1. Art and Diseño

Palo
Alto
Vol. XXXVI, Number 17 Q January 30, 2015
Doctors warn
of measles
dangers
Page 5
w w w. P a l o A l t o O n l i n e.c o m
Pulse 15
Transitions 16
Spectrum 18
Eating Out 27
Shop Talk 28
Movies 29
Puzzles 47
QArts Women’s photographs go ‘beyond the veil’
Page 24
QHome Sparing the air with gas-burning fireplaces
Page 30
QSports Stanford women have championship goals
Page 49
WOMEN & CANCER QUARTERLY TALK SERIES
Clinical Trials
The Stanford Women’s Cancer Center invites you to its quarterly series
featuring talks on women’s cancers. This talk will focus on clinical trials
and why they are important for patients. Join us to learn more about
clinical trials available at Stanford for gynecologic cancers.
PLEASE JOIN
Oliver Dorigo, MD, PhD
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015
6:30PM – 8:00PM
Stanford Health Library, Hoover Pavilion
211 Quarry Road, Suite 201 • Palo Alto, CA 94304
Division Chief of Gynecologic Oncology
Stanford Women’s Cancer Center
To RSVP, call 650.736.6555 or online at stanfordhealthcare.org/events.
This event is free and open to the public. Please register, seating is limited.
Page 2 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 3
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Page 4 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Upfront
Local news, information and analysis
Students to board: ‘It’s not Gunn’s fault’
Palo Alto students, parents demand swift
and bold change
by Elena Kadvany
S
cores of Gunn High School
students flooded the district’s usually sparsely filled
board room on Tuesday night to
speak out in defense of their school
in the wake of a classmate’s death
last weekend — and to demand immediate, bold changes that reach
beyond tackling academic stress.
One after another, the students
stepped up to the speaker’s podium in front of a standing-roomonly crowd to tell the board: This
is not the school’s fault.
“I know that many of you are
looking for someone to blame be-
cause this is a senseless tragedy
that nobody will ever be able to
fully understand,” Gunn sophomore Chloe Sorensen said. “But we
all need to take a step back: Gunn
High School is not the only thing in
these kids’ lives. They have issues
with friends. They have issues with
family. A lot of them struggle with
depression, and even when they
seek help, it isn’t always enough.
“As a kid who walks through
those halls every day and inter-
acts with these kids face to face,
I feel like I have the right to say
that you are not seeing the whole
picture. There is so much you
cannot see from the outside: I
have had teachers call me, email
me, pull me aside, hug me and cry
with me. Gunn High School is a
community, and it’s a community
that I am proud to be a part of.”
“Many accusations have been
pointed against our administration
and counselors, students and the
environment as a whole,” Gunn
senior class president Mack Radin
said, adding that he was speaking
for his class. “It needs to stop.”
Though they acknowledged the
very present stressors in their lives
at Gunn, students urged their parents, teachers, administrators and
board members to stop pointing
fingers at counseling services, AP
courses, homework load and the
(continued on page 9)
HEALTH
Some schools lag in
measles immunizations
But Palo Alto district disputes the state’s records
by Sue Dremann
D
Veronica Weber
Sumi Lim and Vegard Strand Lende, left, who work for Fuse, a Norwegian mobile-app
development company, and Arne Tonning, a partner with Alliance Venture based in Norway, work
at the Nordic Innovation House on Jan. 22.
BUSINESS
Creating a community for Nordic startups
Innovation House leverages Silicon Valley’s tech community,
expertise to offer business guidance
by My Nguyen
N
ordic Innovation House
started out as a Norwegian initiative in October 2011, with an office in
San Francisco to help startups
develop and scale their ideas.
But after realizing that its growing list of tenants needed to be
closer to Silicon Valley, the Innovation House opened a post in
downtown Palo Alto. Since last
September, that post at 470 Ramona St. has been a co-working
space, incubator, resource center and networking hub not only
for Norwegian startups but also
up-and-coming entrepreneurs
in and from Sweden, Iceland,
Denmark and Finland.
“This is a collaboration between all the Nordic countries,”
said Yvonne Ericsson, Nordic
Innovation House’s community
manager. “To have a hub where
we can work together, where all
the Nordic startups can meet,
everyone will benefit from that.”
The Innovation House is cofunded by Nordic Innovation,
a Nordic institution working
to promote cross-border trade
and innovation, and a coalition between Nordic countries’
government agencies, including
Innovation Norway, VINNOVA-Sweden, Innovation Center
Iceland, Innovation Center Denmark and Team Finland/Finpro.
Prior to last September, the Innovation House had 53 companies under its belt — a majority
from Norway — but since then
the organization has opened its
doors to 33 new companies, including startups and the biggest
Nordic venture-capitalist firms,
Ericsson said.
“We say that we are a collaboration, but we are a resourcing
center, we are a networking hub,
we are a soft-landing space,” she
said. “So, we are kind of taking
care of all the Nordic people.”
By expanding its offerings to
all Nordic countries, the Inno(continued on page 12)
espite cases of the measles
now showing up in Santa
Clara County, some Palo
Alto schools still have up to 12 percent of elementary school students
who are not properly immunized,
according to data from the California Department of Public Health.
Five Palo Alto Unified School
District elementary schools range
from 88 to 93 percent immunized
students; two private Palo Alto
elementary schools fall below
94 percent. For a population to
be adequately protected from
measles, researchers generally
think up to 94 percent of people
must be immune either by prior
infection or by vaccination. Some
studies, however, assert that rate
could be as low as 83 percent.
Measles is a highly contagious
respiratory disease that is caused
by a virus. California has recently
seen 79 confirmed measles cases
as of Wednesday, Jan. 28. Two
cases each were in Santa Clara
and San Mateo counties. An outbreak at Disneyland accounted for
52 cases, according to the department of public health.
Palo Alto schools in general
have a high rate of students whose
measles vaccinations are up to
date. Duveneck Elementary’s students are all vaccinated, and 99
percent of Nixon’s are.
But 12 percent of Addison students are not adequately vaccinated; 9 percent of Walter Hays,
Ohlone and Juana Briones students are lacking immunization,
as are 7 percent at El Carmelo.
The private Challenger School
has a 13 percent unvaccinated rate,
and St. Elizabeth Seton’s is 10 percent, according to the state data.
But school district spokesperson
Tabitha Kappeler-Hurley questioned
the state’s figures. Children whose
families traveled during the summer
might not have gotten a needed vaccine just before school, she said, but
they were immunized later and that
fact was not capture in the publichealth department’s numbers.
The district’s figures for measles
under-immunization show Addison
at 5.1 percent, Juana Briones at 3.5
percent, Ohlone at 7 percent and
Walter Hays at 3.2 percent.
Challenger School officials did
not return requests for comment
on why the numbers of unvaccinated students are high.
In East Palo Alto, all public elementary schools are within the
96- to 100-percent immunization
range, according to the state data.
A Kaiser Permanente study
published Jan. 18 in the journal
Pediatrics found that race, ethnicity and neighborhood income
were not dominant factors where
clusters of low immunization
were found. But there were lower
vaccination rates in families with
more graduate degrees. The study
did not analyze the reasons.
Dr. Ross DeHovitz, an immunization expert at Palo Alto
Medical Foundation, said that resistance to immunizing has come
in waves, with the most recent
wave occurring after the 1998
Wakefield study linked autism to
the measles vaccine. That study
has since been debunked, and
the medical journal The Lancet
retracted the research. But hesitancy is still pervasive, he said.
Some parents do receive exemptions based on personal, faith or for
medical reasons, Kappeler-Hurley
(continued on page 13)
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 5
Upfront
450 Cambridge Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306
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Staff Writers Sue Dremann (223-6518), Elena
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Staff Photographer Veronica Weber (223-6520)
Contributors Andrew Preimesberger, Dale F.
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Page 6 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
We are like brothers and sisters
when we come together here.
—Yvonne Ericsson, of Nordic Innovation House,
on the tech incubator for Norwegian, Swedish,
Icelandic, Finnish and Danish entrepreneurs. See
story on page 5.
Around Town
CYBER-SUMMIT ... Stanford
University will host the Summit
on Cybersecurity and Consumer
Protection on Feb. 13, according
to the White House. Responding
to what it calls “growing threats
to consumers and commercial
networks,” the summit will bring
together major stakeholders to
discuss such topics as increasing
public-private partnerships and
cybersecurity-information sharing,
developing secure payment technologies and promoting improved
cybersecurity policies, according
to the White House statement.
Senior White House and federal
government leaders, as well as
executives from technology and
communications, computer security, financial services and retail
industries will attend, along with
consumer advocates, experts
and students. The summit is connected to the Stanford Cyber Initiative. Launched last November,
the initiative aims to draw on the
university’s “experience with multidisciplinary, university-wide initiatives to focus on the core themes
of trustworthiness, governance
and the emergence of unexpected
impacts of technological change
over time,” according to Stanford
News.
CHIEF OF PLAYTIME ... The City
of Palo Alto didn’t have to look
long or far to find a new leader
for its busy Community Services
Department. Rob de Geus — a
15-year department veteran and
a familiar presence to residents
who play golf, visit Lucie Stern
Community Center, partake in
the city’s recreation classes and
attend Parks and Recreation
Commission meetings — was
tapped this week to take the
department’s helm. De Geus has
spent the past few weeks as acting director of the department,
following the retirement of Greg
Betts last month. On Thursday,
City Manager James Keene announced that the Melbourne,
Australla, native will take charge
on a permanent basis, pending
the City Council’s approval on
Feb. 9. Keene said in a statement that the appointment was
made after a “national search”
and “extensive input” from the
community, including a panel that
included parks commissioners,
neighborhood leaders and other
department heads. “He is wellrespected and valued in our com-
munity and will continue to build
on the strong relationships and
programs that he has developed
since he joined Palo Alto,” Keene
said in a statement. De Geus,
who served as a division head in
the department before becoming
assistant director and ultimately
acting director, called Palo Alto
an “exceptional city” and said in
a statement, it’s an “honor and
privilege to service the residents
and the community. ... I look
forward to working with citizens
and staff on a wide variety of programs, services and park projects
to continue improving the quality
of life in Palo Alto.”
ALL THAT NOISE ... Whether it’s
planes, trains or automobiles, Palo
Altans are getting more and more
antsy about the increasing activity
around and above them. While car
traffic has been hogging most of
the attention in the past two years,
with a wide range of city parking
and transit initiatives now in the
works, the City Council plans to
consider in the next few weeks
the other two modes of transportation. On Feb. 9, the council will
look at the prospect of establishing a “quiet zone” in downtown
Palo Alto, next to the busy Caltrain station and the city’s main
transit center. The zone would
prohibit the routine sounding of
train horns, though conductors
would still be allowed to sound the
horn to comply with federal rules
or respond to emergency situations. The request for a quiet zone
was made by a group of downtown residents who presented the
council last October with a petition that had more than 120 signatures. While the city is exploring
their proposal, attorneys warn in
a new report that a quiet zone
may require the city to purchase
insurance and could lead to an
increase in litigation costs to “defend against novel theories of liability advanced by persons injured
in the quiet zones.” A trickier task
would be curtailing airplane noise,
an issue that is overseen primarily
by the federal government and in
which the city normally has very
little say. On Feb. 10, the council’s
Policy and Services Committee
will launch its discussion of overhead noise and consider proposals to work with neighboring cities,
county officials, regional agencies
and federal lobbyists to address
the issue. Q
Upfront
annual survey, said in a statement
the city released more surveys
this year than in the past (3,000
compared to 1,200) and received
responses from almost 800 people (a 27 percent response rate).
Though the survey has been conducted for 12 years, the neighborhood breakdown is a new part of
the analysis.
“This year we were able to distribute and tabulate the survey
results on a more specific geographic and neighborhood level,
providing insights into how different areas of the city view community life,” Richardson said in a
statement.
In some cases, the differences
between how northern and southern Palo Altans view the city are
jarring. The former, for instance,
tend to think higher of Palo Alto
as a place to retire than the latter.
In the area that includes Downtown North, University South,
Professorville and Old Palo Alto,
75 percent of the respondents
gave the city “good” or “excellent” marks for retirement. The
figure plummeted to 56 percent
in the area around Midtown and
St. Claire Gardens and to 44 percent around Ventura, Charleston
Meadows and Barron Park. Overall, 68 percent of the respondents
in north Palo Alto neighborhoods
gave the city the top two marks in
this area, compared to 54 percent
in the south.
CITY SERVICES
Survey: Palo Altans love their
neighborhoods but not development
Results also suggest Crescent Park is grumpier
about local government than College Terrace
by Gennady Sheyner
no variation between the northern
and southern parts of the city.
In other good news for the city,
93 percent gave Palo Alto the
thumbs up as a “place to raise children” and 86 percent gave it high
marks as “a place to work.” An
overwhelming majority in every
section of the city also feels safe
at night and has great things to
say about the “overall appearance
of Palo Alto.” People love their
neighborhoods (93 percent) and
they sort of like their neighbors
(64 percent lauded the “neighborliness” of local residents). And in
the areas of shopping opportunities, affordable quality health
care and availability of preventive
health services, the city did well
above other benchmark cities and
saw an improvement of about 10
percent over its 2013 numbers.
Everything, in short, is peachy,
as long as you don’t mention development or transportation. Because if you do, things go downhill really fast.
While the survey breaks down
responses by neighborhoods, results suggest that land use, planning and zoning remain thorny
subjects in just about every part
of the city. Only 43 percent of
the respondents ranked the city
as “excellent” or “good” in this
area. The proportion is, however,
an improvement over 2013, when
the number was 36 percent. Similarly, while only 51 percent of the
respondents in 2014 gave the city
the top two ratings on “overall
quality of new development,” this
is higher than in 2013, when only
44 percent did so.
Though Barron Park tends to
be more critical of the city’s land
use policies than College Terrace,
land-use rage is a citywide issue.
In the northern neighborhoods, 46
percent gave the city high marks
for land use, while in the southern
neighborhoods the figure was 42
percent.
City Auditor Harriet Richardson, whose office coordinates the
DEVELOPMENT
Skeptical Palo Alto council not sold
on Page Mill plan
Officials call for additional analysis before ruling on zoning exceptions
by Gennady Sheyner
A
plan to replace four homes
on a busy stretch of Page
Mill Road with a threestory building featuring apartments, office space and retail ran
into a wall of skepticism Monday
night when Palo Alto officials
declined to grant the developer
the requested zoning exceptions
and demanded a fresh financial
analysis of the project.
The development at 441 Page
Mill Road is one of several
mixed-use projects that have recently been approved in the busy
and often congested area around
Page Mill Road and El Camino
Real.
This one, however, relied heavily on a state law that automatically grants developers zoning
concessions if they provide affordable-housing units. As such,
it was a test case for the Palo Alto
council, which last year adopted a
local version of the density-bonus
ordinance.
Designed by Stoecker and
Northway Architects, 441 Page
Mill would include 10 apartments,
three of which would be sold below market rate. In exchange for
providing these three units, property owner Norm Schwab wants
the allowance to build more
densely — 21,540 square feet of
office space at the site, double
what would normally be allowed
under the zoning code.
He is also seeking to cover
18,520 square feet of the property, more than 5,000 square feet
beyond what would normally
be allowed, and to increase the
project’s overall density: 35,521
square feet instead of 26,926
square feet.
It would replace four existing
homes on a largely commercial
block that includes Kelly-Moore
Paints, the AT&T retail store and
an animal hospital.
The council on Monday was
ambivalent toward the project,
mirroring the public’s reception of
the development to date. Though
members generally liked the design, they had a problem with
its size and density. The council
unanimously agreed to commission another analysis before approving what they characterized
as a precedent-setting development.
The main questions revolved
around the value of the zoning
concessions. In seeking concessions under the state’s density-
bonus law, the applicant was
required to demonstrate that the
extra density is needed to support
the creation of affordable housing.
The city’s economic consultants, Keyser Marston Associates, confirmed that this is indeed
the case: Cost of constructing the
new units ($1.85 million) would
be greater than the benefit that
the developer would get from the
increased density ($1.28 million).
But with commercial real estate
booming in Palo Alto, the council
wasn’t sold on this analysis. Councilman Eric Filseth led the charge
and asserted that the figures in the
Keyser Marston report don’t account for the type of double-digit
growth Palo Alto has been experiencing in the past decade.
He noted that real estate rent in
downtown Palo Alto has been going up by 11 percent annually, and
his own numbers suggest that the
project would generate far more
revenue than the consultant had
indicated.
Filseth said the Keyser Marston
approach uses “simplified models” and “shortcuts for a really
discounted cash-flow analysis.”
The simplified model, he said,
doesn’t work in the high-growth
(continued on page 8)
Courtesy Stoecker and Northway Architects
P
alo Altans generally feel
rosy about their hometown, but attitudes tend to
sour when the conversation shifts
to housing, land use and the quality of new developments.
And things get particularly testy when you mention these subjects to someone in Barron Park
or Crescent Park, according to a
newly released survey.
The National Citizens Survey,
an annual poll conducted by the
National Research Center and
the International City/County
Management Association, asked
residents throughout the city a
range of questions about Palo
Alto, touching on everything from
parking and safety to land use
and street conditions. Much like
its predecessors, the 12th annual
survey showed more than 90 percent of the respondents grading
the overall quality of life in Palo
Alto as “excellent” or “good” (the
two highest rankings). The figure
stood at 91 percent, with virtually
That’s not to say that the north
doesn’t have its own problems.
While insufficient parking is a
citywide phenomenon, the survey
suggests that subject gets sorer
in the north, where only 32 percent gave the city high ratings for
“ease of public parking,” than in
the south, where the figure was 42
percent (citywide, the number was
38 percent). Northern responders
also were less generous to the
city when asked about “ease of
travel by car,” with only 45 percent giving the city good grades
in this category. In the southern
neighborhoods, the number was
56 percent.
Transit options also didn’t score
well, though there was significant
variation among different parts
of the city. Only 36 percent of the
respondents citywide rated “ease
of travel by public transportation”
in Palo Alto as good or excellent, though the judgment was far
harsher in the eastern sections of
the city. In the area that includes
Crescent Park and Duveneck/
St. Francis, only 22 percent gave
public transportation high marks.
Just south of these neighborhoods, in Midtown, the number
was 24 percent. By contrast, 43
percent of the respondents in the
area that includes the south Palo
Alto neighborhoods of Charleston
Gardens, Fairmeadow, Palo Verde
The Palo Alto City Council is requiring additional study before
ruling on zoning exceptions that would allow the developer of 441
Page Mill Road to double the planned office space in exchange for
providing three below-market-rate housing units.
potential of loading expensive
climate of Palo Alto, he argued.
“These numbers are the basis things to the building and spreadfor deciding whether the city is ing that over the BMRs (belowlegally entitled to grant conces- market-rate units),” DuBois said.
sions. The current model gives the “Because at that point you will be
wrong answer, and we can’t use able to justify whatever density
it to make that judgment,” Filseth you want.”
After Filseth proposed comsaid.
Councilman Tom DuBois, who missioning a fresh analysis that
like Filseth is affiliated with the considers local growth trends,
slow-growth group Palo Altans DuBois and other council memfor Sensible Zoning, levied his bers began tacking on their own
own criticisms at the consultant’s conditions to the motion. The long
discussion ultimately netted a
methodology.
DuBois zoomed in on construc- laundry list of conditions, includtion costs and argued that the re- ing a direction to staff to conduct
port placed too much burden on additional traffic analysis and a
the affordable-housing units in requirement that the building’s
justifying the project’s overall occupants use its garage.
The council’s caution was fucosts. The methodology, he said,
could prompt a developer to in- eled by the fact that this was the
flate his construction costs by in- city’s first test of the density-bonus
stalling amenities such as marble ordinance and council members
entryways and golden urinals — stressed the need to “get it right.”
“We all agree that affordable
all for the sole purpose of justifying the density concessions he is housing is a good thing and is desperately needed in Palo Alto, but
seeking.
“I’d like this to find a method when setting precedent we need
that shields the city from individual construction costs and the
(continued on page 8)
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 7
Palo Upfront
Alto Weekly
Survey
(continued from page 7)
and Greenmeadow were satisfied
with local public-transportation
services, as were 43 percent of
the respondents in and around
Downtown North, which includes
the city’s busy transit center. Not
surprisingly, when the survey
asked about one change that Palo
Alto can make that would make
residents happy, the top three answers citywide pertained to (in order) transportation, development
and housing.
Neighborhoods also offered
starkly different opinions about
their faith in the Palo Alto government, with the leafy northeastern
enclaves near U.S. Highway 101
being a particularly tough crowd.
In the area that includes Crescent
Park, Community Center, Duveneck/St. Francis, Embarcadero
Oaks, Leland Manor and Garland, only 39 percent of the residents said “very” or “somewhat”
when asked about the “honesty”
of local government. Just 35
percent gave high marks when
asked for “overall confidence in
Palo Alto government” and 37
percent did so when asked about
“overall direction that the city is
taking” (though the City Council
shouldn’t take this too personally;
the federal government fared even
worse in this part of the city, with
only 29 percent of the respondents
in this area giving Washington,
D.C., positive ratings).
Things look much sunnier in
the western neighborhoods of Evergreen Park and College Terrace.
In the area that includes these
neighborhoods, along with Southgate and Palo Alto Hills, 72 percent gave local government high
marks for honesty; 64 percent
expressed “overall confidence in
city government”; and 61 percent
praised the “overall direction the
city is taking” (citywide, the per-
centage is 58 percent, 52 percent
and 50 percent, respectively).
When it comes to feeling welcomed by the local government,
opinions were also all over the
map. Though 54 percent of the
respondents citywide gave city
government high grades for “welcoming citizen involvement,” the
proportion who felt that way in
the area that includes Barron Park
and Green Acres was 38 percent.
By contrast, in the section of the
city that includes College Terrace
and Evergreen Park the share was
71 percent.
In releasing the results, city officials lauded the fact that Palo
PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL
CIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUE
BROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1
CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT
ACCESS CHANNEL 26
*****************************************
THIS IS A SUMMARY OF COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS.
THE AGENDA WITH COMPLETE TITLES INCLUDING LEGAL
DOCUMENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT THE BELOW WEBPAGE:
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/agendas/default.asp
REVISED - AGENDA–REGULAR MEETING –
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
February 2, 2015 6:00 PM
Call to Order
1. Community Partner Presentation: West Bay Opera at the Lucie Stern
Community Theatre
Study Session
2. Potential List of Topics for Joint Meeting with the City Council and
Library Advisory Commission
Consent Calendar
3. Approval of Stanford University Medical Center Annual Report and
Compliance with the Development Agreement
4. SECOND READING: Adoption of an Ordinance Amending Chapter
9.14 (Smoking and Tobacco Regulations) of the Palo Alto Municipal
Code to Establish New Smoking Restrictions for Outdoor Commercial Areas, Outdoor Eating Areas, Public Events, Work Sites and Ser]PJL3VJH[PVUZ"0UJS\KL7LUHS[`,ZJHSH[PVUMVY9LWLH[6ɈLUKLYZ"9Lquire Cigarette Butt Receptacles and Signage Immediately Adjacent
and Within Areas Covered by the Ban, Including Designated Smoking
Areas (First Reading: December 15, 2014 PASSED: 9-0)
5. Appeal of Director of Planning and Community Environment’s Individual Review Approval of a New Two-Story Home located at 3864
Corina Way
7HSV (S[V :O\[[SL HUK 9PKLZOHYL 7YVNYHT MVY [OL -\[\YL :[HɈ 9Lquests Item be Continued to the Study Session of March 2, 2015)
7. Adoption of a Resolution Declaring Weeds to be a Public Nuisance
and Setting March 2, 2015 for a Public Hearing for Objections to Proposed Weed Abatement
8. SECOND READING: Adoption of an Ordinance Governing Public Art
in Municipal Projects (First Reading: January 12, 2015, PASSED: 9-0)
(WWYV]HSVM:[HɈ>VYR7SHU+L]LSVWLKPU9LZWVUZL[V[OL+LJLTILY
15, 2014 City Council Colleagues Memo on Climate Action Plan Implementation Strategies to Reduce Use of Natural Gas and Gasoline
through Fuel Switching to Carbon Free Electricity
Action Items
10. Council Update Regarding City’s Technology and the Connected City
Initiative, Including the Status of the City’s Participation in the Google
Fiber City Checklist Process; and Approval of and Authorization for
the City Manager to Execute Two Professional Services Contracts
with Columbia Telecommunications dba CTC Technology & Energy
for Consulting Services for (1) a Fiber-to-the-Premise Master Plan in
an Amount Not-to-Exceed $144,944 and (2) a Complementary Wireless Network Plan in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $131,650; and Adoption of a Related Budget Amendment Ordinance in the Fiber Optics
Fund in the Amount of $276,594
11. Adoption of a Resolution Scheduling the City Council Vacation and
Winter Closure for 2015
STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The Finance Committee will meet on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 7:00
P.M. to discuss: 1) Approval of a New Residential Curbside Collection and
Composting Program, Commencing FY 2016 and Approval of Ongoing
:[HɈ,ɈVY[Z[V3H[LY7YLZLU[[V*V\UJPSMVYP[Z(WWYV]HSVY(KVW[PVU!
Amendment No. Two to Greenwaste of Palo Alto Agreement, Extending
the Term Until June30, 2021, (2) Ordinance Requiring Commercial Cus[VTLYZ [V ;HRL *VTTLYJPHS 6YNHUPJZ :LY]PJL HUK <UKLY[HRL ,ɈVY[Z [V
Reduce Garbage Contamination, and (3) New Refuse Rate Structure, Including an Increase in Residential Customers Rates Over a Three-year
Period; and 2) Adoption of a Resolution Amending Water, Gas and Wastewater Connection and Capacity Fees and Miscellaneous Utility Charges
(Utility Rate Schedules W-5, G-5, S-5 and C-1)
Page 8 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
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Alto continued to rank high above
other jurisdictions in the broad
categories pertaining to neighborhoods and the overall quality of
life. City Manager James Keene
said in a statement that the Palo
Alto community “continues to
rate Palo Alto as a top place to
live, work and raise a family.”
“We experience and enjoy a
high quality of life in Palo Alto,
and the survey results reinforce
this sentiment across the neighborhoods of our community,”
Keene said.
In addition to the neighborhood breakdown and the usual
broad questions about things like
schools and parks, the new survey
also asked a few “custom” questions pertaining to controversial
housing, transportation and parking. Of the various options presented, respondents chose east of
Highway 101 near the Baylands
as the best option for new multifamily housing, with 69 percent
favoring it, followed by San Antonio Avenue (68 percent).
