Journal,

and Chairman of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) Working Group on Control Applications of Nonlinear Programming. In the course of his career, he published numerous technical papers and gave many lectures on his work.

In recognition of his pioneering contributions and leadership in the field of optimal estimation and control, he was elected an IEEE Life Fellow, as well as Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Fellow of the American Astronautical Society; and Fellow of the IEEE Control Systems Society. He received the IEEE Control Systems Distinguished Member award for his significant technical contributions and outstanding long-term service to the Control Systems Society. An IEEE Distinguished Lecturer, he enjoyed traveling with his wife for his many presentations and keynote addresses at technical conferences around the world.

After retiring, Herb advised PhD candidates at Stanford University, consulted in the aerospace industry, and enjoyed traveling to visit his many dear friends, participating in college reunions, and attending plays locally and at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In the last several years, he developed an interest in creative writing, and took writing seminars that spurred him to write a series of short stories that delighted his family and friends. He also enjoyed time with his beloved wife and his children, their families, and his five grandchildren.

Herb’s delightful wit, intellectual passion, creativity, kindness, and caring will be greatly missed by his family, colleagues, and friends.

A private family service will be held in Herb’s memory, and an online Memorial Website is available at http://memorialwebsites.legacy.com/HerbertRauch/Homepage.aspx. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate contributions to your local food bank or to the American Cancer Society.

Herbert E. RauchControl Systems Pioneer

P A I D O B I T U A R Y

Verena Ruth GolickJanuary 14, 1918-April 4, 2011

P A I D O B I T U A R Y

Verena (Cornelsen) Golick, born in Main Centre, Sask. 1918, passed away April 4, 2011 in Palo Alto. She is survived by her daughter, Dyan Golick of Fresno and son, David Golick and is wife, Edith of Palo Alto as well as her five loving grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. She was preceeded in death by her husband of 52 years, Michael Golick. Verena was a loving and caring person who loved spending time with her family and enjoyed working in her garden. She will be sorely missed by her family.

Shirley Raney

P A I D O B I T U A R Y

Shirley Raney, 76, died March 31 of natural causes.She was born Shirley Anne Stone in Oakland, CA to parents

Floye and Ted Stone. She was a resident of Palo Alto, CA for the past 51 years.

She was a graduate of UC Berkeley, where, as a freshman, she met and fell in love with Lew Raney, whom she married 4 years later in 1956.

A loving wife and mother, she devoted herself to her husband and children. She was a Girl Scout troop leader, home chef, avid reader, singer, and dancer. She was an accomplished water color artist, with shows in local galleries, and a life member of the Palo Alto Art League.

She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Lew, her son, Stephen, and three grandchildren, Kristina and Brian Smith, and Emma Raney.

She was preceded in death by her daughter, Diana Smith, of El Dorado, CA.

A funeral will be held April 10 at All Saints Episcopal Church.

Palo AltoMarch 31-April 5Violence relatedAssault with a deadly weapon . . . . . . . .1

Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Child abuse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Family violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Theft relatedEmbezzlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Residential burglary attempts . . . . . . . . .4

Shoplifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Vehicle relatedAbandoned auto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Driving w/suspended license . . . . . . . . .5

Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Lost/stolen plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .5

Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .2

Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Alcohol or drug relatedDrinking in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

MiscellaneousCoroner case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Disposal request. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Harassing e-mail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Indecent exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Psych subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .2

Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Menlo ParkMarch 30-April 4Violence relatedAssault and battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Spousal abuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Theft relatedCommercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Residential burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Vehicle relatedBicycle recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Driving w/suspended license . . . . . . . . .5

Driving without a license . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Suspicious vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .2

Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . 14

Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

Alcohol or drug relatedDrug activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

MiscellaneousDisturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Gang validation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Info. case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Mental evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Narcotic registrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Parole arrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .1

Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

A weekly compendium of vital statistics

Page 12

A celebration of the life of Gayle Nathe will be held Satur-day, April 9, at 1 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Palo Alto, 1984 Louis Road.

MEMORIAL SERVICES

Lasting MemoriesAn online directory of obituaries

and remembrances.

Search obituaries, submit a memorial,

share a photo.

Introducing

P A I D O B I T U A R Y

Fran was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, on Sept 21, 1913. He moved to Stanford, California, to attend Stanford University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1932 and his Masters in 1934.

Mr. Dresch was a member of the Stanford Cardinal Society, and was a loyal attendee of their annual home-coming luncheons until 2010. In 1937 he received his PhD in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. A prolific and enterprising scholar, Francis also attended Cambridge University and the Univer-sity of Paris from 1937-1938.

He was a mathematics instructor at Berkeley from 1938-1941. Francis was elected a member of Sigma Xi and also received a Phi Mu Epsilon. Mr. Dresch en-listed in the Navy in 1941 and retired as a Command-er in 1946. He continued at the U.S. Naval Weapons Laboratory at Dahlgren as the Assistant Director to the Director of Computers and Ballistics. In this capacity, Francis contributed to the development of one of the first computers. He worked as a Senior Statistician at the Dahlgren Laboratory until 1957.

Devoting much of his working life -- 27 years -- to the Stanford Research Institute as their Senior Math-ematical Economist, Fran also dedicated six years to the Center for Planning and Research Inc. He was a member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences,

American Mathematical Society, the Institute for Mathematical Statistics, and The Econometric Society.

Of his many interests, Fran’s favorites included a love for the discover-ies of Astronomy, and a relentless pursuit of the most cutting edge theories in mathematics. He had a passion for the culinary arts and a penchant for top-notch martinis. Some may remember Fran from the Manhattan Playhouse in East Palo Alto, where he could frequently be seen in the box office, parking cars or taking an occasional part on the stage.

Fran was not only a brilliant and distinguished scholar with a gifted intellect, but also a kind and generous person with a quirky sense of humor. Fran is survived by his wife, Jeanne and her two children Charlotte and Steve. He will be deeply missed. In lieu of flowers or donations, just raise a martini to Fran’s memory. All personal correspondence can be sent through the Neptune Society, 1261 Travis Blvd, Suite 160 Fairfield, Ca. 94533

Francis William Dresch Sept. 21, 1913-March 9, 2011

Carl William Poll, Jr., a resident of Palo Alto since 1947 and

former Palo Alto High School teacher, passed away peacefully in his

home on March 26, 2011. Carl was 91 at the time of his passing.

He was born on January 19, 1920 in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1931

his family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where his father worked dur-

ing the depression as an accountant for Conoco Oil.

In his youth he became an accomplished pianist, giving many well-

received recitals during his teenage and college years.

He attended Texas Christian University where he excelled as a stu-

dent and athlete. He played on the college tennis team for four years

and in his junior year was named the most outstanding student in the

Economics Department.

From 1941 to 1943 Carl was a missionary in eastern Canada for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. There he became

acquainted with his future wife Helen Nelson, of Cardston, Alberta,

Canada who was also a missionary.

He served 2½ years in the Navy and then moved with his wife

Helen to Palo Alto, where in 1947 he entered Stanford University on

the G.I. Bill and received a Masters Degree in Economics in 1950.

After a few years with Bank of America and eight years as an un-

derwriting manager with Allstate Insurance, he decided his true love

was teaching. He obtained a teaching credential from San Jose State

and became a teacher at Palo High School, where he taught econom-

ics and government for twenty-five years. The last twelve years he

headed the Social Studies Department.

During this time he also had a flourishing side business as a piano

teacher, and his wife Helen owned and operated the Midtown Nursery

School in Palo Alto.

He was an active member of his church, where among other posi-

tions, he served as the Bishop of the Palo Alto First Ward from 1979

to 1984.

He was proud of the fact that each of his three sons received law

degrees and his daughter obtained a PhD in Psychology.

Carl was appreciated by many for his humor, kindness, intelli-

gence, musical talent and amiability.

He is survived by his wife Helen, daughter Shelley, sons David,

Dennis and Brian, grandchildren Christopher and Geoff, and great

grandchildren Alexander, Lola, Abbie and Kara.

A memorial service was held on March 31, 2011 in the Middle-

field Road, Palo Alto Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-

day Saints, followed by a burial service at the Alta Mesa Memorial

Park in Palo Alto.

Carl William Poll, Jr January 19, 1920-March 26, 2011

P A I D O B I T U A R Y

Annie Yung Suen was born on December 30th 1924. She

was one of two siblings. She went to school and spent her

childhood years in China.

At 19, she married her sweetheart, Francis Suen. They

were blessed with four children, three (Rita, Dora, and

Mickey) were born in China and Leslie was born on Saipan,

Mariana Islands. After World War II, Annie and her family

lived in China, Hong Kong, Mariana Islands, Okinawa and

then back to Hong Kong.

Francis and Annie decided to immigrate to the United

States where the family could pursue the “American Dream”.

At the end of 1958 they landed in San Francisco where they

lived for six month before settling in Palo Alto.

In Palo Alto, despite her language barriers, Annie found

a position with Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics as an

assembly line worker, moved into a supervisory position

and retired after 25 years with the company. She was an

environmentalist and started a recycling program for which

she received commendations and a monetary award for her

efforts. Annie was creative, “good-with-her-hands”, had

a green thumb and spent her free time gardening, needle

working and entertaining her family and friends.

She is survived by her daughters, Rita and Dora (Ashley),

a son, Mickey, seven grandchildren, Sheila, Christopher,

Timothy, Alisa, Sierra, Brendan and Alex, and sons-in-law,

Yuan-Cheng and Tony.

A small, intimate service with family and close friends

was be held on Monday, April 4th 2011.

Donation can be made to: Tzu Chi Foundation, http://

www.us.tzuchi.org/usa/home.nsf/joinus/index

Annie Yung SuenDec. 30th 1924-2011

Maxine GoldsteinJuly 13, 1922-April 1, 2011

P A I D O B I T U A R Y

Maxine R. Goldstein, age 88, died on April 1, 2011. She was born July 13, 1922, in Michigan, raised in Brooklyn, N.Y.,

and a resident of Mountain View since 1960. Maxine worked in the Registrar’s Office at Foothill College until her retirement.

Married for 63 years to her devoted husband, Stanley. She also leaves behind daughters, Judy and Anne (Bob), grandsons Brendan, Dennis and John, and her niece and nephews.

During her protracted illnesses her valued caregivers Arletta and then Malia provided her with outstanding support and comfort and in her later days Pathways Hospice did as well.

Severe arthritis prevented her from many physical activities but never curbed her interest in travel or her delight in shopping.

Family services were private.

Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

AthertonMarch 30-April 4Theft relatedFraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Vehicle relatedMisc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Parking/driving violation . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Road/sidewalk/other hazard. . . . . . . . . .3

Suspicious vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .2

Vehicle accident/no injury. . . . . . . . . . . .1

Vehicle code violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Vehicle/traffic hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

MiscellaneousAnimal call. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Building/perimeter area check . . . . . . . .3

Civil matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Foot patrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Pedestrian check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Special detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .4

Ticket sign-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Town ordinance violation . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Tree down. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

VIOLENT CRIMESPalo AltoMaybell Avenue, 3/31, 9:30 p.m.; child

abuse/physical.

Park Boulevard, 4/1, 11:42 a.m.; family

violence/battery.

Towle Way, 4/1, 5:22 p.m.; family violence.

Colorado Avenue, 4/3, 12:30 a.m.; domes-

tic violence/battery.

University Avenue, 4/3, 2:22 a.m.; assault

with a deadly weapon

Towle Way, 4/3 5:59 p.m.; child abuse/

physical.

Menlo ParkHenderson Avenue, 3/30, 7:47 p.m.; as-

sault and battery.

Laurel Street, 4/2 11:26 p.m.; spousal

abuse.

Visit: www.PaloAltoOnline.com/obituaries

Page 13

Cover Story

Palo Alto officials bet city’s future growth on a thriving Caltrainby Gennady Sheyner

W hen developer Jim Baer ap-proached Palo Alto’s plan-ning commissioners last

month to pitch a glassy, new five-story “gateway” building at the in-tersection of Alma Street and Lyt-ton Avenue, one theme dominated his presentation: location, location, location.

