harvesting dreams...vol.xxvii,number87•wednesday,august2,2006vol. xxvii, number 87 • wednesday,...

Vol. XXVII, Number 87 • Wednesday, August 2, 2006Vol. XXVII, Number 87 • Wednesday, August 2, 2006 ■■ 50¢50¢

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

Palo Alto

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Palo Alto

■ Upfront Residents applaud Garamendi ‘redlining’ crusade Page 3■ Title Pages When your life partner gets Alzheimer’s Page 24■ Sports Dream season ends for Palo Alto National all-stars Page 33

Palo AltoPalo Alto

Voice your opinions at Town Square, www.PaloAltoOnline.com

City to staff:City to staff: We needWe need better ideasbetter ideasPage 3Page 3

HARVESTING DREAMSPalo Alto native makes weeklypilgrimage to peddle organicgoods at local farmers' marketsee page 15

• Wednesday, August 2, 2006 • Palo Alto Weekly

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Judy Kleinberg said at the study ses-sion. “If we can’t find more creative revenue generating sources, we’re going to be looking at layoffs.”

City Manager Frank Benest pre-sented a list of several possibilities

for cuts and increased revenue, along with the ideas staff thought were most feasible. The list amounted to generating just over $5 million, which would be divided into $3 mil-lion for infrastructure reserves and

$2 million for such rising expenses as retiree benefits.

Kleinberg said $2 million was an insufficient amount to deal with increased costs, and charged staff to be more innovative in generating ideas for increased economic devel-opment before resorting to taxes.

“I’m concerned staff isn’t doing enough in this regard,” Kleinberg said.

Options Benest identified as the “best bets” for upping the city’s rev-enue stream included increasing the transient occupancy tax (also known as the hotel tax) from 10 to 12 per-cent, which would require voter ap-proval; charging Palo Alto property owners for non-emergency sidewalk repairs; and attracting a new, me-dium-sized hotel to Palo Alto, the last of which the city manager char-

acterized as “very doable.”The list included eliminating and/

or reducing “low-priority services” that total $500,000. Such cuts would necessitate layoffs.

When Kleinberg asked the city manager to elaborate on what those services would be, Benest replied, “I don’t have some distinct, magi-

UpfrontLocal news, information and analysis

Norbert von der G

roeben

(continued on page 7)

by Molly Tanenbaum

T he City Council challenged staff Monday evening to find more inven-tive ways to increase city revenue in upcoming years.

“There are a lot of revenue streams that are terminating,” Mayor

W hat do a video game about bird flu, a cell phone that encourages philosophical

thinking, and a BlackBerry-like device that helps teachers get orga-nized have in common?

For starters, they are all proof that the world of designing educa-tion products has grown far beyond the flash card.

The video game Outbreak, the mobile thinking tool PEEK/RE:search, and the handheld gadget for teachers SamePage are just three of the latest product developments out of the Stanford University School of Education’s Learning, Design and Technology program.

Last week, the program’s 17 stu-dents showcased their 13 projects

in the annual Master’s Project Ex-position. Wallenberg Hall, located off the university’s main quad, was filled with interactive displays and students excitedly pitching their concepts and projects to passersby.

The projects ranged from tan-gible products to concepts in mo-tion, from Piya Sorcar’s online HIV/AIDS education curriculum for young adults in India to James Scarborough’s plan to bring techni-cally-challenged people into virtual reality spaces like Second Life and World of Warcraft.

Students in the one-year Learn-ing, Design and Technology masters program are taught to design and evaluate learning environments,

products and programs. They have an opportunity to design a technol-ogy-based solution to a learning problem they find compelling, ac-cording to program director Shelley Goldman.

Students spend 200 to 300 hours on their projects.

While the products and environ-ments students create vary widely, there is a trend among the tech-nologies students use as platforms for their inventions. In the first few years of the program, which began in 1997, Goldman said most projects were Web based. Now, students are creating mobile devices and virtual spaces.

Tomorrow’s lessons todayStanford students display cutting-edge education products

by Alexandria Rocha


Taking the ZIP out of insurance

Local residents praise Garamendi action against redliningby Cyrus Hedayati

I nsurance companies must weigh drivers’ safety records and ex-perience more than ZIP codes

when setting rates under new rules recently approved by the California Office of Administrative Law.

Palo Alto residents of the 94303 ZIP code — which also includes East Palo Alto — praised the new regulations. They have long argued that their ZIP code is unfairly given higher car insurance rates.

“Since it’s 94303, they (insurance companies) think it’s East Palo Alto and the assumption is that if you’re from East Palo Alto you’re a terrible driver, which I don’t hold with at all,” said Lenore Cymes, resident of the Duveneck neighborhood.

The practice of charging higher insurance rates to residents of cer-tain areas is known as “redlining”, and has come under heavy criticism by consumer activist groups and state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi.

“94303 includes East Palo Alto and Palo Alto and the insurance company’s apparent attempt at redlining East Palo Alto is affecting Palo Alto,” said Arthur Keller, presi-dent of the Adobe Meadow Neigh-borhood Association.

Keller testified at a recent hearing in San Francisco and demonstrated how a driver who moved to 94303 from the neighboring 94301 or 94306 ZIP codes would pay dramatically higher car insurance rates.

“Our interest is to eliminate redlining in all areas, including East Palo Alto,” said Keller. “I don’t think it’s any more fair for East Palo Alto than it is for anywhere else in the Bay Area.”

Garamendi submitted the rules


More greens, pleaseJudy Trujillo of East Palo Alto enjoys a bowl of spiced collard greens at the city's Eighth Annual Collard Greens Cultural Festival at Bell Street Park Saturday afternoon. Proceeds from the event benefit the Shule Mandela Academy.

PALO ALTO

SCHOOLS

Council to staff: We need better ideasOfficials say city must find innovative ways to raise revenues

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by Don Kazak

When the living is easy

S ummertime is for baseball, beaches, picnics and playing around, if you’re a kid.

It’s also a time for designing your own video game, or designing your own Web page or learning how to digitally shoot and edit a movie, if you’re a Palo Alto kid. And maybe learning how to fence: (en garde!).

To be fair, it’s not just Palo Alto kids learning how to do these things since the summer camp they are go-ing to, iD Tech Camps, runs camps on 40 campuses across the country, including at Stanford.

The Campbell-based company calls its camps Digital Kids, mix-ing computers with sports for those inclined.

Digital Kids takes over three huge Stanford houses on Mayfield Ave-nue for nine weeks, with most kids staying a week or two. The houses are theme residences for Stanford students. Living-room furniture has been replaced by rows of long tables with computers on them. And the computers all have kids.

Leith, 11, will be a sixth grader at Jordan Middle School in the fall. “I like video games and wanted to make my own, to get better at it,” he said. “And maybe sell it,” he adds. (Hey, this is Palo Alto.)

Leith is not just digital. He’s also learning how to fence. Why would a kid want to learn how to fence? “Because it looks cool,” he said. “It’s like sword fights, but you just poke them.”

Making one’s own computer game is one of the most popular courses at Digital Kids. Half of the 2,000 campers are designing their own games, said Karen Thurm Saf-ran, the company’s vice president of marketing.

Jeremy, 12, a seventh grader at Jordan this fall, was in his third week of camp and had already made his own computer game. He was now in the “Game Modding” course, which is taking a favorite computer game and modifying it.

He said the camp is fun. He came with a friend and since has met new friends. On his computer screen, a brightly clad knight moves towards a menacing dragon-like demon and attacks it. “I’m trying to make it creative and new,” he said of the game.

But Digital Kids is not just about computer games. Thomas, 13, watches a movie on a computer

screen with a half-dozen other campers. It’s their movie, from the course in digital video production.

“We started on Monday, estab-lishing the plot line and characters,

and started shooting on Tuesday,” he said. Now, on a Thursday, they are editing.

“I learned about different shots, establishment shots, camera move-ment and panning,” he said. He chose the video production course because he likes movies, especially science fiction and action movies, but also comedies. He’ll be in the eighth grade at JLS Middle School in the fall.

“I was here last year and came back because I liked it a lot,” he said.

Hadas, 14, likes photography, too, but the still kind. She’s had her own digital camera for two years, after borrowing her dad’s, and came to Digital Kids to design her own Web page. It’s something she already has done while an eighth grader at JLS, and her Web page is on the student portion of the JLS Web page.

Hadas came to Digital Kids be-cause the software for designing Web pages is easier to work with than at the school, and has an ani-mator that can also be used.

Her Web page, which she had worked on all week, is a burst of bright colors, a montage of photos she has taken of different kinds of flowers.

So Hadas has a future as a pho-tographer or a Web page designer? “Maybe as a hobby,” she said, smil-ing. “I like science.”

She is a little nervous about be-ing a freshman at Palo Alto High School in the fall. She said she heard the seniors are tough on the new students.

Meanwhile, a kid lies on a couch near all the computers, stretched out and absorbed in a book he is read-ing.

That’s my kind of camp. ■Senior Staff Writer Don Ka-

zak can be e-mailed at [email protected].

INDEXTransitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Pulse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Movies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

PUBLISHERWilliam S. Johnson

EDITORIALJay Thorwaldson, EditorMarc Burkhardt, Managing EditorJocelyn Dong, Associate EditorAllen Clapp, Carol Blitzer, Assistant EditorsKeith Peters, Sports EditorRick Eymer, Assistant Sports EditorRebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment EditorDon Kazak, Senior Staff WriterAlexandria Rocha, Staff WriterNorbert von der Groeben, Chief PhotographerNicholas Wright, Staff Photographer Adam Heyman, Photo InternTyler Hanley, Assistant to the Editor &Online EditorSue Dremann, Staff Writer, Special SectionsCammie Farmer, Calendar EditorJeanne Aufmuth, Dale Bentson,Lynn Comeskey, Tim Goode, Jill Slater, Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors Anabel Lee, Andrew Thompson, Editorial InternsBrooke Thomas, Arts & Entertainment Intern

DESIGNCarol Hubenthal, Design DirectorDiane Haas, Sue Peck, Senior Designers; Royd Hatta, Dana James, Paul Llewellyn, Charmaine Mirsky, Scott Peterson, Designers

PRODUCTIONJennifer Lindberg, Production ManagerDorothy Hassett, Brooke Fox,Sales & Production Coordinators

ADVERTISINGMichael Howard, Advertising ManagerCathy Norfleet, Display Advertising Sales AssistantJasbir Gill, Janice Hoogner, Sandra Valdiosera, Display Advertising SalesKathryn Brottem, Real Estate Advertising SalesJoan Merritt, Real Estate Advertising Asst.Linda Franks, Classified Advertising ManagerNerissa Gaerlan, Evie Marquez, Irene Schwartz, Classified Advertising SalesBlanca Yoc, Classified Administrative Assistant

ONLINE SERVICESLisa Van Dusen, Director of Palo Alto OnlineShannon White, Assistant to Webmaster

BUSINESSIryna Buynytska, Business ManagerMiriam Quehl, Manager of Payroll & BenefitsPaula Mulugeta, Senior AccountantValentina Georgieva, Judy Tran, Business AssociatesTina Karabats, Cathy Stringari, Doris Taylor,Business Associates

ADMINISTRATIONAmy Renalds, Assistant to the Publisher & Promotions Director;Rachel Palmer, Promotions & Online AssistantJanice Covolo, Receptionist; Ruben Espinoza, Jorge Vera, Couriers

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The Palo Alto Weekly (ISSN 0199-1159) is published every Wednesday and Friday by Embarcadero Publishing Co., 703 High St., Palo Alto, CA 94302, (650) 326-8210. Periodicals post-age paid at Palo Alto, CA and additional mailing offices. Adjudicated a newspaper of general circu-lation for Santa Clara County. The Palo Alto Weekly is delivered free to homes in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, East Palo Alto, to faculty and staff households on the Stanford campus and to portions of Los Altos Hills. If you are not cur-rently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 326-8210. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. Copyright ©2003 by Embarcadero Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohib-ited. Printed by SFOP, Redwood City. The Palo Alto Weekly is available on the Internet via Palo Alto Online at: http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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“It’s like sword fights, but you just poke them.” - Leith


OurTown

by Don Kazak


Upfront

Palo Alto Weekly • Wednesday, August 2, 2006 • Page 5

Upfront

A fter a decade’s long search, Kenny Huo, has finally found the perfect plot of land

to build his dream house — 2460 High St.

Huo acquired the property after winning an auction for the surplus city property July 25 with a bid of $450,000. Including last week’s auction, the city of Palo Alto has sold only three properties through this method in the past 20 years.

The previous two were former water well sites.

Currently a resident of Foster City, Huo works as a building in-spector and plan checker for the town of Atherton. As the lone bid-der, he was able to buy the 5,413 square-foot parcel for the minimum bid and had no idea there would be no competition for the site.

“It was a big surprise. I am lucky.”

2460 High St. is a spare parcel left over from the development of the Oregon Expressway and Alma Street interchange. Currently vacant with landscaping, the land is irreg-ularly shaped and has been zoned Two-Unit Multifamily Residential.

Written bids were due to the city at 3 p.m. on July 25. Kathleen Brad-ley, manager of the Purchasing and Contract Administration Depart-ment, opened Huo’s bid and ensured the parameters of the auction — a minimum bid of $450,000 and a good faith deposit of 10 percent of the minimum — were met.

Had more written bids been sub-mitted, Bradley said oral bidding would have begun at 5 percent above the highest written offer. Only those who had submitted written bids by the deadline date and time would have been eligible to participate in the oral bidding process.

Huo said he would have bid up to $550,000 for the property.

“We didn’t have the response that I had hoped to see,” said Bill Fell-man, the manager of the real estate division of the Administrative Ser-vices Department.

“Usually we would get two or three bids, and I’m not really sure what happened this time.” Fellman said the city went about advertising the auction the same way it always has, by contacting contractors in town and advertising in the Palo Alto Weekly — which is where Huo found out about the property — and the Palo Alto Daily News.

Huo currently has plans for a single-family home drawn up and is also playing with the idea of con-structing a duplex. Such a structure, however, would require Huo to al-low room for four parking spaces as well, which he admitted might be difficult for the lot to accom-modate.

“I hope to do something inter-esting but also respectful to the environment.” he said. “I’m going to have a good time building some-thing for ourselves.”

He will also work with the city to create some sort of buffer between his project and Oregon Expressway to eliminate some of the traffic noise.

Huo also admitted he chose 2460 High St. for the school district. He would like to send his son, Kevin, to Harvard Medical School and be-lieves Palo Alto High School is a positive step toward realizing this goal.

Huo hopes to start his project early next year. ■ Editorial Intern Anabel Lee can be reached at [email protected].

PALO ALTO

Bidder strikes it ‘property rich’

Man finds his dream home through city auctionby Anabel Lee

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UpfrontUpfront

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Around Town

We cannot be known as Tax Alto.‘‘‘‘

A+ OR F? . . . The Bay Area Council — a business-spon-sored, public-policy advocacy organization — released its “housing-production report card” recently, and the City of Palo Alto got an A+. Something to crow about? That depends on how you look at it. The re-port graded cities and counties in the Bay Area on progress in approving their total “fair share” of housing units, which are goals set by each community to accommodate an influx of residents. While the number of homes built or approved in Palo Alto between 1999 and 2006 exceeded the goal, that figure included 2.5 times as many homes priced at “above moderate” income levels as planned — 1,650 instead of 673. Meanwhile, the city still has a deficit of nearly 350 homes for very-low and moder-ate-income people. With that kind of track record, should the grade be an A+ . . . or an F?

BEATING THE HEAT . . . Palo Alto didn’t experience any power outages during the recent 10-day heat wave, but the city’s Utilities Department provided help for PG&E, which was beset by heat-driven out-ages that caused transform-ers to malfunction. Palo Alto lineworkers Greg Shulz and Tom Haupert volunteered to help PG&E, as did electrical assistant Tito Ibarra. The three worked 17 hours, from 2 p.m. July 23 to 6:30 a.m. July 24, to restore power to thousands of San Jose residents.