The survey also showed 93
percent supporting more bicycle/
pedestrian improvements and 84
percent supporting more shuttle
services. Road widening and
grade separation along the rail
corridor also proved popular, with
75 percent and 74 percent support,
respectively. Q
Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner
can be emailed at gsheyner@
paweekly.com.
Page Mill plan
(continued from page 7)
to be diligent to make sure we’re
making an appropriate analysis
for our community,” Councilman
Marc Berman said.
Berman lauded the “quality of the
project” but called the building too
big. He criticized the state law for its
unintended consequences and said
he was “uncomfortable with the fact
that we lost all local control based
on a state density-bonus law.”
The proposal was further
complicated by the applicant’s
decision not to rely on the local
density-bonus ordinance that the
city passed last year. Intended as a
companion piece to the state law,
the Palo Alto ordinance created
a menu of concessions that a developer can automatically receive
for providing affordable housing
(these include things such as extra
height and parking exemptions).
Because the developer went
“off menu” in requesting concessions, he was required by the local
ordinance to submit an economic
analysis justifying its requests.
The Page Mill project is also
seeking parking exemptions that
would allow it to provide 91 parking spaces — 19 fewer than the
city’s code would otherwise require. This, however, wasn’t as big
a stumbling block as the sheer size
of the proposed building.
“I’m probably more open to
being persuaded that the parking
could be adequately addressed on
the site if it weren’t for such a huge
office bonus that’s going on here,”
Councilman Patrick Burt said. Q
Upfront
DEVELOPMENT
AAA site to become 13 housing units
Residents raise concerns about height, scale of proposed buildings
by Sam Sciolla
proposal to redevelop a
0.52-acre lot at 430 Forest
Ave. in downtown Palo
Alto would replace the current
AAA office building with 13
homes.
The property, purchased in
March 2013 by developer Prabhas
Kejriwal and a partner, is already
zoned for high-density housing (RM-40), and the proposed
buildings designed by Palo Alto
architect David Solnick would
need no exceptions for that zoning. However, some neighbors of
the project have raised concerns
about the consequences of a denser building.
The development, modern in
A
design, would include two buildings: A three-story building in
front would have five two-bedroom residences on the first two
floors and a penthouse on the
third floor; and a duplex in back
would consist of two-story homes
with attached garages. Parking for
the other residences would be located below grade.
Kejriwal has previously developed a few single-family projects
in Palo Alto, as well as a multifamily project in Mountain View
in 2007. An electrical engineer,
Kerjiwal pushed to incorporate
sustainable design elements in
the Forest Avenue development,
aiming to make the buildings
“net zero” for energy usage and
qualify for a LEED Platinum designation.
The project appeared for its initial review before the city’s Architectural Review Board (ARB) on
Nov. 6 last year. Solnick, a former
board member, gave the presentation.
“I’ve always been a strong proponent of dense downtowns,” Solnick said.
But neighbors directly behind
the project on Homer Avenue are
not so sure about that concept.
They voiced concerns about how
the taller building just beyond
their fence would affect the light,
privacy and quality of living they
Gunn
I am doing none of those things.”
She said that even if the most
recent student death was unrelated to academic stress, easing students’ lives at school and home by
rightsizing homework and overall
course loads — two of Save the
2,008’s six proposals — would
make a difference.
“It’s time we change something,” she said.
Students offered numerous ideas
for programs and changes to implement, from a peer-mentoring
program that links two Gunn students together for their entire time
at the school to offering a “happiness” class that teaches students
about dealing with stress and about
general well-being and health,
both physical and emotional. Others asked for student forums and
more opportunities for parents and
schools to hear the student voice.
One student suggested the creation of a smartphone app that
connects students anonymously
with someone — a friend, a mental health professional, whomever — to simply listen when they
might be having a bad day and
when it might seem like too much
“hassle” to see a school counselor.
Senior Danny Golovinsky, president of student group Reach Out
Care Know (ROCK), said he suggested in meetings with administrators following two student suicides
toward the end of last year that they
implement a “check-in system” with
Adolescent Counseling Services to
reduce the stigma around seeking
mental health support.
“I propose that every single student at Gunn High School is required to speak with Adolescent
Counseling Services once per
year, in addition to checking in
with the guidance department. I
believe this will allow students to
seek help without having to worry
about what their peers think because everyone will be checking
in with Adolescent Counseling
Services,” Golovinsky said.
Cole McFaul, Gunn’s junior
class president, said that he circulated a petition in December that
asked for support for lowering
stress at Gunn; he got 384 signatures “within days.” Students also
offered their ideas to get this done,
the top two being implementing
a block schedule at Gunn and offering the option to retake tests
that they do poorly on. In a block
schedule, classes are offered on
alternating days, with each class
meeting for a longer period of time.
Many parents also urged the
board to switch Gunn over to
a block schedule, which Paly
did several years ago, to slow
down the pace of their children’s
schoolwork and for the district’s
homework policy to be implemented at every school.
“I’m urging you to take care of
the simple things you can do,” Juana
Briones Elementary School teacher
Tom Culbertson told the board. “I
urge you to be brave, do the simple
things first and act quickly.”
Most of the more than 30 speakers Tuesday night spoke during
the open forum period, meaning
the board members could not respond at length, though they did
so in a later agenda item dedicated
to a discussion of the district’s student wellness and health services.
Board member Ken Dauber
repeated a sentiment previously
expressed by Vincenti of Save the
2,008: Gunn and Paly should not
only have wellness centers, but
they themselves should be centers
of wellness.
“It’s true that the connections
between stress and depression
and suicide and mental illness
are complicated and vexing and,
particularly, individual cases are
difficult to discern. But the value
of having schools that are healthy
and where students thrive isn’t
just because they may or may not
prevent suicides, it’s also because
that’s good for kids,” Dauber said.
“We don’t have to get too bound
up with the question about whether any particular change is going
(continued from page 5)
pressure to get into a top college.
“As a Titan and as a Palo Altan, I feel the urge to defend my
administration, to defend the parents of my friends, to defend my
friends from these criticisms,” one
junior said. “I feel that getting into
college is one of the main causes
that we’ve been discussing here today, and I feel that it’s not a Gunn
issue. This is a national issue.”
Many students also emphasized
that crucial to any sort of a response is understanding the difference between stress and depression.
Students repeatedly defended
Gunn’s rigorous academic culture
and opposed some parents’ proposals to limit the number of AP
courses students can take.
“That’s how I, at least, got to
express my passion, by taking the
classes I love,” said senior Rose
Weinmann, who serves as the
school board’s Gunn student representative. “I think students, they
love their AP classes. They’re the
best classes we have.”
“Stress at Gunn is not the problem,” Radin said. “It is a problem
and it’s something to work on, but
it’s not the problem.”
The parents of a Gunn senior
Harry Lee, who died by suicide on
Jan. 24, released a statement Tuesday, writing, “Our son struggled
with depression, and he made it
clear that the cause was not due to
academic pressure at Gunn.”
Gunn sophomore Martha
Cabot, who along with former
Gunn English teacher Marc Vincenti has launched a grassroots
campaign called Save the 2,008
that aims to create a happier, more
balanced life for Gunn’s 2,008
students and teachers, took to the
podium to demand action.
“I want to feel comfortable
at school. I want to be happy at
school, and I want to enjoy what I
am learning,” she said. “Right now,
thought they were getting when
they purchased their properties.
Resident Mike Egbert told the
board that the project would not
only diminish the amount of natural light coming into his residence
but that occupants of the proposed
duplex could look down onto him
from their balcony.
“The concept of density is a
great idea if you’re a developer,
but I’d continue to hate to see
downtown Palo Alto turn into an
anthill, with people on top of each
other,” Egbert said.
Members of the Architectural
Review Board responded to these
concerns, with then-board member Clare Malone Pritchard asking Solnick if the balcony could
be reconfigured. She also suggested Solnick prepare visual examples of what the development
would look like from the neighbors’ property.
With the exception of member
Robert Gooyer, who disliked the
project’s layout and design, most
board members favored the project and thought it compatible with
the surrounding area.
On Jan. 22, the project also appeared before the city’s Public
Art Commission, which discussed
possible sculptures for the site that
would satisfy the city’s “percent
for art” requirement. Currently,
the development team is looking
at working with stone sculptor
Yoshikawa to create a piece either
for the front of the building or for
a public seating area.
Kejriwal told the Weekly that he
hopes the formal review before the
architecture board will take place
in April, and if all goes as planned,
construction will start mid-year.
Yvonne Jernigan, branch manager at the Palo Alto AAA office,
declined to comment about the
development or when or where
the AAA operation there might
be moving. Q
Editorial Assistant Sam Sciolla can be emailed at ssciolla@
paweekly.com.
YOUTH
Family: Student had
suffered from depression
Academic pressure not a factor in Gunn senior’s
death, parents say
T
he parents of Harry Lee, the Palo Alto student who died by
suicide on Jan. 24, released a statement regarding his death
on Tuesday. Lee had attended Gunn High School and was
in his senior year.
“This has been a really hard time for us. Our son struggled with
depression, and he made it clear that the cause was not due to academic pressure at Gunn,” the Lees stated in an email.
“We’re deeply saddened, and while we appreciate the various
outreach and messages we’ve received, we’d like some time to
mourn within our family and ask that the community please wait
until after the services on Sunday to contact us.”
Services for Lee are set for Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. at Spangler Mortuary
in Los Altos, 399 S. San Antonio Road. All are welcome to attend. Q
Any person who is feeling depressed, troubled or suicidal is
urged to call 800-784-2433 to speak with a crisis counselor. People in Santa Clara County can also call 855-278-4204.
— Jocelyn Dong
to prevent more tragedies if those
changes are going to produce a
better life for kids at school.”
Dauber also urged Superintendent
Max McGee to look beyond the district’s walls to draw more broadly
on resources and best practices.
McGee laid out at the beginning
of the meeting efforts the district is
undertaking, including more education on the dangers of sleep deprivation, a “more formal approval
process for students who want to
take more challenging workloads,”
and making sure that a districtwide homework policy, whose
impact and roll-out is reportedly
uneven, is fully implemented at
schools. He also said the district
will explore bell scheduling and is
in the midst of analyzing consistency in K-12 curriculum, assessment and homework practices.
“I know there is an urge to blame.
I know there is an urge to jump to
solutions. We all want to solve this
problem now, but it will require
multifaceted solutions,” he said.
Board President Melissa Baten
Caswell said that the board will
best serve the students and community by “picking a few things
and doing them high impact.”
The district is also planning a
community meeting in the next
week or two — an “invitation to
the whole community — students,
parents, taxpayers, city officials
and of course educators as well —
to come together to work on identifying the problem and developing some solutions,” McGee said.
The students — usually a rare
presence at board meetings —
said they wanted more opportunities to speak and to be heard.
“Above all, I respect this Board
of Education,” one student said,
“but I must urge you to listen to
the students, to talk to the students,
to hear what they have to say.” Q
Staff Writer Elena Kadvany
can be emailed at ekadvany@
paweekly.com.
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 9
RAIN OR SHINE.
KEEP SAVING WATER.
Despite above normal rainfall in December,
we need many more storms to help with the drought.
The
e recent rains are only a drop in the bucket.
Upfront
News Digest
Palo Alto’s transportation chief resigns
Jaime Rodriguez, Palo Alto’s chief transportation officer and the
architect of the city’s aggressive plan to build a wide network of bike
boulevards, has resigned after nearly five years at City Hall.
Rodriguez, well known for a fast-talking, hard-charging style, a penchant for obtaining grant funds and a willingness to experiment with
at-times controversial road configurations and transportation technologies, will step down on Feb. 6, he told the Weekly. He began serving in
his current position in July 2010, after five years in Milpitas.
Rodriguez was the driving force behind the recent effort by the
city to significantly expand its network of bike boulevards and make
safety improvements near local schools. He spearheaded in 2012 the
creation of Palo Alto’s bicycle and pedestrian master plan, an effort
that has spawned 24 different bicycle projects.
Last week, the council approved the conceptual plan for the first
two of these projects, a bike boulevard involving Maybell Avenue and
bike improvements on Churchill Avenue, near Palo Alto High School.
Rodriguez was also instrumental in improving crosswalks at El
Camino Real and Stanford Avenue; obtaining grant funds for the
ongoing reconstruction of California Avenue; and getting $9.5 million for a new bike bridge over U.S. Highway 101. His innovations
also included bike corrals and “sharrow” markings on local streets.
City Manager James Keene said the city will try to retain Rodriguez
as a consultant while it’s completing its traffic-signalization update. Q
— Gennady Sheyner
School board forwards increased parcel tax
Make water conservation a daily way of life.
For water-saving tips, visit save20gallons.org
The Palo Alto school board unanimously approved just after midnight on Wednesday placing a $758, six-year parcel tax on a May
mail-in ballot.
The renewed tax — which comes with a $120 hike from the current rate of $638, includes annual 2 percent increases and allows for
senior exemptions — would generate an estimated $14.7 million to
pay for district investments in student health and wellness efforts,
academic support for struggling students and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) instruction.
The parcel tax would support family and student counseling services, physical wellness efforts, expanded nursing services at Palo
Alto elementary schools, an expansion of summer school, early literacy support, “expert” tutoring, after-school and weekend programming, smaller classes in STEAM electives, support for differentiated
instruction at the elementary and middle school level, advanced research in a range of disciplines and a computer-science curriculum
beginning in middle school.
Before the board’s vote, Superintendent Max McGee described
the $120 increase as imperative in light of a $10 million reduction in
general operating funds, loss in lease revenue (particularly a $1.86
million annual boost from the Cubberley Community Center lease)
and reserve levels that have already been tapped into and must be
maintained.
If approved, the new parcel tax will go into effect immediately and
replace the current tax, which is set to expire in June 2016. A special
mail-in election will be called for May 5. Q
— Elena Kadvany
County supes support mobile-home park
In a strong show of support for residents of Buena Vista Mobile
Home Park, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed on Tuesday to allocate $8 million for the mobilehome park’s preservation and directed county staff to reach out to
other potential partners in the nonprofit community with the purpose
of halting the park’s pending closure.
The 5-0 vote by the county board followed the recommendation
of board President Dave Cortese and Supervisor Joe Simitian, who
last week unveiled their proposal to use $8 million from a county
affordable-housing fund that is restricted to projects within six miles
of the Stanford University campus. The board also directed staff to
enter into discussions with Palo Alto officials, the Palo Alto Housing
Corporation, the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, Housing Trust
Silicon Valley and Buena Vista residents about “securing the longterm viability” of the Barron Park neighborhood community.
The board’s vote was prompted by the ongoing effort by the park’s
owner, the Jisser family, to close Buena Vista and redevelop the site
at 3980 El Camino Real. The closure process received a boost last
fall when an administrative judge concluded that the Jissers’ offer to
compensate Buena Vista residents for relocation is reasonable. The
Buena Vista Mobile Home Park Residents Association has appealed
this decision, and the City Council is scheduled to consider the appeal in April. Q
— Gennady Sheyner
LET’S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines and talk
about the issues at Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com
Page 10 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Upfront
Neighborhoods
A roundup of neighborhood news edited by Sue Dremann
Around
the block
ONE DOOR CLOSES ... Residents
who went to the College Terrace Library recently discovered
the neighborhood library is now
closed on Thursdays. Previously,
it was open on Thursdays from
noon until 6 p.m. The Thursday
hours were only temporary while
the Main Library (now known
as Rinconada) was closed for
renovations, a librarian said.
Downtown Library, which also
took up the slack during the main
library’s hiatus, is now closed on
Mondays. Rinconada reopens on
Feb. 14.
WITH GUNS DRAWN ... That’s
how some College Terrace residents described their encounter
with Palo Alto police during the
daylight hours of Jan. 11. Officers
were hunting for a suspected
burglar of a construction site on
the 1600 block of California Avenue at 3:20 p.m. Police ordered
strolling, inquiring residents to
leave the area. A K-9 unit dog
eventually found the suspect,
Alexander Mabutas Handang, 41.
The College Terrace Residents
Association said there have
been four such burglaries of construction sites at the Stanford
Research Park in recent months,
with three suspects arrested.
Stanford added a security officer
after residents, who spotted the
most recent burglar, made the
request. Association members
said they might ask the university
for additional security patrols. Q
Send announcements of
neighborhood events, meetings and news to Sue Dremann, Neighborhoods editor,
at [email protected].
Or talk about your neighborhood news on the discussion
forum Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com.
Courtesy Golden Gate Homes
JUANA RUN? RACE IS ON ... With
retired organizer Karen Saxena’s
guidance, the popular Juana Run?
race will continue under new
management. The race, which
includes a USATF-certified 8K
run, a 5K fun run, mile race and
races for kids, will take place on
Saturday, Feb. 28, from 8:30 a.m.
to noon. It is a fundraiser for Palo
Alto school and athletic organizations. A neon tech-fabric T-shirt is
given to all preregistered runners.
The race goes through the Barron
Park neighborhood. Registration is online at raceroster.com/
events/2015/4256/juana-run-2015.
Additional information is at juanarun.org.
Golden Gate Homes is proposing building 24 mostly two-story homes at the corner of Maybell and
Clemo avenues in the Barron Park neighborhood, the site of a former orchard.
GREEN ACRES/BARRON PARK
Another plan for Maybell
housing draws fire
Proposal for 24 homes at controversial site is too dense, some residents say
by Sue Dremann
T
he developer of 2.46 acres
on Maybell Avenue near
Arastradero Road may
be up against a considerable
battle with some Barron Park
and Green Acres I neighborhood residents, despite already
reducing the number of homes
to be constructed on the former
orchard.
Developer Golden Gate Homes
is proposing to build five singlefamily homes along Maybell;
three single-family houses on
Clemo Avenue; and 16 homes on
the interior along a new, L-shaped
street, including four “duet”
homes (two pairs of houses whose
garages are connected).
The units range from 1,550
square feet for the duets to 2,650
square feet for the houses along
Maybell, Ted O’Hanlon, project
manager, said. He added that
the plans at this stage are only
preliminary and are subject to
change.
The entire site, aside from
the single-family parcels along
Maybell, is zoned RM-15, or
multi-family residential. Almost
all of the homes would be two
stories.
The proposal would be submitted as a Village Residential
development, which under city
code allows for a mix of housing
types, including single family,
attached rowhouses and townhouses and cottage clusters that
can transition to moderate density districts. Densities range from
eight to 12 units per acre.
“By implementing the Village
Residential code, it allows the
project to be feasible with less
units and provides a transition
from the adjacent eight-story Tan
Plaza and the Arastradero Park
Apartment Complex to the rest
of the neighborhood,” O’Hanlon
said.
Heeding earlier concerns by
residents and members of the
slow-growth group Palo Altans
for Sensible Zoning, Golden Gate
Homes canceled a review of an
earlier 30-home proposal by the
Palo Alto Architectural Review
Board scheduled for early January. The developer instead plans
to submit the scaled-down version of 24 houses, which also
features fewer, but still some,
driveways onto Maybell.
But some residents living near
the site are still opposed to its
density and traffic circulation,
and several said at a community
meeting on Jan. 8 that they would
fight the proposal. They don’t
want any driveways onto Maybell, nor do they want the new
L-shaped road connecting with
Maybell, which is a dedicated bicycle route serving four schools.
At the same time, Green Acres
I residents, who live across
Arastradero Road from the project, said they don’t want all of
the traffic from the development
coming down Clemo and onto
Arastradero.
Henry Lum, a Green Acres
resident since 1965, said he was
pleased that the developer has reduced the number of homes, but
traffic backups on Arastradero
Road at Suzanne Drive and Clemo Avenue already make it nearly impossible to exit his neighborhood during rush hour.
A few residents who oppose
the project’s density vowed legal action if Golden Gate pushes
the 24-home development. They
pointed to the 1998 Glenbrook
Court development in Green
Acres as an example of the kind
of density they would support,
where there are 14 homes on 3.5
acres.
(Glenbrook Court’s developer
initially planned to turn the 10acre Cabana Hotel site, now the
Crowne Plaza Cabana, on El
Camino Real into 100 singlefamily homes and townhouses.)
But the project has supporters
as well. Barron Park residents
Winter Dellenbach and Gerry
Masteller pointed out at the
January meeting that Golden
Gate’s plan is within the city’s
zoning requirements for the site.
The project is compatible with
the neighborhood, which also
has high-rise apartments and
multi-family housing as well as
single-family homes, Dellenbach said.
Others said after the meeting
that the developer has worked
diligently to cooperate with the
neighborhood, and they did not
want the proposal to turn into the
same kind of bitter and divisive
fight as occurred when the parcel’s previous owner, Palo Alto
Housing Corporation, proposed
60 units of low-income senior
housing and 12 single-family
homes. Opposition to that project resulted in a 2013 referendum, Measure D, which voters
approved, effectively canceling
the project.
O’Hanlon said that Golden
Gate hopes “to find a point in the
middle for everybody.”
“We are very excited about this
plan. ... Given that existing zoning allows 34 to 46 units, the plan
offers significantly less units and
fits very well within the vicinity,”
O’Hanlon said.
“In this plan the neighborhood
would gain the single-family
feel it desires. ... The site plan
is within existing zoning, which
is what the neighborhood stated
on numerous occasions would be
acceptable during the Measure D
campaign,” he added.
But some residents insisted they
don’t want any development at all.
“The best solution is to sell this
land to farmers and sell fruit to
make your money,” a resident
said.
Golden Gate purchased the
property in April 2014 for $22
million. Q
Staff Writer Sue Dremann
can be emailed at sdremann@
paweekly.com.
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 11
Upfront
Computer Systems Associate
Embarcadero Media is looking for an Information Technology
professional to join our IT team to support and manage our
Windows and Mac infrastructure.
We are looking for a person who can work as part of a support
team, troubleshooting hardware and software, while providing
Windows server administration and network management. You
would provide computer support for both of our Bay Area locations
(Palo Alto and Pleasanton) based in our main Palo Alto office.
This is an entry-level position, but an ideal candidate would have
helpdesk and troubleshooting experience. We want that special
someone who is technically savvy with excellent people skills.
Windows server administration would be a huge plus.
Additionally, as time allows, you will have an opportunity to share
in building the exciting web-based features we are constantly
adding to our custom-built PHP/MySQL platform for our awardwinning websites. But, sorry, no designers please.
Your own transportation is a necessity. Mileage is reimbursed.
This is a full-time, benefited position.
Please email your resume and cover letter to Frank Bravo, Director
of Information Technology, at [email protected]
with “Computer Systems Associate” in the subject line.
Embarcadero Media is an independent, award-winning news
organization, with a 35-year publishing history.
4 5 0 C A M B R I D G E AV E N U E | PA L O A LT O
CityView
A round-up
of Palo Alto government action this week
City Council (Jan. 26)
441 Page Mill: The council directed staff and consultant to conduct additional
financial analysis about the zoning concessions requested by the developer for
441 Page Mill Road and about the project’s impact on traffic. Yes: Unanimous
Parks and Recreation Commission
(Jan. 27)
Parks: The commission discussed the recently dedicated 7.7-acre parcel near
Foothills Park and heard an update on the Parks, Trails, Open Space and Recreation Facilities master plan. Action: None
Bridge: The commission discussed proposed designs for the new Highway 101
overpass at Adobe Creek. Action: None
Board of Education (Jan. 27)
Parcel tax: The board approved the ballot language for a parcel tax to be
placed on the May 5, 2015, ballot. Yes: Unanimous
Chromebooks: The board authorized the purchase of 465 Dell laptops for Palo
Alto High School in the amount of $157,507.31. Yes: Unanimous
Planning and Transportation Commission
(Jan. 28)
OurPaloAlto: The commission heard a presentation about Palo Alto’s “Existing
Conditions Report,” which is part of the city’s Comprehensive Plan Update.
Action: None
Live it. You’ll love it!
Hear personally from our residents:
“Living The Avant Lifestyle”
Tuesday, February 10th, 11:30am
RSVP to 650.320.8626
Bring a Friend!
WHAT’S ON YOUR
TO-DO LIST?
NOT
Unlike other independent living
residences in the area, The Avant is
small (just 44 units), privately owned
and available on a month-to-month
rental basis. Our boutique style means
our attentive stay can anticipate and
meet your needs — from chauffeured
transportation to chef prepared meals
to a gracious home without the home
maintenance hassles.
Age well. Live smart.
4041 El Camino Way | Palo Alto, CA 94306
theavantpaloalto.com | Tel: 650.320.8626
Page 12 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Nordic
(continued from page 5)
vation House is strengthening the
Nordic community of startups and
network of connections, said Gro
Eirin Dyrnes, director of Innovation Norway in San Francisco and
Silicon Valley.
“We are like brothers and sisters
when we come together here, and
we feel very close,” Ericsson said.
“People are very helpful whether
it’s sharing strategies, business
cards, connections. People are really helping each other, and that’s
because they come here and it’s
home away from home. We have
the feeling that this is a Nordic
environment.”
The house provides 32 workspaces for entrepreneurs, as well
as facilities, including a conference room, a board meeting room,
kitchen and lounge area — complete with IKEA furniture — in a
light-filled, two-story space featuring crisp white walls and high
ceilings.
Companies can rent a desk
($1,000 a month) at Nordic Innovation House or sign up for a
virtual office ($1,200 annually).
The virtual office is for companies interested in the U.S. market
but not ready to commit resources
to a physical presence, Ericsson
said.
Its list of tenants is a long one,
including Elliptic Labs, which
specializes in ultrasonic gesturing technology; Kahoot!, a
game-based education system
for schools, universities and businesses; ThingLink, a platform for
creating interactive images and
videos for web, social, advertising and education channels; and
Apon, an app development company.
One of the house’s success stories is Fuse, a team of technologists with more than 10 years of
experience with mobile apps and
graphics technology. Fuse has
been working with Nordic Innovation House for four months, but
“Their connections proved valuable from day one,” Fuse CEO
Anders Lassen said.
“When we were ready to take
the step out of stealth development in Norway and establish a
U.S. presence, the Nordic Innovation House was a natural choice
for us. The location is ideal, and
we get a lot of help and useful
introductions from the crew that
runs this place. Here we are close
to both other Nordic startups and
the Bay Area tech scene in general.”
The company has offices in
Palo Alto and Oslo, Norway, with
about 20 employees and, through
Nordic Innovation House, has
hired its first U.S. employee, an
Adobe and Samsung veteran who
now serves as Fuse’s U.S. general
manager.
“With an office and infrastructure all set up from the day we
arrived, we could hit the ground
running,” Lassen said.