The project would require a “planned community” zone — an often controversial zoning designa-tion that allows developers to ex-ceed zoning regulation in exchange for “public benefits.” In the case of Lytton Gateway, the tentative list of proposed benefits includes the usual fare for similar projects: public art, a garden, a unit (or several units) of affordable housing and a small café on the ground floor. But the top sell-ing point, from both the applicant’s and the commission’s perspectives, was where the building would stand: right on the doorstep of Caltrain’s second-busiest station.

The proposal epitomizes Palo

Alto’s evolving land-use vision. Just about every major new develop-ment these days is viewed through the transit lens, with proximity to Caltrain trumping such previously sacred cows as limiting building height and using existing zoning designations.

Baer, who has shepherded more than 20 PC-zoned projects through Palo Alto’s tortuous approval pro-cess and who is serving as an ad-viser for Lytton Gateway, pitched the new project as a way to put the new policies that the council has been talking about for the past year into practice. These include the council’s stated goals to welcome young start-ups to the city and to focus dense developments near Cal-train stations.

“Our hope was we can create this as a laboratory parcel,” Baer told the planning commission, which, shar-ing this hope, voted 6-1 (with Susan Fineberg dissenting) to begin the rezoning process.

T he linking of transit and hous-ing is far from new in plan-ning circles, having arisen

from the “smart growth” movement of the 1970s. It spread through pro-gressive communities over the next three decades and emerged as one of the main themes of California’s landmark 2008 climate-change leg-islation, Senate Bill 375. The bill, which seeks to fight urban sprawl and reduce pollution from vehicles, gives financial incentives and sup-port to communities that embrace transit-oriented development and make an effort to cut down on solo driving.

The idea is simple and largely in-tuitive: If you build dense housing and offices near train stations and major transit corridors, people will drive less, easing congestion and lowering greenhouse-gas emissions. What’s new is the extent to which Palo Alto is starting to embrace the concept.

Torn between a regional mandate

to come up with thousands of new housing units and an outcry from residents to protect their quiet en-claves from dense, traffic-causing and parking-space-hogging devel-opments, the city is looking to tran-sit centers as the most promising solution. Developments in transit-friendly areas, particularly around the University Avenue and Cali-fornia Avenue train stations, would allow new development without necessarily adding congestion and exacerbating parking woes. So, at least, goes the thinking.

Palo Alto is a fairly recent con-vert to this mantra. Five years ago, the city took a step in this direction when it revised its zoning regula-tions to create a “Pedestrian Transit Oriented District” around Califor-nia Avenue. The new designation enables developers to pitch and build projects with a greater density and a less stringent parking require-ment than would otherwise be al-lowed. So far, two small mixed-use

projects have used this designation to get the city’s approval.

Now, Palo Alto is taking the phi-losophy to the next level. Just about every major new development and construction project going through the city’s pipeline these days is viewed through the transit-oriented lens. In fact, just one week after the planning commission initiated the zone change for Lytton Gateway, it rejected another PC application — a 23-home development on San An-tonio Road — largely because the commission felt (despite arguments to the contrary from the developer, SummerHill Homes) that the transit services in the area are insufficient.

“With San Antonio having one train per hour, it’s not really a place where there’s going to be a lot of transit use,” Commissioner Arthur Keller said.

Minutes later the commission voted 6-1 to deny the proposed zone change, with Eduardo Martinez dis-senting.

Palo Alto Weekly file photo

The California Avenue Caltrain station is one of two stations in Palo Alto and is near several housing developments.

Page 14

Cover Story

P alo Alto’s wholesale embrace of transit-oriented develop-ments has emerged at a time

when both the city and the main transit agency it depends on face seismic changes. After more than 30 years of inertia, the city’s popu-lation spiked by nearly 10 percent between 2000 and 2010, far eclips-ing the growth in surrounding cit-ies, according to the U.S. Census.

Its housing stock followed a simi-lar trend and, after three decades of flatness, jumped by about 8 percent over the last decade as massive new developments such as the Campus for Jewish Life, Altaire, Echelon and Vantage went up in south Palo Alto, where transit services and oth-er amenities are generally scarce.

The conversion of the Rickey’s Hyatt hotel into Arbor Real, a 181-townhouse development on El Camino Real and Charleston Road has been particularly contentious. With its narrow private streets and lack of access to thriving public transit (given what some officials consider the flagging bus service along El Camino), the new town-house development is routinely cited by council members, planning com-missioners and land-use watchdog as a textbook example of housing policies gone awry. The council re-sponded in 2006 by tightening the zoning regulations to make it more difficult for developers to pitch purely residential El Camino Real developments.

And yet, Palo Alto officials agree that the city needs more housing. The Association of Bay Area Gov-ernments, a regional planning orga-nization that sets “fair share” hous-ing requirements for cities in the nine Bay Area counties, released a recommended planning scenario in February that calls on Palo Alto to plan for 12,000 units of new housing over the next 25 years — a mandate that city officials see as ridiculously excessive. But as the city’s popula-tion continues to grow and increased traffic congestion becomes inevi-table, few disagree that some new housing will need to be provided to reduce the swell of commuters.

The broad discussion includes one

colossal wildcard — Caltrain. The agency, which draws its funding from three Bay Area transit agen-cies, is facing a $30 million deficit on a $100 million budget because of reduced contributions from the agencies. Caltrain has been consid-ering a series of drastic service re-ductions, including halting of week-end service and station closures. On Thursday, Caltrain officials weighed a staff proposal to axe weekend ser-vices at California Avenue in Palo Alto, San Antonio Road in Moun-tain View and 10 other stations. The Caltrain board decided to postpone the decision until April 21.

Caltrain’s struggles have created anxieties all along the San Francis-co-to-San Jose corridor, where com-muters depend on the transit service. But these anxieties are particularly acute for those communities whose land-use plans were drawn up around Caltrain. Officials from cit-ies along the corridor attended the Thursday meeting and stressed the crucial role Caltrain plays in their transit-oriented-development plans. They included Palo Alto Deputy City Manager Steve Emslie, who urged Caltrain officials not to cur-tail weekend service for the Cali-fornia Avenue station. He stressed Caltrain’s importance to the city’s long-term land-use plans for the business district.

“Cutting weekend service — that’s when most riders need it,” Emslie said. “It has a very serious impact on the PTOD.”

Similar concerns have popped up in Mountain View, a long proponent of transit-oriented development. The San Antonio station, which serves close to 550 passengers per week-

day, stands next to The Crossings, a densely developed residential com-munity built in the mid-1990s that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now lists as a paradigm of “transit-oriented development.”

Faced with the possible closure of the San Antonio station, the Moun-tain View City Council sent a let-ter last month to the Peninsula Joint Powers Authority, which oversees Caltrain, expressing the city’s anxi-eties. The March 3 letter, signed by Mayor Jac Siegel, states that discon-tinuing service at the San Antonio station would “conflict with (the) city’s long-term ‘smart growth’ planning efforts,” including the city’s program to reduce greenhouse gases and its traffic model. Both ef-forts assume greater residential and commercial intensity near transit stations, Siegel wrote.

“A substantial number of city land-use and planning efforts would be jeopardized should Caltrain dis-continue commuter rail service at the San Antonio Station,” Siegel wrote.

For example, Mountain View is weighing an ambitious proposal to redevelop the San Antonio Shopping Center, which sits at the corner of El Camino and San Antonio Road. The project would add more than 300 residential units and more than 300,000 square feet of commercial space to the mall. The existence of a Caltrain stop a short stroll away provides much of the justification for the intense density.

Other cities, including San Mateo and South San Francisco, are also planning transit-oriented develop-ments around stations on Caltrain’s list of possible closures. While nei-ther of the two Palo Alto stations is on the list, the question of Caltrain’s viability is a critical one for city of-ficials and their planning efforts.

Palo Alto Councilwoman Nancy Shepherd, who sits on the council’s Rail Committee, summed up the re-gion-wide concerns Monday morn-ing, when the committee considered its response to Caltrain’s proposed service cuts.

Developers have requested a planned-community (PC) zone designation to accommodate the proposed Lytton Gateway building at 355 Alma St. in Palo Alto.

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‘ There’s no incentive for developments and the city to organize themselves around train stations if the train stations are closed.’

– Nancy Shepherd, Palo Alto councilwoman

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Cover

The Caltrain board of directors is considering whether to cut weekend service to th

“There’s no incentive for develop-ments and the city to organize them-selves around train stations if the train stations are closed,” Shepherd said. “These developments are starting to get approved and the stations are clos-ing.”

T he uncertainty over Caltrain’s future has led some Palo Alto residents to question the city’s

push toward more transit-oriented de-velopments.

Barron Park resident Doug Moran, who attended the public hearing on Lytton Gateway, expressed skepticism about the transit-oriented proposal and its reliance on young, tech-savvy Cal-train commuters from San Francisco.

Moran argued that Caltrain’s sched-ule — particularly, its infrequency outside the rush hours — makes it dif-ficult for workers from San Francisco to commute to Palo Alto. Matters will get even worse if Caltrain imposes ser-vice cuts.

“You can’t count on Caltrain being a good support for things,” Moran said.

Local attorney William Ross made a similar complaint when voicing oppo-sition to the city’s streetscape project at California Avenue — a project that in-cludes reducing lanes from four to two and creating a more pedestrian-friendly environment. In February, Ross and a group of California Avenue merchants took their complaints to the Metro-politan Transportation Commission, which is providing most of the funds for the project. Ross cited Caltrain’s financial struggles and described the city’s efforts to reduce lanes near the California Avenue station as a “bridge to nowhere.”

“Are we authorizing a project for transit capability that doesn’t exist?” Ross asked.

Curtis Williams, the city’s planning director, said in a recent interview that the city doesn’t assume that everyone in the new transit-oriented develop-ments will use transit, but it assumes that some will. Palo Alto is, after all, already one of the most crucial stops for the commuter service. The city’s downtown station is second only to San Francisco’s in terms of volume of commuters, and Palo Alto’s ridership numbers have nearly quadrupled in less then a decade. Between 1992 and 2010, the number of passenger board-ings at the University Avenue station rose from about 1,000 to about 3,900. By building around Caltrain stations, the city is doing its part to keep the ser-vice viable, Williams said.

“If we say that Caltrain isn’t here right now or that it’s uncertain so we won’t plan that way, we’re assuring that Caltrain will not be financially feasi-ble,” Williams said. “We’re providing on our end what we can to help it exist, though it needs more than that.”

R esidents in neighborhoods close to the two main transit areas also have reasons to be concerned

about increased density near the Cal-train stations. In Professorville, a his-toric neighborhood south of downtown Palo Alto, getting a parking spot next to your house used to be a right. Now, it’s the rarest of privileges.

More than a dozen Professorville residents attended a council meet-ing on March 14 to decry the new development. One speaker after an-other complained about workers who choose to forego the two-hour parking restrictions in place throughout most

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Page 16

Story

Veronica Weber

he San Antonio station in Mountain View.

of downtown and park in Professor-ville, where such restrictions currently don’t exist. One neighbor tried to ward off the downtown workers by placing cones in front of her house. It didn’t work.

Professorville resident Linda Scott said the number of workers who park in her neighborhood has gone up and called these parking-poachers “arro-gant, aggressive and rude.”

The College Terrace neighborhood, which is next to the California Avenue business district, faced similar chal-lenges last year and has convinced Palo Alto officials to institute a permit pro-gram in the residential neighborhood. In Evergreen Park, which is located across El Camino Real from College Terrace, concerns about parking are becoming more commonplace.

Dense new developments near the two transit stations are unlikely to improve the parking situation in these neighborhoods. Even under the rosi-est projections, more than half of the workers and residents in the transit-oriented districts would continue to rely on their cars.

Palo Alto has not performed any studies on whether transit-oriented development really reduces conges-

tion because the city’s supply of such developments is too small, Williams said. But evidence from elsewhere in the U.S. suggests cars will continue to be the preferred mode of transporta-tion in these developments, though to a much smaller extent than in other parts of the city.

A 2006 study by Ohland and Shel-ley Poticha of transit-oriented devel-opments in and around Portland, Ore., showed that in transit-friendly, mixed-use areas, 58 percent of the residents relied on cars for their commutes and 12 percent used transit. In areas with good transit alone but no mix of com-mercial and residential development, 74.4 percent of residents drove and 3.5 percent took transit. In the remainder of the county, 87 percent relied on cars and only 1.2 percent on transit.

