Palo Alto Weekly 06.22.2012 - Section 1

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Palo Alto struggles to help the poor Page 3 w w w.PaloA ltoOnline.com

Aquamaids club sends synchronized swimmers to nationals Page 17

Pulse 13 Spectrum 14 Transitions 16 Eating Out 23 ShopTalk 25 Movies 26 Puzzles 66 N Arts Fresh sounds at Stanford Jazz Festival

Page 20

N Sports Local swimmers head to the Olympic Trials

Page 28

N Home Ugly lighting no more

Page 33

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Upfront

Local news, information and analysis

Report urges more funding for Palo Alto nonprofits City considers changing process for assisting neediest residents

by Gennady Sheyner

P

alo Alto may be best known as the land of high incomes and soaring housing prices, but affluence is far from universal within the city’s borders.

According to a new report by the city’s Human Relations Commission, the city has its fair share

of residents in need — seniors who depend on subsidized meals at La Comida, recipients who apply for food stamps and disabled people who can’t afford to get the medical help they need. And some groups of needy residents are growing. The number of food-stamps recipients,

for example, increased by 22 percent between 2009 and 2010, according to the newly released Human Services Needs Assessment.

In addition to surveying the needs of Palo Alto’s low-income residents, the report considers ways in which the city can help. In recent years, Palo Alto has provided grants to local nonprofits for providing safety-net services. Last year, the city handed out $1.1 million through what is known as the Human Services Resource Allocation Process.

The Human Relations Commission, which relied on focus groups, data research, interviews with stakeholders and responses from 495 survey participants, had estimated that these grants serve about 7,000 people annually.

This year, almost three-fourths of the grant funds went to two nonprofit organizations. Avenidas, which provides a wide range of services for seniors, received $402,224 in 2012, accounting for 36.2 percent of the funds. Palo Alto Community

Child Care received $407,491, or 36.7 percent of the total pool. Recipients of the next-largest grants include Adolescent Counseling Services ($87,571), Abilities United ($37,642) and the Downtown Streets Team ($33,666).

The report, which the City Council Finance Committee discussed Tuesday night, argues that the city needs to do more. Its most significant recommendation is a call for (continued on page 6)

EDUCATION

Two declare school board candidacies Election filing period for three seats opens July 16

by Chris Kenrick wo candidates so far have declared their intentions to run this fall for what will be three available seats on the Palo Alto Board of Education.

Incumbent Melissa Baten Caswell, first elected in 2007, has indicated she will seek re-election.

Newcomer Heidi Emberling, a parenting educator and former PTA president at Juana Briones Elementary School, has announced her candidacy and is actively campaigning.

Two other incumbents, Barbara Klausner, first elected in 2007, and current board President Camille Townsend, first elected in 2003, said they have not decided whether to seek re-election.

The candidate-filing period opens July 16 and closes Aug. 10 for the Nov. 6 election.

In Palo Alto’s last school board election, in 2009, incumbents Barb Mitchell and Dana Tom ran unopposed.

There’s been talk of a candidate emerging this year from the vocal parent group We Can Do Better Palo Alto, but so far, none has materialized. The group has tenaciously lobbied for more than a year for measures it says will reduce academic stress, including a Palo Alto High School-style “teacher adviser� program for Gunn High School and closer attention to testing calendars.

Group member Wynn Hausser, who was narrowly defeated by incumbent Townsend when he sought election in 2007, has said he does not intend to run this year. We Can Do Better cofounder Ken Dauber, who in the past said he would con-

T

Sierra Duren

Shooting the breeze Windsurfer Royce Nicolas takes advantage of the fine weather on Wednesday, June 20, hitting the water near Palo Alto Baylands Park.

NONPROFITS

History museum may seek corporate tenants Palo Alto mulls allowing for-profit institutions to lease space in historic Roth Building

by Gennady Sheyner

P

alo Alto’s drive to turn the famous Roth Building on Homer Avenue into a history museum has a history of its own.

The 1932 building, which once housed the Palo Alto Medical Clinic and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has long

been envisioned by city officials as a perfect site for a history museum or another “public facility.� But as city officials learned Tuesday night, June 19, turning this dream into reality may require private investors to lease offices at the museum.

The Palo Alto History Museum, a nonprofit group raising money to launch the museum, asked the City Council’s Finance Committee for permission to sublease part of the building at 300 Homer Ave. to a for-profit organization. The move is driven by the project’s financial needs. The group needs to raise more than $6 million and has already acquired about $4.5 million,

board members told the committee.

The group hopes to get another $800,000 or so through the “Federal Historic Tax Credit� program, which provides tax credits to private entities as an incentive to rehabilitate historic structures. This would leave another $800,000 that the group would raise by other means, a goal that members said they believe they can accomplish in the next nine or 10 months.

But the federal program comes with a bundle of strings attached, including a requirement that the project generate profits and bring a (continued on page 8)

(continued on page 7)

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Upfront

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

Alicia Santillan, Classified Administrative Asst.

Wendy Suzuki, Advertising Sales Intern EXPRESS, ONLINE AND VIDEO SERVICES Rachel Palmer, Online Operations Coordinator Rachel Hatch, Multimedia Product Manager BUSINESS Susie Ochoa, Payroll & Benefits Elena Dineva, Mary McDonald, Claire McGibeny, Cathy Stringari, Business Associates ADMINISTRATION Janice Covolo, Doris Taylor, Receptionists Ruben Espinoza, Courier EMBARCADERO MEDIA William S. Johnson, President Michael I. Naar, Vice President & CFO Tom Zahiralis, Vice President Sales & Advertising Frank A. Bravo, Director, Information Technology & Webmaster Connie Jo Cotton, Major Accounts Sales Manager Bob Lampkin, Director, Circulation & Mailing Services Alicia Santillan, Circulation Assistant Chris Planessi, Chip Poedjosoedarmo, Computer System Associates The Palo Alto Weekly (ISSN 0199-1159) is published every Friday by Embarcadero Media, 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, (650) 326-8210. Periodicals postage paid at Palo Alto, CA and additional mailing offices. Adjudicated a newspaper of general circulation for Santa Clara County. The Palo Alto Weekly is delivered free to homes in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, East Palo Alto, to faculty and staff households on the Stanford campus and to portions of Los Altos Hills. If you are not currently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 326-8210. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. Copyright Š2012 by Embarcadero Media.

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‘‘

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

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

‘‘

When you get to the question of taxation and tuition, people get off our train. — Mark Yudof, president of the University of California, on why admitting non-residents to the UCs is financially necessary. See story on page 5.

Around Town

FEELING THE HEAT ... Palo Alto firefighters took part in an unusual rescue operation last week after they learned about a heat-stressed brown pelican perched on the second-floor patio ledge of the Wells Fargo building at 400 Hamilton Ave. The city’s emergency responders sprung into action to aid the overheated bird. The crew from Truck 6 worked with William Warrior, one of the city’s animal control officers, and earned major kudos from Warrior for their good work. In a letter to Public Safety Director Dennis Burns, Warrior noted that the ladder from Truck 6 “allowed us safe access to the second-floor patio ledge while at the same time preventing the pelican from falling into pedestrian and vehicle traffic on Hamilton Avenue.� After “an effective net-capture� of the pelican, the distressed bird was taken to the Peninsula Humane Society Wildlife Rescue facility at the Cubberley Community Center. “The pelican was last reported in stable condition,� Warrior wrote.

THE NEXT ILLUSION ... It was once a hub of Palo Alto’s thriving hippy movement — the place where new-age foodies flocked for “natural foods� and where Jerry Garcia belted out tunes. Since 1970, it has seen one transformation after another, going from The New Age Natural Foods and Deli in 1970 to the Zinzinnati Oom Pah Pah (1973), the Keystone music venue (1977), The Vortex (1986), the Edge nightclub (1990) and the Icon Supper Club (1998). These days, the building at 260 California Ave. houses the Club Illusions, a restaurant and nightclub that set up shop at the site in 2005. Now, the California Avenue building between Birch Street and Park Boulevard is poised for a more dramatic overhaul. The developer Presidio Development Partners is planning to demolish the building and to replace it with one that would be more than twice as big.

The proposed structure, which the Architectural Review Board discussed Thursday, would be 40 feet tall and include ground-floor retail and offices on the upper floors.

The board didn’t vote on the project, though some members expressed a little concern. Board member Clare Malone Prichard

thought the building would be too high. “I think in this district, it’s too much,� she said. Not surprisingly, the project is already garnering opposition from some residents.

Bob Moss, a frequent critic of local developments, called it too bulky and “out of context.� He also said it contains too much office space, a no-no in a district designated for retail use. Local attorney William Ross said he was concerned about the lack of outreach to California Avenue property owners. “This is a very significant project,�

Ross told the board. “None of the property owners or businesses had any idea what it would be.�

MIXED SIGNALS ... Spotty cellphone reception is a problem that has long frustrated Palo Alto’s technologists and polarized local residents. Dozens have opposed recent efforts by AT&T to build cell towers in residential neighborhoods, calling them unsightly and potentially unsafe. Many others decry the embarrassingly poor cell service in a city that takes such pride at being in the vanguard of technological innovation. Could fake trees and giant flagpoles next to local fire stations solve this problem? That’s one of the questions that city officials will ponder Monday night, when they consider changes to the city’s policies for allowing cell towers on city property. Such towers already exist at three fire stations and, if the council chooses, could soon occupy other city properties. These “macro� towers are an alternative to the “distributed antenna systems� (DAS), which use smaller towers that can be affixed to existing utility poles. Though far more subtle than macro towers, DAS equipment drew substantial opposition from residents last year, when AT&T proposed bringing about 80 such “micro� towers to neighborhoods. The council approved the first 19 of these towers in December. Now, the city is considering revising its zoning regulations to allow the tall macro towers on city land, an idea that would include raising limits to allow tower heights of 75 feet to 125 feet, according to a report from Margaret Monroe, management specialist in the Planning and Community Environment Department. N

Upfront EDUCATION

Non-resident admission, student headcount climbs at UC

by Chris Kenrick

M

ore than 23 percent of students admitted by the University of California for this fall’s freshman class are not California residents — up from 10 percent just five years ago.

At the most popular campuses, the non-resident admission numbers are even higher: 40 percent of this fall’s freshman admits to UCLA are non-residents, 32 percent at San Diego and 28 percent at Berkeley.

UC President Mark Yudof acknowledges the sharp rise in nonresident admission but says, “Stories have been more hysterical than the facts deserve.�

Actual enrollment rates of nonCalifornians are considerably lower than their admission rates, and the higher tuition paid by non-residents subsidizes California students, he said.

Still, the percentage of non-resident undergraduate headcount is climbing at UC’s most sought-after campuses, reaching 18 percent at Berkeley last fall. “I don’t think it’s outrageous,� Yudof told a gathering at the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce last month. “It provides another form of diversity, and we also charge them

a ton of money. If we charge them $30,000, I can take some of that and move it over to pay for the Californians the Legislature isn’t paying for.�

To avoid reducing the number of UC slots for California students, Yudof said the university has boosted the number of overall spaces in the nine-campus system.

For example, system-wide undergraduate enrollment last fall was 181,508 — 10 percent higher than it was five years ago, when it stood at 163,302.

That year — 2007 — the university, system-wide, admitted 6,283 non-resident students for the fall freshman class.

This year, non-resident freshman admits for the fall term is triple that, at 18,846. Data on the number of those who actually plan to enroll this fall is not yet available.

Yudof maintains that UC has a system-wide “cap of 10 percent� on non-resident undergraduate enrollment, instituted by the Board of Regents. But enrollment figures are much higher on the most popular campuses.

Non-residents comprised 18 percent of Berkeley undergraduates last fall, up from 13.9 percent in 2010.

At UCLA, it was 15.8 percent last fall, up from 12.6 percent the year before.

System-wide, non-resident students made up 8.4 percent of undergraduate headcount last fall, up from 7 percent in 2010, according to statistics published by Yudof’s office.

In that same period, system-wide undergraduate enrollment of California residents declined a halfpercent: from 167,118 in the fall of 2010 to 166,265 in fall 2011.

On a recent speaking tour of the state, Yudof made the case that the UC system is an “economic engine� for California, generating $46.3 billion in economic activity and supporting one in 46 jobs in the state.

He decried reductions of state funding for the UC system.

Last year, the Legislature funded $2.37 billion — just 10.5 percent — of UC’s overall $22.5 billion budget, most of which came from revenue from the system’s five medical centers.

The state covers 60 percent less per UC student than it did 20 years ago and, for the first time, students now pay more than taxpayers, Yudof said.

ele

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31.2 Percent of admits

More than 40 percent of fall admits to UCLA are from outside California

40

Admission rates of non-California freshmen by U.C. campus s

30

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28.3

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24.0 20

23.5

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Santa Cruz

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2010

2011

2012

Changes in enrollment of California and non-California undergraduates, by campus — comparing 2010 to 2011, in percentages Berkeley California

Los Angeles

-4

Santa Cruz Universitywide

2

2

-1

Non-Calif. U.S.

29

4

-1

13

Non-Calif. Int’l

34

32

-2

34

Total population

1

4

2

1

He called for the state to re-invest in UC, calling the system the “seed corn� for economic growth in California. “We face hard alternatives and, the fact is, nobody wants to pay,� he said. “When you get to the question of taxation and tuition, people get off our train.�

Yudof rejected a suggestion that UC de-emphasize state funding

and refocus on beefing up other sources. “Taxpayers built this place, and I’m reluctant to call it quits,� he said. “We’re a consummately California institution.�N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly. com.

EDUCATION

School-bond tax rate to increase 16 percent Board backs higher rate, faster repayment after recession derails original assumptions

by Chris Kenrick

P

roperty owners in the Palo Alto school district will see higher rates on their tax bills after the Board of Education approved a facilities-bond tax-rate increase last week.

The current tax rate of $44.50 per $100,000 of assessed property valuation under the 2008 “Strong Schools� facilities bonds will rise to $60 per $100,000 of assessed valuation.

That hike, together with the current $35 tax rate on the 1995 “Building For Excellence� bonds that are still being paid off, will yield an annual tax bill that is 4 percent — or $422.45 — higher for the homeowner with the average assessed valuation of $850,000.

The rate increase — not anticipated when the $378 million “Strong Schools� bond passed with nearly 78 percent of the vote in June 2008 — will enable the construction program to continue despite the recession-induced slowdown in assessed-valuation growth that threw off original estimates.

The higher tax rate now also

means substantial savings later — in the neighborhood of $1 billion in financing costs — because of a sharply shortened repayment period.

That savings in financing costs, along with a reluctance to saddle future generations with debt for school buildings being built today, persuaded four of the five school board members to vote for the taxrate increase in the wee hours of June 13.

Board member Barb Mitchell dissented, saying her concerns about claims made to voters at the time of the 2008 election outweighed the lure of reduced debt service and a shorter repayment period.

Thirteen current and former school district parents, including nine finance professionals and two former school board members, urged the board to shift course and go with the higher tax rate and shorter repayment period. “The economic disruption of 2008 to present has dramatically changed the assumptions underlying the original $44.50 bond tax rate,� stated the letter, which was drafted

by district parent and private-equity investment manager Todd Collins, who chairs the Citizens’ Oversight Committee for the 2008 Strong Schools bond. “Rather than choosing between issuing onerous capital-appreciation bonds or canceling needed projects, we propose an alternative that takes advantage of the current low interest rates and saves our community hundreds of millions of dollars in compounded interest.�

Sticking with a lower tax rate, the letter said, would force repayment on the 2008 bond to be stretched out over the next 45 years.

Under the new plan, the combined tax rate for the two bonds will be $95 per $100,000 of assessed valuation in 2013, declining over the next eight years to less than $65 after 2021. The 1995 Building for Excellence bond will be fully paid off by 2024.

Besides Collins, signers of the letter were: former school board member and Bond Citizens Oversight Committee member Ray Bacchetti; oversight committee member Scott Darling; finance professional and former board member of Palo Alto Partners in Education Elisabeth Einaudi; finance professional Stephen Godfrey; lawyer Walt Hays, who signed the ballot argument for

the 2008 Strong Schools bond; financial professional David Hornik; municipal bond professional Tony Hughes; small business owner and finance professional J.R. Matthews; finance professional Anne Rockhold; finance professional Greg Sands; finance professional and former oversight committee member Steven Shevick; and former school board member Don Way. At the June 12 board meeting, which went past midnight, Hays — grandson of the Presbyterian minister and school board president for whom Walter Hays Elementary School is named — urged the board to raise the tax rate. “The citizens of Palo Alto have shown over and over again they like to deal with issues head on and not put them off to burden future generations,� he said. “One really good demonstration of this is that so many voters rallied to pass the latest school bond by over 70 percent, so it seems inconceivable that we’d want to saddle future generations with $1.3 billion in unnecessary costs by keeping the current tax rate. “I recognize it is a burden to double your tax rate, but I think Palo Altans have shown they’re willing to accept those burdens to maintain their very precious and highly valu-

able schools that everybody wants to move here so they can join.�

Most board members appeared to agree with Hays. “Given the huge change in the financial landscape since the (2008) bond election, the question is whether to bear a larger burden now from facilities we’ll benefit from soon, or push off the payments 35 years,� board member Dana Tom said.

Board President Camille Townsend said, “As a taxpayer and as a member of the school board with children, and thinking about the future, it seems to me that saving this kind of money for taxpayers makes sense.�

Superintendent Kevin Skelly said he will prepare a letter to district taxpayers explaining the change.

The 2008 Strong Schools bond is modernizing and adding facilities at all 17 campuses in the Palo Alto district in response to rising enrollment. Major construction — including, in many cases, new, two-story classroom buildings — is completed or in progress at Gunn and Palo Alto high schools, Jordan, JLS and Terman middle schools and Ohlone, Fairmeadow and Duveneck elementary schools. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly. com.

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Upfront

Online This Week

REDEVELOPMENT

East Palo Alto business district plan must ‘get it right,’ report says

These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news or click on “News� in the left, green column.

Appeals court overturns ruling in home dispute A Woodside couple will be stripped of $125,000 in attorney fees stemming from a 7-year feud with a Palo Alto contractor, the California Court of Appeals has decided. (Posted June 20 at 4:21 p.m.)

Fourteen recent graduates to get scholarships Fourteen recent high school graduates will receive scholarships Saturday, June 23, in a gathering sponsored by the Peninsula College Fund. Former Santa Clara County Municipal Court Judge LaDoris Cordell will speak at the public ceremony to be held at Sacred Heart Preparatory School in Atherton. (Posted June 20 at 10:21 a.m.)

Water-main break on Lytton forces evacuation A gushing water main caused a four-story building to be evacuated and shut down part of Lytton Avenue Tuesday afternoon, June 19, Palo Alto Fire Battalion Chief Chris Woodard said. (Posted June 19 at 5:43 p.m.)

Firecrackers explode in Menlo Park mailboxes The one thing more unwelcome than a bill in one’s mailbox may be a firecracker, as a string of Menlo Park residents discovered last week.

(Posted June 19 at 1:48 p.m.)

Palo Alto teachers seek share of budget surplus Teachers in the Palo Alto school district are asking for a one-time, 1 percent stipend, sharing in an end-of-year surplus in the school district.

(Posted June 19 at 9:49 a.m.)

City to start major electrical work on Alma Street Major electric-line replacement in Palo Alto could cause traffic delays on Alma Street starting Tuesday, June 19, the city has announced.

(Posted June 19 at 9:43 a.m.)

Atherton kidnapper Schoenfeld will be paroled Richard Schoenfeld, who grew up in Atherton and was imprisoned for nearly 36 years on a 1976 conviction for the kidnapping of 26 Chowchilla schoolchildren, will be released from prison this month.

(Posted June 19 at 9:01 a.m.)

Two-acre brush fire skirts Stanford hills A fire of unknown origin burned two acres of Stanford land off Interstate Highway 280 in Palo Alto Monday afternoon, June 18. The grassland blaze caused a traffic backup northbound from El Monte Road in Los Altos to north of Page Mill Road. (Posted June 18 at 4:54 p.m.)

Bay Area median home prices, sales up in May The median sale price for Bay Area homes rose for the second consecutive month in May — up 7.5 percent from a year ago — driven by a high number of sales and increased activity at the higher ends of the market, according to figures released Friday, June 15. (Posted June 16 at 9:38 a.m.)

Palo Alto’s animal services get help from county Palo Alto’s financially troubled animal-services operation received a welcome boost Friday, June 15, when the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a budget that provides $47,000 for the local animal shelter. (Posted June 15 at 12:49 p.m.)

Man shot at East Palo Alto apartment complex A man was shot in the leg at an East Palo Alto apartment complex on Thursday evening, June 14, police said. (Posted June 15 at 9:16 a.m.)

Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce CEO resigns The Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce is once again looking for a new leader after its president announced Thursday, June 14, that he is resigning after just six months on the job. (Posted June 15 at 8:30 a.m.)

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Nonprofits

(continued from page 3)

the city to increase its spending for grants by about 5 percent a year, until the amount reaches $1.5 million in 2016. But the report also argues that the city needs to change the way it assesses which nonprofits get funding. The wide array of needs and the limited pool of money makes it impossible for the city to allocate funds for new recipients without taking them away from existing ones. “This zero-sum game is not only disheartening to the agency losing the funds, but it suppresses the desire of potential applicants to apply, knowing that their success will punch a hole somewhere else in the social safety net,� the report states. “Our recommendations need to deal with this issue. If they don’t, it’s not clear to us what else we might propose beyond administrative arrangements that might produce some small synergies that enable existing funds to stretch a little bit further.�

The Finance Committee praised the report Tuesday, with Vice Mayor Greg Scharff sharing the commission’s frustration about the lack of flexibility in the funding-allocation process. “You see a need in the community but your hands feel tied because we have previous recipients and we have to cut from those (recipients),�

Bay Bay Rd

Pulgas Ave

All the wall calendars owned by all the employees of the Palo Alto Art Center likely have one thing in common: a big circle around Oct. 6. (Posted June 20 at 4:19 p.m.)

E

Un i versity A ve

Palo Alto Art Center plans an Oct. 6 re-opening day

by Sue Dremann ast Palo Alto’s planned 4 Corners/Ravenswood Business District is the last area the city can develop to create jobs and revenue and improve the quality of life for its residents. And the city has to “get it right� because there is no other major commercial area to develop, a new study by the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute has found.