To help its companies succeed,
Nordic Innovation House offers a
range of programs, including Tech
Upfront
INCubator, a four-week technology incubator program offered to
startups with potential for international growth; the Norwegian
Entrepreneurship Program, which
offers graduate students firsthand
experience in entrepreneurship
through classes at UC Berkeley;
the Business Bootcamp, a twoday program designed to provide
Norwegian entrepreneurs with
important business skills and insight for taking a business global;
and SCALEit Ignite Bootcamp,
a one-week program for Danish
startups.
The Innovation House also
tracks its companies to see how
they progress and to identify
practices others should follow,
Ericsson said.
“Like now, we are saying ...
keep the development in Sweden
or in the Nordic region because
we have really good people up
there, but bring sales and marketing to the U.S. to start with. Don’t
move over the whole company.
You should be present in both
parts,” she said.
Although the Innovation House
has 86 tenants, Dyrnes said they
haven’t set a cap on how many
companies they’ll take in.
“We’re focused on having a
good community,” she said. “As
long as we have the right companies, we have said ‘yes.’” Q
Digital Editor My Nguyen
can be emailed at mnguyen@
paweekly.com.
Measles
(continued from page 5)
noted. But California law now requires a signature from a health care
practitioner to obtain the exemption.
The Kaiser study did find a correlation between under-vaccination
and increased disease incidence.
“Measles cases were relatively
rare until 2014. It’s taken off across
the country, aided by previous outbreaks in Ohio and New York and
now at Disney,” Dr. Charles Weiss,
a Palo Alto Medical Foundation
public-health expert, said.
Parents who have not had their
children vaccinated should be
very concerned, he added.
“If you put one person with active measles into a population without measles who are not immune,
it will spread to 12 to 18 people,”
Weiss said. By comparison, someone with influenza would infect
one or two people, he said.
Measles begins with a fever that
lasts a couple of days, followed by
a cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis
(pink eye) and a rash. The rash typically appears first on the face, along
the hairline and behind the ears and
then affects the rest of the body, according to the public-health department. Infected people are usually
contagious from four days before
the rash appears to four days afterward. Weiss said complications
can include pneumonia, severe diarrhea, encephalitis and death.
Palo Alto Medical Foundation
does not normally see any cases of
measles. So far, system wide, PAMF
has confirmed two cases, one each
in 2014 and 2015, Weiss said.
Measles vaccine is a live virus
that has been weakened through
manufacturing. Two doses are necessary because only 90 percent of
people respond to the first vaccine
by creating adequate antibodies.
The second brings the response
rate to 99 percent, DeHovitz said.
The vaccine can sometimes
cause a very mild infection, he
said. The vaccinations provide a
lifetime of protection, he added.
Adults born before 1957 are
generally considered immune to
measles because it was so pervasive at that time, so no further action is necessary. To count as up
to date for school records, a child
must have received both doses on
or after the first birthday, according to the state health department.
If anyone suspects they might
have measles, they should not run to
the doctor’s office, Weiss said. The
disease is so contagious that it could
infect people in the waiting room.
“Call if you or a family member
develops a fever and rash that is associated with a runny nose, cough
and red eyes. Stay put at home.
Don’t come in without calling.
You’ll be met at a side door and
given a mask by a staff person,”
he said. Anyone who has traveled
within 21 days and has symptoms
should also tell their doctor. Q
Online This Week
These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online
throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news.
Palantir co-founder accused of sexual assault
Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder of Palo Alto software company
Palantir and a partner at the venture capital firm Formation 8,
has been accused of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other
charges in a civil lawsuit filed on Jan. 27 in San Francisco. (Posted
Jan. 29, 9:19 a.m.)
Two men wanted after armed robbery at Fry’s
Palo Alto police are looking for two men who they say committed armed robbery at Fry’s Electronics on Wednesday afternoon
and took off with three video-game consoles. (Posted Jan. 28, 7:14 p.m.)
Stanford swimmer faces sex-assault charges
A Stanford University freshman is facing five felony sexual-assault
charges, including rape of an unconscious person and rape of an
intoxicated person, for an alleged Jan. 18 on-campus incident that
was reportedly stopped by students passing by. (Posted Jan. 28, 8:03 a.m.)
Fight gentrification, Rev. Jackson says
East Palo Alto residents must fight to keep their city, and the
Rev. Jesse Jackson encouraged them to organize. Otherwise, residents will be pushed out by gentrification, a process that hasn’t
changed in communities of color since Jackson, 73, began fighting
it in the 1960s, he said. (Posted Jan. 27, 7:12 p.m.)
City of Palo Alto opts not to sue Caltrain
Palo Alto has a few qualms about Caltrain’s plan to electrify
the rail corridor, but after a closed-door meeting early Tuesday
morning, the City Council decided that the best way to address
the city’s concerns would be through collaboration rather than
litigation. (Posted Jan. 27, 4:18 p.m.)
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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 13
Upfront
Community Health
Education Programs
Public Agenda
A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week
For a complete list of
classes and class fees,
lectures and health
education resources, visit
pamf.org/education.
February 2015
Dementia Caregiver Education Series:
Caring for the Caregiver
Feb. 5, 1 – 2:30 p.m.
Alexandra Morris, M.A., Alzheimer’s Association
Join us to learn practical tips on how to take care of yourself so you can successfully care
for your loved one.
PAMF Sunnyvale Center
301 Old San Francisco Road, 2nd Fl. Conference Center, Sunnyvale • (408) 730-2810
Dr. Tom McDonald Memorial Lecture Series
A Moving Target:
Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Guidelines
Feb. 10, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Lynette Lissin, M.D., PAMF Cardiovascular Disease
Cholesterol and blood pressure guidelines to decrease the risk of heart disease have
recently changed. Please join Dr. Lissin as she presents the most up-to-date information.
PAMF Palo Alto Center
795 El Camino Real, 3rd Fl. Conference Center, Jamplis Building • (650) 853-4873
CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to hold a joint meeting with the Library Advisory Commission; discuss a proposal to rezone a site at 2755
El Camino Real to allow a four-story, mixed-use building; hear an update
on the city’s technology plan, including its effort to implement a citywide
“fiber to the premise” plan; and adopt the council’s vacation schedule.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 2, in the Council
Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave.
PUBLIC ARTS COMMUNITY MEETING ... The city will hold a community meeting with artist Susan Narduli, who is creating an interactive
digital-art piece called “Conversation” for the City Hall lobby. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3, in the Downtown Library,
270 Forest Ave.
COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to consider a
new residential curbside collection and composting program; consider
an extension of the city’s contract with Greenwaste of Palo Alto; and
consider a new structure for refuse rates. The meeting will begin at 7
p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4, in the Council Meeting Room at City Hall,
250 Hamilton Ave.
HISTORIC RESOURCES BOARD ... The commission plans to hold its
annual retreat at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave.
UTILITIES ADVISORY COMMISSION ... The commission plans to hear
a presentation about preliminary forecasts and proposed rate changes
for electric, gas, water and wastewater utilities; discuss the impacts
of the statewide drought on water supply; and hear an update on the
Santa Clara Valley Water District’s collection of state water project costs
through property taxes rather than water rates. The meeting will begin at
7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250
Hamilton Ave.
ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD ... The board plans to discuss 451
University Ave., a request by BCV Architects for facade renovations and
a construction of an outdoor bar and roof deck area for dining for a new
restaurant. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 5, in
the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave.
Correction
The Jan. 23 story “Reubens and brews” incorrectly stated that The
Refuge in Menlo Park serves all beers for $3 on Mondays. It only offers
select beers at this price. The Weekly regrets the error. To request a correction, contact Editor Jocelyn Dong at 650-223-6514, jdong@paweekly.
com or P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302.
Avenidas presents its 4th Annunal Financial Conference
Boomer Bootcamp:
Firming Up Your Financial Fitness
Mindful Eating
Feb. 10, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Julie Forbes, Ph.D, Stress Management Consultant
Learn how you can transform your relationship with food using
mindfulness as an approach. Whether you have issues with
food or weight or just want to have a more healthy, satisfying
and pleasurable experience with eating, this introduction to
mindful eating will help you understand how awareness can
optimize your experience.
PAMF Mountain View Center
701 E. El Camino Real, 3rd Fl. Conference Center, Mountain View • (650) 934-7380
Saturday,
February 7, 2015
8:30 am – 4 pm
Mitchell Park
Community Center
3700 Middlefield Road
For discounts, workshop
information and to register.
visit Avenidas.org or call
(650) 289-5435.
Page 14 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Experts will discuss:
• Retirement Readiness
• Social Security Strategies
• Health Insurance Costs
• Investments and Cash Flow
• Legal/Trust Issues
...and more
Pulse
Krystyna Piotrowska-Ciolkosz
1915-2015
POLICE CALLS
Palo Alto
Jan. 21-27
Violence related
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Suicide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Theft related
Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Counterfeiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Credit card fraud. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Possession of burglary tools. . . . . . . . . 1
Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Shoplifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Vehicle related
Abandoned auto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Attempted auto burglary. . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Auto recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Auto theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Driving with suspended license . . . . . 10
Driving without license . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Parking/driving violation . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Recovered license plate . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . 4
Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . 7
Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Alcohol or drug related
Alcohol transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Drinking in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Driving under influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Sale of drugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Smoking in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Under influence of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Miscellaneous
Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Misc. penal code violation . . . . . . . . . . 1
Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Possession of stolen property . . . . . . . 4
Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Psychiatric subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Sex crime/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Solicitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . 2
Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Violation of court order . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
of the City of Palo Alto
Comprehensive Plan
Update Leadership Group
5:00 P.M., Tuesday, February 3, 2015, Lucie Stern,
-PYLZPKL9VVT4PKKSLÄLSK9K7HSV(S[V The City of Palo Alto’s Comprehensive Plan Update
Leadership Group will be meeting to discuss community
engagement opportunities for the City’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan. The group’s primary role is to assist with
community engagement during the Comprehensive Plan
Update planning process. If you have any questions or
you would like additional information about the Comprehensive Plan Update, please contact Consuelo Hernandez, Senior Planner, at 650-329-2428 or Consuelo.
[email protected].
The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request an accommodation
for this meeting or an alternative format for any related
printed materials, please contact the City’s ADA Coordinator at 650.329.2550 (voice) or by e-mailing ada@
cityofpaloalto.org.
Menlo Park
Jan. 21-27
Violence related
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Theft related
Burglary undefined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Credit card fraud. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Vehicle related
Abandoned auto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Auto burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Driving with suspended license . . . . . . 9
Found bicycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Traffic stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Vehicle accident/injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . 1
Vehicle accident/no injury. . . . . . . . . . . 2
Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Alcohol or drug related
Driving under influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Sale of drugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Miscellaneous
Coroner case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Info case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Juvenile problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . 4
Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Violation of court order . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
VIOLENT CRIMES
Palo Alto
De Soto Drive, 1/21, 2:18 p.m.; domestic
violence/battery.
300 Pasteur Drive, 1/22, 3:04 p.m.; battery/simple.
Arastradero Road, 1/24, 4:50 a.m.; suicide juvenile/misc.
Menlo Park
Bayfront Expressway and Willow Road,
1/27, 3:04 p.m.; battery.
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MONDAY //
April 13
Ursula K. Le Guin
SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY AUTHOR
In conversation with Michael
Krasny, host of Forum on KQED
Peninsula Open Space Trust
Krystyna Piotrowska-Ciołkosz
(1915-2015) of Mountain View in
California, of Washington and
Pennsylvania, of London, Paris,
Brussels, of WARSAW, Poland –
the objective, always honorable
and honest, active witness of
history, the cosmopolitan Polish
lady, proud of the good in her
homeland and appalled by any
substandard behavior of her
compatriots, the enthusiastic
embracer of the greatness of America and the staunch critic of
any bigotry and hypocrisy, the lover of good music and opera,
the sporty and elegant beauty, maturing but always remaining
young in spirit, the superb hostess and wonderful cook at an
elegant table, the world traveler, connoisseur of good taste,
the most loyal friend, the trusted confidante to rebellious
young and troubled aged alike, the respected professional
businesswoman and disciplined manager, the passionate
bridge player, and above all the member of so many adopted
families which would never have been the same without her
and which never will be the same upon her departure - which,
by the way, was on her own terms: peaceful, elegant, in her own
bed, upon saying good-night to her friends with a knowing
smile which proudly said: a good actor knows when it is time
to leave the stage.
Krystyna was a young lady from an affluent home in Warsaw,
with a superb education. However, in the 1930’s her independent
and adventurous nature takes her out of her luxurious
surroundings and her studies at the respected University of
Economy in Warsaw, to clerical work at ORBIS in Brussels,
the travel/consular support agency for Polish migrants in still
peaceful Europe. The beginning of WW2 finds her assisting
the work of Polish governmental agencies in Paris. Upon the
German invasion in France, she moves to London and works
for the Polish government-in-exile as a secretary in the Polish
prime minister’s office. After the war, Krystyna marries the
renowned Polish aircraft design engineer, Zbysław Ciołkosz,
thus joining the prominent Polish political family of Lidia and
Adam Ciołkosz, with whom she remained close till the end of
their remarkable lives. Her husband, Zbysław Ciołkosz, works
for the U.S. defense industry and his contributions to the
paradigm-changing Piasecki Helicopter Corporation (today
part of Boeing) in Philadelphia and his work for Boeing in
Seattle were a source of pride to Krystyna. The sudden death
of Zbysław in 1960 leaves her unprepared for independent life
in their new country. She moves to California, and from a
modest beginning with a small clerical job in the Palo Alto
Medical Clinic Business Office she moves on to the position
of budget analyst in the huge new project later known as the
Stanford Linear Accelerator. She bikes to work from her home
in Mountain View, travels weekly to San Francisco to concerts
and the opera; her intellect, political savvy and joie de vivre
are legendary, as is her prickliness when distance is needed,
and her magnetism and warmth where trust and friendship
are warranted. In the most valuable and unforgettable way, she
touched many lives, both in Poland and in the United States, as
well as those of individuals scattered all over the globe. They
are all the better for having had the opportunity of meeting
her, knowing her, loving her. Thank you, O Lord - thank you,
Krystyna.
For further details of Krystyna’s life, please view/sign
guestbook at: www.cusimanocolonial.com.
A commemoration of Krystynas life is planned for the
weekend of April 11-12, for what would have been her 100th
birthday. Any of her friends wishing to participate may send
an email to [email protected]
PAID
OBITUARY
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 15
Transitions
Births, marriages and deaths
Patricia Allen
Mary Patricia “Patsy” Allen, a
longtime Palo Alto resident and a
teacher for 60 years, died on Jan.
1, 2015, surrounded by her family. She was 85.
She was born
Mary Patricia
Williams on
Aug. 19, 1929,
to Don and
Daphne Williams in Sulphur Springs,
Texas. Growing up during the Great
Depression, she moved with her
family to La Verne, California,
where she first developed her
work ethic by feeding the chickens and collecting eggs each day.
Though her parents did not go
to college, she and her siblings
all went on to study at the collegiate level. She studied as an
undergraduate at Chico State
College and later earned her
teaching credentials from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Soon after, she moved to the
San Francisco Bay Area to teach
elementary school, first in Walnut Creek for a few years and
then at Oak Knoll School in
Menlo Park for 8 years in the
’50s. She later became a substitute teacher, working almost full
time for decades in the Palo Alto
school district.
In 1954, she met Peter Allen
during the summer in north Lake
Tahoe; they soon married and
settled down in Palo Alto to raise
a family, even while Patricia was
still teaching.
In the classroom, she made a
point of teaching both regular
material and life lessons about
hard work and making the most
of one’s abilities, according to
her family. Teaching up until age
84, she acted as a mentor to many
teachers throughout her career
and was often requested for longterm substitute teaching stints.
Outside of work, her pastimes
included gardening, going on
weekly walks to Gamble Garden,
practicing yoga and exercising,
and leading her grandchildren
and other neighborhood kids in
holiday craft activities.
She was predeceased by her
husband of 50 years, Peter W.
Allen, and by her sister, Dorothy
Don Clarke. She is survived by
her sister, Jean Daphne Peterson
of Sacramento; her brother, Don
William Young
February 8, 1943-November 5, 2014
Willie Young was born in East
Chicago, Indiana to William Marcus
Young III and Flora Azaleen Hood. He
was a singer and athlete in high school.
He received his BA from Kentucky State
University and his MA from Murray
State University. He majored in Health,
Physical Education and Recreation and
also Special Education at San Francisco
State University. After coaching at
Central State University in Ohio, he came
to California to coach at City College of
San Francisco. Willie coached and taught on the Peninsula for years
and then moved to teach in Oakland for 15 years. He especially loved
the time he spent teaching 6th grade Physical Education at Montera
Middle School in Montclair. Willie was also the owner and coach of
Palo Alto Lightning running club for over twenty years. His runners
were his pride and joy and he took runners to the National Junior
Olympics almost every season. He also coached his own kids in Palo
Alto in baseball, basketball and soccer.
Willie met his wife Katie when they were teaching together in Daly
City in 1979. They were married for 27 years and he is survived by
his wife Katie and their children Sarah, Marcus and Adam. Willie is
also survived by his daughter Monique and her husband Oscar Wash
and their children Matthew and Ashleigh, son Russell Young and
his sons Shiloh and Nathaniel and daughter Nedra Dickerson and
her son Aaron. He is also survived by his brother Larry Young and
his wife Maxine. Willie will be fondly remembered by many nieces,
nephews, cousins, and his extended family. Willie is missed by his
many friends, colleagues and students. Willie will be remembered
by the generation of athletes whom he inspired.
Memorial services will be held Saturday, February 7th, 2015 at
Noon at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, 1755 Clay Street (at Van
Ness), San Francisco, CA
Donations are requested for Doctors Without Borders.
PAID
OBITUARY
Page 16 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Cleveland Williams of Washington state; her children, Peter
(Trish) Allen of Ross, California, Linda (John) Bader of Palo
Alto, and Steve (Patty) Allen of
Saratoga; and her grandchildren,
Austin, Brent, Scott, Brett, Ryan
and Royce.
A private memorial service
was held at Alta Mesa Memorial Park and was followed by a
family celebration of her life. In
lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Partners in
Education (PiE) or Elizabeth F.
Gamble Garden. Alternatively,
the family suggests planting a
flower in Patricia’s memory.
Jean Burke
Jean Tait Burke, a longtime resident of the Los Altos area, died
on Jan. 10, 2015, at Villa Siena in
Mountain View. She was 93.
She was born
on Sept. 11,
1921, in Oil
City, Pennsylvania, the
oldest of her
three siblings
after her older
brother died
shortly after
birth. She went
on to study at Clarion University,
where she graduated in 1943 with
a teaching degree. Hoping to see
more of the world, she joined the
U.S. Navy as part of Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency
Service, or WAVES. However,
she only made it to Newport,
Rhode Island, where she served
as a communications officer from
1943 to 1947, with the rank of
lieutenant.
Following her service, she
drove alone from Pennsylvania
to California to study at Stanford
University as a graduate student.
She received two master’s degrees, one in education and one
in anthropology. During her studies there, she met William “Bill”
H. Burke, and the two married
in 1949 on Saipan Island in the
South Pacific.
Together, she and Bill traveled
and lived around the world, including in Lebanon, Turkey, Taiwan, Iran, Morocco, Brazil and
Venezuela. Bill consulted as a
civil engineer and geologist on
more than 100 dam projects, and
she conducted anthropological
research on the role of women in
various countries.
The couple used a small cottage off of Moody Road in Los
Altos Hills as their home base
when they were not traveling.
There they hosted family and
friends for meals featuring many
different international cuisines.
They also had a small pet monkey named “Mo.”
From 1968 to 1989, she also
shared her expertise and many
stories in anthropology classes
she taught part time at De Anza
Community College in Cupertino. She also greatly enjoyed gardening throughout her life, and
in her retirement she spent time
writing memoirs about her and
her husband’s life together.
She was predeceased by her
husband, Bill Burke in 1985, her
brother, Howard Tait in 2005,
and sister, Cynthia Swanson in
2007. She is survived by her sister’s husband, Ben Swanson of
Ocala, Florida, and her brother’s
wife, Betty Tait of Cameron,
Missouri, as well as seven nieces
and nephews.
A memorial service will be held
at a later date. Those interested in
attending can contact her niece
Rebecca Swanson at [email protected]. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be
made to Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care (www.seasons.org).
Harry Hann-yi Lee
Harry Hann-yi Lee, 17, died
on the morning of Saturday, Jan.
24, 2015, at his residence in Palo
Alto. Harry was a senior at Henry M. Gunn High School in Palo
Alto and was a talented cyclist,
artist and musician, among many
other things.
Born at El
Camino Hospital on Nov. 25,
1997, he lived
in Los Altos
until 2004 and
in Palo Alto for
11 years after
that. He attended schools in
both districts,
including Montclaire Elementary, Palo Verde Elementary, JLS
Middle and Gunn.
From an early age, Harry provided a light to those around him
and always found a way to make
people laugh, his family said. He
was creative, energetic and had a
great sense of style, specifically
when it came to his hairstyles. He
was an artist, taking classes since
he was 5 years old, and had his
work displayed at the Children’s
Discovery Museum in San Jose.
He enjoyed music thoroughly,
both making and listening to it.
He played the violin for eight
years, the clarinet for seven and
was also skilled on the ukulele
and saxophone. He entertained
his friends with covers of pop
songs played on the kazoo. For
two years, he was a member of
the El Camino Youth Symphony
(ECYS) orchestra.
Harry was a Boy Scout, trained
in Chinese Wushu martial arts,
a Humane Society volunteer, and
a skilled b-boy, his family said.
He danced at Dance Academy
USA for two years in addition
to teaching himself breakdancing through videos and friends.
One of Harry’s later passions was
cycling, and although he only cycled for a little more than a year,
he committed himself to the
sport with extreme passion and
dedication. Within his first year
of cycling, he raced in both the
San Jose and Los Angeles Velodromes and collected four bikes.
He founded the Cycling Club at
his high school and dedicated
more than 10 hours a week to
rigorous training during the season. He was also a member of the
high school band, Breakdancing
Club and Duck Club. He spoke
English, Chinese and Japanese.
He obtained his driver’s license
when he turned 17 and had a perfect driving record without one
recorded ticket. He scored a 35
on his ACT test.
Harry struggled with clinical
depression, and though he sought
and received medical help and
support from his loved ones, he
was unable to conquer it and ultimately took his own life. Despite
his own condition, he was an advocate for others who suffered as
well, providing comfort to friends
with shared experiences, according to his family.
He wanted to pursue a college
degree in linguistics and wished
to perform research in psycholinguistics to help detect early
stages of depression by assessing
lingual expression in others.
His friends and family say
they will always remember him
for his fearlessness and endless
energy.
Harry is survived by numerous
relatives, including his father,
Tsu-Chang Lee, and mother, Salina An, both of Palo Alto; and
twin sisters, Jennifer Lee of Los
Angeles and Teresa Lee of New
York City.
His family urges anyone in a
similar mental health situation
to seek help and support as early
as possible. They hope to raise
awareness for mental health and
to prevent teen suicide universally.
Services will be held on Sunday, Feb. 1, at 2 p.m. at Spangler
Mortuary, 399 S. San Antonio
Road, Los Altos. All are welcome
to attend.
Visit
Lasting Memories
An online directory of obituaries and remembrances.
Search obituaries, submit a memorial, share a photo.
Go to: www.PaloAltoOnline.com/obituaries
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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 17
Editorial
Beyond the anguish
While explanations elude, we should
not be deterred from action
A
s the Palo Alto community mourns and reflects on the loss
of another Palo Alto teenager — the third in four months
— we must not allow our frustrations, fears and divergent
perspectives to block the path forward.
There is no blame to be assigned, just as there are no satisfactory
answers for the families and friends of these young victims.
Mental health professionals have repeatedly stated that suicide
stems from severe and chronic depression or other mental illness.
Suicide ideation, they say, is not the product of too much homework,
test anxiety, too little sleep or worry about college admissions, in
spite of the stress they may cause.
Unfortunately, and for good reason, instead of calming fears,
these proclamations have fueled intense frustration, angst and disagreement in the community.
Some of these viewpoints are being published today in the Weekly, but there is also a robust and thoughtful discussion on Town
Square, the Weekly’s online forum, which logged more than 100
comments in the first 48 hours after the most recent tragedy last
Saturday.
The comments underscore how the subjects of teen suicide, depression and academic pressure have become unnecessarily intertwined, leading to confusion as to the problems we are trying to
address and their possible solutions. Suicide prevention should not
be the reason we address problems in our community’s competitive
achievement culture. The social and emotional well-being of all our
kids, which was made a priority years ago by the school district,
should be on our agenda not because of teen suicides, but because
we acknowledge that we are living in a system that is creating an unhealthy environment for learning, growing and finding happiness.
We must accept that we will never know, nor need to know, the
specific reasons for the suicides, and we should not invest valuable
community energy in debate or speculation about whether stress
played a role. We must move beyond this fruitless discussion.
School officials and a network of adults in the community have
been busily constructing scaffolding for at-risk teens since the
2009-10 suicide contagion. Enormous effort has been invested in
Project Safety Net, a collaboration of nonprofits that, among other
things, raised awareness of the “developmental assets” that are important to youth well-being.
But there has been ongoing tension about whether the focus
should be suicide prevention, which leads to trainings, support services and education, or more general youth well-being, which leads
to assessment of how parent attitudes and expectations, the competition for college admissions, and school policies and practices are
fueling unhealthy conditions for our kids.
Of course we must continue to address suicide prevention. The
efforts that have been made by the mental health community, the
school district and others to increase awareness, watchfulness and
opportunities for treatment have successfully steered many young
people to the help they need and has begun to reduce the stigma of
asking for help.
But in developing so many programs and strategies for identifying and helping teenagers who face life-threatening depression or
other mental illness, we have also created a distraction from an
equally important imperative: the happiness and well-being of all
teens in a hyper-competitive culture.
This is the elephant in the room.
Many constructive and creative ideas have been offered by parents and students. Some, such as implementing formal monitoring
and enforcement of the district’s homework policy, are already being targeted by new Superintendent Max McGee.
Others include implementing a block schedule at Gunn, evaluating teacher grading practices to determine if grades are being
improperly curved, reducing the number of grade reports, forcing
consistency of class workloads in identical classes taught by different teachers, establishing limits on AP classes and requiring cell
phones be turned off when on campus.
McGee and school board members heard emotional testimony
from a roomful of tearful parents and students this week, including
many proud Gunn students who expressed their support and gratitude to their teachers, administrators and classmates for helping
them through these difficult days.