The Portland study also showed that households in mixed-use, transit-ori-ented districts own about half as many vehicles as those in parts of the region without good transit options (0.93 ver-sus 1.93 autos). The households in the former category also drove less than 10 miles per day, compared to the 21.8 miles driven by those in the latter cat-egory.

An informal survey of Palo Alto resi-dents who live near California Avenue Caltrain station suggests that location does indeed lessen reliance on cars. When the Weekly asked 40 people who live near the station about their com-muting habits, 18 of them (45 percent) said they rely on their cars as their main mode of transportation while nine (22.5 percent) said they rely on Caltrain. The rest rely on buses or bikes.

Some residents said they chose to live in the complex specifically be-

(continued on next page)

‘ If we say that Caltrain isn’t here right now or that it’s uncertain so we won’t plan that way, we’re assuring that Caltrain will not be financially feasible.’

— Curtis Williams, Palo Alto planning director

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Page 17

Cover Story

cause it’s close to the Caltrain sta-tion. Some said they would rely on Caltrain more if express trains stopped there.

“I like living in a transit-oriented environment, but the problem with this one is that the Caltrain station isn’t an express stop,” resident Jamie Beckett said. “You can’t even pick up a local train, stop in downtown Palo Alto and take an express be-cause the times don’t match up.”

If Caltrain cuts its services, con-cerns like Beckett’s would become more prevalent around California Avenue, and the area will inevitably become less transit-oriented despite the best efforts of city officials.

But even with Caltrian’s recent troubles, officials say, transit-orient-ed development continues to be the city’s best hope for reducing resi-dents’ reliance on cars. Census data indicates that Palo Altans who live near the two Caltrain stations own fewer cars than their counterparts in other parts of the city. The 2000 U. S. Census showed that an aver-age owner-occupied household in Palo Alto owns about 2.03 vehicles, while an average renter-occupied household owns about 1.3. Around Palo Alto’s two main transit areas, the averages drop to just under 1.5 vehicles for homeowner and less than one vehicle from renters.

Williams said in an e-mail the main benefit of putting housing near transit is that it allows many of the non-commute trips to be made with much less reliance on the auto-mobile. Though some people would inevitably continue to drive, the per-

centage of transit users will likely increase over time as gas prices rise and congestion increases.

The only “sustainable” develop-ment scenario, Williams said, is “to focus jobs and housing in areas that are proximate to transit.

“Otherwise we can continue ‘business as usual’ — more automo-bile trips and traffic, increased costs of infrastructure, less walkable and bicycle-friendly areas, increased vehicle miles traveled, dependence on oil,” Williams wrote. “These are choices for the city, the region and higher levels of government to come to grips with to accommodate future growth.

Discussion and debate will no doubt follow about how much land should be allotted for commercial versus residential uses and how much funding should be spent on transit, he said.

T his discussion is taking shape during Palo Alto’s ongoing re-vision to its official land-use

bible, the Comprehensive Plan. The broad document, which lays out the city’s vision, goals and policies on housing, transportation and the environment, will soon reflect the city’s renewed emphasis on transit-oriented development.

In a May 2010 meeting between the City Council and the planning commission — a meeting that fo-cused on the Comprehensive Plan and that could shape the city’ land-use future for at least the next decade — the council declared, through a series of votes, its desire to focus dense developments near the city’s two Caltrain stations, even if these developments would exceed existing zoning regulations.

The city’s 50-foot height limit for new buildings — for four decades an ironclad protection for neighbor-hood preservationists — could soon be breached if the proposed devel-opment is next to a Caltrain station, the council decided by a 5-2 vote. Though the council didn’t outright eliminate the restriction, members directed staff to “evaluate” the po-tential for rising above the 50-foot height limit within a quarter mile of

The Crossings townhouse development adjacent to the San Antonio Caltrain station in Mountain View was built with access to public transit in mind.

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‘ I think if we are serious about transit-oriented developments, we ought to be able to look at the height limit near stations. It shouldn’t be a sacred cow.’— Greg Scharff, Palo Alto councilman

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Page 18

Cover Story

“fixed-rail stations.”“I think if we are serious about

transit-oriented developments, we ought to be able to look at the height limit near stations,” Councilman Greg Scharff said. “It shouldn’t be a sacred cow.”

Councilwoman Gail Price, a former city planner in Sunnyvale, agreed that the city’s housing needs trump its existing growth restric-tions.

“It’s important for us to look at this community over the next five, 15, 20 years,” Price said. “There is going to be population growth. We do need the flexibility.”

Councilwoman Karen Holman, who opposed the motion (along

with Larry Klein), urged her col-leagues not to modify one of the city’s bedrock restrictions. Allowing one or two developments to breach the limit would likely prompt other taller-than-desired buildings to spring up.

“Once we start making excep-tions to something, there tends to be a creep that starts happening,” Holman said. “We’ve seen that over time.”

But the council generally agreed that bigger is better when it comes to developments near the Caltrain sta-tions. The council also agreed that the city should focus its dense devel-opments within half a mile from the Caltrain station or within a quarter

mile of El Camino Real, provided the location either gets good bus service or is likely to get good bus service in the near future.

Both policies — exceptions to the 50-foot height limit and increased density near Caltrain stations — are now included in the draft of the Housing Element chapter of the new Comprehensive Plan. It’s perhaps no coincidence then that Baer’s 64-foot-tall project, which seeks to break both boundaries, earned a welcome reception from the planning com-mission last month while the more traditional SummerHill proposal in south Palo Alto did not.

The commission agreed that Lyt-ton Gateway needs to offer more

housing units to get the final ap-proval but nevertheless initiated the rezoning process. Commissioner Eduardo Martinez shared Baer’s view that the new development will allow the city to practice what its evolving land-use policies preach — or, in any event, will soon preach.

“We talk a lot about housing near transit and compact design near transit and more sustainable uses of our precious land resources,” Marti-nez said. “I think this is an opportu-nity for us to test the waters.

“I think this is a great place to test this concept, to see if this is where we want to go as a city,” he added. “And if it doesn’t work, California Avenue can be something else.”

Staff Writer Sue Dremann and Editorial Intern Kareem Yasin con-tributed to this report.

Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be reached at gsheyner@paweekly.com.

About the cover: Designed by Shannon Corey.

What do you think about the city’s plan to concentrate homes and businesses close to transit? Share your opinion on Town Square, the online discussion forum on Palo Alto Online.

TALK ABOUT ITwww.PaloAltoOnline.com

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Page 20

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

by Rebecca Wallace

It’s a rare painter who does a self-portrait of himself fighting a fire in a furniture store. But

then, Jerome Peters has followed an unusual artistic trajectory.

A longtime Palo Alto resident, he battled blazes for the Menlo Park Fire Protection District for 30 years. He served as battalion chief for the last decade, and headed the depart-ment task force that responded to the Oklahoma City bombing.

Peters retired in 1996. Then, quite unexpectedly, he found himself be-ginning to paint and draw. It began when his wife, Sandy, was working at Foothill College and encouraged him to take an art class there.

“I just kept taking them,” Peters says, sitting in his front parlor. Some 50 classes later, he still seems pleas-antly surprised by the appeal of cre-

Painting career a pleasant surprise for retired firefighter

The accidental artist(continued on next page)

Veronica Weber

Top: “Forest Dwell-er,” one of Jerome

Peters’ paintings of vintage trucks. Far right: Peters on his

back porch with a rusted truck that

used to be his son’s when the boy was

young. Right: “Apple Farm Ford,” another painting in the “Old

Trucks” series.

Page 21

Arts & Entertainment

This is Not the Life I Ordered

Proceeds benefi t Breast Cancer Connections, a Palo Alto-based nonprofi t

organization that provides support, information, and early detection servic-

es free of charge to women and men facing breast cancer in our community.

Breakfast with Michealene Cristini Risley

& Jan Yanehiro

NOTICE OF A SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETINGof the City of Palo Alto

Architectural Review Board (ARB)

8:30 A.M., Thursday, April 21, 2011 Palo Alto Council Chambers, 1st Floor, Civic Center, 250 Hamilton Avenue. Go to the Development Center at 285 Hamilton Avenue to review filed documents; contact Alicia Spotwood for information regarding business hours at 650-617-3168.

145 Hamilton Avenue [11PLN-00019]: Request by Joseph Bellomo Architects, on behalf of 575 High Street LLC, for Architectural Review for facade improvements for an existing multi-story building. Zone: CD-C (GF)(P). Environmental Assessment: Exempt from the provisions of (CEQA) per section 15301 (Existing Facilities).

167 Hamilton Avenue [11PLN-00095]: Request by 167 Hamilton Investors, LLC, for Architectural Review of façade changes to a four story building, and a ground floor restaurant including a covered patio for outdoor seating. Zone: CD-C (GF)(P). A Conditional Use Permit has also been requested for service of alcohol on site. Environmental Assessment: Exempt from the provisions of (CEQA) per section 15301 (Existing Facilities).

2585 East Bayshore Road [11PLN-00020]: Request by 2585 Bayshore, LLC for Architectural Review Board (ARB) review for a change in use of the existing building from General Business Office to a Day Care Center. Exterior modifications include the construction of a new trash enclosure and the replacement of 18 existing parking stalls with a new fenced in outdoor play area with new playground equipment.

300 Pasteur Drive [10PLN-00395]: Request by Stanford Hospital and Clinics on behalf of The Board of Trustees for the Leland Stanford Junior University for Architectural Review of a new Stanford Hospitals and Clinics main hospital building, consisting of approximately 1,100,000 square feet of new hospital area, 456 replacements hospital beds, the addition of 144 new hospital beds, surgical operating suites, diagnostic and treatment suites, emergency department, nursing and support space. The project also include development of an above grade/below grade parking facility of approximately 970 spaces, site re-development and a new landscaping plan. These projects are components of the Stanford University Medical Center Facilities Renewal and Replacement Project. Existing Zone District: PF (Public Facilities).

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‘MEMPHIS’ AT THE MOVIES ... “Memphis,” a Tony Award-winning musi-cal (Best Musical) that was developed at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, can also be seen in movie theaters starting in April.Viewers have a chance to watch a taped live perfor-mance of the rock ‘n’ roll musical in movie theaters while the production is cur-rently running on Broadway. The film captures “Memphis” performed at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre in New York City and also has behind-the-scenes footage.Locally, the musical can be seen at the Century Cinemas 16 theater, 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View; and at the Century 20 Down-town Redwood City, 825 Middlefield Road; on April 28, April 30 and May 3 at 7:30 p.m. There is also a matinee showing at both theaters on May 1 at 12:30 p.m. For more information and to buy tickets online, go to FathomEvents.com.

A&E DIGEST

ating art.“There’s no problems while you’re

doing it,” he says. “The world goes away.”

Peters took every art class he could at Foothill, including figure drawing, pastels, color theory and portraiture. He found instructor Charles “Skip” Cantwell especially inspirational. Ultimately Peters gravitated toward acrylic painting, the focus of his current exhibition at the Portola Art Gallery in Menlo Park.

In a garden studio behind the Pe-ters home, canvases illustrate the artist’s path. When he began paint-ing, he liked firefighting subjects. One canvas shows an antique brass helmet from Paris.

“Instead of painting vases with flowers in them, I was doing coats and helmets,” he says.

Others are dramatic firefighting scenes. One painting depicts Peters and another firefighter laboring to put out a serious blaze at the Flegel’s furniture store in Menlo Park in the 1980s. Clouds of blue-gray smoke nearly fill the canvas, contrasting with Peters’ red helmet.

Over time, Peters branched out — in part because there’s only so much demand for fiery scenes, he says with a grin. Other paintings in his studio and home are travel views, paintings of animals, and commis-sioned portraits.

His current focus, which can be

seen at the Portola Art Gallery: old trucks. At the moment, Peters is drawn to painting vintage trucks set in rural backgrounds.

“I couldn’t tell you why,” he says of his truck fascination. “But once you start looking, they’re every-where.”

