Palo Alto Weekly December 20, 2019

Palo Alto

Vol. XLI, Number 11 Q December 20, 2019

City transparency questioned over police-auditor contract Page 5

w w w. P a l o A l t o O n l i n e.c o m

Facing challenges from the personal to the national, locals did what they could to make the most of this year’s circumstances

IN SIDE THIS IS S UE

Page 16

Donate to the HOLIDAY FUND page 20

Eating Out 22 Shop Talk 22 Movies 23 Title Pages 24 Q Arts Picasso pays a visit to Palo Alto Q Home New year will bring new construction rules Q Sports No. 1 Stanford women’s hoops on the road

Page 19 Page 25 Page 30

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Discover more at StanfordHealthCare.org/NewStanfordHospital.

A new hospital for more healing.

Page 2 • December 20, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 3

Happy s y a d i l o H

From all of us at

Page 4 • December 20, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

2019

Upfront

Local news, information and analysis

Contract with police auditor sharply criticized Internal police conflicts can be shielded from independent auditors, including certain cases of officer misconduct

by Gennady Sheyner he Palo Alto City Council agreed on Monday to explicitly exclude internal personnel conflicts within the Police Department from independent audits — a move that

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was blasted by a prominent police watchdog as an affront to government transparency.

By a unanimous vote, the council approved a recommendation from City Manager Ed

Shikada and Police Chief Robert Jonsen to approve a new threeyear contract with OIR Group, a Los Angeles-based firm that for more than a decade has been providing twice-a-year audits of the Police Department, which include reviews of every Taser employment and Internal Affairs investigation.

But while Shikada characterized the new contract as essentially a continuation of the

existing scope of services, the agreement does include one clause that the prior one did not: a statement that “complaints and investigations of internal personnel or human resources matters are not part of these Independent Police Auditor Services.”

The change means that disputes that involve two officers — including a recent incident in which a police captain was accused of using a racial slur

— could be shielded from external review. Instead, they would be privately investigated by the Human Resources Department.

Although the new contract states that Internal Affairs investigations would be reviewed by the police auditors, the deciding factors for whether an internal matter is sent to Internal Affairs or HR are not specified in the (continued on page 12)

ELECTION 2020

Presidential hopeful: Democracy must be a value Mayor from Indiana calls for elimination of Electoral College

by Sue Dremann ith less than a year left until the general election, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg outlined his vision for the nation on Monday that included one bold proposal: doing away with the Electoral College in presidential elections and instead having each vote count as it does in every other election.

The move would make the nation more democratic, he said before an overflow crowd at a fundraiser in Palo Alto’s Crescent Park neighborhood on Monday morning.

The coffee-and-light-breakfast event was held at the home of Flipboard CEO Mike McCue and his wife, Marci McCue, head of the tech company’s marketing and communications, according to campaign staff. The morning gathering that cost $2,800 per ticket attracted 120 donors.

The Palo Alto event was one of four fundraisers for Buttigieg this week in the Bay Area. The South Bend, Indiana, mayor last came through Silicon Valley in September.

Buttigieg stood before a crowd that filled the home’s living room and spilled out onto the outdoor deck. His half-hour message largely focused on how to bring together a broken country.

As president, he would help guide the nation to a new definition of patriotism and love of

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HOLIDAY FUND

Where time-honored traditions meet fresh ideas Hidden Villa summer camp offers local youth a place to commune with nature — and each other

by Karla Kane hen Beatrice Piceno, 17, was planning her summer, she was immediately attracted to Hidden Villa’s Leaders in Training program because she knew it would give her the opportunity to find out if working with kids is truly

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one of her passions.

“I came out of Hidden Villa saying, ‘I really do want to do this,’ most definitely,” said Piceno, who is interested in pursuing a career in teaching or social work.

Leaders in Training provides

youth entering grades 11 and 12 multi-week residential programs on the Los Altos Hills farm and wilderness preserve, with an emphasis on leadership and communication skills, conflict resolution and more (plus plenty of time for fun and outdoor experiences in the farm, gardens and woods). Once campers complete Leaders in

Training, they’re eligible to join Counselors in Training the following year, through which they gain more on-the-job experience caring for younger campers and finish up their summer with two weeks as paid counselors.

While she originally imagined herself working with teens, thanks to her time at Hidden Villa, Piceno is now considering a career working with young children. She recalled shadowing counselors and meeting one of the youngest campers on their first day, a shy girl in tears over leaving her mother and being separated from her older brother. Piceno took the girl by the (continued on page 10)

Courtesy Hidden Villa

More than a thousand Bay Area children and teens attend camp at Hidden Villa in Los Altos Hills each summer, a tradition that dates back around 75 years.

(continued on page 13)

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 5

Upfront 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

PUBLISHER William S. Johnson (223-6505) EDITORIAL

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Editor Jocelyn Dong (223-6514) Associate Editor Linda Taaffe (223-6511) Sports Editor Rick Eymer (223-6516) Arts & Entertainment Editor Karla Kane (223-6517) Home & Real Estate Editor Heather Zimmerman (223-6515) Assistant Sports Editor Glenn Reeves (223-6521) Express & Digital Editor Jamey Padojino (223-6524) Staff Writers Sue Dremann (223-6518), Elena Kadvany (223-6519), Gennady Sheyner (223-6513)

The vague and loosey-goosey language ... would be a step backward in transparency.

—LaDoris Cordell, retired Superior Court Judge, on contract with police auditor. See story on page 5.

Chief Visual Journalist Magali Gauthier (223-6530) Staff Visual Journalist Sammy Dallal (223-6520) Editorial Assistant/Intern Coordinator Lloyd Lee (223-6526)

The DeLeon DifferenceÂŽ 650.543.8500 www.deleonrealty.com

Editorial Intern Jonathan Guillen Contributors Chrissi Angeles, Mike Berry, Carol Blitzer, Peter Canavese, Edward Gerard Fike, Yoshi Kato, Chris Kenrick, Jack McKinnon, Sheryl Nonnenberg, John Orr, Monica Schreiber, Jay Thorwaldson ADVERTISING Vice President Sales & Marketing Tom Zahiralis (223-6570)

650.543.8500 | www.deleonrealty.com | DeLeon Realty CalBRE #01903224

Multimedia Advertising Sales Tiffany Birch (223-6573), Elaine Clark (223-6572), Connie Jo Cotton (223-6571) Real Estate Advertising Sales Neal Fine (223-6583), Rosemary Lewkowitz (223-6585) Legal Advertising Alicia Santillan (223-6578) ADVERTISING SERVICES Advertising Services Manager Kevin Legarda (223-6597)

Notice is hereby Given that proposals will be received by the Palo Alto <UPĂ&#x201E;LK :JOVVS +PZ[YPJ[ MVY IPK WHJRHNL! Contract No. RFQW-20

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Description of the Work: ;OL ^VYR PUJS\KLZ I\[ PZ UV[ SPTP[LK [V! H JVTWYLOLUZP]L YLMYLZO VM [OL ^PYLK L[OLYUL[ UL[^VYR [V HKKYLZZ [OL L_PZ[PUN HUK NYV^PUN ULLKZ VM OPNO ZWLLK OPNO KLUZP[` JVUULJ[P]P[` MVY KL]PJLZ \ZLK I` Z[HÉ&#x2C6; HUK Z[\KLU[Z ;OL WYVWVZLK YLZWVUZL [V [OPZ 9-7 ZOV\SK WYV]PKL H YVI\Z[ ZJHSHISL HUK LHZPS` THUHNLK ZVS\[PVU [OH[ ^PSS TLL[ [OL ULLKZ VM [OL +PZ[YPJ[ÂťZ Z[HÉ&#x2C6; HUK Z[\KLU[Z MVY H[ SLHZ[ [OL UL_[ Ă&#x201E;]L `LHYZ ;OLYL ^PSS IL H THUKH[VY` WYL IPK JVUMLYLUJL H[ ! W T VU 1HU\HY` H[ [OL +PZ[YPJ[ 6É&#x2030;JLZ *O\YJOPSS (]LU\L 7HSV (S[V *HSPMVYUPH Bid Submission 7YVWVZHSZ T\Z[ IL Z\ITP[[LK LSLJ[YVUPJHSS` VY YLJLP]LK PU WLYZVU H[ [OL +PZ[YPJ[ 0; 6É&#x2030;JL I` ! W T VU -LIY\HY` PREVAILING WAGE LAWS: ;OL Z\JJLZZM\S )PKKLY T\Z[ JVTWS` ^P[O HSS WYL]HPSPUN ^HNL SH^Z HWWSPJHISL [V [OL 7YVQLJ[ HUK YLSH[LK YLX\PYLTLU[Z JVU[HPULK PU [OL *VU[YHJ[ +VJ\TLU[Z 7HSV (S[V <UPĂ&#x201E;LK :JOVVS +PZ[YPJ[ ^PSS THPU[HPU H 3HIVY *VTWSPHUJL 7YVNYHT 3*7 MVY [OL K\YH[PVU VM [OPZ WYVQLJ[ 0U IPKKPUN [OPZ WYVQLJ[ [OL JVU[YHJ[VY ^HYYHU[Z OL ZOL PZ H^HYL HUK ^PSS MVSSV^ [OL 7\ISPJ >VYRZ *OHW[LY VM [OL *HSPMVYUPH 3HIVY *VKL JVTWYPZLK VM SHIVY JVKL ZLJ[PVUZ Âś ( JVW` VM [OL +PZ[YPJ[Z 3*7 PZ H]HPSHISL MVY YL]PL^ H[ *O\YJOPSS (]LU\L )\PSKPUN + 7HSV (S[V *( ( WYL QVI JVUMLYLUJL ZOHSS IL JVUK\J[LK ^P[O [OL JVU[YHJ[VY VY Z\IJVU[YHJ[VYZ [V KPZJ\ZZ MLKLYHS HUK Z[H[L SHIVY SH^ YLX\PYLTLU[Z HWWSPJHISL [V [OL JVU[YHJ[ 7YVQLJ[ JVU[YHJ[VYZ HUK Z\IJVU[YHJ[Z ZOHSS THPU[HPU HUK M\YUPZO [V [OL +PZ[YPJ[ H[ H KLZPNUH[LK [PTL H JLY[PĂ&#x201E;LK JVW` VM LHJO WH`YVSS ^P[O H Z[H[LTLU[ VM JVTWSPHUJL ZPNULK \UKLY WLUHS[` VM WLYQ\Y` ;OL +PZ[YPJ[ ZOHSS YL]PL^ HUK PM HWWYVWYPH[L H\KP[ WH`YVSS YLJVYKZ [V ]LYPM` JVTWSPHUJL ^P[O [OL 7\ISPJ >VYRZ *OHW[LY VM [OL 3HIVY *VKL ;OL +PZ[YPJ[ ZOHSS ^P[OOVSK JVU[YHJ[ WH`TLU[Z PM WH`YVSS YLJVYKZ HYL KLSPUX\LU[ VY PUHKLX\H[L ;OL +PZ[YPJ[ ZOHSS ^P[OOVSK JVU[YHJ[ WH`TLU[Z HZ KLZJYPILK PU [OL 3*7 PUJS\KPUN HWWSPJHISL WLUHS[PLZ ^OLU [OL +PZ[YPJ[ HUK 3HIVY *VTTPZZPVULY LZ[HISPZO [OH[ \UKLYWH`TLU[ VM V[OLY ]PVSH[PVUZ OHZ VJJ\YYLK )PKKLYZ TH` L_HTPUL )PKKPUN +VJ\TLU[Z VUSPUL H[ O[[WZ! NV WH\ZK VYN UL[^VYR

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The Palo Alto Weekly is delivered 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. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306. Š2019 by Embarcadero Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. The Palo Alto Weekly is available on the Internet via Palo Alto Online at: www.PaloAltoOnline.com Our email addresses are: editor@paweekly.com, letters@paweekly.com, digitalads@paweekly.com, ads@paweekly.com Missed delivery or start/stop your paper?

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Around Town

NEW FACES ... In its final meeting of the year on Dec. 16, the Palo Alto City Council took numerous actions with possible long-term implications, including appointments of new members to the Planning and Transportation Commission and the Historic Resources Board. On the planning commission, land use attorney Barton Hechtman will replace veteran commissioner Asher Waldfogel, while the Historic Resources Board will see Christian Pease replace current Vice Chairman Brandon Corey. While Hechtman beat out Waldfogel by a single vote after two rounds of casting ballots, the appointment of Pease was less dramatic. With Corey opting not to reapply, six of the seven council members voted for Pease (Councilman Greg Tanaka supported Valerie Driscoll, the only other nonincumbent applicant). The council also unanimously reappointed two incumbent members, David Bower and Deborah Shepherd, to two fresh three-year terms. Things also came down to the wire when it came to appointing members to the Parks and Recreation Commission. Even though all three incumbents with expiring terms â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Keith Reckdahl, Jeff LaMere and Ryan McCauley â&#x20AC;&#x201D; won reappointments from a pool of eight applicants, McCauleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s came by a single vote (LaMere and Reckdahl were reappointed unanimously). McCauley, who serves as a California deputy attorney general and is a leading proponent of expanding access to Foothills Park to non-residents, edged out attorney Jackie Olson, who works at Apple. Vice Mayor Adrian Fine and council members Alison Cormack, Liz Kniss and Tanaka all supported McCauley; Mayor Eric Filseth and council members Tom DuBois and Lydia Kou voted for Olson.

AS SEEN ON TV ... Stanford University faculty members who provided their scholarly expertise to HBOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Silicon Valleyâ&#x20AC;? landed airtime on the popular comedyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s series finale on Dec. 8 after six seasons. Professors Anat Admati, Dan Boneh, Tsachy Weissman and Keith Winstein saw the show as an opportunity to educate viewers on their respective fields

of study and possibly open a new area of research, they said in a Q&A with Stanford Report. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I view all engagements, including with a satirical series, as a form of teaching and contribution to the public discourse, said Admati, whose expertise is in corporate governance and finance. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The show paralleled governance and ethical issues happening the real world, but of course it exaggerates them,â&#x20AC;?