THE SHABBOS EFFECT...The Taube-Koret Campus for Jew-ish Life may bring something to the neighborhood that Sun Microsystems didn’t: the Fri-day night “Shabbos Effect.” Greenmeadow neighbors are

wondering if the new 180-unit senior center planned with the campus will increase traffic on Friday nights when resi-dents observe the Sabbath. In comments to the Planning Commission last week, the Greenmeadow Community Association wrote: “Did the Synchro analysis include the ‘Shabbos Effect’ common on Friday evenings in front of Jewish senior living centers?...Friday night is a special night for Jewish families. Therefore, the numbers will be different than the standards used for other types of senior centers.” Time will tell if sundown on Fri-day will mean more car trips in the neighborhood. It may not be a day of rest, after all.

RELIGHTING THE TORCH... Anne Cribbs and the Bay Area Sports Organizing Com-mittee (BASOC) are going for the gold once again, em-barking on another campaign to bring the Olympics to the Bay Area. This time, the target date is 2016. A four-year ef-fort to bring the event to Bay Area for 2012 came up a bit short a few years back, as New York got the nod that time. (The Big Apple later lost to London.) Cribbs, a Olympic Gold Medal winner herself and president/CEO of BASOC said: “BASOC’s mission for the past 20 years has been to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games to the San Francisco Bay Area.” With the region’s hat now in the ring for 2016, Cribbs and Co. will have their hands full upholding that mission. The Bay Area will compete with Los Angeles and Chicago for the U.S. bid, and the International Olympic Committee will pick a winning city in 2009.

Community HealthEducation ProgramsAugust 2006

Events & LecturesWeb site • www.pamf.org E-mail • [email protected]

Hearst Center for Health Education, Level 3, Jamplis Building, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, 795 El CaminoReal, Palo Alto. RSVP to (650) 853-4873.

Classes

For information on class fees and to register, call the Education Division at (650) 853-2960.

“AARP Driver Safety Program,” Friday, August 11 & 18, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.Two-session, 8-hour classroom refresher tailored to older drivers. Sessions cover age-related physicalchanges, declining perceptual skills, rules of the road, local driving problems and license renewal.

“Supermarket Wise,” Thursday, August 24, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.Learn techniques for making healthier food choices in a local supermarket tour with dietitian Karen Ross, M.S., R.D.

“Good Nutrition and Feeding Practices for Toddlers,” Wednesday, August 30, 6 – 8 p.m.This class will address parental concerns regarding nutrition and feeding practices. It should be attended byparents or caretakers only.

“What You Need to Know About Warfarin,” Wednesday, August 30, 2 – 3 p.m.Learn what warfarin is, why you are taking it and how you can help yourself.

“Advance Health Care Directives,” call for available dates and times.PAMF’s specially trained volunteers will provide advice and answer questions about the Advance HealthCare Directive form. Free.

Support Groups

Cancer (1st & 3rd Tuesdays) • Diabetes (1st Wednesday) • Multiple Sclerosis (2nd & 4th Mondays) • HealingImagery for Cancer Patients (Aug. 9 & 23)

“Sleep Apnea 101,” Thursday, August 31, 7 – 8:30 p.m.Vivien Abad, M.D., MBA, medical director, Clinical Monitoring Sleep Disorders Center, CaminoMedical Group, affiliated with PAMFThe speaker will discuss the prevalence of sleep apnea and the health conditions associated with it, aswell as symptoms, diagnosis and an overview of treatment options.

Archimedes: Ancient Text Revealed with X-ray Vision

A10th-century parchment document known as the “Archimedes Palimpsest” is the unique source for treatises composed by the greatest scientist of

the ancient world. Join Uwe Bergmann as he describes the fascinating journey of this 1,000-year-old parchment from its origin in Constantinople to its decipherment at a particle accelerator in Menlo Park.

Thursday, August 37:00 PM

Lawn Outside Cantor Arts CenterStanford University

FREE (bring lawn chairs & blankets)Come early and enjoy the galleries.

Bring a picnic, or enjoy an organic buffet BBQ

from the Cantor’s Cool Cafe

CANTOR CENTER FOR VISUAL ARTSSTANFORD CONTINUING STUDIES

STANFORD OFFICE OF SCIENCE OUTREACHpresent:

Outdoor Science Talks at the Cantor Arts Center

Uwe Bergmann, Physicist, SLAC

For more information please go to continuingstudies.stanford.edu

— Mayor Judy Kleinberg, chiding city staff for not coming up with more creative ways to increase Palo Alto’s revenue. See story, page 3

Think Globally, Post Locally.

Palo Alto Weekly • Wednesday, August 2, 2006 • Palo Alto Weekly • Wednesday, August 2, 2006 • Page 7

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that extended Proposition 103, the 1988 law defining how car insur-ance companies determine rates in California.

The original proposition selected safety record, annual mileage, and driving experience as the three mandatory factors for determining rates, but also allowed for 16 other optional factors companies could use — including ZIP codes.

The insurance companies alleg-edly exploited a loophole in Prop. 103 that allowed them to skew their rates toward ZIP codes, said Mark Savage, an attorney for the activist Consumers Union group.

The organization acted as lead counsel to Garamendi while he drafted the regulations.

“The insurance companies want-ed to continue business as usual and they found in former (Insur-

ance) Commissioner (Chuck) Quackenbush a sympathetic ear,” said Savage. “We thought it had changed back in ‘88, but it turns out that those who don’t want to change can find ways around it.”

Garamendi’s rules give the man-datory requirements more im-portance than optional ones, and require insurance companies to comply within two years.

However, several coalitions rep-resenting the insurance companies are suing Garamendi for shifting the rules.

According to a statement from one of the coalitions, the Associa-tion of California Insurance Com-panies (ACIC), the new rules do not reflect a driver’s actual risk of involvement in car accidents.

ACIC members write 53 percent of the personal auto insurance rates in California. ■ Editorial Intern Cyrus Hedayati can be reached at [email protected].

ZIP code(continued from page 3)

I t took six rounds of voting Mon-day night for the City Council to select two new members of

the Planning and Transportation Commission. Ultimately, the coun-cil chose Arthur Keller and Samir Tuma from a field of seven candi-dates to take the seats of departing commissioners Annette Bialson and Phyllis Cassel.

Tuma, a relative newcomer to Palo Alto who moved to the city two years ago, was a clear choice who quickly earned the five votes necessary for appointment. Filling the second seat proved problematic for council members, however.

Applicants to the commission are required to receive a majority of votes, which became more chal-lenging after Councilman Jack Mor-ton recused himself from the vot-ing proceedings due to a conflict of interest.

Top contenders for the second seat were Thomas Jordan, Keller and Kevin Ohlson. Jordan continuously earned four votes.

After three additional rounds of voting led to a further stand-still, Councilman Peter Drekmeier moved to have an instant runoff where council members rank their top three choices instead of picking one candidate.

“They do it in San Francisco,” he said, to which Mayor Judy Klein-berg replied: “That’s our role mod-el? We’ve sunk so low.”

His motion passed 5-3 with Coun-cil members John Barton, Larry Klein and Dena Mossar opposing and Morton abstaining.

The dissenters hoped to reopen the application period for the second commission seat.

“It’s appearing we could do this all night and come up with the same result,” Mossar said. “I think we’ve made an attempt with the candidates that we have.”

Despite creative efforts toward finding a solution, even the instant runoff round failed — it resulted in a tie between Ohlson and Jordan with Keller consistently a second choice.

But a sixth, and final round of standard one-choice voting came out in favor of Keller with five votes from council members Bern Beecham, Mossar and Barton along with Kleinberg and Vice Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto. Klein supported Ohlson, and Drekmeier and Council member LaDoris Cordell voted for Jordan, as they had in each of the previous rounds.

Other applicants to the commis-sion included Leonard Ely, Jeffrey Hook and Leon Leong. ■

Council chooses new planning commissionersSix rounds of voting pass before final decision

by Molly Tanenbaum

cal services that I can suggest right now.”

Some council members expressed concern with charging residents for sidewalk repairs and other services, including Councilwoman LaDoris Cordell, who wanted to streamline the Public Works department before asking for more money from Palo Altans.

“It’s incumbent upon us to look upon that organization and see what savings can be had before taxing the people that live here,” Cordell said.

Kleinberg added: “We cannot be known as Tax Alto.”

Councilman Bern Beecham agreed the staff’s list was insuffi-cient.

“We’ve got lean; we’ve got mean; we’ve cut staff without cutting ser-vices. Either we come up with ad-ditional ways of finding money, or we’ll be cutting services in three or four years,” he said.

Staff is now expected to revise the list of possible cuts and areas of growth and bring the results back to council members this October. ■Staff Writer Molly Tanenbaum can be e-mailed at [email protected].

City Council(continued from page 3)


Upfront

Teen had been drinking before his deathPalo Altan Garth Li, 16, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.13 at the time

he died in a car crash July 6, the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office has determined. The legal blood-alcohol limit for underage drivers is 0.01.

The coroner’s office has ruled Li’s death an accident.Li died about 2 a.m. July 6 when his car struck a concrete center

divider on I-280 in Woodside. He would have been a junior at Gunn High School this fall.

The California Highway Patrol has not yet completed its investiga-tion into the crash, being unable to account for the hours preceding Li’s death. ■

—Don Kazak

Attorney-client law debated in Weekly-City lawsuit

Attorneys for the City of Palo Alto and the Palo Alto Weekly agreed at a hearing Monday that a key point of debate in the paper’s lawsuit against the city’s Utilities Department is whether statements of inde-pendent witnesses are protected under “attorney-client privilege” law.

But that’s about all they agreed on as they argued points of law before Judge Kevin McKenney of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, who is weighing the case challenging the city’s withholding of records.

McKenney ruled June 7 that the city must release records of lower-level employees with names and identifiers blacked out, or redacted, on the grounds that personnel and privacy protections are important but such dilemmas “must be resolved in favor of public access to informa-tion about how the public’s government operates, including misconduct by employees and what was done about it.

But the judge exempted reports relating to former Utilities Director John Ulrich and Assistant Director Scott Bradshaw, both of whom have resigned, based on “attorney-client privilege” and the reports being a “work product” of the city attorney.

At Monday’s hearing, attorney Judy Alexander — representing the Weekly and its parent company, Embarcadero Publishing Co.— said the California Supreme Court has ruled that factual reports of an inves-tigation “are not protected by either the attorney-client or the attorney work product privilege.”

She cited a landmark 1964 ruling, Chadbourne vs. San Francisco.But Deputy City Attorney Donald Larkin said the raw interviews

were never part of the reports to the city by two consultants, who in-stead included brief summaries of what they said. He said the reports were prepared in anticipation of litigation or arbitration by employees who potentially faced disciplinary proceedings or termination.

Larkin said all but two of the 47 persons interviewed in the investiga-tion were city employees.

The report or reports relating to Ulrich and Bradshaw are still under seal by the court and unavailable to Alexander.

Judge McKenney called the Chadbourne ruling “a kind of seminal case” and that the points raised make the case “a bit more complicated than it would appear.” He gave no date for a possible ruling. ■

—Jay Thorwaldson

Justice Department OKs sale of Mercury News

The U.S. Justice Department Monday approved the McClatchy Co.’s planned sale of the San Jose Mercury News, the Contra Costa Times, the Daily News Group and other newspapers to Denver-based Medi-aNews Group, Inc.

The department announced it has closed an antitrust investigation after determining that “the transaction is not likely to reduce competi-tion substantially.”

The sale is part of a complex $1 billion deal in which Sacramen-to-based McClatchy would transfer four major newspapers and two smaller chains to MediaNews.

McClatchy acquired the papers as part of its $4 billion purchase of San Jose-based Knight Ridder Inc. earlier this year.

The Justice Department is the second legal hurdle that the transac-tion has passed.

On Friday evening, a federal judge in San Francisco refused to is-sue a temporary restraining order that would have blocked the sale for 10 days. The order was requested in an antitrust lawsuit filed by San Francisco businessman Clint Reilly.

A separate antitrust investigation by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer remains open, according to Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar.

MediaNews owns eight other newspapers in the East Bay, South Bay and North Bay.

The Justice Department stated it found that “only a relatively small number of readers and advertisers view MediaNews’ papers, on the one hand, and the Contra Costa Times and Mercury News, on the other hand, as substitutes.” ■

—Bay City NewsYou can discuss these and other issues at Town Square, www.

PaloAltoOnline.com

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CREPERIE OR CLOSET? . . . It’s smaller than a walk-in closet in some Palo Alto homes, but it has a liquor license and serves crepes. It’s the newest addi-tion to downtown Palo Alto’s ever-growing string of cafes. Bistro Maxine at 548 Ramona St. is so tiny, in fact, that the 13 chairs and five tables barely fit in the 312-square-foot space, only half of which is used for seating. The other half is the kitchen. How did they do it? “I can make anything fit. Size doesn’t intimidate me,” said Judy Chapman, a professional organizer and one of three own-ers of Bistro Maxine. The other two owners, Stephanie Wansek and Georges Wansek — who were once married but are now “friendly exes” — have thrown themselves into their new cafe. Between the three of them, they make sure one of them is in the restaurant at all times. Bistro Maxine has an extensive menu of crepes and coffees, but a few doors down is another coffee shop, Coupa Cafe. “There is ab-solutely no competition. We’re all here together,” Stephanie said, adding, “They (Coupa) do their South American shtick; we do our French shtick.” Stepha-nie Wansek, by the way, also manages the Cardinal Hotel, which is just steps away from Bistro Maxine. “That’s how I found this place,” she said. And as far as the diminutive size of the eatery, it’s been confirmed. “Yep, it’s the smallest one in Palo Alto with a liquor license,” Palo Alto City Planner Steve Emslie said.

FURNITURE SHOP FADING AWAY . . . It’s the end of a decade for Palo Alto’s largest consignment furniture store. Consignment Showcase is the latest victim to fall in Town & Country Village shopping cen-ter’s massive redo. The furniture shop joins the long list of other tenants who have not had their leases renewed. “We’ve known for about a year that this was coming,” said Linda Lappin, who owns the store with her husband, Bill. “We’ve been out there looking for another space. But it’s real estate, and real es-tate keeps going up, especially retail real estate. It’s harder and harder for the mom-and-pop stores to stay open,” she said. What Lappin will miss most are the new items that come into her store. “It was like Christmas every day. You never knew what would come through the door,” she said. Perhaps the biggest

loser for Consignment Show-case, which opened 10 years ago, is Lappin’s dog. The friend-ly chocolate lab, Kona, who greeted customers with a wag and a lick, was a constant fixture in the shop. “Kona has retired,” Lappin said of her 12-year-old canine. The store will close by the end of August, “sooner if we can sell everything before then,” she said. As for Lappin and her husband, “we’ll be starting life all over again.”

CUSTOM SHOES AND RIPE FRUIT . . . The window display for the small shoe shop in down-town Palo Alto stops people dead in their tracks. At first glance, it looks like an odd pair-ing of fruit and shoes. A closer inspection reveals bananas perched near yellow strappy sandals, green apples next to green high heels and pome-granates gracing red shoes. There are even artichokes next to artichoke-looking pumps. “Oh, that’s my farmer’s market display,” said Eza Americo de Souza, owner of Yasmin De-luxe Couture at 524 Bryant St. The displays change every four weeks, with next month’s display featuring a wild-animal look. “My fall line will have a lot of animal prints. There will be pony hair and snakeskin in the window,” de Souza said. A former fashion model from Brazil, de Souza could not find comfortable, styl-ish footwear in this country and decided to start her own shoe line. She opened her store last April and has cultivated a small clientele for her stylish, hand-made designs. Every shoe is custom-made and can take any-where from three weeks to two months to create. The footwear is often embellished with glass beads or semi-precious stones, such as quartz, agate, moon-stone and jasper. This is not the kind of store where customers find racks and racks of shoes in many sizes. It’s a more intimate selection. “My best seller is a navy and white two-strap, sexy, classic pump called ‘Audrey’ for $375,” de Souza said. But busi-ness has not been great, and she is unsure of the future. “It’s been a little slow this summer. I’m hoping I don’t have to close. I’ll give it a little more time, at least for my fall line to come out,” she said. ■

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Upfront

“When new technology comes in, students are trying to see how they can use it,” Goldman said.