The city commissioned the 35page study, which was released on June 12, as part of a review of its Specific Plan, a document intended to guide planning and development.

The plan will be finalized and presented along with an Environmental Impact Report to the East Palo Alto City Council for adoption in July.

The 4 Corners/Ravenswood Business District plan calls for 835 residential units, 1.2 million square feet of office space, 351,820 square feet of research-and-development/industrial space, 112,400 square feet of retail, 61,000 square feet for community activities, 30 acres of parkland and 4.5 miles of trails.

When implemented the plan could change East Palo Alto’s appearance, attractiveness and usefulness to the community significantly, the study found. It envisions a walkable downtown along Bay Road starting at University Avenue and moving toward the baylands.

The city currently doesn’t have a

ow R d

A controversial quest by Harold Hohbach to build a three-story development on Page Mill Road could finally reach its terminus Monday night, June 25, when Palo Alto officials review the latest revisions to his Park Plaza project. (Posted June 21 at 9:14 a.m.)

Urban Land Institute offers guidance for the city’s last, best commercial real estate project

Will

Revised ‘Park Plaza’ wins staff endorsement

East Palo Alto

downtown, and the goal is to create a downtown area where the community can meet, eat and shop.

A major employment area would be developed in the area bounded by Bay Road, Pulgas Road and Weeks Street. Potential jobs — 4,851 of them — could help reduce the city’s 17.5 percent unemployment rate.

About half the new jobs would be suitable for people with no more than a high school diploma.

The report also noted a discrepancy between a 2010 Bay Area Economics (BAE) market study and one done in 2009 for the Specific Plan.

The 2009 study identified a projected net demand for office space at 1.2 million square feet. But the 2010 study found only a projected

demand of 201,650 square feet between 2010 and 2030.

The first market-demand study projected a 351,820-square-feet demand for industrial and research space, but the 2010 study identified that sector as stronger for East Palo Alto, estimating 609,425 square feet. Projected retail demand was triple in the 2010 study what it was in the 2009 report.

The Urban Land Institute study attributed the discrepancies to the way the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) projects employment demand. The ABAG studies are highly accurate for larger, more established cities with

Scharff said.

The committee stopped short of recommending an increase to grant funding, though it directed staff to explore ways for doing so. One possible mechanism is funds from the city’s development agreement with Stanford University Medical Center, which allocated $4 million to the city for “community health and safety programs.� Stanford offered these funds as part of a broad package of public benefits in exchange for the city’s permission to greatly expand Stanford Hospital and Clinics and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

The committee was more receptive to the report’s “alternative recommendation� for modifying the grant process. Under this alternative, the city would reduce grants to all recipients who get more than $10,000 by 3 to 5 percent per year, with the freed funds supporting new programs and agencies. “Such an arrangement gives agencies lead-time to respond to the series of cuts; and it gives the overall HSRAP program some flexibility to reallocate the freed funds to increasing or emerging needs,� the report stated.

The committee unanimously recommended that staff discuss this plan with stakeholders and explore this alternative further. The committee also backed a proposal by Councilman Pat Burt to reach out to Avenidas and see if the city’s

allocation to the nonprofit group could target low-income seniors rather than the senior community at large.

Ray Bacchetti, who serves on the commission, told the committee Tuesday there’s a “disconnect between the haves and the have-nots in Palo Alto.� Though the city is wealthier than most in the county, 10.7 percent of the households in Palo Alto have household incomes below $25,000, the report notes.

The problem is worse for seniors.

One-third of Palo Alto residents older than 75 had incomes of less than $25,000 per year in 2000, according to data from Avenidas, which the Human Services Needs Assessment cites. “Faltering economic conditions of recent years have only exacerbated these trends,� the new report states.

Bacchetti said he spoke to a friend recently and mentioned the large number of residents in the city who have a hard time getting by. The friend asked, “Where are they?� “I can think of no better operational definition of ‘invisible’ than that,� Bacchetti told the committee, referring to those in need.

Once staff returns with more information, the committee will resume the discussion and forward a recommendation to the full City Council. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

(continued on page 12)

Upfront CITY HALL

New city budget spells cuts for animal services Palo Alto passes $153 million budget; eyes increased rates, fees

by Gennady Sheyner

H

igher water rates, a Fire Department with fewer firefighters, a host of fee increases and an animal-services operation trembling under the budget ax are among the most prominent aspects of the new budget that Palo Alto City Council unanimously approved Monday night.

In adopting the $153 million budget for fiscal year 2013, which begins July 1, the council avoided some of the most severe recommendations in City Manager James Keene’s initial proposal, including one that would have shuttered the local animal shelter on East Bayshore Road and outsourced animal services to another agency. But the budget, while preserving the popular shelter, leaves it under a cloud of financial uncertainty. The city plans to save $449,000 in animal services this year through staff cuts and revenue increases.

The operation is in dire financial straits because of Mountain View’s decision last year to terminate its partnership with Palo Alto and to join the Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority in Santa Clara. The move will deprive Palo Alto of the $470,000 in annual contributions it has been receiving from Mountain View.

Several animal-services employees and members of the nonprofit Friends of the Palo Alto Animal Shelter made a pitch for keeping the operation intact — or at least making a smaller cut to its budget.

Hillary Stangel, a member of the Friends group, urged the council to cut only $300,000, saying the sum is “absolutely possible to reproduce through private donations, improving efficiencies, higher fees and strengthened marketing.�

But the city’s deficit in the animalservices operation is not a one-time hole but an ongoing funding gap, Keene said. He stressed the need to achieve “structural� savings. “We need to get on this soon,�

Keene said. “The more we delay, the more the cost increases.�

The council vote Monday also means that starting July 1, monthly water rates in Palo Alto will go up by $8.52 on an average residential bill. The increase is driven by major infrastructure projects on both the regional and the local level. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which provides water from the Hetch Hetchy system to Palo Alto and 27 other cities, is in the midst of repairing and seismically retrofitting the water system. At the same time, Palo Alto is performing its own infrastructure upgrades, including construction of a new emergency reservoir at El Camino Park.

Refuse, storm drain and wastewater rates are also slated to go up for residential customers in July, though the city’s Chief Financial Officer Lalo Perez said that these hikes would be offset on the average monthly utility bill by the $18.03 drop in gas rates. Overall, Perez said, the average residential bill is set to drop by about $4.20, from $235.94 to $231.74.

At the same time, the city is raising most of its fees, including the rates for renting garden plots at community gardens and art studios at Cubberley Community Center. Palo Alto’s newly approved fee schedule raises fees citywide by about 3 percent to help cover the cost of providing services, Perez said.

The approved budget also makes major changes in the city’s Fire Department. It eliminates six firefighter positions and adds a second full-time ambulance (the city currently has one ambulance staffed full time and a second one that is staffed through overtime for 12 hours a day). The department is also closing Station 7, which serviced the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park. The U.S. Department of Energy, which operates SLAC, decided that the center no longer needs an on-site fire station and switched to the Menlo Park Fire Protection District. These changes, along with others including a new

labor contract, amount to a budget savings of $2.2 million.

The budget was passed after a month of vetting by the council’s Finance Committee and two public hearings by the full council. And while the council approved it with no arguments or dissenting votes, members warned that next year’s budget could prove to be more difficult. The city’s pension and health care costs are projected to continue to rise. At the same time, the council is awaiting the results of a new costof-service study that could lead to a revamping of city fees.

Keene noted that the city has reduced its General Fund — the part of the budget that supports most city services other than utilities — by 11 percent over the past four years and that its workforce has been cut by about 10 percent.

Keene also said that of the $26 million the city trimmed off its General Fund since fiscal year 2010, $17 million has been made in structural cuts.

Several council members acknowledged the budget challenges that lie ahead. Councilwoman Nancy Shepherd, who chairs the Finance Committee, said that next year the city will also be moving ahead with its takeover of Palo Alto Airport operations from Santa Clara County (the new budget introduces an enterprise fund for the airport).

It will thus further increase the already broad array of services the city provides, she said.

Councilman Larry Klein said he and his colleagues know that “our route to the future isn’t going to be much easier,� “Unless something dramatic occurs in our city, we’ll have some very tough decisions to make when we consider the 2014 budget a year from now,� Klein said at the conclusion of the meeting. “But I think we’re on the right track.� N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

School election

things we’re hearing about right now, particularly from We Can Do Better Palo Alto, were in there,�

Caswell said. “We made a lot of effort to put a good plan together, and I’d like to see it through. I’ve done five years of work, and I don’t feel like it is done, not that it would ever be done.�

Emberling has initiated fundraising and campaigned at house parties, emphasizing the opportunities for shared use of Cubberley Community Center as new campuses to accommodate more students and the need for better communication of “big picture� school issues.

With an eye toward an uncertain fiscal outlook and continued enrollment growth, Emberling states on

her website: “In the next few years we must evaluate homework load and its relationship to student stress, the persistent achievement gap and our ongoing commitment to fulfilling A-G requirements for our high school graduates. “We have also made a concerted effort in the past year to focus on student health through the introduction of the Developmental Assets, a framework for assessing student well-being. We need to continue this important work, ensuring that students feel connected to caring adults in school, around the neighborhood and in the larger community.� N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly. com.

(continued from page 3)

sider running, answered a query this week with an email saying, “Election long ways off.�

Caswell said she wants to return to the board in particular to grapple with the financial challenges and to see through the district’s strategic plan, which she helped to initiate in 2008.

That year, business consultants McKinsey & Company took an exhaustive look at the district and helped develop a strategic plan, which has guided board discussions in the time since. “We all agreed these would be very good goals, and a lot of the

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NEIGHBORHOODS

Professorville may soon get permit-parking program City surveys residents in historic downtown neighborhood; City Council to consider program on July 16

by Gennady Sheyner

A

fter complaining for years about a dearth of parking in their historic downtown neighborhood, Professorville residents may soon get a reprieve.

The city sent out surveys last week to residents asking if they would support a Residential Permit Parking Program that would establish, for the first time, a limit on how long visitors can park. A group of neighbors, led by Ken Alsman, has long clamored for such a program to address what they say is a huge parking problem in Professorville.

Many blame downtown workers for parking their cars in Professorville, which is one of the few areas downtown that currently doesn’t have a two-hour parking limit.

The city is looking to pursue the permit program on a six-month trial basis. The time limit would be in effect on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to a letter from the city’s Transportation Division. Each property tenant in the permit area would get one permit at no charge.

Additional permits for the trial period would be available for $50, the letter states. A few permits would also be available for non-residents.

But the project is far from a done deal. To proceed with the trial, the city would need at least 60 percent of the residents who respond to the surveys to support the parking program. The area is roughly bounded

by Emerson Street on the west, Waverley Street to the east and Addison and Lincoln avenues to the north and south. It also includes the Bryant Street block between Addison and Channing avenues, according to a map sent to residents.

If enough residents support the trial, the City Council will have a chance to approve it on July 16. Residents have until June 30 to return their surveys.

The city decided to proceed with the trial in response to complaints from residents, many of whose homes are so old, they lack garages. The neighbors have complained at public hearings about having to park many blocks away because downtown workers leave their cars in Professorville all day to avoid moving their cars every two hours. Some residents, including those in the Downtown North neighborhood, have expressed concern that instituting the permit program in Professorville would only exacerbate the parking shortage in other areas around downtown that don’t have a time limit.

City officials have been meeting with Professorville residents, business owners and other stakeholders in recent months to determine what a potential permit program would look like. In its letter, city officials wrote that the proposed program was developed “through a collaborative effort of Professorville residents and downtown business interests.�

Staff plans to continue the outreach throughout the trial period before deciding whether to make the permit program permanent, according to the letter. “City staff intends to monitor the pilot project throughout the trial by collecting data and holding community meetings to solicit public input on the project midway through and toward the end of the trial period,� the letter states. “Staff will then make a recommendation to the City Council to either retain the program if successful and expand it as needed; modify the pilot for another trial; or make the decision not to proceed and remove the RPPP signage.�

If the city were to adopt the program permanently, the price of the permits would be set at a level to make the program cost-neutral, according to the letter. N

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Upfront

History museum (continued from page 3)

3 percent return on investment. To meet this requirement and to give itself some financial breathing space, the group urged the committee to back away from the city’s current position, which calls for the building to be occupied solely by nonprofit organizations.

The committee’s four members deferred the decision on allowing for-profit businesses to lease space, though they unanimously supported the Palo Alto History Museum’s proposal to pursue the

TALK ABOUT IT

www.PaloAltoOnline.com Do you favor allowing private tenants to occupy the Roth Building? Share your opinion on Town Square, the community discussion forum on Palo Alto Online.

tax-credit program.

Margaret Feuer, a board member of the Palo Alto History Museum, highlighted the group’s recent fundraising efforts but noted that times are tough for nonprofits. The group has already received about $560,000 in grants, Feuer said. But having no building and, hence, no programs, makes acquiring funds particularly difficult, she said. “We all know nonprofits face

Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District Notice is hereby Given that proposals will be received by the Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District for bid package: Contract Name: Palo Alto High School Stadium Fence Replacement Contract No.: PAF-12 DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK: The work includes, but is not limited to: Removal of exiting chain link fence, and supply and install new fencing along the perimeter of Palo Alto High School’s Hod Ray Stadium. The new fence will be a combination of ornamental iron fence with CMU pilasters and black-chain link fence. The project will also include an ornamental entryway signage. Bidding documents contains the full description of the work.

There will be a mandatory pre-bid conference and site visit at 10:00 a.m. on June 28, 2012 at the Palo Alto High School, Football Stadium located at 85 Churchill Ave, Palo Alto, California Bid Submission: Proposals must be received at the District Facilities OfďŹ ce building D, by 10:00 a.m. on July 18. , 2012.

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 UniďŹ ed 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 subcontractors 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 certiďŹ ed copy of each payroll with a statement 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 delinquent 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.

funding challenges,� Feuer said. “This is really the reason we ask you to allow us to rent to a for-profit entity. That would give us a cushion to fall back on.�

If the group were to succeed in launching the museum, it would complete a job nearly a decade in the making. The city bought the Roth in 2000 and sought proposals from local nonprofits to occupy it. The Palo Alto History Museum proposed in 2003 to restore and preserve the dilapidated structure, and the council accepted the proposal. Since then, the council extended its option agreement with the group several times and approved $150,000 to repair leaks and drainage problems in the building.

Last year, the museum group’s latest contract expired, and the city extended it until the end of 2013. As a condition, the group had to submit a business plan within the first six months of the year. By presenting its plan Tuesday night, the group met its condition.

Council members, for their part, reasserted their commitment to the project, though they stopped short of approving the museum group’s entire request. “I want the History Museum to succeed, and I want it to go forward,� Vice Mayor Greg Scharff said. “I think it will be a great thing for Palo Alto.�

But Scharff and other council members voiced major concerns about the proposal on corporate rent-

Video: World Music Day rocks downtown Watch video of World Music Day, which featured dancers and dozens of bands in downtown Palo Alto last Sunday, June 17. Go to PaloAltoOnline. com and search for “World Music Day.�

ers. One major issue is zoning. The site is zoned “public facility,� which does not allow most for-profit office uses. Senior Assistant City Attorney Cara Silver said some uses, including cafes and restaurants, could be developed at the site through a conditional-use permit. But corporate offices of the sort envisioned by the group would likely require a zone change, Silver said.

The committee agreed to delay its decision to give city staff and the museum group’s consultant more time to analyze the zoning issues.

Despite the unresolved financing issues, the complicated project has

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Support Local Business

Bidders may examine Bidding Documents at Facilities OfďŹ ce, Building “Dâ€?. Bidders may purchase copies of Plans and SpeciďŹ cations for $100 at ARC/Western, 1100 Industrial Road, Unit 13, San Carlos, CA 94070, Phone Number (650) 517-1895.

All questions can be addressed to: Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District 25 Churchill Avenue, Building D Palo Alto, CA 94306-1099 Attn: Aimee Lopez Phone: (650) 329-3968 Fax: (650) 327-3588 Page 8ĂŠUĂŠ Ă•Â˜iĂŠĂ“Ă“]ÊÓä£ÓÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠĂœĂœĂœÂ°*>Â?Âœ Â?ĂŒÂœ"˜Â?ˆ˜i°Vœ“

seen a recent surge of momentum.

The Historic Resources Board and the Planning and Transportation Commission both voted to support the museum, which would include gallery space, staff offices, a community meeting room, a gift shop, a cafĂŠ, an archive-storage space, and offices for future subtenants.

Local resident Crystal Gamage attended Tuesday’s meeting and urged the committee to support the Palo Alto History Museum. “It’s an important step for the city, and it will reflect on our history,�

Gamage said. “You want the best museum possible.�

Gail Wooley, former mayor and current vice president of the Palo Alto History Museum, said that while the process of getting a historical tax credit is complex, it’s “worth the effort� for the city. She noted that while the city hasn’t pursued this financing mechanism in the past, many local developers, including Charles “Chop� Keenan and Roxy Rapp, have gone through this process as they rehabilitated historic buildings downtown. “It’s an opportunity to make a public-private partnership, which makes it possible to bring in private money for a public benefit,� Wooley said. N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

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

The online guide to Palo Alto businesses ShopPaloAlto.com

Upfront

Neighborhoods

A roundup of neighborhood news edited by Sue Dremann

AROUND THE BLOCK

CAR TALK ... The City of Palo Alto will hold its second Living in Vehicles Community Forum to gather the concerns of residents and people who live in their cars as well as potential solutions related to car camping. The meeting will take place Tuesday, June 26, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Palo Alto City Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto. Options for regulating people who live in their vehicles will be presented to the City Council Policy and Services Committee in July. The meeting is open to the public.

NEW LOOK AT GREER PARK ... If it’s a little cooler to picnic this summer at Greer Park, residents can thank the men and women of the Palo Alto Rotary. The Rotarians were out in June, decked in yellow shirts and hardhats, diligently building five shade structures over the picnic tables at the south Palo Alto park.

LIQUOR-LICENSE HEARING ... A public hearing on granting a liquor license to E Liquors at 3870 El Camino Real in Palo Alto will be held on July 25 and 26 starting at 9:30 a.m. The hearing will take place at the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) San Jose District Office, State Building Auditorium, at 100 Paseo de San Antonio, in San Jose. The license application is for an off-sale general license.

FOR ONCE, NO INFLATION ...

College Terrace residents will not face increases to their parkingpermit fees this year. The neighborhood’s Residential Parking Permit Program, which has calmed parking woes, is in its fourth year. The City of Palo Alto will keep the fee at $40 per permit for the year starting in September, according to neighborhood leaders. N

Send announcements of neighborhood events, meetings and news to Sue Dremann, Neighborhoods editor, at sdremann@paweekly.com. Or talk about your neighborhood news on Town Square at www.

PaloAltoOnline.com.

Taking a bite out of emergency preparedness Following gas explosion, Midtown Court neighbors use fun events to prepare for future emergencies

by Sue Dremann

A

fter a chlorine-gas explosion caused more than 200 people to be evacuated from their homes last September, the old Scouts motto to “be prepared� took on new meaning for residents at the Midtown Court apartment complex.

Seven people living in the area behind Midtown Shopping Center were treated for exposure to the toxic gas, and one family was temporarily placed in a Red Cross shelter.

The small explosion of noxious fumes occurred after a 9-year-old child knocked chlorine tablets into a 5-gallon bucket of liquid in a community’s poolsupply area, according to Palo Alto firefighters.

The incident was a learning experience for residents, said Caryll-Lynn Taylor, an organizer of the new Midtown Court Neighbors and Friends group. “It really gave us an entrĂŠ into what a real evacuation is about. When you cannot bring anything you need like medications and you don’t have time to get your keys, it really is daunting. We really came together like we never have before and connected in some pretty profound ways,â€? she said.

The “neighborhood enclave within an enclave� encompasses the 80-plus-unit apartment complex at 2721 and 2727 Midtown Court. But the neighbors’ association invites residents from Colorado Avenue, Randors Court, Rosewood Drive and Middlefield Road to its events and picnics, she said.

While residents wanted to learn more about emergency preparedness after the incident, most didn’t want to commit to the official City of Palo Alto/Palo Alto Neighborhoods Block-Preparedness Coordinator program, Taylor said.

In the past, the neighbors did have a vibrant emergency-response team. During power outages in 2009 and 2010, team members checked on residents. When the explosion occurred in 2011, they notified everyone on their emergency-contact list about the evacuation order.

But Midtown Court has experienced a high turnover rate since 2010 — a new phenomenon for the usually stable complex of longtime inhabitants, she said. Five of the 12 core preparednessteam members have moved away, as have dozens of other residents. The situation meant that new tenants needed to be educated about emergency preparation, she said.

So Taylor, her husband, David, and other residents developed a low-commitment strategy that combines social events with small doses of preparedness — “baby steps,� she said.

In October the neighborhood association held a picnic at Hoover Park. Organizers invited the Red Cross, which had suggested gathering together people who felt vulnerable after the explosion, rather than focusing on counseling sessions. “People could talk in an organic way and feel open. And many of them did,� Taylor said.

The association has expanded the picnics to twice annually and added a Zero-Waste recycling event with a coffee chat in March. It’s part

Veronica Weber

ONE BARK ... A community dog walk will take place on Sunday, June 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Mitchell Park at 600 East Meadow Drive in Palo Alto. The event is a fundraiser for the volunteer group One Brick Silicon Valley and will feature dogs in fancy dress, a petphoto booth, food trucks, rescue groups, local pet companies, games and dogs, of course.

MIDTOWN COURT

With her event-planning clipboard in hand, Caryll-Lynn Taylor stands in the plaza of 2727 Midtown Court on June 20. Taylor has been organizing community events with a focus on emergency-preparedness. coffee klatsch, part recycling education, and part household hazardous-waste collection event. In June guest speakers from the Palo Alto Police Department talked about bicycle safety. And in July a representative from Ace Fire Equipment will check and recharge household fire extinguishers, she said. “It’s something (residents) can do easily, and there’s nothing overwhelming about it. We’re not telling somebody to stop their life and ‘Go do that,’� Taylor said.

The group also celebrates impending births through its Welcome Baby program. Neighbors pitch in to purchase a gift for an expectant mother and include information on infant and child cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Most of the mothers now have CPR training, Taylor said.