Admati said. Winstein, an assistant computer science professor, was also grateful for his involvement with the show. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Things like this TV show are a part of how our students and society get messages about what computer science and the tech industry fundamentally are, so it was interesting to have a tiny role in shaping that,â&#x20AC;? Winstein said. The showâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plot also touched on problems faced by startups, according to Boneh, who teaches cryptography, computer science and electrical engineering. Boneh was asked to create a new invention that could plausibly exist in real life. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how many people in the audience would follow it to the deepest level, but some who see it would be amazed at this level of detail on TV and, honestly, it could lead to a new area of research,â&#x20AC;?

Boneh said. Weissman, who was first approached by the show to discuss data compression, has made an impact through a former graduate student who created a mathematical formula called the Weissman Score, which was used in the showâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first season finale.

DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T FALL FOR IT ... The Palo Alto Police Department recently warned the public of a phone scam involving con artists who say theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re from a law enforcement agency.

The callers tell the recipients that they face arrest unless they send money through a wire transfer or gift card. The department emphasized that authorities wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make such a demand. Telemarketers may also scheme against consumers, who often struggle to determine if the call is legitimate, police said. Some cues to the fraud include demands to act â&#x20AC;&#x153;nowâ&#x20AC;? and act on a â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;high profit, no-riskâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; offer.â&#x20AC;? The caller may also say they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to verify the company with anyone, including a local Better Business Bureau.

Find more tips at https://bit. ly/38VQMgY. Q

Upfront

Neighborhoods

A roundup of neighborhood news edited by Sue Dremann

Around the Block

Got a good neighborhood story, news, upcoming meeting or event? Email Sue Dremann, Neighborhoods editor, at sdremann@paweekly.com. Or talk about your neighborhood news on the discussion forum Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com/square.

Sabrina Braham’s home on Forest Avenue in Palo Alto is decorated with Hanukkah decorations, a new neighborhood event that she’s dubbed “Hanukkah Highway.”

‘Hanukkah Highway’ lights the night Residents bring a Jewish celebration to Crescent Park

by Sue Dremann ove over Christmas Tree Lane, it’s time to drive the Hanukkah Highway.

Giant inflated dreidels and candelabra, a “mensch on a bench” and other symbols of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, are illuminating the 1300 block of Forest Avenue.

The festive block between Lincoln and Center streets is the brainchild of Sabrina Braham, who wanted a way to bring people together. Three years ago, after the 2016 election, she saw an increase in intolerance for all differences, so she started decorating her home during Hanukkah, she said.

“It began to feel as if we should celebrate our differences. I wanted to inspire Jewish families and others with different backgrounds and to share our culture with our neighbors,” she said.

Braham said there are many interfaith families in her neighborhood who celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah. Each year the tradition has grown. She expected there would be five homes lit up by this weekend when she and her neighbors host a Hanukkah party with dreidel games (spinning tops), a sufganiyot-eating contest (a strawberry-jelly-filled doughnut

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served during Hanukkah) and the traditional holiday potato pancakes, latkes. The block party, which takes place on Dec. 20 from 4-6 p.m., is open to the public.

This year, Hanukkah starts the evening of Dec. 22 and lasts for eight days, ending on the evening of Dec. 30. The holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 165 BCE after the successful Maccabean Revolt against the Greeks.

The Greek ruler Alexander the Great had allowed religious freedom in the lands he conquered but a century later, his successor, Antiochus IV, brutally oppressed the Jews. He allowed a Hellenistic priest in the temple, massacred Jews, prohibited practicing the Jewish religion and desecrated the temple by requiring pig sacrifices — a non-kosher animal — on the altar, according to the Jewish Virtual Library’s Encyclopedia Judaica.

The Greeks defiled most of the oil used to fuel a menorah, a candelabrum housed in the temple that was supposed to stay lit through each night. There was only enough undesecrated oil to burn for one day, but miraculously the menorah stayed lit for eight days.

The candelabrum used today during the holiday is often mistakenly called a menorah, a name reserved for the seven-branched candelabrum in the temple. Instead, the holiday candelabrum is called a Hanukkiah and contains nine candles, according to the Encyclopedia Judaica.

Braham said as part of tradition, Hanukkah foods are cooked in oil, a symbol of the value of oil and the holiday’s roots. Gifts of coins or chocolate coins follow a centuries-old tradition. People gave money to the poorest residents so they could afford to purchase oil to light the candelabrum, Encyclopedia Judaica notes.

“It’s a celebration of fortitude, cultural strength and cultural pride,” Braham said.

The neighborhood’s decorations and party are also important for her three children.

“They have a cultural heritage they should be proud of and share with their neighbors,” she said.

Braham’s home sports a street sign that proclaims it’s on the Hanukkah Highway. Her yard is full of decorations: a giant blow-up rainbow candelabrum, a polar bear wearing a kippah (a Jewish hat), among other lights and decorations.

“You’ve heard of an ‘elf on a shelf.’ We have a ‘mensch on a bench,’ a male figure of good honor wearing a prayer shawl and traditional hat, she said.

Across the street, a giant blow-up dreidel illuminates her neighbor’s lawn.

“It’s a fun holiday that everyone can celebrate and get to know our neighbors more. This sort of neighborly quality on my block is a very special feature of Palo Alto. It’s cordial — there’s a lovely group on our block — and it’s the way Palo Alto was initially designed to be,” she said. Q

Sammy Dallal

BOULWARE PARK SURVEY ... The city of Palo Alto has launched an online survey regarding the kinds of facilities the public wants to see in Boulware Park and the neighboring property the city purchased earlier this year at 3350 Birch St. The new property adds approximately 27,829 square feet to the park’s existing 1.5 acres and will increase recreational amenities in the park. Palo Alto has a goal to have a park within a half mile of every residence, according to an online posting by the city.

Boulware play equipment was last installed in 1993 and will need replacements soon. There are two children’s playgrounds, a basketball court and two picnic areas with barbecues. Jan. 24 marks the deadline to respond. The survey can be found at tinyurl.com/wcl4z4r.

Project Manager Peter Jensen can be reached for questions at peter. jensen@cityofpaloalto.org. Q

Magali Gauthier

COUNTING OAKS ... Palo Alto urban forest advocate Canopy just released its Healthy Communities Impact Report.

The report highlights the nonprofit organization’s accomplishments for the year. The organization made a dent in its Great Oak Count this year, a survey and mapping project in Palo Alto neighborhoods of four oak species. The project recorded and viewed 547 native oaks in 17 neighborhoods: Charleston Gardens, The Greenhouse, Greendell, San Alma, Greenmeadow, Walnut Grove, Fairmeadow, College Terrace, Evergreen Park, Mayfield, Southgate, southern Old Palo Alto, Garland Park, Leland Manor, Embarcadero Oaks, Duveneck/St. Francis and Community Center. The project is part of a larger initiative to “re-oak” local landscapes. Oaks once dominated 80% of the valley floor but are now only about 4% of the urban forests, according to Elise Willis, Canopy’s community forestry program manager. The trees are drought-tolerant and are more likely to survive in climate change, offer habitat for animals and plants, create more shade than many other trees and capture more rainwater and carbon. To join the count and for more information, visit canopy. org/our-work/tree-planting/greatoak-count/.

CRESCENT PARK

Meanwhile on Fulton Street...

Dimitri Zyubin, 2, looks at a sparkling snowman along Christmas Tree Lane in Palo Alto, which will be open to strollers through Dec. 31. The residents of the 1700 and 1800 blocks of Fulton Street have decorated their homes and the street trees to celebrate the holidays for 79 years. Thousands of people come from miles away to enjoy the spectacle each year, according to the organizers. www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 7

Upfront POLITICS

On Impeachment Eve, protesters demand for Trump’s removal from office

Community gathers to participate in the nationwide rally supporting president’s impeachment

by Lloyd Lee arents, children, grandmas and their pets clustered around a Christmas tree Tuesday night in Palo Alto’s Lytton Plaza, where they were dressed in warm clothes for the cold weather and sang songs of hope. But they weren’t carolers preparing for the holidays.

They were gathered for one of more than 650 rallies held nationwide supporting impeachment

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of President Donald Trump. The action was partly spearheaded

by MoveOn, a progressive public policy advocacy group, and organized by locals Stephen Rosenblum and the social-justice activists the Raging Grannies. About 150-200 people gathered a block away from Rep. Anna Eshoo’s downtown office.

“Jingle bells, something smells, something in D.C.,” protesters sang.

Page 8 • December 20, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Sammy Dallal

Tammy Rogers, left, and Nancy Wagner, both from Menlo Park, participate in an impeachment rally in Palo Alto on Dec. 17, the eve of the U.S. House of Representatives’ vote to impeach Donald Trump.

The rally was a warm up for the U.S. House of Representatives’ vote Wednesday on two articles of impeachment against Trump.

And while the historic vote was a somber moment for the country, the spirit of Tuesday night’s protest was oddly festive.

Menlo Park resident Nancy Wagner held up a sign with the word “impeach” written out with Christmas lights as she yelled “ho, ho, ho” to passing cars on University Avenue.

Palo Alto resident Emilie Cappella, 41, came with her mother and 4-year-old daughter because she believed the rally was an event they needed to witness as a family.

“Tomorrow is an important day,” she said. “I want my mother and my daughter to share that moment with me.”

A 12-foot balloon representing the president in the shape of a chicken, known as “Chicken Trump,” was inflated in the plaza for people to poke at, take pictures with and eventually deflate. Q Editorial Assistant Lloyd Lee can be emailed at llee@paweekly. com.

Online This Week

These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news.

Teen allegedly robs 2 pedestrians

A teenager allegedly robbed two women of their cellphones in a span of about 20 minutes on Tuesday afternoon in Palo Alto’s University South neighborhood, police said Wednesday. (Posted Dec. 18,

8:33 p.m.)

City auditor’s work could be outsourced

The City Auditor’s Office in Palo Alto is usually applying scrutiny, not attracting it, but after an extended period of dysfunction and a prolonged vacancy at the very top, the office itself is undergoing an audit of sorts. On Thursday, a City Council committee will discuss a study that reviewed the Palo Alto auditor’s office and recommends shifting some of its functions to external firms. (Posted Dec. 18, 5:26 p.m.)

Tree branch causes power outage

More than 3,300 Palo Alto Utilities customers were without electricity due to a late-afternoon power outage in Midtown, Palo Verde and other neighborhoods on Wednesday. Power was restored about four to five hours after the blackout started. The service disruption was caused by a tree branch that struck power lines as a result of rainy and windy conditions, according to the Utilities Department. (Posted

Dec. 18, 5:02 p.m.)

Employee-count tax top pick for 2020 ballot

As Palo Alto continues its march toward a November 2020 ballot measure for transportation improvements, city leaders are confronting two questions: What will the revenues fund? And what kind of tax should they ask the voters to approve? (Posted Dec. 18, 9:33 a.m.)

Error caused delay on renter-protection law

Palo Alto City Attorney Molly Stump said Monday that she had erred on Dec. 2 when she told the City Council that it did not have enough votes to approve an urgency law protecting tenants from evictions without a just cause. (Posted Dec. 17, 1:58 p.m.)

Providing Exceptional Service to Clients on the Mid-Peninsula: Buyers, Sellers, Developers, and Investors Here’s a sample of a few recent transactions.

PORTOLA VALLEY

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MENLO PARK

MENLO PARK

PALO ALTO

MENLO PARK

PALO ALTO

PALO ALTO

REDWOOD CITY

PALO ALTO

MENLO PARK

COLLEEN FORAKER Realtor® DRE#: 01349099

650.380.0085 colleen.foraker@compass.com

Compass is the brand name used for services provided by one or more of the Compass group of subsidiary companies. Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01079009. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only and is compiled from sources deemed reliable but has not been verified. Changes in price, condition, sale or withdrawal may be made without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footage are approximate.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 9

Upfront

Holiday Waste Service Schedule

GreenWaste of Palo Alto is closed on Christmas (December 25) and New Year’s Day (January 1). If your regular collection day falls on or after one of these holidays, your collection day will be moved to the next day for the rest of the week. Regular collection schedules will resume the following week.

Hidden Villa (continued from page 5)

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Questions? Contact GreenWaste of Palo Alto at (650) 650) 493-4894 • pacustomerservice@greenwaste.com pacustom rservice@gree waste.com

Peninsula Christmas Services

hand and under her wing. By the end of camp, “that girl was friends with everyone,” she laughed.

Piceno saw something of herself in that child.

“Going into Hidden Villa, I was extremely shy. I hated anything new, or anything changing,” she said. She pointed to a particular moment at camp, looking at herself in the mirror, when she realized the impact the program had on her personally.

“I was thinking to myself, ‘Just

Christmas Eve at Bethany 5:00 p.m. Family Christmas All children are invited to tell the story of Jesus, as shepherds, angels, wisemen, and the holy family.

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BETHANY LUTHERAN CHURCH 1095 CLOUD AVENUE MENLO PARK at the corner of Avy & Cloud

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CHRISTMAS EVE

4pm Family Service with Carols & Pageant 8:30pm Prelude - Early Wind-Brass Music Featuring - The Whole Noyse 9pm Candlelight Service with Choir

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a couple of months ago you would never have been able to do this: not care what you looked like, not care about what anyone thought of you at that moment,’” she said.

“People (there) are all so different but they all make you feel part of the group,” she said.

Clearly, Hidden Villa is more than just a place to take a picturesque creekside stroll, pick up some farm-fresh produce and snuggle up to an adorable baby goat. The nonprofit has a long history of championing cultural diversity, environmental protection and sustainable agriculture, starting with its progressive founding family, the Duvenecks, back in the 1920s. And it’s especially dedicated to education. Around 30,000 people of all ages participate in one of its many programs annually.