Hal Larsson and Sam Ogami wanted to help teachers become more organized and structure their lesson plans better. Ogami said he was tired of sitting in classes and seeing the lesson structure “rapidly degrade,” as discussions ran over or a guest speaker talked too long.

Larsson and Ogami designed a handheld device, which looks a lot like a BlackBerry, that teachers could input their original lesson plans into or select from predefined ones. The idea is that a teacher would carry the small device dur-ing class and alter their lesson plan as they go. They can later look at both the original lesson plan and the altered plan to see what worked and what didn’t.

“With this, you’re not sitting down at the end of the day, saying, ‘What happened?’” Larsson said.

Sun-Young Chun, Dahwun Kim and David Tu also designed a mo-bile, or wireless, device. The trio created the Smart Shopping Pal, an electronic tool about the size of an Etch A Sketch that incorpo-rates learning activities for children while in the grocery store.

“We had the thought that super-markets can be an excursion not only for adults but for kids, too,” said Chun, who grew up in Korea. “There are lots of words in super- markets, and lots of language learn-ing opportunities for children.”

The Pal is wireless, and would re-main connected to shopping carts. Children would be able to scan vari-ous items into the Pal, which would then play a series of spelling and letter and shape recognition games with the child.

The team’s prototype was creat-ed with preschool-aged children in mind, but Chun said it could be ex-panded into educational opportuni-ties for teenagers and even adults.

Some of the students’ projects were less concrete, but were sup-ported by strong theories and game plans. Adam Royalty, for example, plans to develop a curriculum called Standing Up to Statistics targeted toward middle school students that would help them “analyze statistics by separating the numbers from the arguments.”

Many visitors to last week’s expo were drawn to Scott Doorley and Maryanna Rogers’ project called PEEK/RE:search. With a compan-ion Web site already launched at www.projectpeek.com, PEEK/RE:search is a mobile tool based on Doorley and Rogers’ concept of “informal learning.”

Users can use PEEK/RE:search on their cell phones as a discussion fo-rum for “personal hypotheses, com-mon assumptions and empirically supported research.” For example, one user posted: “Plants make people happy.” Another asked: “Do Ameri-cans trust each other?”

The idea, said Doorley, is to en-courage people to simply think and contemplate the posed issues. And pose their own.

“The environment is really rich with knowledge, but people don’t

necessarily have the opportunities to access it,” he said. “If you have downtime, you can download ques-tions, propose hypotheses. We want to facilitate this type of thinking. It’s really lightweight. There’s not a lot of commitment.”

A project on the heavier side is Angel Inokon’s Outbreak video game, which challenges adult us-ers to manage a bird flu pandemic. The game is broken down into 20 minute segments that each pose a different challenge to the player.

In one segment, for example, the player is called on by President George W. Bush to make decisions about the country’s travel policy. In another, the player is a father who has to gather food and other materi-als in a grocery store.

The game raises “awareness of what it’s like to be in a panic envi-ronment,” Inokon said.

Inokon’s product can be found at www.outbreakthegame.com. For more information on the Learning, Design and Technology program at Stanford, visit http://ldt.stanford.edu. ■ Staff Writer Alexandria Ro-cha can be e-mailed at [email protected].

Inventors(continued from page 3)

The City of Palo Alto Arts & Culture Division and the Palo Alto Weekly present

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David Tu checks a "Smart Shopping Pal" computer at Stanford's School of Education’s Learning, Design and Technology exhibition Friday.

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DeathsCarl Woodrow “Woody” Hansen

Carl Woodrow “Woody” Hansen, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died July 20. He was 87.

He was born Sept. 19, 1918 in Livermore, Iowa, to Chris and Anna Hansen of Fredrikstad, Norway. He grew up in the towns of Bode and Laurens of Iowa, graduating from Laurens High School in 1936. From there he moved with his family to Rock Island, Ill., and attended Au-gustana College while working at J.I. Case as a welder and B-26 wing assembler. On Dec. 13, 1941, he married Maxine L. McFall, with whom had two children, Carl and Steve.

He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946 as a radio and radar instructor. He then attended the State University of Iowa, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with an electrical engineering degree. He spent the first half of a 50-year-long engineering career designing and managing the design of radiol-ogy equipment and the second half consulting with hospitals and clin-ics through the United States to plan and equip radiology departments.

During this time his career took him and his family to the Milwau-kee, Boston and Cleveland areas before moving to Palo Alto in 1969, where he lived the remainder of this life. He excelled both in tech-nical skills and in relationships with people both professionally and per-sonally, loved ones recall. He was a loving husband and father, a de-lightful friend and a hard worker who expressed his faith best in his service to others.

He retired at 77 and spent time traveling before a variety of serious physical problems prevented him from continuing. He struggled with these illnesses for a number of years before succumbing to a stroke.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother Arthur; his sister Marie; and two siblings who died in infancy.

He is survived by his wife, Max-ine of Palo Alto; his sons, Carl of Fertile, Minn., and Steve of Palo Alto; his brother, Richard of Burns-ville, Minn.; three grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Thomas Colby Maddox

Tom Maddox of Portola Valley, a longtime economics instructor at Foothill Community College, is being remembered by family and friends as a creative, intelligent and caring individual with many talents and interests.

He died July 15 of injuries sus-tained when he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle June 12 with a friend on Skyline Boulevard, north of Skylonda near Woodside.

An ardent cyclist, he was wearing a bike helmet at the time of the ac-cident. He was 65.

He was born in Flat Rock, Ill. He grew up in Denver and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in international relations and a mas-ter’s degree in economics from the University of Denver. In 1969, he moved to Portola Valley.

He taught economics for 33 years at Foothill and was known as a dedicated and gifted teacher. Besides being well-read, he was a world traveler, having spent time in Europe, Asia, South and Cen-tral America, and other parts of the world.

Throughout his life, he was a con-stant support to his family, neigh-bors, students and colleagues, said his sons Colby and Heath Maddox.

He was a skilled, self-taught car-penter, furniture and knife maker, and delighted in creating useful ar-tifacts from reused materials, they said.

He gave his time and energy to environmental and political causes and spent many months in Nica-ragua working with “Bikes Not Bombs,” a nonprofit organization working for alternative transporta-tion and community development. He collected donated bicycles and parts and helped construct bike shops in Nicaragua, where local people were given the skills to re-pair and maintain their bicycles and become community leaders.

He enjoyed collecting and culti-vating native plants that he used in his garden in Los Trancos Woods.

He is survived by his father, Rob-ert Maddox of Denver; his sons, Colby Maddox of Chicago and Heath Maddox of Oakland; two granddaughters; and five brothers and sisters.

A gathering of family and friends took place July 17 at the Maddox home.

Memorial contributions may be made to his favorite nonprofits: Bikes Not Bombs, 89 Amory St., #103, Boston, MA 02119 (617-442-

0004); or Heifer Project Interna-tional, P.O. Box 8088, Little Rock, AK 72203 (800-422-0474).

Russell Ellsworth Mason

Russell Ellsworth Mason, 86, a longtime resident of Portola Valley, died July 16 in Palo Alto.

Born in Washington, D.C., on November 9, 1920, he graduated from Columbia College in 1942 and earned a Ph.D. at Purdue University. He was a decorated lieutenant colo-nel in the U.S. Army in World War II and then practiced clinical psy-chology for 26 years at the Veteran’s Affair Hospitals in Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

He was a prolific writer whose works include a treatise, “Internal Perception and Bodily Function-ing.” In addition, he started the company FI Communications and, together with his wife, Yuri Mason, founded The Ethical Society, an or-ganization promoting the practice of ethical living as a means to the betterment of society.

He lived in Portola Valley for more than 50 years with his wife, who is a painter. One of his true pas-sions in life was to facilitate Yuri’s

creation of art, and he frequently kept her company while she paint-ed, loved ones recall. He helped her with many household chores so she would have more time to paint.

He is survived by his wife, Yuri of Portola Valley; and his two cous-ins, Dorothy Kennedy and Frances King of Texas.

A memorial for family and close friends will be held on a date yet to be selected.

David M. Murdock

David M. Murdock, 90, died July 21 in Los Altos after a long illness.

A native of Boston, he moved to Palo Alto in 1951 and worked for the Stanford Research Institute for the next 30 years. He was part of a team that developed the earliest ultrasound technology.

He was also a lifetime, avid golfer, and in retirement he enjoyed many years of low-handicap golf at the Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course.

A modest man, he was beloved by his family and is survived by his wife of 67 years, Blanche Murdock of Los Altos; a daughter and son-in-law, Susan and George Varian of Portola Valley; a son, David J. Mur-

dock of Felton; two sisters, Clare Kline of Wellesley, Mass., and Joan Hathaway of Capitola; three grand-daughters; and four great-grand-children.

Private memorial services were held at Alta Mesa Cemetery in Palo Alto on July 28.

TransitionsBirths, marriages and deaths

LEONA ANDERSON

Mrs. Leona Anderson, age 86, passed away on Tuesday, July 25 from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Leona was born in Greeley, Colorado on August 16, 1919.She graduated from Greeley High School and was a life-

long, devout Catholic. She and her departed husband of over 50 years, Leonard Anderson, moved to the Bay Area during the 1940’s and both worked in the Navy Shipyards in Oakland.

They lived in San Francisco, moved to Willows and then Cupertino, before fi nally settling in Palo Alto in 1954.

Leona had two children, Kathie and Kirk, who both still live in the Bay Area. Mrs. Anderson was primarily a homemaker but also held jobs as a welder during WWII, later working in the retail fi eld and also at Stanford University. She devoted much of her time to service and volunteer work at her local parish St. Aloysius, and later at St. Thomas Aquinas. She

was predeceased by her husband, Leonard Anderson, in 1992, and her sister, Lu Beights, of Denver, Colorado in 2001.

Leona is survived by a sister, Ann Matthews of Greeley, Colorado, daughter Kathie Hoffman of San Leandro and son Kirk Anderson of Redwood City. She also had two grandchildren, Keith Hoffman of San Carlos and Cheryl Hoffman of San Jose.

A mass, presided by Father George Aranha, was held at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Palo Alto on Sunday, July 30, at 2pm, with a reception afterwards.

Private internment was held at Alta Mesa Memorial Park.Donations, in lieu of fl owers, are asked for the Alzheimer’s

Association of Northern California, Pathways Hospice Sunnyvale or St. Thomas Aquinas Church. Funeral arrangements provided by Roller Hapgood & Tinney Funeral Home, Palo Alto.

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SUZANNE SHANESY FISHER

Suzanne Shanesy Fisher, longtime resident of Palo Alto, died July 25 at Pilgrim Haven, Los Altos, following a long descent into Alzheimer's disease.

She was born September 21, 1922 to Hazel Sue and Ralph David Shanesy in Evanston, Illinois. She graduated from the University of Colorado (Boulder) and

married Hugh Fisher (who predeceased her) June 16, 1945. They moved to Walnut Creek in 1951 and settled in Palo Alto, for good, in 1953. After getting her five children graduated from college, Sue turned more of her focus and energy to support the Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, for whom she volunteered close to 10,000 hours over some 20 years. Many of her lifelong friends were members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. As long as she was able, she also remained dedicated to St. Athanasius Church.

Sue always enjoyed reading, gardening, entertaining, and travel,

and she was happiest when her family and friends were gathered together around her table. Sue ingested and survived nearly lethal doses of second-hand tennis. She maintained fiercely good health until her ten-year twilight descended. She will be remembered by those many who loved her as a dignified woman, even elegant—a woman of great courage and grace.

Sue is survived by her sister Elizabeth (Betts) Kiralis, her cousin Ruth Wheeler, her five children (Rick, Chip, Shack, Anne/Skeeter, and Tup) and her six grandchildren: Catherine and Matt (Newport Beach), Peter and Patrick (Carlsbad), and Graham and Laurel (Palo Alto)—all Fishers. She was very fond of and reliant upon her long-time personal aide Kilo, who was extremely dedicated to Sue.

Sue would have appreciated any donations offered to the Vista Center for the Blind and the Visually Impaired (www.vistacenter.org) or to St. Athanasius Church, 160 N. Rengstorff Avenue, Mountain View, where the Funeral Service was held July 28.

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


BirthsJon and Molly Kossow of

Menlo Park, a son, July 13.Sam Pena and Sarah Hernan-

dez of East Palo Alto, a daughter, July 13.

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POLICE CALLSPalo AltoJuly 18-30Violence relatedArson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Theft relatedCommercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Counterfeiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Embezzlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Possession of stolen property . . . . . . . .3Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Shoplifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Vehicle relatedAbandoned auto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Auto recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Auto theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Driving w/suspended license . . . . . . . .10Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Lost/stolen license plates . . . . . . . . . . . .3Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . .10Vehicle accident/property damage. . . .20Vehicle embezzlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Vehicle stored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Alcohol or drug relatedDrinking in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Possession of paraphernalia. . . . . . . . . .2Under influence of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . .2MiscellaneousAnimal call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Casualty fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Disturbing the peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Misc. penal code violation . . . . . . . . . . .3Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Outside investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .3Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Weapon disposal request. . . . . . . . . . . .2Menlo ParkJuly 24-30Theft relatedAttempted burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Vehicle relatedAuto recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Driving w/suspended license . . . . . . . . .5Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Tow request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .2Vehicle pursuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Alcohol or drug related

Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4MiscellaneousCPS referral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Disturbing/annoying phone calls . . . . . .2Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Info. case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10AthertonJuly 24-30Violence relatedAssault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Theft relatedGrand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Vehicle relatedAbandoned auto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Parking problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Suspicious vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .2Vehicle code violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Miscellaneous911 hang-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Animal call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Citizen assist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Coroner’s case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2County road block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Fire call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Follow up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Juvenile problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Meet citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Prowler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Shots fired . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .7Suspicious person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Town ordinance violation . . . . . . . . . . .15Tree blocking roadway . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Watermain break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Welfare check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

VIOLENT CRIMESPalo AltoUnlisted location, 7/19, 1:44 p.m.; battery.Unlisted location, 7/20, 12:52 a.m.; do-mestic violence.Unlisted location, 7/21, 7:10 p.m.; domes-tic violence.Unlisted location, 7/22, 12:23 a.m.; do-mestic violence.4100 block Middlefield Road, 7/22, 1 p.m.; arson.200 block Lytton Avenue, 7/22, 6:25 p.m.; battery.Unlisted location, 7/22, 10:02 p.m.; do-mestic violence.Unlisted location, 7/30, 8:12 p.m.; domes-tic violence.Atherton500 block Middlefield Road, 7/25, 8:15 a.m.; assault.

Diana’s Back!Watch for Diana Diamond’s

controversial columns every other

Wednesday in the Palo Alto Weekly and

read and comment on her online blog

throughout the week on Palo Alto Online.


Palo Alto native makes weekly pilgrimage to sell his farm-fresh produce at downtown Farmers’ MarketStory by Andrew ThompsonPhotographs by Norbert von der Groeben

E very Saturday, Paul Pfluke brings his crops to a little space between Forest and Hamilton Avenues where the true spirit of the open market manifests itself from 8 a.m. to noon.

His table at the Palo Alto Farmers’ Market presents masses of shoppers with the arugula, broccoli, strawberries, parsley, squash and chard that were harvested at his Green Oaks Creek Farm in Pescadero in the preceding days.

Every nectarine and bunch of mushrooms, each fillet of fish at the market is the fruit of that vendor’s own pride and labor.

“Most agriculture is just so removed and industrialized — not very in-timate,” Pfluke said. Here, “intimate” is perhaps the most apt word to de-scribe everything from the organic production of the food to the friendly distribution to community customers.