Alison Wilson, who has lived at Midtown Court since 1969 and contributes to Welcome

Baby, said the neighborhood group “really has made a huge difference.� “I know if anything goes wrong they will be right on top of it,� she said. She also takes advantage of dropping off her expired medications during the waste-collection event. She would normally have to take the prescription drugs to the city’s Municipal Services Center, she said.

Farah Dilber moved to the apartments in June 2011. Prior to moving to Palo Alto she lived in a large apartment complex in Houston, Texas, that didn’t offer crime updates, emergency preparation or other programs, she said.

Dilber provides Internet service for the residents’ group and creates literature for activities. She said the bite-sized approach to emergency-preparedness is good for busy people such as herself. (continued on next page)

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Upfront BARRON PARK

Helen Carefoot

Neighborhood belongings were exchanged at Barron Park resident Romola Georgia’s home on Saturday, June 16, during the first FreeSale in Palo Alto.

Trading ‘the stuff of life’ Barron Park FreeSale is hub for exchanging ideas and belongings

by Helen Carefoot

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n a small Barron Park street lined with patches of wildflowers and dandelions, rows of tables were piled high with items ranging from shawls as delicate as spider webs to stacks of vintage records and weathered books.

Neighbors at the Tippewango Court home of Romola Georgia pored over the myriad items Satuday, June 16, donating their own and taking another in return. But it wasn’t a garage sale; it was a “FreeSale.�

A FreeSale is a pseudo-yard sale in which participants exchange gently used items with their friends for free. Georgia said she hopes to use the event to promote sharing and repurposing the “stuff of life.�

The tables in front of Georgia’s white picket fence created an appealing aisle of goods. Boxes of blooming sunflowers and fennel plants lured plant enthusiasts to the gardening table; a heap of X-Men trading cards from someone’s childhood was piled upon another. An elaborate six-CD changer stood out among the electronic offerings.

Many displayed items carried personal significance to their previous owners and elicited stories and nostalgia. “I remember wearing these every day,� Georgia exclaimed as she held a pair of cropped, woolen riding pants from her youth. “It’s funny to think that they would make a wonderful costume now.�

O

Describing another favorite belonging — a turquoise brocade evening jacket — she said: “I remember wearing this jacket to several wonderful holiday events, and I just had a blast.�

FreeSale shopper Debbie Mytels, who helped organize the event, said she sees the exchange as more than an opportunity to trade belongings.

She said she hopes “people see it as an opportunity to try anything and expand (their) horizons.�

For the last three years Georgia has also been organizing ladies’ clothing exchanges for Transitions Palo Alto, a nonprofit organization founded to help people explore ways to think about their impact on the planet and decreasing their dependence on fossil fuels. She said she hopes the FreeSale will become a tradition, and that she plans to expand the concept to other neighborhoods in the future.

The event “is a great opportunity to give away things that are still useful that you don’t need. It keeps stuff out of the landfill, prevents you from having to go shopping and makes you think about the consequences of everything we purchase in terms of the environment,� she said, citing unfair labor practices and costs to the environment of producing goods. “It enables you to think broadly about your activities,� she said. N Editorial Intern Helen Carefoot can be reached at hcarefoot@ paweekly.com.

Midtown Court

other and to prepare for emergencies even in small ways can have lifesaving consequences. A case in point: When a small oven fire began in one of the apartments, residents discovered the building’s fire extinguisher didn’t work. “That’s when people really made a commitment,� she said. N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.

(continued from previous page)

“The idea of going to a full-day or half-day-long program is daunting for many people,� she said.

Taylor said social events make building a better-prepared community more feasible in a neighborhood with high turnover.

Getting new people to know each

Upfront

News Digest Stanford grads: ‘Reject cynicism, stay faithful’ Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker urged Stanford University graduates on Sunday, June 17, to “join a conspiracy of love� to create justice in the world, reject cynicism and “stay faithful� to their ideals.

The 1991 Stanford political-science graduate, football player and Rhodes scholar relayed what he said were lessons from his father and grandfather, who continually reminded him his opportunities and successes were made possible by the earlier sacrifices of others.

Stanford President John Hennessy conferred 5,088 degrees in the university’s 121st commencement ceremony, held in the sun-drenched stadium.

Of the undergraduate class of 1,763, 113 came from 50 countries outside the United States, Hennessy said. Of the 3,325 masters and doctoral recipients, 1,066 came from 70 countries outside the U.S. In the traditional Wacky Walk, graduating seniors strolled into the stadium with props, costumes and messages — balloons, inflatable palm trees, representations of beer-pong cups and the “Stanford bubble,� and posters that included “thanks Mom and Dad,� “Happy Father’s Day,� “Still Daddy’$ Little Girl� and “the only way from here is up.�

Provost John Etchemendy presented the Walter Gores Faculty Achievement awards to political science professor Stephen Haber, geological and environmental sciences professor George Hilley and economics doctoral student Luke Stein.

The Lloyd Dinkelspiel Awards for Outstanding Service to Undergraduate Education went to biology professor Carol Boggs, psychology course coordinator Brigitte Hard and graduating seniors Otis Reid and Michael Tubbs.

The Kenneth Cuthbertson Awards for service to the Stanford community went to Sally Dickson, associate vice-provost for student affairs, and John Pearson, director of the Bechtel International Center. N — Chris Kenrick

Ex-superintendent pleads not guilty Tim Hanretty pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning, June 19, to six counts of embezzlement from the Portola Valley School District, charges stemming from the alleged stealing of nearly $101,000 to pay for a construction project at his Woodside home during his tenure as superintendent of the district.

Hanretty appeared in San Mateo County Superior Court with his attorney, Michael Markowitz, denying all allegations and enhancements, according to Karen Guidotti, chief deputy district attorney. The enhancements have been added to the felony charges because the alleged theft was an “excessive taking� — more than $65,000, she said.

Hanretty remains out of custody after posting bail.

In April, Hanretty was charged with three felony counts of misappropriation of public funds from work he performed earlier as chief financial officer of the Woodside Elementary School District. Both cases will be heard in court together, Guidotti said.

In the Woodside district case, the District Attorney’s Office announced that it found no evidence that the misappropriation of funds was for his personal gain.

The embezzlement from the Portola Valley district allegedly began in December 2010, according to a statement issued June 15 by Acting Superintendent Carol Piraino.

Hanretty resigned as superintendent in late January after the District Attorney’s Office launched an investigation in the Woodside district case. The Portola Valley district then hired an outside accounting firm to conduct a forensic audit.

Piraino said the audit revealed that Hanretty submitted six invoices totaling $100,926 for reimbursement from the district’s solar-panel escrow account at Deutsche Bank.

The invoices describe work allegedly done at the district, but “the contractor never actually performed any work for the District. Rather, he performed work on Mr. Hanretty’s personal home remodel project.� N — Renee Batti

Girl, 14, bruised in California Avenue robbery A 14-year-old girl was robbed of her cell phone and bruised after being knocked over Monday night, June 18, on California Avenue, Palo Alto police Agent Robert Parham said.

The incident occurred at about 11:30 p.m. in front of Club Illusions at 260 South California Ave. during a teen dance night, Parham said. The girl was standing outside the club with several other people when a young male brushed against her and allegedly removed her cell phone from the left front pocket of her shorts.

The girl immediately noticed the phone was missing and asked the boy if he took the phone. He denied the theft. He ran into her as he fled, bumping into her shoulder and knocking her backward. He continued to flee down California Avenue toward El Camino Real, Parham said.

The victim initially said she was uninjured, but the next day she reported bruises on her chest and hip, he said.

Parham said the case is still under investigation. The robber is described as a black male, 16 to 18 years old with a thin build.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information can call the Palo Alto Police Department at 650-329-2413. N — Sue Dremann

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Upfront

East Palo Alto (continued from page 6)

multiple commercial areas, the report noted. But East Palo Alto is a relatively new city with radically changing land uses.

While having many pluses, including the redevelopment of Cooley Landing and an improving commercial real estate market, the project also faces significant challenges.

The 130 acres of parcels have 56 separate owners; 52 percent are smaller than 1 acre. The multitude of owners makes it exceedingly difficult to create a cohesive whole, since each landowner has a different timeline or expectation for development. Many are managing businesses on their properties, the report noted.

The area also lacks sufficient infrastructure and water supply. The city is exploring purchasing a water allocation, potential groundwater supply and conservation.

The area will require a $75 million investment in roadway, storm drain,

sewer and other infrastructure, and the cost of additional water is not included in that sum, the report noted.

Elimination of the city’s redevelopment agency has also significantly limited its ability to implement the plan. Prior to its demise due to state budget cuts, the redevelopment agency could have granted up to $12 million for infrastructure and community benefits. Agency funds provided the necessary local match for other public funding.

Potential funding could include federal, state, regional and local funds and private resources, including an assessment district, a community-facilities district or impact fees.

The city will work on an impact-fee study in the fall of 2012.

The report recommended three key strategies for the project: s 4HE FIRST WOULD BE DESIGNING “place creating� improvements such as parks, Cooley Landing and open space in the next few years. These would create an attractive environment for investment and improve residents’ quality of life. s 4HE SECOND WOULD DESIGN AND

complete road and infrastructure improvements along Bay Road. It is unlikely that private investors will invest millions in office or research and development projects with Bay Road in its current condition, the authors noted. s 4HE THIRD RECOMMENDATION suggests pursuing development on “catalyst� sites that are in optimal locations and have an attractive size that would attract private and public investment. The sites include the vacant site at Bay Road and University Avenue, the former Romic Environmental Technologies property and the Bay/Clark/Weeks/Pulgas block.

Although the redevelopment is a 25-year vision, the plan would be dependent on staffing, capital investments and the ability to attract public, private and philanthropic money. But significant improvements could occur in the next five to seven years — mainly in road and utility infrastructure and community facilities, parks and trails.

The city could expect an annual fiscal increase of $2.3 million from the project, the study found. N

CityView A round-up of

Palo Alto government action this week

City Council (June 18)

Budget: The council approved the fiscal year 2013 budget, which includes a restructuring of the Fire Department to add a full-time ambulance and $449,000 in expected savings from animal services. Yes: Unanimous

Council Finance Committee (June 19)

Human Services: The committee discussed the Human Services Needs Assessment and directed the Human Relations Commission to further explore a funding alternative that would trim funding by 3 percent to 5 percent from existing grant recipients with contracts $10,000 or greater and to make this funding available for new applicants. Yes: Unanimous Roth Building: The committee discussed the proposed business plan by the Palo Alto History Museum for renovation of the historic Roth Building. The committee approved the group’s proposal to participate in the federal historic tax-credit program and directed staff to further explore the group’s proposal to allow a for-profit tenant to rent space in the Roth Building. Yes: Unanimous

Parks and Recreation Commission (June 20)

Rinconada: The commission discussed the long-range plan for Rinconada Park. The commission considered ways to improve connections around the park and between the park and adjacent amenities, including the Palo Alto Art Center and the Lucie Stern Community Center. Action: None

Historic Resources Board (June 20)

564 University Ave.: The board approved a request by Steve Schlossarech for reconstruction, rehabilitation and restoration of a 1904 Colonial Revival building at 564 University Ave. Yes: Bernstein, Bower, Bunnenberg, Kohler, Makinen, Smithwick Absent: Di Cicco

Architectural Review Board (June 21)

1701 Page Mill Road: The board discussed but did not vote on a proposal by Stanford University for a new two-story research-and-development building at 1701 Page Mill Road. Action: None 260 California Ave.: The board discussed but did not vote on a proposal for a new three-story building at the current site of Club Illusions. Action: None

Public Agenda A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week BOARD OF EDUCATION ... The board will hold its annual two-day retreat to discuss long-term goals and planning. The meeting will be Monday, June 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Tuesday, June 26, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the University Club of Palo Alto (3277 Miranda Ave.).

CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to meet in closed session to discuss labor negotiations with the Service Employees International Union, Local 521, and the Palo Alto Police Officers Association. The council will also consider the proposed three-story mixed-use building at 195 Page Mill Road, and discuss the city’s policy for allowing use of wireless-communication facilities on city property. The closed session will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 25. Regular meeting will follow in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

REGIONAL HOUSING COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss the Draft Housing Element in the city’s revised Comprehensive Plan. The meeting will begin at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to interview candidates for the Planning and Transportation Commission, the Utilities Advisory Commission and the Architectural Review Board. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

BOARD OF EDUCATION ... The board will vote on a school district budget for 2012-13 and on “next steps� for reforms to high-school guidance-counseling programs. Members also will preview goals for 2012-13 and hear a report on a Stanford University study of the district’s pilot Springboard to Kindergarten program. A closed session will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26. Regular meeting will follow in the boardroom of school district headquarters (25 Churchill Ave.).

COUNCIL RAIL COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to continue its discussion of Sen. Joe Simitian’s request for input on high-speed-rail appropriation language and consider a letter to the California Attorney General requesting a public opinion on the legality of a blended system relative to Proposition 1A. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 28, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

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

Page 12ĂŠUĂŠ Ă•Â˜iĂŠĂ“Ă“]ÊÓä£ÓÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠĂœĂœĂœÂ°*>Â?Âœ Â?ĂŒÂœ"˜Â?ˆ˜i°Vœ“

Pulse

Reach for the Stars BBQ

A weekly compendium of vital statistics

POLICE CALLS Palo Alto June 14-20 Violence related Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Robbery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Theft related Counterfeiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Credit card forgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Prowler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Vehicle related Abandoned auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Abandoned bicycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Auto recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Driving w/suspended license . . . . . . . . .6 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .3 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .9 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Under the influence of drugs . . . . . . . . .1 Miscellaneous Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Indecent exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Public incident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Sick and cared for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .1 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Meet citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Shots fired . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .3 Suspicious person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Ticket sign-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Town ordinance violation . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Tree blocking roadway . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Violation of court order . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Water-main break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Welfare check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Wires down. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

VIOLENT CRIMES Palo Alto Unlisted block Otterson Court, 6/15, 1:15 a.m.; domestic violence/battery.

Unlisted block Middlefield Road, 6/16, 6:59 p.m.; domestic violence/battery.

Unlisted block California Avenue, 6/18, 1:47 a.m.; strong-arm robbery.

Unlisted block Tanland Drive, 6/20, 1:53 p.m.; domestic violence/battery.

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Menlo Park June 14-20 Violence related Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Theft related Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle related Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Driving w/suspended license . . . . . . . . .8 False display of registration. . . . . . . . . . .1 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .3 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Possession of paraphernalia. . . . . . . . . .1 Registrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Miscellaneous Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Fire call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Gang info case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Info case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Meet citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Mental evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Verbal disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Violation of court order . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Atherton June 14-20 Theft related Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle related Abandoned auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Parking/driving violation . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Suspicious vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .1 Vehicle code violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Miscellaneous 911 hang-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Animal call. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Be on the lookout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Citizen assist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Disturbing/annoying phone calls. . . . . . .1 Fire call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

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Editorial

A worthless permit parking test Without changing downtown garage policy, employees will simply relocate to and impact other streets

I

f the city is truly committed to giving Professorville and other residents living in homes adjacent to downtown some protection from the daily invasion of workers seeking a free parking space, it will take much more than the trial run that was unveiled last week.

For years residents of the Professorville neighborhood just south of downtown have been calling for a residential permit parking program that would convert their streets to permit parking only, with the majority of the permits given to residents.

But instead of developing a plan for the entire neighborhood, the city staffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposed six-month experiment covers only a few blocks, an approach that accomplishes almost nothing and just kicks the can down the road.

The affected area is roughly bounded by Emerson Street on the west, Waverley Street to the east and Addison and Lincoln avenues to the north and south. It also includes the Bryant Street block between Addison and Channing avenues, according to a map sent to residents.

Under the plan, each household would receive one free permit and the right to purchase another for $50.

But with all-day parkers needing only to relocate outside the trial area, it is hard to imagine any useful information coming out of this test other than the obvious: permit parking shifts the problem to other streets.

Professorville resident Ken Alsman, who has tried to stop the invasive parking for years, worked on a committee of residents, downtown property owners and city officials to come up with the pilot plan, which he grudgingly supports. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to go forward with it. I am a strong advocate of the pilot parking plan because it is the best we can get with the people involved,â&#x20AC;? he said this week.

In order for the trial to take effect, at least 60 percent of the residents in the affected area must support the six-month test by responding to a city survey sent out last week.

At this stage, the city apparently has no intention of addressing the actual crux of the problem: the fact that there is available parking in downtown garages but workers arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t choosing to buy permits to use them.

A key part of this problem is encouraging and assisting the employers of low-wage workers (retail, restaurants and hotels) to defray the cost of parking permits for their employees and to be able to hold the permits as a business. Currently, the city only issues permits to individual workers, a strategy that all but forces low-paid, high turnover employees to park in the neighborhoods.

A far more interesting, and less punitive, approach to testing possible solutions to the downtown parking mess would be to establish a trial program of selling greatly reduced-price permits to retailers, restaurants and hotels so they could then provide them to their employees. Doing so would enable us to see how much the current permitting system is responsible for the neighborhood parking problems.

If parking is unilaterally taken away on some neighborhood streets without addressing the parking garage permit problems, employees will simply relocate to and impact other streets.

And, with more under-parked development coming downtown, the city needs to being doing much more than trying to appease a small group of Professorville residents. One example: remaking Casa Olga into an 85-unit luxury hotel will have a significant impact on parking but is only required to have 28 parking spaces, hardly enough to serve the parking needs of employees and guests.

Last year, a city study showed that of the more than 3,000 parking spaces downtown, including 1,200 that are open to the public at any time, there are hundreds of permit spaces that sit empty in all the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parking garages. The survey showed there is a huge surplus of space at the 688-space Bryant Street garage, with only 16 percent of spaces occupied from 8 to 10 a.m. And only 53 percent occupied during the lunch hour, from noon to 2 p.m. During this period, the survey showed, there are more than 300 empty spaces in the Bryant Street garage alone.

If the city wants to truly find answers to its parking problem it will take much more than a tiny trial in the Professorville neighborhood.

Downtown businesses must acknowledge that they are at least in part responsible for many of their employees clogging residential neighborhoods adjacent to downtown.

And the city needs to be actively experimenting with permit pricing and creating improvements in the permitting system.

Alsman and others have said for years that it is extremely unfair for his neighborhood to bear the burdens of downtownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s employment growth. We agree.

But a successful solution will take a better effort among all the stakeholders, not a small piece-meal approach from which we will learn nothing.

Page 14Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;

Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions

Hohbach stubbornness Editor, Your editorial June 8 on stubborn Harold Hohbach and his project is accurate. The letter from Hohbachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s handyman Marcus Wood is full of errors. My lawsuit wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t baseless, the court agreed to void the project and required Palo Alto to demonstrate by August 2008 that any future project complies with CEQA. Never happened. The monstrosity currently before the Council, which the Planning Commission rejected, is almost identical to the 2006 proposal that was approved 5-4 by a very different City Council.

The need for identified substantial changes has been stated by the public, ARB, Planning Commissioners and councilmembers. Hohbach was unresponsive and uncooperative to these requests, insisting on minimal changes and evasive responses.

Delays in resolving problems with the project are entirely due to Hohbachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s repeated refusals to comply with requests for project clarifications and modifications.

He proposed converting the rentals to condos, claiming that was always his preference, but the letter supporting his claim that supposedly was sent to the ARB actually wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sent until years later, as verified by Commissioner Wasserman.

When councilmembers who voted for the project because all housing was rentals expressed dismay at the switch to condos, the request was withdrawn. The latest delays were due to Hohbach himself asking the City Council three times to postpone hearings on the project.

Council requested four specific modifications to the project. If all of them arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t provided the Council must vote to deny approval or their authority and valid development requirements will be successfully flaunted.

Bob Moss Orme Street Palo Alto

Courage for HSR Editor, I think it is sad that Larry Klein accuses legislators of a lack of courage in not opposing HSR (Weekly, June 8). I see the exact opposite.

Those unwilling to embrace a better vision for the future of California are the ones lacking in courage.

Changing the status quo sometimes takes courage. Should we just continue the status quo with the auto and airplane? We desperately need alternatives to the auto and airplane.

Route 101 is now up to 10 lanes. I used to think the Bay Area had a better vision for the future than car-clogged Los Angeles. Carbon dioxide is now up to 393 parts per million in our atmosphere. This is leading to atmospheric catastrophe unless we change the trajectory.

With 10 million people in the

north and 20 million in the south, California needs a good north-south rail connection. All you legislators who believe in this vision please hang tough and maintain courage, for our grandchildren.

Steve Eittreim Ivy Lane Palo Alto

Inflexible commission Editor, I should state my bias first: I work in venture capital and make my living by saying â&#x20AC;&#x153;Why not?â&#x20AC;?

Many people have jobs making new products that benefit other people because of those two words.

I was recently an adviser for a dermatology office project on Oak Grove Avenue that was submitted to the Menlo Park Planning Commission. I have no financial connection with any of the principals.

The transaction would have yielded almost a million dollars to the building owner and brought 950 new patients to downtown Menlo Park.

Although both parties wanted to close, the commission rejected the project because of a 2006 agreement that the space would be used

for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Personal Service.â&#x20AC;? It has been empty for years because it is below grade, has no street visibility, and an uninviting entrance for retail. These conditions were demonstrated to the commission. Although the owner wants to alter his prior position, the commission refused the plan because of the paper restriction.

This inflexible decision is part of a larger problem. The Planning Commission controls land and building use in Menlo Park. The results of its work can be seen from Valparaiso Avenue to the Stanford Mall on El Camino, and from the Caltrain tracks to University Drive on Santa Cruz Avenue. No airy future plans can offset its inability to deal with the present. Based on incontrovertible evidence, the current Planning Commission is incompetent, inflexible and dilatory. The members should be thanked for their efforts, dismissed with their equally inflexible staff, and replaced with an open-minded group that can adapt Menlo Park to the economic and social realities of the present.

Morton Grosser Lemon Street Menlo Park

WHAT DO YOU THINK? The Palo Alto Weekly encourages comments on our coverage or on issues of local interest.

?

What do you think of the residential parking-permit plan for Professorville?

Submit letters to the editor of up to 250 words to letters@paweekly.com.

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Check out Town Square!