The “Old Trucks” series began a few years ago, when Sandy Peters spotted two old trucks and a pair of tractors parked at a ranch near the coast. She eagerly showed her hus-band, who was most taken with a pale-blue Chevy truck he has since painted often, capturing its round fenders and license plate hanging askew.

When Peters finds a truck he likes, he returns to see it in different seasons and lights. One sported an American flag; those paintings sold well after the 9/11 attacks. Most are dented and have broken windows or other scars.

“They have more character, and you think about what the truck did during its career,” he says, adding: “I’ve had pick-up trucks most of my life. As a firefighter, you’re always doing things with trucks.”

Other projects have included a mural that Peters painted over the pool at the now-demolished Elks Club building in Palo Alto. It had a South Seas theme, with palm trees.

Peters often works from photos, occasionally altering them a bit in Photoshop by taking out telephone poles and other intruders. But he says he doesn’t like to alter photos much. “Normally I like the photo

for what it is.”Peters joined the Portola Art Gal-

lery last year, after being chosen by a jury. Alice Weil, co-director of the gallery, says she particularly likes his truck paintings.

“Jerry finds the beauty and char-acter in these abandoned old metal workhorses and expresses their personality through his work,” she says.

Peters says he feels lucky to be a part of the gallery, adding that he believes he was in the right place at the right time — the gallery was looking for artists, and he applied just at that moment.

“If you want to get into a gallery, you (usually) have to constantly market yourself,” he says. “I don’t want to market. I want to paint.”

What: “Old Trucks,” an exhibition of paintings by Palo Alto artist Jerome PetersWhere: Portola Art Gallery, Allied Arts Guild, 75 Arbor Road, Menlo ParkWhen: Through April 30, open Mon-day through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Cost: FreeInfo: Go to portolaartgallery.com or call 650-321-0220.

Jerome Peters(continued from previous page)

A huge machine that methodi-cally cooks real, genuine Thai food, complete with a spiciness dial and “Fish Sauce Quality Control” monitors? It’s actually an artistic work that pokes fun at the quest for authenticity. Cre-ated by Stanford student Purin Phanichphant, this and other in-stallations are up at the Thomas Welton Stanford Art Gallery in a show called “Off The Table.” To read more, check out Weekly arts editor Rebecca Wallace’s blog, Ad Libs, at adlibs.palo altoonline.com.

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Page 22

Arts & Entertainment

R evisiting a dark chapter in American history can be valuable, no question. What

we fail to remember, so we’re told, we’re doomed to repeat. But is such remembrance entertainment?

In the right hands it can be — full of poetry and beauty, infused with sadness, resolve, pain and persever-ance.

David Guterson’s 1994 novel “Snow Falling on Cedars” is a work of such beauty. Set on a small is-land in Washington’s Puget Sound inhabited by “5,000 damp souls,” it’s the story of a murder trial that exposes the racial tension dividing the islanders.

A Japanese-American man has been accused of murdering a white fisherman. It’s a simple enough story, but this is 1954, and the com-plexities stretch back to that dread-ful day in early 1942 when Japanese Americans were forced to leave their homes and enter internment camps.

Racism and all those other dis-tinctly human isms have been around in one fearful form or an-other for eons. But when the govern-ment sanctions racism, as the U.S. government did during World War II, the repercussions are profound and lasting.

That’s what “Snow Falling on Cedars” is really about. The plot is propelled by the murder-mystery as-pect of the trial, but the story’s heft comes from characters dealing with hatreds large and small, and a dan-gerous level of fear exacerbated by wartime paranoia.

Guterson’s novel was turned into a decent movie in 1999. If the plot was given more to melodrama than depth, at least the cinematography captured the breathtaking beauty of

the Pacific Northwest.Almost a decade later, “Snow

Falling on Cedars” made its way to the stage of Seattle’s Book-It Reper-tory Company courtesy of adaptor Kevin McKeon. The hit show is now making its way through theaters around the country. The Bay Area premiere landed exactly where it should: TheatreWorks.

When one watches “Snow” on stage, with its forthright morality blending with hyper-theatricality, it seems there’s no other local theater that would do this play as well.

Director Robert Kelley knows just how to combine elements of realism (especially in his actors’ perfor-mances) and impressionism (nota-bly in the silhouettes and wooden planks of Andrea Bechert’s set) to engage audience members’ imagi-nations and make them participants, not just observers.

That’s important as we attempt to figure out just what happened between Kabuo Miyamoto (Tim Chiou) and Carl Heine (Will Spring-horn Jr.) on their fishing boats one foggy September night. Carl ended up dead, and Kabuo, clearly lying about the events of that night, ended up in jail.

More than once we hear that Ka-buo’s arrest wasn’t for murder. It was for being of Japanese descent. As we discover more and more about life on the island, especially in the years after the war, we understand that’s shamefully true.

The trial provides a formal struc-ture to this two-and-a-half-hour drama, but as characters testify, they break away from the witness

stand to inhabit the scene they’re describing.

Running parallel to Kabuo’s trial is a love story involving newspa-perman Ishmael Chambers (Willy Collyer) and Hatsue Imada (Maya Erskine), who grew up together picking strawberries in local fields. They fell in love as teenagers, but theirs was a forbidden love because of their different cultural back-grounds.

Then life forced them apart. Ish-mael suffered a terrible injury in the war, and after living for nearly three years in the Manzanar relocation camp, Hatsue chose a path that took her away from her first love.

Their shared past haunts them, especially Ishmael, whose depres-sion and bitterness force him into a vitally important choice that would satisfy his need for revenge or take him to the moral high ground.

The 12-member cast essays more than 30 roles, and it’s a credit to Kelley’s sure-handed direction that they’re all so distinct. Anne Dar-ragh has the intriguing opportunity to play both ends of the racism spec-trum. As Etta Heine, the mother of the murdered man, she has noth-ing but contempt for her Japanese neighbors, and she makes some ven-omous decisions as a result. Later in the play, Darragh then plays Mrs. Chambers, who provides a moral compass for her son, Ishmael, when she sees his objectivity being com-promised by racism.

Edward Sarafian is the stalwart defense attorney Nels Gudmunds-son, and his final plea to the jury to behave like open-hearted humans provides one of the evening’s most heartfelt moments (and calls to mind a similar plea from Atticus Finch).

McKeon’s play is far more sensi-tive than the movie but still lacks the depth and shading of the book — how could it not? A 450-page book condensed to two and a half hours is a tall order. There’s a richness to the story here that was lacking in the movie, though without the book’s spare poetry, the whiff of melodra-

A history lesson brought to vivid life

TheatreWorks deftly blends morality with theatricality in ‘Cedars’by Chad Jones

(continued on next page)

THEATER REVIEW

From left, Hatsue Imada (played by Maya Erskine) clings to her mother, Fujiko (Mia Tagano), as their home is searched by FBI agents (Kevin Rolston and Will Springhorn Jr.) in “Snow Falling on Cedars.”

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Page 23

Today’s

news, sports

& hot picks

Arts & Entertainment

Notice is hereby Given that proposals will be received by the Palo Alto Unified School District for bid package:

Contract No. FMM-11

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK: The work includes, but is not limited to: The moving of an existing 1440 square foot modular building. Work includes asphalt paving, electrical, fire alarm, water, sewer, EMS, new ramps, utility trenching and carpet/vinyl for a complete and operational building. Bidding documents contain the full description of the work.

There will be a mandatory pre-bid conference and site visit at 10:00 a.m. on April 13, 2011 at Fairmeadow Elementary School located at 500 East Mead-ow Drive, Palo Alto, California 94306.

Bid Submission: Proposals must be received at the District Facilities Office building D, by 10:00 a.m. on May 2, 2011.

PREVAILING WAGE LAWS: The successful Bidder must comply with all prevailing wage laws applicable to the Project, and related requirements contained in the Contract Documents.

Palo Alto Unified School District will maintain a Labor Compliance Program (LCP) for the duration of this project.In bidding this project, the contractor warrants he/she is aware and will follow the Public Works Chapter of the California Labor Code comprised of labor code sections 1720 – 1861. A copy of the Districts LCP is available for review at 25 Churchill Avenue, Building D, Palo Alto, CA 94306.

1. A pre-job conference shall be conducted with the contractor or subcon-tractors to discuss federal and state labor law requirements applicable to the contract. 2. Project contractors and subcontracts shall maintain and furnish to the District, at a designated time, a certified copy of each payroll with a state-ment of compliance signed under penalty of perjury.3. The District shall review and, if appropriate, audit payroll records to verify compliance with the Public Works Chapter of the Labor Code.4. The District shall withhold contract payments if payroll records are delin-quent or inadequate.5. The District shall withhold contract payments as described in the LCP, including applicable penalties when the District and Labor Commissioner establish that underpayment of other violations has occurred.

Bidders may examine Bidding Documents at Facilities Office, Building “D”. Bidders may purchase copies of Plans and Specifications at American Repro-graphics Company (ARC), 599 Fairchild Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, Phone Number (650) 967-1966

All questions can be addressed to:

Palo Alto Unified School District25 Churchill Avenue, Building DPalo Alto, CA 94306-1099Attn: Aimée LopezPhone: (650) 329-3927Fax: (650) 327-3588

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T he Dragon Theatre in down-town Palo Alto makes a habit of tackling lesser-known con-

temporary plays alongside classics, so it’s no surprise to find Theresa Rebeck’s play “Bad Dates” in its season.

Rebeck is an American play-wright whose later works, “The Understudy,” “Omnium Gatherum” and “Mauritius,” are frequently seen on the regional-theater circuit, al-though you might have heard more about the TV shows she’s written for, including “L.A. Law,” “NYPD Blue” and “Law and Order: Crimi-nal Intent.”

Rebeck’s earned her place in the pantheon of playwriting, and has turned her hand to novels (“Three Girls and Their Brother”) and non-fiction (“Free Fire Zone”) as well. “Bad Dates,” originally appearing at Playwrights Horizon in New York in 2003, chronicles the return to dating for a divorced mom, Haley Walker (Laura Jane Bailey), a transplanted Texan in the Big Apple.

Haley has 600 pairs of shoes and a teenage daughter. Soon after she lands a good waitress job, her Ro-manian boss is arrested and she’s put in charge of the restaurant, which turns into a huge hit with a

rave review in the New York Times. Successful and more confident, Ha-ley turns her attention to finding a good man to have good times with, which any single professional wom-an knows is easier said than done, even in a large dating pool.

Each scene is a monologue either preparing for or dissecting a dating experience, until her former boss gets out of jail and the Romanian mob shows up — well, it’s all com-plicated, but the serious bits are bal-anced by humor and Haley’s hope-ful determination.

It’s definitely a star vehicle, the kind of one-woman show that ac-tresses love to sink their teeth into, and can showcase talent in a major way. Bailey is an excellent actress who works hard to deliver an eve-ning’s entertainment. She excels at comedy, conveying self-deprecating ironies with speed and intelligence, reminiscent of Lucille Ball or Meg Ryan. She also touches our hearts with a sincere moment of rejection, a familiar and earnest portrayal of hitting an unexpected bottom. Bai-ley envelops the audience in a warm, friendly demeanor and invites us to

It’s all about the shoes‘Bad Dates’ is a funny but insubstantial look at dating,

footwear and identityby Jeanie K. Smith

share Haley’s journey.Regrettably, the material is thin

and doesn’t live up to its hype. Re-beck doesn’t trust her own story, padding it with trivial pursuits that add playing time but little substance. She seems to know that so much has already been said about mod-ern dating experience, and wants to surprise us with different subject matter altogether. Instead of hear-ing tale after tale of dating failures, we hear lengthy musings about the relative value of shoes or achieving the right look to avoid sluttiness. We’re inside Haley’s head, getting a protracted look into her psyche, but there’s apparently not much there.

There’s also a lot of repetition that slows the script down, so that when action finally arrives it feels anticli-mactic; and then the play turns out to be about something else entirely. That something, having to do with identity and self-esteem, certainly merits examination, but it comes with such plot contrivance as to nearly be lost.

Many patrons in the audience enjoyed the show a great deal, and it is indeed laced with humor and some delightful moments. It might be just the thing for a light-hearted diversion, provided you don’t expect something deep.