The idea for Green Oaks Creek was born when Pfluke, a Palo Alto native, and his wife, Stephanie Jennings were graduate students in agricultural sci-ences at the University of Vermont.

“Everything you see around you has been an idea in my or Steph’s head,” Pfluke said while cutting arugula at his farm on a hot Friday morning. “With a little effort, you see these ideas come to fruition, and then you’re

Cover Story

HARVE S TING DRE A MS

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGELara Foy, an intern at Green Oaks Creek Farm and Retreat, samples a strawberry in the field while harvesting food to sell at the Palo Alto Farmers' Market.

A sign and an old oak mark the entrance to Green Oaks Creek Farm and Retreat in Pescadero. The farm is owned by Palo Alto native Paul Pfluke, who sells organic produce.

• Wednesday, August 2, 2006 • Palo Alto WeeklyPage 16 • Wednesday, August 2, 2006 • Palo Alto Weekly

Cover Story


able to share it with others. So much of our work these days, you’re just a cog in the wheel.”

Green Oaks Creek not only provides Pfluke and Jennings with their financial means and much of their nutritional livelihood, it’s also a place of education, where those who have never created their own sustenance can gain that ex-perience. The farmhands at Green Oaks Creek learn by performing much-needed work, and there is never a shortage of it on this 3-acre cor-nucopia.

While Pfluke washed bunches of arugula in a basin next to the greenhouse in prepara-tion for the next day’s market, Lara Foy — a farmhand who found Green Oaks Creek by word-of-mouth — was bent over with a knife to harvest broccoli into a box she dragged down the rows. A few feet away, Jennings was on her knees picking strawberries and placing them into baskets.

It’s taken long, hot, labor-filled days to nourish the produce in the boxes from seeds to food.

“Sometimes I have to really remind myself why

we’re doing it because it is really hard work and we don’t make much money at all. I have to stand back and remind myself we’re in a beautiful place and doing some good work,” Jennings said.

Early Saturday morning, Pfluke set up his ta-ble in the parking lot on Gilman Street, the spot of the farmers’ market. At 8 a.m., a bell rang and the people who had been eagerly waiting for the first pick of produce began their shop-ping. Two hours later, all of Pfluke’s strawber-ries were sold.

“I can’t grow enough of those things,” he said.

Any alienation that exists between people is removed at the market. Pfluke talked with his customers, and they happily talked with him.

“I like the direct connection with the custom-ers and just getting to know them,” he said.

A man stopped at the Green Oaks Creek table and picked up a generously sized bunch of arugula.

“What am I going to do with this much aru-gula?” he asked.

“Most agriculture is just so removed and industrialized — not very intimate.”

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

— PAUL PFLUKE

Robin Pickard-Richardson and Daniel Klinkow (top), both visiting from Illinois, bring boxes of freshly picked organic greens in from the fields. Darryl Wong of Santa Cruz (above and top of facing page) totes boxes of organic strawberries to the barn.

Green Oaks owner Paul Pfluke (above) waters seedlings in the greenhouse while his daughter, Anna, observes. The farm's organic strawberries (above, right) are a hit at the Palo Alto Farm-ers' Market, and sell out quickly.

Cover Story

Page 18 • Wednesday, August 2, 2006 • Palo Alto Weekly

“Sometimes I have to really remind myself why we’re doing it . . . I have to stand back and remind myself we’re in a beautiful place and doing some good work.” — PAUL PFLUKE

Burton Ring and intern Zack Azeez (below) unload organic produce from their truck to sell at the Palo Alto Farmers' Market on a recent Saturday morning. Ring (right) arranges the produce at the Green Oaks table at the market before the market opens. Early birds await the ringing of the bell that opens the market (bottom).

“Make a salad,” Pfluke told him. “Put some strawberries on it, or some sweet dressing.”

A woman standing in front of the table, noticing the absence of straw-berries, chimed in. “Your straw-berries were totally fantastic,” she said.

When lunchtime came, Pfluke went to barter with Ron Kent, a lo-cal vendor who runs Oaxaca Mexi-can Foods with his wife, Zaida. He asked Kent if he needed any veg-etables.

“Do you have any celery?” Kent asked. Pfluke didn’t. Any lettuce? Nope. In fact, Pfluke didn’t have anything Kent needed at the mo-ment — but he would soon. So Kent made him a chicken enchilada, and Pfluke told him to come back in the following weeks to pick up whatever he needed.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to give him,” Pfluke said while waiting for his lunch.

As the market drew to a close, Pfluke walked around offering bags

of broccoli, squash, and arugula to other vendors. A man wearing a Li-on’s Club T-shirt came around with a box that PPfluke packed with sur-plus vegetables.

“It’s a community event, and that’s what I appreciate about the market,” Pfluke said of the place where two competitors can come together and willingly help each other at the end of the day, and where sellers take pleasure in their jobs and buyers in their errands. “I often kind of view it as more of a service.” Chief Photographer Norbert von der Groeben can be e-mailed at [email protected]. Editorial Intern Andrew Thomp-son can be e-mailed at [email protected].

Cover Story


CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

About the coverPaul Pfluke, owner of Green Oaks Creek Farm and Retreat in Pescade-ro, washes vegetables to be taken to the Palo Alto Farmers' Market the next day. Photo by Norbert von der Groeben.

“It’s a community event, and that’s what I appreciate about the market . . . I often kind of view it as more of a service.” — PAUL PFLUKE

Customers peruse the organic offerings from Green Oaks Creek Farm and Retreat on a recent Saturday in Palo Alto. The farm grows organic vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruit. Debora Metz (above) carries a basket of food at the farmers' market.


SpectrumEditorials, letters and opinions

Volunteer appreciationEditor,

I found the actions of a Youth Community Service group an effec-tive antidote to the depressing world news. Five volunteers came to Palo Alto’s Foothills Park last Thursday to help control invasive weeds.

Led by Melanie Coates and as-sisted by Rick Prasad, five students from East Palo Alto pitched right in and removed more than 50 thistle plants from the Boronda Lake shore. Because they were covered with tough thorns, the thistles were hard to handle and dispose of. Most of the plants were starting to flower.

Effectively, hundreds of seeds were removed from this heavily used lake. This will make the park a more user-friendly place.

The students were Julia Williams, Brenda Mederos, Elijah Maglong, Lori Patton and Maria Garcia. They are very much appreciated.

Robert RothFriends of Foothills Park

Middlefield RoadPalo Alto

Just ‘the facts’Editor,

In his letter of July 26 regarding the Israel/Palestinian conflict, Pe-ter Stone asserts, “It is important to remember important facts that the mainstream media usually neglect.” Unfortunately, Mr. Stone himself is guilty of neglecting important facts.

“Facts” are funny things; when you use them selectively, you can tell any story you want.

Mr. Stone’s narrative blames the region’s problems on Israel’s occu-pation of “all of Palestine, territo-ries conquered by Israel by force in 1967.” He leaves out some important facts. In 1948, 1956 and again (in part) in 1967, Israel was attacked by its surrounding Arab neighbors (e.g. Syria, Jordan, Egypt).

Israel defended itself in these wars and was victorious each time.

In pushing back these aggressors, Israel did come to occupy the areas known as the West Bank and Gaza. Territorial occupation is a com-mon byproduct of war — last time I checked, that’s how California and Texas came to be part of the United States.

Israel has never annexed the West Bank and Gaza because it expect-ed to negotiate peace treaties that would involve some territorial com-promise. In fact (there’s that word again), at every turn Israel has dis-played a willingness to trade land for peace. In fact, Israel returned all of the Sinai to Egypt and some ter-ritory to Jordan and Syria. In fact, Israel has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to turn over Gaza and at least a large portion of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for peace.

Perhaps Mr. Stone might work on getting his facts straight before lay-ing blame for the Middle East con-flict entirely on Israel.

Vivian DistlerSouth Court

Palo Alto

Shame on StoneEditor,

This past week, Lebanese Hez-bollah Arabs blasted cities, towns, villages and farms in northern Is-rael with more than 1,500 rockets. Launched for the sole purpose of killing civilians, the attacks have forced two million Israelis to flee the area or live in bomb shelters.

That same week, death squads of Sudan’s Arab occupation gov-ernment killed more than 3,000 women, children and other civil-ians among the indigenous black population of the Darfur region. That week, insurgent Islamist death squads in Iraq, Kashmir, Thailand and the Philippines killed hundreds more civilians.

Yet, rather than address the racist Islamo-fascist ideology that moti-vates these crimes in the Arab world and beyond, letter-writer Peter Stone

(Weekly, July 26) invented a fanci-ful “history” of the Middle East to “explain” the Arab hatred of Israel and to denounce Israel for defend-ing itself.

Shame on him.S. Eric Watkins

Roble AvenuePalo Alto

Keep cats insideEditor,

American Bird Conservancy (ABC) applauds citizens who are working to reduce cat overpopula-tion. Unfortunately, the trap/neuter/release (TNR) programs mentioned in the Weekly’s article (July 26) do not resolve the problems associated with stray and feral cats.

Cat overpopulation is a human-caused tragedy that affects the health and well-being of our native birds, wildlife and people, as well as cats. Scientists estimate that outdoor cats, even well-fed ones, kill millions of wild birds and other animals each year in the United States.

Rare birds such as the Western Snowy Plover, California Least Tern and California Clapper Rail are especially vulnerable to cat pre-

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

What do you think? Should Palo Alto reconsider its ban on gasoline-powered leaf blowers in light of reported advances in reduced-emission, "quiet" technology?

YOUR TURN

Letters: Address to Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302, or hand-deliver to 703 High St., (at Forest Avenue), Palo Alto.Fax: (650) 326-3928E-mail: [email protected]

No anonymous letters or “open letters” to other organizations or individuals will be printed. Please provide your name, street address and daytime telephone number. Please keep length to 250 words or less. We reserve the right to edit contributions for length and style and for factual errors known to us.


Quieter, cleaner gas blowers? Prove it

Palo Alto should keep its year-old ban on gasoline-powered leaf blowers until industry can demonstrate

its new claims of quiet, cleaner-exhaust blowers

I t took Palo Alto a full third of a century of periodic debate finally to ban noisy, polluting gasoline-powered leaf blowers.

Even now, some can still be heard in residential areas of town, due to resistant gardeners conscious of the time-is-money rule and tolerant clients, many of whom have deep loyalties over many years to their gardeners.

The Bay Area Gardeners’ Association (BAGA) and its backers in the leaf-blower manufacturing industry have launched a push to get Palo Alto to reconsider its ban, both through a recent picketing of City Hall and threats of legal action implicit in a claim filed with the city.

The blower-ban comes before the City Council Monday night, but as a one-year-later informational report from Police Chief Lynne Johnson on the status of the ban, as requested when the council last year enacted the ban effective July 1, 2005. Speakers are expected to address the council during oral communications.

So far, there seems to be little enthusiasm on the council to reconsider. A relative handful of letters from residents — about 14 or 15 — have favored keeping the ban by a ratio of six to one, Johnson reports.

The ban applies only to residential areas, and blowers are still allowed in commercial areas. Gardeners also can still use electric blowers, some of which are fairly noisy themselves, either by plugging into house current or running them off truck-based generators. But the inconvenience of handling long power cords has limited acceptance of that alternative. Rakes are legal, but add significant time to a gardener’s work (and cost to residents).

Several city officials met with BAGA officials two weeks ago to hear complaints about life being more difficult due to the ban and their belief that new models of blowers developed in the past two or three years are super quiet and exceed federal pollution standards. The Weekly also has heard from some manufacturers, including one touting a model with “Quiet” in its name.

The city has taken a complaint-response approach to enforcing the ban, and has limited its response to issuing citations. While a few gardeners have built a collection of tickets, no blowers have been confiscated, Johnson reports.

The gas-blower ban dates back originally to the city’s noise ordinance of 1972. But the council heeded pleas from gardeners to give the industry “five more years” to achieve quieter blowers.

Yet despite minor improvements, the industry seemed to spend more effort fighting blower bans than it did to building quieter models.

In the late 1980s, one frustrated resident mounted an initiative-petition effort to achieve a ban, but voters turned it down by a 60-40 split — based largely on heartfelt appeals by gardeners.

“I’m saying bear with us,” a gardener spokesman told the Weekly in 1987. “Manufacturers are working on this. But it’s not going to happen overnight.” Last year the Weekly noted that it hadn’t happened in 18 years, either.

In the late 1990s the city assigned then-Assistant Chief Johnson to work with gardeners to try to achieve a compromise. Over nearly two years they developed a promising approach of training plus measuring 62 decibels at 50 feet with a permit issued to blowers that qualified.

But a noise test before the City Council at a special meeting in Rinconada Park in May 1999 blew away the credibility of noise ratings: One blower “rated” at 65 decibels at 50 feet produced 73; another produced “an ear-splitting 81 decibels.”

The council went for the full ban, initially to be phased in over two years and later extended to July 1, 2005, following additional appeals for more time.

But Consumer Reports concluded in September 2003 that 37 models it tested were no quieter than models it tested two years earlier.

So now we’re back for a replay, with claims from some manufacturers that they finally and truly have gotten serious about producing quiet, clean blowers.

No one wants to make life more difficult for gardeners or more expensive for homeowners, but there have been just too many years of waiting for the (so far) mythical quiet, clean blower for the city to take the industry and gardeners at their word.

Show us. Then ask for a reconsideration.

Editorial


Guest OpinionPalo Alto: Town of fast data and calmed traffic?

StreetwiseDo you go to the Farmers’ Market?Asked at Gilman Street in Palo Alto. Question and interviews by Andrew Thompson. Photographs by Michael Mullady.

Paul FortiProject engineerGilman Street

“I haven’t been to the farmers’ market. I just haven’t had a chance, but I’ve been meaning to go.”

Francisco AlcantarDocument specialistFordham Street

“I’ve been there once. It’s something to do on the weekends.”

Nechia ClarksonStay-at-home momDonohoe Street

“It’s something to do with my family on Saturday mornings. We go maybe four times a summer — not a lot. But I do like it.”

Joel DeceusterBusiness coachRambow Drive

“I don’t, but my wife does. It’s too early in the morning. My wife will drive up all the way from San Jose just to go to this farmers’ market.”

Barbara KleinRetiredCabrillo Street

“I love farmers’ markets. Palo Alto’s is my favorite. The food is good; it’s deli-cious. The people are delicious. It has a wonderful feeling. It’s great.”

by Yoriko Kishimoto and Larry Klein

P alo Alto has a full plate. We’re talk-ing about updat-

ing our library system, building a new police building, and preparing against the prospects of avian flu, earthquakes, flooding and global warming.

We are tackling the double challenge of pre-serving and increasing our revenues as we lose some long-term sources and reducing our ex-penditures in the face of still-rising health and retirement costs. We are struggling to update the Comprehensive Plan as we face continued growth pressures on our schools and roads.

We on the City Council will soon have to decide whether we have the institutional bandwidth to continue pursuing a leading-edge citywide data network on top of all these “must-haves."

Earlier this year, the council directed staff to prepare a request for proposals (RFP) for such a system. Our Finance Committee reviewed the draft RFP and is recommending it to the full council on Aug. 7.

Simply put, we believe moving forward in high-speed communications is essential to ful-filling our responsibility to prepare Palo Alto for the future, both to enhance the community generally and for our economic well-being.

Palo Alto is the hometown to Stanford Uni-versity, the birthplace of Silicon Valley and some of the most innovative companies in the world. We also house the original 1996 found-ing headquarters of the Peering And Internet eXchange (PAIX, formerly Palo Alto Internet Exchange, the leading neutral Internet-ex-

change service in the nation). We thus have the human and institutional resources, perhaps unique in the world, to develop a public/pri-vate partnership to leverage our top-notch hu-man talent, public assets and private initiative into a cornerstone of Palo Alto’s economic and environmental future.

Specifically, the RFP calls for proposals to help finance and build a system that provides citywide access to a minimum of 100 mega-bits per second symmetric (very fast two-way) service. Our goals are an open, municipally owned system but we offer flexibility in the short-term given the financing challenges.