Hundreds of local topics are being discussed by local residents on Town Square, a reader forum sponsored by the Weekly on our community website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Post your own comments, ask questions, read the Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blog or just stay up on what people are talking about around town!

Guest Opinion

Palo Alto â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;fiberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;hanging by a thread,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; thinner than a ... fiber?

by Jay Thorwaldson iber â&#x20AC;&#x153;is hanging by a thread,â&#x20AC;? the caller began, following a meeting of Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Utilities Advisory Commission (UAC) June 7.

The UAC members had voted 4 to 3 to support a staff recommendation to end city efforts to build a â&#x20AC;&#x153;fiber to the premiseâ&#x20AC;? (FTTP) network. The citywide project would provide ultra-high-speed connections to the Internet for everyone who wanted to, or could, help pay for the system.

There was a strong dĂŠjĂ vu in that phone call, cut short by a cell-phone connection failure.

In my return call to longtime fiber advocate Jeff Hoel I reminded him that I had been asking for several years whether it was time to â&#x20AC;&#x153;write the obituary on fiber to the home.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Premiseâ&#x20AC;? later replaced â&#x20AC;&#x153;homeâ&#x20AC;? to reflect the actual proposal, which included small businesses â&#x20AC;&#x201D; larger ones already had fiber. The idea has been discussed, debated, advocated, tested and otherwise danced around since the early 1990s.

No dates have been set for consideration of the matter by the City Council or its Finance Committee.

In a detailed critique of the staff report, Hoel challenges key assumptions and conclusions of consultants and staff. He once said he moved to Palo Alto in the late 1990s because he was told that fiber-speed connectivity was â&#x20AC;&#x153;just around the cornerâ&#x20AC;? in a community with a century-long history of innovation.

Yet even a fiber-thin thread might be stronger than it seems. Others believe the decision

F

to abandon the FTTP dream is premature, that some of the extensive analysis done in the city staff report is incomplete, and that the long-term economic vitality of Palo Alto might just hang in the balance.

The staffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wi-Fi recommendation is twophased: (1) extend the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existing â&#x20AC;&#x153;fiber ringâ&#x20AC;? built in the late 1990s to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nine electric substations, and (2) set up 88 â&#x20AC;&#x153;nodal access points,â&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;nodes,â&#x20AC;? that would be neighborhood-level Wi-Fi hubs. Phase 1 would cost about $1 million and Phase 2 about $5 million, according to Jim Fleming, a management specialist in the Utilities Department.

So the multi-year community debate over extending fiber lines might become a multi-year debate over the safety of Wi-Fi antennas, a la the recent AT&T cell-phone-tower squabble. Maybe not. Wi-Fi antennas tend to be fairly small.

Ironically, the two phases would be virtually the same as for FTTP, with â&#x20AC;&#x153;the last mileâ&#x20AC;? of fiber (between the nodes and homes) paid by subscribers.

The funds could legally come from the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fiber Fund, made up of proceeds from the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financially lucrative â&#x20AC;&#x153;dark-fiber ringâ&#x20AC;? built in the late 1990s, City Attorney Molly Stump confirmed. The fund currently is at $12.7 million, of which about $1 million needs to be kept in reserve for emergencies. The fiber ring now leases fiber to 78 commercial customers and nets more than $2 million annually.

But UAC Chair Jon Foster and two other members who voted not to accept the staff recommendation (Asher Waldfogel and John Melton) arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t convinced on Wi-Fi or that the staff has considered all financial alternatives.

Foster noted that the UAC vote was unusually narrow for the commission. He said he doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have strong views on fiber, but â&#x20AC;&#x153;all but deadâ&#x20AC;?

may be too strong a term, now at least. The key, he said, would be to broaden financing alternatives beyond the â&#x20AC;&#x153;user-financed modelâ&#x20AC;? that was a core element of the staff report and consultant studies.

For those befuddled by all the detailed giveand-take over fiber vs. Wi-Fi, welcome to Palo Alto. Perhaps a nutshell history might help: s 7HEN THE 7ORLD 7IDE 7EB BURST UPON public awareness in the early 1990s, some Palo Altans waxed enthusiastic about its possibilities, both technical and for community and neighborhood uses. A group called Palo Alto Community Network (PA-ComNet) was formed in late 1993 following a series of three meetings entitled, â&#x20AC;&#x153;An Introduction to the Wonders of the Internet.â&#x20AC;? s "Y THE 0ALO !LTO 7EEKLY WAS PUTTING all its printed content directly onto the Internet, one of the first (if not THE first) newspaper to do so, and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation was creating one of the first health care websites. s )N THE MID AND LATE S PEOPLE BEGAN seriously discussing extending fiber community-wide. Spurred by PA-ComNet and others (including strong fiber-advocates that spun off a PA-FiberNet group), the city decided to construct its dark-fiber ring, at an initial cost of about $2 million. It faltered financially at first, but after a rate adjustment started making good money that has gotten better. s #ITY OFFICIALS CREATED A hFIBER TRIALv OF THE â&#x20AC;&#x153;Community Centerâ&#x20AC;? neighborhood in the vicinity of the Main Library and the Art Center, which ran for several years before the city (faced with mounting equipment-maintenance costs) pulled the plug. s "Y THERE WAS SERIOUS CONSIDERATION of creating a â&#x20AC;&#x153;fiber utilityâ&#x20AC;? as part of the cityowned utilities operation. By fall, top city ad-

ministrators were strongly behind the concept.

Many eyes were on Palo Alto. In September 2000 former Assistant City Manager Emily Harrison spoke to the National League of Cities to a packed presentation. She said in an electronic era â&#x20AC;&#x153;those cities that have the infrastructure become the centers of commerceâ&#x20AC;? while those that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t begin to fade out.

But the utility concept faltered for reasons similar to concerns cited today. s 4HERE WAS A FINAL EFFORT TO PUT TOGETHER A public/private partnership venture involving the Canadian firm Axia Netmedia Corporation, which would build an FTTP system, then estimated to cost about $45 million. But deteriorating market conditions and Axia requesting a guaranteed revenue stream killed that prospect in 2009. s ,AST YEAR THE CITY TRIED HARD TO WIN A 'OOGLE grant to install a fiber system, but lost out to Topeka, Kansas, despite a strong showing of support from the community.

A lingering concern about the city engaging in FTTP is that the current dominant providers of high-speed Internet access â&#x20AC;&#x201D; AT&T and Comcast â&#x20AC;&#x201D; have a â&#x20AC;&#x153;track record of aggressive tacticsâ&#x20AC;? to maintain market share, the staff report notes.

Stronger terms have been applied, such as alleged â&#x20AC;&#x153;predatory pricingâ&#x20AC;? in an attack on Alamedaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high-speed (not fiber-speed) network.

So here we are, dĂŠjĂ vu and all. Yet not many eyes are watching Palo Alto these days relating to fiber. If it isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dead, it needs serious resuscitation. N Former Weekly Editor Jay Thorwaldson can be emailed at jthorwaldson@paweekly. com with a copy to jaythor@well.com.

See the Weeklyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coverage of the report and studies at paloaltoonline.com. Search for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Palo Alto fiber dream.â&#x20AC;?

Streetwise

What do you think is the biggest problem facing Palo Alto?

Asked on Cambridge Avenue. Interviews and photographs by Dean McArdle.

Philippe Leroy

Director of Palo Alto French Education Association Bruce Drive â&#x20AC;&#x153;Education. It is too much driven towards excellence in academics and will undermine other important values, such as our sense of community.â&#x20AC;?

Michael Manneh

Technology finance Kellogg Avenue â&#x20AC;&#x153;The people on City Council are not business people. ... Palo Alto needs to become an incubator for innovation.â&#x20AC;?

Samuel Wilson

Graduate student Stanford â&#x20AC;&#x153;University Avenue is really crowded.

You can never drive down it, except at 3 a.m.â&#x20AC;?

Jacquetta Lannan

Lawyer Cambridge Avenue â&#x20AC;&#x153;The cost of living is too high for those that work within the infrastructure.â&#x20AC;?

Michael Wang

Software engineer Vernier Place, Stanford â&#x20AC;&#x153;Parking. Town and Country Village is so crowded I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go there anymore.â&#x20AC;?

Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;U Page 15

Joshua Meyer Stern May 18, 1977 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; June 6, 2012

Joshua Meyer Stern died in Palo Alto on June 6th, 2012. He was 35.

Josh was born in Claremont, California, grew up in Palo Alto, graduated from the Menlo School and received his B.A. from the University of Oregon.

Josh worked for many years with Maurice and Joe Carruba at their various eateries on the Stanford campus, at Caffe Riace in Palo Alto, and with Just Catering.

Josh was a beloved son, grandson, brother, nephew, cousin and friend. His effervescent personality, notorious grin, love of fun and steadfast loyalty and generosity made him a treasured companion to his many friends and relatives.

He was the son of the late Barbara Leventhal-Stern and Michael Stern of Palo Alto. He is survived by his father; his brother Nathaniel Stern; his grandmothers Ruth Goldberg and Shirley Leventhal; his aunt and uncle Laurie Leventhal-Belfer and Howard Belfer and his cousins Jessie and Isaac Belfer; his aunt and uncle Robert Leventhal and Sarah Moore Leventhal and his cousins Daniel, Micah and Elliot Leventhal; his aunt and uncle Marcy and Richard Schwartz and his cousins Noah and Gabriel Schwartz; his aunt and uncle Dale Goldberg and Mark Dlott and his cousins Casey and Max Dlott; and his aunt and uncle Marcia Goldberg and Chuck Turner.

PA I D

OBITUARY

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Page 16Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;

Transitions Robert Glaser, former Stanford medical school dean, dies at 93

Robert J. Glaser, M.D., former dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine, died June 7 at his home in Palo Alto. Glaser, whose health had declined in recent years, was 93.

He was born and raised in St. Louis, Mo., obtained his B.S. from Harvard College in 1940 and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1943. He trained in internal medicine in St. Louis, focusing his research on streptococcal infections and rheumatic fever. Appointed to the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, he rose from instructor to associate dean.

In 1956, he became dean at the University of Colorado medical school, where he orchestrated the completion of a new medical center complex. In 1963, he moved to Boston to lead Affiliated Hospitals Center Inc., an ambitious, $50 million merger of six Harvard-affiliated hospitals.

In 1965, he became dean of the Stanford Medical School, where he played a central role in the development of the Stanford Hospital and the Stanford University Medical Center. He helped negotiate stanfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purchase of the City of Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stake in the hospital, improving access for community physicians and changing the hospital environment and teaching programs.

At Stanford medical school, he also oversaw major changes in the

curriculum to give students greater flexibility, and laid the foundation for the growth of its basic sciences programs. In 1968, he was tapped to serve as acting president of Stanford University following the retirement of J.E. Wallace Sterling.

In 1970, he left Stanford to become vice president of the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based philanthropic organization devoted to improving health care. He went on to serve as president and chief executive officer of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation from 1972 through 1983. In 1985, he became director for medical science at the Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust, where until 1997 he oversaw distribution of more than $500 million in support of medical science research.

As part of his involvement with the Palo Alto medical community, he became involved with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. In 1981, he became a founding member of its Board of Trustees and continued to serve as an emeritus trustee through 2008. For several decades, he also was editor of Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scholarly journal â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Pharos.â&#x20AC;?

He was a founding member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

He served on the boards of many organizations, including Washington University, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Packard Humanities Institute, the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, the Kaiser Hospitals and Health Plan, the Hewlett-Packard Company and the Alza Corporation. He received many professional awards and hon-

ors, including the Deanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Medal from Stanford University School of Medicine, the Deanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Medal from the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Medal for Distinguished Service.

He was married for 50 years to Helen H. Glaser, M.D., a psychiatrist in private practice in Palo Alto and on the clinical faculty at Stanford until her death in 1999. He is survived by three children, Sally Glaser of Palo Alto, Joseph Glaser II of Nashville, Tenn., and Robert Glaser, Jr., of Colleyville, Texas; and four grandchildren, Audrey Bower, Natalie Bower, Robert Glaser III and Caroline Glaser.

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations to the American Philosophical Society, 104 South Fifth St., Philadelphia, PA 19106; or the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, 2201 Walnut Ave., Suite 300, Fremont, CA 94538. N

Births Sreedhar Mukkamalla and Kiran Gaind Mukkamalla of Palo Alto, a daughter, May 27.

Ezra and Aurelia Setton of Menlo Park, a daughter, May 27.

Daniel and Laura Beltramo of Menlo Park, a son, May 27.

Joe Ngaloafe and Dana Hartman of Woodside, a son, May 29.

Cem Unsal and Judith Stanton of Mountain View, a daughter, June 2.

Memorial Service Ralph Libby, a World War II veteran and Palo Alto reference librarian for more than 35 years, died June 17. He was 88. A community memorial gathering will be held Thursday, June 28, at 2 p.m. at the Womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club of Palo Alto, 475 Homer Ave. Memorial donations may be made to the Palo Alto Historical Association for development of a Ralph Libby Family Collection.

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Celebrating a Decade of Service to the Community

of primary health care services

Thayli Gonzalez, an 8 year old patient, thanks Congresswoman Anna Eshoo for helping Ravenswood Family Health Center.

Dear Friends: ne reward in being the head of one of our nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s community health centers is that I have come to know remarkable leaders who have a single-minded commitment to ensuring people in low-income communities have equal access to health care.

Congresswoman Anna Eshoo has been such an advocate. On May 22nd when she paid us a visit to recognize the significance of our receiving a Health Care Innovation Award from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services we had an opportunity to thank her for standing by us from the start (see page 2).

We feel honored to receive this federal recognition and vote of confidence in our innovative approach to caring for patients with chronic conditions. We also know that it will be a challenge to demonstrate that an investment in prevention and early intervention at the primary care level in treating higher risk, higher cost

O

Luisa Buada

Chief Executive Officer

patients will result in lower health care expenditures at the hospital and specialty care level.

Can we effectively motivate patients to change their lifestyle behaviors such as their diet and exercise when that is the one thing we have the least control over?

Unlike polio, where a vaccine can eradicate the problem, impacting the health of a patient who is obese, diabetic or hypertensive for the better is much more complex. It requires the patient to change behaviors that are ingrained by cultural tradition or affected by socio-economic circumstances or simply lifestyle preferences. How many of us succeed with our own personal resolutions to improve our own diet and exercise?

One thing in our favor is that at Ravenswood we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do anything in half measures. It is our mission to improve the health status of the communities we serve. We are arming ourselves with data, knowledge, and skills, plus enthusiasm and determination. We have

committed ourselves to be the change we want to see in our patients by adopting an organizational Wellness Policy and Action Plan. We will walk down this path together with our patients towards a healthier future for us all.

Warm regards to you and yours, Luisa Buada, RN, MPH Chief Executive Officer

Ravenswood Family Health Center

1

Ravenswood Family Health Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to improve the health status of the community we serve by providing high quality, culturally competent primary and preventive health care to people of all ages regardless of ability to pay. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Mission Statement

Board of Directors -ELIENI 4ALAKAI #HAIR *ULIO 'ARCIA 6ICE #HAIR -ANUEL !RTEAGA 4REASURER -ARCELLINE #OMBS 3ECRETARY 6ERNAL "AILEY +AREN "LACKWELL 3ENSERIA #ONLEY #ARLOTA &LORES +AREN (ERNANDEZ *ONATHAN ,INDEKE 3ITERI -ARAVOU 'ORDON 2USSELL 2AYMOND -ILLS "OARD ,IAISON 3HERRI 3AGER "OARD ,IAISON

Advisory Council 0ATRICIA "RESEE #HAIR -AYA !LTMAN 'REG !VIS #ARETHA #OLEMAN #HRIS $AWES 2OB &REELEN 'REG 'ALLO 2OSE *ACOBS 'IBSON $R 2OSS *AFFE *IM +OSHLAND

Ravenswood Receives $7.3 Million Health Care Innovation Award Shared with 4 Partners

â&#x20AC;&#x153;M

uch of the time we talk about the challenges in healthcare more than the solutions,â&#x20AC;? says David Sayen, Regional Administrator for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). â&#x20AC;&#x153;The point of this grant is to help the people who know how to do things do more and serve as a model for others to follow.â&#x20AC;?

As a community health center, Ravenswood is the first line of offense in the battle to prevent chronic diseases. When patients do have a chronic condition, RFHC employs a combination of intervention strategies to help the patient self-manage their condition, and avert the catastrophic and costly consequences of advanced diabetes, such as loss of sight, limbs, kidney function, stroke and/or heart problems associated with high cholesterol and hypertension.

With the Health Innovation award, says Dr. Jaime Chavarria, â&#x20AC;&#x153;we can significantly strengthen the resources of our multi-cultural, bilingual chronic care team by adding a nurse educator, licensed clinical social worker and by training a cohort of panel managers, health coaches/navigators and

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medical assistants.â&#x20AC;? Several community organizations will also be involved in providing outreach prevention and education activities.

What matters most is the patientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s willingness to make some basic simple changes. Eat nutritious non-processed foods, avoid

sugar beverages, and exercise in whatever way suits you, but exercise often. However, our bodies are stubborn and slow to cooper-

ate. So the real challenge is to combat the lethargy of habit. To do this Ravenswood employs a variety of strategies. In addition to assigning a health coach, patients are offered plenty of opportunities to take advantage of a menu of classes that includes making nutritious meals, growing your own vegetables, or exercising until you work up a sweat at one of the weekly fitness workout sessions. Most recently, Ravenswood added another valuable resource. It is now the host site for an organic Farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Market every Wednesday from noon to 3 pm that is coordinated by our partner Collective Roots and has a variety of vegetable and fruit vendors.

Over the course of the next 3 years, Ravenswood will be very busy, tracking health measures for 6,000 of Medicare/Medicaid covered patients. In partnership with RFHC, Health Plan of San Mateo and San Mateo County Health System will evaluate reduced or averted hospitalizations, ER visits, and other costly procedures for those patients. At the end of the day, Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s patients will have benefited from a maximal effort on their behalf and the County may see significant cost savings.

Screening Children for Special Needs Services

A

s a pediatric medical home, RFHC seeks to coordinate medical and non-medical services to optimize a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s potential. Pediatricians are often the first to recognize a developmental, behavioral or emotional condition that requires special services. Coordinating referrals to outside agencies and educating the parent to ensure that their childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs are met becomes a second layer in primary care.

Diagnoses that call for support services vary widely, but among the most common according to Associate Medical Director Dr. Reshma Thadani is that up-

Ravenswood Family Health Center

Routine Hearing Test

wards of 16% of pediatric patients age 2 to 4 show some level of delay in speech development. In 2011, another 48 children were

diagnosed with attention deficit or attention deficit with hyperactivity, compromising performance in school.

Concern for the future of children with disabilities spurs pediatric providers to lobby for their patients to receive speech therapy, mental health or other special education services.

Knowing how constrained special needs resources are already, the pediatric community is justifiably concerned about reduced funding to this most vulnerable population. Early intervention is the way to lower special needs costs in the long haul.

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lowship in pediatric dentistry at UCSF and now serves as Ravenswood Dental Director. She is an ardent proponent of proactive preventative care and parent education. â&#x20AC;&#x153;An infantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mouth is healthy to begin with, but once colonized with bacteria that causes decay, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up to the parent to protect the teeth. But many parents mistakenly assume it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter since baby teeth fall out and are replaced with permanent teeth.â&#x20AC;?

Another factor that limits access to care is a chronic shortage of dentists willing to accept young children with Denti-Cal coverage because of its lower reimbursement rate.

Leading a County-wide Demonstration Project in Early Childhood Oral Health

A

ccording to Debby Armstrong, Executive Director of First 5 San Mateo County (one of the statewide agencies created to promote early childhood development from prenatal to age 5) First 5 recognizes that a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oral health is one of the predictors of a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s readiness for school, just as social and emo-

tional health are predictors.â&#x20AC;? Given this priority, the First 5 Commission voted to fund a 2-year Ravenswood led Early Childhood Oral Health Initiative to bring oral health screening, prevention and parent education to 11 Head Start sites in the county as well as in-home care for special needs children.

This is a joint demonstration project with University of Pacific Dugoni School of Dentistry which developed a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Virtual Dental Homeâ&#x20AC;? model to deliver oral health services to underserved and special needs populations in community settings. A specially trained team including a dental hygienist and dental assistant will go to Head Start sites equipped with a portable dental chair and a dental x-ray unit and sensor that takes the x-ray, records it on a computer that is linked to participating dentists. The project will examine 525 children at Head Start sites and 100 children with special needs in the Head Start home-based program, and those needing treatment will be referred to a network of dentists. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This project,â&#x20AC;? says Armstrong, â&#x20AC;&#x153;highlights effective, efficient use of technology to serve an underserved population where families are struggling, parents are not conversant and often donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t realize how important it is to ensure children receive oral health care early.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Head Start is a natural partner for the project,â&#x20AC;? says Dr. Thakur â&#x20AC;&#x153;because they have a mandate to report to the federal government that every child has had a dental exam.â&#x20AC;? Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more Head Start is mandated to provide education to parents on various topics and so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s structured to arrange parent education sessions for oral health.

Ravenswood anticipates that the combination of early screening and preventative care and well-informed parents will go a long way to reducing costly restorative care and paves the way to a healthier start for many pre-schoolers.

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taff at Ravenswood are taking advice they give their patients. as officially launched a Staff gram led by Wellness Champih department who developed a cy approved by the Board. At off on May 22nd, staff met in o look at barriers and suggest ealthier at work and at home. cultivating Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eaching garden at lunchtime, the Farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Market are small ght direction that really count.

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Maria Garza, a pediatric Medical Assistant won the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;big loserâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; contest by eating her big meal at lunch and eating â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;liteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at night. With that simple change she lost 5 pounds.

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Spotlight on Volunteers

Dr. Philip Lee

Volunteers Give a Smile

Advisory Council Member Profile

R

avenswood Family Dentistry held its first Community Give a Smile Days in February. Twelve dentists volunteered their services along with three dental assistants, two dental hygienists, and five sterilization technicians over two Saturdays. They provided free dental care services to lowincome adult patients at Ravenswood who have no dental coverage and canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t afford to pay out of pocket the sliding fee scale.

The volunteers provided treatments ranging from root canals to extractions for 118 adult patients. Dr. Yogita Thakur, Dental Director for Ravenswood Family Dentistry said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a wonderful way to extend care to adults who are left with no coverage.â&#x20AC;?