Camp has been one of Hidden Villa’s most cherished traditions for 75 years. Each summer, more than a thousand Bay Area children enroll, taking part in all sorts of traditional camp fun — swimming, singing, hiking and sleeping under the stars — but also learning about eco-friendly farming, animal husbandry, community building and social justice.

Thanks to support from charitable donations, including a $5,000 grant from the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund, financial assistance was granted to 215 young campers so they could attend this summer. Camp tuition, which ranges from around $500 to $1,5000 per camper, depending on the program, goes toward facilities upkeep and staffing.

Families with an annual income under $150,000 are invited to apply for “camperships,” as the financial aid is known.

While camp programs include children as young as 5, Summer Camp Director Brenda Jones said in recent years Hidden Villa has worked especially hard to improve and expand its programs for older youth, with more direct experience on the farm and an understanding of the issues that have been essential to the mission since its early days, when the Duvenecks created the first integrated, multiracial summer camp in the nation.

“What we’re trying to do this year is really work with our programs for older campers to get them more hands-on learning of regenerative agriculture principles, different social-justice approaches and how that interacts with farm systems, and how those things connect,” Jones said.

Reflections are a key activity during which “campers can come together and make connections with each other and really learn from our staff, who have personal experience with things like racial injustice,” she added.

“Hidden Villa is a really open and accepting place,” said Alex Huerta, 17, who, like Piceno, participated in Leaders in Training this summer thanks to a scholarship. Huerta said he’s done a bit (continued on next page)

Page 10 • December 20, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Upfront

Hidden Villa (continued from page 10)

of gardening at home with his parents but that spending time on a working farm was a valuable experience.

“We had the chance to pick vegetables and fruit ... growing our own food. I thought that was pretty cool,” he said.

More important, though, was the sense of community he found, not only through planned lessons, such as a seminar about being an ally to the LGBTQ community, but in the informal sense of

Public Notices 995 Fictitious Name Statement 24 HOUR FRIENDLY HOME CARE FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No.: FBN660995 The following person (persons) is (are) doing business as: 24 Hour Friendly Home Care, located at 530 Showers Dr., Ste. 7, #422, Mountain View, CA 94040, Santa Clara County.

This business is owned by: An Individual.

The name and residence address of the registrant(s) is(are): LONGOMOELOTO TUKITOA 6 Newell Ct. Palo Alto, CA 94303 Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above.

This statement was filed with the County ClerkRecorder of Santa Clara County on November 27, 2019.

(PAW Dec. 6, 13, 20, 27, 2019) THE BECOMING LAB FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No.: FBN660988 The following person (persons) is (are) doing business as: The Becoming Lab, located at 783 Kendall Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, Santa Clara County.

This business is owned by: An Individual.

The name and residence address of the registrant(s) is(are): LIZ COHEN 783 Kendall Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94306 Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above.

This statement was filed with the County ClerkRecorder of Santa Clara County on November 26, 2019.

(PAW Dec. 6, 13, 20, 27, 2019) 624-626-628 MASONIC AVENUE HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No.: FBN661592 The following person (persons) is (are) doing business as: 624-626-628 Masonic Avenue Homeowners’ Association, located at 526 Addison Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301, Santa Clara County.

This business is owned by: A Trust.

The name and residence address of the registrant(s) is(are): MARY ALICE OJAKIAN, TRUSTEE 526 Addison Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 VICTOR OJAKIAN, TRUSTEE 526 Addison Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 Registrant began transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on 12/20/2012.

This statement was filed with the County ClerkRecorder of Santa Clara County on December 13, 2019.

(PAW Dec. 20, 27, 2019; Jan. 3, 10, 2020) DROOLIE LANE FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No.: FBN661639 The following person (persons) is (are) doing business as: Droolie Lane, located at 6437 Du Sault Dr., San Jose, CA 95119, Santa Clara County.

This business is owned by: An Individual.

The name and residence address of the registrant(s) is(are): BRIGID OROZCO 6437 Du Sault Dr.

openness and acceptance among the staff and campers alike.

“The vibe at Hidden Villa is super welcoming. ... That allows for the campers to have fun no matter what, to be themselves at camp,” he said. “That’s a new type of feel for me.”

In contrast to Piceno, Huerta said he didn’t have any particular interest in working with children before participating in Leaders in Training. Now, he said — recalling bonding with second-graders down by the muddy creek — “I feel like I could see myself doing it.”

Both Huerta and Piceno said San Jose, CA 95119 Registrant has not yet begun to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above.

This statement was filed with the County ClerkRecorder of Santa Clara County on December 16, 2019.

(PAW Dec. 20, 27, 2019; Jan. 3, 10, 2020)

997 All Other Legals NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE TS No.: S.477028 APN: 003-56-068 Title Order No.: 190714458-CA-VOI NOTE: THERE IS A SUMMARY OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT ATTACHED. YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST DATED 6/19/2007. UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. A public auction sale to the highest bidder for cash, cashier’s check drawn on a state or national bank, check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, or savings association, or savings bank specified in Section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state will be held by the duly appointed trustee as shown below, of all right, title, and interest conveyed to and now held by the trustee in the hereinafter described property under and pursuant to a Deed of Trust described below. The sale will be made, but without covenant or warranty, expressed or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal sum of the note(s) secured by the Deed of Trust, with interest and late charges thereon, as provided in the note(s), advances, under the terms of the Deed of Trust, interest thereon, fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee for the total amount (at the time of the initial publication of the Notice of Sale) reasonably estimated to be set forth below. The amount may be greater on the day of sale. Trustor: DRAGAN V. PODLESNIK AND MARTA D. SAVIC, HUSBAND AND WIFE, AS COMMUNITY PROPERTY Duly Appointed Trustee: PROBER AND RAPHAEL, ALC Recorded 6/25/2007 as Instrument No. 19481661 in book N/A, page N/A of Official Records in the office of the Recorder of Santa Clara County, California, Date of Sale: 1/22/2020 at 9:00 AM Place of Sale: Santa Clara County Superior Courthouse, 191 N. First Street, San Jose, CA 95113, At the Gated North Market Street Entrance Amount of unpaid balance and other charges: $2,116,223.99 Street Address or other common designation of real property: 1885 GUINDA STREET PALO ALTO, California 94303 The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address or other common designation, if any, shown above. If no street address or other common designation is shown, directions to the location of the property may be obtained by sending a written request to the beneficiary within 10 days of the date of first publication of this Notice of Sale. NOTICE TO POTENTIAL BIDDERS: If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property.

You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county recorder’s office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mortgage or deed of trust on the property.

NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be postponed one or more times by the mortgagee,

they plan on applying to return next year to train as counselors.

And no matter what future career he may pursue, Huerta credits his camp experience with helping him go into his senior year with a new sense of confidence.

“Being there really changes you; it really affects you positively,” he said. “It’s helped me come out of my shell. I’ve been told by family members, by my peers, by my friends, everybody, ‘I don’t know what it is but there’s something different. You seem more confident; you’re easier to talk to now,’” he said with a laugh.

“I think it’s because of my time beneficiary, trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about trustee sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call (800) 280-2832 or visit this Internet Web site www.auction.com, using the file number assigned to this case S.477-028.

Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the Internet Web site. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale. Date: 12/4/2019 PROBER AND RAPHAEL, ALC 20750 Ventura Blvd. #100 Woodland Hills, California 91364 Sale Line: (800) 280-2832 Rita Terzyan, Trustee Sale Technician A-4712417 12/13/2019, 12/20/2019, 12/27/2019 AMENDED NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: NICK KLUZNICK aka RONALD P. KLUZNICK Case No.: 19PR187318 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of NICK KLUZNICK, aka RONALD P. KLUZNICK. A Petition for Probate has been filed by: Public Administrator of the County of Santa Clara in the Superior Court of California, County of SANTA CLARA. The Petition for Probate requests that: Public Administrator of the County of Santa Clara be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A HEARING on the petition will be held on January 3, 2020 at 9:01 a.m. in Dept.: 13 of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, located at 191 N. First St., San Jose, CA, 95113.

If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

If you are a creditor or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58 (b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor.

You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Attorney for Petitioner: Mark A. Gonzalez, Lead Deputy County Counsel 373 West Julian Street, Suite 300 San Jose, CA 95110 (408) 758-4200 (PAW Dec. 13, 20, 27, 2019)

at Hidden Villa. ... It’s like a big family; it sticks with you.” Q More information about the impact of the Holiday Fund, including stories about funded nonprofit agencies and instructions for

donating online, can be found on page 20 of this newspaper and at PaloAltoOnline.com/holidayfund.

Arts & Entertainment Editor Karla Kane can be emailed at kkane@paweekly.com.

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 11

Upfront

Police auditor (continued from page 5)

contract and thus left open to the city’s discretion.

In a year when the release of audits have been inexplicably delayed (there have been none), Shikada disputed reports that the proposed change raises concerns about a lack of transparency. He argued that, in fact, it reflects the city’s commitment to being open and transparent. To reassure the council, he said that he and Jonsen plan to release a supplementary report in conjunction with the audits, summarizing any incidents that fall outside the scope of the independent review.

Given that it will be the city itself — and not an external auditor — who will be issuing that supplementary report, Shikada and Jonsen will have full discretion in deciding how much detail, if any, to include.

The revised scope drew a sharp rebuke from retired Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell, a former city councilwoman who had previously served as the independent police auditor in San

Jose. She noted that the decision of whether a given incident constitutes a “personnel matter” is often a subjective determination, made by the Human Resources Department itself. Unless the language is clarified, the department will be able to classify incidents of police misconduct as “personnel matters” and, in doing so, withhold them from public scrutiny.

She alluded to recent accusations against Capt. Zach Perron, who was alleged to have uttered a racial slur to another officer.

Language in the new contract should make clear that such conduct must be properly classified as “misconduct” and investigated

by Internal Affairs.

“The vague and loosey-goosey language in the contract would be a step backward in transparency and police disciplinary conduct,” Cordell said.

In the past, the OIR Group has reviewed Internal Affairs investigations into an inebriated officer who rolled over his car, one who posted a training video after being warned about his use of social media by his supervisor and an officer who removed

Public Agenda A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week CITY COUNCIL ... The council has no meetings next week.

equipment from his patrol car without first telling his superiors.

It’s unclear whether these types of incidents would be reviewed

by Internal Affairs in the future or Human Resources.

Jonsen pushed back against Cordell’s characterization of the modified contract. Rather than reducing transparency, the revised scope — when coupled with the new supplementary reports — seeks to address some “gaps” in the existing system, he said.

“I feel the process today that we’re currently working under has some gaps, and that’s what we’re trying to rectify — to make this fair, transparent, equitable and legitimate,” Jonsen said.

City Attorney Molly Stump argued that the new clause is important because the city has “an overriding interest in protecting the privacy of sworn personnel so that these employees can do their work without concern about risk or intrusions into their personal and family affairs.

“In addition, the city has an obligation to maintain a confidential human resources system, so that employees feel safe coming forward to make complaints or to provide information in an investigation that involves their co-workers or supervisors,” a report from the City Attorney’s Office states.

While the council agreed, some members of the public took

issue with this change. Winter Dellenbach argued that under the new rules, Human Resources will “investigate in total secrecy, eroding transparency and accountability.” Complaints generated by officers should be handled by an independent auditor, she said.

“At a time when the city needs to up its police accountability, the contract seems vague and wrong-headed, especially when the state grants greater privacy rights to sworn and in-uniform officers than it does to the public,” Dellenbach said.

The council, however, sided with Shikada and Jonsen, with several members arguing that not every personnel issue warrants an independent review. Mayor Eric Filseth pointed to a hypothetical case in which an employee sees a co-worker watching cat videos on their computer. Is this really the kind of issue that an external audit should be exploring, he asked?

His colleagues agreed, even as they expressed some concerns about the fact that OIR Group has not released any audits since October 2018. While Jonsen attributed the delay to the auditor needing more time to get information from the city and reach a conclusion, Michael Gennaco of OIR Group told the Weekly in July that the firm was expecting to release an audit in the summer.

Gennaco also said in September

that the audit was delayed because his firm was awaiting direction from the city.

Gennaco also indicated in an email to the Weekly on Monday night that his firm’s next report will address the issue of whether it’s appropriate for the city’s own Human Resources Department to handle police personnel issues.

Despite some reservations, the council approved Shikada’s plan.

Councilwoman Liz Kniss said the city is walking a “fine line” in deciding between privacy and accountability. Vice Mayor Adrian Fine, who made the motion on Monday to approve Shikada’s recommendation, agreed but nevertheless voted to approve the revised scope.

“There is an issue of diffusion of accountability, and I think there’s a fair argument that some incidents should absolutely be audited by an independent auditor and some should be handled by the regular channels in the HR Department,” Fine said. Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

TALK ABOUT IT

PaloAltoOnline.com Join the community conversation about this change in the police auditor contract by going to PaloAltoOnline.com and posting your comment under this story, “Palo Alto to shield internal police conflicts from independent audits.”

Foothill College offers a broad range of excellent physical education classes for all ages, from archery to table tennis and pilates. The college has an Olympic-sized swimming pool, weight room and gyms. We also offer a wide range of art classes, including ceramics

Better your mind, body and soul at Foothill College this winter.

Page 12 • December 20, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

and drawing.

Sign up at foothill.edu/reg

Upfront

Buttigieg (continued from page 5)

Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, arrives at a private fundraiser for his presidential campaign in Palo Alto’s Crescent Park neighborhood on Dec. 16.

Buttigieg said he would create a million-person, paid program to bring people together. He urged people to be serious about the problems facing the nation and the world.

Challenging the notion that he isn’t experienced enough to be president since he has only been a mayor and is not experienced in federal governance, he said that as mayor he has had to deal with many of the same problems faced by a president and manage many more people than U.S. senators do.

Being a mayor in a Midwestern city and from the Rust Belt means he understands the challenges facing people in the middle of the country and the working class, he added.

One of the greatest challenges he sees is breaking down the silos people have constructed that don’t allow them to relate to

others, particularly around race.

