The star incubator WEEKEND | 14
JANUARY 10, 2014 VOLUME 21, NO. 50
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MOVIES | 17
Ex- St. Francis chaplain found slain in Eureka ‘FATHER ERIC’ TAUGHT RELIGIOUS CLASSES AT MV SCHOOL By Daniel DeBolt
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MICHELLE LE
Kieran Gonsalves harvests dinosaur kale from his plot in the Willowgate community garden.
Willowgate gardeners make push for new community gardens By Daniel DeBolt
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group of local gardeners is beginning a serious push to bring more community gardens to the city, including one in a new 1-acre park at 771 North Rengstorff Ave. “Studies have shown that
with a community garden in a neighborhood that crime goes down, neighborhood pride goes up, people come together and talk about things of community interest. And they share,” said resident Kieran Gonsalves, one of the gardeners behind the effort. The group has started an
online petition for the effort — which closes Jan. 14 — and plans to present it to the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission on Jan. 15. Gonsalves, along with residents Judy Levy and Marcy Fein, have been working with the
aint Francis High School and its alumni are mourning the death of their former chaplain, Rev. Eric Freed, after his body was found on New Year’s day in Eureka. Freed, 56, was the popular pastor of St. Bernard’s Parish in Eureka. He was found dead in the church rectory the morning of Jan. 1. Police arrested Eureka resident Gary Bullock on a slew of charges including murder, arson, auto theft, burglary and a special allegation of torture. A wooden stake and metal gutter pipe were reportedly used to beat Freed to death, according to police. In Mountain View, Freed served as the chaplain at St. Francis High School and was a religious studies teacher from 2002 to 2005. He returned each year to lead a retreat for the school’s senior class, and sometimes served as a guest lecturer, according to school officials. A local memorial service for
“Father Eric” is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 12, at 11 a.m. in Brothers’ Chapel at Saint Francis High School, located at 1885 Miramonte Ave. “This man was more than a priest, more than a representation of the Catholic church but rather a representation of the ability to find the best in the human race,” wrote St. Francis graduate Justin Reginato in a Facebook post about Freed’s death. “Sitting in class listening to his stories, talking to him afterwards about personal issues, picking his brain about his worldly travels, he was always there for me.” Freed would begin his religious studies classes by asking students to silently focus on their breath, banging on a metal bowl that would echo through the room. Freed was somehow able “to get a room of 16-year-olds to reflect inwardly on themselves,” Reginato recalled, noting how easily Freed could do it. Freed was also the chaplain for See REV FREED, page 12
See GARDENS, page 8
Clark voted in as mayor, McAlister named vice mayor By Daniel DeBolt
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econd-year council members Chris Clark and John McAlister were named Mountain View’s mayor and vice mayor in unanimous City Council votes Tuesday night. Outgoing Mayor John Inks handed the gavel to Clark in a changing of the guard that went according to tradition at the Jan
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Chris Clark
John McAlister
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mayor for 2014. “It’s not a big surprise who I’m going to be nominating,” said council’s most senior member Mike Kasperzak, who nominated Clark and gave him a ribbing in his remarks, noting that Clark “kept agreeing with most of the stuff I had to say” when the two campaigned for See NEW MAYOR, page 11
VIEWPOINT 13 \ GOINGS ON 19 \ MARKETPLACE 20 \ REAL ESTATE 22
COURTESY DAVE MONLEY
Rev. Eric Freed, shown in this 2004 photo taken at St. Francis High School’s Brothers’ Chapel, was slain at his parish in Eureka on New Year’s day.