The requirement for symmetric data capac-ity is key. A fast one-way system provides a passive, receive-only “entertainment” system. A two-way open network is critical to unleash-ing the creative energy and talent in our city and region to provide a network of health, edu-cation, energy management and other services from both for-profit and non-profit organiza-tions.

The City of Seattle recently released the re-sults of its Task Force on Telecommunications Innovation, a visionary effort, as the cover let-ter indicates:

“The task force believes Seattle must act now to foster the development of advanced broadband facilities and services for our community. Seattle cannot afford to dawdle. Broadband networks will soon become what roads, electric systems and telephone networks are today: core infrastructure of society. Lack-ing advanced broadband, Seattle is unlikely to maintain a competitive economy, a vibrant culture, quality schools and efficient govern-ment.

“Private markets, left alone, are unlikely to favor Seattle. City government must become a catalyst: working with the private sector to encourage their deployment of high-capacity broadband; developing the municipal network to enhance government functions and services, as well as to provide the basis for a munici-pal build-out, should that become necessary; monitoring emerging technologies and adopt-ing those that work for Seattle; and supporting new broadband enterprises.

“Together these will accelerate the deploy-ment of broadband, enhancing Seattle’s lead-ership position in technology, entrepreneurial innovation, education, health, public/private

sector co-operation, and government ser-vice.”

Palo Alto, like Seattle, can no longer “daw-dle.”

As we decide what we can do as one city, we also need to pay attention to the important battles going on in Sacramento and Washing-ton, D.C., which, at the behest of the large tele-communication companies, are both consider-ing re-writing the telecommunications rules to provide statewide or even federal franchises.

We support private enterprise but we appeal to our legislative representatives to ensure that our information highways including the “last mile” connection to your doorstep, are not all controlled by private interests. That would be akin to General Motors (or Toyota) owning all the roads as well as manufacturing the vehicles that use them. Local government initiatives, such as the one we propose, will assure that there is a healthy competition in ideas such as net neutrality.

Public interest demands that net neutrality and open access be preserved. Local govern-ment initiatives, such as the one we propose, can help provide a “fat pipeline” so each home has open access to a variety of service provid-ers, not just one.

Palo Alto’s quality of life is dependent on a complex network of economic, environmen-tal and social mechanisms that all work to-gether. An advanced data network overlaid on this complex human and physical network is essential to maintaining and enhancing that quality of life as we move more deeply into the 21st century. ■ Yoriko Kishimoto and Larry Klein are members of the Palo Alto City Council. They can be e-mailed respectively at [email protected] and [email protected].

Palo Alto’s quality of life is dependent on a complex network of economic, environmental and social mechanisms that all work together. An advanced data network overlaid on this complex human and physical network is essential to maintaining and enhancing that quality of life as we move more deeply into the 21st century. ■

Send us letters — check out Town Square!The Weekly accepts letters of approximately 250-300 words.

We reserve the right to edit for length, libel, poor taste or personal attacks. E-mail to [email protected], or mail to 703 High St., Palo Alto, CA 94302. Submitting a letter constitutes a granting of permission to include the letter in the Weekly’s online archives and to include it as a posting in Town Square, the new feature of the Weekly’s community Web site, www.PaloAltoOnline.com.


dation. Domestic cats are not na-tive and should not be maintained outdoors.

Free-roaming cats are in con-stant danger of being hit by cars, contracting diseases and parasites, or being attacked by other animals or people. Cats can transmit dis-eases such as rabies, toxoplasmosis and cat scratch fever to humans. They are the top carrier of rabies in domestic animals in the United States.

Invariably, not all of the cats in TNR programs are trapped and colonies often become dumping

grounds for unwanted pets. The cat food also attracts more cats, along with rats, raccoons, skunks and coyotes — all predators of birds and carriers of diseases, such as rabies.

It’s great that people concerned about these cats are working to find homes for them and are educating pet owners about responsible pet ownership. Through the Cats In-doors! Campaign, ABC encourages people to keep their cats indoors, train them to go outside on a har-ness and leash, or build outdoor cat enclosures.

Cats should be spayed or neu-tered before they can produce an

unwanted litter and should never be abandoned. Enclosed feral-cat sanctuaries are a better solution for unwanted cats, birds, wildlife and people than TNR. For more information, visit www.abcbirds.org/cats.

Linda WinterDirector, Cats Indoors!

CampaignAmerican Bird Conservancy

Connecticut AvenueWashington, DC

Keeping the lights onEditor,The lights are still on in Califor-

nia. Despite a two-week heat wave

that broke century-old records, the rolling blackouts of years past have been avoided. Large parts of Texas were plunged into darkness by a much more modest heat wave earlier this year. California’s far stronger performance is no small testament to Governor Schwar-zenegger’s leadership.

He started by launching, in the very nick of time, the most aggres-sive energy-efficiency programs in the history of the utility industry, while at the same time tightening California’s standards for minimiz-ing energy needs of buildings and equipment.

Millions of Californians then

pitched in with additional conser-vation efforts, along with everyone in state government. In addition, the governor made sure during his first days in office to move up the deadline for utilities to acquire ad-ditional energy reserves so we had them available for the summer of 2006 rather than years later.

The governor has bolstered the state’s overall capacity to supply power, with 12 new plants coming online during his tenure, including some of the cleanest fossil-fueled generators ever built. He has also opened a new transmission line in the Central Valley, making the flow of energy between southern and northern California more reli-able.

And while meeting the needs of the present, the governor is also investing in California’s energy future — his Million Solar Roofs initiative and other efforts to pro-mote renewable energy will make California the nation’s leader in clean power.

All these timely efforts help en-sure that the state has power enough to handle the demand when the heat hits. And if other governors (and presidents) follow California in mounting a real campaign against global warming, the heat will hit less often.

Ralph CavanaghSalvatierra Street

Stanford

Recalling Father DuryeaEditor,

I lived in Oaxaca, Mexico, this spring from mid-January until the first of May, and experienced the great fortune of weekly meetings with John Duryea.

I count those visits among the high points of an entire year of trav-el, but more importantly, as deeply valuable to my own life. We didn’t know each other before my trip, but I had an introduction from a mutual beloved friend, and Eve and John immediately welcomed me into their lives.

When John and I met, usually on Thursdays, the ostensible reason was for me to read to him, and we did that, but we quickly and fre-quently sidetracked ourselves, dis-cussing ethics and faith, Buddhism and Catholicism, the last 100 years of Palo Alto, his father’s remarkable artistry that supported the family during the depression, his appre-ciation of mountains and lakes, our questions and ideas of language and languages and literature and philos-ophy, Oaxaca’s culture and lifestyle; it was the stuff of life, really, and there were times when I thought: “A tape recorder, that’s what I need right now!”

But I wasn’t there for that purpose. I was lucky enough to be developing a friendship with a remarkable man and that was more than enough.

When we embraced for the last time, each of us knew it. I am grate-ful to be part of the lineage of people who have been touched and inspired by John Duryea.

Tony PressWashington Street

Daly City

Spectrum(continued from page 20)

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Spectrum

by Nancy McGaraghan

Li v i n g green is not a new

idea, it has just become more pressing ... and more confusing.

In the 1970s and 1980s, we in Palo Alto and surround-ing communities recycled, put in bike paths and preserved thousands of acres of open space.

School kids sang along to “Dirt Made My Lunch” at Hidden Villa, and “communed” with their favor-ite trees thanks to one tree-hugging fourth-grade teacher, Miss Bruce. They brought their peanut butter sandwiches to school wrapped in lettuce leaves.

Living green involved a few simple choices, it seemed, even though the big global issues were certainly there in the background. The byword was “Think globally, act locally.”

Now the environment is eroding right before our eyes, and “local” has taken on a more global hue when one thinks of rising sea levels and more violent storms.

When Al Gore’s documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” came to town, I was among those who turned out. Gore offered shocking visuals and historic climate trends — all confirming global warming.

Then came the equally shocking projections, but without the weight of hard facts. For a skeptic like me — even a committed tree-hugger — hearing only one side of this story raises a red flag. Is Gore’s data defensible? Are his predic-tions oversimplifications or over-statements?

As one eco-enthusiast said: “I’d rather have the opposition make the overstatements. They’re so easy to refute.”

Moreover, Gore didn’t simplify the choices. Green might be the world’s only reasonable future, as Gore says, but the complexity of the solutions can be reason enough to give up trying.

Green is today’s buzzword. Eco-prophets have replaced tree-hug-gers. Governor Arnold Schwar-zenegger traded in his Hummer, or one of them, for a hybrid. Vanity Fair magazine featured Julia Rob-erts and other glitterati, including Al Gore, on the cover of a special green issue this month. Hollywood can dress up anything and make it a fad.

Palo Alto is stepping up to the plate (Weekly, June 21), extending its early pioneering of recycling in the 1970s. City officials have im-plemented fuel efficiency practices and supplemented natural gas with renewable energy contracts. All are concrete steps toward reducing car-bon emissions.

The word is getting out. Yet the hard reality is that the overall suc-cess of efforts to turn back the tide of global warming relies on the cooperation of ordinary people, like you and me. Green needs to be more than Hollywood hype or a fad for the technically savvy and the elite.

If green lives beyond its fashion-able, politically correct status, I be-lieve it will be because it is rooted in a sound respect for the environ-ment, a respect that will motivate people to live with some inconve-nience.

The concept of living a more re-strained lifestyle is not new, nor is it an idea that knows age boundar-ies, as the following underscores:

A green lifestyle involves values, “... values that lead to a more sim-plified and perhaps more enduring style of life in a world of change. There must be a voluntary sim-plicity of ecology in our economic system. Someone has said that 200 years has been just long enough to have one big materialistic splurge on a new continent.

“We have now the chance to settle down for the long haul, which will involve our learning some frugality and some judgment with respect to the use of our surroundings.”

These were the sentiments of Gladys Chute Mears, one of the early settlers in San Mateo County. It was 1978 and she was celebrating her 87th birthday. Silicon Valley was looming in the shadows of the golden hills she called home.

Today there are environmental-ists like her who are lobbying for sustainable living practices, spurred

by a real pressure from escalating gas prices and the growing convic-tion that continued dependence on Middle Eastern oil filtered through American oil interests is unaccept-able.

Quick and potentially disastrous fixes for these problems would be to produce greater levels of nuclear energy or tap into the Alaskan oil fields. Both options have grave, irreversible consequences for the environment.

If we try to “go green” without a primary commitment to the en-vironment we can easily be de-railed. What’s more, eco-friendly solutions are often impractical or unaffordable.

I believe Gore when he says, “The need to make big changes is inescapable.” But trying to sort out the science of big changes is confusing. What will be a “more enduring style of life” for us?

The boiled-frog syndrome, a gradual build up of greenhouse gasses, got us into this mess. We are told that a gradual reduction in carbon emissions will get us out. That means we can go green one step at a time.

Drive less. Buy local. Recycle, or better yet re-use and use less. Join the groundswell of support for green legislation. Not because it is politically correct, but because our world depends on it.

We don’t have to wait until the tides are up around our ankles be-fore we believe that the glaciers are melting. What will happen to Palo Alto’s high land values if our low-land city is underwater?

We don’t have to calculate our

“carbon footprint” before we de-cide to tread gently across the plan-et. There have always been reasons to be energy conscious. Those rea-sons just got more compelling.

We have everything to gain and nothing to lose by opting out of the “one big materialistic splurge.”

It’s a matter of values, personally,

as a community and as a society — values strong enough to tran-scend the politics of power, money and left versus right. ■ Nancy McGaraghan is a mem-ber of the Weekly’s Board of Con-tributors. She can be e-mailed at [email protected].

Shades of green we can live with

Board of Contributors

Stratford SchoolPreschool and Elementary School

in Palo Alto!To learn more about Stratford or to schedule a tour,

please call (650) 493-1151 or email [email protected].

www.stratfordschools.com

Advertising Sales DirectorThe Palo Alto Weekly is seeking an experienced advertising and marketing executive to lead our sales team. The successful candidate will have media sales and management experience and a track record of building, leading and motivating successful and creative sales teams.

The Weekly is at the forefront of creating synergies between its print and online products and we are looking for a dynamic leader who will further enhance the Palo Alto Weekly’s dominance in the Peninsula market.Join an exciting and dynamic organization with a 27-year history of serving the Peninsula with integrity and a commitment to high quality journalism.

Submit letter and resume to Publisher Bill Johnson [email protected]


Title PagesA monthly section on local books and authors, edited by Don Kazak

BookTalk

“A Curious Kind of Widow” by Ann

Davidson; Fithian Press; 333 pp.; $16.95

by Jennifer Deitz Berry

In her new memoir, “A Curious Kind of Widow: Loving a Man with Advanced Alzheimer’s,”

Ann Davidson has written a bit-tersweet and unforgettable account of her efforts to face her husband’s declining health with dignity and grace.

It is the story of her constant struggle to care for and love her husband even as he loses his intel-lect, his reasoning and his ability to care for himself in the most basic ways, from pouring a cup of coffee to brushing his teeth. And finally, it is the story of the author’s grad-ual process of letting go, allowing herself to step away from being a constant caretaker in order to re-

READING TOGETHER . . . The Palo Alto Library will sponsor “Palo Alto Reads . . . Funny In Farsi” as a Palo Alto Reads proj-ect encouraging residents to read the same book. “Funny in Farsi” is a memoir by Palo Alto writer Firoozeh Dumas. The month-long event will kick off with an event at Palo Alto High School’s Haymarket Theater on Oct. 10. The goal is to bring people to-gether through literature, said Maya Spector, coordinator of library programs and school liai-son for the Palo Alto Library. The Weekly is a co-sponsor of the project.

CHANGING LIVES . . . Bay Area residents are invited to sub-mit suggestions of books that changed their lives as a part of a Bay Area Literacy project. A ran-dom drawing will give two partici-pants $20 gift cards for their local bookstores. Submissions, includ-ing author, title and your name and address, should be e-mailed to [email protected] by Aug. 15. The two winners will be announced in September.

LOOKING FOR PEACE . . . Long-time Palo Alto peace advocate Douglas Mattern has written “Looking for Square Two: Moving From War and Violence to Global Community.” Mattern is president of the San Francisco-based As-sociation of World Citizens.

THE GROUND BELOW . . . “The Geology of the San Francisco Bay Region” by Doris Sloan is a handsomely done guidebook of the complex geology of the area, with maps and color photo-graphs. Among the tidbits is the fact that a part of ocean floor lies on top of Mt. Diablo.

AUTHOR, AUTHOR . . . Author events at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park this month include Frank Delaney (“Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril in the Sea”) tonight (Aug. 2) at 7:30 p.m. Gail Drewes (“The Children’s Health Council: The First Fifty Years”) appears at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 15. The CEO of SRI International in Menlo Park, Curtis C. Carlson, (“Innovation: The Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want”) appears at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 18. Larry Portzline (“Bookstore Tourism”) appears at 2 p.m. Aug. 20. And Palo Alto poet Sharon Olson (“The Long Night of Flying”) appears at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 29 as part a night of poetry. ■

Items for Book Talk may be sent to Don Kazak, Title Pages editor, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302 or e-mailed to [email protected] by the last Wednesday of the month.

TELLING A

Ann Davidson

reprises her earlier

book about her

husband’s illness

story love

Norbert von der G

roeben

of

Ann Davidson cared for her husband, who had suffered from Alzheimer’s, and has written an account of that experience.

build a life of her own.This is Davidson’s second mem-

oir dealing with Alzheimer’s. Both this book and her earlier work, “Al-zheimer’s, A Love Story,” emerged out of journal entries she wrote as she and her husband confronted the disease. Julian Davidson was diag-nosed with Alzheimer’s in 1990 at the age of 59. Up until then, the couple had lived active and healthy lives, raising three children in their Palo Alto home. At the time, Julian was working as a professor of phys-iology at Stanford Medical School and Ann had been working as a speech pathologist for children.