“We have to break through this idea that either you care about auto workers or you care about the plight of African American single mothers. Where I come from, that auto worker just might be an African American single mother,” he said.

He views his military experience as a strength in responding to Trump’s claims on how to utilize armed forces. Serving in Afghanistan, he worked alongside many people who were of different races, ethnicity, faiths and races.

“We had nothing in common but the flag on our shoulder, quite honestly,” he said. In war, trust and support was crucial to survival, he added.

Buttigieg said that although younger voters appear to be gravitating to other Democratic presidential candidates such as

CityView A round-up

of Palo Alto government action this week

Human Relations Commission (Dec. 12)

Inclusionary programming: The commission listened to an oral report on inclusionary programming by Kristen O’Kane, Community Services Department director. Action: None.

City Council (Dec. 16)

Wireless: The council approved revised objective standards for wireless communication facilities, which includes restrictions on installing wireless equipment in residential areas. Yes: Unanimous Police audit: The council approved a three-year contract with OIR Group for independent police auditing services with a new provision specifying that internal personnel issues will be reviewed by Human Resources Department rather than the auditor. Yes: Unanimous Raises: The council approved raises for City Attorney Molly Stump and City Clerk Beth Minor and agreed to invest $3 million in Ed Shikada’s house, which the city will co-own. Yes: Cormack, DuBois, Filseth, Fine, Kniss, Kou No: Tanaka

Council Policies and Services Committee (Dec. 17)

Tax: The committee declared a preference for placing a business tax based on employee count on the November 2020 ballot. Yes: Cormack, DuBois Absent: Fine

Magali Gauthier

country that involves caring for each other rather than polarization, he said. He stressed finding commonalities through issues that threaten the nation’s security, such as climate change and gun violence.

“When I think of patriotism, I am not talking about the chestthumping militarism of a president who throws out military justice to pardon war criminals,” Buttigieg, an Afghan War veteran, said. “I’m talking about a sense of love of country that has a different foundation — the foundation being that our country is made of people, and you can’t love a country if you hate half the people,” he said.

“I’m here for a vision of democracy as a value — not just democracy as a system — but democracy as a value with moral weight,” he said.

To that end, he stressed the dangers the nation faces by an uneven electoral system that grows increasingly fragile through precinct redistricting and voter suppression that favor political parties and not the people. Voting is a common value; the country cannot tolerate voter suppression, particularly racial voter suppression that changes election outcomes, he said.

“It’s why Stacey Abrams is not the governor of Georgia, and (it) harms everybody in the process,” he said in reference to the 2018 gubernatorial candidate.

Buttigieg also pushed back on “the thin idea of freedom” delivered by cutting every tax and program in sight.

“Often, securing freedom requires that the public sector step up. We already understand this at the local level. We expect it of our mayors to enhance our freedom by making sure that a road is without any holes in it to get us to where we’re going and that we have safe drinking water coming out of the tap. We expect it of our schools,” he said.

The public sector should also step up to ensure that people have the choice of having health care “because you are not free if you don’t have it,” he said.

His proposal for “Medicare for All for all who want it” respects American freedom by creating a public plan that people can join if they want to, he said.

Buttigieg also called on progressives to not reject “those who have not always been on our side.”

By seeking to join around core issues and to find common ground, “We’re not going to allow fighting to be all that we’ve got.”

Buttigieg said he thinks the American experience is defined not by exclusion but by belonging.

“If we can build up that sense of belonging, then everything else gets better in this country,” he said.

U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, he would offer the most progressive presidency if elected. Besides his young age — 37 — he would bring a different vision for the country.

“In the last 50 years, every single time my party’s won the White House, certain things have been true about the nominee — always. It’s been somebody who’s been new on the national scene and had not run for president before; it’s been somebody that’s been calling the country to its highest values; it’s been somebody who was not perceived as a creature of Washington ... and it’s been somebody who has opened the door to a new type of leadership,” he said.

“We need the right kind of leadership. We need to build it out in a way that can draw as many people as possible. And we need to spread a sense of hope,” he said.

The act of running for office is its own kind of hope, he noted.

“It’s why we’re called presidential hopefuls,” he joked.

Buttigieg said that he’s aware there are some people who have just about given up hope. It’s that group he asked the Palo Alto crowd to help reach out to and galvanize.

“The presidency has a purpose. ... It is to unify and empower the American people, and that’s why I’m running for president,” he said.

Buttigieg is one of a number of presidential candidates who have come through Silicon Valley in recent weeks. Former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker attended separate fundraising events in Palo Alto over the past week and a half, and Julian Castro, former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, was at Stanford University for a speaking engagement on Dec. 5. Q Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

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Architectural Review Board (Dec. 19)

702 Clara Drive: The board approved a request to demolish an existing four-unit apartment building and construct three single-family homes. Yes: Baltay. Hirsch, Lee, Lew Absent: Thompson 1700 and 1730 Embarcadero Road: The board discussed modifications to landscaping, lighting and other outstanding issues at two previously approved automotive dealerships at 1700 and 1730 Embarcadero Road. They continued the discussion to a future date. Yes: Baltay. Hirsch, Lee, Lew Absent: Thompson

Avenidas@450 Bryant | (650) 289-5400 www.avenidas.org www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 13

Pulse

A weekly compendium of vital statistics

POLICE CALLS Palo Alto

Dec. 5-Dec. 17

Violence related Assault w/ a deadly weapon. . . . . . . . . 1 Attempted murder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Attempted strong arm robbery . . . . . . . 1 Attempted suicide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Brandishing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Child abuse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Elder abuse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Rape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Sex crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Sexual assault. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Strong arm robbery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Theft related Attempted residential burglary . . . . . . . 1 Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Credit card forgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Prowler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Shoplifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Vehicle related Auto recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Auto theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Abdul Majid Qureshi March 25, 1946 – December 2, 2019 Majid Qureshi, a resident of Menlo Park for over 30 years, passed away on Dec. 2. He was 73.

Majid lived much of his early childhood in Iran. He went to England for secondary and high school, before returning to Pakistan and obtaining degrees in Pharmacy from FC college in Lahore and Punjab University.

After working for two years in Pakistan he immigrated to the US in 1971. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Rutgers University, NJ in 1979. He worked in R&D for various pharmaceutical companies, including Schering-Plough and Pfizer before making the move out West with his family, settling in Menlo Park and working for over twenty years at Alza Corporation (later Johnson and Johnson). He rose to a position of Senior Director of Process Development/Technology Transfer for oral dosage before retiring in 2006.

Post retirement, his life-long passion for classical and traditional Eastern arts blossomed, including Hindustani classical music, Mughal & Persian miniature paintings, and Urdu & Farsi poetry. He was a devoted collector of recordings, manuscripts, and collectible art books and maintained an extensive and well-catalogued library. A true polyglot, he was conversant or fluent in Urdu, Punjabi, and Farsi. He regularly attended concerts and poetic symposiums to feed his passion and broaden his horizons. For the past 13 years he participated in classes and gatherings on a weekly basis that were centered on the interpretation of his favorite poet, the 13th century Sufi mystic Maulana Jalaludin Rumi.

In addition to being a connoisseur of the arts, he enjoyed watching professional tennis, international cricket, and making a daily visit to Peets Coffee in downtown Menlo Park to meet with his friends and acquaintances. He was a fan of the finer things in life. He loved traveling, museums, fine-dining & clothing, and had a particular affinity for fedora and panama hats. Nothing gave him more pleasure however than spending time with and watching his six grandchildren grow up before his eyes.

Majid was married for almost 49 years, and was the most wonderful husband, father, grandfather, mentor, and provider one could ever hope for. Majid is survived by his wife Naheed; three children, including Shehrzad Qureshi of Palo Alto, Ferhan Qureshi of Fremont, Faiza Qureshi of Los Gatos; his sister Rehana and six grandchildren - Khalil, Zak, Sahil, Laila, Hamza and Aisha. Majid was preceded in death by his father, Abdul Qadir, his mother, Saadat, and his brother, Abdul Wajid.

Majid was laid to rest at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto on December 3rd and his memorials to date have served as touching reminders of the kind, fun-loving, gentle, humble and compassionate man that he was.

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Page 14 • December 20, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Driving w/ suspended license. . . . . . . . 6 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Lost/stolen plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Parking/driving violation . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Vehicle accident/major injury . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . 18 Vehicle accident/prop damage. . . . . . . 7 Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Alcohol or drug related Drinking in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Driving under influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Possession of paraphernalia . . . . . . . . 2 Under influence of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Miscellaneous Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Located missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Possession of stolen property . . . . . . . 1 Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Psychiatric subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . 4 Trespassing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Menlo Park

Dec. 4-Dec. 17

Violence related Brandishing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Robbery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft related Credit card forgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Shoplifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle related Bicycle recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Driving w/ suspended license. . . . . . . 10 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Parking/driving violation . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Theft from auto attempt . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . 4 Vehicle accident/prop damage. . . . . . . 5 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Alcohol or drug related Driving under influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Possession of paraphernalia . . . . . . . . 1 Sale of drugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Under influence of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Miscellaneous Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Info. case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Located missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Misc penal code violation . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Possession of stolen property . . . . . . . 3 Property for destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Psychiatric subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Suspicious circumstance . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

VIOLENT CRIMES Palo Alto

East Meadow Drive, 10/1, 3 p.m.; sex

Robert W. Hermsen April 25, 1934 – November 3, 2019 Robert Hermsen passed away suddenly on November 3, 2019 at the age of 85. He was born in Baker City, Oregon to William Henry Hermsen and Alphia (Busick) Hermsen. He attended St. Francis Academy in Baker, JF Hutchinson School in Union, and Baker High School, graduating in 1952.

Bob earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State College where he was an active member in the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. After college, he served in the US Army and then for many years in the US Army Reserves.

In 1957, Bob married Janet Marie Grexton. They started their family while he returned to college, earning a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1961. Bob worked over 31 years in the aerospace industry for United Technologies where he was considered an expert in solid rocket propellants. He continued to work as a consultant in his field for several years after his retirement in December 1992.

For over 50 years, Bob and Jan made their home in Palo Alto, California where they raised four daughters. A supportive family man, he shared with them his love of the outdoors, music, sports, cooking and wine. Bob was preceded in death by his wife Janet.

He is survived by his daughters: Carol (Gary Forney) Hermsen of Roseville, California; Jeanne (John Mercer) Hermsen of Albany, Oregon; Susan (Peter Brown) Hermsen of Palo Alto, California; and Kathleen (Michael) Richman of Germantown, Maryland; grandchildren, Colleen Forney of San Diego and Janna Forney of Sacramento, Stephanie Brown of Portland, Oregon and Paige Brown of Palo Alto, Tyler Richman of San Ramon, Colin Richman of Overland Park, Kansas, and Jessica Richman of Germantown, Maryland; as well as nieces, nephews and many longtime friends.

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OBITUARY

crime.

East Meadow Drive, 10/1, 3 p.m.; sex crime.

Edgewood Drive, 10/2, 5:38 p.m.; rape.

Embarcadero Road, 11/5, 2 p.m.; sex crime.

Klamath Lane, 11/7, 6:30 p.m.; sexual assault/sodomy.

2754 Middlefield Road, 11/16, 10:51 a.m.; strong arm robbery.

Bryant St., 11/16, 7:28 p.m.; brandishing.

El Camino Real, 12/1, 3:10 p.m.; domestic violence/battery.

Curtner Ave., 12/3, 11:30 a.m.; child abuse/emotional.

Altaire Walk, 12/3, 1 p.m.; domestic violence/battery.

180 El Camino Real, 12/4, 4:31 p.m.; strong arm robbery.

101 El Camino Real, 12/5, 10:56 a.m.; battery/simple.

Morris Drive, 12/5, 10:38 p.m.; domestic violence/battery.

Homer Ave., 12/6, 1:17 a.m.; domestic violence/battery.

180 El Camino Real, 12/8, 4:34 p.m.; attempted strong arm robbery.

Commercial St., 12/10, 3:57 p.m.; elder abuse/self neglect.

Middlefield Road, 12/11, 7:19 a.m.; domestic violence.

1001 Page Mill Road, 12/11, 2:21 p.m.; attempted murder.

100 block University Ave., 12/11, 8:59 p.m.; strong arm robbery.

855 El Camino Real, 12/13, 1:47 p.m.; assault w/ a deadly weapon.

180 El Camino Real, 12/13, 7:12 p.m.; strong arm robbery.

El Camino Real, 12/14, 11 a.m.; domestic violence.

Hansen Way, 12/14, 11:40 a.m.; attempted suicide.

Vineyard Road, 12/14, 7:42 p.m.; domestic violence/battery.

180 El Camino Real, 12/14, 8:42 p.m.; strong arm robbery.

San Antonio Road, 12/15, 1:34 a.m.; domestic violence/battery.

900 Arastradero Road, 12/16, 6:57 a.m.; battery/simple.

Menlo Park

1500 block Santa Cruz Ave., 12/7, 1:02 a.m.; domestic violence.

700 block El Camino Real, 12/9, 5:19 p.m.; brandishing.

700 block Santa Cruz Ave., 12/13, 1:41 p.m.; robbery.

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Transitions Births, marriages and deaths

Herbert Brooke Moore

Palo Alto songwriter, musician and technical writer Herbert Brooke Moore died on Dec. 5 following health complications due to dialysis. He was 75.

Born in Washington D.C. on Feb. 18, 1944, to Charles Lansdale Moore and Mary Brooke Moore, he was raised in northern Virginia and attended McLean High School where he played football and ran track. When he was 15, he also discovered music and taught himself to play the guitar in his bedroom.

He later enrolled in American University and graduated on the dean’s list. Afterwards, he volunteered for the AmeriCorps Vista, a national service program with several goals including alleviating poverty.

In 1968, he moved to Palo Alto and worked as a technical writer for various software companies.