If there is one message coming through loud and clear from both
parents and students, it is that district and community leaders need
to act with greater urgency and not become paralyzed by a desire
to find all the answers. The community is seeking bolder and more
decisive action, even if it isn’t perfect.
We hope the school board and McGee take these pleas to heart,
place a review of the academic environment and school policies affecting it at the top of its agenda, and quickly develop the initiatives
to begin changing the way we educate our children.
Page 18 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Spectrum
Editorials, letters and opinions
Time to apologize
Editor,
Blue Shield’s recent letter stating that it will cease offering “in
network benefits” to Sutter Health
is disturbing. It pits Blue Shield
against the invaluable medical
services I receive from them. As
a 20 plus-year subscriber to Blue
Shield, I would hope that those
years would bear some weight,
but this is obviously not the case.
Its suggestion that “members are
encouraged to transition their
care” to another provider only
fits its needs and is laughable. My
medical needs and my medical
history gathered at Sutter Health
is too important to brush aide and
start anew.
Over the years I have played
Blue Shield’s game by periodically changing plans so as not to
be the sole healthy subscriber remaining in an inflationary priced
pool of apparently unhealthy people. With Obama Care and health
exchanges, the rules changed.
Now health insurance providers
offer essentially identical plans
(bronze, gold, etc.) at competitive
prices. The very good of this is
that the necessity to periodically
change plans to keep costs manageable is history, or so I hoped.
So when its website asks “Why
Blue Shield?” maybe the answer
is “arrogance,” and it is time to
switch. Or maybe it is time for
Blue Shield to apologize to its
subscribers.
Herbert Steierman
Hogarth Terrace, Sunnyvale
Some left out
Editor,
The City of Palo Alto is spearheading a Transportation Management Association or TMA that
presently has a steering committee comprised entirely of business
representatives and a lone school
district official. It is intended to
become a business-funded organization, tasked with resolving
the city’s traffic woes, which of
course impact the city’s parking
issues. Residents are not a part of
this steering committee but will
be allowed to comment at the organization’s public meetings and
scheduled workshops.
Wow, a city spearheaded private organization totally steered
and powered by businesses that
will have the task of resolving the
city’s acute traffic/parking issues.
This might cause some residents
to believe they are being taken for
a ride ... again.
Paul Machado
Stanford Avenue, Palo Alto
Palo Alto pride
Editor,
Mr. Simitian’s proposal to use
$8 million from the county’s
housing fund to go toward buying
Buena Vista is a wonderful and
welcome turn of events.
It would be tragic for these
families to be forced from their
homes — for some the only home
they’ve ever known — when there
is so much money in this community that could go toward enabling
them to stay here.
No amount of monetary compensation that Mr. Jisser could offer for relocation would begin to
make up for the loss of their jobs,
their homes, their schools and
their community. The education
that these children receive here
is enabling them to go to college,
get good jobs and raise the level
of economic and social status for
their entire family, thereby helping break the cycle of poverty and
disenfranchisement.
There are 10 billionaires in this
town of 65,000, not to mention
countless multi-millionaires —
perhaps Mr. Simitian’s example
of helping our fellow Palo Altans will inspire others to realize
they too can make a difference.
What could be a better use for the
money?
If we succeed in helping our
neighbors be able to remain in
their homes, I will be proud to call
myself a Palo Altan.
Kristen Anderson
Hanover Street, Palo Alto
Tone change
Editor,
The main subjects in our news
media seems to be disease, conflict and greed. It cheers me that
Joe Simitian, our County supervisor, has recommended that $8
million dollars in Santa Clara
County funds be used to help the
residents of Buena Vista Mobile
Home Park stay in Palo Alto. I
hope other government entities
and private individuals will contribute to this upbeat goal.
Bob Roth
Middlefield Road, Palo Alto
Show compassion
Editor,
I am a resident of the Professorville area of Palo Alto. I enthusiastically support earmarking $8
million dollars toward the acquisition of the Buena Vista Mobile
Home Park. I believe it will encourage other public and private
parties to commit funds as well.
I thank supervisors Simitian and
Cortese for their thoughtful sponsorship.
I support any action that can be
done to keep the present residents
in their mobile-home park. We
have some affordable housing that
is in place and works.
The compensation offers pres-
ently approved and being appealed by the residents are insufficient to cover any reasonable
relocation. Any affordable place
will not have the schools that Palo
Alto has, and the offer does not
include the cost of private school
to achieve similar educational results. I suggest that if it did include
the cost of private school through
high school graduation, the current owner would see a significant
economic advantage to selling to
a buyer that would keep BV as a
mobile-home park.
If we really believe in affordable housing and if we are to show
compassion, let’s do all we can
to keep these fine but economically disadvantaged people in our
community. This is good for the
Buena Vista residents and good
for the surrounding community
who benefit from the diversity.
Michael Morganstern
Lincoln Avenue, Palo Alto
We should help too
Editor,
After much agonizing, Palo
Alto has an opportunity to move
the Buena Vista issue forward.
It can partner with the county’s
supervisors to add to its contribution of $8 million from its accumulated housing funds. With
some other partners committed
to keeping Palo Alto diverse and
the Buena Vista residents in place
— and their children in the Palo
Alto schools — this will mark
a humane step forward for our
community. In addition to being
humane, it will show the Supervisors that us North County folks
want to collaborate in making the
entire county more egalitarian.
Ray Bacchetti
Webster Street, Palo Alto
Who are we?
Editor,
I am appalled at the seeming
indifference of the Palo Alto City
Council and staff to the plight
of the residents of Buena Vista
Mobile Home Park. Santa Clara
County Supervisors Joe Simitian
and Dave Cortese have taken bold
public action, working to allocate
$8 million of county funds to support Buena Vista residents in their
effort to remain a part of our community. Palo Alto government has
sat on its hands, saying nothing
and doing nothing. I have lived
in Palo Alto’s Barron Park neighborhood for 30 years. I chose to
live here because of Palo Alto’s
rare combination of values: commitment to excellence, embracing
of diversity, compassion for all
residents, regardless of means or
position. We now have a chance
(continued on page 20)
Check out Town Square!
Hundreds of local topics are being discussed by local residents on Town
Square, a reader forum sponsored by the Weekly on our community website
at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Post your own comments, ask questions, read
the Editor’s blog or just stay up on what people are talking about around town!
Guest Opinion
School needs more limits
on courseload
Guest Opinion
Gunn community deserves
support, not blame
W
y name
is Chloe
Sorensen,
and I’m the sophomore class president at Gunn High
School. Throughout my first year
and a half at Gunn,
I have dealt with
more than my fair
share of depressed
friends. Whether we like it or not, depression
and other mental illnesses are all around us.
This became increasingly apparent to me as
I watched the majority of my closest friends
admit to depression, suicidal thoughts, or
self-harm.
But before you jump to conclusions, I’d
like to tell you one thing: It’s not Gunn’s
fault. Sure, school stress can add to people’s
problems. But in the case of all of my friends,
it was much more than that.
When these tragedies occur, many parents
are quick to make broad assumptions. This is
unfair to the victim and their family, and it
hurts many more people than you may realize. If there is anything I have learned during my time at Gunn, it’s that each and every
person you meet is fighting their own battle.
At the end of the day, nobody knows what
is going through somebody’s mind except
for that person themself. This is why I am
so tired of watching everybody blame these
tragedies on the school.
I know that many of you are looking for
someone to blame because this is a senseless
tragedy that nobody will ever be able to fully
understand. But we all need to take a step
M
back: Gunn High School is not the only thing
in these kids’ lives. They have issues with
friends. They have issues with family. A lot
of them struggle with depression, and even
when they seek help, it isn’t always enough.
As a kid who walks through those halls
every day, and interacts with these kids face
to face, I feel like I have the right to say that
you are not seeing the whole picture. There
is so much you cannot see from the outside:
I have had teachers call me, email me, pull
me aside, hug me, and cry with me. Gunn
High School is a community, and it’s a community that I am proud to be a part of. And
when people attack this community, and say
that it’s not good enough, or that we aren’t
trying, it hurts.
When I walk through the halls, I see a collection of individuals who are all trying their
best. We do not understand these tragedies
any more than you do. It hurts us, and it hurts
us bad. But for many of us, it hurts us even
more to see people from the outside who turn
against us rather than standing with us.
By blaming the school, you make the
school more of a problem. What effect do
you think it has when people constantly
claim that Gunn staff and guidance is incompetent? It makes kids even LESS likely
to seek help — I’ve seen it firsthand. When
we send negativity out into the world, we get
negativity back. So instead of finding people
to blame, find people to support. Support the
school. Support the staff. And most of all,
support your kids. They need it more than
you know. Thank you. Q
—Chloe Sorensen
Chloe Sorensen spoke to the Board of
Education on Jan. 27
in multiple instruments, in community service activities, in competitions, and in sports
beyond the amount that they are able to enjoy
and handle. It is not okay for parents to be
essentially forcing their children to become
epitomes of perfection, because colleges
probably do not want to see that. But that is
another story.
Students, on the other hand, tend to engage
in excessive competition at school, demanding test scores, project grades, quiz grades,
course grades, ACT scores, and SAT scores
to gage their standing among their peers. It
is terrible to feel and see students chopping
away at previously warm and comforting
friendships that transform into demons of
hate, spite, jealousy, and anxiety. The competition among friends is causing a previously safe and accepting environment to escalate in hostility, anxiety, stress, and other
negative feelings. Students also carry the
responsibility to make their school environment more open and accepting, not judging
others based on their scores and grades, and
preserving friendships that are much more
important than any score they could receive,
despite what many may believe.
The school must be responsible for following its own rules strictly and without
exceptions that place honest students and
parents that follow the rules at a (egregiously
unfair) disadvantage. For example, at Gunn,
students are not allowed to take AP science
courses during their sophomore year; they
are only allowed to take the non-AP chem-
istry and physics courses and a few other
science courses. However, a few students
were able to take AP science courses during
their sophomore year without any other of
the student’s peers being able to do so. Furthermore, while students are only allowed
to take at most seven classes, many students
are able to take more than seven if they have
their parents go and talk to the school admin. Another example is that students are
not allowed to double up on science or math
courses at the same time and to double up in
math or science, the student must have completed his or her living skills, art, and career
and tech credits. In spite of this, a handful
of students doubled up in both math and science and a few other students took double
science without fulfilling the requirements.
All these problems cause many questions
to arise. Is it okay to pretend that one is a
native speaker (while one is not) in order to
skip to the third level of a language and be
able to reach AP level sooner? Is it okay for
parents to force their child to start taking the
SAT in middle school up until in junior year
he finally receives a 2400? Does it make
sense for a freshman in high school to sign
up and take an AP test when he has never
even taken the course at the school yet? Is it
logical for students to sacrifice their friendships and amity due to competition? Why is
it okay for some students’ parents to go to the
school admin and demand for their child to
e read
w i t h
sadness
the email sent reporting the death
by suicide of yet
another student at
Gunn. As parents
of two current students at Gunn, we
feel it is time to Dean Winslow with
speak out. Gunn his son, who is now a
High School is a Gunn sophomore.
pressure cooker that
has created a toxic environment for our
children. We feel strongly that PAUSD Administration and the Board should openly
acknowledge the overly competitive culture
at Gunn and take steps to change it to one
that supports and nurtures our children.
Even before this most recent tragedy, we
had been planning to write. We’ve been
observing previously upbeat, motivated,
hard-working and self-confident middle
school students transformed into stressed,
insecure and depressed high schoolers.
Some juniors are taking four and five AP
courses and struggling with little sleep and
low morale. What caused this dramatic
change? We believe it’s the hypercompetitive atmosphere that has taken over the
school. Instead of striving to learn, students
strive to get their GPA’s up as high as possible by grabbing that extra grade point for
accelerated coursework (the 5.0 for an A).
They feel compelled to go to that name college with the false assumption that a 4.5
GPA will serve them better than a 4.0. What
started as a small snowball of students tak-
ing accelerated courses has turned into an
avalanche that is sweeping children away.
At no other point in life is a person expected to be good at everything — history,
English, calculus, chemistry, sports and social life. Those kids who do successfully
navigate 10 AP courses in high school
— will they look back on these years as
formative or punitive? When they graduate
from Harvard, will they feel fulfilled or like
they have never left the rat race? What is the
long-term goal?
Given the unremitting and toxic competitive stresses, it is incumbent on the school
system to step in and provide more structure to the decisions that these teens make
for their coursework. For many, their ambitions are simply bigger than their abilities. Even if the students are capable of the
massive homework, they are missing out on
enjoying their youth and, most importantly,
on making lifelong rich friendships.
We believe there should either be a strict
limit to the number of AP courses students
can take or the number for which they can
get that extra grade point. Better yet, AP
courses could be eliminated in entirety —
a path taken by several prestigious high
schools (Scarsdale, Riverdale, Fieldstone
and many others) with no detriment to college acceptances. Yes, parents and students
will complain, but by encouraging our kids
to live full lives with healthy goals, Palo
Alto schools will ultimately be doing the
best for the community it serves. Q
—Dean L. Winslow, MD, and
Julie Parsonnet, MD
A version of this letter was originally sent
to Superintendent Max McGee.
Guest Opinion
There are no losers
or failures among us
I
t has saddened me greatly that another
Gunn student has committed suicide.
After so many deaths of fellow students,
I do not know what to believe. Many blame
the school for inaction or inaccessibility.
Many others blame parents for pushing
their children too hard. Many still blame
other students and the Gunn culture for creating a hostile and overly competitive environment that is both unsafe and unhealthy.
In my perspective, all three entities hold
responsibility to some degree, with parents
holding the most.
The greatest problem that arises from
parents is the desire to push one’s children,
often beyond their capabilities and thus
causing enormous amounts of unnecessary
stress and anxiety. Parents frequently demand 2400s, 36s, and straight-As and A+s
from their children who become increasingly overburdened. On top of all the academic
stress, parents tend to engage their children
Editor’s note
The Weekly is devoting two opinion pages this week to community comment about
academics and youth well-being. While these letters, emails and online postings were
written in the wake of a student suicide last weekend, the Weekly encourages readers to
consider the ideas broadly, without assuming that any particular issue contributed to this
student’s death. (His parents have stated their son struggled with clinical depression and
had received medical help for it. In the opinion of the Weekly, further speculation about
the student’s life is not helpful.)
There is much that can be done to improve upon the overall culture in which Palo Alto’s
children are growing up, and people throughout the city are sharing their thoughts on
how to make that happen. Here are some of them. More can be found on the Weekly’s
online forum, Town Square, at PaloAltoOnline.com/square.
(continued on page 20)
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 19
Guest Opinion
Town Square readers weigh in
What happened to free time
and friends?
I really feel like we’re missing something
here. I’m a Gunn parent of three, first one
already graduated, second there now, third
in middle school. I also am a Gunn graduate.
Now, as my kids started approaching the
teens I started bracing for the social pressures, the pressures of drugs alcohol, partying, the peer pressure to spend hours on end
hanging out, going out, spending time doing (damn fun) but not-so-smart stuff with
friends. And much to my surprise, there’s
none of that. Literally none of that.
So that’s great for us parents right? 100
percent safe? Neither one of my first two, no
friends. I mean, they have friends at school,
and I purposefully kept them signed up for
sports so they’d at least have some kind of
peer interactions outside of the school day.
But other than that, they stay home, they
keep to themselves. Weekends 100 percent at home. They have literally no outside, purely social interactions. My middle
schooler was at the doctor for a checkup,
the doctor was asking him friendly questions about school, clearly pointed in the
direction of looking for signs of peer pressure and risk exposures, maybe exposure
to potential bullying. And asked - do you
have friends you hang out with? My son
shook his head, and said, “No.” He’s also
following the same path. I ask him everyday, ‘Who did you hang out with? Who did
you eat lunch with?” He always tells me ate
with one or more friends, but that’s it.
They all had occasional “play dates” in
elementary school but never developed any
of the “hang out” kind of friendships I used
to have where we’d go hang out at one of
the friend’s house listening to music, laying around, etc. (which later turned into no
good — for sure).
Maybe I’m the only one seeing this, but
I’ve often wondered if this is the same for
anyone else. I don’t ever seem to see many
kids hanging out anywhere other than playing fields. At malls? At stores? In the park?
At the fields? Where do the older kids hang
out at night? Are they? My kids, by the way,
are friendly, not shy, funny, have people
waving to them and saying “hi” at school.
They are both smart and well-organized
and do well in school and don’t seem to
be particularly bothered with overload of
school work.
And, my first one had no interest in driving until she was approaching graduation.
My son is now old enough to get his permit:
no interest, hasn’t even asked any questions
about it. When we ask, he just says, “No,”
Guest Opinion
(continued from page 19)
take more courses or more APs and be able
to while honest students and parents who
follow the rules cannot? Why can a student
be able to add another AP course (thus taking eight courses) weeks after school starts
because the student figures out that some
other students are taking more APs than he
is? Is it logical for a student to not take PE
sophomore year in order to raise one’s GPA
and delay taking PE to senior year?
For parents:
Is it more important to advertise and
flaunt your ‘perfect’ child or is it more important to nurture your child’s happiness and
embolden her just enough to make her feel
he doesn’t want to. Doesn’t even seem to
have any sense of wanting some freedom
to roam around.
Don’t get me wrong, I totally dread (and
was on the front line at their age) some of
the bad stuff that could come with some
freedom and some teenage-friend activities. So it’s a tough thing to want for your
kids, but my god, my kids have never even
been on a walk at night with kids their own
age.
We used to go iceskating at Winter Club,
play in the street in summer, sit in someone’s backyard, or in their living room for
hours. We eventually used to have handful
of friends over. I mean, where is all that —
is it completely gone?
Is the issue really: Are these kids literally
LONELY?
—Parent1, a resident
of Charleston Gardens
Posted on Town Square
What matters in life
My family arrived in Palo Alto the summer of 2012 from London. So we are in the
fortunate position of being able to compare
education systems. I have no complaints
about the elementary schools, which are
wonderful environments for the young
child. But the middle school and high
school programs and social lives of the kids
do not compare favorably to the European
equivalent.
The first problem, as I see it, is the relentless nature of the school year. The children
have very little holiday between August and
May. Is it three weeks in total? Certainly
not much more than four. The UK schools
before the summer have around eight to 10
weeks holiday. And also a summer holiday
of six to eight weeks. This is a vastly different schedule and allows the kids to decompress, hang out and generally escape and
see themselves as individuals not purely
on the basis of grades or social standing
at school.
Also the GPA puts relentless pressure on
kids. Every piece of school work. Every
test. Every tardy goes towards this ‘very’
important score. In the UK there is much
more emphasis on exams. So it is possible
to make mistakes but make it good and
catch up later. Also in other ways it seems
the UK education systems allows bad days
or weeks and enables kids to pull it together
to get better scores. There is forgiveness
within the system. I don’t see this forgiveness here.
Tutoring and pushy parents definitely exist in North London. But what is different
here is the added pressure of the extracur-
special but not above others?
For students:
Are your SAT score, PSAT score, ACT
score, transcript, course grades, and GPA
more important than discovering your own
identity, your passions, and your dreams?
For the school:
Is it fair that the future opportunities of
most students are diminished by the few
students who secretly bypass school rules to
rise above their peers?
It is heartbreaking to hear about fellow
students taking their own lives. It is soulwrenching to see teachers, normally convivial and humorous, crumble and lose
composure before your very own eyes, driving spears of sorrow into your heart. It is
Page 20 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
ricular activities. In very few exceptions,
extracurricular activities do not feature
in the UK university-application process.
There are very few sports scholarships. So
applications are on the back of academics
only. Extracurricular interests can happily
be dropped when older teenage children
would rather study and maybe develop an
independent social group or spend time exploring a romantic relationship.
Because what matters in life. Really?
Prosperity certainly is extremely important. But mental health too? Satisfying relationships that provide a foundation for a
family that you can love and nurture. Or
as a partnership without children that can
support each other in life’s battles and challenges.
It just seems to me that the one dimensional nature of the high school education
system that supports individual achievements leaves the teenage soul a little vulnerable.
—home.melissa, a resident
of College Terrace
Posted on Town Square
Schools need health
education
The PAUSD Board needs to re-examine
the health curriculum for students K thru
12.
There is no mention of Health in the elementary curriculum, no mention of Health
in the middle school curriculum, and only
5 credits(Living Skills) are required out of
215 credits to graduate from high school.
I teach Health Education at Foothill College and I have first hand knowledge that
students are under-prepared in their health
literacy. Health is not a cool topic. Students
don’t view it as an important subject, especially if we do not emphasize it in the
curriculum.
Health has a greater impact on happiness than does income or higher education.
Health and happiness need to be taught in
our primary and secondary schools. At the
collegiate level, it is often too late!
Please, PAUSD Board, begin to make the
Health curriculum a priority for our children.
—Ken Horowitz, a resident
of Downtown North
Posted on Town Square
Looking for a cultural shift
My passion for this town runs deep: I
have lived here since I was 6 months old,
going off to college and graduate school but
returning to raise my children, who are now
in middle school and elementary school. I
am also an educator at the community-college level, so I have a personal interest in
education from two perspectives.
... But I know, as a lifelong resident with
children in this school system that it is FAR
agonizing to endure the reading of the same
letter after another student commits suicide.
It is excruciating to feel powerless to give
strength and support to peers, teachers, and
parents affected by these tragedies.
It is high time for our community of parents, teachers, students, and staff to knit even
tighter together than ever. We must protect,
sustain, and support each other constantly,
binding even tighter when one strand falters
to weave it back in to the great tapestry of
our school and town community. We must
not let anyone fail alone; there are no losers
or failures among us; we must only, utterly,
solely, wholly let us succeed together.
We must act now. Together. Q
—Current Gunn student
This message was originally posted on the
Weekly’s online forum, Town Square.
MORE competitive now, and, in addition,
childhood has changed to allow little freetime to counteract this stress.
To be honest, there is a big part of me that
wants to take my kids out of this stress. On
the other hand, I have a strong intuition that
this is the time for our community to really start thinking about who we are. I often
ask myself, staring in disbelief at drivers
whipping past my small children crossing
the street near my home: “Who are these
people?”
I feel alienated from my own hometown
when I see the anger, disrespect and underlying violence symbolic in these drivers’
behaviors. And I am wondering: Is this culture of violence palpable to the very most
sensitive among us, our children and our
teens?
Let’s discuss the culture of this town, as
well as the culture of our schools.
Regarding suicide: We are quiet about
teen suicide because we do not want to
sensationalize it. However, we need to talk
about suicide.
Regarding teachers and staff: We cannot place the sole responsibility on them.
We need to change our community. I am
not sure how. Our educators educate our
children because they are passionate about
teaching. We are fortunate to have them.
I do not want to diminish the destructive
power of mean and/or incompetent teachers. I only want to support our educators in
making changes.
By the way, I agree that there is too much
homework.
—Mary Akatiff, a resident
of Old Palo Alto
Posted on Town Square
Gunn needs the block
schedule
There are definitely things we can do as
parents, and as a community, and we must
look at those carefully.
For the schools, changing Gunn to the
Paly block schedule and TA (teacher-advisory counseling) system is something I
hope can be considered, for as early as this
fall. They both target key stressors in the
areas which many are concerned about,
academic stress and college application
stress. The block schedule is something
most Paly families thank their lucky stars
for and could not do without.
TA is also a major structural advantage,
and any shortcoming heard about it are
nothing compared to its overall value. The
way TA works in the course of the four
years results in an overall excellent system.
Please do not hesitate to change Gunn to a
block schedule and to TA.
—resident3, a resident of Another
Palo Alto neighborhood
Posted on Town Square
Letters
(continued from page 18)
to demonstrate that these values are alive
and well in Palo Alto.
I once thanked a person I admire who
courageously helped me in a time of crisis.
He said simply, “If we can’t extend ourselves at times like these, who are we?”
Indeed.
Don Anderson
Alta Mesa Avenue, Palo Alto
Submit letters to the editor of up to 300
words to [email protected]. Submit
guest opinions of 1,000 words to editor@
paweekly.com. Include your name, address
and daytime phone number so we can reach
you.
PPalo
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Alto Weekly
Weekly
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Do ive too much
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Amy Luo, a sophomore at Palo Alto High School, works on algebra and
trigonometry homework after school in the library in late January.
Teachers attempt to shift
focus to quality of study,
not quantity
story by Elena Kadvany | photos by Veronica Weber
EDITOR’S NOTE
This cover story on homework by Weekly Staff Writer Elena Kadvany was
prompted in part by a lengthy discussion among community members on
the subject, begun in December on Town Square, the Weekly’s online forum. (See “What gives the school the right to give my child homework?” at
PaloAltoOnline.com/square.) The topic generated hundreds of comments,
among the most active discussions in the forum’s history.
With the death by suicide last weekend of a Gunn High School senior, many
people have questioned the role of excessive homework in causing stress and
even depression in some students. It is not our intention with these articles to
make a connection between homework and suicide, and in fact, the parents
of the Gunn senior stated this week that they do not believe academic pressure was a factor in their son’s death.
There is clearly a desire within the Palo Alto community to grapple with the effects of high school homework loads as well as parse the complexities of the
district’s policy and its implementation in schools. This cover story aspires to
contribute constructively to that community dialogue.
We welcome your comments and ideas about homework on Town Square. Q
On the cover: A Palo Alto High School student concentrates on his
geometry homework in the library. Photo by Veronica Weber.
M
any Palo Alto high
school students report
feeling overworked,
overburdened and overstressed
by unrelenting workloads and expectations.
“Junior year I prioritized homework and studying over sleep,” said
Palo Alto High School senior Jack
Brook, who plays varsity soccer,
writes for the school’s Verde magazine and is taking four Advanced
Placement (AP) classes. “Staying
up past midnight was routine, and I
often woke up an hour early to continue what I couldn’t get done the
night before.”
Gunn High School sophomore
Martha Cabot took to YouTube late
last year to publicly question the unrealistic demands that she said her
peers face.
“Is it really expected from a student to take that many APs, maintain good grades, do after-school
sports, have positive social life and
finish homework on time?” she
asked in a video that quickly went
viral.
And it’s not just the students
who are bothered; parents say their
family time — and family dynamic
— is often impacted by “the homework wars,” as one Palo Alto parent
and Gunn teacher calls it.
“I am a veteran of the homework wars,” said Lettie Weinmann,
who’s taught at Gunn since 1989.
“When my son was younger, it was
a frequent battle. We tried bribing
him with M&Ms, impounding his
LEGOs, and every support strategy
in the book. ... The end result may
have been that the homework was
completed, but I think it also had an
effect on our parent-child relationship. It set us up as his adversaries
instead of his support system.”
Other parents complain that the
constant studying infringes on family life.