Working together in Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s state-of-the art dental clinic for the benefit of people who really needed and appreciated the care was rewarding to the volunteers. One of the volunteer dentists, Dr. Alan Peterson commented how much he appreciated the way the patients expressed gratitude for the care they received. He later wrote a

A $5 Million Push Closer

R

avenswood is one of 171 community health centers in the nation to receive a building capacity grant from the U.S. Human Resources and Services (HRSA) with funding made available to community health centers through the Affordable Care Act to increase their capacity to serve more people.

According to CEO Luisa Buada, the grant comes at a critical time for the organization. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For the past three years more people have come for care than we can accommodate. Our main medical clinic is a small modular that was intended to be a temporary site when we opened 10 years ago.

Our medical teams are making

Sav e th eD ate!

thank you saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love to see people that are excited about dentistryâ&#x20AC;Śit stirs my enthusiasm all over again. The patients were all great and the facilities are excellent. I look forward to coming in again.â&#x20AC;?

Special thanks to Mid-Peninsula Dental Society for their support of Give a Smile at Ravenswood Family Dentistry.

the best of it with less than optimal resources. With this infusion of $5 million from HRSA, we are closer to being able to construct a spacious 35,200 square foot, two-story health center that will double our capacity from 11,000 to 22,000 patients a year,â&#x20AC;?

Ravenswood is on the final leg of a three-year $26.9 million capital campaign of which $16.2 million has been raised to date.

In the first phase, Ravenswood constructed a state-of-the-art dental clinic and Center for Health Promotion. Now Ravenswood plans to begin construction of the new health center in 2013 with completion by the end of 2014.

To learn more how you can help, or to make a gift, contact Aaron Lones, Development, Planning and Evaluation Director, at alones@ravenswoodfhc. org or 650.617.7828.

10th Anniversary

Community Celebration!

Questions? Contact Laura Hassett at lhassett@ravenswoodrfhc.org

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r. Phil Lee joined Ravenswood Advisory Board at a time when it was on the brink of dramatically expanding the scope of its services.

At the May 22nd event for the Health Care Innovation Award, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I want to call out Dr. Phil Lee who has done so much for health care in this country, serving two administrations, first under Johnson, and then returned to serve under the Clinton administration.â&#x20AC;?

Dr. Lee is the third son of Dr. Russell Van Arsdale Lee, founder of the Palo Alto Clinic â&#x20AC;&#x201C; currently known as Palo Alto Medical Foundation, one of Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s many partners. Dr. Lee graduated from Stanford and earned his M.D. there in 1948.

In 1963 he was recruited by Dr. Leona Baumgartner to serve in Washington D.C. as Director of Health Services for the U.S. State Departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Agency for International Development (AID) where he worked on malaria eradication, nutrition, and family planning in third world countries. He remembers when President Johnson declared a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;war on povertyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in our own country. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It made us all aware of the needs of people in our nation who lack education, housing, healthcare, job training.â&#x20AC;?

Under the Johnson administration, Dr. Lee served as Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs. At the time, he was characterized by the press as â&#x20AC;&#x153;the doctorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s doctor in Washington.â&#x20AC;?

He worked to implement Medicare, chaired the task force on prescription drugs, and developed health manpower and family planning policies.

He left federal service after Nixon took office, and in February 1969 became third Chancellor of UCSF. There he organized an innovative health policy program that evolved into the UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies (IHPS) that has produced cutting-edge health services research, including early research in HIV/AIDS in 1982.

In summer of 1993 Lee was once again called to Washington to serve as Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration.

Dr. Lee served as Director of the UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies from 1972 to 1993, and in September of 2007, the institute was renamed the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies in his honor. He continues as Senior Scholar at the Institute, and Professor emeritus of Social Medicine, in the School of Medicine at UCSF. When asked what led him to join Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Advisory Council, he commented, â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is an important institution that provides high quality care to a population with so many needs. The way Ravenswood works to engage people affected by a chronic condition is unlike most approaches. It also works successfully with partner organizations to gather ideas and implement programs to meet those needs.â&#x20AC;?

See our latest videos at www.ravenswoodfhc.org

Cover Story

Anna Yon, center, of San Jose and teammates from the Aquamaidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Circusâ&#x20AC;? team float upside down underwater in formation while practicing their routine at the San Jose State Aquatics Center on June 19.

Pursuing

Aquamaids club sends synchronized swimmers to nationals

perfection A

PHOTOS BY VERONICA WEBER | TEXT BY BRYCE DRUZIN ccordion music plays on speakers as eight swimmers from the Santa Clara Aquamaids Synchronized Swimming Club simultaneously mime with their hands while treading water, hold their legs in the air with heads submerged and lift teammates skyward â&#x20AC;&#x201D; all while trying to hold a smile.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We get teased about smiling,â&#x20AC;? head coach Chris Carver said during a Monday practice. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But would you want us to look like weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in agony?â&#x20AC;?

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all part of the routine Santa Claraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Circusâ&#x20AC;? team will perform at the national champion(continued on page 19)

Above: Swimmers from team â&#x20AC;&#x153;Irishâ&#x20AC;? run through their routine on deck while coach Kendra Zanotto, right, looks on. Left: Swimmers from â&#x20AC;&#x153;Circusâ&#x20AC;? practice their ballet leg poses. Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;U Page 17

Cover Story

Clockwise from top left: Jacklyn Luu of San Jose applies zinc oxide to her face to protect it from the sun; Claire Wang, bottom, demonstrates her smile while treading water; Coach Kendra Zanotto checks in with swimmers from team â&#x20AC;&#x153;Irishâ&#x20AC;? about the strengths and weaknesses of their routine during a practice at Gunderson High School pool; Michelle Roysental, bottom, of San Jose hoists Elle Billman of Palo Alto into a flipping handstand.

Page 18Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;

Cover Story

Team â&#x20AC;&#x153;Irishâ&#x20AC;? members get psyched up with a cheer before performing their routine. sport may find the bluntness offputting but that the directness was (continued from page 17) necessary. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You kind of get used to it. ... ships in Ohio on June 22. Circus They canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be like â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Oh, someone will be joined by â&#x20AC;&#x153;Irish,â&#x20AC;? another Aquamaids team for 13- to 15-year- was off count,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? she said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;because then everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, like, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;OK, who was olds.

Circus and Irish qualified for off count?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

Two physically demanding skills the nationals by finishing first and third, respectively, in regional quali- swimmers must learn are â&#x20AC;&#x153;eggbeaters,â&#x20AC;? a technique to tread water, and fications on May 15. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were kind of scared; we â&#x20AC;&#x153;sculls,â&#x20AC;? a technique that allows didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know if we were going to swimmers to have their legs in the make it,â&#x20AC;? said Irish member and air while the rest of their body is Gunn High School freshman Nicky submerged.

The public doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t recognize Schmidt. the physical demands of the sport, Aquamaids has more than 70 swimmers, including eight from swimmers, coaches and parents Palo Alto, ranging in age from 8 to agreed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Your core strength is huge in 22. Swimmers compete as soloists, this sport,â&#x20AC;? coach Robin McKinley duets, trios or in teams of eight.

Swimmers wear makeup and col- said.

Teams practice up to four hours orful suits that complement their movements, performing routines to a day, six days a week. The time commitment leads to girls staying music.

Routines are judged based on the difficulty, execution and synchronization of poses, movements and lifts as well as artistic impression, which is where the smiling comes in. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It kind of comes naturally after a while,â&#x20AC;? said Elle Billman, a Circus member and Palo Alto High School sophomore. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But it is sometimes hard to hold a smile when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re panting for air.â&#x20AC;?

Billman is a â&#x20AC;&#x153;flyer,â&#x20AC;? who is lifted by other team members while she â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Chris Carver, head coach holds a position or jumps.

Being the most visible position, flyers have added pressure to exup late, waking up early or finding ecute. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You have to make sure the lift time in the middle of the day to finworks, especially in competition, ish their homework. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I actually have a desk in the car,â&#x20AC;? because if it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ... itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty obvious,â&#x20AC;? said Billman, who is also said Maki Yasuda, an eighth-grada member of the United States na- er at Jordan Middle School. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So I study and do homework in the car tional team for 13- to 15-year-olds.

On Monday, team members prac- on the way to swimming and on the ticed individual parts of their rou- way back.â&#x20AC;?

What keeps young teenagers in a tines over and over again. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a perfection-based sport. sport that demands so much time?

Friendship with teammates was a Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always more you can do,â&#x20AC;? said coach Kendra Zanotto, a former common response. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because we spend so many hours Aquamaid who won a bronze medal with the United States national team as a team, we get close to everyone,â&#x20AC;? said Aimee Xu, a ninth-grader from in the 2004 Olympics.

Girls sometimes laughed at their Fremont.

Many of the girls said they were mistakes and bantered with their inspired to join the Aquamaids afcoaches.

But coaches were blunt when giv- ter seeing one of the exhibitions the club holds every year on Memorial ing their â&#x20AC;&#x153;corrections.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not going to let you off this Day. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I just liked all the makeup, the lift,â&#x20AC;? Zanotto told Rachel Ye, who swimsuits, all those preparations,â&#x20AC;? was struggling in her role as flyer to pull off a pose. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to get Yasuda said.

The Aquamaids club was founded it one way or another.â&#x20AC;?

Billman said someone new to the in 1964 and has been a major force in synchronized swimming, produc-

Aquamaids

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We get teased about smiling, but would you want us to look like weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in agony?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL

ing teams and swimmers that have won national and international competitions.

Coach McKinley started swimming with the Aquamaids when she was 10 and was on the United States national teams that won the 1973 and 1975 World Aquatics Championships.

She said the sport has changed since she competed, with patterns today being tighter and lifts much more elaborate. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nowadays itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gotten very acrobatic,â&#x20AC;? she said.

Though synchronized swimming may not appear to be a contact sport on the surface, swimmers arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t immune from injury.

Zanotto said the repetition and flexibility the sport demands can lead to strained shoulders and knees, and spectators donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see impacts that occur under water. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re getting punched or kicked, very similar to water polo,â&#x20AC;?

Zanotto said.

All team members are administered baseline neurological tests meant to aid a diagnosis in case of a head injury. In the last two years, one swimmer has been sidelined by a possible concussion, Zanotto said.

Swimmers arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the only ones that make a time commitment to the club.

In order to supplement the $100 monthly dues, parents are required to volunteer 25 hours each month at a bingo hall owned and operated by the Aquamaids. Parents who volunteer more have their dues waived.

Aquamaids board president Bob Anger said the hall earns $2 million a year in net profit, which pays for coaches, travel and pool time.

Alicia Barton, whose 15-year-old daughter, Claire, is on the Junior national team, said she spends around 10 hours a week at the hall.

Barton said the large number of regulars assuaged her initial misgivings about the gambling aspect of the hall. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When you get to know the clientele, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a social habit theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve planned (financially) for,â&#x20AC;? she said.

While most swimmers will miss occasional school days when traveling to meets, Barton said her daughter will miss five weeks to train for and compete at the Junior world championships in Greece this September.

As a result, she was unable to enroll in some honors classes, but Barton supports her daughterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to the sport. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Follow it now while you have (the passion) and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re young and healthy and have all this support,â&#x20AC;? she said. N Editorial Intern Bryce Druzin can be emailed at bdruzin@ paweekly.com.

SEE MORE ONLINE

www.PaloAltoOnline.com Watch local Aquamaids practice their routines and talk about synchronized swimming in a video on Palo Alto Online.

About the cover: Nicola Schmidt, center, of Palo Alto, and fellow teammates hoist Emily Anger of San Jose into a flip while practicing their routine at Gunderson High School on June 11. Photo by Veronica Weber.

CIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUE BROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1 CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL 26 ***************************************** THIS IS A SUMMARY OF COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS. THE AGENDA WITH COMPLETE TITLES INCLUDING LEGAL DOCUMENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT THE BELOW WEBPAGE: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/knowzone/agendas/council.asp (TENTATIVE) AGENDAâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;SPECIAL MEETING-COUNCIL CHAMBERS June 25, 2012 - 5:30 PM CLOSED SESSION 1. Potential Litigation (1) 2. Labor (2) ACTION ITEMS 3. PUBLIC HEARING: 195 Page Mill Road (Continued from 6/4/12) 4. PUBLIC HEARING: Wireless Telecomm Towers at Utility Substations Discussion and Direction Regarding City Policy for the Use of Utility Substation Sites, City Hall and Other City Property for Siting Wireless Communications Facilities 5. PUBLIC HEARING: Palo Alto Rail Corridor Study: Adoption of a Resolution Amending the Transportation Element of the Comprehensive Plan To Incorporate Certain Findings of the Palo Alto Rail Corridor Study and Approval of a Negative Declaration (Staff requests item be continued to July 9, 2012) STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS The Regional Housing Mandate Committee meeting will be held on June 26, 2012 at 3:00 PM regarding; 1) Review of Draft Housing Element and Recommendation for Authorization to Submit to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) (continued from 6/14/12), and 2. Update Regarding Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS) and Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) The City Council Rail Committee meeting will be held on June 28, 2012 at 8:30 AM regarding: 1) Follow-up Discussion on Senator Simitianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Request for Input on HSR Appropriation Language, 2) Discussion on Sending a Letter to the California Attorney General Requesting a Public Opinion on the Legality of a Blended System Relative to Proposition 1A, 3) Discussion of Possible Revisions and Updates to the Rail Committee Guiding Principles, 4) Discussion of the Meaning of Caltrain Modernization, and 5) Discussion of Possible Changes in the Composition of Representation of the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board.

(TENTATIVE) AGENDAâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;SPECIAL MEETING COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOMâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;June 26, 2012 - 5:30 PM 1.

Board and Commission Interviews- Architectural Review Board, Planning & Transportation Commission, and Utilities Advisory Commission.

Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District Notice is hereby Given that bids will be received by the Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District for bid package: PAUSD Uninterruptible Power Supply Equipment Purchase Contract No. 12-P-06-E DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK: The work includes, but is not limited to: Supply Uninterruptible Power Supplies to augment current equipment. Bidding documents contain the full description of the work.

All requests must include the Bid # 12-P-06-E, PAUSD Uninterruptible Power Supply Equipment Purchase.

There will be a mandatory pre-bid conference at 3:00 P.M. on June 27, 2012 at the Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District, 25 Churchill Ave, Room A, Palo Alto, California 94306.

Bid Submission: Bids must be received at the District Purchasing OfďŹ ce, Attn: Denise Buschke by 3:00 p.m., PTD, Room A, on Monday July 16, 2012, Room A. Bidders may request Bidding Documents Via email: dbuschke@ pausd.org or, at the District OfďŹ ce, Business Services Department, 25 Churchill Ave Palo Alto, CA 94306. Please call Denise Buschke @ 650-329-3802 to schedule appointment.

All questions can be addressed to: Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District 25 Churchill Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94306-1099 Attn: Denise Buschke Phone: (650) 329-3802 Fax: (650) 329-3803

Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;U Page 19

Arts & Entertainment Fresh o u n d s A weekly guide to music, theater, art, movies and more, edited by Rebecca Wallace

David Bartolomi

Stanford Jazz spotlights seasoned musicians and newer acts, like the wholly modern Vertical Voices

by Rebecca Wallace

S

ometimes you just know. When the four members of Vertical Voices sang together for the first time, â&#x20AC;&#x153;it was euphoric,â&#x20AC;? tenor Kerry Marsh said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very unusual thing to open your mouth to sing a note and it feels like all four notes of a chord are coming out of your mouth,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We all have the feeling of being connected to each other.â&#x20AC;? A quartet was born.

Ask most people to picture a jazz quartet, and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll probably summon up a horn, a piano, a bass and a drum set. Maybe, if theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re feeling inventive, a Hammond organ in place of the piano. Vertical Voices occupies the uncommon corner of the music universe known as ensemble vocal jazz.

Rather than singing in a more familiar swing or Big Band style, these vocalists use their voices as free-form instruments, playing with wordless sounds, unusual harmonies and tonal color. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a new generation of scatting.

The quartet is composed of Marsh and his soprano wife, Julia Dollison, with alto Jennifer Barnes and bass Greg Jasperse. A rhythm section of piano, drums and bass often backs up the foursome, with a cappella and improvisation mixed in.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a fresh sound from a fresh ensemble.

The quartet performed its first gig at the end of 2010. This summer, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s playing the Stanford Jazz Festival for the first time. At the festival,

which opens tonight and runs through Aug. 4, Dollison will serve on the faculty and Vertical Voices will perform on July 19. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a big honor,â&#x20AC;?

Marsh said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We expect a really nice and educated crowd.â&#x20AC;?

Marsh also expects a musically sophisticated crowd that will appreciate Vertical Voicesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; style, which isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always radiofriendly.

As an example, Marsh cites the ensembleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arrangement of the Maria Schneider ballad â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sky Blue.â&#x20AC;? The vocalists sing lush, clustery harmony high in their ranges, often in falsetto, with the rhythm section playing underneath.

Through the mingling of wordless sounds, Dollisonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s voice â&#x20AC;&#x153;floats along like a soprano saxophone,â&#x20AC;? her husband said fondly.

Schneider, a genre-bending American composer with a 17-member collective orchestra, was the original inspiration for the quartet. In 2010, Dollison and Marsh released the album â&#x20AC;&#x153;Vertical Voices: The Music of Maria Schneider,â&#x20AC;? using only their multi-tracked voices

Page 20Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;

Several Stanford Jazz Festival performers are pictured.

Clockwise from top left: Vertical Voices singers (from left) Greg Jasperse, Jennifer Barnes, Kerry Marsh and Julia Dollison; singer Gretchen Parlato; guitarist and singer Lionel Loueke; and trombonist Wycliffe Gordon. paired with S c h n e i d e r â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rhythm section.

When the pair wanted to perform this music live, they needed two other voices, and asked Barnes and Jasperse to join them. Now the singers also perform new music; all four compose and arrange; and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re working on their first album together.

A handful of videos on Vertical Voicesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; website give a preview of the album, with the four singers performing the dreamy Pat Metheny number â&#x20AC;&#x153;Travelsâ&#x20AC;? (with words by Dollison) and the wordless, energetic â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Cry and the Smile,â&#x20AC;? composed by Nando Lauria.

The Vertical Voices members are also inspired by the veteran American vocal group The Manhattan Transfer and are big fans of

the New York Voices ensemble.

Assembling their multi-layered music has an added challenge: Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s generally done longdistance. Marsh and Dollison live near Sacramento, Jasperse is based in Los Angeles, and Barnes is the director of vocal jazz studies at the University of North Texas.

The four also have a myriad of other music obligations. Marsh auditions choir singers to perform with Ben Foldsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; symphony-orchestra shows; Dollison teaches at Berkeleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jazzschool Institute; and Jasperseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teaching locales include the New York Voices Vocal Jazz Camp at Bowling Green State University.

So the quartet doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t rehearse together much. With too many lags on Skype to allow remote rehearsals, the singers learn their parts on their own. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Largely everything materializes on stage,â&#x20AC;? (continued on page 22)

Arts & Entertainment

Going for the gore in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Inishmoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Players production doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pull any punches with Irish playwrightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bloodiest dark comedy loody, bloody Martin McDonagh, a playwright who never met a severed limb he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to feature in a starring role.

For another week in San Francisco (at the SF Playhouse), McDonaghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most recent play, â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Behanding in Spokane,â&#x20AC;? features not just one severed hand but dozens. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s even the equivalent of a food fight, but with severed hands instead of Jell-O. And closer to home, the Palo Alto Players are letting the blood pour forth in McDonaghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bloodiest, most limb-strewn play, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Lieutenant of Inishmore.â&#x20AC;? The gross-out factor is so high that the Players have posted signs just outside the doors of the Lucie Stern Theatre reading: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rated R; Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all feckinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; fake.â&#x20AC;?

Those signs are no joke. This is as violent as plays get, but the explosions of blood, the piles of body parts and the torrents of blood gushing down the stage are â&#x20AC;&#x201D; believe it or not â&#x20AC;&#x201D; part of a very entertaining black comedy with a surprisingly trenchant anti-violence message.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absolutely no point in choosing to do this play, part of British-born McDonaghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s series set in a fairy-tale/nightmare version of

al Photo Co u n An

Ireland, if you arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to absolutely go for it. Happily, director Michael Champlin and his game cast donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pull any punches. They seem to understand that without going full throttle on the comedy and the gore, the playâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s assertion that violence is the dumbest way to deal with anything might not register.

Special mention must be made of properties designer Pat Tyler and special effects artist Tunuviel Luv Gulamani for their outstanding work making the island of Inishmore the most bloody awful place in Ireland. Terrible things are done to cats (prop cats, let it be said), and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what sets the revenge plot in motion. Even worse things are done to people, but one of the playâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most powerful observations is that we often react more strongly to violence and animals than to violence and people.

A satiric look at the â&#x20AC;&#x153;troublesâ&#x20AC;? of Ireland, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Inishmoreâ&#x20AC;? takes as its main character a terrorist deemed â&#x20AC;&#x153;too madâ&#x20AC;? for the IRA. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s part of a splinter group, and even his terrorist cohorts are afraid of him because he takes torture to new heights. When

t ntes

21 st

B

THEATER REVIEW

we meet Padraic (Jarrod Pirtle), heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the midst of torturing a drug dealer who sells to little kids. The victim (Warren Wernick) is hanging upside down, a trickle of blood running down the length of his body and his bare chest as a result of the toenails that Padraic has ripped out.

Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about to cut off a nipple when he gets a call from his dad announcing that Padraicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beloved cat, Wee Thomas, has taken a turn.

We know that poor Wee Thomas is more than ill. The black cat has used up his nine lives, and he did not leave this planet singing â&#x20AC;&#x153;Memory.â&#x20AC;?

On a Sunday matinee, this combination of animal and human mayhem was too much for the two ladies sitting in front of me and a couple sitting behind me. Within 15 minutes of the play starting, they took their leave.

This is understandable but unfortunate. If you stick with this â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lieutenant,â&#x20AC;? thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a big payoff, and you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even have to wait too long because the two-act play is not even two hours long.

In Act 2, the body count really begins to rise as a trio of terrorists â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Troy Johnson, Henry Nolin and (continued on page 22)

Joyce Goldschmid

by Chad Jones

Melinda Marks, left, is the fetching neighbor girl who provides a diversion for â&#x20AC;&#x153;sympatheticâ&#x20AC;? terrorist Padraic (Jarrod Pirtle).