He also co-authored a tutorial for novice programmers, “Atari Sound and Graphics: A Self-Teaching Guide,” and worked on the icon systems for Marimba software and the user interface system for Dow Jones Telerate software.

Along with his profession, he continued to delve into music and became a regular fixture in the local music scene. At Stanford University, he created music for

SUBMITTING TRANSITIONS ANNOUNCEMENTS The Palo Alto Weekly’s Transitions page is devoted to bir ths, weddings, anniversaries and deaths of local residents.

Obituaries for local residents are a free editorial service. The best way to submit an obituary is through our Lasting Memories website, at PaloAltoOnline. com/obituaries.

Paid obituaries are also available and can be arranged through our advertising department by emailing ads@paweekly. com.

Announcements of a local resident’s recent wedding, anniversary or birth are also a free editorial service.

These notices are published as space is available. Send announcements to editor@ paweekly.com or P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto 94302, or fax to 650-223-7526.

Shirley “Shan” Young March

Deborah Kent Levick

January 29, 1930 – February 27, 2019

Deborah Levick, daughter of Ginger and Doug Levick, was born in Greenwich, Connecticut and died peacefully at 50 years of age on November 11 at Pete’s Place, one of the Kainos residential homes in Redwood City, California where she lived for the last 29 years. During these years she came home frequently and was an integral and important part of the family. Prior to Kainos she lived at St. Vincents, a residential home and school in Santa Barbara, California. In her early years she lived at home in Greenwich, Paris, France, Boston and Atherton. Deborah, who was handicapped from Down Syndrome, lived a very full and active life despite her handicap, but died at an early age from advanced stages of Alzheimer’s.

She worked her whole adult life until recently in various jobs, including the Redwood City Police Department, an auto parts wholesaler, Home Depot and the YMCA. She was very active in Special Olympics, winning dozens of gold medals in swimming, skiing, track and basketball. She also bowled frequently and was a regular participant in a local square dancing group.

Deborah, who was educated in Montessori in her early years and later in Special Education in public schools, exceeded everyone’s expectations with her capabilities. She came within a few points of getting her high school GED degree. She was a very personable, fun loving and strong-minded person, to whom everyone was attracted. She gave us all great joy, mixed with moments of frustration with her need to “do it my way”.

She had great impact on her family and friends and will never be forgotten by all who knew her.

Deborah is survived by her parents, Virginia and Douglas Levick, her sister Carolee Hazard and her two daughters Jessie and Makenzie, and her brother Reed Levick and his three children, Elisabeth, Andrew and Reed. A memorial service will be held at the First Congregational Church at 1985 Louis Street in Palo Alto on January 4, 2020 at 2:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to LuMind Downs Syndrome Foundation at 20 Mall Road, Suite 200, Burlington, MA 01803, or Kainos at 3631 Jefferson Avenue, Redwood City, CA 940062.

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the dance performance, “Along the River,” in 2003. He also performed at the Pacific Art League, Peninsula School, Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, the Tuolumne River Film Festival and many other community venues.

According to San Jose Mercury News reporter and friend Lisa Kreiger, one of the artist’s proudest memories was his creation of an impromptu “rain orchestra” during World Water Day at Heritage Park. During the event, he invited the crowd to simulate a rainstorm using instruments made from found objects like old tuna cans, rubber bands and jar lids, pebbles and other refuse.

In 2003, he recorded a CD called “Sophia’s Garden,” named after Palo Alto toddler Sophia

Herzog Sachs, who was diagnosed with a devastating genetic disorder. A portion of the profits was donated to a foundation created in her name, Sophia’s Garden Foundation.

On top of music, he was passionate about edible gardening.

With Transition Palo Alto, an environmental nonprofit focused on sustainability, he helped create a promotional video about the California Seed Exchange Democracy Act, which “protects seed libraries and exchanges from legal barriers imposed by the state seed law,” according to Sustainable Economies Law Center.

He was also a part-time employee at the Midpeninsula Media Center and provided live coverage of government meetings for East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Palo Alto.

Preceded in death by his father and mother, he is survived by his sister Mary Teresa Moore of Fort Mill; sister Helen Moore Lynch of Rock Hill; and many friends.

To receive information regarding Herbert Moore’s memorial, send an email to melosynch@ yahoo.com.

OBITUARY

Shirley Young March, devoted mother of five and loving wife of Robert Sterling March, passed away peacefully in her home on February 27th 2019 at 8:25 p.m. with family by her side.

Shirley went by the name of Shan and Js survived by her four children Pamela, Cynthia (Cindy,) Philip, and Peter, daughtersin-law Katy, Nancee and Taisha, son-in-law William “Rusty” Bryant, grandchildren Sabrina, Austin, Rebecca, Brandon, and great grandchild, Sawyer.

She lost one son named Hollis on February 22, 2003 in Alameda, CA, her husband Bob on December 7, 1997, and her sister Jo Ellen Crankshaw October 5, 2018.

Shirley Ann Young was born in Kansas, January 29, 1930, to Willie Maude (Ragan) Young and Arthur Lewis Young, and grew up in Kansas and Oklahoma.

She had many family ties to Arkansas, Baton Rouge, and particularly, Thibodaux, Louisiana.

She met Bob in Boston, MA, and after marrying, resided in Maryland, until she and Bob (a former attendee of Stanford University) moved to Sunnyvale in 1957, and then to Los Altos Hills in 1964. She graduated from University of Tulsa in Oklahoma in 1951. She was social chairman of Chi Omega, president of Future Teachers of America, secretary of Student Council, involved with Mortar Board, Who’s Who, TU “Y”, Botany Club, Board of Publications, Windbags, and Christian Science Organization.

Shan loved to hike at Hidden Villa in Los Altos Hills and enjoyed seeing the baby animals that were born every season. She also treasured the wildlife that lived in her

own backyard including deer, rabbits, and birds. She was a vocal advocate for the local wildlife, and spoke out in support of humane backyard wildlife practices, such as keeping water available for the animals. She was an avid supporter of Hidden Villa, as well as other organizations, including humane societies in Palo Alto and Silicon Valley for homeless pets.

Shan was not only a devoted mother but she also ran her own successful real estate business as a broker/owner of Shan March Properties in Los Altos Hills for many years. She was a world traveler, visiting places such as Australia, Taiwan, Switzerland, and was an accomplished hiker of the Sierras. She was involved in garden, hiking and flower arranging clubs, and had dear friends she cherished spending time with in these activities.

She loved her dog, Sierra, and could be seen daily walking around the Hills with her. She was the last of the original La Barranca Road residents, and had lived there for 55 years.

A small viewing and cremation service was performed on March 7, 2019 at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto with family present.

A memorial service in the spring of 2020 is being planned. Donations to Hidden Villa and humane organizations such as SVACA (Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority) would be very appreciated in lieu of condolences, and it would make her very glad to know she could still be helping after she is no longer with us.

Mom, you are so very loved, and so, so very missed.

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 15

Above: Following three mass shootings, attendees of an Aug. 7 vigil at Stanford University wrote messages on ribbons.

At left: To prevent future wildfires from jumping across Page Mill Road, crews have churned the soil to create a fire break.

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by Magali Gauthier

rom one man taking care of his wife with dementia to protesters on street corners demanding Palo Altans care about immigrant children in detention centers, Palo Alto Weekly visual journalists captured a community fiercely trying to better the circumstances with which they were presented in 2019.

In February, James Wang, a Stanford mechanical engineering student, and Connie Liu, a former Nueva School teacher, mentored East Palo Alto Academy students through an after-school engineering program. The teenagers were building a proximity sensor to help Abigayil Tamara, a mobility-impaired local resident.

Magali Gauthier

In late June, residents living in RVs along El Camino Real opened up to Weekly journalists about their situations. Some families couldn’t afford local rent and are in campers to make ends meet. For others, their RV is a home away from home: They work in the area throughout the week and return to their permanent residences in other parts of the state on the weekends.

Veronica Weber

Veronica Weber

Above: Barton Bernstein visits his wife daily at Sunrise Senior Living in Palo Alto, where she’s under care for dementia.

At left: Aaron Ragsdale, center, a teacher at East Palo Alto Academy, guides students Alejandro Gonzalez, left, and José Alcantar as they design a prototype housing development using an Arduino board and sensors through the afterschool Page 16 • December 20, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.comSTEM program.

In November, staff of local land-management and fire agencies spoke of their concerns about the heightened risk of wildfires in the Santa Cruz Mountains and their urgent efforts to diminish the dangers.

We’ve chosen these moments and others so that you can revisit the fighting spirit of those living and working in the Palo Alto area. Q

Chief Visual Journalist Magali Gauthier can be emailed at mgauthier@ paweekly.com.

ÛiÀÊ-Ì ÀÞ

Sammy Dallal

Veronica Weber

Veronica Weber

Above: People in Palo Alto protest the separation of undocumented children from their parents at U.S. detention facilities on June 25.

At right: Protesters gather along Alpine Road in Portola Valley as President Donald Trump attends a nearby fundraiser on Sept. 17.

At right: Gryphon Stringed Instruments associate Todd Novak helps a customer who has come in with a guitar in need of repair on Sept. 25. The Palo Alto shop celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.

Veronica Weber Magali Gauthier

Palo Alto City Councilwoman Alison Cormack is sworn into office by her husband, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Thomas Kuhnle, during the council’s first meeting in 2019.

RVs and other vehicles park bumper to bumper along El Camino Real in Palo Alto on June 25. A growing number of people, priced out of local apartments, are living in RVs.

Below: Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, now a candidate for president, greets supporters at Evvia Estiatorio restaurant in Palo Alto during a campaign fundraiser on Oct. 3.

Sammy Dallal

Veronica Weber

About the cover: A girl holds her baby cousin in the RV they share with 10 family members. They park along El Camino Real in Palo Alto. Photo

by Veronica Weber. www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 17

Page 18 • December 20, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Arts & Entertainment pays a visit to Palo Alto Pace Gallery offers rare opportunity to see art by the iconic master

Courtesy of Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society

ace Palo Alto is not a large gallery space, but it has been expertly and imaginatively transformed with each exhibition. For the current show, “Seeing Picasso: Maker of the Modern,” the gallery has become very museum-like, with a light barrier drapery in the front window, security guards and an optional audio guide.

The reason for such formality is Pablo Picasso — perhaps the most famous modern artist and a name familiar to most, either because of his art or his turbulent private life.

“Seeing Picasso” (on view until Feb. 16) is a mini-retrospective, with paintings, drawings, ceramics and sculptures from the entire arc of the artist’s long and prolific career. It’s an opportunity to view seldomseen works from private collections as well as examples of his work that would ordinarily require a trip to New York City.

“Marc Glimcher, president and CEO of Pace Gallery, has worked on this show for 18 months,” explained Elizabeth Sullivan, Pace Palo Alto president. “He really wanted to bring Picasso to Palo Alto and we are thrilled that the lenders also wanted to do a show here.”

Some of the pieces are from unnamed private collectors but there also are loans from the Fundacion Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte, which is overseen by the artist’s grandson and his wife.

Pace is a sales gallery but the purpose of this show is mainly educational, with only seven of the 35 objects available for sale.

Sullivan said she hopes there will be a lot of outreach with the show, especially given the name-recognition of Picasso.

“We want to do special programs for local school children, bringing them into the gallery and doing projects,” she said.

Information about the artist is imparted in the entry gallery by means of an illustrated timeline that details all of the major events during the life of Picasso (1881-1973). It is a

Courtesy of Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society

P

by Sheryl Nonnenberg

Examples of Pablo Picasso’s work, on view through Feb. 16 at Pace Gallery, include, center, “Femme la Main sur une Cle” (Woman with Hand on a Key); top right, “Tête d'homme au béret” (Head of a Man with Beret); and, bottom left, “Bikini vase.” remarkable chronology of a man who came from humble beginnings in Malaga, Spain, and was, from the outset, a child prodigy.

As a young man, he settled in Paris, endured two world wars, poverty and the derision of critics. He eventually became a leader in several of the most important avant-garde art movements that informed modern art as we know it today.

The second and third galleries are installed in chronological order, allowing the viewer to fully grasp the well-known periods that delineate Picasso’s work. His early work, characterized by his training in the classical approach to representation, is exemplified by “Lola with a Doll” (1896) and “The Dead Casagemas” (1901). Both are true-to-life portraits, undertaken in a realistic style. There is obvious tenderness toward the subjects of these works, especially in the portrayal of Casagemas, whose suicide would send Picasso into a

deep depression that lasted several years.

Several charcoal drawings of women reflect the artist’s transition from realism to abstraction. By 1910, he had begun to fracture the human form, as can be seen in “Standing Woman.” This would be the beginning of his “analytical cubism” phase, with monochromatic canvasses full of overlapping forms. “Bust of a Man” (1912) is a study in geometry and how the artist strove to draw the figure from multiple angles. His “synthetic cubism” phase is included here in “Sliced Pear and Pipe” (1914).

Always a bit of a shape-shifter, Picasso next took on a Neoclassicism, apparently inspired by a trip to Italy where he saw paintings from the Renaissance. In “Study of Hands” (1920) and “Three Women by the Fountain” (1921) the artist has returned to realism, although the figures are quite rounded and bulky.

Picasso flirted with surrealism, although he never became an official member of

Courtesy of Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society

A weekly guide to music, theater, art, culture, books and more, edited by Karla Kane

that group. Examples here include both sculptures done in bronze and plaster and a very enigmatic charcoal on canvas entitled “Woman with a Flower” (1932). In what seems like a continuous line, the artist has created a seated figure with both organic and geometric forms.

It has been noted that Picasso’s style changed dramatically with each of his love affairs.

There are extraordinary examples of Picasso paying homage to wives and lovers here, beginning with a sweet portrait of Marie-Therese Walter. She is painted in an almost child-like manner, with pastel colors and the hint of a smile. In contrast, “Woman with Hand on a Key” (1938) depicts photographer Dora Maar in strong shades of green and purple, her facial features disjointed.