“I want to draw better and
healthier boundaries between the
school day and family time, better
and healthier boundaries between
school and home,” wrote one parent on Town Square, the Weekly’s
online discussion forum, noting that
schools appear to be crossing those
boundaries unrestrained.
The parent asked for an explanation of the legal basis for homework,
and the resulting thread, started
mid-December, has garnered nearly
500 comments.
But while students and parents
have been the ones voicing their
complaints, teachers have not been
ignorant of the outcry. In an effort
to change the culture around homework, and at the same time improve
students’ learning, more and more
Gunn and Paly teachers have begun
taking a different tack on homework, experimenting with blendedlearning models, “flipped” class-
rooms and innovative educational
strategies that challenge traditional
notions of homework.
T
wo years ago, longtime
Gunn High School science
teacher Eric Ledgerwood
“flipped” his AP Environmental
Science course. Instead of lectures in the classroom and traditional homework assignments,
his students now watch 10- to
15-minute interactive video lectures at home that Ledgerwood
has created. During class, they
ask questions about the content,
engage and grapple with each
other over the topics and work
on long-term research projects.
In theory, the flipped classroom
offers less rote instruction and
homework and more time for
deeper, collaborative learning.
“I don’t give anywhere near as
much homework as I used to,” Ledgerwood said.
“I think the real beauty of it was
— and this is the whole idea of
flipped learning — I can do more
things in the classroom with the
kids when I’m not just talking at
them,” he said.
In Paly’s new Social Justice Pathway program — a “school within
a school” that starts sophomore
year — project-based learning and
(continued on next page)
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 21
Palo
Cover
AltoStory
Weekly
Sources of stress
Paly
(continued on page 23)
Palo Alto High School teacher Eric Bloom addresses four
different types of justice during his social-justice class.
Page 22 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
20
0
29%
25% 29%
Parental
pressure
27%
Extracurriculars
40
35%
Classload
0
56%
Testing and project stacking
20
39%
73%
Homework
40
Parental
pressure
W
60
Extracurriculars
60
Classload
by Elena Kadvany
80
74%
Testing and project stacking
80
be completely free of homework
assignments. It also breaks down
the type of homework that should
be given at different grade levels
and offers guidelines for teachers.
After receiving the board’s
stamp of approval in June 2012,
the policy was disseminated to all
of the district’s schools and left
for school leaders to implement
that fall.
At both of Palo Alto’s high
schools, this effort was reportedly
unfocused and eventually lost in
the day-to-day shuffle.
“The sites were supposed to
follow through on some of those
administrative regulations in
terms of just examining homework practice, and I think at
some level, everybody did,” said
Gunn teacher Lettie Weinmann,
who served on the homework
committee. “But at least at Gunn,
it wasn’t really an orchestrated
effort at that point. I think that’s
just because we had a lot of other
things going on.”
Paly Principal Kim Diorio,
who at the time was the assistant
principal, said teachers had many
questions about the policy that
went unanswered.
“There were a lot of questions.
... ‘What does it mean? What
exactly are they saying? What is
this language implying?’” Diorio
said many teachers asked. “There
was a lot of uncertainty, and our
current principal at the time was
unable to provide a lot of answers
to those questions. There was a lot
of ‘Let me go talk to the district.’”
“Quite honestly, it really was
just kind of put aside,” she added.
“There was not a publicly
discussed, district-level process
of implementation as far as I
remember,” said school board
member Ken Dauber, who also
served on the homework committee. “I don’t think that there is
a clear picture across the district
or even within schools, certainly
not one that has visibility beyond
100
84%
Efforts underway to collect more concrete
data on implementation
hen people talk about
homework in Palo
Alto, they often wonder: What, exactly, is the district’s policy on homework?
Adopted in 2012, the policy
was the culmination of an advisory committee’s year-long deep
dive into research and best practices on homework. It follows
well-established thought that
homework is appropriately limited to 10 minutes per grade per
night, Monday through Thursday,
for elementary and middle school
(so a fifth-grader would max out
at 50 minutes per night) and to
seven to 10 hours per week for
high school students.
An oft-cited 2008 metaanalysis of homework studies by
Duke University Professor Harris Cooper, who is considered
a leading researcher on homework, states that homework benefits plateau at about two hours
per night at the secondary level.
The study suggests that somewhere between 90 minutes and
two-and-a-half hours per night is
optimal for high school students.
In Palo Alto, Advanced Placement (AP) and honors courses are
exempt from limits, with the policy acknowledging that advanced
classes “may require more extensive homework.”
“Effective homework practices
do not place an undue burden on
students,” the policy states. “The
Board (of Education) recognizes
the value of extracurricular activities, unstructured time and
adequate sleep for a student’s
success in school.”
The policy also includes administrative regulations with
recommendations on outsideof-class projects (“these tasks
should not require group meetings outside of class, significant
assistance from parents, or costly
materials”), weekend homework (“if deemed necessary, the
amount should not exceed a regular day’s assignment”) and winter break, which is supposed to
Gunn
100
Homework
District homework
policy roll-out stalls
Source: Palo Alto Youth Council Survey, 2010
(continued from previous page)
collaboration reign, and homework
is treated as something to be completed at home if it is not finished
in class.
Homework is graded for completion, rather than performance.
Overall grades are not A’s, B’s,
C’s or D’s on homework but rather
“mastery,” “proficient,” “competent” or “emerging.”
“The idea is that we’re really trying to get them to focus more on the
learning as opposed to the grades,
but those are difficult things,” said
history and social sciences teacher
Eric Bloom, who has been at Paly for
17 years and created the Social Justice Pathway with longtime English
teacher Erin Angell. “Especially in
Palo Alto to say, ‘Don’t worry about
the grade. Just worry about the learning.’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, OK, but
what am I going to get?’”
Bloom and other teachers are
hoping to chip away at that attitude, as conversations at both high
schools move from how much
homework to give to what kind of
homework to give.
“Are we measuring student learning, or are we measuring compliance?” Palo Alto High School Principal Kim Diorio asked. “Those
are the big philosophical questions
we’re having as a school.”
“We want kids to be excited about
school and excited about learning,”
Diorio said. “So what are the systems that we have in place that are
getting in the way of that? Is homework one of those systems?”
S
ince Ledgerwood flipped his
AP Environmental Science
class two years ago, the role
of practice has been shifted away
from homework and into the classroom.
His first tools in this shift were
short YouTube videos that students
were required to watch, take notes
on and do some related bookwork
on at home.
This year, he’s using EDpuzzle,
a free platform with video-editing
software and tools — so teachers
can embed questions or quizzes in
the video lectures and block students from skipping ahead in videos
to reach the quiz — and a searchable database of related educational
videos from sources like the Khan
Academy and LearnZillion.
Despite the shift and reduced
homework load that comes along
with it, Ledgerwood acknowledged
there will always be a need for “certain content acquisition” through
homework.
“Sometimes what we call ‘drill
and kill,’ where you have to do 50
math problems at the same time,
or for language, you just have to
memorize your verbs or whatever it
is — I think that’s always going to
be a subset of what we do,” Ledgerwood said. “I think that’s where the
homework will reside.”
But, “As far as homework when
you’re doing process-driven things,
I think it will really shift.”
Though as Gunn’s only environmental-science teacher, Ledgerwood was able to transform this one
class, the same changes are slower
moving for a course like chemistry,
which is taught by multiple teachers who work together to make sure
their curriculum and assignments
are similar.
“I didn’t have the opportunity
necessarily yet to do something
really revolutionary for chem,” he
said. “It’s on my agenda.”
Another teacher at Gunn, Phil
Lyons, gives no homework, even in
an AP-level course, and claims to
not only have more intellectually
engaged students but ones who still
score high on the AP exam. Lyons,
who declined to be interviewed for
this story, is quoted on a 2008 blog
post by nationally known education
speaker Alfie Kohn, author of “The
Homework Myth: Why Our Kids
Get Too Much of a Bad Thing.”
“Each year my students have performed better on the (A.P.) test. ... I
would feel justified encroaching on
students’ free time and I’d be willing to do the grading if I saw tangible returns, but with no quantifiable
benefit it makes no sense to impose
(homework) on them or me,” Lyons
told Kohn.
Kohn, who gave a talk earlier this
month on achievement and learning
at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo
Alto, is staunchly anti-homework.
There is “one more contributor,
one more practical issue that we
could get rid of tomorrow with the
damage that it does,” Kohn told the
crowd of mostly parents but also
educators and Palo Alto district
administrators. “It is making kids
work the equivalent of a second
shift.” (At this, the audience burst
into applause.)
“Homework is literally all pain
and no gain,” Kohn continued.
“What it produces is frustration, ex-
haustion, family conflict and nagging, less time for kids to do stuff
they care about when they get home
and loss of interest. Homework is
the greatest extinguisher of curiosity that we have.”
Lyons told Kohn that after eliminating homework — a decision
he came to over the course of his
career — students became visibly
more curious, independently bringing in news articles relating to what
they had learned in class. (Other
Palo Alto teachers, too, have told
the Weekly that as they’ve become
more experienced, they’ve given
less and less homework.)
Similarly, a 2013 study on the
nonacademic effects of homework
in privileged, high-performing high
schools, co-authored by Denise
Pope of the Stanford University
Graduate School of Education and
nonprofit research group Challenge
Success, found that more homework
does not equate deeper learning.
“Although we found that students
completing more hours of homework also tended to report greater
behavioral engagement in their
schoolwork and classes (as measured by students reporting they
often or always try hard, pay attention, and complete assignments),
this connection does not mean
these students were deeply learning the material, enjoying the work
or finding it meaningful or helpful,”
the study reads.
“If there was an easy fix, it would
have been done so long ago,” Pope
said in an interview. “But I do think
there can be a better understanding
on the part of educators and parents
as to the proper and effective role of
homework. There’s a big confusion
between rigor and load.”
Paly’s Bloom agrees that the
debate over homework should not
be about the number of minutes
assigned but rather the quality of
those assignments.
“I get that minutes are the symptom and by controlling around minutes we can have this conversation,
but it’s not the minutes,” he said.
“It’s the assignment that is the question and whether or not this should
be homework, and what is the function of homework and how do you
add value to it?”
Kohn argues that homework
should be the exception, not the
norm. Teachers should talk with
students openly about the work
they’re being asked to do and
“meet a high burden of proof” for
Palo
Cover
AltoStory
Weekly
students to work that second shift at
home, he said.
But teachers, and many students,
in fact, recognize that for some
classes, there is a value to that second shift.
“I don’t think homework is ever
going to go away,” said Gunn physics teacher Lettie Weinmann. “I
think students need to think about
the world around them outside of
class if they are going to understand it, especially in science. It’s
all around you. We want our kids to
know that physics happens outside
of the classroom as well as inside.”
This could be swinging on a
swing to understand forces or looking at shadows to learn about light,
she said.
P
aly senior Tira Oskoui said
she has the most homework
this semester from her AP
Calculus BC class, the highest
level math course offered at Paly.
Her norm is about two hours per
assignment, but that can jump
to four hours “on the really bad
nights,” she said. The class’ description in Paly’s 2014 course
catalog offers an estimation for
hours of homework, as many do,
of four to six hours — per week.
But, Oskoui said, “The class
moves at a really fast pace, so if we
weren’t given a lot of homework,
I don’t know if people would be
keeping up with the class.”
Paly senior Brook had similar
feelings about AP U.S. History,
which has the notorious reputation
as being Paly’s most demanding
class. Usually taken junior year, the
course requires reading over the
summer before the class starts and
annotated reading linked to quizzes
that are usually given two out of the
three times a week the class meets.
Though Brook described the
class as a “soul sucker” homework-wise, teacher Jack Bungarden made it “one of the best classes I’ve ever taken.”
“It was a worthwhile class,”
Brook said. “Most of the work we
had to do was very helpful, even
though there was just so much.”
Even this rigorous course has
recently shifted slightly, with Bungarden now offering students three
chances to opt out of the regular
reading quizzes if they for some
reason can’t get it done. Many
teachers do offer this kind of flexibility, making some or even all
assignments optional. At Paly, for
example, AP Psychology has started making homework (primarily
reading), test corrections and pretest review optional.
“So far I’ve done basically everything that was optional, but it’s less
stressful knowing if you do badly on
it, it’s dropped, and if you end up not
having time, it’s fine,” Oskoui said.
Four Paly teachers also piloted
last fall a homework-pass program
in the hopes that offering an olive
branch of flexibility would open up
the lines of communication between
teachers and students about homework. In exchange for either a free
extension or excused assignment,
students had to meet with their
teacher over lunch with the goal of
having an open, judgment-free conversation about their workload.
The passes were the product of
a school-culture hackathon, hosted
by the Stanford University d.school,
that Bloom and a small group of
teachers and students who form
Paly’s school-climate committee
attended one weekend. They were
tasked with answering the question, “What could you do to make
school better?” (And in the vein of
an action-oriented hacker mindset,
“How can you accomplish that on a
small-scale by the time you go back
to school on Monday?” Bloom said.)
The pilot passes were offered to
about 250 students. About 35 students used the passes and about
two-thirds opted for an extension
rather than an excused assignment,
Bloom said.
“The idea is that (students) wanted just a little bit of flexibility so
that they could make mistakes,”
Bloom said. “And then it was this
piece of, ‘Well, I could talk to you
about it and we could do this, but
what about these other teachers that
are not as flexible?’
“That’s where we learned, it’s
not the homework. It’s all these
other factors. Homework is just
this symptom.”
At least in some classes, homework is relatively low-stakes, Oskoui
said, so the pressure is not as great.
In most of her classes at Paly, it’s
been weighted only 5 to 10 percent
of the grade. But it still can induce
stress if it makes students feel like
they won’t be ready for a future test.
“When I’m doing the homework,
if I find it’s really hard, I’ll be like,
‘Oh my gosh, what’s the test going
to be like?’” she said. “In math especially, if I really struggled with
a homework assignment, I’ll get
stressed thinking about the test in
the future.”
Weinmann said she’s also seen
the overall homework load at Gunn
increase as more students enroll in
more AP and honors classes.
“I think I have whittled back on
the amount of homework I assign,”
she said. “I can’t say that other
teachers necessarily have or have
not, but what I have seen is that
more students are choosing to take
the AP and honors courses than
ever before.”
She said that when she first arrived at Gunn, the science department, for example, offered only AP
Biology and AP Physics B, with
a total of five sections of classes.
About 12 percent of the study body
enrolled in an AP-level science
course, Weinmann said.
Today, Gunn offers 16 sections of
AP science courses and has added
AP Physics C (calculus-based physics), AP Chemistry and AP Environmental Science to the roster.
About 22 percent of Gunn students
enroll in these classes.
Despite the pockets of innovative teaching practices cropping
up at Paly and Gunn, Weinmann
said that widespread change will
require providing teachers more
time to collaborate.
“Individual teachers plugging
away at it in their own classrooms,
which is happening right now, is
not going to be nearly as effective
as when we have an opportunity to
work together towards this common
goal,” she said.
A
district-wide review of
homework practices is
likely to appear on the
Board of Education’s agenda this
year, with newly elected member
Ken Dauber in particular pushing
to keep the issue at the forefront
of his colleagues’ minds. Dauber
has asked that staff review the
implementation of the district’s
homework policy, which was approved in 2012 and was reportedly rolled out unevenly at schools
(see sidebar).
“We shouldn’t assume that there
is some part of a student’s day that
is somehow dedicated to homework and the job of the schools
are to fill it,” Dauber said in an interview. “Just like everything else,
we should be able to demonstrate
the educational payoff for the time.
And if we can’t, then we don’t have
a right to use it because kids have
Q: If you could change one thing about
your school, what would it be?
REPORT
English
History
Science
Math
LESS HOMEWORK, LIGHTER LOAD
LATER START TIME IN THE MORNING
A
A+
A
B
LESS ACADEMIC PRESSURE
other things to do with their life after school.”
“It really needs to be assessed on
its merits of, ‘Is this providing an
educational benefit?’ both in terms
of its content and also its quantity,”
he added. “We need to be willing to
modify our practices based on what
we learn from that.”
But as the often-slow wheels of
government turn, Alfie Kohn, for
one, urges teachers and parents
to be the agents of change when
it comes to pushing for structural
changes at their children’s schools.
At his talk this month, Kohn
urged teachers to not feel restricted
District policy
(continued from page 22)
the site level on this.
“There are anecdotes either
way,” he continued. “I’ve heard
people say, ‘Oh yeah, it’s better;’
Others have said, ‘I don’t see any
difference at all.’ And they may
well both be true based on where
they happen to be.”
Dauber also said that when the
committee came to an end, he
and other members felt there was
more work to be done.
“How much of a student’s
grade should be comprised of
homework? What about late policies? How do we prevent homework from becoming something
that can sink a student’s grade
and put them in a place where
they can’t get a good grade in the
class?” Dauber said. “We suggested to the school board that
there be a follow-on focused goal
to deal with those things and also
to deal with implementation.
That didn’t happen.”
Dauber said he has asked that
a review of the status of the
homework-policy implementation be placed on the school
board’s agenda.
Community and board members alike raised the topic numerous times at this week’s board
meeting, calling for more focused
implementation.
“We need to align the homework policy and administrative
regulations with actual practices,
which involves teachers and administrators working together
— and this includes a district responsibility, this includes my responsibility to ensure that we have
professional development for this,”
Superintendent Max McGee said.
“We can’t just put a policy out
there and say, ‘Go do it.’”
Efforts are also underway at
both the school and district levels
to collect more concrete data on
homework.
Gunn Principal Denise Herrmann this year asked teachers
to post the estimated amounts of
time for all of their homework
assignments on Schoology, the
district’s online schools management system. This touched a
nerve for some teachers — both
as a mandate-from-high and a
time-consuming task — who
eventually filed an official grievance through the teacher’s union.
by the grade they’re required to
give at the end of a semester and
to use their time to shift students’
focus from assessment and performance to learning and engagement. He told a worried mother
in the audience, frustrated by the
educational options for her almostkindergarten-age son, to organize
with other parents to put weight
behind her concerns.
“You don’t have to wait for the
school to move in order to do some
good,” Kohn said. Q
Staff Writer Elena Kadvany can
be emailed at [email protected].
It has since been resolved, though
details surrounding the resolution
and its implications have not yet
been publicly disclosed.
Weinmann said she complies with Herrmann’s request,
but she understands why other
teachers are reluctant. Schoology is a clunky, far-from-userfriendly tool, she said.
“I think it would be better if
it were a better tool, but it’s all
we have right now, so let’s use it
and it will help us to understand
homework a little better,” Weinmann said.
One AP Biology teacher at
Gunn is asking for feedback directly from students, according to
junior Hayley Krolik. The teacher
this year added a line at the bottom of all assignments on which
students are to write how long the
homework took them.
“I think that just letting the
teacher gauge based on (how
long) the students are taking and
not setting expectations is best,”
Krolik said.
Both Paly and Gunn surveyed
students on homework this year
as part of their Western Association of Schools and Colleges
(WASC) accreditation processes,
which occur every six years. The
result of the in-depth WASC
process is an action plan with set
goals for the next six years.
The district also recently contracted with the Hanover Research Group, a global firm, to
analyze Palo Alto’s K-12 practices in the four main academic
subject areas (math, science,
history/social science, English)
as well as world languages. Hanover will be surveying students
and staff as well as analyzing
syllabi to look at homework,
grading practices, forms of assessment and curriculum.
Dauber hopes the resulting
data on homework will be the
first step toward assessing the
implementation of the board’s
homework policy.
“We want schools that are designed for learning and we want
to assess the pedagogical practices to see if it’s what they’re
achieving,” he said. “All kinds of
aspects of what we do in schools,
just like anywhere else, can take
on a kind of ceremonial quality
where we don’t dig down and say,
‘What’s the real payoff for this?’
I think homework is due for that
kind of an assessment.”Q
Source: Palo Alto Youth Council Survey, 2010
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 23
A weekly guide to music, theater, art, culture, books and more, edited by Elizabeth Schwyzer
Women’s photographs tell stories from Iran and the Arab world
by Elizabeth Schwyzer
Goshar Dashti
In her “Today’s Life and War” series, Iranian artist Goshar Dashti juxtaposes ordinary domestic scenes against a backdrop of war and destruction.
assumptions, capturing instead a
much richer and more nuanced
picture of the role of women in
both public and private spheres.
“After Sept. 11, I was compelled
to create images of the veil, particularly since Muslims, their
beliefs and way of life had taken
international center stage,” Almutawakel explained in a recent
email. “I wanted to be careful
not to fuel widespread negative
stereotypes, especially the notion
that women who wear the hijab
are weak, oppressed, ignorant and
backwards.”
The exhibition features work
by 12 artists shot almost exclusively over the past decade and
is organized around three major
themes: Deconstructing Orientalism, Constructing Identities and
New Documentary. The majority of works take as their subject
women and the female sphere,
from Shirin Neshat’s portraits of
women whose bodies are covered
in Persian script — symbolizing
the role of women in the Arab
Spring uprisings — to Iranian
artist Shadi Ghadirian’s close-up
shots of inanimate objects, which
appear as serene as still-life paintings until the eye settles on the
evidence of violence: the grenade
in the fruit bowl, bullets scattered
among lipsticks and eyeliners. In
among the still photography are
video installations by Iranian
Newsha Tavakolian. “Listen” features silent footage of professional
female singers who are forbidden
by Islamic tenets to perform in
public.
Some of the works in this collection take in the devastation of
armed conflict and the upheaval
of revolution. Others focus on
daily life, finding in the quotidian
both beauty and universality, and
reminding viewers that life goes
on, even in the midst of chaos.
Colleen Stockmann, assistant
curator for special projects at the
Page 24 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Cantor, said it’s the intimacy of
these photographs she finds most
arresting.
“When it comes to the Middle
East, we’re so inundated with images of war, conflict and folks in
armed dress that we rarely see
a more personalized and tender
look at ordinary people, their
families and their everyday lives,”
Stockmann noted, rattling off the
images from the show that stick
with her: a girl on a swing, women taking selfies, teenage girls in
their bedrooms. Furthermore, she
added, the artists who directly address themes of war and conflict
do so not in dramatic or sensational style, but in a way that’s “poetic
— in a quiet manner that reflects
how ingrained (war) has become.”
One might expect photographs
from politically volatile countries
including Iraq, Egypt and Israel
to be heavy in tone, yet many of
these works convey a sense of
humor while simultaneously addressing serious social issues. For
example, Stockmann noted, Almutawakel’s “Woman, Daughter,
Doll” is “a powerful series about
visibility and agency,” yet “there’s
a bit of levity to it — to the way
she’s playing with exposure and
vulnerability.”
A playful spirit is certainly evident in the work of Iranian photographer Goshar Dashti, whose
2008 series “Today’s Life and
War” features a young couple
who go about their lives against
a backdrop of destruction. In one
shot, they sit side by side in the
bombed-out shell of a car festooned with wedding garlands; a
military tank looms in the background. In another image, they
hang laundry on loops of barbed
wire.
“I was born in the early years
of the Islamic Revolution, and the
first steps of my childhood were
during the bloody Iran-Iraq war,”
explained Dashti in an email in-
terview. “The profound impact
that war has had on my life and
my generation has remained until
today.”
At the same time, she observed,
“War and life are inseparable
from each other.” As an artist,
she said, she hopes to convey the
strange mixture of “violence, war
memories, happiness and joy” that
make up her life experience.
The distance between the assumptions of Western viewers and
the actual experiences of Middle
Eastern women is a crucial one.
In grouping together works from
such a wide range of countries and
cultures, “She Who Tells a Story”
runs the risk of being seen as reductive. That’s a danger Stock(continued on next page)
Boushra Almutawakel
smiling woman sits with her
daughter on her knee, a baby
doll in a bright fuchsia dress
poised on the little girl’s lap. The
woman wears a cream-colored
head scarf, or hijab, her dark hair
peeking out, while her daughter’s wavy locks fall freely to her
shoulders.
This is the first frame of “Mother, Daughter, Doll,” a series of
nine photographs shot by Yemeni
artist Boushra Almutawakel in
2010. In the following frame, the
woman’s smile is dimmer, her
hair covered more thoroughly by
a dark-hued scarf. Her plaid coat
has been exchanged for a black
one; her daughter sits more rigidly, her hair partially obscured by
a cloth. Even the doll’s dress has
been replaced by a more modest
one. So the covering up of these
three figures progresses, frame
after frame, until in the penultimate image they’re shrouded entirely in black, their eyes peeking
out from behind the fine mesh of
their traditional QLTăE veils. In the
ninth and final shot, they’ve disappeared entirely.
“Mother, Daughter, Doll” is one
of 81 photographic works now on
view at Stanford’s Cantor Arts
Center as part of “She Who Tells
a Story: Women Photographers
from Iran and the Arab World.”
An exhibition curated by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, it’s
the first of its kind in the United
States: a collection of images of
women, by women from across
a wide range of Middle Eastern
countries. Its Stanford appearance
marks its only West Coast showing.
As Almutawakel’s work suggests, the place of women in their
respective cultures is a recurring
theme in this exhibition. Yet rather than confirming the Western
stereotype of the veiled woman
as one who lacks freedom or
agency, these artists overturn such
In “Mother, Daughter, Doll” from The Hijab Series, Yemeni artist
Boushra Almutawakel raises issues of women’s visibility and agency.
Arts & Entertainment
Beyond the veil
(continued from previous page)
mann and other curators have acknowledged, and one they believe
is avoidable through a close look
at the works themselves.
“There are a lot of very specific
and different approaches being
taken, and artists from different
areas addressing very different
religious and political situations,”
Stockmann said. “I don’t know of
another show that’s even tried to
cover work from such a broad region in this way.”
The intention, she said, is for
viewers to approach each image
as a formal photographic work: to
appreciate the specificity of each
image and to consider it in its own
context, rather than to see all 81
works as representing a single
movement or message.
Though the 12 artists represented in “She Who Tells a Story”
are all adult women, some of the
subjects are younger. In Rania
Matar’s series, “A Girl and Her
Room,” the photographer takes
us inside the bedrooms of teenage girls in Lebanon, offering
rare glimpses into these private
spheres. A Lebanese-born artist now living in Massachusetts,
Matar has shot teenage girls in
both the U.S. and Lebanon and
said her interest is in capturing
the universal experience of adolescence.
“At the core, these girls are all
going through the same emotions
at the onset of adulthood,” she
said. “In your teenage years, you
make one decision and it alters
your life, and that’s true whether
you’re growing up in a refugee
camp or in the upper class in Beirut or Boston.”