“A Curious Kind of Widow” picks up the story five years after Julian’s diagnosis. In the begin-ning, Davidson writes, the couple had covered for Julian’s problems: She would remind him of friend’s names and would sit with him as he paid the bills to make sure he didn’t forget. But as the disease wors-ens, his work begins to suffer. He bungles his lectures and speeches and can no longer follow conversa-tions, until finally Davidson urges her husband to hand off responsi-bilities to his colleagues and take early retirement.

When we are reintroduced to the couple in the new memoir, David-son has quit her job to devote her-self to Julian’s care. She leads him step-by-step through each day, help-ing him to dress, shave, and brush his teeth. Early on, she describes her once erudite husband sitting on the floor, crying, unable to choose two matching socks from the pile

in front of him. But alongside the sorrow of watching her husband’s decline, Davidson is also able to find moments of joy.

“Alzheimer’s is full of paradox,” Davidson writes, “surprising me also with tiny gifts. While Julian is drastically changed, in many ways he is still the same. His intellect is gone, but his body feels warm, fa-miliar lying next to me in bed at night. He can’t read, but he listens to Mozart and Jewish music with delight. He seems not to notice a sunset, or 10 Canada geese honk-ing and gliding around a lake, but he stops before a poppy beside the trail and exclaims, ‘Oh, lovely!’”

Despite his limitations, David-son determines not to “go down” in a spirit of anger or fear during Julian’s decline, but to try to find happiness and love in the time she has remaining with her husband. The couple gains comfort from be-ing close to one another: sleeping next to each other in bed, walking together around Lake Lagunita, singing in the car, and carrying on conversations, which if nonsensical still allow them to feel connected. Funny exchanges between the cou-ple are commonplace. Davidson never bats an eye when Julian wakes up in the morning, and smiling at her, announces: “It’s a rab of the mineriol.” She simply responds in a way that matches his good mood: “Hi sweetie, good morning.”

Davidson also offers clear-eyed depictions of her own exhaustion and frustration, after sleepless nights when she cannot get Julian

to lie down next to her and sleep. He is often up and about, restlessly wandering the house at night, mut-tering nonsense and getting himself into trouble. On a typical morning, Davidson awakes to find six wal-nuts left on the toilet, a toothbrush stuck like a third leg beneath a Barbie doll’s skirt, and three long plant leaves artfully arranged on top of the television. Davidson de-scribes her worry for him, finding him standing alone at the bedroom window the next morning, stuffing and scraps of a pillow spread out across the carpet beneath his feet. But as she considers how alone and confused he must feel in the night, he turns and smiles at her, and in a one-liner that becomes a refrain throughout the book, says, “Oh, it’s you,” and holds out his arms to hug her.

It is this tension — the incred-ible sweetness and warmth of her husband balanced against the chal-lenges of taking care of a full-grown man as dependent upon her as a young toddler — that make the de-cisions Davidson faces so wrench-ing. As Julian’s health continues to decline, Davidson describes her son Jeff laying out newspapers around the toilet as one would for an untrained puppy, after having witnessed his mother on her hands and knees, cleaning the floors by the toilet where his father had been. She recalls her granddaugh-ter hollering at Julian after he sticks his whole hand into a simmering saucepot. At the day care center, he becomes a bother as well, bruising an elderly woman’s arm, grabbing hold of her too tightly.

As the demands of caring for Ju-lian begin to strip Davidson of her energy and enthusiasm, friends, counselors, and family gently try to encourage her to put Julian into a round-the-clock residential care center. But Davidson struggles to take the inevitable step, finding it impossible to imagine being sepa-rated from her husband of 35 years, while he is still living, still physi-cally strong, and still deeply affec-tionate, showering her with hugs and kisses, happy to see her each time she walks into the room. The moment where she lies in bed with Julian, telling him how much she loves him, knowing it will be the last moment they spend together in their house, is a scene that will have all but the most jaded of read-ers reaching for their Kleenex box-es. Both as a love story and as the story of a woman coming to grips with her peculiar version of wid-owhood, it is a memoir well-worth the read.■

Jennifer Deitz Berry is a freelance writer for the Weekly. She can be reached at [email protected].

Title Pages


This month’s picks by Frank Sanchez, head book buyer at Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, include a book telling the story of how Golden Gate National Park was established, a book about the arts and crafts homes dat-ing from the late 19th Century in Palo Alto and the Bay Area and new works of fiction from T.C. Boyle and Thomas McGuane.

“New Guardians for the Golden Gate: How America Got a Great National Park” by Amy Meyer is the story of the effort that began in 1970 to pre-serve the land on both ends of the Golden Gate Bridge. The effort started before the environmental movement had been established, and it was a difficult battle waged from the grassroots level on up, with spectacular success.

“Building with Nature: In-spiration for the Arts and Crafts Home” by Leslie M. Freudenheim tells the story of the crafts-design homes popular in the late 19th century, includ-ing in Professorville, Palo Alto’s first neighborhood settled largely by professors of the newly estab-lished Stanford University. The homes have a clean utilitarian-ism of design that wears well, a century later.

“Talk Talk” by T.C. Boyle is the latest novel from the always- interesting author of “Drop City” and “Water Music.” In his 11th novel, Boyle writes of a deaf

woman whose identity has been stolen, ruining her life, and the effort she and the man who loves her make to find the woman who victimized her.

“Gallatin Canyon: Stories”by Thomas McGuane is a col-lection of stories from the author of “Nobody’s Angel” and other novels. Many of the stories are set in his familiar Montana coun-try, but others range to Michigan and Florida. McGuane’s charac-ters are often older, divorced men looking for something but with-out much hope of finding love.

“The Ruins” by Scott Smith is a novel by the author of “A Sim-ple Plan.” In this story, a couple vacationing in Mexico befriend a girl who looking for her brother in the area of some ancient ruins, and encounter a Stephen King-like horror.

“Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea” by Frank Delaney is an account of a freighter battered by a storm in the North Atlantic in 1951 and abandoned by its crew, but not by its captain. He fights for a week to save the almost-capsized ship.

“Threads From the Web of Life: Stories in Natural His-tory” by Stephen Daubert has 16 stories illustrating different as-pects of natural science. Included is the story of green sea turtles who migrate 2,000 kilometers.

—Don Kazak

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ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Bowman International School4000 Terman DrivePalo [email protected] Bowman program builds confi-dence, creativity and academic excel-lence. Offering elementary school for grades K-5 and middle school for grades 6-8. Proven Montessori approach in an individualized, self-directed program. Rich international and cultural studies combined with strong academic skills. Located in Bowman’s state-of -the-art facility in Palo Alto. Low student-to-teacher ra-tio. Offering half and full day options for kindergarten. Visit the website for more details and to see why Bow-man may be the right school for your child.

Five Branches InstituteSanta Cruz(831) 476-9424www.fivebranches.eduFive Branches Institute offers mas-ter’s degree program courses in tra-ditional Chinese medicine: herbology, acupuncture, etc. Located in Santa Cruz and San Jose. Tuition is around $8,000 per year.

Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP)1069 E. Meadow CirclePalo Alto493-4430www.itp.eduITP offers distance learning courses in the areas of transpersonal stud-ies, creative expression, spiritual psychology, women’s spiritual devel-opment, and wellness counseling. Each course is designed for the independent learner and includes individual supervision with a mentor who is an expert in the field of study. Course content emphasizes the integrative study of mind, body and spirit, and its practical application to the student’s personal and profes-sional life.

Palo Alto Preparatory School4000 Middlefield RoadPalo Alto493-7071www.paloaltoprep.comA tightly knit school community, Palo Alto Prep operates on two assump-tions: Teenagers want to feel good about themselves and they want to enjoy school. Both staff and stu-dents strive to understand and ap-preciate individual differences, and they build fun and variety into learn-ing. State certified and accredited by WASC, Palo Alto Prep helps high school students see and experience the best in themselves. 8:1 student-to-teacher ratio. Ongoing enrollment. Tuition: $15,000.

QWERTY Education Services1050 Chestnut St., Ste. 201Menlo Park326-8484www.qwertyed.comNow with offices in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Tutoring and educa-tional evaluation: Individual tutoring relationships designed to meet the needs of a wide range of learn-ers from elementary through high school. Organization of writing for paragraphs, essays, and reports, a systematic revision process, key-boarding skills and word-processing strategies, reading skills, math pro-cedures and problem solving, and organization, motivation and study skills.

Randall Millen Registry921 Colorado Ave.Palo Alto856-1419Individual private tutoring in Midtown Palo Alto home for grades 7-12, col-lege and adults. Subjects include English grammar and composition, English as a second language (ESL), French, Latin, mathematics, history and social studies, and humanities in general. Also: test preparation for all standardized tests (including S.A.T.), and manuscript writing and editing. Stanford graduate with 40 years of experience as a tutor. Fees from $18 per hour.

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY

Mountain View-Los Altos Adult School333 Moffett Blvd.Mountain View940-1333www.mvlaae.netThe MV-LA Adult School has a long history and commitment to adult education. Offering: Meet the PC, In-tro to Windows XP, sending-receiving E-mail, Slide-Show photo organizer, MS Excel, eBay sales and surfing, resume writing, grant writing and master the interview.

Palo Alto Adult School50 Embarcadero RoadPalo Alto329-3752329-8515www.paadultschool.orgadultschool@pausd.orgHundreds of online classes are of-fered by the Palo Alto Adult School in conjunction with Education to Go. Computer, language, test prepara-tion and certificate courses available from $79.

DANCE

Brazilian Dance1305 Middlefield RoadPalo Alto463-4940www.CityofPaloAlto.org/enjoyA fun way to stay in shape, taught by Anita Lusebrink and sponsored by the City of Palo Alto Arts and Culture Division. Class begins Sept. 14. Thursdays, 6:45-7:45 p.m. Twelve-week session for $132. Held at the Lucie Stern Community Center Ballroom. Try the first class without obligation and bring a friend.

Broadway Tap135 Cypress Point WayMenlo Park(925) 376-6214

Join for an hour of good exercise and terrific fun. Learn tap-dance techniques and more. Complete full dance routines to fun and lively mu-sic. Classes held at the Menlo Park Recreation Center. $9/class. Begin-ning tap: Mondays, 11 a.m.-noon. Advanced beginning tap: Tuesdays, 8:30-9:30 a.m. Intermediate tap: Mondays, 8:30-9:30 a.m. Call Sue Chiappone at the number above for more information.

Dance Connection4000 Middlefield Road, L-5Palo Alto(540) 322-7032www.danceconnectionpaloalto.comcindy@danceconnectionpaloalto.comDance Connection offers graded classes for ages 3 to adult with a va-riety of programs to meet every danc-er’s needs. Ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, boys program, lyrical, Pilates and combination classes are available for beginning to advanced levels. The Nutcracker Ballet will be presented Dec. 2-9 at Spangenberg Theatre. Find information and download regis-tration from the website.

L’Ecole de Danse1016 8th Ave.Redwood City365-4596www.lecolededanse.comL’ecole De Danse (School of Ballet) — Vaganova and Cecchetti styles. Creative dance, pre-ballet and full curriculum for all levels starting at age 5. Adult classes include begin-ning, intermediate and advanced. School opens Aug. 28. Please call for more information.

Mountain View-Los Altos Adult School333 Moffett Blvd.Mountain View940-1333www.mvlaae.netThe MV-LA Adult School has a long history and commitment to adult education. Be fit. Offering: Ballet,

belly dance, ballroom, Hula and salsa dance.

Western Ballet2028 Old Middlefield WayMountain [email protected] Ballet offers classes for dancers of all ages. Whether it’s pre-ballet, a graded youth program, or classes in modern, Pilates or adult ballet, Western Ballet is the school for you. Open ballet classes morn-ings, evenings, Saturday and Sunday. Modern Thursday afternoons, Pilates Saturdays.

HANDICRAFTS

Mountain View-Los Altos Adult School333 Moffett Blvd.Mountain View940-1333www.mvlaae.netThe MV-LA Adult School has a long history and commitment to adult ed-ucation. Offering: Beading, drawing, ceramics, Japanese flower arrang-ing (Ikebana), knitting and crochet, needle arts, painting (watercolor, oil, acrylic). Older-adult classes (55+, $18).

Palo Alto Adult School50 Embarcadero RoadPalo [email protected] design, clothes-making, painting (all types), drawing, bath products by hand, candle making, knitting, sewing, and all levels pho-tography and woodworking. Register online beginning Aug. 28.

HEALTH & FITNESS

Betty Wright Swim Center @ C.A.R.3864 Middlefield RoadPalo [email protected] your health and wellness through aquatic exercise and therapy in the fully accessible, public, warm-water (92 degree), indoor pool. Classes include aqua aerobics, aqua arthritis, back basics, body condi-tioning, Aichi yoga and perinatal. Physical therapy, personal training, Watsu and land massage by appoint-ment. Group and private swim les-sons. Hours: Monday-Thursday, 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.; Friday, 6:30 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-noon.

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CLASS GUIDE

The Class Guide is published quarterly in the Palo Alto Weekly. Descriptions of classes offered in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Stan-ford, Atherton, Los Altos Hills, Portola Valley, East Palo Alto and beyond are provided. Listings are free and subject to editing. Due to space constraints, classes held in the above cities are given priority.The Winter Class Guide will pub-lish on Dec. 6, 2006, with dead-lines approximately two weeks prior.To inquire about placing a listing in the Class Guide, e-mail As-sistant to the Editor Tyler Hanley at [email protected], call (650) 326-8210 ext. 247 or visit www.PaloAltoOnline.com.To place a paid advertisement in the Class Guide, call our display advertising department at (650) 326-8210.

Make the most of fall by taking a class in something you’ve always wanted to do. It’s never too late to pick up an instrument or learn martial arts. Try swing dancing or hone your study skills. All the classes listed below are local, so go for it!

Fall Class GuideA complete listing of classes for mind, body, spirit

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Jayme George dips her brush into colorful paints during a painting session for greeting-card artists on Jan. 24, 2006.

Norbert von der G

roeben

California Yoga Center, Palo Alto541 Cowper St.Palo [email protected] California Yoga Center offers classes for beginning to advanced students. With studios in Mountain View and Palo Alto, classes empha-size individual attention and cultivate strength, flexibility and relaxation. Ongoing yoga classes are scheduled every day and include special class-es such as prenatal, back care and pranayama. Weekend workshops ex-plore a variety of yoga-related topics.

Darshana Yoga654 High St.Palo [email protected] and inspiring yoga classes in Palo Alto. A blend of alignment and flow. Great teachers, beautiful stu-dio. Director Catherine De Los San-tos has taught yoga in Palo Alto more than 25 years.

Forever Fit — Crowder Exercise701 Laurel St.Menlo Park(925) 376-6214Designed to improve flexibility, core strength, coordination, posture and range of motion. More than 100 ex-ercises in a single class. $6/class. Mondays, 9:30-10:30 a.m. and/or 7:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, 10-11 a.m. Call Sue Chiappone at the num-ber above for more information.

Mountain View-Los Altos Adult School333 Moffett Blvd.Mountain View940-1333www.mvlaae.netThe MV-LA Adult School has a long history and commitment to adult edu-cation. Be fit. Offering: Belly dance, exercise for the older adult, Felden-krais, hiking, hula, mat Pilates, Qigong, stability ball, stretch and flex, Tai Chi and yoga. Older-adult classes (55+, $18).

Page Mill YMCA755 Page Mill Road, Bldg. BPalo Alto858-0661www.ymcamidpen.orgOpen 7 days a week, Monday-Friday, 5 a.m.-10:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Conveniently located at the corner of Page Mill Road and El Camino Real, in the Page Mill Place business center. Classes offered include: Low & Tone Aerobics; Body Works Conditioning; Low-Impact Cardio; Fit Ball/Core Conditioning; Cardio Bootcamp; Spin-ning; YWalkers; Restorative Yoga; Spin & Core Conditioning; Step II; Spinning & Sculpt; and Cardio Kick-boxing.