“Seated Woman” (1949) is a portrait of Francoise Gilot, the mother of two of Picasso’s children and the only woman to have ever left him. Her face is sketchily drawn, while her body is a bulbous blue shape. The overlapping forms suggest the outlines of an ochre-colored chair, with just enough detail for the mind to fill in the gaps.

There are numerous examples of Picasso’s ceramic work, undertaken in the latter part of his life. “Bikini vase” (1961) was created using red earthenware in a classic vase shape, onto which the artist has painted a bright yellow bathing suit top and bottom.

It’s a fun and clever piece and reflects the artist’s joie de vivre.

The latest piece in the exhibition is “Head of a Man with Beret” from 1971, two years prior to his death. It is, perhaps, a sombre self-portrait done in an amalgam of styles by an artist who lived life to the fullest and left an indelible legacy.

There is a lot to take in here, including an audio-visual tour narrated by Stanford University professor Alexander Nemerov, which perhaps warrants multiple visits.

Noted Sullivan, “Because there are so many pieces in this small space, we want you to keep coming back.” Q Freelance writer Sheryl Nonnenberg can be emailed at nonnenberg@aol.com.

What: “Seeing Picasso: Maker of the Modern.”

Where: Pace Gallery, 229 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto.

When: Through Feb. 16. Gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Cost: Free.

Info: pacegallery.com/exhibitions/seeingpicasso/.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 19

Support our Kids with a gift to the Holiday Fund Last Year’s Grant Recipients 49ers Academy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Able Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Ada’s Café . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Adolescent Counseling Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500 Aim High for High School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 All Students Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,000 Art in Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Art of Yoga. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Bayshore Christian Ministries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Big Brothers Big Sisters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Buena Vista Homework Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000 CASSY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000 Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto. . . . . . . . $10,000 Downtown Streets Team. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500 DreamCatchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20,000 East Palo Alto Academy Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500 East Palo Alto Charter School (EPACS). . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500 East Palo Alto Kids Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000 East Palo Alto Tennis & Tutoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000 Environmental Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Family Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Fit Kids Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Foundation for a College Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500 Friends of Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Get Involved Palo Alto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Hidden Villa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Jasper Ridge Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Kara. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500 KIPP Valiant Community Prep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,000 La Comida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500 Live in Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500 Marine Science Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Music in the Schools Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 New Creation Home Ministries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 New Voices for Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,000 Palo Alto Art Center Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Palo Alto Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Palo Alto Music Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Peninsula HealthCare Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500 Peninsula Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Project WeHOPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,000 Ravenswood Education Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7,500 Rebuilding Together Peninsula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Silicon Valley Urban Debate League . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 St. Elizabeth Seton School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000 St. Francis of Assisi Youth Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 TheatreWorks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 YMCA East Palo Alto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000 YMCA Ross Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Youth Community Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20,000 Youth Speaks Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $12,000

Child Care Facility Improvement Grants Friends of Preschool Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Grace Lutheran Preschool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 The Learning Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Palo Alto Community Child Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10,000 Palo Alto Friends Nursery School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000 Parents Nursery School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,000

E

ach year the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund raises money to support programs serving families and children in the Palo Alto area.

Since the Weekly and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation cover all the administrative costs, every dollar raised goes directly to support community programs through grants to non-profit organizations.

And with the generous support of matching grants from local foundations, including the Packard, Hewlett, Peery and Arrillaga foundations, your taxdeductible gift will be doubled in size.

A donation of $100 turns into $200 with the foundation matching gifts.

Whether as an individual, a business or in honor of someone else, help us reach our goal of $400,000 by making a generous contribution to the Holiday Fund.

With your generosity, we can give a major boost to the programs in our community helping kids and families.

Give to the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund and your donation is doubled. You give to non-profit groups that work right here in our community. It’s a great way to ensure that your charitable donations are working at home.

As of December 16, 263 donors have contributed $281,251 to the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund.

19 Anonymous.................................$124,700

New Donors Beth & Peter Rosenthal...................................... 300 Constance Crawford ......................................... 125 Linda & Jerry Elkind............................................ 250 Diane Finklestein................................................ 200 Eric Keller & Janice Bohman .............................. 500 Tom & Nancy Fiene ............................................ 100 Kay & Don Remsen.................................................* Werner Graf ...........................................................* Sallie & Jay Whaley .................................................* Scott Pearson ..................................................... 500 Marilyn, Dale, Rick & Mei Simbeck .........................* Mandy Lowell .........................................................* Robyn H Crumly .....................................................* John & Kristine Erving .............................................* Barbara Klein ..........................................................* Elizabeth Lillard-Bernal............................................* Virginia Laibl ...................................................... 100 Hoda Epstein ..........................................................*

Victor Befera ...................................................... 100 Elizabeth Kok ..........................................................* Rosalie Shepherd ............................................... 100 John Keller ......................................................... 200 Anne & Don Vermeil...............................................* Steve & Diane Ciesinski ..................................... 500 Bruce & Jane Gee .............................................. 250 Kenyon Family ................................................... 500 Jocelyn Dong ..........................................................* Deborah Mytels ................................................. 100 Eilenn Brennan........................................................* Marian Scheuer ................................................. 100 Ruchita Parat...................................................... 100 Susan Light ........................................................ 100 Ellen Krasnow .........................................................* Dennis & Cindy Dillon........................................ 300 Graceann Johnson............................................. 100 Diane & Branimir Sikic ............................................* James Lobdell .................................................... 250 Eric Filseth .......................................................... 350 Deborah Wexler................................................. 500 Erika Buck .......................................................... 100

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Page Pa P ag ge e 20 0•D December eccem e ember be b er 20 2 20, 0, 2 20 2019 019 19 • P Palo aallo A Al Alto lto to W Weekly ee e ekklllyy • w ww www.PaloAltoOnline.com ww w..Pa Paallo loAl Alto oO On nlliin ne e..cco om m

Please make checks payable to: Silicon Valley Community Foundation

01 – Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund c/o Silicon Valley Community Foundation P.O. Box 45389 San Francisco, CA 94145 The Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund is a donor advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization.

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Businesses & Organizations Palo Alto Business Park ..............................* Communications & Power Industries .................................1,000 Bleibler Properties ...............................1,000

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 21

Where to find Germany’s famed Dresden Stollen along the Midpeninsula

by Anna Medina tollen. Dresden Christollen. Strutzel.

Striezel. Stutenbrot. It may go by many names, but this oblong, breadlike cake — dusted in a thin blanket of powdered sugar, dotted inside with colorful nuts, raisins, currants, candied orange and lemon peels — is one of the quintessential German Christmas desserts of the season.

When baked, it gives off the heady aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, brandy and butter — a distinctive scent that, for many, officially declares the start of the Christmas season.

Not surprisingly, this annual German tradition has found its way into bakeries and markets up and down the Midpeninsula.

At Esther’s German Bakery in Los Altos, making traditional stollen from a secret recipe smuggled out of Germany has been a longtime holiday custom that brings customers from near and far.

Photos by Federica Armstrong

S

For years, master baker Ernst Ruckaberle churned out Esther’s famous stollen using a recipe he discovered as a teenager while working at a bakery in Germany.

Ruckaberle took special note when they were making stollen at the shop. He allegedly wrote down the recipe on the sole of his shoe when no one was looking, eventually bringing it with him to the United States, where his cake quickly garnered a notable reputation.

According to those interviewed in this story, there are as many variations of the fruitcake as there are people who make it. Some recipes use cherry brandy, others use rum. Some cakes substitute apricots for cranberries and vanilla extract for crushed vanilla beans. And in Dresden, Germany — where the dessert has its roots — the stollen that kicks off holiday festivities can stretch as long as 27 feet and weigh as much as 9,400 pounds.

Freshly baked stollen is wrapped for sale at Woodside Bakery in Menlo Park.

ShopTalk

Local food & retail happenings

MIRROR GYM TO OPEN SHOWROOM ... Mirror, the New York-based fitness startup that uses immersive technology to bring live and on-demand workouts into homes through a screen, is preparing to open its first California showrooms in Los Angeles and Palo Alto, according to a company press release. A building permit was issued for a showroom at Stanford Shopping Center at the end of October. The showrooms will provide visitors an opportunity to take a live, oneon-one personal training session with a fitness professional 10,000 miles away using the company’s

Mirror screen, which features an interactive display with an embedded camera and speakers that provide a fitness studio experience with live feedback. The Mirror home gym looks like a fulllength mirror when turned off. When on, users can see themselves, their instructor and their classmates in an interactive display. The company offers more than 1,000 classes ranging from boxing and kettle ball to dance cardio, kickboxing, yoga and pilates. Through bluetooth technology, Mirror also can read a person’s heart rate and track a user’s progress. The startup recently secured $34 million in

Page 22 • December 20, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

No matter which recipe one follows, making traditional stollen can be an arduous process.

“Us bakers, we’re very proprietary,” said Darius Williams, who will be making the dessert during his first holiday season working as a master baker at Esther’s this year after taking over for Ruckaberle, who recently retired — and opted to keep his stollen recipe a secret.

With a background in food science, Williams said he is up for the challenge of continuing Esther’s famed stollen tradition.

“Stollen will be the No. 1 item we focus on this year,” he said, explaining how his cake’s raisins are soaked in rum for at least 24 hours and that the dough contains dried fruits, such as oranges and lemons, and marzipan. Williams described the end result as a dough that’s reminiscent of brioche but less sweet and eggy. It contains more butter than eggs and sugar.

Williams said that, for some, the cake also has a symbolic meaning: The coat of powdered sugar is thought to represent baby Jesus’ swaddling linen, a reminder of the Advent season. Wrapped in a festive cellophane paper, Williams said people tend to give the cake as a gift during the holidays.

Jan Sweyer, owner of Woodside Bakery & Cafe in Menlo Park, said that her European-style bakery sells upwards of 600 loaves of stollen every holiday season. The cake is sold at the bakery, special ordered or purchased from the bakery’s booth at the annual holiday market held at the historic Filoli estate in Woodside, Sweyer said.

Cornelia Bohle-Neubrand, the president of the board of directors at the German International School of Silicon Valley who grew up in Germany as a farmer’s daughter, said the dessert’s fruits and nuts are

Series B-1 financing led by Point72 Ventures, according to the company press release. — L.T. FRAICHE TO REOPEN IN NEW LOCATION ... Longtime downtown Palo Alto frozen yogurt shop Fraiche closed its doors last week, but owner Jennifer Maltz isn’t calling it quits. Another Fraiche will open at the new Stanford Hospital in spring 2020. Maltz said she decided to close the 200 Hamilton Ave. shop “as the economics didn’t makes sense anymore,” but did not provide further details.The original owners, Patama Roj and Jessica Gilmartin, opened Fraiche opened in 2007 on Emerson Street. The shop later moved to the larger space on Hamilton Avenue, where you could see the organic yogurt being pasteurized on site through a small window. Maltz has run the business since 2017, according to her LinkedIn page. Fraiche’s closure

seasonal ingredients only available in wintertime in Germany.

“The ingredients evoke the feeling of Christmas — the orange peel, lemon peel, almond, nuts, cinnamon, rum, vanilla.

There’s a whole set of taste, aroma, perfume that just tastes like Christmas for Germans,” Bohle-Neubrand said.

Lisa Toppel, an exchange student from Dresden who is attending the German International School, said that ever since the reunification of Germany, her uncle, who had fled the socialist regime of the German Democratic Republic via Hungary to live in West Germany, now annually travels back to his hometown of Dresden during the Advent season to purchase the town’s famous Christstollen. He fills his trunk with as much stollen as will fit, bringing it home to his family and friends in the western part of Germany.

“We in our family have — traditionally — the first stollen at the first of Advent,” Toppel said. “We have stollen together and drink tea and hot chocolate.”

Bohle-Neubrand said that the taste of stollen stirs up fond memories.

“Stollen gives us this warm feeling of home, family,” she said. Q Freelance writer Anna Medina can be emailed at rosales@alumni.stanford.edu.

Where to find stollen Esther’s German Bakery

987 N. San Antonio Road, Los Altos Esthersbakery.com Available for pickup, special order and at various grocery stores and farmers markets.

Woodside Bakery & Cafe 325 Sharon Park Drive, Menlo Park woodsidebakery.com Available for pickup, special order

marks the end of a frozen yogurt era in downtown Palo Alto, which over the years was home to numerous fro-yo shops but is now dominated by ice cream. The Stanford Hospital Fraiche has been over a year in the making, Maltz said. It will be similar to the Fraiche at the San Francisco International Airport, which serves frozen yogurt as well as smoothies, juices, salads, soups and other health food. — E.K. SWEET MAPLE COMING TO PALO ALTO... People seem to be perpetually lined up outside Sweet Maple in San Francisco, waiting for the restaurant’s popular brunch — particularly, the thick, indulgent Millionaire’s Bacon the restaurant has become known for. Come 2020, downtown Palo Alto will have its own location of Sweet Maple at 150 University Ave. The space is currently occupied by Indian restaurant Amber Dhara. Sweet Maple owner Hoyul

Steven Choi said the restaurant must leave by the end of December. The owner of Amber Dhara, Vijay Bist, did not immediately return a request for comment. Sweet Maple Palo Alto will have two things the San Francisco original doesn’t: dinner and a full liquor license. During the day, Sweet Maple will serve its breakfast and lunch fare, which includes the typical omelettes, eggs Benedicts and pancakes. But dinner at the Palo Alto eatery will reflect more of Choi and his wife’s roots. They both came to the Bay Area from South Korea. Choi described the dinner cuisine in Palo Alto as “New American with some modern Korean mixed in.” — E.K. Compiled by the Weekly staff; this week written by Elena Kadvany and Linda Taaffe. Got leads on interesting and news-worthy retail developments? The Weekly will check them out. Email shoptalk@ paweekly.com.

Movies

NOW SHOWING

Black Christmas (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Bombshell (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun.