Of all the stories this exhibition
tells, the one that spans countries
and cultures is that of the agency
of the female artist. Every work in
the show serves as a testament to
the woman who stood behind the
lens, countering Western stereotypes and sensational media representations by offering her own
distinct, specific point of view. Q
Arts & Entertainment Editor Elizabeth Schwyzer can be
emailed at eschwyzer@paweekly.
com.
What: “She Who Tells a Story:
Women Photographers from
Iran and the Arab World”
Where: Cantor Art Center, 328
Lomita Drive at Museum Way,
Stanford
When: Through May 4. Gallery
hours: Wednesday-Monday 11
a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m.8 p.m. Gallery talk Thursday,
March 5, 12:15 p.m. Artist
panel Thursday, March 19, 5:30
p.m. Multimedia presentation
Thursday, April 30, 5:30 p.m.
Exhibition tours beginning
Feb. 5: Thursday, 12:15 p.m.,
Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m.
Cost: Free
Info: Go to museum.stanford.
edu or call 650-723-4177.
OZOMATLI
COUNTRY LEGEND
Irene Diaz Opens
Merle Haggard
April 30, 8PM
February 20, 8 PM
LES MISERABLES
MY FAIR LADY
March 6–15
June 5–14
WEST SIDE STORY
KISS ME KATE
August 14–23
November 6–15
Get Your Tickets Online At:
www.FoxRwc.com
2215 Broadway St., Redwood City
650.FOX.7770
NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
of the Palo Alto
Planning &Transportation Commission
Please be advised the Planning and Transportation Commission (P&TC) shall conduct a public meeting at 6:00
PM, Wednesday, February 11, 2015 in the Council
Chambers, Ground Floor, Civic Center, Palo Alto, California. Any interested persons may appear and be heard
on these items.
:[HɈ YLWVY[Z MVY HNLUKPaLK P[LTZ HYL H]HPSHISL ]PH [OL
City’s main website at www.cityofpaloalto.org and also
at the Planning Division Front Desk, 5th Floor, City Hall,
HM[LY!74VU[OL-YPKH`WYLJLKPUN[OLTLL[PUNKH[L
Copies will be made available at the Development Center
ZOV\SK*P[`/HSSILJSVZLKVU[OL -YPKH`
Public Hearing
1. 805 Los Trancos Road (14PLN-00425) (*Quasi-Judicial): 9LX\LZ[ I` ,0+ (YJOP[LJ[Z MVY H :P[L HUK +LZPNUYL]PL^VMHUL^ ZMZPUNSLZ[VY`ZPUNSLMHTPS`
home, and associated site improvements on a 3.5 acre
WHYJLSVMSHUKAVUPUN+PZ[YPJ[!6WLU:WHJL6:,U]PYVUTLU[HS(ZZLZZTLU[!4P[PNH[LK5LNH[P]L+LJSHYH[PVU
HWWYV]LK PU 1\UL HUK HKKLUK\T H[[HJOLK -VY
TVYLPUMVYTH[PVUJVU[HJ[:OLSKVU(O:PUNH[sheldon@
mplanninggroup.com.
2. Planned Community (PC) Zoning Reform and Preliminary Screening Requirements: 9L]PL^ VM KYHM[
revisions to PC Planned Community District Regulations and Development Project Preliminary Procedures
PU7HSV(S[V4\UPJPWHS*VKL*OHW[LYZHUK HUKYLJVTTLUKHKVW[PVUVM[OLKYHM[VYKPUHUJL[V[OL
*P[`*V\UJPS,U]PYVUTLU[HS(ZZLZZTLU[!,_LTW[MYVT
*,8(W\YZ\HU[[V:LJ[PVU4PUVY(S[LYH[PVUZPU
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*VUZ\LSV /LYUHUKLa H[ *VUZ\LSVOLYUHUKLa'JP[`VMpaloalto.org.
Questions. For any questions regarding the above items,
WSLHZL JVU[HJ[ [OL 7SHUUPUN +LWHY[TLU[ H[ ;OLÄSLZYLSH[PUN[V[OLZLP[LTZHYLH]HPSHISLMVYPUZWLJ[PVU^LLRKH`ZIL[^LLU[OLOV\YZVM!(4[V!
74;OPZW\ISPJTLL[PUNPZ[LSL]PZLKSP]LVU.V]LYUTLU[
(JJLZZ*OHUULS
(+(;OL*P[`VM7HSV(S[VKVLZUV[KPZJYPTPUH[LHNHPUZ[
individuals with disabilities. To request an accommodation
MVY [OPZ TLL[PUN VY HU HS[LYUH[P]L MVYTH[ MVY HU` YLSH[LK
printed materials, please contact the City’s ADA CoordiUH[VYH[ ]VPJLVYI`LTHPSPUNHKH'JP[`VMpaloalto.org.
***
Hillary Gitelman,
Director of Planning and Community Environment
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 25
Arts & Entertainment
LARISSA MACFARQUHAR
STAFF WRITER, THE NEW YORKER
Thursday, February 5 @ 7pm
CEMEX Auditorium, Stanford University
weight and that ambition? Is humility good, or is it just
pessimism? Larissa MacFarquhar will tell the story of a woman
from the Los Angeles ghetto who rejected the towering
abstractions of the peace and justice movement for the
intimacy of nursing, and rejected the radicalism of 1980s
Oregon to live in a refugee hamlet in Nicaragua.
ethicsinsociety.stanford.edu | event is free & open to the public
Theater
‘Maple & Vine’
Ever wonder whether you’d be
happier living in a simpler era? In
playwright Jordan Harrison’s dark
comedy, “Maple & Vine,” that’s
the wager made by two stressedout 21st-century types, Katha and
Ryu. In Los Altos Stage Company’s production, Lorie Goulart
and Jeffery Sun play the young
couple who together decide to
forgo modern conveniences —
iPhones included! — in exchange
for an authentic 1950s lifestyle,
complete with a job at the factory,
a ranch-style home and Tupperware parties.
Is their nostalgia really warranted? Will Katha and Ryu’s trade
grant them freedom, or steal it?
What will they give up, and what
will they gain? There’s only one
way to find out.
“Maple & Vine” plays now
through Feb. 22 at the Bus Barn
Mari Marks’ “Intervals 70”
from her Spectrum Studies
Series is among the works on
display at Stanford University.
Art
Marks’ exhibition, “The Spiritual Landscape,” features layered,
scraped paintings whose abstract
patterns evoke geological features: dappled light on water,
ripples, scales. Like clouds or
Rorschach blots, they invite the
viewer’s free association. Meanwhile, Hersh’s collection, titled
“One Day at a Time: Thirty Years
in the Studio,” incorporates twoand three-dimensional works inspired by nature and architecture,
light and energy.
“Wax Works” will be on view
in three separate campus spaces:
the Paul G. Allen Building (420
Via Palou Mall), the David W.
Packard Electrical Engineering
Building (350 Serra Mall) and the
Psychology Department (Jordan
Hall, 450 Serra Mall).
To learn more about Stanford
Art Spaces and “Wax Works,” go
to facebook.com/stanfordartspaces or call 650-725-3622.
‘Wax Works’
In traditional oil painting, pigment is suspended in linseed oil.
In encaustic painting, wax rather
than oil provides the binding
agent, resulting in a thicker, more
opaque medium that lends itself to
complex layering and even sculpting. Bay Area artists Mari Marks
and Howard Hersh exemplify the
contemporary application of encaustic painting. Now through
March 6, works by the two artists will be on view at Stanford
University as part of the Stanford
Art Spaces program.
Mark and Tracy Photography
McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society
Courtney Hatcher plays Ellen,
and Danny Martin plays Dean
in Los Altos Stage Company’s
production of “Maple and Vine.”
Courtesy Stanford Art Spaces
WHAT DOES IT DO TO A PERSON TO BELIEVE
SHE IS ONE OF THE FEW WHO MUST CHANGE
THE WORLD? And what does it mean to throw off that
Theater, 97 Hillview Ave., Los
Altos. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m.,
Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets range
from $18-$34. To learn more, go
to losaltosstage.org or call 650941-0551.
Chris Peoples
Everything
was a
Matter of
Life and
Death
High-definition NASA images
will accompany the Stanford
Symphony Orchestra’s
performance of Holst’s
“The Planets.”
Music
‘The Planets’
Is your agent there for you? I am there for my
clients...licensed, friendly and helpful staff.
Serving the community for over 26 years!
CHARLIE PORTER
Farmers® Agency
License # 0773991
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650-327-1313 • [email protected]
Page 26 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Imagine hurtling through outer
space, flying past planets as a
soaring musical soundtrack fills
your ears. That’s the idea behind
this weekend’s performances by
the Stanford Symphony Orchestra. The 110-member group will
play “The Planets,” an iconic
orchestral suite by early 20thcentury classical composer Gustav Holst, while on screen, highdefinition NASA images will be
projected. The photographs were
shot by unmanned spacecraft,
rovers and the Hubble Space Telescope, and they offer a stunning
vision of our solar system, allowing viewers to virtually land on
other planets.
The multimedia performances
of “The Planets” will take place
on Friday, Jan. 30, and Saturday, Jan. 31, at 7:30 p.m. at Bing
Concert Hall, 327 Lasuen St.,
Stanford. Tickets will be available
in advance and at the door. They
range from $10-$20, with free admission for Stanford students with
valid I.D. Go to tickets.stanford.
edu or call 650-725-2787. Q
— Elizabeth Schwyzer
Eating
a Out
ALL ABOARD
the
PASTRY TRAIN
Above: The croissant d’Échiré,
left, matcha star ring and pear
Danish are some of Voyageur’s
most popular pastries.
Right: Head pastry chef
Nobukatsu Hoyo trained
in Japan and France until
he perfected the art of the
croissant.
by Elizabeth Schwyzer | photographs by Michelle Le
O
n a given weekday morning in the heart
of the Silicon Valley, traffic surges
along major arteries and lines back up
at Starbucks drive-throughs. Just a few miles
away, there’s a place that seems immune to
the hustle and bustle: a spot where there’s
plenty of time to linger over breakfast.
Welcome to Voyageur du Temps, “Time
Traveler,” in French: a cafe devoted to la
bonne vie, sans rush hour.
As much as it promises a journey, Voyageur offers an arrival. Housed in the 1913
craftsman-style Los Altos train station —
a setting ripe with both metaphorical and
aesthetic charm — Voyageur provides respite in the form of beautiful and bountiful
French breads and pastries, specialty coffees and teas and a menu of more elaborate
breakfasts, as well as a simple and elegant
lunch and dinner menu.
Owner Rie Rubin grew up in Osaka, Japan. She’s a full-steam-ahead type, with a
background in tech at Amazon and Google
and a passion for marketing, as well as for
high-quality pastries and cafe cuisine.
A frequent international traveler, Rubin
found that despite its wealth of immigrants
from around the world, the Silicon Valley
was missing the kind of cafes she loved in
Europe and Asia: casual, family-friendly
establishments that served superior baked
goods, coffees and bistro food, prepared unhurriedly. After stepping away from her career to start a family, she found she needed
a larger project; thus, Voyageur was born.
“Here on the West Coast, people tend to
think a cafe is a dumbed-down restaurant,
but it’s not,” she explained over coffee at
Voyageur last week. “It should be sophisticated food in a slightly more casual atmosphere. I want immigrants to come here
and say, ‘Oh, yes, this tastes like the bread
from home.’”
In naming her cafe, Rubin wanted to indicate a return to older, slower methods of
food production and nod to the resurrection
of a building that once served as a hub for
the community.
Formerly a Los Altos Hills dweller and
now a resident of Portola Valley, Rubin
sees Los Altos as a family-oriented town,
and Voyageur as a place for community
gatherings.
A weekend visit confirms that Rubin’s
vision is being realized. Customers of all
ages wait at the counter to place their orders, and the 3,000-square-foot space accommodates a small fleet of high-tech
strollers. Younger visitors flock to the
Western Pacific caboose out front, which
houses an elaborate model train that winds
its way around a whimsical diorama of the
Bay Area, complete with the TransAmerica Pyramid and Coit Tower. For balmier
days, there are benches made from wood
salvaged from the depot’s long-gone platform, as well as tables on the terrace beneath the trees: the perfect spot to sit and
watch 21st-century Los Altos roll by.
Inside as out, this is a model renovation.
Re-purposed redwood panels from Moffett
Field’s Hangar One line the walls and ceiling; aluminum chairs and sleek, modern tables complete the classic bistro look. There
are artful touches: terrariums of succulents,
an Eiffel Tower cutout gracing one wall.
No matter your age, it’s fun to watch the
pastry chefs, visible from the indoor dining
area thanks to a floor-to-ceiling glass wall. In
their long white aprons, they glide around the
immaculate industrial kitchen, dusting loaves,
rolling out sheets of velvety white dough and
Voyageur du Temps Cafe
offers epicurean escapes
from vintage train station
sliding jewel-like glazed fruit tarts onto the
pastry racks. Head chef Nobu Hoyo is a former professional Japanese soccer player who
left the sport to pursue a second career in
the culinary arts. As part of the interview
process, Rubin challenged him to bake her
the perfect bread and croissant.
“His artisan bread was perfect, but his
croissant was 85 percent, so I sent him off
for further training,” she explained.
Rubin is rightly proud of Voyageur’s
croissants, among them a pain au chocolat
featuring Valrhona 70 percent chocolate,
another flecked with matcha green tea
and the piece de resistance: the croissant
d’Échiré ($5), made with butter from the
French village of Échiré: quite literally la
crème de la crème. Its slightly sweet and
translucent golden flakes give way to a
seriously soft, elastic interior. I licked my
fingers unabashedly and dabbed every last
crumb from my plate.
On another visit, I lingered at the glass
pastry case near the register, enjoying the
samples (tangy sun-dried tomato and olive rustic bread, hearty cranberry chocolate walnut artisan loaf) and the sights
before settling on the Voyageur Breakfast
($9): two soft-poached organic eggs, a
small cup of seasonal fruits and four giant slices of shokupan.
What is shokupan, you ask? A breakfast
favorite in Japan, shokupan is the most
pillowy and satisfying white bread you’re
likely to find. By some miracle of pastry
engineering, it’s ridiculously light, yet
moist and springy. In Voyageur’s breakfast, it comes toasted to a golden brown,
with a pat of unsalted butter and a dollop
of strawberry jam. (The shokupan is sliced
so thick, I ran out of spreads a bit soon and
gazed around hopefully. Nobody noticed.)
A word about the service at Voyageur:
The staff are uniformly young, eager, and
at peak hours, palpably stressed. Given
that the cafe officially opened in May of
last year, they’ve had time to smooth out
the bumps, but there’s a lingering tone of
panicky perfectionism. At one lunch visit,
my kale and persimmon salad ($12) was a
delightful blend of raw and crispy kale, its
slight bitterness balanced by the sweetness
of the fruit and the salty tang of Buddha’s
hand citrus vinaigrette. The salad came
with a generous portion of crumbled gorgonzola, but without the advertised blue
cheese beignets; my server was more distraught than I was. On another occasion,
a customer requesting gluten-free options
(yes, at a bakery) was met with a deer-inthe-headlights stare.
Yet it’s hard to hold much against the
friendly servers who swing past in their
subtly railroad-inspired uniforms to bestow you with such delights as the pear
Danish ($4, slightly chilled, the fruit resting atop a delicate tower of light, buttery
sheets) and a cup of Cafe Voyageur: a
round, sweet Italian roast from Seattle’s
Cafe Vita, topped with fresh whipped
cream and orange zest. Next stop: heaven.
If coffee’s not your thing, it should be. In
the meantime, order Voyageur’s hot cocoa
($3.75), which comes with a homemade
marshmallow so big it fills the cup.
All teas on the menu are looseleaf
blends from Brooklyn’s Bellocq tea atelier. A friend loved the Pic du Midi: green
tea with a touch of mint and ginger. I was
partial to the Little Dickens: rooibos, cacao nibs, cinnamon and rose petals.
Late sleepers be forewarned; certain
breakfast items are only available until
11 a.m.
On a chilly winter afternoon, I ordered
the cauliflower gratin soup with truffle
oil. It came topped with shaved black
truffles and sprinkled with chives: a bowl
of decadence so creamy it was hard — but
not impossible — to finish.
Starting Feb. 2, Voyageur is expanding
its hours and menu, with classic French
dishes like scallops and steak frites on their
way. Already on the menu: duck confit, cassoulet and veal bourguignon. Rubin said
the menu will shift subtly with the seasons;
currently, soups and quiches change daily.
No matter what you order at Voyageur,
it’s likely to be made with care — the
slower, more old-fashioned way. Baking
soda, for example, isn’t even in the kitchen; though it’s faster and easier, the pastry
chefs at Voyageur prefer yeast.
“We often talk about healthy food, but
we neglect it in baking,” Rubin said. “It
should be as simple as eggs, flour, yeast,
butter and salt.”
When pastries are prepared this way
and baked fresh, never frozen, Rubin says
the difference is more than flavor — it’s
also better for you.
“If we go back to an older method of
food production, it can still be very good
for you,” she said. “I wanted to take a moment in the tech-centric Silicon Valley and
have people’s hands bring you this highquality product. I hope the result shows.” Q
Voyageur du Temps 288 1st Street, Los
Altos; (650)-383-5800; voyageur.com
Hours: Closed Monday; Tuesday-Sunday,
7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Starting Feb. 2: Monday-Sunday,
7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 27
Eating Out
ACADEMY AWARD
NOMINEE
®
BEST ACTRESS JULIANNE MOORE
ShopTalk
“A REMARKABLE FEAT OF ACTING.”
-A.O. Scott, THE NEW YORK TIMES
WINNER
by Daryl Savage
GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD
®
(DRAMA)
BEST ACTRESS JULIANNE MOORE
JULIANNE MOORE
ALEC BALDWIN
S T I L L
WRITTEN FOR THE SCREEN AND DIRECTED BY RICHARD
A L I C E
GLATZER & WASH WESTMORELAND
WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM
READ THE NOVEL
FROM GALLERY BOOKS
NOW PLAYING
CHECK THEATRE
DIRECTORIES
OR CALL FOR
SHOWTIMES
VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.STILLALICEFILM.COM
HE REAT
A IVE
Give blood
for life!
© H F PA
KRISTEN STEWART
Schedule an
appointment:
call 888-723-7831
or visit
bloodcenter.stanford.edu
RITING PROGRAM AT
A STANFORD
T
UNIVERSITY
presents
Visiting
Vis
Vi
issiting
isit
itin
ititin
ing
ng Writer
ng
Writ
Wr
W
Wri
riter
itter
Joyce
Joy
Jo
oyce Carol Oates
Oateess
Reading
W E D N E S DAY , F E B R U A RY 11, 2015 8:00 PM
C E ME X A U D I TO R I U M , Z A M B R A N O H A L L ,
K N I G H T M A N AG E ME N T C E N TE R
641 K N I G H T W AY , S TA N F O R D U N I VE R S I T Y
FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Information: 650.723.0011 http://creativewriting.stanford.edu
Gohar Dashti (Iran, b. 1980), Untitled #5 from the series Today’s Life and War (detail), 2008.
Pigment print. Courtesy of the artist, Azita Bina, and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston. © Gohar Dashtiß
Sponsored by Stanford University Creative Writing Program
POPULAR SJ CAFE COMES TO
PALO ALTO ... A popular daytime
family-owned restaurant with five
locations sprinkled throughout
San Jose has decided to venture
into Palo Alto. Bill’s Cafe, which
started in 1977 in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood, is opening a sixth location in Palo Alto’s
Midtown area. It has taken over the
space that belonged to Pommard
Deli and Fandango Pizza, which
closed Dec. 31. The owner of the
Palo Alto branch of Bill’s Cafe, Nick
Taptelis, immediately gutted the aging 3,000-square-foot site at 3163
Middlefield Road and is sinking an
estimated $500,000 into the new
venture. The cafe will be open for
breakfast and lunch only. “It’s a
great location, it’s got a real neighborhood feel, we’re right next to
Philz Coffee and we have a parking lot,” Taptelis said. “In fact, this
area reminds us of Willow Glen.”
As for what to expect at the new
restaurant, “It’s going to be new
everything in here, plus we’ll have
a counter for people to eat at,” he
said. There will also be patio seating for customers. Taptelis predicts
busy weekends once the restaurant
opens. “We’ll be serving Bloody
Marys and Mimosas on the weekends. Big ones. We serve them
in what our customers call ‘fishbowl cups.’” Each cup holds 17.5
ounces. “And we’ll be dog-friendly
on the patio,” Taptelis added. “We’ll
have a big bucket of dog biscuits
outside and if the dogs don’t like
our biscuits, we’ll give them bacon.”
The restaurant, which will hold 8590 customers, is focused on an
early June opening. Bill’s Cafe is
the second breakfast-and-lunchonly restaurant in Midtown. The
first, Palo Alto Breakfast House, is
four blocks away at 2706 Middlefield Road and opened in 2013.
ONLINE FARMERS MARKET
COMES TO GAMBLE GARDENS ...
Farmigo, an online farmers market
that creates farm-to-neighborhood
access to fresh food and benefits
local farmers, has recently increased
the number of its pickup locations
in Palo Alto. Gamble Gardens ,
Farmigo’s newest pickup location,
is the third Farmigo location for the
public — the other two are Palo
Alto JCC on Fabian Way and Palo
Alto Community Child Care on Ventura Court. The Gamble Gardens
site, 1431 Waverley St., began last
month. Palo Altan Scott Saslow was
instrumental in securing the Gamble
Gardens space. “I’m a neighbor,” he
said. “My wife and I have a 3-yearold and a 6-year-old and we’re concerned about what our children eat.
Plus this is a great way to build community.” Farmigo is one of several
community-supported agriculture
(CSA) groups that have sprouted
up in the Bay Area in the past few
years. There are additional pickup
locations in Palo Alto for Farmigo,
but those are considered private,
with access limited to those who are
affiliated with each location.
Heard a rumor about your
favorite store or business moving out or in, down the block
or across town? Daryl Savage
will check it out. Email [email protected].
Inspirations
a guide
id to
t the
th spiritual
i it l community
S H E W H O T E L L S A S TO RY
W O M E N P H OTO G R A P H E R S F RO M I R A N A N D T H E A R A B W O R L D
Twelve contemporar y ar tists from eight countries reveal
their perspectives on identity, war, and daily life .
J a n u a r y 2 8 – M ay 4
CANTOR ARTS CENTER AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY
328 LOMITA DRIVE ‡STANFORD, CA ‡94305 ‡‡086(8067$1)25'('8
8LII\LMFMXMSR[EWSVKERM^IHF]XLI1YWIYQSJ*MRI%VXW&SWXSR
We gratefully acknowledge support for the exhibition’s presentation at Stanford from the Clumeck Fund and the Mark and Betsy Gates Fund for Photography. The Cantor's Stanford
GSQQYRMX]TEVXRIVWMRGPYHIßXLI%FFEWM4VSKVEQMR-WPEQMG7XYHMIWXLI,EQMHERH'LVMWXMRE1SKLEHEQ4VSKVEQMR-VERMER7XYHMIWERHXLI'PE]QER-RWXMXYXIJSV+IRHIV6IWIEVGL
Page 28 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Inspirations is a resource for ongoing religious
services and special events. To inquire about
or to reserve space in Inspirations,
please contact Blanca Yoc at 223-6596
or email [email protected]
No gray area
“Black or White” oversimplifies racial tensions
00 1/2 (Century 16, Century 20)
In the shadow of the recent
events in Ferguson, Missouri,
“Selma” appears to be the right
film for the right time of civilrights unrest. But where does that
leave “Black or White,” the new
race-themed drama that arguably
positions a white man as the heroic victim of discrimination at the
hands of African Americans?
Kevin Costner’s Elliot — a highpriced L.A. lawyer embroiled in a
battle to keep custody of his biracial, 7-year-old granddaughter
Eloise (Jillian Estell) — isn’t, by
any stretch, Atticus Finch. Yet
Costner’s staunchly earnest manner continues to suggest a moral
center. When Elliot’s wife (Jenni-
MOVIE TIMES
All showtimes are for Friday – Sunday only unless otherwise noted.
For reviews and trailers, go to PaloAltoOnline.com/movies. Movie times are subject to change. Call theaters for the latest.
A Most Violent Year (R) +++1/2 Century 16: 10:25 a.m.,
1:20, 4:15 & 10:05 p.m., Fri & Sun 7:05 p.m., Sat 7:10 p.m.
Century 20: 10:50 a.m., 1:45, 4:40, 7:40 & 10:40 p.m.
American Sniper (R) ++
Century 16: 10:55 a.m., 3:45, 5:25, 7, 8:40 & 10:10 p.m., Fri
& Sun 12:30 & 2:10 p.m., Sat 2:35 p.m. Century 20: 11:20
a.m., 12:20, 2:30, 3:25, 5:35, 6:35, 8:40 & 9:40 p.m. In X-D
at 1:20, 4:25, 7:30 & 10:35 p.m.
Birdman (R) +++ Century 20: 4:45, 7:35 & 10:20 p.m.,
Fri & Sun 10:50 a.m. & 1:40 p.m. Palo Alto Square: 4:15 &
7:15 p.m., Fri & Sun 1:15 p.m., Fri & Sat 10:05 p.m.
Black or White (PG-13) ++1/2
Century 16: 10:30 a.m., 1:25, 4:20, 7:20 & 10:15 p.m.
Century 20: 11 a.m., 1:55, 4:55, 7:45 & 10:35 p.m.
Black Sea (R)
Century 20: 10:55 a.m., 1:40, 4:25, 7:20 & 10:15 p.m.
The Boy Next Door (R) Century 20: 12:15, 2:45, 5:25 &
8:05 p.m., Fri & Sun 10:30 p.m., Sat 10:35 p.m.
Funny Girl (1968) (G)
Century 16: Sun 2 p.m. Century 20: Sun 2 p.m.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (PG-13) ++1/2
Century 20: 5 p.m.
The Imitation Game (PG-13) +++
Century 16: 11:25 a.m., 2:15, 5, 7:50 & 10:35 p.m.
Century 20: 11:10 a.m., 2, 5:10, 7:55 & 10:40 p.m.
Into the Woods (PG) +++ Century 20: 1:25 & 4:20 p.m.
The Loft (R)
Century 20: 11:20 a.m., 1:55, 4:30, 7 & 9:35 p.m.
Met Opera: Le Contes d’Hoffman (Not Rated)
Century 16: Sat 9:55 a.m. Century 20: Sat 9:55 a.m.
Palo Alto Square: Sat 9:55 a.m.
Mortdecai (R) Century 16: 11:05 a.m., Fri & Sun 10 p.m.