What: “Bad Dates,” by Theresa Re-beck, presented by Dragon Produc-tionsWhere: Dragon Theatre, 535 Alma St., Palo AltoWhen: Through April 17, with 8 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. matinees on SundaysCost: Tickets are $16 to $30.Info: Go to www.dragonproductions.net or call 650-493-2006.

ma is never too far away.But what could have been a pulpy,

preachy history lesson becomes, in the hands of Guterson and McKeon, an emotionally involving reminder that even in our so-called civilized society, our worst is never too far away.

What: “Snow Falling on Cedars” by David Guterson, adapted by Kevin McKeon, presented by TheatreWorksWhere: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St.When: Through April 24 with shows at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; and 7 p.m. SundayCost: Tickets are $24-$67 with stu-dent, senior and educator discounts.Info: Go to www.theatreworks.org or call 650-463-1960.

‘Cedars’(continued from previous page)

THEATER REVIEW

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Jane Eyre 1:30, 4:25, 7:15, 10:05 Jane Eyre 2:30, 5:15, 8:15

Jane Eyre 4:25, 7:15, 10:05 Jane Eyre 2:30, 5:15, 8:15

Jane Eyre 1:30, 4:25, 7:15 Jane Eyre 2:30, 5:15, 8:15

Jane Eyre 1:30, 4:25, 7:15 Jane Eyre 2:30, 5:15, 8:15

Fri ONLY 4/8

Sat ONLY 4/9

Sun ONLY 4/10

Mon-Thurs 4/10-4/14

Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (266-9260)

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

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

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

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

Stanford: 221 University Ave., Palo Alto (324-3700)

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

Your Highness (Century 16, Century 20) Putting

aside for a moment the greater is-sue of the low laugh-to-joke ratio, the new comedy “Your Highness” clearly suffers from bad timing.

James Franco’s purposely over-ripe performance as a Prince Val-iant type is his first since his widely panned (and even more wooden) performance as Oscar host in Feb-ruary. And then there’s Natalie Port-man, the reigning Best Actress, here cracking (un)wise about her private parts in an arguably tasteless com-edy. None of this will much matter once the film settles into its afterlife on home video and cable, but it adds to the awkwardness sure to be felt in multiplexes this weekend.

Franco plays the ever-questing Fabious, first-born son of the king (Charles Dance) and therefore des-tined to rule the land. First, he’s to marry his sweetheart Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), with Fabious’ younger brother Thadeous (Danny McBride) lined up as best man. Un-distinguished by quests, Thadeous is an increasingly jealous stoner layabout, but he gets more than he bargained for when he becomes part of a quest to rescue Belladonna, who is kidnapped from the wedding by dastardly wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux, having a ball).

Even those who don’t know their “Krull” from their “Kull the Con-queror” should be able to recognize the comedic target of “Your High-ness”: the sword-and-sorcery cheese that was so common (and so odorif-erous) in the ‘80s. “Your Highness” is no “Princess Bride,” though: Nearly every joke in the new movie is predicated on a culminative swear word, scatology or rude sexual ref-erence. McBride and Ben Best get script credit, but it’s not terribly sur-prising to learn that improvisation was welcomed on the set.

If most of “Your Highness” is te-dious, it also has its moments. Di-rector David Gordon Green (who also directed Franco and McBride in “Pineapple Express”) stages a few creditable action sequences, in-cluding ye olde carriage chase and a battle with a five-headed hydra. The gags involving wizards are often the most amusing, as when Fabious and Thadeous seek the counsel of a perverted old wizard played by a puppet a la “The Dark Crystal.” But since it’s the film’s m.o. to drive a joke into the ground, we later meet

a horny minotaur.Portman turns up along the quest’s

long road, as a woman warrior sub-jected to ogling and advances from Thadeous. Luckily for Portman, the role’s not terribly memorable. Rasmus Hardiker, Toby Jones and Damian Lewis fare better as sup-porting archetypes (young squire, weasel and knight, respectively), while McBride adds a surprisingly good British accent to his usual short-tempered, selfish jerk.

Ultimately, the magic-and-mon-sters milieu isn’t enough when the jokes are half-baked, and thus “Your Highness” will be a sure thing only for high-flying moviegoers.

Rated R for strong crude and sexual content, pervasive language, nudity, violence and some drug use. One hour, 42 minutes.

— Peter Canavese

Arthur 1/2(Century 16, Century 20) The

word “excessive” has rarely seemed so appropriate. It is excessive to “re-imagine” a Dudley Moore-starring

comedy from the early ‘80s that, frankly, wasn’t all that spectacular in the first place. To boot, the title character drinks, spends and parties excessively.

And if you’re daring enough to go see this forgettable vehicle for quirky British actor Russell Brand (“Get Him to the Greek”), you’ll likely leave thinking the ticket price was excessive, too. Fortunately, Os-car winner Helen Mirren is part of the cast, and her on-screen appear-ances never feel excessive.

To be fair to viewers — and Dud-ley — let’s judge the 2011 version of “Arthur” on its own merits. Brand assumes the role of booze-guzzling, childlike playboy Arthur Bach, heir to a seemingly endless fortune. Even Arthur’s lifelong nanny, Hobson (Mirren), can’t coax maturity out of the reckless lush.

Arthur’s frigid mother (Geral-dine James) threatens to cut him off completely unless he agrees to marry Susan Johnson (Jennifer Gar-ner), the power-hungry daughter of a wealthy developer (Nick Nolte). Ar-thur reluctantly goes along with his mother’s wishes but second-guesses himself when he meets and falls for aspiring writer Naomi (Greta Ger-wig).

What’s an alcoholic spendthrift to do? And, more importantly, do you care?

It’s difficult to empathize much for a character who so wantonly wastes money and chugs alcohol, es-pecially at a time when many Amer-icans are taking pay cuts and losing

their shirts at the gas pump. Brand is a likable actor and he performs admirably, but he is better suited as a supporting player.

Mirren is, per usual, a scene-stealing gem and her involvement is what really makes the picture bear-able. Gerwig and Garner are well cast in their opposing roles (Gerwig especially brings an uplifting ener-gy to the film) while Nolte seems to deliver every line of dialogue with a certain strain, almost as though he is (pardon the crudeness) constantly constipated.

The problem with “Arthur” is far more about concept than execution. There is an obvious consideration and fair amount of heart put into the production — director Jason Winer (TV’s “Modern Family”) will likely make a fine film one day. And there are some solid laughs sprinkled throughout as well, usually cour-tesy of Brand’s throw-caution-to-the-wind delivery. Creative opening and closing credits give the film a colorful spark, but it isn’t enough to rescue it from its own missteps.

Money may be infinite for Arthur Bach, but for most of us it is a pre-cious commodity. Don’t waste yours on this dud.

Rated PG-13 for some drug refer-ences, sexual content, alcohol use throughout and language. 1 hour, 45 minutes.

— Tyler Hanley

Help usrescuelives inJapan.Go towww.rescue.org/altweeklies

A fundraising effort by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and the Palo Alto Weekly

Page 25

Movies

Palo Alto Garden WorkshopsThese FREE workshops will help you create a beautiful, healthy place for you,

your family and the environment. Please pre-register, space is limited.

Bay-Friendly Gardening BasicsThis class provides an overeview of the Bay-Friendly philosophy, approach and integrated practices that make for a sustainable garden. It is a mix of lecture and hands-on activities, including:

selection

started on your own garden.

To register for this workshop and learn about the other upcoming workshops, visit www.cityofpaloalto.org/workshops or call (650) 496-5910.

Saturday, April 1610:00 AM - 1:00 PMCubberley Community Center, Room H-1

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Bay-Friendly programs are made possible by the Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening Coalition.

SAOIRSE

RONANERIC

BANA

and CATE

BLANCHETT

Text HANNA to 4FOCUS (436287) and download a FREE RINGTONEwritten by THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS for the film.

MESSAGE AND DATA RATES MAY APPLY.

DIRECTED BY JOE WRIGHT

ORIGINAL SCORE BYTHE CHEMICAL BROTHERS

To buy the exclusive

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scenes of HANNA

itunes.com/focusfeatureson

“A KNOCKOUT!“A KNOCKOUT!LIKE NOTHING YOU’VE EVER SEEN!”LIKE NOTHING YOU’VE EVER SEEN!”

– PETER TRAVERS

RAVES:

FRIDAY, APRIL 8TH ADAPT OR DIE

A Date with Judy (1948) Stanford Theatre: Tue. & Wed. at 5:25 & 9:40 p.m.

The Adjustment Bureau Century 16: 9:40 p.m. Century 20: 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. (PG-13) 1/2

Arthur (2011) (PG-13) Century 16: 11:40 a.m.; 1:40, 2:35, 5:10 & 7 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 8 & 10:40 p.m.; Sun.-Thu. 1/2 also at 8:30 p.m. Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; 12:20, 1:50, 2:55, 4:25, 5:30, 7:05, 8:10, 9:45 & 10:45

p.m.

Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 (PG-13) Century 16: Thu. at 12:01 a.m. (Not Reviewed)

Battle: Los Angeles Century 20: 4:50 & 10:30 p.m.; Fri. & Sun.-Thu. also at 11:30 a.m. (PG-13) 1/2

Certified Copy Aquarius Theatre: 12:30 & 6 p.m. (Not Rated) 1/2

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Century 16: 11:25 a.m.; 1:45, 4:05, 7:10 & 9:30 p.m. Century 20: 11:35 a.m.; 2, 4:25, 6:50 & Rodrick Rules (PG) 1/2 9:15 p.m.; Sat. also at 10:05 a.m.

Father of the Bride (1950) Stanford Theatre: Sat.-Mon. at 7:30 p.m.; Sat. & Sun. also at 4:15 p.m.

Father’s Little Dividend (1951) Stanford Theatre: Sat.-Mon. at 5:55 & 9:15 p.m.

Giant (1956) Stanford Theatre: Thu. at 7:30 p.m.

Hanna (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 11:20 a.m.; 12:20, 2, 3, 4:40, 5:40, 7:40 & 8:40 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 10:25 p.m.; Sun.-Thu. also at 10:15 p.m. Century 20: 11:45 a.m.; 2:25, 5:05, 7:50 & 10:30 p.m.

Hop (PG) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 11:05 & 11:50 a.m.; 1:30, 2:20, 3:55, 4:50, 6:30 & 7:15 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 8:55 p.m.; Sun.-Thu. also at 8:50 p.m. Century 20: 11:30 a.m.; 12:45, 1:55, 3:15, 4:30, 5:45, 7, 8:15, 9:25 & 10:40 p.m.; Sat. also at 10:20 a.m.

Insidious (PG-13) Century 16: 12:10, 2:40, 5:20 & 7:50 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 10:30 p.m.; Sun.-Thu. also at 10:20 (Not Reviewed) p.m. Century 20: 12:15, 2:45, 5:15, 7:55 & 10:25 p.m.

Ivanhoe (1942) Stanford Theatre: Fri. at 7:30 p.m.

Jane Eyre (2011) Century 20: 12:30, 3:30, 6:45 & 9:40 p.m. Palo Alto Square: 2:30, 4:25, 5:15 & 7:15 p.m.; Fri. (PG-13) 1/2 also at 1:30, 8:15 & 10:05 p.m.; Sat. also at 8:15 & 10:05 p.m.; Sun. also at 1:30 & 8:15 p.m.

The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) Stanford Theatre: Tue. & Wed. at 7:30 p.m.

Limitless (PG-13) Century 16: 11:10 a.m.; 1:55, 4:30 & 7:25 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 10:10 p.m.; Sun.-Thu. also at (Not Reviewed) 9:55 p.m. Century 20: 11:20 a.m.; 1:50, 4:20, 6:55 & 9:55 p.m.

The Lincoln Lawyer (R) Century 16: 12:40, 3:40 & 7:30 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 10:20 p.m.; Sun.-Thu. also at 10:15 p.m. (Not Reviewed) Century 20: 11:25 a.m.; 2:10, 4:55, 7:40 & 10:25 p.m.

Little Women (1949) Stanford Theatre: Fri. at 5:15 & 9:30 p.m.