Call for Entries

21st Annual Palo Alto Weekly Photo Contest Cash and gift certificate prizes will be awarded to 1st - 3rd place winners in the following Adult and Youth categories: Portraits, Bay Area Images, Views Beyond the Bay

ENTRY DEADLINE July 6, 2012

For complete rules and submissions details go to: www.PaloAltoOnline.com/photo_contest Age: â?&#x2018; Adult â?&#x2018; Youth (17 yrs. or younger as of 7/6/12) Category: â?&#x2018; Bay Area Images â?&#x2018; Views Beyond the Bay Area â?&#x2018; Portraits Photo Title: __________________________________________________________________________________ Photo Location: ______________________________________________________________________________ Your Name: ________________________________________________________________________________ If non-resident, work location or school you attend: _______________________________________________ Email: ______________________________________________________________________________________

Entry fees: Adult $25 per image Youth $15 per image One entry per category You may use this form to mail payment for entries submitted by email

Address: ___________________________________________________________________________________

and/or to mail your images on a CD. No print submissions.

City/Zip: _____________________

Matted prints for winning entries

Day Phone: ___________________________

will be requested of the photogra-

Entry submission implies agreement of statement below.

This photograph is my original work and was taken in the past 5 years. I understand that the Palo Alto Weekly reserves ďŹ rst publishing and online rights to winning entries and those chosen for exhibition. Judges will use their discretion as to whether an image needs to be recatagorized. Judges decisions are ďŹ nal.

Photographerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Signature _____________________________________________________________________

pher for exhibition.

For questions call 650.223.6588 or e-mail photocontest@paweekly.com

Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;U Page 21

Arts & Entertainment

Lieutenant

(continued from page 21)

Martin Gutfeldt â&#x20AC;&#x201D; attempts to deal with their crazy, grief-stricken cohort. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have much luck, but Mairead (Melinda Marks), a fetching neighbor girl with a talent for shooting out cowsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; eyes, succeeds quite nicely in taking Padraicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention away from the Wee Thomas problem.

The real clowns of the piece are Padraicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dad, Donny (Dan Roach), and long-haired neighbor boy Davey (Ryan Mardesich). These are fools of the highest order, and part of their hilarity comes from an inability to be fazed by anything, even if it requires burning off fingerprints.

From fingers.

Pirtle as Padraic is about as sympathetic as a terrorist can get. Padraicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lust (and talent) for violence

)

# $% ! & ! #& $ ' # "#%"! &## ( ! # ! $ "# ! *

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*

is undoubtedly rooted in his rough Inishmore upbringing, but as his soft spot for cats demonstrates, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a sensitive soul. After one particular torture session, he makes sure his victim has bus fare to get to the hospital for a tetanus shot, stat. He acknowledges that he has not been washing the razor blade he uses in his bloodletting.

Oh, the bloodletting. The special effects involving gunshots to the head, with bright red splatters and bits of ... stuff ... hitting the wall are just about perfect. The audience groans and laughs almost simultaneously, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the McDonagh sweet spot. When you see â&#x20AC;&#x153;bloodâ&#x20AC;? running down and dripping off the edge of the stage, you have to laugh.

The absurdity of violence cannot be denied and neither can the risky, rewarding appeal of â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Lieutenant of Inishmore.â&#x20AC;? N What: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Lieutenant of Inishmoreâ&#x20AC;?

by Martin McDonagh, presented by Palo Alto Players

+ *

)

Written By

Facebook.com/MoonriseKingdom

MoonriseKingdom.com

Info: Go to paplayers.org or call 650329-0891.

Pa lo Alto

of

31st Annual

COOK OFF & Summer Festival

When: Through July 1, with 8 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday and 2:30 p.m. matinees on Sundays Cost: Tickets are $20-$29 general, with a $4 discount for seniors; and $28 for students 25 and younger.

Wes Anderson Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola Directed By

#MoonriseKingdom

Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto

ty Ci

Page 22Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;

Fresh sounds (continued from page 20)

Marsh said.

Plenty of other new sounds will be materializing this summer at Stanford Jazz. Now in its 40th season, the festival begins tonight in Dinkelspiel Auditorium with the Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez.

Besides the members of Vertical Voices, other young performers include singers Sasha Dobson and Gretchen Parlato on Aug. 1, and Menlo Park native and pianist Taylor Eigsti on July 30. Festival founder and director Jim Nadel will lead his annual â&#x20AC;&#x153;Early Bird Jazz for Kidsâ&#x20AC;? program to attract an even younger generation, on June 23.

The festival lineup also includes performances by venerable drummer Roy Haynes; trumpeter Ray Brown, a former member of Stan Kentonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s band; bebop saxophonist Charles McPherson; Julian Lage,

Victor Lin and Jorge Roeder playing â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hot Clubâ&#x20AC;? acoustic jazz on fiddle, guitar and bass; and singer Luciana Souza performing Brazilian jazz with guitarist Romero Lubambo. N What: The concerts and lectures of the Stanford Jazz Festival, running concurrently with jazz camp and adult jazz residencies for students Where: Stanford University, with venues including Dinkelspiel Auditorium and Campbell Recital Hall. (Vertical Voices performs at 7:30 p.m. July 19 in Dinkelspiel.)

When: Concerts run June 22 through Aug. 4, mostly in the evenings.

Cost: Ticket prices vary, with discounts available for students, children and groups.

Info: Go to stanfordjazz.org or call 650-725-ARTS.

A&E DIGEST ART CENTER RE-OPENING PLANNED ... The Palo Alto Art Center has set the date ... to officially reopen, that is. After $7.9 million worth of renovations, the center is set to reopen on Saturday, Oct. 6, with a open house of all-ages art activities, live music and dance, art demos, and of course a ribboncutting. The center has been closed since April 2011 and is expected to

emerge from the construction with revamped exhibition spaces, a new childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wing and gallery shop, and spiffed-up landscaping, lighting, windows and climate-control systems. The open house will go from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1313 Newell Road, and will also include new installations by several artists.

For details, go to cityofpaloalto.org/ artcenter.

Eating Out Michelle Le

the soup can be garnished with onion, lettuce, tortilla chips, radishes or avocado. The fish taco ($4.50) was another unequivocal hit â&#x20AC;&#x201D; so delicately fried that the flavor really shone through.

Another visit was less successful.

The chicken mole rojo ($13.50) consisted of a few dry chunks of white meat drowning in a thick red sauce.

While the manager would not tell me the ingredients used in the Luluâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s version, it lacked the complexity of flavors of the chilies, seeds, spices and chocolate used in other moles I have savored. The dish came with a choice of beans â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the refried beans were delicious â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and fresh warm corn tortillas. An appetizer of cheese nachos ($6.50) arrived ice-cold, but the mishap was quickly and graciously remedied.

The Luluâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drink menu includes aguas frescas, horchata (a Mexican beverage made with rice and cinnamon) and a selection of margaritas ($7).

Despite some glitches here and there, servers were genuinely upbeat, friendly and eager to please. Madeto-order fresh dishes take time to prepare â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with sometimes disconcertingly long waits â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but each staff person made it a point to acknowledge any delay with sincere regret.

I like and admire what Luluâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is trying to do in terms of modifying traditional Mexican dishes for our health-conscious sensibilities. When the dishes are done right, they really do combine the best of both worlds.

But there are still plenty of details to address. N

The taco salad has a choice of meat with corn, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa fresca, avocado and cheese in a flour-tortilla shell.

Luluâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on Main Street 163 Main St., Los Altos 650-559-8226 lulusmexicanfood.com Hours: Mon.-Sat. 8 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun. 8 a.m.-8 p.m.

Price range: $4.95-$15-50

Reservations

Banquet

Credit cards

Catering

Lot parking Alcohol Takeout

Highchairs

Wheelchair access

Outdoor seating Noise level: Average Bathroom Cleanliness: Good

PENINSULA

Slow food, Mexican-style New Luluâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eatery delivers fresh, tasty dishes, but waits can be long

by Ruth Schechter

T

hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a whole new subset of Mexican food pervading the mid-Peninsula. The latest generation of burritos, tacos, tamales and other icons of Mexican cuisine is touting freshness, sustainability and organic, local ingredients. In principle, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good thing.

Luluâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on Main Street, which opened in January in Los Altos, is the newest branch of a local chain that started in West Menlo Park in 2005, then expanded to Palo Alto and San Carlos. The business keeps freshness at the fore. An open kitchen displays piles of lettuce, avocados, peppers and other ingredients ready at hand for kitchen workers to dice, slice and prep for an extensive menu of mostly traditional Mexican dishes.

A salsa bar holds about 10 variations made fresh every morning, ranging from mild roasted red salsa to bright green tomatillo sauce. The manager told me that the kitchen uses only olive and canola oil, and that tortilla chips are made fresh all day long.

The largest of the four Luluâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s restaurants, the Los Altos branch has about 15 inside tables, plus outdoor seating both in front and back. Concrete floors, shiny metal tables and chairs, wide-screen TV, pumpkincolored walls and Katy Perry blasting away make for a young mainstream vibe.

The menu is posted along one wall, so patrons need to find a spot to decide on their selection before getting in line to order. Once the order is placed, you take a seat and wait for your number to be called. In theory, all well and good, but when the weather is too chilly to eat outside, the floor plan creates uncomfortable logjams.

On two evening visits, the place

was packed, which meant that patrons were stalled by the door trying to read the menu, backed up among the tables to order and then bottlenecked by the bus station staring at diners and praying for a spot to open up before their number was called.

Because of the barrage of teens and families, the salsa station was not maintained, the utensils were not well stocked and crumbled napkins remained on the floor.

A late-afternoon visit went much more smoothly, but the layout remains illogical and can be intrusive to those already seated. The place needs a designated queue.

As for the food, flavors are fresh and well-defined. Most selections come with a selection of meat, including pollo asado (grilled chicken), carnitas (slow-roasted pork), machaca (shredded beef), albanil (seasoned ground beef and chorizo) and chile colorado (seasoned pork in tomato sauce). The menu includes several gluten-free and vegetarian options, and pinto, black and refried beans are cooked without animal products.

The chimichanga ($7.95), a deepfried burrito served with your choice of meat, was accompanied by a colorful dabs of sour cream, salsa and guacamole. Although a little drab for my taste, it was light and not at all greasy, and the variety of condiments came in handy to add a little punch.

Shrimp ceviche tostada ($4.50) was a generous mound of shrimp in a strangely sweet red sauce over a crisp corn tortilla.

A cup of the pozole soup ($4), made with chunks of chicken and tender hominy in a mellow green broth, was simply fabulous. Though rich and well-balanced all on its own,

Discover the best places to eat this week!

AMERICAN

CHINESE

Armadillo Willyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Chef Chuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

941-2922 1031 N. San Antonio Road, Los Altos www.armadillowillys.com

948-2696 1067 N. San Antonio Road www.chefchu.com

Cheese Steak Shop

Mingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

326-1628 2305-B El Camino Real, Palo Alto

856-7700 1700 Embarcadero East, Palo Alto www.mings.com

Luttickenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 854-0291 3535 Alameda, Menlo Park www.luttickens.com

The Old Pro 326-1446 541 Ramona Street, Palo Alto www.oldpropa.com STEAKHOUSE

Sundance the Steakhouse 321-6798 1921 El Camino Real, Palo Alto www.sundancethesteakhouse.com

New Tung Kee Noodle House 947-8888 520 Showers Drive, Mountain View www.shopmountainview.com/luvnoodlemv INDIAN

Janta Indian Restaurant 462-5903 369 Lytton Ave. www.jantaindianrestaurant.com

Thaiphoon 323-7700 543 Emerson Ave, Palo Alto www.ThaiphoonRestaurant.com

Read and post reviews, explore restaurant menus, get hours and directions and more at ShopPaloAlto, ShopMenloPark and ShopMountainView

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ON YOUR MARK â&#x20AC;Ś GET SET â&#x20AC;Ś VOTE! In this year's Best of we cheer the Olympian businesses that champion the Palo Alto area -- the Peninsula's gold-medal LANE 1 restaurants, retailers and services.

RESTAURANTS Best Ambiance Best Bar/Lounge Best California Cuisine Best Chinese Restaurant Best Coffee House Best Dining With Kids Best French Restaurant Best Fusion Restaurant Best Indian Restaurant Best Italian Restaurant Best Latin American Cuisine Best Meal Under $20 Best Mediterranean Restaurant Best Mexican Restaurant Best New Restaurant Best Outdoor Dining Best Restaurant To Splurge Best Romantic Restaurant Best Solo Dining Best Sports Bar Best Sunday Brunch Best Sushi/Japanese Restaurant Best Thai ReStaurant Best Vegetarian/Vegan Cuisine Best Wine Bar

LANE 3

SERVICE Best Auto Care Best Chiropractor Best Day Spa Best Dentist Best Dry Cleaner Best Fitness Classes Best Frame Shop Best Gym Best Hair Salon Best Hotel Best Manicure/Pedicure Best Massage Best Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Haircut Best New Service Business Best Orthodontist Best Personal Trainer Best Plumber Best Shoe Repair Best Skin Care Best Travel Agency Best Value Hotel/Motel Best Veterinarian Best Yoga

LANE 2

FOOD & DRINK Best Bagels Best Bakery/Desserts Best Breakfast Best Burgers Best Burrito Best Deli/Sandwiches Best Grocery Store Best Happy Hour Best Ice Cream/Gelato Best Milkshake Best New Food/Drink Establishment Best Pizza Best Produce Best Salads Best Seafood Best Steak Best Takeout Best Yogurt

WE TOOK A VOTE: 2011

LANE 4

Three-Time Winner: Best Seafood

ÂŽ

A Bay Area tradition in Palo Alto

La Bodeguita Customers are the Best.

463 S. CALIFORNIA AVENUE, PALO ALTO 650-326-7762 | WWW.LABODEGUITA.COM

Serving the best Chinese Cuisine in Palo Alto since 1956

RETAIL Best Beauty Supply Best Bike Shop Best Bookstore Best Boutique Best Eyewear Best Flower Shop Best Furniture Store Best Gift Shop Best Green Business Best Hardware Store Best Home Furnishings Best Jewelry Store Best Lingerie Wear Best Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Apparel Best New Retail Business Best Nursery/Garden Supply Best Pet Store Best Pharmacy Best Shoe Store Best Sporting Goods and Apparel Best Stationery Store Best Toy Store Best Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Apparel

Serving the freshest seafood and prime dry aged steaks ,UNCH s $INNER (Monday - Friday) "RUNCH s $INNER Saturday & Sunday Happy Hour 4-7pm daily

(650) 323-1555 www.scottsseafoodpa.com

855 El Camino Real #1 Town and Country Village, Palo Alto

2012 LANE 5

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Best Art Gallery Best Live Entertainment Best Nightlife Place Best Wifi Hot Spot Best Palo Alto Park Best Place To Go For A Run Best Place For A Kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Playdate

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A burger, a bull, a ball game & beer â&#x20AC;&#x201D; yeah, baby!â&#x20AC;?

Fresh, hand tossed, artisan pizza too!

See you atâ&#x20AC;Ś

The

BEST BAR 2011 BEST SPORTS BAR

541 Ramona Ave., Palo Alto s WWW OLDPROPA COM

2011

BEST OF

Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s BEST AUTO CARE!

A vote for DAVEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S is a vote for a Palo Alto Business!

Our Reputation is Built on Quality Customer Care and Service Mingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chinese Cuisine and Bar

1700 Embarcadero Road â&#x20AC;˘ 650.856.7700 www.mings.com

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830 E. Charleston at FabianĂ&#x160;Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;Ă&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;­Ă&#x2C6;xäŽĂ&#x160;Ă&#x17D;Ă&#x201C;nÂ&#x2021;Ă&#x2C6;xĂ&#x17D;Ă&#x2021;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;www.davesauto830.com

Eating Out

Shop Talk

EAST PALO ALTO GETS AN IZZYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ...

As Izzyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brooklyn Bagels celebrates its 16th year in Palo Alto at 477 S. California Ave., it has opened a second shop in East Palo Alto. Located at 2220 University Ave. at Bell Street, it sits behind Three Brothers Tacos in a small strip mall. Izzyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s general manager Diana Arzate said she was thrilled with the new venue. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have been looking for a second location for at least five years, but we were having trouble finding a spot nearby with reasonable rent,â&#x20AC;? she said, adding that she has lived in East Palo Alto for 13 years and not found any healthful options for breakfast in town.

The 2,000-square-foot bagel shop has scheduled a grand opening, with free bagels, for July 4.

by Daryl Savage

SAY CHEESE; PIAZZA TO EXPAND ...

Piazza Fine Foods at 3922 Middlefield Road in Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Charleston Center is in the midst of growing another 4,000 square feet, an increase of about 20 percent. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always been limited for space here, so weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been thinking about expanding for a long time,â&#x20AC;? said Gary Piazza, who shares ownership of the 25-year-old market with his two brothers and father. Piazza is expanding into the space next door that became vacant following the departure of Gentle Dental earlier this year. The new space will be dedicated to increas-

ing the size of the storeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheese shop, and will also house an expanded meat and deli department. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We expect to have about 500 varieties of cheeses,â&#x20AC;?

Piazza said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are so many new cheese makers around here. People keep asking me about more local items, so now I can bring in these small boutique cheeses from areas like Petaluma and Fort Bragg.â&#x20AC;? Piazza also plans to increase seating to about 20 seats both indoors and outdoors. The expected opening is Oct. 1. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But if everything goes well, we could open by mid-September,â&#x20AC;? Piazza said.

SHOKOLAAT SHUTTERED ... Shokolaat Restaurant at 516 University Ave.

in Palo Alto served its last truffle on June 16. The buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s landlord plans to convert the downtown building to retail and office space in another year, and though he offered Shokolaat one more year of life before the conversion, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t interested in taking it,â&#x20AC;? said co-owner Shekoh Moossayi, who shared ownership of the restaurant with her husband, Mark Ainsworth. The couple plans to move to France.

NEW RESTAURANTS AT STANFORD ... The fast-casual Mexican grill Chipotle opened this month at Stanford Shopping Center, next to Pinkberry.

Although the menu is identical to those of other restaurants in the chain, the interior has a different look, with a long, sleek contemporary style. Also newly opened in the mall is Yucca de Lac, a tropical-looking indoor/outdoor Asianfusion restaurant. Located near Califor-

nia Pizza Kitchen, Yucca de Lac hails from Hong Kong, where it has been a mainstay for 50 years.

BETSEY GOES BANKRUPT ... The news is not so great for Betsey Johnson, whose unconventional, high-end clothing and accessories store is no more. The company has filed for bankruptcy, forcing all of its 63 stores to close, including the one at Stanford Shopping Center. The only items that remained were the black-and-white checkered tile floor and a handwritten sign on the window that said â&#x20AC;&#x153;Closed Forever.â&#x20AC;? But even those remnants were covered recently when the space was boarded up, awaiting a new tenant. Betsey Johnson fashions can still be found at Nordstrom and Bloomingdaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

Contact Daryl Savage at shop talk@paweekly.com.

Go to PaloAltoOnline.com and Vote!

Vote online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com/best_of OR Scan the QR Code and vote with your mobile phone!

University Art

BEST GYM IN 2011!

Visit us and see why weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re #1!

1-DAY

GUEST PASS*

LINDBERG MYKITA ZERO G MASUNAGA TC CHARTON PAUL & JOE OAKLEY BARTON PERRIERA THEO DAVID YURMAN GOTTI JF REY BELLINGER

*One pass per person. Valid for ďŹ rst time, local residents. Must have photo ID. Expires 7/10/12.

Dr. Joanne Hu

(650) 318-6088 paloaltojcc.org/membership

EyeMed and VSP Providers 2750 MiddleďŹ eld Rd, Midtown Palo Alto

(650) 321-3382 www.ubereyes.com

UniversityArt.com

Thanks for voting OFJCC

650-328-3500

Vote by July 8

FOUR YOUR EYES ONLY TO W

E

E

O

AL

Y

PA L

KL

BEST OF 2009

2011 2010

2011

Vote For Us Best Plumber Experience The Difference Energy Star Equipment Rebates Available Senior Discounts Available License #797913

(650) 856-3400

1805 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (Between Park & Leland) s WWW LUXPALOALTO COM

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about time you were treated like royalty without paying the price.

Vote for us Best Dentist!

Open for you from 6am to 9pm!

1765 East Bayshore Road, #H, East Palo Alto, CA

6 5 0 - 3 2 1 - 6 9 1 1 w w w. 6 t o 9 d e n t a l . c o m

www.PaloAltoPlumbing.net 24 hour Emergency Service

Comida Fresca...Salsa Caliente!

Best Takeout

PALO ALTO 650-327-TACO (8226) LOS ALTOS 650-559-TACO (8226)

www.lulusmexicanfood.com Best Mexican Food

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Movies

SEE THE COMEDY

SENSATION THE WORLD IS FALLING IN LOVE WITH

OPENINGS

Brave ---1/2

NOW PLAYING AT THEATRES EVERYWHERE Check Local Listings For Theatres And Showtimes

.

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(Century 16, Century 20) There is something courageous about Pixarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest animated offering. Of the 11 feature films Pixar has produced to date, 10 have focused on a male protagonist. There have been boy toys (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Toy Storyâ&#x20AC;?), boy bugs (â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Bugâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lifeâ&#x20AC;?), boy beasts (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Monsters, Inc.â&#x20AC;?) and even boy robots (â&#x20AC;&#x153;WALL-Eâ&#x20AC;?).

Boys, boys, boys.

Occasionally a strong female character shares the spotlight with the leading male â&#x20AC;&#x201D; such as Elastigirl in 2004â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Incrediblesâ&#x20AC;? and EVE in â&#x20AC;&#x153;WALL-Eâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but for the most part Pixar has been a toon town brimming with testosterone. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Braveâ&#x20AC;? breaks the mold with its vivacious heroine and a plot that explores her relationship with her mother. It would have been easy to follow the generic â&#x20AC;&#x153;young adventurer embarks on a life-changing questâ&#x20AC;? formula. But some of the best movies are those that dare to be different. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Braveâ&#x20AC;? dares.