Century 20: 11:40 a.m., 2:15 & 10:30 p.m., Fri & Sun 5:05 &
7:50 p.m.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (PG)
Century 20: 11:25 a.m., 2 & 4:30 p.m.
Paddington (PG) Century 16: 10:45 a.m., 1:15 & 4:05
p.m., Fri & Sun 7:10 & 9:45 p.m., Sat 7:30 & 9:55 p.m.
Century 20: 11:05 a.m., 1:35, 4:05, 6:50 & 9:25 p.m.
Project Almanac (PG-13)
Century 16: 11 a.m., 1:40, 4:40, 7:35 & 10:25 p.m.
Century 20: Noon, 2:40, 5:15, 8 & 10:45 p.m.
Selma (PG-13) +++ Century 16: 10:25 a.m., 1:30 & 4:30
p.m., Fri & Sun 7:30 & 10:30 p.m., Sat 10 p.m.
Century 20: 1, 4:10, 7:10 & 10:10 p.m.
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) (Not Rated)
Stanford Theatre: 5:30 & 9:45 p.m.
Spare Parts (PG-13) Century 20: 7:15 & 10 p.m.
Still Alice (PG-13) ++1/2
Aquarius Theatre: 2:15, 4:40, 7:20 & 9:55 p.m.
Strange Magic (PG)
Century 16: 11:20 a.m., 1:55, 4:35 & 7:25 p.m.
Century 20: 11:30 a.m., 2:10, 4:45, 7:15 & 9:50 p.m.
Taken 3 (PG-13)
Century 20: 11:45 a.m., 2:20, 8:10 & 10:45 p.m.
The Theory of Everything (PG-13) ++
Century 20: 7:30 & 10:25 p.m.
Palo Alto Square: 1, 4 & 7 p.m., Fri & Sat 10 p.m.
Two Days, One Night (PG-13) +++1/2
Century 16: 11:40 a.m., 2:20, 4:55, 7:45 & 10:20 p.m.
UFC 183: Silva vs. Diaz (Not Rated)
Century 16: Sat 7 p.m. Century 20: Sat 7 p.m.
Under Capricorn (1949) (Not Rated)
Stanford Theatre: 7:30 p.m., Sat & Sun 3:20 p.m.
The Wedding Ringer (R) Century 16: Fri & Sat 1:45, 4:25,
7:15 & 9:50 p.m., Sun 7:20 & 9:55 p.m. Century 20: 11:15
a.m., 1:50, 4:35, 7:05 & 9:45 p.m.
Whiplash (R) +++1/2 Aquarius Theatre: 1:45, 4:20, 7:05
& 9:40 p.m. Century 20: Fri & Sat 11:35 a.m., 2:15, 4:50,
7:25 & 10:05 p.m. Sun 11:25 a.m., 5:05, 7:35 & 10:10 p.m.
Wild (R) +++ Guild Theatre: 1:30, 4:15, 7:05 & 9:40 p.m.
Sundance Selects
Tracy Bennett/BlackWhite
Jillian Estell, left, and Kevin Costner star in “Black or White,” a drama
about a widower drawn into a custody battle for his granddaughter.
fer Ehle) dies, he’s left alone with
his granddaughter just as her paternal grandmother Rowena (Octavia
Spencer) smells an opportunity to
bring Eloise back into her fold.
Unfortunately, Costner’s star
power seems to seduce writerdirector Mike Binder into sticking
to Elliot’s perspective, thus making
“Black or White” a rather mushily
obvious courtroom drama. Lowermiddle-class entrepreneur Rowena
demonstrates savvy and sass in
equal measure, but her point of view
remains secondary to Elliot’s both
in screen time and moral authority.
Were the lines less clearly
drawn, “Black or White” might
have kept audiences guessing
more about what’s best for Eloise.
Instead, we get Rowena flaring her
eyes and badgering everyone.
Acknowledging the discomfort
of brushing against such stereotypes occasionally takes “Black
or White” into intriguing territory. Most notably, Elliot’s climactic
courtroom testimony arrives at a
confessional monologue about
the difficulty of seeing others and
oneself in objective human terms.
The scene is as much the reason to
see the movie as it was to make it,
but it’s too little, too late to balance
the scale-tipping sentiment of
“Black or White” with complexity worthy of the cultural moment.
Rated PG-13 on appeal for brief
strong language, thematic material involving drug use and drinking, and for a fight. Two hours, 1
minute.
— Peter Canavese
Young Belgian mother Sandra has a weekend to convince her coworkers to help her keep her job in “Two Days, One Night.”
“Two Days,” one
dark night of the soul
Oscar-nominated Marion Cotillard plays a
beleaguered factory worker
000 1/2 (Century 16)
over and over, is no easier to answer
The international film market being what it is these days,
we’ve become accustomed to big
budgets or star-laden ensembles
designed to ensure box office returns. So it’s both refreshing and
a little stunning to move through
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s
“Two Days, One Night,” which
features a bona fide star in Marion
Cotillard but is defiantly minimalist in its plot and physical scale.
Cotillard plays Sandra, a Belgian
woman reeling from a nervous
breakdown and subsequent firing
from her job at a solar-panel factory. Cradled uneasily by her fretting
family (including Fabrizio Rongione as husband Manu), Sandra
reluctantly accepts the suggestion
that she should power past intense
depression and fight for her job.
Partly, it’s a matter of sheer desperation, and partly, it’s a matter of
principle: Having taken an unsympathetic view of her medical crisis, her employers laid her off and
boosted her peers’ pay. Because
they also arguably circumvented
due process, Sandra gets a weekend to go around town visiting her
coworkers in an attempt to convince them to retain her. But a vote
for Sandra also means forfeiting a
1,000 euro bonus, an amount her
financially pinched fellow workers are hard-pressed to refuse.
And so Sandra makes the
rounds, testing each co-worker’s
loyalty and sense of righteousness.
The question Sandra must pose,
9
than it is for her to ask, and while
the plot is by design entirely repetitive, each encounter reveals a new
dynamic. The instantly dismissive
or supportive are few; the agonized
are many, recalling the crux of Jean
Renoir’s “The Rules of the Game”:
“The awful thing about life is this:
Everyone has his reasons.”
Turning a philosophical question into drama, workplace ethics into moral fable, is delicate
work, and the Dardennes once
again prove they’re up to the task
of creating wrenching drama that
avoids melodrama. Above all,
Cotillard’s heartbreakingly raw
work carries the day, as she fleshes out both Sandra’s suffering and
emotional endurance on a journey
of discovery that the latter, not the
former, defines her.
Rated PG-13 for some mature
thematic elements. One hour, 35
minutes.
— Peter Canavese
Century Theatres at Palo Alto Square
Fri 1/30/2015
Birdman – 1:15, 4:15, 7:15, 10:05
The Theory of Everything – 1:00, 4:00,
7:00, 10:00
Sat 1/31/2015 Birdman – 4:15, 7:15, 10:05
The Theory of Everything – 1:00, 4:00,
7:00, 10:00
Met Opera: Le Contes d’Hoffman– 9:55 AM
Sun - Tues & Thurs 2/1 – 2/3 & 2/5/2015 (Not Weds)
Birdman – 1:15, 4:15, 7:15
The Theory of Everything – 1:00, 4:00, 7:00
Weds Only
Birdman – 1:15, 4:15, 7:15
1/21/2015
The Theory of Everything – 1:00
Met Opera: Le Contes d’Hoffman – 6:30
Tickets and Showtimes available at cinemark.com
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS
®
I N C L U D I N G
BEST PICTURE • BEST ACTOR MICHAEL KEATON
+ Skip it ++ Some redeeming qualities +++ A good bet ++++ Outstanding
Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (266-9260)
Guild: 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (266-9260)
Century Cinema 16: 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View (800-326-3264)
Stanford: 221 University Ave., Palo Alto (324-3700)
Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City (800-326-3264)
CinéArts at Palo Alto Square:
3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (493-0128)
Internet address: For show times, plot synopses,
trailers and more information about films playing, go
to PaloAltoOnline.com/movies
ON THE WEB: Up-to-date movie listings
at PaloAltoOnline.com
NOW PLAYING IN THEATRES EVERYWHERE
CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATRES AND SHOWTIMES
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 29
Home&Real Estate
Home Front
A SPECIAL DINNER ... Yanette
Fichou-Edwards will teach a
class aimed at creating a “Valentine Dinner for Your ‘Special
Someone’” on Tuesday, Feb. 3,
from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Palo Alto
High School, Room 103, 50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto. The
menu will include salmon fillet
wrapped in prosciutto and sundried tomatoes, Perfect Potato
Balls Parisian, blanched green
beans with hazelnut oil and chocolate raspberry molten cakes.
Cost is $50. Info: 650-329-3752
or paadultschool.org
LEARN TO QUILT ... Menlo Park
Community Services is offering
a class in “Beginning Quilting” on
Mondays, Feb. 9 to March 9,
from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center,
700 Alma St., Menlo Park. Taught
by Christine Hopkins, the class
will cover the basics, from cutting
and piecing blocks to sewing a
quilt top and putting it all together. Cost is $85 for nonresidents,
$64 for Menlo Park residents,
plus a $5 materials fee payable to
the instructor; sewing machines
are available for use during class
for $20. Info: 650-330-2200,
menlopark.org or [email protected]
THINKING OF REMODELING?
... The City of Palo Alto is offering several rebates, from $125 to
replace an inefficient washer with
a high-efficiency model to $300
to install an energy-efficient water
heater. Other programs offer
breaks on replacing refrigerators (residents can receive $35
to allow the city to remove an
inefficient model from a home or
garage, and a $50 rebate when
upgrading to an energy-efficient
one) and on adding attic insulation. For info about the specific
programs, their deadlines and
requirements, visit cityofpaloalto.
org or call 650-329-2241.
OPEN HOME GUIDE 43
Also online at PaloAltoOnline.com
Keeping the home fires
BURNING
Even on Spare the Air days, gas-burning fireplaces
bring warmth, atmosphere
story by Joshua Alvarez | photos by Veronica Weber
B
ay Area temperatures dipped
below freezing on New Year’s
Day and remained frigid during the first week of the year,
which allowed fireplaces to take
up their original mantle of turning refrigerated homes into warm
sanctuaries.
But residents wanting to thaw
themselves in front of their woodburning fireplaces were prohibited
by a record streak of Spare the Air
days — which hit 16 by late January.
According to the Spare the Air
program website, when a Spare
the Air Alert has been declared,
“burning wood, fire logs, pellets,
or any other solid fuels in your
fireplace, wood stove, or other
wood-burning device is illegal.”
Ironically, the alert season runs
through winter (Nov. 1 through the
end of February), which is when
a fireplace would be of most use.
Violators of the rule are subject to monetary fines. First-time
violators can take a wood-smoke
awareness class or pay a $100
ticket. Second violations result in
a $500 ticket and subsequent ticket
amounts increase.
The regulation, however, does
not apply to gas-burning fireplaces. For residents with gas-burning
fireplaces, staying warm during
cold Spare the Air days is just one
of the advantages over wood.
“We’ve been told how much
more efficient they are in producing heat than a traditional woodburning fireplace, so much so that
we could probably turn off our
furnace when we are running it,”
said Katherine Pompili of Palo
Alto. She is replacing her woodburning fireplace with a gas one
she purchased from The Energy
House in San Carlos as part of a
remodel.
Gas-burning fireplaces also
don’t carry the same health and
environmental risks as do woodburning fireplaces.
“We went with gas because of
environmental and health concerns. We didn’t think all the
smoke going into the air was good
for us or our indoor cat who has
asthma — yes, our cat has asthma,” said Geri Hampshire, another Palo Alto resident. During a
remodel a few years ago she had
her contractor run a gas line to her
SHARE YOUR COOP? ... The
next Silicon Valley Tour de Coop,
a tour of local chicken coops, will
be on Saturday, Sept. 19. The
organizers are recruiting homeowners who are willing to open
their coops for the tour, as well
as volunteers to help put on the
event. Anyone interested can visit
the website at tinyurl.com/tourde-coop to sign up.
A gas-burning fireplace designed by Kozy Heat Fireplaces is
on display at The Fireplace Element in Mountain View.
fireplace. She purchased gas logs
from The Fireplace Element in
Mountain View.
However, installation fees and
accessories like doors and screens
can be very expensive. Hampshire
used her contractor to install the
fireplace and she purchased doors
and screens from Amazon, which
she said saved her more than
$1,000.
Burning wood also comes with
logistical hassles. Logs must be
kept dry, and a fire must be physically started and then manually
sustained. The convenience of gas
allows owners to pick and choose
when to have a fire.
“Now we even turn it on for an
hour or two on cold mornings. We
could never do that with a log fire,”
Hampshire said.
That said, there are some things
a gas fireplace can’t replace.
“There is something magical
and captivating about a woodburning fireplace: the light and
warmth of it,” Pompili said. Nonetheless, for Pompili the benefits of
gas outweigh the natural aesthetic
of wood.
Hampshire also appreciates the
look of burning logs, and her gas
logs are carefully arranged to reproduce a natural aesthetic.
“The logs have really improved
over the years. There are burn
marks on the logs and glowing
embers. It looks really good,” she
said.
For others, the benefits of a gas
system could be better.
(continued on page 32)
NEW LEADERS AT SILVAR ...
Leading the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors in 2015 will
be President Chris Isaacson,
a Realtor with Coldwell Banker,
(continued on page 32)
Send notices of news and events related
to real estate, interior design, home
improvement and gardening to Home
Front, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610,
Palo Alto, CA 94302, or email cblitzer@
paweekly.com. Deadline is one week
before publication.
Flames flicker from a modern-looking gas fireplace
designed by Kingsman Fireplaces, on display at The
Fireplace Element in Mountain View.
Page 30 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Burn marks and glowing embers make the gas-burning fire
seem quite authentic.
2275 Amherst Street, Palo Alto
Offered at $4,488,000
The Crown Jewel of Palo Alto
Combining historic charm with modern luxury, this North Palo Alto estate
sits on a rare parcel of nearly one-half acre (per City of Palo Alto). This
stunning 7-bedroom, 3.5-bath Victorian, with over 3,300 sq. ft. of living
space (per plans), offers a wraparound porch, heritage oaks, rolling lawns,
and a broad terrace with koi pond. Ceilings of over 10 feet and large
picture windows flood the home with natural light. The remodeled
chef ’s kitchen boasts a Wolf range, Sub-Zero refrigerator, and quartz
countertops. Five bedrooms are on the upper level, plus one bedroom
on the main level and a separate one-bedroom apartment on the lower
level. Additional amenities include a 628 sq. ft. finished attic (per
plans) (not included in living space footage), a large basement with
space for a wine cellar, spacious driveway, and three-car garage.
Blocks away, the restaurants and boutiques of California Avenue
beckon. Approved plans for finishing the walk-out lower level are
available. Award winning Palo Alto schools include Escondido
Elementary, Jordan Middle School, and Palo Alto High (buyer to
verify enrollment).
For video tour & more photos, please visit:
www.2275AmherstStreet.com
OPEN HOUSE
®
Ken D
K
DeLeon
L
CalBRE #01342140
Mi h l Repka
R k
Michael
CalBRE #01854880
Friday, Saturday & Sunday,
1-5 pm
Complimentary Lunch,
Lattes & Jazz
6 5 0 . 4 8 8 . 7 3 2 5 | i n f o @ d e l e o n r e a l t y. c o m | w w w. d e l e o n r e a l t y. c o m | C a l B R E # 0 1 9 0 3 2 2 4
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 31
Home & Real Estate
Fireplaces
(continued from page 30)
“My only complaint is that there
is no set-back function whereby it
can be programmed to go on early
in the morning to warm the living room and kitchen without the
furnace needing to heat the whole
house,” said Bob Millavec of Palo
Alto.
Since the Spare the Air regulation was instituted in 2008, gas
fireplaces have been selling at a
steady clip, said Amy Barthelemy,
manager of The Fireplace Element.
“Gas fireplaces have become
popular for two reasons: Spare the
Air days and also they are more
user-friendly than wood,” she said.
Starting a fire is as easy as pressing a button on a remote control,
which can also control settings like
the strength and look of the flames.
Barthelemy has had customers
report that installing a gas fireplace has led to utility savings.
“Gas fireplaces use less gas than
the house heating system typically
does, so they’re environmentally
friendly, too.”
Most gas fireplace customers
go shopping during the holidays.
“The majority of them are people
who have never used their wood
fireplaces and want to make their
space functional and more visually appealing,” Barthelemy said.
“Over the past few years I’ve also
had more wood burners coming in
who are sick of the Spare the Air
days,” Barthelemy said.
In the long run, log fireplaces
may be pushed into obsolescence
by regulations, residents’ environmental concerns and utility efficiency. Gas fireplaces can spare,
and warm, the air. Q
Freelance writer Joshua Alvarez can be emailed at joshua.
[email protected].
Home Front
HOME SALES
Home sales are provided by California
REsource, a real estate information
company that obtains the information
from the County Recorder’s Office. Information is recorded from deeds after
the close of escrow and published within
four to eight weeks.
Atherton
57 Adam Way F. Dopp to Zollinger Trust
for $7,950,000 on 12/18/14
East Palo Alto
2705 Fordham St. M. Silowitz to R. Leblanc for $600,000 on 12/16/14; previous
sale 5/10, $223,000
Los Altos
(continued from page 30)
Woodside. Others on the team include Treasurer Phyllis Carmichael,
Coldwell Banker, Los Altos, and
board members Davena Gentry
(Sereno Group), Menlo Park/Atherton
district chair; Robert Reid (Keller
Williams Realty), Palo Alto district
chair; Katherine Frey (Alain Pinel
Realtors), Los Altos/Mountain View
district chair; and Gene Lentz (Oliver
Luxury Real Estate, Menlo Park).
The Spirit of SILVAR award went to
Lehua Greenman (Coldwell Banker
Residential Brokerage, Woodside).
SILVAR represents more than 4,500
Realtors and affiliates engaged in the
real estate business on the Peninsula
and in the South Bay. Q
660 Giralda Drive Black Trust to H.
Zhong for $2,600,000 on 12/30/14
1890 Newcastle Drive Frey Trust to W.
& W. Chen for $2,050,000 on 12/30/14
657 Paco Drive Black Trust to H. Zhong
for $2,400,000 on 12/30/14
876 S. Springer Road V. Prabhala to Z.
Lu for $1,715,000 on 12/31/14; previous
sale 7/04, $930,000
1330 Villa Drive Villa Drive Limited
to S. & K. Poonen for $5,500,000 on
12/30/14; previous sale 9/13, $2,162,000
Menlo Park
860 Partridge Ave. Peterson Trust to
Goldsilverisland Homes for $1,975,000
on 12/16/14
1202 Sharon Park Drive K. Sewell to
Poe Trust for $1,595,000 on 12/17/14;
previous sale 4/88, $395,000
Mountain View
READ MORE ONLINE
752 Burgoyne St. L. & D. Trotter to H.
Pan for $993,000 on 12/31/14
433 Calderon Ave. Swenson Calderon to
L. & E. Erman for $842,000 on 12/30/14
439 Calderon Ave. Swenson Calderon
to E. & M. Lepler for $1,133,500 on
12/31/14
For more Home and Real Estate
news, visit www.paloaltoonline.com/
real_estate.
290 Davenport Way K. Wolf to Y. Zhang
for $2,200,000 on 12/30/14
790 Gailen Ave. Ostrom Trust to Cao
PaloAltoOnline.com
Palo Alto
SALES AT A GLANCE
Atherton
Total sales reported: 1
Lowest sales price: $7,950,000
Highest sales price: $7,950,000
East Palo Alto
Total sales reported: 1
Lowest sales price: $600,000
Highest sales price: $600,000
Los Altos
Total sales reported: 5
Lowest sales price: $1,715,000
Highest sales price: $5,500,000
Menlo Park
Total sales reported: 2
Lowest sales price: $1,595,000
Highest sales price: $1,975,000
Mountain View
Total sales reported: 3
Lowest sales price: $842,000
Highest sales price: $1,133,500
Palo Alto
Total sales reported: 4
Lowest sales price: $1,218,000
Highest sales price: $2,869,500
Redwood City
Total sales reported: 6
Lowest sales price: $570,000
Highest sales price: $1,801,000
Woodside
Total sales reported: 1
Lowest sales price: $1,500,000
Highest sales price: $1,500,000
Source: California REsource
Trust for $2,000,000 on 12/30/14
886 Moreno Ave. Weihai Sanka Trade
Corporation to H. Zhang for $2,869,500
on 12/30/14; previous sale 10/13,
$1,852,500
1116 Tahoe Lane Chen Trust to J.
Cheng for $1,218,000 on 1/2/15; previous sale 10/10, $703,000
Redwood City
642 Bair Island Road #1009 One Marina Homes to A. Stefan for $821,000 on
12/18/14
1236 Clinton St. #102 Beeson Trust
to L. Beitch for $570,000 on 12/17/14;
previous sale 5/96, $170,000
929 Edgewood Road Jenkins Trust to R.
& R. Baker for $1,801,000 on 12/18/14;
previous sale 7/94, $495,000
1515 Redwood Ave. R. & S. Sooy to
Derrico Trust for $835,000 on 12/17/14;
previous sale 3/11, $365,000
3516 Spring St. M. & E. Roth to W. Moran for $970,000 on 12/17/14; previous
sale 7/94, $202,000
722 Vera Ave. M. & D. Evans to T. Himm
for $710,000 on 12/17/14; previous sale
2/03, $477,500
Woodside
230 Grandview Drive Kasenchak Trust
to S. Larson for $1,500,000 on 12/16/14
BUILDING PERMITS
Palo Alto
712 Ellsworth Place re-roof, $4,000
286 Walter Hays Drive replace water
and sewer lines within the house, $n/a
3500 Deer Creek Road Tesla: Bldg.
26, install two transformers and two
TEC90S, $10,000
4329 El Camino Real deferred submittal
for metal stairs from basement level to
first floor, $n/a
724 Matadero Ave. re-roof, $17,500
2171 Princeton St. re-roof, $4,200
171 Washington Ave. remodel bathroom, $12,976
THANK YOU FOR OVER 25 YEARS
...........................................................................
OF ONGOING TRUST AND REFERRALS
...........................................................................
MICHAEL JOHNSTON . Broker Associate . 650.533.5102 . [email protected] . MichaelJohnston.com . BRE# 01131203
Page 32 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Home & Real Estate
Support Local Business
Real Estate Matters
Palo Alto property:
a long-term, cyclical view
by Xin Jiang
A
fter the sharp
increase of
property
price in Palo Alto
over the past three
years, the questions
that I get the most
from real estate clients these days are
“How high can we
go?” and “Is this
sustainable”? At the
beginning of 2015,
it’s a good time to take a step back to review the local market in the context of past
decades.
Palo Alto’s real estate market did go
through a super cycle from 2012 to 2014.
Yearly median home price of closed sales
increased at the fastest pace (+21 percent in
2012, +17 percent in 2013 and +18 percent
in 2014) from 1998 when transition data
became digitally available at MLS Listing.
The median home price of $2.175 million
in 2014 is 55 percent higher than the previ-
of Jan. 10, 2015, there’s no indicator that
the issue of structurally limited supply is
resolving. There are no major shifts that
are turning our community less attractive, either. Nonetheless, there are many
moving parts of the economy that we don’t
have first-hand knowledge. Moreover, if
cyclicality still plays a role in our property market, it won’t be a surprise if the
market starts to soften in 2015. Contrary
to the negative impression of correction, it
is beneficial to sustain an upward trend in
the long run. Short-term correction could
bring more potential participants, thus
more energy to our property market for
decades to come.
While it’s very tempting to try to time
the market, market timing is actually less
relevant in the case of property than other capital goods, because of the former’s
long-term nature. As for investors, Palo
Alto property has been proven to be a better long-term investment than the overall
stock market. Median home price in Palo
Alto has increased at a compound annual
' 5& +8&.) 8(5<
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guide to
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businesses
2 I I L F H (650) 326 - 2900
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ShopPaloAlto.com
:KLOH&KXFNKROGVDGRFWRUDWHIURP6WDQIRUG8QLYHUVLW\
6WDQIRUG3URSHUW\)LQDQFHLVQRWRZQHGRUDIILOLDWHGZLWK6WDQIRUG8QLYHUVLW\
Michael Repka
Before you select a real estate agent,
meet with Michael Repka to discuss
how his real estate law and tax background benefits Ken DeLeon’s clients.
Managing Broker
DeLeon Realty
JD - Rutgers School of Law
L.L.M (Taxation)
NYU School of Law
(650) 488.7325
DRE# 01854880 | CA BAR# 255996
[email protected]
www.deleonrealty.com
Palo Alto Median Home Price
$2,300,000
7 Years
$2,100,000
7 Years
$1,900,000
Financial Bubble
Peak $1,400K
$1,700,000
$1,500,000
Tech Bubble
Peak $900K
$1,300,000
$1,100,000
$900,000
$700,000
$500,000
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
ous peak of $1.4 million in 2007. Interestingly, the 2007 peak was about the same 55
percent higher than the 2000 peak. This is
most likely a pure coincidence. Moreover,
the buyer pool today has more depth, and
capital is also more available today than
2000. (See chart).
With only 10 active listings by the end
growth rate of 8.8 percent in the past 16
years ending 2014 versus the 4.8 percent
increase of the S&P 500 during the same
period, and with significantly lower volatility. Q
Xin Jiang is a Realtor with Alain Pinel
Realtors in Palo Alto. She can be reached
at [email protected].
A variety of home financing
solutions to meet your needs
Vicki Svendsgaard Sr. Mortgage Loan Officer
VP NMLS ID: 633619
650-400-6668 Mobile
[email protected]
Mortgages available from
Bank of America, N.A., and the other business/organization mentioned in this advertisement are not affilated;
each company is independently responsible for the products and services it offers. Bank of America, N.A., Member
Equal Housing Lender ©2009 Bank of America Corporation Credit and collateral are subject to approval.
FDIC.