The Metropolitan Opera: Century 20: Sat. at 10 a.m. Palo Alto Square: Sat. at 10 a.m. Le Comte Ory (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed)

No Eres Tu, Soy Yo (PG-13) Century 16: 11:35 a.m.; 2:10, 4:35 & 7:35 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 10:05 p.m.; Sun.-Thu. also at (Not Reviewed) 10 p.m. Century 20: 12:05, 2:50, 5:20, 8 & 10:35 p.m.

Of Gods and Men Aquarius Theatre: 3 & 8:30 p.m. (PG-13) 1/2

Paul (R) 1/2 Century 20: Noon, 5 & 10:10 p.m.

Potiche (Not Rated) Aquarius Theatre: 2, 4:30, 7 & 9:30 p.m. (Not Reviewed)

Rango (PG) Century 20: 7:35 p.m.; Fri. & Sun.-Thu. also at 2:15 p.m.

Soul Surfer (PG) Century 16: 11 a.m.; 1:35, 4:10 & 7 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 9:55 p.m.; Thu. also at 9:35 p.m. (Not Reviewed) Century 20: 11:25 a.m.; 2, 4:35, 7:10 & 9:45 p.m.

Source Code (PG-13) Century 16: 11:30 a.m.; 12:30, 1:50, 2:50, 4:20, 5:30, 7:20, 8:20 & 9:50 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at (Not Reviewed) 10:40 p.m. Century 20: 11:50 a.m.; 12:50, 2:20, 3:20, 4:40, 5:40, 7:15, 8:05, 9:35 & 10:35 p.m.; Sat. also at 10:30 a.m.

Sucker Punch (PG-13) Century 16: 11 a.m. & 4:15 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 9:45 p.m. Century 20: 11:40 a.m.; 2:25, 5, (Not Reviewed) 7:40 & 10:15 p.m.

Thank You (Not Rated) Century 20: 1:10, 4:05, 7:25 & 10:20 p.m. (Not Reviewed)

Win Win (R) Guild Theatre: 1:30, 4, 7 & 9:30 p.m.

MOVIE TIMES

Your Highness (R) Century 16: 11 a.m.; noon, 1:30, 2:30, 4, 5, 7:05 & 8:10 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 10 & 10:40 p.m.; Sun.-Thu.

also at 9:50 p.m. Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; 12:10, 1:40, 2:40, 4:10, 5:10, 6:40, 7:40, 9:10 & 10:20 p.m.; Sat. also at

10:40 a.m.

Page 26

SportsShorts

1ST PLACEBEST SPORTS

COVERAGECalifornia Newspaper Publishers Association

READ MORE ONLINEwww.PASportsOnline.com

For expanded daily coverage of college and prep sports, please see our new site at www.PASportsOnline.com

FridayCollege baseball: Stanford at USC, 6

p.m., KZSU (90.1 FM)

SaturdayCollege baseball: Stanford at USC, 6

p.m., KZSU (90.1 FM)

SundayCollege baseball: Stanford at USC, 1

p.m., KZSU (90.1 FM)

TuesdayCollege baseball: Pacific at Stanford,

5:30 p.m., KZSU (90.1 FM)

ON THE AIR

CARDINAL CORNER . . . Stan-ford freshman baseball standout Lonnie Kauppila was both busy and successful last week. Col-legiate Baseball and the Pac-10 Conference both took notice and honored the Cardinal second baseman as its national and con-ference player of the week, follow-ing an impressive 15-for-20 week against St. Mary’s and at Wash-ington State. Kaupplia, who has made just two errors all season at second base, started the week with four hits against the Gaels in Stanford’s 16-14 nonconference win. In Pullman, Wash., site of the Cardinal’s first Pac-10 series win of the season, Kauppila went 11-for-14 with a six-hit night on a cold Saturday, three-hits on Friday and two hits on Sunday. Kauppila scored eight runs and drove in six for the week. He did not strike out . . . Stanford senior Tim Gentry was named the MPSF Co-Gym-nast of the Year on Monday. Gen-try, who will share the award with Steven Legendre of Oklahoma, led Stanford to the MPSF team title over the weekend. Gentry is a Stanford co-captain and the lead-er of a group that is among the favorites to capture the NCAA title on April 14-16. He is an all-around gymnast who has a season-high of 87.450. Gentry claimed the MPSF individual title on still rings (16.050), while the Cardinal used his score in four other events. Gentry is currently the national leader on the rings and has a high score of 15.800 this season. He is a finalist for the 2011 Nissan-Em-ery Award . . . Senior Sarah Flynn was named the MPSF Player of the Week after a big week that included a school record and 14 goals in three games.

COACHING CORNER . . . Castille-ja is looking for qualified coaches to fill the following positions: Director of Sports Performance, freshman volleyball, JV volleyball and JV basketball. Informa-tion on all jobs can be found at http://www.castilleja.org/page.cfm?p=129.

PRO GOLF

Playingout hisdream

Stanford’s David Chung tees it up in the Masters

for the first timeby Jim Young

A s a young boy growing up in Fayetteville, N.C., David Chung fondly remembers

playing golf with his father, Chris-tian, early in the morning on Mas-ters Sunday, then hurrying home to watch the final round of the tour-nament he and thousands of other junior golfers his age could only dream of playing in one day.

He remembers the 1997 Mas-ters, when a 21-year old Tiger Woods, just a few years r e m o v e d from Stan-ford, won his first green jacket with a record-setting score of 270 (-18), earning a 12-stroke victory over Tom Kite.

In 2006, David and his father made the 3 1/2-hour drive down the I-70 from Fayetteville to attend their first Masters together as patrons. The experience left him awestruck.

“Every blade of grass is perfect,” said Chung. “You can’t help not to get caught up in the history and prestige of Augusta National. It gave me chills.”

Fast forward to August of 2010 when Chung, now firmly established as one of the top amateur players in the world, stood on the first tee at Chambers Bay Golf Course prior to his match against Ben Ahn in the semifinals of the United States Amateur Men’s Championship. A victory not only would secure a spot in the 36-hole championship match, but would assure the winner a spot in the Masters.

After closing out Ahn on the 18th hole to earn a 1-up victory, this one time child prodigy who was intro-duced to the game by riding around in a golf cart with his father at the age of four, had seen one of his golf-ing dreams come true. David Chung had earned a spot in the field at the Masters.

“I think I was more nervous before that match than the finals, knowing a trip to Augusta was a possibility,” remembers Chung.

As one of this year’s participants, David was afforded the opportunity to play Augusta National for the first time over winter break.

“It was December 27 and there was only one other group on the en-tire course, so I had the course all to myself,” recalls Chung, who was accompanied by his father. “Driving down Magnolia Lane for the first time was a special experience I will never forget. We purposely slowed down so we could savor every min-ute of the drive.”

Once on the course, it didn’t take

(continued on page 28)

Menlo School freshman David Ball reaches for a shot during a No. 2 doubles victory with partner Kyle Sum over visiting Saratoga on Wednesday as the defending CCS champion Knights improved to 16-1.

Keith PetersKeith Peters

Menlo School’s No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Daniel Morkovine (left) and freshman JT Nishimura were all smiles after winning.

PREP TENNIS

Anothergreat day

for KnightsMenlo boys (16-1)

topple Saratoga again in rematch of CCS final

by Keith Peters

W hen the Menlo School boys’ tennis team put the finish-ing touches on last season’s

perfect 27-0 record by winning a seventh NorCal championship, it would have been easy to think that the feat would never happen again.

After all, the Knights won the National All-American Invitational in Newport Beach, a record-tying ninth Central Coast Section crown and another NorCal title.

When the Knights finished sec-ond in Newport Beach earlier this season, it showed just how tough it is to repeat such a remarkable sea-son. Then again, Menlo is 16-1 and a heavy favorite to win a record-breaking 10th CCS title and eighth NorCal crown on the way to finish-ing 26-1.

Menlo coach Bill Shine would not be surprised if that happened, de-spite the fact he has only two seniors on the team, has two sophomores playing singles — one at No. 1 — and two freshmen playing doubles.

The Knights set themselves up for a possible sweep through the remain-der of the season by handing visit-ing Saratoga a 6-1 nonleague loss on a windy Wednesday afternoon. It was Menlo’s second win over the Falcons this season after beating them in the CCS and NorCal finals

(continued on page 28)

“ My Stanford Story”

Page 27

Sports

Chung long to realize he more than had his work cut out for him.

“I didn’t realize how difficult the course is to walk because every ap-proach shot appears to be uphill. The temperature was in the mid-40’s and the course felt like it played 8,000 yards. I thought it was the lon-gest golf course I’ve ever played and greens are so demanding.”

Chung managed to sneak in an-other practice round at Augusta on March 25 prior to Stanford’s ap-pearance in the Linger Longer Invi-tational, which was held in nearby Greensboro, Ga. After the tourna-ment, he chose to travel straight to Augusta with his family to begin preparing for his first Masters in earnest.

“I am certainly glad that I was able to spend some time here before tournament week,” said Chung, who is bunking in the Crow’s Nest above the famed Augusta National Club-house, with the other amateurs who are in this year’s field. Tiger Woods also stayed there in his first trip to Augusta.

“There is no other place in the world like the National, with its mystic and history. J.J. Weaver, one of the head professionals at Augus-ta, said amateurs need to visit this place as often as possible before the event to get rid of some of that “awe” factor. I’m hoping my extra time here will help me concentrate on my game.”

Chung, who will be paired with 1988 Masters champion Sandy Lyle and Alex Cejka of Germany in the first two rounds, thinks the ability to drive the ball well will be one of his many keys to success this week. He

will also rely heavily on a longtime Augusta caddy, known as “Rowdy” to guide him around the course.

“I have to drive the ball well, no doubt about it. I’m confident with my approach shots but the key is to get in the right position, both in the fairway and on the greens, to give myself a chance.”

Chung managed to play a practice round last Sunday with PGA stand-outs Adam Scott and Geoff Ogilvy, along with Oklahoma State standout and U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein.

“For the first several holes, I was pretty nervous but they are all great guys and their easy going demean-ors helped me to settle down. I am going to try to play with as many professionals as possible before the tournament begins on Thursday. Anthony Kim and I share the same swing coach so I will be practicing with him. I hope to play with Tiger, as well.”

Chung mentioned Woods, who will be gunning for his fifth green jacket, gave him a welcome embrace on the putting green.

“That was pretty special.” When asked about his goals for

the week, Chung plays it pretty close to the vest, saying nothing more than he will try to play to play his best.

Good enough - for hasn’t that been the approach that got him to Augusta in the first place?

Jim Young is the Senior Assistant Athletic Director/Communications and Media Relations at Stanford University. “My Stanford Story” is a continuing series on GoStanford.com intended to profile select Stanford student-athletes and their extraordinary accomplishments on and off the playing fields.

Golf(continued from page 27)

Stanford junior David Chung will play in his first Masters this week after finishing second in the U.S. Amateur last summer.

Andrew Carlisle, one of only two starting seniors for Menlo, helped the Knights top Saratoga by winning at No. 4 singles, 6-1, 6-0.

Menlo School junior Justin Chan won his No. 2 singles match against Saratoga, 6-2, 6-1, on Wednesday.

last season. Menlo also has toppled Bellarmine twice in 2011.

Bellarmine and Saratoga were considered the only teams to give Menlo a battle in CCS this season.

Shine, of course, isn’t counting anyone out just yet — especially Saratoga.

“Even though we’ve beaten them twice (the other time coming in a Fresno tourney), we still have to bring our best every time out,” Shine said. “It definitely is an advantage (to win twice) but, these are young kids and they (Saratoga) are still a good team.

“My job is to keep them (the Menlo players) hungry, so the next time we play, it will be for a cham-pionship.”

The latest victory over Saratoga all but wrapped up the No. 1 seed for CCS, not that it mattered that much where the Knights were seeded. It’s more of an acknowledgement, more than anything else, that Menlo may be just as strong as last year when current Stanford freshman Jamin Ball was playing No. 1 singles.

Taking over for Ball at No. 1 is sophomore Andrew Ball. His younger brother, David, plays No. 2 doubles with Kyle Sum, who along with Andrew Carlisle are the only starting seniors on the team.

Junior Justin Chan plays No. 2 singles and sophomore Richard Pham holds down the No. 3 spot. Sophomore Daniel Morkovine and freshman J.T. Nishimura hold down the No. 1 doubles while sophomores William Boyd and Michael Hoff-man play at No. 3, with senior Mac Osborne and junior Zach Chase.

