Say cheese steak Gotta love the original Philly sub WEEKEND | P.23 JUNE 29, 2012 Volume 20, NO. 23
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MOVIES | 26
Neighborhood wins fight against car wash By Daniel DeBolt
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MICHELLE LE
Jan Schwartz, a “Google Track Team” mime, tracks a person waiting in line for check-in at Google’s annual meeting on June 21.
Mimes ‘track’ Google’s shareholders By Daniel DeBolt
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group of mimes in track suits weren’t exactly silent as they called attention to Google’s online tracking practices. To dramatize the issue, the
group pretended to track Google shareholders who stood in Shoreline Amphitheatre’s parking lot on June 21, waiting to get on a shuttle to Google headquarters for the shareholder meeting. “Who better to influence a
company than the shareholders?” said one of the four mimes wearing white track suits, holding magnifying glasses and and wearing “Wi-Spy” glasses. See GOOGLE, page 9
‘Happy to be here’ LONGTIME MV RESIDENT, WILLIAM WARE, DIED IN THE CITY HE LOVED By Nick Veronin
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William Ware, who was struck and killed by a car, was wellknown around Mountain View.
INSIDE
illiam Ware will be missed by the community he loved so much, said family and friends of the Mountain View resident, who was killed by a speeding car
in a traffic accident last week. Services were scheduled to be held in remembrance of Ware on the evening of June 28 at Spangler Mortuary, 799 Castro Street in Mountain View. “He loved living in Mountain View,” Ware’s brother, Jim, told
VIEWPOINT 20 | GOINGS ON 28 | MARKETPLACE 29 | REAL ESTATE 31
he Shoreline West neighborhood won its appeal against a car wash in the neighborhood Tuesday night when the City Council overturned the Zoning Administrator’s approval of the project. “What really disturbs me is a how close the car wash is to residences,” said council member Ronit Bryant. “It’s incredibly close. That’s simply inappropriate.” The City Council voted 5-0 to overturn the approval of a mechanized car wash and 24-hour convenience store to be built at the Shell gas station at Shoreline Boulevard and El Camino Real. Council members John Inks and Tom Means abstained. The car wash would have been placed along the rear of the site, 23 feet from the nearest home. The placement “maximizes noise and disruption on the neighborhood,” said Anne McLaughlin, who spoke for the appellants. Some characterized the 2,600 square foot convenience store and similarly sized car wash as the equivalent of a “truck stop.” Mayor Mike Kasperzak noted the “sugar, salt and fat” content of the food that would be sold
the Voice a few days after the June 21 accident. Ware was born March 13, 1962 in San Francisco, and spent the majority of his youth living in the foothills of San Jose. He moved to Mountain View in 1990 — the same year he married his wife, Barbara — and the two of them lived in the same apartment throughout their marriage. According to Jim Ware, his brother’s love for his wife was only matched by his love for
there. And several council members said there wasn’t enough parking for the store, as the city counted gas pump island spaces to meet required number. The removal of four heritage trees was also a major concern. “Truck stops work on I-5,” said council member Laura Macias, referring to the interstate freeway. “This isn’t I-5.” Some opponents referenced efforts to turn El Camino Real into a “Grand Boulevard,” efforts that have led to comparisons with a famous street in Paris, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, with its wide sidewalks and large trees. “Last time I was on the Champs-Élysées I did not see a mini-mart,” said Mountain View Avenue resident John Clark, “I don’t see how tearing down one gas station and building the equivalent to a truck stop is adding to that in any way.” He added that “If you want to add more jobs I suggest a hand car wash, not a mechanized car wash.” To address car wash noise, the owner promised to meet a 55 decibel limit the city enforces for stationary equipment, and would See CAR WASH, page 8
Mountain View — a city that, by many accounts, loved him back. Ware was well known by law enforcement, fire department officials, city council members, librarians and organizers of the Art & Wine Festival, according to his niece, Dolores Marquez. Her uncle had “special needs,” Marquez said, and he frequently introduced himself to police See WILLIAM WARE, page 8