The long awaited ‘Star Wars’ Episode IX woos fans, falls short 001/2 (Century 16 & 20, Icon)

Few, if any, films in cinematic history face the scrutiny of a “Star Wars” film, and one can feel the added burden weighing on “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”

After launching the current trilogy with 2015’s “The Force Awakens” and sitting out Rian Johnson’s 2017 “The Last Jedi,” Director J.J. Abrams must bring satisfying closure to this trilogy’s younger generation of characters — most notably Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren — and their current conflict between the righteous Resistance and the genocidal First Order, while also honoring the previous two trilogies overseen by franchise creator George Lucas.

Post-Lucas production company Lucasfilm reportedly picked Lucas’ brain for story ideas before commissioning the film’s script, which hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from churning with unsubstantiated tales of disastrous test screenings, reshoots and an unused cut purportedly supervised by Lucas. I didn’t encounter any of these rumors before watching the film, but they would explain a lot about the disjointed narrative of “The Rise of Skywalker,” which at times feels wet with spackle. The inclusion of previously unused Carrie Fisher footage, while welcome, sets the film’s awkward tone with General Leia Organa appearing to have been Photoshopped into her scenes.

More than ever, “Star Wars” ostensibly exists for the fans, those who care deeply about the sprawling mythology, its worlds and its characters. Any rube could have walked into 1983’s trilogy-ending “Return of the Jedi” as their first “Star Wars” movie and had a popcorn-munching good time, but in this era when peak-TV has become cinematic, and cinema has become episodic, “The Rise of Skywalker” plays to the well-informed blind-faithful.

Yes, screenwriters Abrams and Chris Terrio pack in the requisite lightsaber battles, blaster shootouts, space dogfights, whooping critters and fretfully chirping robots, but a

lugubrious sense of duty hangs over the proceedings as the writers try to rescue the hash Lucasfilm has made of a Lucas-less “Star Wars.”

The die-hard fans, who have the best shot of actually enjoying “The Rise of Skywalker,” are likely to have some serious complaints, and it’s not inconceivable that it may be received as warmly as the finale of “Game of Thrones.” A hard-toresist but creatively thin nostalgia machine, Abrams’ “The Force Awakens” overdosed on comforting call backs, while “The Last Jedi” stepped lively in its own direction, with encouraging results. “The Rise of Skywalker” mostly rolls back Johnson’s improvements.

“The Rise of Skywalker” nearly gets by on its visual dazzle, toy-lineready production design and big action set pieces: The money is definitely all there on the screen (plus, cute banter). But even at its best, this franchise-capper struggles to raise a pulse to make its audience feel or care about the specifics of its complicated plot beyond pre-existing goodwill for “Star Wars” itself and the saga’s first female protagonist.

For a brief, shining moment, “The Rise of Skywalker” perks up with a Lucas-esque twist of fate and goodevil duality, but the intriguing idea sorta just disappears into the film’s creative quicksand along with everything else.

If Abrams has topped himself, it’s by making a “Star Wars” film that’s even more of a multiplex-filling Hollywood widget than his first.

It’s a product through and through, and no amount of “voices of Jedi past” and unimaginative guest shots can disguise the new trilogy’s critical lack of a unifying vision. The big thematic takeaway from the new trilogy and the saga itself?

You can write your own ticket. It’s gonna cost you, and even more if it’s in IMAX, but you can write your own ticket. And your own fan fiction, which is liable to be as good as, if not better than, the real thing.

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action. Two hours, 21 minutes.

— Peter Canavese

Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

‘Rise’ and ... eh

PRIDE

Cats (2019) (PG) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun.

An Exhilarating New Musical

Dabangg 3 (Not Rated) Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Paul Gordon Based on the novel by Jane Austen

Book, music, and lyrics by

Dark Waters (PG-13) Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun. Ford V Ferrari (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Frozen II (PG) +++ Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun. Honey Boy (R) Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun.

Now thru Jan 4

BEST SEATS AFTER XMAS! SF Chronicle

Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto theatreworks.org 650.463.1960

Intermezzo: A Love Story (Not Rated) Stanford Theatre: Friday JoJo Rabbit (PG-13) Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun.

JUSTIN MORTELLITI & MARY MATTISON / PHOTO KEVIN BERNE

OPENINGS

The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once more in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”

& PREJUDICE

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (PG) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Jumanji: The Next Level (PG-13) +++ Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun. Knives Out (Not Rated) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun. Marriage Story (R) Aquarius Theatre: Fri. - Sun. Parasite (R) +++1/2 Aquarius Theatre: Fri. - Sun. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) (Not Rated) Stanford Theatre: Friday Richard Jewell (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun.

Answers to this week’s puzzles, which can be found on page 31.

The Shop Around the Corner (1940) (Not Rated) Stanford Theatre: Saturday & Sunday Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun. The Wizard of Oz (1939) (G) Stanford Theatre: Saturday & Sunday

+ Skip it ++ Some redeeming qualities +++ A good bet ++++ Outstanding Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (For recorded listings: 327-3241) tinyurl.com/Aquariuspa Century Cinema 16: 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View tinyurl.com/Century16 Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City tinyurl.com/Century20 CineArts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (For information: 493-0128) tinyurl. com/Pasquare ShowPlace Icon: 2575 California St. #601, Mountain View tinyurl.com/iconMountainView Stanford Theatre: 221 University Ave., Palo Alto (For recorded listings: 324-3700) Stanfordtheatre.org Find trailers, star ratings and reviews on the web at PaloAltoOnline.com/ movies

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 23

Book Talk

AUTHOR ALERTS ... Never miss out on a new book by your favorite author again.

The Mountain View Public Library offers a digital service that enables you to add alerts for your favorite authors and performers. You will receive alerts by email or text message when the Library adds a new item by the authors on your list.

Each alert will include a direct link to the item in the library’s online catalog so you can place a hold. To sign up, go to mountainview.gov/authoralerts.

UNCHARTERED TERRITORY ...

Andrew Rader — an MITcredentialied scientist, host of the popular podcast Spellbound and SpaceX mission manager — will talk about his book “Beyond the Known: How Exploration Created the Modern World and Will Take Us to the Stars” at Kepler’s Books at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 9. In his book, Rader examines how we’ve reached a time in our evolution that was once nothing more than science fiction: the ability to explore the vastness of space and even settle other worlds with the goal of becoming multi-planetary. Rader explores the history of how we got here, along with our spacefaring future, unveiling plans that are already underway for settling other planets and traveling to the stars. General admission is $7; admission with book is $33. Kepler’s Books is located at 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park. For more information, go to keplers.org.

PBS BOOK CLUB... The PBS News Hour has teamed up with The New York Times for a new book club called Now Read This. It will allow readers to participate in discussions in real time and ask questions of the authors. Beginning on Monday, Jan. 27, the book club will meet monthly at noon to 1 p.m. at the Los Altos Library Orchard Room to discuss books in person and contribute to the larger discussion. For more information, go to sccl.org/locations/los-altos.

LOW-SUGAR RECIPES... Awardwinning author and healthy food advocate Jennifer Tyler Lee and Dr. Anisha Patel will be at Books Inc. in Palo Alto on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. to talk about their family-friendly cookbook, “Half the Sugar, All the Love: 100 Easy, Low-Sugar Recipes for Every Meal of the Day,” which is set for release on Dec. 24. The book combines education with a program of healthy eating and 100 doctorapproved recipes that cut the sugar (by half — or more) without sacrificing flavor. Books Inc. Palo Alto is located at 74 Town & Country Village. Q

Title Pages A monthly section on local books and authors

New owners of Linden Tree Books aim to host more events, turn store into community hub Story by Jonathan Guillen Photos by Magali Gauthier hen Chris Saccheri found out the beloved Linden Tree Bookstore in Los Altos that had served generations of families for nearly 40 years was in danger of closing down, he knew he had to take action. The owners had put the longtime bookstore on the market twice over the past year, but no buyers had stepped up.

“I didn’t want to see this great place where I took my kids to close for good,” said the Palo Alto resident. “With no prior book experience, I sent an email to my friend and asked, ‘Hey! Want to run a bookstore with me?’”

That friend was Florina Grosskurth, whom he’d previously worked with at Linkedin. Her answer was, “yes.”

The pair purchased the store at 265 State St. in September and jumped headfirst into the book-selling business.

Neither of the friends had any experience running a bookstore, but both of their circumstances couldn’t have been more fitting for the opportunity. After they left Linkedin, Saccheri became a full-time dad to his three children. Grosskurth, who has two children, went on to run people operations at Wealthfront and started her own consulting business.

But she was looking for something that better utilized her skills in operations and social media, while also having her children around.

Continuing an independent children’s bookstore’s legacy fit the bill.

With book-loving children of their own, Saccheriand Grosskurth purchased the store with the goal of preserving it as a community hotspot.

“I think there’s still room for bookstores.

People are still passionate about reading, and children’s books especially lend themselves to be read in a physical form,” Saccheri said.

What sets Linden Tree apart from other bookstores is that 80 to 90% of the store’s inventory consists of children’s titles, with young adult and adult books making up the remainder, Saccheri said.

“We know children’s books really well and know what kind of books to recommend,” Saccheri said. “If you were to ask what a 5-year-old into Minecraft would like, we have just the book for them.”

Los Altos resident and longtime customer Sue Larraway has frequented Linden Tree ever since she moved to the area in the 1980s.

One of the things she likes about the store is

Page 24 • December 20, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

its friendly atmosphere and variety of titles.

“I came here with my children when they were younger, and I love that they have a wide selection to choose from,” Larraway said.

“Now I have nieces and nephews, and I enjoy coming back here for books.”

But in the digital age of Kindles and tablets, it takes more than just a good book selection to attract people to the store, Saccheri said.

To keep the bookstore relevant, Saccheri said they must do more than just keep their doors open; Linden Tree needs to be a hub for the community.

“The previous owners already did a fantastic job hosting storytimes for kids, author events and in-store fundraisers,” Saccherisaid.

“We want to build on that and become a place for kids to hang out and learn.”

Saccheri said they have plans to develop workshops for children to share their own stories for others to read. This is the next logical step in children’s development and serves a double function to promote learning as well as keep people interested in the activities and events going on inside Linden Tree.

“We’re interested in kids telling their own stories in all the different ways possible, through writing short stories or poems, even drawing or painting,” Saccheri said.

Looking forward, Linden Tree aims to increase the number of workshops and author events as well as host children’s birthday

parties. Additionally, Saccheri revealed plans to bring Linden Tree into schools and campuses through book fairs and other events to promote youth literacy.

“I’m glad the store will remain open because we really need bookstores,”said Lisa Orton, a Los Altos resident and mother of two.

“I’ve been coming for years and appreciate the focus on human interactions and getting young people excited about reading.” Q Editorial Intern Jonathan Guillen can be emailed at jguillen@paweekly.com.

Top: Esme, 2, reads a book in Linden Tree Children’s Books in Los Altos. Middle: Flo Grosskurth and Chris Saccheri, owners of Linden Tree Children’s Books, hold some of their newest arrivals. Above: Wury Glende shows her daughter, Jamie Glende, 2, a children’s book while Jennifer Ngai looks over and her daughter, Avery Ngai, 9 months, reaches into a tub of blocks.

Home&Real Estate

OPEN HOME GUIDE 29 Also online at PaloAltoOnline.com

A weekly guide to home, garden and real estate news

Home Front

FARM TOURS ... Take a guided tour of Hidden Villa’s farm and educational garden on Saturday, Dec. 21, 10 a.m. or Sunday, Dec. 22, 1 p.m. This family-friendly event offers a chance to meet some of the farm’s residents up-close and learn about some of the products generated by the farm (such as wool from sheep).

Cost to attend is $15 for all participants over the age of 2. Hidden Villa is located at 26870 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills. Register at hiddenvilla. org or call 650-949-8650.

HOLIDAY GARBAGE COLLECTION ... During the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s, GreenWaste of Palo Alto will be picking up garbage and recycling on a modified schedule.

If your collection day falls on a holiday or on the days after, your collection day will shift to the following day for the rest of the week (if your collection day is Wednesday, for instance, GreenWaste will pick up your garbage and recycling on Thursday; if your collection day is Thursday, your pickup will be on Friday and so on). GreenWaste will resume its regular schedule the first week in January.

For more information, visit cityofpaloalto.org and search “waste collection” or call 650-493-4894. Q Send notices of news and events related to real estate, interior design, home improvement and gardening to Home Front, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302, or email editor@paweekly.com. Deadline is one week before publication.

READ MORE ONLINE

PaloAltoOnline.com

There are more real estate features online. Go to PaloAltoOnline.com/ real_estate.

File photo by Michelle Le

CHRISTMAS TREE LANE ...

Neighbors along the 1700 and 1800 blocks of Fulton Avenue in Palo Alto have been making the holidays merry and bright for 79 years with a beloved neighborhood tradition of adorning their houses with lights and decorating yards with festive displays. Christmas Tree Lane will be lit 5-11 p.m. each night through Dec. 31.

For more information, visit christmastreelane.org.

A new ordinance going into effect in July 2020 states that homes and commercial buildings can no longer be demolished, but must instead be deconstructed. For now, the ordinance applies in cases where the entire structure is being removed. f a major renovation or construction project is on your agenda for 2020, some new requirements passed this year by the city of Palo Alto will affect how a project is designed and built — and even how existing buildings are removed.

The city adopted new building codes in 2019, following the state requirement that building codes are updated every three years, and took the opportunity to further aggressive climate goals. Here are some new, major changes in the building code in 2020 aimed at addressing climate change.

I

Energy reach codes & electrification

For nearly the past decade, the city of Palo Alto has implemented more rigorous energy codes than those required by the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a city document.

These tougher requirements are called reach codes. Electrification is a key component of the city’s new reach codes. As a strategy, the city expects that electrification should account for 43% of the reduction in emissions in the next 10 years, according to a city staff report.

Electrification aims to move away from the use of natural gas in homes and buildings, and switch to the use of electricity from a renewable source, which the City of Palo Alto Utilities offers. Reducing natural gas use will help curb greenhouse gas emissions. “Emissions from natural gas use currently represent 25% of Palo Alto’s remaining carbon footprint,” according to the city’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan Framework.