Palo Alto Adult School50 Embarcadero RoadPalo [email protected]’s always the right time to be healthy and fit. The Palo Alto Adult School offers classes in hiking, belly dancing, tai chi, yoga, Pilates, Red

Cross Basic First Aid and Adult CPR, and the new Wild Goose Qigong. Reg-ister online beginning Aug. 28.

Palo Alto Family YMCA3412 Ross RoadPalo Alto856-9622www.ymcamidpen.orgThis YMCA features a gymnasium, indoor therapy pool, complete fit-ness center and a climbing wall, with specialized programs such as Phys-ability, water fitness, group fitness, swimming and strength training. Visit the website or stop by the branch for more information.

Studio Kicks796A San Antonio RoadPalo Alto855-9868www.studiokickspaloalto.cominfo@studiokickspaloalto.comStudio Kicks is a family fitness center offering high-energy cardio kickboxing classes and fun mar-tial-arts training for kids 2 and up. Taught by owner/instructor Richard Branden, six-time world champion and original stunt cast member for the “Power Rangers.” Get the whole family healthy and fit. Stop by for a free class.

Taijiquan Tutelage of Palo Alto3790 El Camino Real, #185Palo Alto327-9350www.ttopa.comLearn the classical Yang Cheng-fu style of taijiquan. Evening classes start monthly at the Cubberley Com-munity Center, 4000 Middlefield Road, Room M-4, Palo Alto. Call and ask for free literature or visit the website.

Traditional Chen TaijiPalo [email protected] Traditional Chen Taiji School of-fers Tai-Chi/Qigong classes in Palo Alto. Saturdays, 8:30-10 a.m., at Mitchell Park on Middlefield Road. Call for more information.

Winter Lodge3009 Middlefield RoadPalo Alto493-4566, ext. 102www.winterlodge.comWinter Lodge offers ice-skating classes for all ages and abilities. The eight-week fall session begins Sept. 25. Sign-ups begin Sept. 12, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The group class meets once a week. Rental skates and practice time included for $120. Visit the website for more information.

HOME IMPROVEMENT & DECORATION

Palo Alto Adult School50 Embarcadero RoadPalo [email protected] instructors guide you through home remodeling, interior design, faux painting, green feng shui, organizing your office, staging your home for sale and green land-scaping. Online registration begins Aug. 28.

LANGUAGE

German Language Class50 Embarcadero RoadPalo [email protected]! (Welcome!) Learn to speak, read and write German, with an emphasis on conversation. Basic grammar and Germanic culture are covered. The instructor, a college-credentialed teacher with a master’s degree, studied in Germany with the Stanford-in-Germany program. Mon-days, 7-9:15 p.m.; June 19-July 17; $56. Palo Alto High School, Room 405. Call or e-mail the contact infor-mation listed above.

Language Arts405 Lytton Ave.Palo Alto329-1731www.LanguageArts.orgLanguage Arts would like to welcome you as a new student in its Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese or Spanish program. The professional and cus-tomized teaching approach is en-hanced with equally enthusiastic and native-speaking teachers, teaching in a very colorful and elegant environ-ment. Call or visit the website for more information.

Language Studies Institute350 Cambridge Ave., Ste. 100Palo [email protected] Studies Institute offers ongoing private instruction and small group classes at all levels in Arabic, English, French, German, Hindi, Ital-ian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. All languages are taught by qualified, native instructors.

Mountain View-Los Altos Adult School333 Moffett Blvd.Mountain View940-1333www.mvlaae.net

Empowerment through Accountabilitywith a small student population, we:• provide 8 to 1 student-teacher ratio• deliver innovative and creative programs that

develop academic• offer challenging academic opportunities• enhance the self-esteem of our students

through outdoor activities and programs• create a supportive environment and safe community• make college a reality

650.493.70714000 Middlefi eld Road, Palo Alto

[email protected] www.paloaltoprep.com

JAZZ • TAP • BALLET • POINTEHIP HOP • FUNK JAZZ • BOYS

ADULTS TEENSCHILDREN(ages 3 and older)

PERFORMINGOPPORTUNITIESPRODUCTIONCOMPANY• Graded Classes• Beginners to advanced

Classes Begin September 6th

Cubberley Community Center4000 Middlefield Road, L5

Palo Alto, CA 94303

www.danceconnectionpaloalto.com

Cindy Ginanni,Director

650/322-7032

Fall Class Guide

TAIJIQUAN TUTELAGE OF PALO ALTO

Our classes in T’ai Chi Ch’uan are held in Palo Alto at the Cubberley Community Ctr. 4000 Middlefield Rd., M4. Call 650-327-9350 fordetailed information.Established in 1973.www.ttopa.com


The MV-LA Adult School has a long history and commitment to adult education. Learn or practice a lan-guage. Offering: Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Older-adult classes (55+, $18).

Palo Alto Adult School50 Embarcadero RoadPalo [email protected] to learn a language at a rea-sonable cost? The Palo Alto Adult School offers Spanish, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish for Educators and American Sign

Language. Register online beginning Aug. 28.

MIND & SPIRIT

Palo Alto Family YMCA3412 Ross RoadPalo Alto856-9622www.ymcamidpen.org

The YMCA helps enrich life experi-ence with seminars, classes and retreats. There are regular mindful-ness-based stress-reduction pro-grams every year that include one retreat day. Expand your horizons with Tae Kwon Do, Tai Chi, QiGong or dance. Every month the YMCA hosts noteworthy speakers who talk about issues related to health and wellbeing.

QiGong for Self-Healing and Longevity1305 Middlefield RoadPalo Alto323-1221www.paenjoy.orgDiscover the Chinese secrets of re-juvenation through simple, powerful, time-tested methods of natural heal-ing. A number of simple and effective methods will be taught incorporating special postures, breathing, creative visualization, sounds, acupressure and self-massage. These techniques are designed to cleanse, collect, circulate and store the vital life-force energy.

Taoist Tai Chi SocietyPalo Alto(415) 864-0899www.california.usa.taoist.orgImprove your balance, strength and flexibility while promoting relaxation and good health with Taoist Tai Chi. Beginner classes for all ages and fitness levels offered in Palo Alto. First class is free. Visit the website for class schedule and more infor-mation. Non-profit organization with nationally accredited instructors.

Yoga at Unity Church3391 Middlefield RoadPalo [email protected] peace. In the modern world peace is elusive, even if captured it is impermanent. True peace is in the heart, always. Discover the path there using modern and ancient

Yogic meditation and concentration techniques, powerful and therapeutic in their transformation and healing. Andrea Lenox teaches in the honor of Sw. Satyananda and Sw. Niranjanan-da Saraswati. Alternate Thursdays, 7:30-8:45 p.m., Sept. 7 - Dec. 7.

MUSIC & ART

Chinese Brush PaintingPalo Alto948-1503Chinese Brush Painting with Anna Wu Weakland — master calligrapher and painter. Class meets eight Tuesdays, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Classes held at the Cubberley Studio in Palo Alto. Learn to paint with minimum strokes and achieve maximum results. The tech-niques of all the popular subject mat-ters will be taught. Beginners and advanced students welcome.

Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA)230 San Antonio CircleMountain View917-6800, ext. 322www.arts4all.orgArts instruction for all ages and skill levels. Private lessons and music classes are available. CSMA fea-tures early-childhood programs (18 months - 4 years), digital music and art, numerous art classes (including ceramics, oil painting, watercolor and more) and a multi-lingual faculty. Financial aid offered. Register online.

Gryphon Stringed Instruments211 Lambert Ave.Palo Alto493-2131www.gryphonstrings.comGryphon offers group classes and in-dividual lessons for guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, harp, dulcimer, bass and violin in the store. Open Monday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.


Fall Class Guide

A Christian College Preparatory Junior and Senior High School • Grades 6-12

562 Britton Avenue • Sunnyvale, CA 94085 • www.tka.org • 408.481.9900

THE KING’S ATHE KING’S ATHE KING’S ATHE KING’S ATHE KING’S ACADEMYCADEMYCADEMYCADEMYCADEMY

BECAUSE YOUR CHILD’S SUCCESS GOES BEYOND JUST STRONG ACADEMICS

THE KING’S ACADEMY hires only the best staff and teachers who careand are passionately involved in helping students discover, developand expand their interests and potential. • We offer a challengingacademic curriculum with an extensive AP and Honors class selection.• We have intimate class settings that allow for broad and in depthinstruction. • We are proud of our competitive and successfulAthletic Program. • Over 60% of the student body is involved inour outstanding Visual and Performing Arts Program. • We place agreat value on an education that develops students of strong Chris-tian character. • Every student learns the importance of service inour society and is involved in 40 hours of annual community service.

Over 15 years ofexceptional education.

You are Invited!OPEN HOUSEThursday, December 7 • 7:30 pmTHE KING’S ACADEMY Theatre •Appetizers and Fellowship!

CAMPUS TOUR OR SHADOWINGContact Admissions DirectorJackie LaFrance at ext. 222 [email protected] to sign up.

Because You Know the Value of Education

©2006,

Chal

lenger

Sch

ools

See all our locations at www.challengerschool.com

I’m never happy when my 4-year-old cries, but

yesterday I just had to grin about something

she cried over. She was sad because it was

Wednesday—and she attends Challenger

School’s program on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

She learns so much and has so much fun there,

that she just loves going to school. I’m so glad

I chose Challenger for my little girl.

She Loves Learning

More Every Day

Mountain View-Los Altos Adult School333 Moffett Blvd.Mountain View940-1333www.mvlaae.netThe MV-LA Adult School has a long history and commitment to adult education. Improve your skills. Of-fering: Beading, ceramics, chorus, digital photography, drawing, guitar, Ikebana, orchestra and painting (watercolor, oil, acrylic). Older-adult classes (55+, $18).

Peninsula Youth Theatre2500 Old Middlefield WayMountain View988-8798www.pytnet.orgPeninsula Youth Theatre offers dra-ma classes, camps and productions for ages 3.5 and up.

SCHOOLS

Bowman International School4000 Terman DrivePalo [email protected] Bowman program builds confi-dence, creativity and academic excel-lence. Offering elementary school for grades K-5 and middle school for grades 6-8. Proven Montessori approach in an individualized, self-directed program. Rich international and cultural studies combined with strong academic skills. Located in Bowman’s state-of -the-art facility in Palo Alto. Low student-to-teacher ra-tio. Offering half and full day options for kindergarten. Visit the website for more details and to see why Bow-man may be the right school for your child.

C.A.R. Milestones3864 Middlefield RoadPalo [email protected] focused, inclusive program for children 2-5 years old. Low 1:5 teacher-to-student ratio. Staff trained and educated in early childhood development. Access to occupational, physical and speech therapists. Hours: Kinderplay, 9 a.m.-noon, Tuesdays and Thursdays;

KinderSocial, 9 a.m.-noon, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; Kinder-Prep, 12:30-3:30 p.m., Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thurs-days.

Challenger School3880 Middlefield RoadPalo Alto213-8245www.challengerschool.comSince 1963, Challenger School has been the choice of parents who know the value of education. Learning pat-terns are set early in life, and will be major factors in a child’s future success. Children who learn how to learn grow to love thinking and achieving on their own. This indepen-dence prepares them to succeed at living happily. Challenger has 13 Bay Area locations including Palo Alto, Saratoga and Sunnyvale.

Children’s Pre-School Center (CPSC)4000 Middlefield RoadPalo [email protected] arms, Open hearts - Opening minds together. Every day at CPSC holds new adventures for your chil-dren from the youngest infant to the oldest preschooler. Your child will experience the joy of finger painting, the thrill of dancing, the pleasure of building towers, and the satisfac-tion of mastering pre-literacy and pre-math skills with the support and guidance of a dedicated, loving, mul-ticultural teaching staff.

Emerson School4251 El Camino RealPalo [email protected] Glassman, Director. Please call or visit the website for more informa-tion.

German International School of Silicon Valley (GISSV)310 Easy St.Mountain View254-0748www.gissv.orgFull German and English immersion for students from age 2 through

grade 12. Fully accredited by the German government, GISSV’s small classroom sizes and unique multi-cultural learning environment help students achieve their full potential. Saturday language courses are also available for children and adults. Call or stop by today for more information about the upcoming Open Houses or campus tours.

Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School450 San Antonio Road494-8200www.hausner.comKindergarten-8th grade. Academic excellence in a nurturing environ-ment. Gideon Hausner is a warm and welcoming community with more than 370 students. Call for a per-sonal tour.

Harker SchoolSan Jose(408) 871-4600www.harker.orgThe Harker School is a coeducation-al, non-sectarian, college preparatory school serving grades kindergarten through 12. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Harker has three campuses located within eight miles of each other that are served by an intercampus shuttle before and after school. Total enrollment is approxi-mately 1,600 students who attend from throughout the greater Bay Area, including San Jose, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Los Altos, Fremont and Morgan Hill.

Kehillah Jewish High School 3900 Fabian WayPalo Alto213-9600, ext. [email protected], co-ed, college prep. high school serving students of diverse Jewish backgrounds. Enroll-ment: 100. Classroom: 12. Tuition: $24,000. Strong academics, sup-portive community, expert teaching faculty, Jewish values. SmartBoards in every classroom. New science and computer labs. Dynamic music and drama programs. Extra-curricular activities and sports teams. Honors and AP courses. Graduates accepted to all UC schools and many top-rated private universities. Applications due

Fall Class Guide

[email protected] • www.cantabile.org • 650-424-1410

CANTABILEyouth singers

Debuting in Carnegie Hall, summer 2005, Cantabile performs regularly with Opera San Jose, West Bay Opera, Symphony Silicon Valley and other prestigious Bay Area performance organizations. Join our growing numbers and be part of an extraordinary choral

ensemble. Call today for an audition appointment.

Sing with Cantabile!Sing with Cantabile!Now Enrolling for Fall 2006

Auditions Saturday, August 26Cantabile Youth Singers, under the artistic leadership of Elena Sharkova, boast high quality music education and performance opportunities for peninsula and south bay youth through weekly classes,

performances, guest appearances, festivals and tours.

March 13thFall Group Classes start week of September 11

OPEN HOUSE: Saturday, September 9

& Sept 4-8, M-F, 11:30-1:00 & 5-6:30

405 LYTTON AVE

& WAVERLEY

4000 Terman Drive � Palo Alto, CA� Tel: 650-813-9131www.bowmanschool.org

The Bowman program buildsconfidence, creativity andacademic excellence.

Lower School - Grades K - 5

Individualized, self-directed program

Middle School - Grades 6 - 8

Rich international and cultural studies

Proven, Montessori approach

State-of-the-art facility

Low student-teacher ratio


Jan. 9. SSAT/ISEE, recommenda-tions and interview required.

Mid-Peninsula High School1340 Willow RoadMenlo Park321-1991www.mid-pen.comMid-Peninsula High School, a com-munity for learning, offers students a stimulating, nurturing, safe en-vironment that empowers them to reach their full academic and social potential. As a small, caring, edu-cational community, Mid-Peninsula works to strengthen relationships between students, their families and the school. Mid-Peninsula rec-ognizes and understands unique learning styles and creates academic programs designed to meet each student’s needs.

Palo Alto Adult School50 Embarcadero RoadPalo Alto329-3752329-8515www.paadultschool.orgadultschool@pausd.orgFall into the habit of learning -- take some classes at the Palo Alto Adult School. Many relevant topics to choose from. Registration begins Aug. 28 and is available online.

St. Joseph Catholic School1120 Miramonte Ave.Mountain View967-1839www.sjmv.orgSt. Joseph Catholic School offers a comprehensive curriculum with an emphasis on religion, language arts, mathematics, social studies and sci-ence. In addition to the core curricu-lum, St. Joseph’s also offers a fine arts program, computer instruction and physical education.