Set in the 10th century in the Scottish kingdom of DunBroch, the story follows bow-wielding Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald), the daughter of King Fergus (voice of Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (voice of Emma Thompson). Elinor is determined to make Merida a polished princess, while Meridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interests are more in line with her fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s warrior ways.

Meridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s defiance hits a peak when Elinor invites three suitors to compete for her daughterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hand in marriage. The resulting argument causes a rift between Elinor and Merida.

Storming off, Merida finds herself at the doorstep of an eccentric witch, who offers her a chance to be free of her motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s influence. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the first rule in the fantasy guidebook?

Never trust a witch. Soon Merida must do everything in her power to reverse the witchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spell. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Braveâ&#x20AC;? features arguably the best animation ever to grace the big screen. The visuals are fluid and vibrant, from the rolling Highland hills to the crimson strands of Meridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hair. The picture is also awash in

playful humor, with plenty of laughs coming courtesy of Meridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three mischievous brothers (and one awkward bear). Many of the voice actors are Scottish-born (Macdonald, Connolly, Kevin McKidd and Robbie Coltrane of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Harry Potterâ&#x20AC;? franchise, to name a few).

Lads may be disappointed by the wealth of feminine energy, but I found it refreshing. The relationship that evolves between mother and daughter is heartfelt (keep the Kleenex close during the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s climax).

There is a surprising beauty to â&#x20AC;&#x153;Braveâ&#x20AC;? that transcends its visual excellence. This one is worth the risk.

Rated PG for some scary action and rude humor. One hour, 40 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Tyler Hanley

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World --

(Century 16, Century 20) In 21 days, a 70-mile-wide asteroid will vaporize the Earth: no more putting off that bucket list. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the premise of the comedy-drama â&#x20AC;&#x153;Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.â&#x20AC;?

Writer-director Lorene Scafaria has a strong starting point there, though the road trip that follows is something of a ramble instead of a well-mapped journey. Steve Carell plays Dodge Petersen, a sad-sack insurance agent â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with a bluntly symbolic name â&#x20AC;&#x201D; who canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t embrace the â&#x20AC;&#x153;anything goesâ&#x20AC;? ethic seizing his friends during these end days. Left by his wife, Dodge dutifully reports to work and resists the urging of friends (including Connie Britton and Rob Corddry) to find the nearest warm body. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not going to spend the last month of my life getting to know someone,â&#x20AC;? he insists. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ridiculous.â&#x20AC;?

Of course thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s precisely what happens when Dodge abruptly gets to know his neighbor Penny (Keira Knightley), a flittering Brit whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about had it with her boyfriend (Adam Brody). Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s her parents she pines to see before the end of the

world, so with Dodgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s encouragement (and the promise of a private plane at the end of the rainbow), Penny grabs an armload of record albums and hits the road. Dodge has his own agenda: to reunite with his high-school sweetheart, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the one that got away.â&#x20AC;?

Just as no rocket scientist can save this world, one isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t needed to guess where the story is headed: the 40something Dodge and 28-year-old Penny will emotionally bond and fall in love. Scafaria settles for convention within her unconventional premise, willfully avoiding the question of whether soulful love can be understood to be real â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as opposed to a sort of â&#x20AC;&#x153;battlefield commissionâ&#x20AC;? marriage of convenience under the extreme duress of the apocalypse.

Carell and Knightley make appealing leads, grounding the material and helping to earn its tones of melancholy and sweetness. Dodgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gentle soul and Pennyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lively one prove complementary in making their way through a changed world, and the actors enable suspension of disbelief. (Also crucial: a late appearance by an unbilled actor of note.) In an open frame of mind, one can easily accept the film as a life-affirming romance, despite the foregone conclusion.

But for the apocalyptic circumstances to be more than cheap window dressing, Scafaria owes us more thought and insight and satiric zest than her film offers. Not enough of the jokes about total abandon, or the lack thereof, in the face of doom land on sure footing. And worse, a running gag about Dodgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dimwitted Hispanic maid (Tonita Castro) continuing to clean his apartment condescends terribly: Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s too happy to serve to consider going home to her family. Yeah, maids love their jobs and their bosses more than life itself. That sounds right. Emotional resonance is for middle-class white people.

Fans of the leads probably wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel cheated, and Scafaria sticks to her apocalyptic promise, but â&#x20AC;&#x153;Seeking a Friendâ&#x20AC;? should have looked a bit harder.

Rated R for language including sexual references, and some drug use and violence. One hour, 42 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Peter Canavese

Your Sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sister --1/2 !!%$(# *$!(

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For a look behind the scenes with Steve Carell, Keira Knightley and more, visit www.iTunes.com/FocusFeatures

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(Aquarius) Relationships have a way of becoming needlessly complicated, as reflected by the title of the cleverly complicated relationship film â&#x20AC;&#x153;Your Sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sister.â&#x20AC;?

Writer-director Lynn Shelton (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Humpdayâ&#x20AC;?) wastes no time in (re)establishing her indie credentials and laying the groundwork for extreme awkwardness. In a wellrealized opening sequence, Mark Duplassâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Jack casts a shadow over a one-year memorial get-together in honor of his late brother (who once

Movies MOVIE TIMES Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Fri. & Sat. at 10 a.m. & 9:40 p.m.; Sun. at 10 a.m. & 9:20 p.m.; Mon.-Thu. at 10:30 a.m. & 9:20 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Thu. at 11 a.m.; 1:30, 4:10, 6:20, 7:20 & 10:30 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Sun. also at 12:30 & 3:10 p.m.; In 3D Mon.-Thu. also at 1 & 3:30 p.m.

Century 20: 10:45 a.m. & 9:10 p.m.; Thu. also at 11:45 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Thu. at 11:55 a.m.; 1:20, 2:25, 3:55, 5, 6:30, 7:40 & 10:20 p.m.; In 3D Thu. also at 11:30 p.m.

Bernie (PG-13) ((( Guild Theatre: 3:30, 6 & 8:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 1 p.m.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (PG-13) ((1/2 Century 20: 7:05 & 10:05 p.m.; Fri.-Tue. & Thu. also at 10:30 a.m.; 1:20 & 4:10 p.m. Palo Alto Square: Fri.-Mon. & Thu. at 4:15 & 7:15 p.m.; Tue. & Wed. at 1:15 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 1:15 & 10 p.m.; Mon. & Thu. also at 1:15 p.m.

Bolshoi Ballet: Le Corsaire (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Century 20: Sun. at noon; Tue. at 7 p.m. Palo Alto Square: Sun. at noon; Tue. at 7 p.m.

Brave (PG) (((1/2 Century 16: 6:10 & 9 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 10 a.m.; 12:30 & 3:20 p.m.; Mon.-Thu. also at 10:30 a.m.; 1 & 3:30 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Thu. at 4 & 7 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Sun. also at 10:30 a.m. & 1:10 p.m.; In 3D Fri. & Sat. also at 9:50 p.m.; In 3D Sun. also at 9:40 p.m.; In 3D Mon.Thu. also at 11 a.m.; 1:30 & 9:40 p.m. Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; 1:50, 2:40, 4:25, 5:15, 7 & 9:35 p.m.; In 3D at 10:30 a.m.; 12:05, 1:05, 3:40, 6:15, 7:50, 8:50 & 10:25 p.m.

The Dictator (R) ((1/2 Century 20: 9:25 p.m.

Headhunters (R) (Not Reviewed) Aquarius Theatre: 5, 7:30 & 9:55 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 2:30 p.m.

Linkin Park Living Things Concert (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Mon. at 7:30 p.m. Century 20: Mon. at 7:30 p.m.

Lola Versus (R) (Not Reviewed) Palo Alto Square: 2:30, 5 & 7:25 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 9:45 p.m.

Madagascar 3: Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Most Wanted (PG) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 3, 5:40, 8:10 & 10:30 p.m.; ; Fri.-Sun. also at 10 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.; Mon.-Thu. also at 12:10 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Thu. at 1:20 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Tue. & Thu. also at 10:30 a.m.; 4, 6:40 & 9:10 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Sun. also at 10:30 a.m.; In 3D Mon.-Thu. also at 10:50 a.m. Century 20: 11 a.m.; 12:25, 1:25, 3:50, 6:20 & 8:45 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 2:55 & 5:20 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Thu. at 11:40 a.m.; 2, 4:35 & 6:55 p.m.

Magic Mike (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Thu. at 12:01 a.m.

Century 20: Thu. at 12:01 a.m.

Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Favorite Sport? (1964) (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Stanford Theatre: Fri.-Sun. at 5:20 & 10:05 p.m.

Marvelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Avengers (PG-13) (((( Century 16: 3:20 & 10:20 p.m.; In 3D at noon & 7 p.m. Century 20: 4 & 10 p.m.; In 3D at 1:35 & 7:20 p.m.

Men in Black 3 (PG-13) ((( Century 16: 11:10 a.m. & 4:20 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 10:15 p.m.; Mon.-Thu. also at 10:05 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Thu. at 1:40 & 7:25 p.m.

Century 20: 12:50 & 7:10 p.m.; In 3D at 11:05 a.m.; 4:45 & 10:30 p.m.

The Metropolitan Opera: Don Giovanni (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Century 20: Wed. at 6:30 p.m. Palo Alto Square: Wed. at 6:30 p.m.

Century 16: Wed. at 6:30 p.m.

Moonrise Kingdom (PG-13) (((1/2 Century 16: 11:30 a.m.; 1:50, 4:30, 7:30 & 10:10 p.m. Century 20: 11:50 a.m.; 2:45, 5:10, 7:45 & 10:10 p.m.

Prometheus (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Fri. & Sat. at 10 a.m.; 4 & 10:40 p.m.; Sun. at 10 a.m.; 4 & 10:25 p.m.; Mon.-Thu. at 10:30 a.m.; 4:10 & 10:05 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Sun. at 1 & 7:20 p.m.; In 3D Mon.-Thu. at 1:20 & 7:10 p.m. Century 20: 12:45, 6:35 & 9:40 p.m.; Fri., Sat. & Mon.-Thu. also at 3:35 p.m.; Sun. also at 3:45 p.m.; Thu. also at 11:45 p.m.; In 3D Fri.-Thu. at 10:55 a.m.; 1:45, 4:35, 7:35 & 10:35 p.m.

Rio Bravo (1959) (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed) Stanford Theatre: Fri.-Sun. at 7:30 p.m.; Sun. also at 2:45 p.m.

Rock of Ages (PG-13) (( Century 16: Fri.-Sun. at 10:10 a.m.; 1:20, 2:20, 4:20, 7:40 & 8:50 p.m.; Mon.-Thu. at 10:45 a.m.; 1:30, 4:20, 7:25 & 10:20 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 10:40 p.m.; Sun. also at 10:30 p.m.; Mon., Tue. & Thu. also at 2:20 p.m.; Tue. & Thu. also at 8:50 p.m.

Century 20: 1, 3:50, 6:40, 9:30 & 10:40 p.m.; Fri.-Tue. also at 7:50 p.m.

Safety Not Guaranteed (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: 11:30 a.m.; 1:50 & 4:20 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 7:10 & 10:10 p.m.; Mon.-Thu. also at 7:05 & 9:30 p.m.

Century 20: 12:10, 2:30, 4:55, 7:25 & 9:55 p.m.

The Searchers (1956) (PG) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Wed. at 2 & 7 p.m. Century 20: Wed. at 2 & 7 p.m.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (R) (( Century 16: 11:20 a.m.; 2:10, 4:50 & 7:40 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 10:30 p.m.; Sun.-Thu. also at 10:20 p.m.

Century 20: 11:30 a.m.; 2:15, 4:45, 7:15 & 9:50 p.m.

Snow White and the Huntsman (PG-13) ((1/2 Century 16: Fri.-Sun. at 10 a.m.; 12:55, 3:50 & 7:10 p.m.; Mon.-Thu. at 10:35 a.m.; 1:25, 4:20, 7:15 & 10:10 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 10:30 p.m.; Sun. also at 10:05 p.m. Century 20: 10:40 a.m.; 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.

Ted (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 20: Thu. at 12:01 a.m.

dated Emily Bluntâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Iris). Instantly, we know where he lives, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a dark, if wry, place. Concerned about her friend and perhaps dealing with unresolved feelings of her own, Iris invites Jack to get away from it all, on his own, at a woodsy cabin belonging to her family.

But Jack arrives at the cabin to discover that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s already occupied, by a sexy woman. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt of â&#x20AC;&#x153;United States of Taraâ&#x20AC;?), Irisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; lesbian sister. The ensuing drunken meeting of minds (and body parts) becomes only more complicated when Iris turns up at the cabin to check on Jack. Shelton has more twists in store to tangle the relationships among her three characters, but it would be ruinous of me not to let those detonate on cue.

As a three-hander, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Your Sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sisterâ&#x20AC;? devotes itself to character, and the actors eagerly take advantage of the opportunity. Duplass, with his basset-hound face, has become king of the indies, and though he pushes just a bit here, contradictorily, to convey how loose and natural heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s being, he has a strong comic sense, and he generally rises to the level of his co-stars. Blunt and the sadly unsung DeWitt deliver impeccable performances, selling us on their sisterhood (despite differing accents) and the shakable but inseparable bond between them.

Shelton encourages the realistic sense of intimacy by giving the pair more than one quiet confab lying beside each other in a bed. The chamber-drama pressure-cooker of the script â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and a 12-day shooting schedule â&#x20AC;&#x201D; lends itself to meaty character development (as well as those hairpin plot turns). And the semi-improvisational approach works surprisingly well with this set of actors. Unfortunately, in the third act, Shelton betrays significant strain and questionable judgment in how she sweeps up the enjoyable mess sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s created (and thus the selfconscious â&#x20AC;&#x153;open endingâ&#x20AC;? wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t much feel like one to the viewer). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Your Sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sisterâ&#x20AC;? turns out not to be heady in theme and may not linger long after viewing, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still an enjoyable emotional wringer to be put through, in the company of a well-matched trio of actors.

Century Theatres at Palo Alto Square

Your Sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sister (R) ((1/2 Aquarius Theatre: 4:15, 7 & 9:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 1:45 p.m.

Sun 6/24

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - 4:15, 7:15 Lola Versus - 2:30, 5:00, 7:25

Tues & Wed The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - 1:15 6/26-6/27 Lola Versus - 2:30, 5:00, 7:25

Tickets and Showtimes available at cinemark.com

A WINNER.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

â&#x20AC;?

Stephen Holden

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SALON

EXTRAORDINARY NOT QUITE LIKE ANYTHING ELSE IN AMERICAN FILM.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Andrew Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hehir

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

EEEE!â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Mara Reinstein

A DELIGHT.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Mary Pols

WILL SURPRISE AND DELIGHT YOU.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

THE FILM PULSES WITH LIFE FROM START TO FINISH.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Joe Morgenstern

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

DEEPLY SATISFYING EMILY BLUNT IS DYNAMITE. â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Peter Travers

&.*-: #-6/5 304&."3*& %&8*55 ."3, %61-"44

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1 EMBARCADERO CENTER, PROMENADE LEVEL (415) 267-4893 SAN FRANCISCO

SUNDANCE CINEMAS

KABUKI CINEMA

1881 POST STREET AT FILLMORE C(415) 346-3243 SAN FRANCISCO

STARTS FRIDAY, JUNE 22ND

AQUARIUS THEATRE

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Peter Canavese

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s My Boy (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Fri.-Sun. at 10:20 & 11 a.m.; 1:10, 4:10, 5:20 & 7:30 p.m.; Mon.-Thu. at 10:40 a.m.; 1:25, 4:10, 7:30 & 10:15 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 10:40 p.m.; Sun. also at 10:15 p.m.; Mon., Tue. & Thu. also at 11:40 a.m.; Tue. & Thu. also at 5:20 p.m.

Century 20: 11:10 a.m.; 1:55, 4:50, 7:35 & 10:25 p.m.; Fri., Sat., Mon., Tue. & Thu. also at 12:30 p.m.; Fri., Sat. & Tue. also at 3:15 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 6:10 & 9:05 p.m.; Sun. also at 3:25 p.m.; Mon. also at 9:40 p.m.; Wed. & Thu. also at 9:15 p.m.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - 1:15, 4:15, 7:15, 10:00 Lola Versus - 2:30, 5:00, 7:25, 9:45

Mon & Thurs The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - 1:15, 4:15, 7:15 6/25 & 28 Lola Versus - 2:30, 5:00, 7:25

Rated R for language and some sexual content. One hour, 30 minutes.

Century 16: Thu. at 12:01 a.m.

Fri & Sat 6/22-23

LANDMARK THEATRES

430 EMERSON STREET (650) 266-9260 PALO ALTO

ALBANY TWIN

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( Skip it (( Some redeeming qualities ((( A good bet (((( Outstanding

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

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

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

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

Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City (800-326-3264) CinĂŠArts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (493-3456)

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

LolaVersus.com

EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT STARTS FRIDAY, JUNE 22

PALO ALTO

Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;U Page 27

Sports Shorts

OF LOCAL NOTE . . . Senior Andrew Luck was honored as the Al Masters Award winner at the annual Stanford Athletic Board Awards Luncheon, highlighting Stanfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s athletic success during the 2011-12 campaign . . . Stanfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nicole Gibbs has been named the 2012 Campbell/ITA National College Player of the Year in womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tennis, the ITA announced last week. Additionally, Gibbs and doubles partner Mallory Burdette were named the Campbell/ITA National Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Doubles Team of the Year . . . Castilleja has named Maeve Ward as its interim athletic director for the coming year. She replaces Jez McIntosh, who left to become Facilities, Event and Operations Manager at Stanford . . . Former Stanford football safety O.J. Atogwe signed a oneyear deal with the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. He spent last season with the Washington Redskins after six seasons with the St. Louis Rams.

Veronica Weber

BABE RUTH PLAYOFFS . . . What was supposed to be a four-team playoff for the Palo Alto Babe Ruth City Tournament, has become a fiveteam affair after an unusual three-way tie for third place following the end of the regular season on Tuesday.

Alhouse Realty, Goetz Brothers and Guy Plumbing all finished with 9-8 records behind regular-season champ B&B Builders and runner-up Adaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cafe. Without a tiebreaker to eliminate one of the three teams from the two remaining playoff berths, a play-in game will be held Friday between Alhouse and Goetz Brothers at Baylands Athletic Center at 5:30 p.m. The winner will receive the No. 4 seed and play B&B Builders on Saturday at 1 p.m., also at Baylands. Adaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cafe will face No. 3 seed Guyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Plumbing on Friday at 8 p.m. Second-round games on Saturday will find the B&B Builders-No. 4 seed loser playing at 4 p.m., and the winner playing the Adaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cafe-Guy Plumbing winner at 7 p.m.

B&B Builders is the two-time defending city tournament champion.

Recent Palo Alto High grad Jasmine Tosky will face the toughest meet of her life when she takes on many of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best swimmers at the U.S. Olympic Trials next week.

Swimmingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trials and tribulations Palo Alto High grad Tosky among the many competing for a precious few berths on U.S. Olympic Team

by Keith Peters he word is out. Michael Phelps is entered in seven events at next weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s U.S. Olympic Swim Trials, setting himself up for a possible 10 medals at the London Games this summer.

Palo Alto High grad Jasmine Tosky, however, has qualified in 12 events for the Trials, which will be held in Omaha, Neb. No swimmer

T

in America, not even Phelps, can match that.

Tosky, however, will not swim in that many events. In fact, sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s entered in only six â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the 100 and 200 free, 100 and 200 fly, and 200 and 400 IM â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and quite possibly will drop a few races in order to have the best chance of making the U.S. Olympic team.

While the 27-year-old Phelps will

Trials. I am still trying to gain experience but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m also trying to treat this meet like any other meet and just race.â&#x20AC;?

While Tosky has competed in the FINA World Championships, the U.S. National Championships and various international meets that have taken her around the world, the (continued on page 30)

TRACK & FIELD

McLain hopes to take final steps in comeback

ON THE AIR Friday Track & field: U.S. Olympic Team Trials, 6 p.m., NBC Sports Network (Comcast Cable 723 HD)

Saturday

by Keith Peters

Diving: U.S. Olympic Team Trials, 1 p.m., NBC (3) Track & field: U.S. Olympic Team Trials, 5 p.m., NBC

F

Sunday Diving: U.S. Olympic Team Trials, noon, NBC Track & field: U.S. Olympic Team Trials, 4 p.m., NBC Spencer Allen/sportsimagewire.com

Monday Swimming: U.S. Olympic Team Trials, 3:30 p.m.; NBC Sports Network; 5 p.m., NBC

Tuesday Swimming: U.S. Olympic Team Trials, 3:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network; 5 p.m., NBC

READ MORE ONLINE

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

be competing in his final U.S. Trials, this is the first for the 18-yearold Tosky. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Truly, I am a little nervous because I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what to expect,â&#x20AC;? said Tosky, who will swim her first race on Monday. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This will be my first ever Olympic Trials and I definitely do feel like a rookie, but an experienced one. Past international meets have helped prepare me for

After being sidelined by a devastating injury, Stanford grad Erica McLain hopes to earn her second Olympic team berth in the triple jump.

Page 28Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;

our years ago, Erica McLain was earning herself a trip to the Beijing Olympics as a member of the U.S. Olympic track and field team. Two years ago, she ranked No. 1 in the nation in the womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s triple jump. Last year, McLain was lying in a hospital bed, her career all but finished.

On Saturday, the career of Stanford grad Erica McLain will come full circle as she begins qualifying at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., in an attempt to earn a trip to the 2012 Summer Games in London.

This is a comeback story perhaps unlike any other in the history of U.S. track and field.

During practice at Stanford in March of 2011, McLain leaped too

far during the second phase of the triple jump â&#x20AC;&#x201D; her right foot landing half in and out of the pit, causing a severe rollover of the foot.

Her ankle gave out and the dislocation caused her foot to flip completely upside down. All of her ankle ligaments were torn and tibia broke through her skin. The injury was devastating. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was no fracture,â&#x20AC;? McLain recalled. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But, I really thought it was going to have to be amputated.

One doctor said â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be running and jumping again.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

Despite spending five days in Stanford Hospital and enduring two surgeries to clean the sand from her wound and have her tibia and fibula bones reset, McLain never gave up (continued on next page)

Stanfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Morton will run for Nigeria instead of USA

by Keith Peters hen the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top runners go to the starting line next week for qualifying rounds of the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 400-intermediate hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, Stanfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Amaechi Morton will not be among them.