What this means for 2020: On Nov. 4, the City Council made

A look at some construction requirements for 2020

by Heather Zimmerman

electrification the new standard in Palo Alto, requiring that all new residential and commercial construction from April 2020 onward be designed for electric appliances and climate control systems, with no gas hookups. Alternatively, up until 2022, builders can use a “mixed-fuel” design that allows for current use of gas and electric but that can easily be converted to all-electric and must increase energy efficiency by a 5% margin beyond the state standard for single- and multi-family homes and a 12% margin for new offices and retail, according to a staff report.

Another major component of the city’s electrification plan is promoting conversion to all-electric for existing homes and businesses. According to an electrification explainer published by the city, in 2020 Palo Alto plans to roll out rebates on appliances and incentives for homeowners who install electric vehicle chargers and upgrade their electric panels at the same time.

Still in the works: Electrification standards for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and a clear definition of when a remodel must comply and when it would be exempted are still being developed.

Construction in 2019 related to electrification: From Jan. 1 through Oct. 31, 2019* the city

issued 45 permits related to “electric vehicle service equipment,” including permits for new electric car chargers, often accompanied by an electric panel upgrade, which can facilitate further electrification measures.

In that same period, the city issued 10 permits for home battery backup systems for solar panels, which store power in the event that the electric grid goes down.

*The last date for which permit data was available.

For more information, visit cityofpaloalto.org and search “electrification.”

Building deconstruction

Demolishing buildings can often be a fairly speedy but haphazard process. When the old structure comes down, a lot of potentially reusable materials such as lumber and plumbing fixtures get lost in the dust — so goes the thinking behind a new city requirement that aims to keep construction-related waste out of the landfill. Starting in July 2020, the city will no longer allow demolition of buildings, but instead require that workers disassemble buildings, collecting any materials that can be recycled or reused.

“Over 40 % of the waste from Palo Alto disposed in landfills, about 19,000 tons, is from construction and demolition-related projects,”

according to a city staff report.

What this means for 2020: In June 2019, the city council decided that from July 2020 on, for projects where structures are being completely removed, demolition is not allowed. The deconstruction ordinance requires “Deconstruction of buildings and structures (instead of demolition) and source separation of materials for reuse, recycling, and reduction of disposal in landfills,” according to a staff report.

The materials must be delivered to city-approved recovery facilities and proper documentation must also be provided.

Still in the works: At this time, the ordinance applies only to projects where the entire structure is being removed, but it leaves room for these same practices to be adopted for smaller projects.

Demolition and deconstruction in 2019: From Jan. 1 through Oct. 31, 2019* the city issued around 75 permits for demolition, on both residential and commercial properties.

About 38 permits were on residential properties, and 15 of those were for the demolition of entire homes; the rest were for the demolition of elements on the property such as pools or garages. The bulk of commercial demolition permits generally focused on interiors, rather than whole buildings.

In that same period, the city issued five deconstruction permits — all five were for deconstruction of existing houses. *The last date for which permit data was available.

For more information, visit cityofpaloalto.org and search “deconstruction.” Q Home & Real Estate Editor Heather Zimmerman can be reached at hzimmerman@ paweekly.com

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 25

OPEN HOUSE SAT/SUN 1:00 - 4:00 PM

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This information was supplied by third party sources. Sales Associate believes this information is correct but has QRW YHULÜHG WKLV LQIRUPDWLRQ DQG DVVXPHV QR OHJDO UHVSRQVLELOLW\ IRU LWV DFFXUDF\ %X\HU VKRXOG YHULI\ DFFXUDF\ DQG 7KLV LQIRUPDWLRQ ZDV VXSSOLHG E\ WKLUG SDUW\ VRXUFHV 6DOHV $VVRFLDWH EHOLHYHV WKLV LQIRUPDWLRQ LV FRUUHFW EXW KDV QRW YHULÜHG WKLV LQIRUPDWLRQ LQYHVWLJDWH WR %X\HUoV RZQ VDWLVIDFWLRQ DQG DVVXPHV QR OHJDO UHVSRQVLELOLW\ IRU LWV DFFXUDF\ %X\HU VKRXOG YHULI\ DFFXUDF\ DQG LQYHVWLJDWH WR %X\HUoV RZQ VDWLVIDFWLRQ

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • December 20, 2019 • Page 27

3121 South Court +B_d _sd Â&#x2014; Ĺ&#x161; Â&#x2013; Ĺ&#x161; Â&#x2022;Ă&#x203A;Â&#x203A;Â&#x2022;Â&#x201C;Äş / Ĺ&#x161; Â&#x201D;Â&#x201C;Ă&#x203A;Â&#x203A;Â&#x201C;Â&#x201C;Äş / #2 This home combines an enchanting English country ambiance outside zWsV KVWK pdlVWpsWKBsOM _t{to| WbpWMOĂ 2VO oOpt_s Wp OaWbObs_| _WyBJ_O BbM lOoTOKs_| J_ObMOM Wbsd sVWp pdtUVsøBTsOo WMsdzb bOWUVJdoVddMĂ {sObpWyO_| oObdyBsOMĂ&#x203A; sVO WbsOoWdop BoO KoWpl zVWsO zWsV JOBtsWTt_ KdbsoBpsWbU lWbO Â&#x201A;ddopĂ 2oOaObMdtp zB__p dT U_Bpp  __ sVO VdaO zWsV bBstoB_ _WUVs dyOo_dd^WbU sVO O{soBø_BoUO oOBo UBoMObpĂ 2VO ^WsKVOb Wp BJpd_tsO_| pstbbWbU zWsV JoOB^TBps JBo pOBsWbU BbM Bb BooB| dT sdlødTøsVOø_WbO Bll_WBbKOpĂ /lBbbWbU dbO KdbyObWObs _OyO_Ă&#x203A; sVO ptoloWpWbU_| plBKWdtp Â&#x201A;ddo l_Bb VBp Â&#x2014; JOModdap BbM Â&#x2013;Ă Â&#x2DC; JBsVp l_tp B MOsBKVOM JtW_MWbUĂ&#x203A; loOyWdtp_| sVO UBoBUOĂ&#x203A; dTTOop O{KO__Obs ldsObsWB_ Tdo Bb KKOppdo| zO__WbU 3bWs pd MOpWoBJ_O Wb +B_d _sdĂ 9WsV btaOodtp VWUVøsOKV TOBstoOpĂ&#x203A; lodTOppWdbB__| BlldWbsOM WbsOoWdopĂ&#x203A; BbM B _ds pW O dT B_adps dbOøntBosOo BKoO ]tps aWbtsOp sd B_soBWbĂ&#x203A; pVdllWbUĂ&#x203A; BbM /sBbTdoM 3bWyOopWs|Ă&#x203A; l_tp O{KO__Obs pKVdd_p á sVWp Wp WbMOOM B zdbMOoTt_ KVdWKO Tdo /W_WKdb 8B__O| _WyWbUĂ?

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Page 28 â&#x20AC;˘ December 20, 2019 â&#x20AC;˘ Palo Alto Weekly â&#x20AC;˘ www.PaloAltoOnline.com

THIS WEEKEND OPEN HOMES EXPLORE REAL ESTATE HEADLINES, NEIGHBORHOOD GUIDES, MAPS AND PRIOR SALE INFO ON www.PaloAltoOnline.com/real_estate

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ÂŽ

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Sports Shorts

www.PASportsOnline.com For expanded daily coverage of college and prep sports, visit www.PASportsOnline.com

STANFORD WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

No. 1 Cardinal has a road challenge in Texas Defense has been key to Stanford’s success

by Rick Eymer iana Williams became more important as a leader for the top-ranked Stanford women’s basketball team in the absence of senior co-captain DiJonai Carrington. Williams is ready for the added responsibility.

Williams consistently provides energy and leadership and seems to raise her level of play against top opponents.

The junior guard helped make Wednesday’s 78-51 nonconference victory over visiting No. 23 Tennessee special for herself and her team, scoring 19 points to surpass the 1,000 point threshold, adding seven assists and leading a defensive effort that limited the Lady Vols to a season-low in points and shooting percentage (27.8%).

K

“We’ve got to take pride in our defense,” Williams said. “We have a lot of weapons on offense so I think it comes down to getting stops on defense and making sure we’re executing our game plan on the defensive end.”

The Cardinal also has been without junior post Maya Dodson and senior guard Mikaela Brewer. Lacie Hull missed the past two games.

That makes Williams the player in charge on the court.

“Just being more vocal,” Williams said about being in sole charge. “As a point guard, you kind of have to talk because you’re like the quarterback of the team.

I’m trying to be more of an emotional leader. DiJonai has done a great job of that. Until she returns,

I’m just trying to fill in. But it’s easy to lead when you have talented teammates such as I do. It’s fun playing with them.”

Lexie Hull added 11 points and team highs in rebounds (9) and steals (3) for the Cardinal (10-0), which has a road test at Texas (64) at 10 a.m. Sunday. The Longhorns were the first team to beat Tennessee this season, 66-60, about 10 days ago.

Stanford has won the last two meetings between the schools

Ashten Prechtel contributed 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots in Stanford’s 78-51 win over the Lady Vols.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK Aniyah Augmon

Cole Kastner

PRIORY BASKETBALL

MENLO BASKETBALL

The junior guard recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in title game of the Santa Clara Tournament, which the Panthers won over the weekend. She also had 20 points in the semifinal and was named MVP of the tourney.

The senior forward had a double-double (12 points, 13 rebounds) in the championship game of the Burlingame Lions Tournament to help the Knights win the title. He also scored 15 points in the semifinals and was named the tournament MVP.

Honorable mention Charlotte Levison

Lauren Sibley

J.D. Carson

Garret Keyhani

Sharon Nejad

Denise Stine

Christian Corcoran

Adar Schwartzbach

Valentina Saric

Emersen Sweeney

Cade Creighton

Charlie Selna

Sacred Heart Prep basketball Menlo basketball Pinewood basketball

Page 30 • December 20, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Castilleja basketball Sacred Heart Prep basketball Gunn soccer

Menlo-Atherton basketball Menlo soccer

Palo Alto wrestling

Watch video interviews of the Athletes of the Week, go to PASportsOnline.com

Menlo basketball Palo Alto wrestling

Sacred Heart Prep basketball *Previous winner

Don Feria/ISIPphotos.com

READ MORE ONLINE

Kiana Williams scored 19 points against Tennessee and surpassed 1,000 for her career. Stanford visits Texas on Sunday.

Don Feria/ISIPphotos.com

JUMPING IN ... Gunn senior Jonny Affeld highlighted the latest recruiting class to sign with the Stanford men’s swimming program on Wednesday as announced by Cardinal coach Dan Schemmel. A versatile swimmer who specializes in the 200 fly, Affeld ranks 10th among California seniors and 68th, nationally, according to CollegeSwimming.com. “We are thrilled to welcome a talented and deep class of student-athletes to Stanford,” said Schemmel. “We are humbled by the quality of this class, which is, without a doubt, one of the very best, if not the best, in the country. I commend this group for staying committed to their academics throughout the recruiting process and I expect them to have both an immediate and long-term impact on the success of our program.” Other recruits include Ethan Dang, Preston Forst, Hunter Hollenbeck, Harker senior Ethan Hu, Luke Maurer, Rick Mihm, Andrei Minakov and Aaron Sequeira.

Maurer follows the footsteps of his father Erik, who claimed five NCAA championship medals from 1992-93 while swimming for Stanford, and his mother Lea, an Olympic gold medalist who served as head coach of the women’s swimming and diving program from 2005-12 after also swimming at Stanford. Minakov is the only swimmer to have medaled in the World Championships, European Junior Championships and World Junior Championships in 2019 …

Stanford’s Director of Women’s Water Polo John Tanner announced the signings of seven decorated prep stars to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday. Maya Avital, Christina Hicks, Skyler Jones, Megan Peterson, Jewel Roemer, Celeste Wijnbelt and Talie Wilmans will enroll at Stanford for the 2020-21 academic year and join the Cardinal for the 2021 campaign. “We are extremely excited about the Stanford women’s water polo class of 2024,” Tanner said. “They have built brilliant athletic and academic resumes by virtue of their daily commitment to teamwork and constant improvement. Their water polo passion, intellectual curiosity, personal integrity and engagement with their school, club and local communities has made them inspiring role models.

They have been great teammates, optimistic bridge builders while pursuing excellence with their high school, club and national teams.

We are eager for these students to arrive and begin contributing to our program, the athletics department and the entire Stanford community.”

Roemer spent the summer as part of the national team program. She won a beach gold medal at the FINA World Championships, a Junior Olympics gold medal and MVP award and a title at the FINA Junior World Championship.

and eight of the past 10. Sunday’s game will be carried on ESPN2.

“When you play defense, you can be in every game every night,” VanDerveer said. “We’ll be challenged when we play Texas. We’ll be challenged by all the Pac-12 teams.”

Freshman Ashten Prechtel added 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Fran Belibi, Haley Jones and Hannah Jump, the other three freshmen, combined for 23 points.

“I just want to come in and play as hard as I can,” Prechtel said. “I just want to play my best.”

Jump, the former Pinewood standout, hit a 3-pointer midway through the second quarter, giving Stanford a 25-15 advantage and the Lady Vols never got closer than five points the rest of the way as the 27-point margin of victory was Stanford’s largest in the rivalry.

“All of our freshmen are playing beyond their years,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said.

“They all have very high basketball IQs. You don’t have to start from ground zero. You can just tell them stuff.”

Williams hit a pair of free throws midway through the fourth quarter to reach 1,000 points and received a big ovation from the crowd of 4,676.

“The crowd gives our team momentum,” Williams said. “I just heard people clapping and then I looked up and saw the camera was on me and thought ‘I must have done something.’ I’m happy we won, we played well, and I limited my turnovers.” Q

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“Alphabet Run” — the quick part of the song. Matt Jones

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