Shine said he knew this team could be very good when he watched the current sophomores as freshmen at last year’s National All-American Invitational. It was the never-give-in attitude they displayed that caught Shine’s attention.

“That’s when I knew we had a spe-cial team,” he said. “I just knew the character of the kids. And they’re all getting better.”

Menlo’s only loss to Saratoga on Wednesday came at No. 1 singles, where Andrew Ball dropped a three-setter to senior Nikil Jayashankar. Ball battled back from a 6-2 first-set loss to win the second, 6-4. With the match already clinched by Menlo, Ball and Jayashankar played a su-pertiebreaker that Ball lost, 10-8.

In the three singles wins by Men-lo, the Knights dropped just seven games.

Menlo’s current sophomore class of five is off to a 42-1 start in less than two full years. Should the Knights win out, they’ll take a two-year mark of 53-1 into next season. No teams in Shine’s 15 years at

Menlo have ever done that.“When this sophomore class

graduates,” predicted Shine, “it’s going to rewrite all the records.”

Shine’s first four teams, from 1997-2000, went a combined 95-4 in dual matches. It’s an impressive number, for sure, and a legitimate target if the current Knights con-tinue along their successful path.

Elsewhere on Wednesday:Palo Alto continued its postseason

push with a 4-3 nonleague victory over host Sacred Heart Prep. The Vikings (11-8) got singles victories from Austin Leung (2-6, 6-2, 7-5) and Chirag Krishna (6-4, 6-1) and triumphs in doubles from Charlie Dulik-Mason Haverstock (6-4, 6-2) and Lucas Fodor-Phillip DeFries (6-4, 4-6, 6-2) to wrap up the vic-tory over the Gators (7-6).

In the SCVAL De Anza Division, Gunn (3-7, 8-7) had one of its best matches of the season despite drop-ping a 4-3 decision to Los Gatos in a makeup match. The Titans were swept in singles in straight sets, but battled in doubles to produce vic-tories behind the tandems of Joe Atlas-Jack Kwan (4-6, 6-0, 6-1), Ar-jun Narayen-Ameya Rao (6-3, 6-2) and Kevin Macario-Thomas George (6-0, 6-1).

On Tuesday:Menlo-Atherton (10-0, 13-2)

moved closer to wrapping up a per-fect season in the PAL Bay Division with a 4-3 victory over host Carl-mont on a windy day in Belmont. Richie Sarwal and Nick Fratt had to rally from first-set deficits to win at No. 2 and 3 singles, respectively.

In Portola Valley, SHP got straight-set victories from Dave Re-fioglu, Nick Pizzuti, Reuben Sar-wal and Carter Kremer during a 7-0 WBAL victory over host Priory.

On Monday, Host Menlo-Atherton contin-

ued its fine season with a solid 6-1 thumping of Sacred Heart Prep in nonleague action. The Bears swept the singles matches behind straight-set victories by Scott Morris, Sar-wal, Fratt and Matt Giordano, losing only a combined 12 games.

Prep tennis(continued from page 27)

Keith Peters

Keith

Pet

ers

David G

onzales/Stanfordphoto.com

Page 28

Sports

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7:00 p.m. or as Soon as Possible Thereafter2. Earth Day Staff Report

8:00 p.m. or as Soon as Possible ThereafterSPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY

3. Proclamation for National Library Week

4. Community Partnership Presentation- Library Foundation

5. Resolution to Mary Minto Upon Her Retirement

CONSENT CALENDAR

6. Approval of Hazmat Removal Contract for Art Center

7. Cancellation of Council Meeting of April 18, 2011

8. Ten-Year Gas Energy Efficiency Goals

9. BID Preliminary Re-Authorization of Palo Alto Downtown Business

Improvement District and Setting a Time and Place for a Public Hear-

ing

10. Adoption of Budget Amendment Ordinance Amending the Budget

for Fiscal Year 2011 Midyear Report and Resolution Amending the FY

2010-2011 Compensation Plan for Classified Personnel

11. Library Radio Frequency Identification System Implementation

12. Award of Purchase Order for Ambulances

13. Western GeoPower Renewable Energy Purchase

14. Approval of Maintenance Contract w/Public Safety Systems, Inc.

15. Acceptance of the Auditor’s Qtly Report as of December 31, 2010

16. Contract with LFG Control Corporation for Landfill Closure Phase II

Environmental Control System Modifications

17. Appointment of Council Member Klein as the Director to the Boards

for BAWSCA and RFA

18. Resolution to Submit Applications for the Department of Resources

Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) Household Hazardous Waste

Grant Program

19. Amendment Three to Capitol Advocates Contract for High Speed

Rail

ACTION ITEM

20. Council Direction on Energy/Compost Study

CLOSED SESSIONS

21. Labor

22. Cubberley Community Center

STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGSThe Council Rail Committee Meeting will be held at 8 AM on Wednesday,

April 13.

PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL

CIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUEBROADCAST 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: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/knowzone/agendas/council.asp

NCAA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Only questions remainafter Final Four flop

Lots of positives remain, once Stanford can get over its frustrating loss to eventual national champ Texas A&M

by Rick Eymer

Q uestions will always remain. It’s the life of a coach at any level. It’s human nature to

look back with clear 20-20 vision when things don’t happen to work out the way they are supposed to unfold.

Despite a record of success that ranks among the finest in the na-tion, despite a list of accomplish-ments that would fill a large book, the Stanford women’s basketball team might be judged on the final 10 seconds of its last game of the season.

This would be unfair and dis-respectful to a program that has provided so much glory, so many fabulous athletes and so much en-joyment.

There’s not much else the 2011 Stanford senior class needed to ac-complish to take its rightful place in Cardinal lore.

Texas A&M rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final six minutes last Sunday, winning it when Tyra White drove the length of the court to give the Aggies the go-ahead layup and a 63-62 victory over sec-ond-ranked Stanford.

Yet we still question. What not de-fend the inbound pass? What didn’t someone stop the ball? Was there a plan for after Nnemkadi Ogwu-mike’s go-ahead basket? Why go for a Hail Mary pass with so many good long range shooters on the team?

What happens if Chiney Ogwu-mike and Melanie Murphy don’t foul out? If a couple more free throws were made?

No answers will found here, sim-ply because they are not the right questions. How long does Stanford have to be reminded of being the only team in NCAA basketball his-tory to lose to a No. 16 seed in the first round, and on its home court to boot?

How many remember Candice Wiggins being called for a charge in the waning seconds of an NCAA game against LSU? How many re-member Krista Rappahahn making a 3-pointer from the corner after taking the pass from Wiggins, con-sidered the greatest to play in a Car-dinal uniform?

Sure, it’s been nearly 20 years since Stanford won a national title. Texas A&M never even reached a national championship game until this season. Other programs are still waiting for a chance.

What if Skylar Diggins chose Stanford over her hometown team of Notre Dame (reportedly her fi-nal two choices)? We would have missed Ros Gold-Onwude’s star-tling late-season performances if that had happened.

Stanford (33-3) got 31 points from Ogwumike and 11 from Pohlen in the semifinal against A&M, but blew the late lead and went home empty-handed from the Final Four

for the fourth consecutive year.“I thought we played very well to

get the lead,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “We had to do some things that we don’t have to do all season long against anyone else.”

VanDerveer became one of the most honored coaches of all-time, highlighted by her selection into the Naismith Hall of Fame. She’d trade it all in for a chance at the national title though.

The Cardinal, which had its 27-game winning streak snapped, was the first team in this year’s NCAA tournament to score more than 50 points against Texas A&M. That’s little consolation though.

Stanford will be back. Players like Ogwumike, her sister Chiney Ogwumike, Lindy La Rocque, Mi-chaela Ruef and Sarah Boothe will most certainly allow the Cardinal to remain a national title contender.

For the moment, the future re-mains a mystery waiting to hap-pen. Kayla Pedersen and Pohlen, with Hannah Donaghe and Ashley Cimino, played with all the heart, guts, blood and character for which

any coach would appreciate.“It’s hard,” said Pedersen, who

had 10 rebounds to finish her ca-reer with 1,266, surpassing Jayne Appel’s all-time school and Pac-10 career record. “I mean, it’s an aw-ful feeling. The hardest part isn’t losing the game, it’s leaving these players.”

They join others like Appel, Wig-gins, Kate Starbird and Nicole Pow-ell as among the school’s best and who never tasted victory in the final game of the season.

Pedersen, Pohlen and Murphy will not return. In their place will be incoming freshmen Amber Or-range and Bonnie Samuelson, two McDonald’s All-Americans.

Can Orrange be the quick point guard that Stanford has missed over the years, or will that be Toni Ko-kenis?

Samuelson averaged 24 points a game and set all kinds of state scor-ing and free throw records. She was one of six finalists for Ms. Basket-ball in California.

Orrange stands 5-foot-8 and is left-handed. One report suggests she’s able to accomplish what is needed at the moment, with the range of a perimeter shooter and the ability to create her own shot.

Samuelson may be the next Ped-ersen, a 6-2 wing player with shoot-ing touch and the ability to score in transition.

Stanford will begin anew in its quest for a third national champion-ship with new challenges ahead and a familiar coaching style that seems to work.

Stanford’s VanDerveer sweepsnational coaching honors

T ara VanDerveer didn’t get the NCAA team champion-ship that she so desperately

wanted this season. The Stanford women’s basketball coach, how-ever, won pretty much everything else.

VanDerveer earned her third national coach of the year honor Wednesday, as the Atlanta Tip-Off Club named her the 2011 Nai-smith Women’s College Coach of the Year.

It is the second time that VanDerveer has earned the Nai-smith honor. She previously col-lected the award after leading Stanford to its first national title in 1990.

“I am very honored to receive this award from the Atlanta Tip-Off Club,” VanDerveer said. “I am very fortunate to get to work with such a talented and dedicat-ed group of coaches and players day in and day out, which is the

foundation of our program’s suc-cess.”

The Naismith honor is now the third national coach of the year award that VanDerveer has re-ceived this season. She also col-lected the honors from the WBCA and Associated Press.

VanDerveer also earned the John R. Wooden Pac-10 Coach of the Year award for a record 11th time.

VanDerveer also achieved yet another career milestone on Mon-day, when she was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the Hall’s Class of 2011.

Another milestone that VanDer-veer reached in 2010-11 was be-coming just the fifth Division I women’s basketball head coach to reach 800 career wins. Through the end of the 2010-11 season, she boasts a career record of 826-199 over her 32-year career.

Page 29

Peninsula Easter Services

ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

PALO ALTOMaundy Thursday— April 21

6:15pm Monastic Supper & Liturgy of the Word followed

by Holy Eucharist & Stripping of the Altar

Good Friday — April 22 Noon to 2:00pm Stations of the Cross with Reflections

2:00 to 3:00pm Labyrinth Stations: A Walking Meditation

7:30 to 8:30pm Good Friday Prayers, Art and Meditation

Easter — April 24 5:30am Easter Vigil, Eucharist & Baptism

8:00 to 9:30am Festive Breakfast & Family Easter Activities

10:00am Festive Holy Eucharist600 Colorado Ave, P.A. (650) 326-3800

www.saint-marks.com

The great question of Easter is about us: where are the tombs in our life that God is inviting us to leave

and where is new life rising in us? Join us at Trinity as we celebrate the promise and possibility of new life.

Palm Sunday, April 17: 8:00 am and 10:00 am*

Maundy Thursday (The Last Supper)April 21, 6:00 pm* (with simple meal)

Good Friday, April 227:00 am and Noon

The Great Vigil of EasterBaptisms & First Easter Communion

Saturday, April 23, 7:00 pm*

Easter Sunday, April 246:30 am in the Memorial Garden

8:00 am* & 10:00 am* in Church with Festival Choir

*Indicates child care available.