Morton, who earlier this month ran the fastest race of his life (48.79) to become the first Stanford hurdler to win that race at the NCAA championships, has made his deci-

W

sion on which path heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll take in an attempt to qualify for the London Olympics.

Instead of competing at the U.S. Trials in Eugene, Ore., Morton will take advantage of his dual citizenship and compete at the 66th Cross River state/AFN All Nigeria Open Athletics Championships that begin Monday in Calabar, Nigeria. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an opportunity that you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to give up,â&#x20AC;? Morton told David Rutz of Atlanta-based Neigh-

borNewspapers.com. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be happening four years from now.â&#x20AC;?

Morton is not listed among the entrants for the U.S. Trials and wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t projected among the top 10 finishers in the 400 IH by Track and Field News Magazine.

Mortonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother, Nkem Sabena Obiekwe, was born in Nigeria while Morton was born in the U.S., thus giving him dual citizenship. He competed for Nigeria at the 12th

TRACK & FIELD

would have been only the third-fastest American at the U.S. Trials behind Olympians Bershawn Jackson (48.20) and Angelo Taylor (48.71).

The risk of having to finish among the top three in order evidently was too great for Morton.

Morton graduated on Sunday after earning a double major (one in science, technology and society and the other in Iberian and Latin-

McLain

for that, I may have given up long ago, but I constantly remind myself what a poor lesson that would teach them.â&#x20AC;?

McLain spent the spring as an assistant track coach at Monta Vista High in Cupertino. She also was a volunteer coach at Stanford, which helped take her mind off her injury. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The month that I had to stay in bed due to my ankle injury was the longest month of my life, thus far,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The few months that I had to take completely off, not even allowed to do ab/core strengthening, nearly drove me insane. It was the first time in my whole life, since I was 5 years old, that I had to take that much time away from sports.

However, my injury taught me patience and about my personal ability to overcome adversity . . . an inner strength that I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know that I possessed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The power of positivity is real. I can attest to that whole-heartedly. I spent the past 14 months mentally blocking out the pain I felt and willing myself through my training sessions. However, at the beginning of May, I began to relapse. I suffered a hamstring injury to the same leg as my injured ankle and that was the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;straw that broke the camelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s backâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; so to speak; it broke my heart and my will. I went on a bit of a downwards spiral for awhile.â&#x20AC;?

With her spirit broken, McLain said she became consumed with negative thoughts and felt the pain in her ankle more clearly than ever. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It even hurt to sleep,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I grew tired of mentally trying to stay strong and positive. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very tiresome thing to do . . . Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been crying more days than Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been happy lately . . . Dealing with injury, especially when it keeps you from something you love, is a very difficult process to go through.â&#x20AC;?

But, that process is at an end. A possible trip to London and the culmination of a dream is for the taking in the next few days. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Making the Olympic team again would be huge,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would be a testament to my perseverance and courage. And, even if I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make the team, as long as I can look back on this experience and can say I gave it my all, then, in a way, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a win. â&#x20AC;&#x153;(But) Making the team again would mean the world to me, and mean the world to my parents and everyone I have been supported by.

It would be a great end to be able to tell people â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;everyone has adversity in their life and sometimes they have to work hard to overcome.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; And, it would be really great to be able to use this story to inspire people to overcome whatever adversity happens to be part of their lives, because I think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something that everyone can relate to.â&#x20AC;? N

(continued from previous page)

Derrick runs for Olympics Stanford grad competes in 10,000 final Friday at U.S. Olympic Trials

by Keith Peters

S

Don Gosney

tanford senior Chris Derrick may go down in history as one of the best runner never to have won an NCAA individual title. However, that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean he hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t accomplished anything.

For starters, Derrick is one of the most-decorated athletes in Stanford history with 14 All-America honors, adding to that status with a third place in the 10,000 at the NCAA Championships last month.

Derrick also set the American Collegiate Record in the 10,000 meters this spring while clocking 27:31.38 during a third-place finish at the Payton Jordan Invitational.

That time made Derrick the No. 1 American this season at that distance heading into the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. While the meet got under way Thursday with the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hammer finals, Derrick will be among those in the spotlight on Friday.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when he toes the line in the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 10,000 final, with the top three finishers earning a berth on the U.S. Olympic Team bound for the Summer Games in London, England. â&#x20AC;&#x153;To make the Olympic team, coming straight out of college, being 21, would be a tremendous thing â&#x20AC;&#x201D; obviously a huge point of pride,â&#x20AC;? said Derrick, who graduated last Sunday. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to change the world or anything, but it would mean a lot to me and my family and to the people who have helped support me over the years, validating all the effort and time that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve put in to help me be a better runner.â&#x20AC;?

Derrick also is scheduled to run the 5,000 at the Olympic Trials, with qualifying on Monday and finals scheduled for June 28. His best bet, however, is in the 10K where heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of eight runners with the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; standard. The four fastest, however, ran their times last year while Derrick seconds a second group of four who qualified at the Payton Jordan meet.

It has been a long season for Derrick, who ran cross country, indoor

IAAF World Championships in Berlin in 2009, failing to help Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 4x400 relay team advance to the finals.

Earlier this season, Morton was mum on which country heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d represent this summer. Morton, however, ran 48.95 to win the Pac-12 Championships and earn an Olympic â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; standard. He then clocked his lifetime best of 48.79 for the NCAA title, ranking him No. 6 in the world.

Despite that lofty ranking, Morton

Recent Stanford grad Chris Derrick (right) will go after an Olympic berth in the 10,000 on Friday night in Eugene, Ore. track and then outdoors. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Moving up to the Olympic level, running is still running,â&#x20AC;? Derrick said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trying to balance the NCAA season and the Olympics, if Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m in good shape for one, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be in good shape for the other. For the most part, the NCAA season prepares me to race well in the Olympics.â&#x20AC;?

To get to London, Derrick will have to contend with veteran runners like Galen Rupp (26:48.00), Tim Nelson (27:28.19) and Matt Tegenkamp (27:28.22), among others. Of the eight runners with the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; standard, Derrick ranks fifth.

Derrick, however, believes he has been well-prepared for the challenge. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Obviously, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been great coaches who have helped me, from a technical side, get better with proper training,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The other big thing . . . every athlete kind of wants to be known, or admired or recognized for their accomplishments. If you want to do that here (at Stanford), you have to be really good. And I think that raises the bar of my expectations, in terms of what I need to do to really stand out. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great. Whenever you raise your expectations of what excellence is, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

without realizing it â&#x20AC;&#x201D; take steps to reach it.â&#x20AC;?

Derrick has done just that during his college career. Now he needs to do it all over again on an even bigger stage.

NOTES: Derrick wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be the only Stanford product competing on Friday. Cardinal graduate Summer Pierson will compete in the womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s discus qualifying. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s projected by Track and Field News magazine to finish seventh. Former Stanford standout Sara (Bei) Hall will run in the womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 3,000 steeplechase qualifying on Monday.

Also on the track Monday will be Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s former teammate, Lauren Fleshman, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll compete in the 5,000 qualifying despite battling an IT band injury for the past six months. Fleshman missed qualifying for the Beijing Games in 2008 due to a foot injury that left her fifth in the 5,000 finals. She did reach the 5,000 finals at the World Championships last summer in South Korea but hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been healthy since.

Also running in the 5K qualifying will be Stanfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kathy Kroeger.

The menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 5,000 qualifying that night will include Stanford grads Ian Dobson, Jacob Riley and Elliott Heath. N

on her dream and worked tirelessly to rehab her ankle.

Less than a year after the injury, McLain made the World Indoor Team in the triple jump. Heading into qualifying at the Olympic Trials, the 26-year-old has the No. 1 mark in America at 45-9 3/4.

The finals of the womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s triple jump will be Monday. While the top three finishers will make the U.S. team, only the winner (having jumped the minimum â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; standard of 46-3 1/4) will be guaranteed a trip to London. The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; standard is 46-11.

Presently, only Amanda Smock (46-6 1/4) has either standard.

McLainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lifetime best is 47-0 1/4, set prior to her injury. It ranks No. 5 in U.S. history. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a mark McLain, a Menlo Park resident, has not gotten close to since her injury. Thus, despite her miraculous comeback, Track and Field News Magazine is picking McLain to finish only seventh at the Olympic Trials â&#x20AC;&#x201D; likely based on her questionable fitness. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s frustrating. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never been in a position like this,â&#x20AC;? McLain said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I mentally just have to stay tough, stay strong and understand itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to come down to the day of . . . I just have to figure out how to deal with the limitation I have.â&#x20AC;?

Edrick Floreal, Stanfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s director of track and field, has coached McLain through her college career and has been with her every step of the way through injury and rehab. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If she can put the pressure on the ankle, the jump will be there,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 85 -90 percent mental.

She just needs to trust the ankle and let it rip.â&#x20AC;?

Floreal hoped that McLain would be able to attain the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; or â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; standard before now, just to give her the confidence boost that she needs.

Thus, training has been inconsistent. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some days. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absolutely terrible; she believes sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the worst jumper in the world,â&#x20AC;? Floreal said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some days, it looks like she could break the American record. You just donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to get.â&#x20AC;?

Floreal hopes the real McLain shows up Saturday and again on Monday. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Preparing for the Olympic Trials and dealing with my ankle injury has turned into more than a full-time job lately,â&#x20AC;? McLain wrote on her blog earlier this month. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The past month has been quite difficult me. My primary reason for pushing through the pain is to encouraging the youth that I work with to do the same and learn positive ways to overcome adversity. If it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t

(continued on page 31)

Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;U Page 29

Sports (continued from page 28)

U.S. Olympic Trials in another story.

Only the top two individuals in each race qualify for the Summer Games, along with a handful of third- and fourth-place swimmers to help fill out the freestyle relay teams.

Nonetheless, the pressure is intense and the schedule potentially grueling for athletes with multiple swims who face prelims, semifinals and maybe finals in each race. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have been through some crazy scheduled meets before but none like Trials, where the meet is eight days long. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not scared of my schedule, no matter how many events I swim or donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t swim. But, whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very different for me compared to other meets is the concept of semifinals.

The additional swims will definitely impact me, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll handle it.

Tosky has proven herself at every level, thus far. She set a national public schools record of 51.92 in the 100 fly her junior year while earning national co-swimmer of the year honors from Swimming

World magazine. She never lost an individual race at the Central Coast Section championships, going 8-0 in her prep career and lost only once only once in four years in dual meets.

In her last tuneup before the U.S. Trials, Tosky held her own against veteran Olympians at the Santa Clara International Grand Prix. In the 100-meter fly, Toskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first race at the Trials, she finished third behind Olympians Dana Vollmer and Natalie Coughlin. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was a great experience getting to race the top swimmers in the nation, even though I finished a body length behind Dana,â&#x20AC;? Tosky said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just racing her gave me an idea of how the 100 fly at Trials will be like and what Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be facing.â&#x20AC;?

Tosky came back at the Santa Clara meet to win the 200 fly, beating 2008 Olympic Trials winner (and Stanford grad) Elaine Breeden.

Tony Batis, who coaches Tosky at Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics, believes the 200 fly will provide her with an opportunity to make the U.S. Team. The 200 free is Toskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s other best bet, given the fact the top

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4 5 0 C A M B R I D G E AV E N U E | PA L O A LT O

TOP LOCAL SEEDS AT U.S. SWIM TRIALS Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 400 IM No. 11 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Adam Hinshaw (PASA) Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 fly No. 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Felicia Lee (Stanford) No. 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Elaine Breeden (Stanford) No. 16 -- â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Jasmine Tosky (PASA) Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 400 free No. 5 â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Chad La Tourette (Stanford grad) No. 16 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; David Mosko (ex-Stanford) Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 400 IM No. 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Maya DiRado (Stanford) No. 14 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Jasmine Tosky (PASA) Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 breast No. 7 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; John Criste (Ex-Stanford) No. 14 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Curtis Lovelace (ex-Stanford) Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 back No. 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Betsy Webb (Stanford) Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 back No. 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Eugene Godsoe (ex-Stanford) No. 9 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Randall Bal (ex-Stanford)

four swimmers likely will make up the 800 free relay team. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I honestly donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my best event, but fly is one of my stronger strokes,â&#x20AC;? Tosky said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am still learning how to pace my 200 fly and so my swim at Santa Clara was a good indicator on what I need to work on and think about when I race the event.â&#x20AC;?

Tosky could swim up to 17 times if she makes the finals in all six of her events (the 400 IM has only prelims and finals). â&#x20AC;&#x153;The number of events doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exactly faze me as long as I take good care of my body before and especially after races,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That said, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think the amount of events will work against me. I just have to be smart about my swims and prioritize some events. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The meet will probably be more taxing mentally than physically because of how long the competition is and how many races I will be swimming. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m prepared as best as I can be at this point in swimming.

I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t doubt that this meet will have ups and downs, obstacles and more, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll tackle everything the best I can.â&#x20AC;?

In addition to swimming, Tosky likely will be spectating and cheering. PASA will have 14 entrants â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Rachael Acker, Alicia Grima, Ally Howe, Dana Kirk, Jeremie Dezwirek, Egan Gans, Adam Hinshaw, Bernard Johnson, Andrew Liang, Matt Murray, Curtis Ogren, Byron Sanborn and Nick Trowbridge â&#x20AC;&#x201D; plus three former team members

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Page 30Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;

Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 200 breast No. 156 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Liz Smith (ex-Stanford) Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 200 IM No. 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; David Nolan (Stanford) No. 15 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Ben Hinshaw (PASA) Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 50 free No. 12 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Alex Coville (ex-Stanford) Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 fly No. 6 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Eugene Godsoe (ex-Stanford) No. 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; David Nolan (Stanford) No. 14 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Bobby Bollier (ex-Stanford) Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 200 back No. 7 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Maya DiRado (Stanford) Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 50 free No. 9 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Kate Dwelley (ex-Stanford) No. 14 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Liv Jensen (Cal/PASA) No. 15 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Maddy Schaefer (Stanford) Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1500 free 1, Chad La Tourette (ex-Stanford) No. 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; David Mosko (ex-Stanford)

Palo Alto High grad Jasmine Tosky may have as many as six different events at the U.S. Olympic Trials next week. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Ben Hinshaw, Liv Jensen and Maddy Schaefer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m proud to know that we have a large group going to Trials, and I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beneficial to have a group that large,â&#x20AC;? Tosky said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The more people, the more ecstatic we can be traveling to Omaha together.â&#x20AC;?

While Tosky four years of swimming at USC to look forward to and most likely more U.S. Trials in her future, this is an opportunity to be seized and Tosky is prepared. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been to both SCM (short course meters) and LCM (long course meters) World Champs and my time there will most definitely help me with experiencing Trials,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I remember the arenas for both World Champs being enormous and spacious. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve swum un-

der the huge octagon that will also be at Trials. Also, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been going through the motions of going to the ready room and preparing for my race. I think I have a good idea of what the competition complex and structure will be like.â&#x20AC;?

Then again, the competition will be fierce and the lanes will be filled with Olympians and Olympic medalists, some competing for the final time. Thus, Tosky has to be realistic about her chances and canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t discount the value of just being there. It is, after all, an experience of a lifetime. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just going to the meet will give me that much more experience,â&#x20AC;? she said.. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My main focus is to enjoy it.

This will be some sort of stepping stone for me, whether big or small, for my future in swimming.â&#x20AC;? N

CITY OF PALO ALTO NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Danilo PĂŠre z Trio happened to jazz.â&#x20AC;?

No. 17 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; David Nolan (Stanford) Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 200 free No. 7 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Jasmine Tosky (PASA) No. 15 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Kate Dwelley (Ex-Stanford) Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 200 fly No. 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Bobby Bollier (ex-Stanford) No. 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; David Mosko (ex-Stanford) Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 200 IM No. 5 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Maya DiRado (Stanford) No. 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Jasmine Tosky (PASA) Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 200 fly No. 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Elaine Breeden (ex-Stanford) No. 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Jasmine Tosky (PASA) No. 12 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Andi Taylor (Stanford) Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 200 breast No. 14 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Curtis Lovelace (ex-Stanford) Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 free No. 11 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Liv Jensen (Cal/PASA) Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 200 back No. 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Matt Thompson (Stanford)

Veronica Weber

Swim trials

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Palo Alto City Council is holding a public hearing on Monday, July 9, 2012 at 7:00 PM or thereafter to Review the Draft 20072014 Housing Element Update to Authorize City Staff to Forward the Document to the State Department of Housing and Community Development for their Review and Comment. The Planning and Transportation Commission recommends that City Council forwards this document as revised to the State Department of Housing and Community Development.

DONNA J. GRIDER, MMC City Clerk

Sports BASEBALL

Stanford players are turning pro

by Dean McArdle he deadline for signing drafted players is still four weeks away, but the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to wait long to sign two of their top picks from Stanford.

The Cardinals got themselves a Cardinal â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Stanfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two-time All Pac-12 third basemen Stephen Piscotty last week while. The Royals, meanwhile, signed Cardinal shortstop Kenny Diekroeger.

A third Stanford player to sign recently was junior catcher Eric Smith, who officially became a member of the Los Angeles Dodgersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; organization. Smith was an 18th-round selection.

Piscotty inked his name to a professional contract on Saturday. St. Louis selected him with the 36th overall pick in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on June 4. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Obviously, sometimes itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tough to wait real long to start,â&#x20AC;? Piscotty told MLB.com. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m very excited about this opportunity, and I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait for my first game and stuff.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a lot of excitement going on in my life right now.â&#x20AC;?

T

The signature made Piscotty an instant millionaire. Baseball America reported that Piscotty signed for $1.43 million, which is the recommended amount for 36th slot.

Piscotty flew to St. Louis to do the signing at Busch Stadium, and then took batting practice on the field before the Cardinalsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; game against Kansas City.

The Pleasanton native hit .329 with five home runs and 56 RBI this season for Stanford, which finished 41-18 after being eliminated

by Florida State in an NCAA Super Regional.

The Cardinals will send Piscotty to Davenport, Iowa, to play with their Class A affiliate Quad City River Bandits.

Kansas City signed Diekroeger to a deal that included a $500,000 signing bonus. The Royals selected Diekroeger in the fourth round of the draft.

Diekroeger, the former Menlo School standout, will head to the Wilmington (N.C.) Blue Rocks, the Royalsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Class A affiliate.

Stanford teammates Bretty Mooneyham (3rd round) and Jake Stewart (9th round) are both expected to sign professional contracts later this week. Mooneyham was to sign on Thursday with the Washington Nationals, while Stewart will sign Sunday with the Detroit Tigers.

Stanford had a total of seven players selected in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s draft. Mark Appel (1st round) and Tyler Gaffney (24th round), both taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates, have yet to sign. If Gaffney decides not to sign. N

DIVING

Stanfordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Krug and Ipsen eye Olympic berths

By Rick Eymer

S

tanford sophomore Kristian Ipsen and Cardinal graduate Cassidy Krug hope to be making plans this weekend for trips to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England.

Both divers are in position to earn berths on the U.S. team following strong semifinal performances this week at the U.S. Diving Team Trials in Federal Way, Wash.

Ipsen will have two chances to make the team, in the 3-meter synchro (Friday) and 3-meter springboard individual final (Sunday).

Krug will go in the 3-meter individual final on Saturday.

Ipsen missed only one dive in advancing to the 3-meter springboard final with the top score following Wednesdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s action.

Ipsen led throughout the six-round semifinal, scoring 993.80 points and putting more distance between him and synchro partner Troy Dumais, who is bidding to join Greg Louganis as the only American men to make four Olympic diving teams.

Dumais totaled 954.20 after missing two dives. Scores carry over to Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s final.

Ipsen and Dumais will combine

talents on Friday night in the 3-meter synchro final, where the tandem is favored to win. Then theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll go head to head in the 3-meter individual finale Sunday, with the top two finishers earning Olympic berths.

Stanford grad Dwight Dumais was sixth among the 12 divers advancing to the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 3-meter final.

Ipsen is seeking his first Olympic berth, although he has two world meets under his belt. He and Dumais won a silver medal in 3-meter synchro at the 2009 worlds in Rome, and they were fourth last year in Shanghai. They own the lead going into Fridayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s synchro springboard final. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of a weird dynamic,â&#x20AC;?

Ipsen said about competing against and with Dumais. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been doing this for so long, so it feels kind of natural.â&#x20AC;?

Ipsen missed his third dive, an inward 3 1/2 somersaults, getting scores ranging from 4.5 to 5.5. But he rallied in the next round, earning a string of 9.0s for a forward 2 1/2 somersaults with 2 twists. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been struggling internationally and getting really nervous,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So I got here early and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been trying to be in control of my environment instead of letting it control me.â&#x20AC;?

Krug was the top diver after the 3-meter semifinals on Tuesday, scoring a two-round score of 718.85. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was still diving a little bit controlled for me,â&#x20AC;? Krug said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the finals, I really want to let my body go.

I can do a little cleaner entries and a little faster spins, a little more.â&#x20AC;? N

Morton

(continued from page 29)

American literature) and departed for Nigeria on Monday to begin his quest for an Olympic berth.

In addition to running the 400 hurdles, Morton likely will compete for a berth on the 4x400 relay squad where his 46.12 in the flat 400 ranks him No. 2 behind Biola Onakoyaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 46.08 among Nigerian runners.

Fellow Stanford grad Arantxa King, meanwhile, has been named to the Bermuda Olympic Team by the International Association of Athletics Federations. King will compete in the long jump at the 2012 Games in London. â&#x20AC;&#x153;At my core I relate with Bermuda,â&#x20AC;? King said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Since I was 14 I have been competing internationally for them. From those opportunities Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come to where I am.â&#x20AC;?

King graduated in 2011, but competed this season as a fifth-year senior and graduate student for the Cardinal.

She was a first team All-American indoors in the long jump and competed in both the long jump and triple jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

King was also an Olympian for Bermuda in 2008 in Beijing.

Stanford coach Edrick Floreal may be around to help. He will be in London as the coach of the U.S. male jumpers, as well as the decathlon and heptathlon athletes. N (Stanford Sports Information contributed)

Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;Ă&#x153;°*>Â?Â&#x153; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;"Â&#x2DC;Â?Â&#x2C6;Â&#x2DC;i°VÂ&#x153;Â&#x201C;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160; Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160; Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;ä£Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x160;U Page 31

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