Stratford School870 N. California Ave.Palo Alto493-1151www.stratfordschools.comStratford School is a private pre-school and elementary school featuring small class sizes and a comprehensive academic curriculum. Stratford inspires children to achieve success by offering challenging core subjects in a safe, disciplined envi-ronment. Through constant praise and positive reinforcement, Stratford teachers motivate and challenge stu-dents to do their very best. Campus-es in Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, San Jose, Fremont, Los Gatos and Danville.

Western Montessori Day School323 Moorpark WayMountain View961-4131western-montessori.comWestern Montessori’s program goals and methods are in keeping with the traditional AMI Montessori approach to learning. The foremost goal is to provide a prepared environment where your child is able to respond to his or her natural instinct to work and learn. Each child’s unique per-sonality is encouraged. Discovering the joy of learning and developing social and intellectual skills are the foundation of the Montessori pro-gram.

Woodland School360 La Cuesta DrivePortola Valley854-9065www.woodland-school.orgPreschool-8th grade. Woodland School’s focus is a challenging aca-demic program with a strong enrich-ment program of art, music, drama, computers, gymnastics and physical education. Science, math and tech-nology are an integral part of the 5th-8th grade experience. Extended


Fall Class Guide

Trinity School encourages preschool to Grade 5 children from all backgrounds to love learning. We foster rigourous academics grounded in child-centered content. Trinity upholds the values and traditions of the Episcopal Church and honors the role of family in educating children.

Th e legacy of a Trinity education is a curious mind and a discerning heart.

Open House on October 26Please call to RSVP

Early Childhood Program330 Ravenswood, Menlo Park

Classes for Three and Four year olds• 8:1 Student to Teacher Ratio

• Accredited by the National Association

for the Education of Young Children

Elementary School2650 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park

Junior Kindergarten through Grade Five• 8:1 Student to Teacher Ratio

• Accredited by the Western Association

of Schools and Colleges (WASC), and the

California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS)

2650 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park 650.854.0288 www.trinity-mp.org

The Phillips Brooks School25 Years Loving to Learn & Learning to Love

Preschool-5th Grade2245 Avy Avenue

Menlo Park, CA 94025650.854.4545

www.phillipsbrooks.orgCatherine Lee, Director of Admissions

The Phillips Brooks School community inspires students to love learning, to develop a spiritual nature, to communicate effectively, to be kind to others, and to respect the uniqueness of each person.

COLLABORATION“We will surely get to our destination if we join hands.”

- Kyi, Aung San Suu

At The Phillips Brooks School, we value the power of collaborative relationships. Whether it’s a parent and teacher joining hands to create success for a child, or children coming together to explore a passion, our students know that working together is worth the effort.

Applications are now Available for 2006-2007

Contact us now for your copy of our admissions brochure and to schedule a campus tour.

Come get to know us!Tuition assistance is available for all grade levels.

• Four levels of adult ballet• Adult pointe & variations • Feldenkrais • Pilates• Childrens' classes (beginning at age 4) • Intensive sessions for students of

pre-intermediate to advanced levels• Graded pre-professional

Youth Program www.westernballet.orgFor further information, contact Western Ballet

650.968.4455 [email protected]

Our program includes:

THE MOUNTAIN VIEW BALLET COMPANY & SCHOOLMARK FOEHRINGER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Join us for classes

in Ballet, Pilates, Feldenkrais, and others.

L LT FAMILY YMCA

You Can WorkoutAnywhere,But You Belong at the Y

Indoor Pool

Gym

Camps

Exercise Classes

Fitness Center

Dance

Feel Better About

You

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Redeem this ad for a free guest pass and tour.

Palo Alto Family YMCA3412 Ross Road, Palo Alto

650.856.9622 www.ymcamidpen.org

Enrich.

Care is offered 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Please call for a brochure or to set up a tour.

Wright Swim School3864 Middlefield RoadPalo [email protected], warm-water (92 degree) pool for year-round instruction. Group and private lessons; age appropriate and designed for children 4 months to 12 years of age. Parent-tot, preschool, beginning, intermediate, advanced, and skill and stroke refinement les-sons scheduled weekday afternoons/evenings and weekend mornings. Pro-fessional swim instructors with life-guard, CPR and first-aid certifications. Your child’s safety in the water is the school’s number-one priority.

Yew Chung International School (YCIS)310 Easy St.Mountain View903-0986www.ycef.com/svYCIS provides multi-cultural and bilin-gual, English and Mandarin Chinese, education to children from preschool to 5th grade. Yew Chung education aims to liberate the joy of learning within each child. No prior Chinese experience is required.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

Jim Gorman Swim School3249 Alpine RoadPortola Valley854-6699 ext. 100 [email protected], professional instructors and warm, clean pools make it fun to learn to swim. Private and small group lessons for all ages and abili-ties, from water babies (3-30 months) to national champions. Weekday and weekend lessons available for sign-ups now.

The Klutz Store572 College Ave. Palo Alto493-2481www.klutz.comThe Klutz Store is 400 square feet of everything Klutz. It may be the small-

est store in town, but the fun-per-square-foot measure is off the charts. Selling a diverse collection of kits, toys, learning gizmos, juggling appa-ratus and, of course, every single one of the award-winning, world-famous Klutz books. Just about every Satur-day afternoon the store hosts various

free events (magic shows, petting zoos, etc.). Store hours: Tuesday-Fri-day, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.mMountain View-Los Altos Adult School333 Moffett Blvd.Mountain View

940-1333www.mvlaae.netThe MV-LA Adult School has a long history and commitment to adult education. Improve your skills. Of-fering: Arts and crafts, computers, digital-camera techniques, ESL, foreign languages, genealogy, high

school programs and GED, memoirs, motorcycle-safety training, music and dance, needlework, orchestra, parent education, physical fitness and voca-tional education. Older-adult classes (55+, $18).


Fall Class Guide

Woodside Priory School

Middle School Grades 6 - 8

High School Grades 9 - 12

Coeducational

10 to 1 Student - Teacher Ratio

Community Service Program

18 Advance Placement Courses

Electives and Honors CoursesInterscholastic Sports Program

Choir, Performing Arts andOrchestra

California’s BenedictineCollege Preparatory School

60 Acre Campus3 miles West of I-280 Freeway

Neighboring Stanford University

Spirituality • Hospitality • Integrity • Individuality • Community

“We believe these values are made real in a community in which every student is known and loved.”

302 Portola Road - Portola Valley, CA 94028

Admissions Open HousesSaturday, November 18, 2006 10:00 amWednesday, November 29, 2006 7:00 pmSunday, December 10, 2006 1:00 pm

Call Admissions at 650.851.8223 to RSVPor visit the website at www.woodsidepriory.com

For the future...

We cherish and hold the present.

Peninsula SchoolNursery through 8th Grade--Founded in 1925920 Peninsula Way, Menlo Park650.325.1584, www.peninsulaschool.orgNondiscriminatory admission and hiring policy

Photo by Tom Upton

• Experiential Learning• Independence & group cooperation highly valued• Small class size• Varied teacher student ratio 1:4 through 1:10• Specialized teachers: Art, Clay, Dance, Drama, Library,

Math, Music, Science, Weaving and Woodshop

Nursery and Kindergarten Open HouseSaturday, Nov. 4, 10:00 - 11:30am. Children Welcome.

School tours - Thursdays at 10 am:Oct. 19, Nov. 9 & 16, Dec. 7, Jan. 4 & 11Parents only, please.

Application Deadline: February 1, 2007

professional trainingpersonal growth

counselors, organizational leadersresearch, education, business

and health services

m.a • ph.d • certificatesresidential clinical

on-line learning options

now accepting applications

ConsciousnessCommunity

Career

institute of transpersonal psychology1069 east meadow circle, palo alto, ca 94303

650.493.4430 • www.itp.edu

wasc accredited

Discover… TraditionalChinese Medicine

Acupuncture ■ Chinese HerbsMassage (Chinese Tuina)

Treatments by Specialty Experts or Low-Cost Interns supervised by Expert Faculty

■ Insurance ■ Workers’ Comp ■ Personal Injury■ Modern & Serene Clinic Near Santana Row

Five BraNches InstituteCollege & Clinic of Traditional Chinese Medicine

3031 Tisch Way, Suite 5PW, San Jose (near Santana Row)(408) 260-8868 ■ www.fivebranches.edu


400 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto (650) 853-71001377 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (650) 614-3500 • 2989 Woodside Road, Woodside (650) 529-1000

496 First Street, Suite 100, Los Altos (650) 948-8050 • 300 El Camino Real, San Carlos (650) 598-4900430 N. El Camino Real, San Mateo (650) 343-3700 • 1412 Chapin Avenue, Burlingame (650) 340-9688

www.cashin.com

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Properties

ATHERTON...Instant curb appeal for this Classic Lindenwood Ranch home. Beautiful and sunny property with park-like grounds and perimeter privacy. 4 BR’s, Den, Formal Living room, Dining room, remodeled Kitchen, Family room, Sun room, Knotty Pine Guest House, Lifetime Pool and spa, 4+ car garage. Menlo Park schools. PAUL SKRABO $2,975,000

ATHERTON… Classic moderne residence with grand scale in charming Lloyden park. Full of natural light, this 4 bedroom, 3 bath-room home features a magnificent formal living room, a sleek family room and kitchen. Flexible living with 2 staircases leading to separate bedroom wings. Backyard is accented by a gracious rose garden.JAMI ARAMI $2,350,000

ATHERTON…Traditional ranch home located in the desirable Lindenwood location. This 4BR/3BA home boasts a formal entry, formal dining room, and dual sided fireplace. Set on a generous & private landscaped lot w/fruit trees. Sunny, tree-lined backyard offers a deck for gatheringsand entertaining. JOHN COYLE $3,195,000

■ A T H E R T O N ■

Incomparable, resort like gardens! Very private & secluded lot in West Atherton. 5BD/4BA contemporary main house, 1BD/1BA guest house and 1BD/1BA au pair suite.Suzanne Scott $3,999,000

Lloyden Park Charmer. Extensive remodel in 2000. 3BD/2BA kitchen w/granite counters, baths w/imported tiles. Large master suite with walk in closet & fireplace. Formal LR & Dr. Elegant designer colors. Mature landscap-ing. Detached guest cottage. Hrdwd fls, pool.Ken & Carol Reeves $1,795,000

■ C U P E R T I N O ■

This spacious 5BD/3BA home has been extensively remod-eled. Gourmet kitchen, Custom baths, beautiful grounds include: garden and pool. Award winning Cupertino Schools!Shellie Fletcher $1,499,000

■ E A S T PA L O A LT O ■

Spacious 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on a generous corner lot. Large, private backyard and inviting deck. Perfect setting for large events and entertainment. Close proximity to local shopping, interstate and University Avenue.Edelmira Cardenas $649,999

Remod 2/1 has new flrs, new appliances, new roof, new water softener. Huge bckyrd w/brick built in BBQ. Fenced prop. w/additional lighting outside.Gordana Wolfman $609,000

Cozy 2BD/2BA, fresh paint, new stove and dishwasher. New floors in kitchen and carpet in bedrooms.Gordana Wolfman $102,000

■ H O L L I S T E R ■

Truly sophisticated 5+BR /4+BA country home on level and lush acreage with 3 stall barn. Spacious and exceptionally well built with total privacy. Generous 2 BR guest house complete with kitchen. Exclusive gated community. Midway between the peninsula and Carmel.Alexandra von der Groeben $2,650,000

■ L A H O N D A ■

Turnkey home on the San Gregorio/La Honda border, 3BD, 2BA. Open floor plan, home orients to rear yard and views of the hills.Janet Lawson Burr $885,000

Charming, remodeled, cottage-style home w/expansive views. Custom computer center & hutch in kitchen. Stained glass inserts & open beams. New roof, Anderson bay windows.Janet Lawson Burr $545,000

■ L O S A LT O S ■

Gracious LA country club Home boasts 4BR, 3.5BA, Well appointed inside & out. Bay, city-lights & mtn view. can be enjoyed from the property Loc. on nearly 3/4 acre flat lot surrnded by lush Grdn. Blk bottom pool, hot tub & gazebo Farideh Zamani $3,489,000

■ M E N L O PA R K ■

Newly remod. home situated in desirable West MP. 3BR/2BA, Mstr BR featuring French doors leading to new

deck & charming garden. Remod. Kit w/granite cntrs, Cherry cbnts & stnls steel appl. Vaulted ceil in LR, DR, &Kit. Lrg 2 car gar.Arnon Matityahu & Sabrina Fanucchi $1,295,000

Allied Arts charmer. Fabulous kitchen granite, Viking appli-ances! French doors, skylights! Hrdwood flrs. Built ins. 3BD/3BA, bonus room. Close to Menlo Schools & Stanford Shopping.Dianne Kern $1,295,000

■ M O U N TA I N V I E W ■

Lovely new hm in a unique loc near downtown, library, park, Bubb Elementary & more. Offers upscale finishes, including high ceil, granite cntrs, hrwd flr, frplc in living room, front & rear landscaping, CAT 5 cabling. Dory Marhamat Price Upon Request

Lovely new 4BR/2BA home in unique loc near downtown,library, park, Bubb Elem & more! Offers upscale finishes including high ceil, grnt cntrs, hrwd flrs tru-out 1st flr, laun-dry rm inside, 2 ovens, milgaurd dbl pane windows, frplc in LRDory Marhamat Price Upon Request

Excellent opportunity to build a new home. Preliminary plans available for new home, plus a 2 car garage. Los Altos High School District.Paul Skrabo $499,000

■ PA L O A LT O ■

Charming 3BR/2BA in Old Palo Alto, great potential to build new or remodel. Two separate units can be accom-modated. Home has sep. FR & DR. Deep lot w/big bkyd. Detached 2-car garage.Sally Kwok $1,999,900

2 bedroom/2 bath, cathedral ceilings, walls of glass, hard-wood floors, living room with fireplace, the best Palo Alto Schools, inside laundry and patio. Carol Christie $605,000

■ S A N C A R L O S ■

Charming 5BD/3BA Quality Craftsmanship Design Home. HighCeilings, hardwood floors & gourmet kitchen. 3 large decks & canyon views, & 2car garage.Ilona Kogan $1,495,000

■ S A N J O S E ■

Investment property located in rapidly transforming neigh-borhood with new development. Ten units that are being updated while property is on the market. New units avail-able for previewing.Susan Furstman $1,495,000

■ W O O D S I D E ■

Desirable sunny Woodside Heights location. Newly con-structed Craftsman-Style home. 4 Bedrooms, 2 en Suite, + office/library. Established vineyard, professional landscap-ing, horse property with pool and deck on the Woodside Trail system.Gary McKae $5,880,000

Central Woodside’s most sought after location! Gorgeous views of the western hills from this prime, sunny, level site. Minutes from school and town. Ready to build. On sewer.Elizabeth Daschbach $2,550,000

LOS ALTOS HILLS… Unsurpassed quality, architectural detail, and thoughtful design are elegantly reflected in this Old Word European-style gated estate. 5 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms. Limestone/Slate and Pecan floors, 5 Limestone fireplaces. Formal office, Wine cel-lar, Exercise room, Entertainment Room, 8-12 car garage. Completed guesthouse.SUSAN FURSTMAN $13,500,000

EAST PALO ALTO…This spacious 3 bedroom, 2 bath home is built on a generous corner lot with a large, private backyard and inviting deck, this property makes a perfect setting for large events and entertainment. Conveniently located in close proximity to local shopping and interstate.MYRA CARDENAS $649,999

PORTOLA VALLEY… Remarkable level lot, private & secluded expansive lawns, park-like grounds. excellent usaeable acreage for horses. Poss. Tennis court and /or pool. Charming cottage home.www.mlslistings.infoNINO GAETANO $2,395,000

REDWOOD CITY… 3 Bed/2bath great room style living features an open kitchen with informal eating areas, a living area with brick fireplace and a grand sized formal dining area all opening to a backyard. Brazilian cherry floors, crown molding. Lux master suite.JAMI ARAMI $1,149,000

harvesting dreams...vol.xxvii,number87•wednesday,august2,2006vol. xxvii, number 87 • wednesday,...

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