Join UsFor Easter

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH UCC

1985 Louis Road, Palo Alto

(650) 856-6662 www.fccpa.org

An open and affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ’

Maundy Thursday, April 21stSoup Supper & Communion, 6:30pm, Service of Tenebrae, 7:30pm

Good Friday, April 22nd Service of Contemplation, Noon

Easter Sunday Celebration Worship at 9:30 am & 11:00 amOxford Street Brass & The Hallelujah Chorus

Easter Egg Hunt 10:30am

April 17 PALM SUNDAY - 8 am Communion, 10 am Palm Procession & Communion with Choir

April 21 MAUNDY THURSDAY - 6 pm Soup Supper,

7 pm Foot washing & Communion

April 22 GOOD FRIDAY – 12 noon Adoration of the Cross and Communion

April 23 EASTER VIGIL – 8 pm Outside, Fire, Story, Song, Communion; Champagne & Cake Following

April 24 EASTER SUNDAY – 8 am Communion,

10 am Festival Communion with music by The Whole Noyse Brass, Organ & Choir

Easter Egg Hunt & Easter Brunch!

All Saints’ Episcopal Church 555 Waverley @ Hamilton, Palo Alto

650.322.4258 www.asaints.org

Experience the love and power

of Christ’s dying and

rising!

Journey to Easter

WESLEY UNITED METHODIST470 Cambridge Ave (one block off California)

Rev. Karen Paulsen

You Are Invited11:00a.m. Sunday, April 17th Palm Sunday11:00a.m. Sunday, April 24th Easter Service

Holy Week & Easterat

St. Bede’sEpiscopal Church

2650 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Parkwww.stbedesmenlopark.orgApril 21 t MAUNDY THURSDAY12 noon Foot Washing12:10pm Holy Eucharist & Healing Rite7:15pm Foot Washing7:30pm Holy Eucharist

April 22 t GOOD FRIDAY12 noon Service of music, reflection, and prayer7:30pm Meditation on the Passion of Christ

April 23 t HOLY SATURDAY9:00pm Great Vigil of Easter, Holy Baptism & Eucharist

April 24 t EASTER SUNDAY8:00am Eucharist with Hymns10:15am Sung Eucharist11:30am Easter Egg Hunt

Nursery available 10-11:30am

Holy WeekMaundy Thursday

4/21 | 7:30 pmGood Friday

4/22 | 12 pm & 7:30 pmEaster Vigil 4/23 | 7:30 pm

Easter Sunday April 24 | 8:30 am and 10:45 am

www.gracepa.org

Saturday

Staffed child care available at all services.

Page 30

Sports

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Kimmie FlatherPalo Alto lacrosse

Kieran GallagherGunn track and field

Casey MaltzGunn softball

Michaela MichaelMenlo lacrosse

Sophie SheelineMenlo lacrosse

Nicole ZanolliMenlo-Atherton swimming

Jake BrumlMenlo baseball

Tommy CummingsMenlo-Atherton lacrosse

Nick FrattMenlo-Atherton tennis

Matt GiordanoMenlo-Atherton tennis

Kevin KnoxSacred Heart Prep golf

Evan NavarroMenlo-Atherton swimming

Honorable mention

Claire KlausnerGunn High

The sophomore pitcher had four hits while tossing a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts and a one-hitter with 10 Ks in two SCVAL El Camino Divi-sion wins before striking out 38 in four wins (a 4-1 finish) at the Napa Tournament.

Patrick GrimesMenlo School

The senior golfer had birdies on the final six holes -- eight birdies on his last 11 holes -- while shooting a 7-under par to win medalist honors to help the Knights defend their team title by one stroke at the Titan Challenge.

* previous winner

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

urday at 2 p.m.In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo-

Atherton ended a two-game losing streak by scoring seven unearned runs in a 10-7 victory over host Carl-mont on Wednesday. The Bears (2-3, 7-5) got two hits and three RBI from Sam Falkenhagen. Menlo-Atherton will host Carlmont on Friday at 3:15 p.m.

In the SCVAL El Camino Divi-sion, Gunn scored 10 runs in the top of the seventh for a 16-6 victory over host Lynbrook on Tuesday. The Titans (3-3, 6-6-1) sent 13 hitters to the plate in the seventh and the first nine scored. Junior Ryan Teranishi lead the charge on a 2-for-3 outing with two RBI while senior Jack Han-nan went 2-for-4 with two RBI.Boys’ golf

Battling winds that gusted to 45 miles per hour, Sacred Heart Prep held on for a 209-257 victory over host Crystal Springs in a West Bay Athletic League dual match at Crys-tal Springs Golf Course in Hillsbor-ough on Wednesday. Junior Kevin Knox earned medalist honors with a solid 2-over-par 38 to pace the Ga-tors (6-1, 7-1). Andrew Vetter added a 40 and Taylor Oliver checked in with a 42.

In another WBAL match, Menlo School improved to 6-0 in league

play as junior James Huber had a 2-over 37 to earn medalist honors in a 191-226 victory over King’s Acad-emy at Sunnyvale Muni. Senior Pat-rick Grimes and sophomore Andrew Buchanan each shot 38 while senior Bobby Pender and junior Jackson Dean added 39s as the Knights had all five scorers under 40 for the first time.

On Monday, Travis Anderson made a hole in one on the 13th hole and shot a 3-over-par 39, but it still wasn’t enough as Menlo-Atherton dropped a 216-221 decision to Car-lmont in a PAL Bay Division match at Sharon Heights Country Club.

SoftballGunn remained undefeated in

SCVAL El Camino Division action after a 6-1 victory over host Milpitas on Wednesday. After three scoreless innings, the Titans (5-0, 11-6) struck in the fourth on Casey Maltz’s solo home run, her first of the season. The long balls for Gunn continued in the fifth, with a solo home run by Claire Klausner and a two-run homer by Nicole Grimwood that also scored Laura Kidder. Maltz walked and later scored on an error. Klausner capped the Gunn scoring in the sixth with her second home run of the day.

Peninsula Easter Services

April 21 6:00 pm Seder DinnerApril 22 Noon & 7:00 pm Good Friday ServicesApril 24 9:30 am Easter Festival Service

Children’s Easter Egg Hunt

after the service!

Bethany Lutheran Church1095 Cloud Avenue, Menlo Park

650.854.5897

Holy Week Services

Free gift for every family.

Join us for Easter Breakfast & Worship

9:00 a.m. • Breakfast 10:30 a.m. • Worship 1140 Cowper Street www.fprespa.org

PREP ROUNDUP

Baseballrace nowtoo tight

Paly’s second straight loss throws De Anza Division

into a five-team affairby Keith Peters

W hen the Palo Alto baseball team lost its first SCVAL De Anza Division game in

25 outings last week, head coach Erick Raich joked that perhaps the setback made the race a little more exciting.

Raich, however, might be thinking otherwise these days after his Vi-kings dropped their second straight, a 2-1 decision to visiting Wilcox on Wednesday.

In two games, the division went from being Palo Alto’s to lose to the tightest in years with five teams within two games of each other.

The Vikings’ second loss in 26 league games dropped them a half-game behind new leader Los Altos (7-1, 12-5). Paly is 7-2 (11-5 overall) heading into Friday’s rematch at Wilcox at 3:30 p.m.

The Chargers (5-2), Los Gatos (6-3) and Homestead (6-3) all are back in the race.

The Chargers scored two runs in the second, taking advantage of some Viking defensive miscues. Palo Alto starter Ben Sneider went the distance, pitching through ad-versity and stifling Wilcox scoring threats, but was handed the loss. The junior held the Chargers to five hits, striking out four in his complete-game effort.

In the West Bay Athletic League, Menlo School opened defense of its co- title with a solid 8-1 victory over visiting Crystal Springs on Wednes-day. The Knights (1-0, 11-1) played errorless ball and jumped out to a quick lead as Phil Anderson tripled in the first inning and scored on a fielder’s choice by Robert Wickers. Menlo added the eventual winning run in the same inning on a bases-loaded walk by Sam Fancher, which brought in Jake Bruml (who had singled.).

After the Gryphons scored a run in the fourth without a hit (a hit by pitch, two wild pitches and a groundout), the Knights blew it open in the sixth as Bruml hit a three-run homer, his third round-tripper of the season.

In San Jose, Sacred Heart Prep bounced back from a nonleague loss to Gunn on Monday by remaining unbeaten in the WBAL by pound-ing out 14 hits in an 18-9 blasting of host Harker.

Tomas O’Donnell had a homer and drove in four runs for the Gatos (2-0, 7-7) while Cal Baloff tripled and Bo Sakowski had three singles. Jack Larson, Mike Covell and Baloff all had two hits for SHP, which held a 5-2 lead after three innings before scoring 13 runs over the next four. John Geary (2-1) got the win for the Gators, who will host Lowell (San Francisco) in a nonleague game Sat-

Page 31

Palo Alto Medical FoundationCommunity Health Education Programs

For a complete list of classes and class fees, lectures and health education resources, visit: pamf.org/register

April 2011

Let’s connect!facebook.com/paloaltomedicalfoundation

twitter.com/paloaltomedical

Lectures and WorkshopsDon’t Leave Home Without It:

What the Traveler Needs to KnowPresented by Gary Fujimoto, M.D.,

PAMF Travel Medicine

795 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Tuesday, April 12, 7 to 8:30 p.m., 650-853-4873

Join us for an update on medications and required or

recommended vaccinations for overseas destinations,

including antimalarial medications, travelers’ diarrhea,

influenza and mosquito-borne diseases such as

chikungunya and dengue fever.

Cancer Care– Eating Tips During

Cancer Care Treatment

– Exercise for Energy –

men and women’s group

– Expressions

– Healing Imagery

– Healthy Eating

After Cancer Treatment

– Look Good, Feel Better

– Qigong

– When Eating is a Problem,

During Cancer Treatment

Childbirth and Parent Education Classes– Baby Safety Basics

– Breastfeeding

– Childbirth Preparation

– Feeding Your Young Child

– Infant and Child CPR

– Infant Care

– Infant Emergencies and CPR

– Introduction to Solids

– New Parent ABC’s –

All About Baby Care

– OB Orientation

– PAMF Partners in Pregnancy

– Prenatal Yoga

– Preparing for Birth/Fast Track

– Sibling Preparation

– What to Expect

with Your Newborn

Living Well Classes– Mind/Body Stress Management – Mindfulness-Based

Stress Reduction

Nutrition and Diabetes Classes– Diabetes Management

– Healthy Eating

with Type 2 Diabetes

– Heart Smart

(cholesterol management)

– Living Well with Prediabetes

– Sweet Success Program

(gestational diabetes)

Weight Management Programs– Bariatric Surgery Orientation

– Healthy eating. Active lifestyles.

(pediatric programs, ages 2-6)– HMR Weight

Management Program

– Lifesteps®

– New Weigh of Life

– Take Charge of Your Body

Support Groups– AWAKE

– Bariatric Surgery

– Breastfeeding

– Cancer

– Chronic Fatigue

– CPAP

– Diabetes

– Drug and Alcohol

– Kidney

– Multiple Sclerosis

Is Your Blood Pressure Controlling You?

A Conversation with...Lecture SeriesPresented by Nancy Jacobson, R.D., PAMF Family Medicine

Sunnyvale Public Library, 665 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale

Wednesday, May 4, 7 to 8:30 p.m., 650-934-7373

This presentation is back by popular demand. Presented at the Sunnyvale

Public Library in 2010, we have had so many requests that we decided to

repeat this summer.

The Benefits of the Birds and the Bees:

The Health of Sex

For Your Health Lecture SeriesPresented by Lynn Gretkowski, M.D.,

PAMF Obstetrics & Gynecology

701 E. El Camino Real, Mountain View

Wednesday, April 20, 7 to 8 p.m., 650-934-7373

Learn about women’s sexual function with specific information on the

female sexual cycle, libido and what is known and not known about various

therapies.

We Feed the World

PAMF Healthy Screenings Film SeriesPanel discussion after film led by Ed Yu, M.D., PAMF Family Medicine

701 E. El Camino Real, Mountain View

Friday, April 29, 7 to 9 p.m., 650-934-7373

Vividly reveals the dysfunctionality of the industrialized world food system

and shows what world hunger has to do with us.

Women’s Health – Keeping Up With

Changing RecommendationsPresented by Cheryl Hadley, M.D.,

PAMF Family Medicine

San Carlos Library, 610 Elm Street, San Carlos

Monday, April 25, 7 to 8:30 p.m.,

650-591-0341 x237

Page 32