Terms and conditions apply. This is not a commitment to lead Programs, rates, terms and conditions are subject to
change without notice. ARHSCYE3 HL-113-AD 00-62-16160 10-2013
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 33
A Luxury Collection By Intero Real Estate Services Holmes Ranch, Davenport
6 Quail Meadow Drive, Woodside
5 Betty Lane, Atherton
$25,000,000
$22,800,000
Price Upon Request
Listing Provided by: Dana Cappiello, Lic.#01343305
Listing Provided by: David Kelsey, Tom Dallas, Greg Goumas Lic.#01242399, 00709019, 01878208
Listing Provided by: Greg Goumas and Karen Gunn Lic.#0187820, 01804568
PENDING
25 Oakhill Drive, Woodside
303 Atherton Avenue, Atherton
13195 Glenshire Drive, Truckee
$8,500,000
$6,950,000
$6,900,000
Listing Provided by: Dana Cappiello, Lic.#01343305
Listing Provided by: Denise Villeneuve, Lic.#01794615
Listing Provided by: Greg Goumas, Lic.#01878208
PENDING
18630 Withey Road, Monte Sereno
15195 Piedmont Road, Saratoga
1730 Peregrino Way, San Jose
$6,500,000
$4,748,000
$4,000,000
Listing Provided by: Albert Garibaldi, Lic.#01321299
Listing Provided by: Dominic Nicoli, Lic.#01112681
Listing Provided by: Dana Cappiello, Lic.#01343305
PENDING
195 Brookwood Road, Woodside
5721 Arboretum Drive, Los Altos
$3,995,000
Listing Provided by: Virginia Supnet, Lic.#01370434
356 Santana Row #310, San Jose
$3,888,888
Listing Provided by: Gail Sanders & Denise Villeneuve Lic.#01253357 & 01794615
$2,100,000
Listing Provided by: Velasco DiNardi Group, Lic.#01309200
See the complete collection
w w w.InteroPrestigio.com
2015 Intero Real Estate Services Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate and a wholly owned subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc. All rights reserved.
All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This is not intended as a solicitation if you are listed with another broker.
Page 34 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
®
®
Los Gatos Creek Ranch
51563 Los Gatos Creek Road, Coalinga, CA
A Sportsman’s Paradise
Wanting a slower paced way of life without sacrificing modern amenities?
Come home to this authentic log cabin. Over 3300 square feet of living
area nestled on over 11,760 acres of prime ranchland.
Guest House Share the joy, invite family and friends! The beautifully
remodeled guest home features 3 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms with
over 2,400 square feet of living space. Granite counters, stainless steel
appliances, wood floors, newly remodeled bathrooms and so much more!
•
•
•
•
11,600+/- acres
Trap & skeet shooting range
Year-round springs & creeks
Just 2.5 hrs from Silicon Valley
Offered At
$8,821,447
Valerie Smith
BROKER ASSOCIATE
831.801.5588
[email protected]
www.RanchLandCalifornia.com
Lic.#01254521
2015 Intero Real Estate Services Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate and a wholly owned subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc. All rights reserved. All information deemed reliable
but not guaranteed. This is not intended as a solicitation if you are listed with another broker.
®
®
Page 35 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
www.LosGatosCreekRanch.com
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 35
PRESERVING OPEN SPACE
CLOSE TO OUR HOME
Photograph © 2014 Julie Campbell
Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) protects and cares
for open space, farms and parkland in and around
Silicon Valley.
If you’ve traveled Highway1 on the San Mateo Coast,
Highway 280 on the San Francisco Peninsula, or the
winding roads and trails along Skyline Ridge, you’ve
already experienced the stunning beauty of POSTprotected lands. Since its founding in 1977, POST has
been responsible for saving more than 70,000 acres
as permanent open space and parkland, protecting
the natural beauty and rich biodiversity that make our
area such a wonderful place to live, work and play.
Sereno Group is proud to support the commitment
and service that POST provides in taking care of the
environment in our community.
For more information about their work or how you can get involved, please visit www.openspacetrust.org
DURING THE MONTHS OF JANUARY THROUGH MARCH 2015,
SERENO GROUP AND ITS PALO ALTO AGENTS WILL BE CONTRIBUTING 1% OF
THEIR GROSS COMMISSIONS TO THE PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST FUND.
PA L O A L TO
HERE FOR GOOD
Page 36 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
SERENOGROUP.COM/ONEPERCENT
WHEN HE’S AROUND, THERE’S NO NEIGHBORHOOD COMP.
On one hand, Brian Chancellor is a genuinely nice guy. Ask anyone who’s met him. On the other, Brian’s a savvy,
skilled, connected, and powerful client advocate. This artful blend is what’s made him a top-producing Realtor
nationwide – 20 years and counting. Add in his absolute commitment to integrity, and you have a fantastic
Realtor who’s arguably incomparable. Call Brian at 650.303.5511, email him at [email protected],
or visit his site at BrianChancellor.com. Once you meet Brian, we think you’ll agree — very few come close.
THE ART AND
SCIENCE OF
REAL ESTATE™
A PROUD
MEMBER
OF THE
BRE#
01174998
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 37
Spectacular Central Portola Valley Contemporary
120 Golden Hills Drive
|
Portola Valley
This visually stunning approx. 6,585 sq ft Isolina Mallon-designed
contemporary home is situated on a subdivided 4.05-acre double
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Page 38 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
|
Price Upon Request
Just Listed
Please call for
Appointment
Helen & Brad Miller
(650) 400-3426 (650) 400-1317
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.HelenAndBradHomes.com
(NLU[ZPU>VVKZPKL6ɉJL
CalBRE #01142061, #00917768
ZachTrailerGroup
Community
Connected
204 UNIVERSITY DRIVE | MENLO PARK
NEW CONSTRUCTION
4BR | 3BA | 2halfBA
±3,660SF | ±5,600SF Lot
THREE LEVELS
HIGH-END FINISHES
MENLO PARK SCHOOLS
BEST PRICE/SF IN WEST MP
Offered at $3,398,000
Call Zach for details
OPEN SATURDAY & SUNDAY | 1:30-4:30PM
ZachTrailerGroup
WSJ Top 150 Agents Nationwide
650.906.8008
www.zachtrailer.com | [email protected]
Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. DRE# 01371338
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 39
Open Sat 1:00 – 4:00ƩƦ
Open Sun 1:00 – 3:00ƩƦ
palo alto
property details
709 Seminole Way
4 BEDS · 2 BATH
OFFERED AT
$1,950,000
valeriesoltau.com
“I am deeply rooted and
commied to this community
and can’t imagine living
anywhere else.”
Distinguished by its convenient Palo Alto location, remodeled
V…iv½ÃŽˆÌV…i˜>˜`œ«i˜yœœÀ«>˜]̅ˆÃÀiÈ`i˜ViˆÃ«iÀviVÌ
for today’s modern family. There is a space for every member
of the family both indoors and out, with a wonderful slate
backyard patio that is ideal for California entertaining.
• Gourmet kitchen featuring a
center island and breakfast bar
• Family room with wood
LÕÀ˜ˆ˜}wÀi«>Vi
• Open living and dining areas
• Updated bathrooms
• Palo Alto Schools
THIS PROPERTY IS CO-LISTED WITH
650.464.3896
[email protected]
BRE 01223247
Page 40 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Maggie Bening
BRE #01068151
“Li˜ˆ˜}J«>VˆwV«i˜ˆ˜ÃՏ>°Vœ“
408.810.6064
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 41
27368 Chaparral Way, Los Altos Hills
Offered at $2,498,000
Future Estate with Panoramic Views
Towering amidst the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, this hilltop
lot presents the terrific opportunity for your private estate. With over nine
acres, the property features panoramic views extending to lush Rancho San
Antonio Open Space Preserve. An existing home offers great flexibility
for remodeling or expansion, or the property may be subdivided into
two flat, buildable lots to form your new home. Thanks to walls of trees
and rolling hills, you will feel a world away from the buzz of Silicon
Valley, but close proximity to Interstate 280 ensures easy access to
conveniences and surrounding communities. Nearby nature attractions
include Hidden Villa, Foothills Park, and the Pathways trail system.
This property is also within minutes of some of the best attractions
in Los Altos, including the boutiques and restaurants at both Loyola
Corners and Rancho Shopping Center. Schools include Gardner
Bullis (API 947), Egan Junior High (API 976), and Los Altos
High (API 895).
For video tour & more photos, please visit:
www.27368Chaparral.com
OPEN HOUSE
®
Ken D
K
DeLeon
L
CalBRE #01342140
Michael
Mi
h l Repka
R k
CalBRE #01854880
Saturday & Sunday, 1-5 pm
Complimentary
Lunch & Lattes
6 5 0 . 4 8 8 . 7 3 2 5 | i n f o @ d e l e o n r e a l t y. c o m | w w w. d e l e o n r e a l t y. c o m | C a l B R E # 0 1 9 0 3 2 2 4
Page 42 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
PALO ALTO WEEKLY OPEN HOMES
UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL TIMES ARE 1:30-4:30 PM
4 Bedrooms
FEATURED
HOME OF THE WEEK
1943 Annette Ln
Sat/Sun
Alain Pinel Realtors
7 Bedrooms
$2,500,000
323-1111
2275 Amherst St
$4,488,000
Fri/Sat/Sun 1-5 Deleon Realty
543-8500
5 Bedrooms
1350 Miravalle Av
$3,998,000
Sat/Sun 1-5 Alain Pinel Realtors
323-1111
REDWOOD CITY
2 Bedrooms
817 Constellation Ct
LOS ALTOS HILLS
Sat/Sun
3 Bedrooms
27368 Chaparral Way
Sat/Sun 1-5
Deleon Realty
251 TENNYSON AVE.
PALO ALTO
OPEN SAT/SUN 1:30-4:30
Beds: 5 Baths: 5.5
An absolute jewel in soughtafter Old Palo Alto
Offered at $5,980,000
Terrie Masuda
917-7969
$2,498,000
543-8500
$3,398,000
462-1111
$2,598,000
325-6161
PALO ALTO
3 Bedrooms
CUPERTINO
$2,388,000
941-7040
4 Bedrooms
3 Bedrooms
10227 S Foothill Blvd
Sat 1-4
Sereno Group
$1,398,000
(408) 295-3111
Sat/Sun 1-4
$3,475,000
Coldwell Banker
709 Seminole Way
$1,950,000
Sat 1-4/Sun 1-3 Coldwell Banker
323-7751
1535 Castilleja Ave
$2,199,000
Sat/Sun 12-5 Alain Pinel Realtors
323-1111
851-2666
5 Bedrooms
83 Tum Suden Way
5 Bedrooms
3477 South Ct
Sat
Coldwell Banker
WOODSIDE
515 Moore Rd
4 Bedrooms
32 Homer Ln
Sat/Sun
Coldwell Banker
(408) 335-1400
2 Bedrooms
MENLO PARK
204 University Dr
Sat/Sun
Alain Pinel Realtors
Sereno Group
$1,100,000
$2,699,000
Sun 1-4 Intero Real Estate Services
FIND YOUR
NEW HOME
PaloAltoOnline.com/real_estate
EXPLORE OUR
WEB SITE
• Interactive maps
• Homes for sale
• Open homes
• Virtual tours
• Prior sale info and more
543-774
Residential
real estate
expertise for the
mid-peninsula.
5 Bedrooms
LOS ALTOS
2941 South Ct
$4,998,000
Sat
Keller Williams Palo Alto 454-8500
4 Bedrooms
914 Regent Dr
Sat/Sun 1-5
Sereno Group
$2,398,000
947-2900
251 Tennyson Ave
Sat/Sun
Coldwell Banker
$5,980,000
941-7040
NICKGRANOSKI
Broker Associate
Alain Pinel President’s Club
DRE #00994196
www.NickGranoski.com
[email protected]
650/269–8556
NEW LISTING:
417 DRACENA LANE
LOS ALTOS
OPEN
SAT & SUN 1:30-4:30
CALL FOR PRICING
C L A S S I C O L D WO R L D A M B I A N C E
W I T H R E S O RT- L I K E G R O U N D S
Tucked away on a charming lane, and just
over one-half mile to the Village, this home
exudes classic European style. Brazilian
cherry wood floors unify every room,
tumbled marble and granite add timeless
appeal, and vaulted ceilings expand the
dimensions. The grounds are equally
captivating with everything needed for
recreation and entertaining – from the
heated pavilion with outdoor kitchen to
the playground and sparkling pool and
spa. This is truly a wonderful place to call
home in the heart of Los Altos.
ED GRAZIANI
(650) 947-2992
JEN PAULSON
(650) 996-7147
[email protected]
www.EdGraziani.com
CalBRE # 01081556
[email protected]
CalBRE # 01221390
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 43
Coldwell Banker
#1 IN CALIFORNIA
Saratoga
$29,000,000
12.98acres of rolling hills, bordered by 60acres of open space, close
to downtown Saratoga 3 BR/2 BA
Debbie Nichols
CalBRE #00955497
650.325.6161
Atherton
$14,900,000
Incomparable Quality Custom-built French masterpiece with unsurpassed attention to detail. 5 BR/7 full BA + 3 half
Chris McDonnell/Kelly Griggs
650.324.4456
CalBRE #00870468/01812313
Palo Alto
$11,888,000
www.4103OldTraceRoad.com Palo Alto rare Zoned R-E Density
Residential. New Price.
Jan Strohecker
CalBRE #00620365
650.325.6161
San Mateo County
$3,888,000
Listed 2013 for $8,000,000 Now $3,888,000!
www.222PortolaStateParkRoad.com Hurry! 38 Acres.
Jan Strohecker
CalBRE #00620365
650.325.6161
Woodside
Sat/Sun 1 - 4
$3,475,000
515 Moore Rd Striking Ultra Modern design. 2.8 acres. Walls of
glass look out to majestic Oaks. 2 BR/3 BA
Scott Dancer
CalBRE #00868362
650.851.2666
Los Altos Hills
Sat/Sun
$3,195,000
Stunning Bay Views! Enjoy stunning Bay views from this gorgeous
contemporary property w/excellent PA schools. 4 BR/3 BA
Hanna Shacham
CalBRE #01073658
650.324.4456
Menlo Park
PENDING!
$3,100,000
Beautifully designed, this home features quality craftsman inside &
out. MP Schools! 4 BR/4 BA
Hossein Jalali
CalBRE #01215831
650.323.7751
Palo Alto
Sat/Sun
$3,095,000
Spectacular & brand new home in the beautiful area of Barron
Park! Elegance & finesse. 4 BR/3 BA
Hanna Shacham
CalBRE #01073658
650.324.4456
Menlo Park
Sat/Sun 1:30 - 4:30
$2,598,000
32 Homer Lane Elegance and convenience in the country. A fine
new home on a country lane. 5 BR/3.5 BA
Jia Xu
CalBRE #01410227
650.325.6161
Menlo Park
Sat/Sun
$2,195,000
Ideal Willows location & walking distance to downtown Palo Alto.
3 BR/3 BA
Billy McNair
CalBRE #01343603
650.324.4456
Palo Alto
Sat 1 - 4/Sun 1 - 3
$1,950,000
709 Seminole PA location w/ remodeled chef ’s kitchen & open
floor plan. Ideal patio for entertaining! 4 BR/2 BA
Valerie Soltau
650.323.7751
Sunnyvale
$1,475,000
Beautiful 3BD/2BA home with hardwood floors in living area.
Award winning schools. 3 BR/2 BA
Alan & Nicki Loveless
650.325.6161
CalBRE #00444835 & 00924021
Palo Alto
$830,000
Top floor in Greenhouse complex. Updates throughout! Access to
101 & 280. Top PA schools! 2 BR/1 BA
Hossein Jalali
CalBRE #01215831
650.323.7751
San Mateo
PENDING!
$579,000
Well maintained home with 3 bedrooms and 1 bath in the desirable Marina Gardens area. 3 BR/1 BA
Enmanuel Tepeu
CalBRE #01801231
650.325.6161
Woodside
$199,000
Unique Property! 4+ acres in Woodside. Enjoy the redwoods only
15 min to Hwy 280. Challenge for builders.
Margot Lockwood
CalBRE #01017519
650.851.2666
©2015 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Office is Owned by a Subsidiary of NRT LLC.
Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage or NRT LLC. CalBRE License #01908304.
Page 44 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
1535 CASTILLEJA AVENUE, PALO ALTO
Open Friday 1:30-5:00PM, Saturday & Sunday, 12-5PM
LYNN WILSON
ROBERTS
ePRO, GREEN, QSC, SRES, CRS, ASP
'LVWUHVVHG3URSHUW\&HUWLÀHG
(650) 255.6987
[email protected]
CalBRE# 01814885
Story book charm in a coveted Palo Alto neighborhood!
&
Ahh, Southgate! The quintessential Palo Alto neighborhood, complete with charming homes and convenient location: a
block from Stanford University and Town and Country Shopping Center, adjacent to the exceptional Paly High School, and
a hop, skip and jump to downtown Palo Alto, Silicon Valley’s epicenter.
Empathy
Creativity
Experience
1535 Castilleja Avenue is picture-book-perfect, a completely enticing vintage home built in 1924. Use your imagination to
transform this charming home offering many original details to an updated home you will cherish. And if your thoughts turn
to completely new, per the City of Palo Alto, you may build a new 2550 square foot home. Lucky you!!
‡
‡
‡
‡
4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
6,000± SF lot (per City of Palo Alto)
2,058± SF home (per assessor)
+DUGZRRGÁRRUVWKURXJKRXW
OFFERED AT $2,199,000
‡
‡
Living room with vaulted ceilings and charming original
arched window
Vintage home with kitchen and baths awaiting your vision
LynnWilsonRoberts.com
www.1535Castilleja.com
Buying or selling a home? Try out Palo Alto Online’s real estate site, the
most comprehensive place for local real estate listings.
>LVɈLY[OLVULVUSPULKLZ[PUH[PVU[OH[SL[Z`V\M\SS`L_WSVYL!
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JV\SKL]LY^HU[HUKP[»ZHSSPUVULLHZ`[V\ZLSVJHSZP[L
Agents:
You’ll want to explore our unique online advertising opportunities.
Contact your sales representative or call 650-326-8210 today to
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7HSV(S[V6USPULJVT
;OL(STHUHJ6USPULJVT
Explore area real estate through your favorite local website:
PaloAltoOnline.com
TheAlmanacOnline.com
MountainViewOnline.com
And click on “real estate” in the navigation bar.
4V\U[HPU=PL^6USPULJVT
©2015 Embarcadero Publishing Company
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 45
Marketplace
PLACE
AN AD
ONLINE
fogster.com
E-MAIL
[email protected]
P
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Now you can log on to
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Most listings are free and
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INDEX
QBULLETIN
BOARD
100-155
QFOR SALE
200-270
QKIDS STUFF
330-390
QMIND & BODY
400-499
QJ
OBS
500-560
QB
USINESS
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600-699
QH
OME
SERVICES
700-799
QFOR RENT/
FOR SALE
REAL ESTATE
801-899
QP
UBLIC/LEGAL
NOTICES
995-997
The publisher waives any and all claims or consequential damages due to errors Embarcadero
Publishing Co. cannot assume responsibility
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fogster.com is a unique web site offering FREE postings from communities throughout the Bay Area and
an opportunity for your ad to appear in the Palo Alto Weekly, The Almanac and the Mountain View Voice.
150 Volunteers
Bulletin
Board
Did You Know
that not only does newspaper media
reach a HUGE Audience, they also reach
an ENGAGED AUDIENCE. Discover the
Power of Newspaper Advertising. For a
free brochure call 916-288-6011 or email
[email protected] (Cal-SCAN)
115 Announcements
Become a Nature Volunteer!
Pregnant?
Considering adoption? Call us first.
Living expenses, housing, medical, and
continued support afterwards. Choose
adoptive family of your choice. Call 24/7.
1-877-879-4709 (CalSCAN)
FRIENDS BOOKSTORE MITCHELL PARK Pregnant?
Thinking of adoption? Talk with caring agency specializing in matching
Birthmothers with Families Nationwide.
LIVING EXPENSES PAID. Call 24/7 Abby’s
One True Gift Adoptions.
866-413-6293. Void in Illinois/
New Mexico/Indiana (AAN CAN)
Private Horse Stable
across from Spring Down. 11 acres
pasture. 24/7 care, feed. $850.
650/851-1796
Dance Expressions in Menlo Park!
Stanford music tutoring
USED BOOKSHOP AT MITCHELL PARK
Aviation Grads
work with JetBlue, Boeing, NASA and
others- start here with hands on training for FAA certification. Financial aid
if qualified. Call Aviation Institute of
Maintenance 800-725-1563 (AAN CAN)
Train at Home
to process medical billing and insurance claims. NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED!
Become a Medical Office Assistant now
with our online training program!
HS Diploma/GED & Computer/Internet
required to participate. 1-877-649-3155.
(Cal-SCAN)
German Language Classes
Instruction for Hebrew
Bar and Bat Mitzvah. For Affiliated
and Unaffiliated. George Rubin, M.A. in
Hebrew/Jewish Education 650/424-1940
Meditation Classes
JOIN OUR ONLINE STOREFRONT TEAM
155 Pets
Exquisite Furniture
Baker, Stickley, Thomas Pheasant,
Jaques Garcia, and other distinguished
designers.
Superb quality. Pristine condition.
Call for prices, description, and to
preview. 650-454-6160
Did You Know
Newspaper-generated content is so
valuable it’s taken and repeated,
condensed, broadcast, tweeted,
discussed, posted, copied, edited, and
emailed countless times throughout
the day by others? Discover the Power
of Newspaper Advertising. For a free
brochure call 916-288-6011 or
email [email protected] (Cal-SCAN)
Ford 1955 Tunderbirth - $5000
Jeep 1992 Wrangler - $2800
Toyota 2006 Camry - $2500
202 Vehicles Wanted
Cash for Cars
Any Car/Truck. Running or Not!
Top Dollar Paid. We Come To You!
Call For Instant Offer: 1-888-420-3808
www.cash4car.com (AAN CAN)
Donate Your Car, Truck, Boat
to Heritage for the Blind. FREE 3 Day
Vacation, Tax Deductible, Free Towing,
All Paperwork Taken Care of.
800-731-5042 (Cal-SCAN)
133 Music Lessons
Christina Conti Private Piano
Instruction
(650) 493-6950
Hope Street Music Studios
In downtown Mtn.View.
Most Instruments voice.
All ages & levels 650-961-2192
www.HopeStreetMusicStudios.com 210 Garage/Estate
Sales
Mountain View, 1005 High School Way,
Saturday Nov 15 8-3
Palo Alto, 715 Ashby Drive,
Saturday, January 31 10:30 - 4:30
HUGE MOVING SALE!! ONE DAY
ONLY!!! Furniture, Toys, Housewares,
Holiday Decorations, Clothing, Pet
Supplies, Books, Records, Sports Gear,
TV’s, Bikes, Bumper Pool Table, Tools
and MORE!! Great Prices! Ashby Drive
is off Dana Ave between Center and
Newell in Crescent Park. Come check
it out!
Piano lessons in Menlo Park
For children and adults.
Convenient location. Easy Parking.
Contact Alita (650)838-9772
215 Collectibles &
Antiques
Thanks St Jude
140 Lost & Found
Found beautiful cream cat MV
Antique Chinese Pictograph/ Sign $1495.00
Found brown cat (exotic?)
Bonsai Collection
Lost cello & bow
Reward for return of cello by David
Gusset &/or bow by Charles Bazin
Far Out! Grateful Dead Poster - $20.00
Woman’s ring found
Woman’s Ring: Found in parking lot near
Il Fornio. Contact to describe.
THE ROLLING STONES 62-82 Poster $20.00
145 Non-Profits
Needs
Cash for Diabetic Test Strips
Don’t throw boxes away - Help others.
Unopened / Unexpired boxes only.
All Brands Considered. Call Anytime!
24hrs/7days (888)491-1168 (Cal-SCAN)
DONATE BOOKS/HELP PA LIBRARIES
Volunteer with Stanford Museums
WISH LIST FRIENDS PA LIBRARY
So Cool Jimi Hendrix Poster - $20.00
DirecTV
Start saving $$$ with DIRECTV. $19.99
mo. 130 channels, FREE HDDVR-4 ROOM
install. High Speed Internet-Phone
Bundle available. CALL TODAY
877-829-0681 (AAN CAN)
DirecTV!
Get The Big Deal from DirecTV! Act Now$19.99/mo. Free 3-Months of HBO, starz,
SHOWTIME & CINEMAX. FREE GENIE HD/
DVR Upgrade! 2014 NFL Sunday Ticket.
Included with Select Packages. New
Customers Only. IV Support Holdings
LLC- An authorized DirecTV Dealer.
Some exclusions apply - Call for details
1-800-385-9017 (Cal-SCAN)
Dish Network
Save! Starting $19.99/month (for 12
months.) Premium Channel Offers
Available. FREE Equipment, Installation
& Activation. CALL, COMPARE LOCAL
DEALS! 1-800-691-6715. (Cal-SCAN)
DISH TV
Starting at $19.99/month (for 12 mos.)
SAVE! Regular Price $34.99. Ask About
FREE Same Day Installation! CALL Now!
888-992-1957 (AAN CAN)
DISH TV Retailer
tarting at $19.99/month (for 12 mos.)
& High Speed Internet starting at
$14.95/month (where available.) SAVE!
Ask About SAME DAY Installation!
CALL Now! 1-800-357-0810. (Cal-SCAN)
Safe Step Walk-in Tub
Alert for Seniors. Bathroom falls can be
fatal. Approved by Arthritis Foundation.
Therapeutic Jets. Less Than 4 Inch StepIn. Wide Door. Anti-Slip Floors. American
Made. Installation Included. Call
800-799-4811 for $750 Off. (Cal-SCAN)
Sawmills
from only $4397.00- MAKE & SAVE
MONEY with your own bandmill- Cut
lumber any dimension. In stock
ready to ship. FREE Info/DVD: www.
NorwoodSawmills.com 1-800-578-1363
Ext.300N (Cal-SCAN)
Greenhouse - $500/obo
345 Tutoring/
Lessons
Online Writing Tutor
235 Wanted to Buy
fogster.com
TM
Treatments for Alzheimers
Acupuncturist Jay Wang PhD, specialized in chronical illness for seniors.
Call 650-485-3293 for a free consultation. 747 Altos Oaks Dr., Los Altos
245 Miscellaneous
Kid’s
Stuff
135 Group Activities
Scottish Country Dance Palo Alto
Engineer Automation Eng
(Mult Openings)Comcast Cable
Comm, LLC, Sunnyvale, CA. Perform
end-to-end app and scalability tstng
for cloud-based apps. Reqs: Bach in
CS, Eng or rltd and 2 yrs exp in endto-end app and scalability tstng for
any internet-based app, incl devel UI
and backend systms for automated
tstng; tstng automation scripts
and tools in Python; and prfmng
trblshtng and test validtn in MySQL,
HTML, Javascript, CSS, and Pyunit.
Apply to: [email protected]. Ref Job ID #9484.
FRIENDS OF THE PALO ALTO LIBRARY
201 Autos/Trucks/
Parts
130 Classes &
Instruction
Mind
& Body
403 Acupuncture
For Sale
Estate Manager
240 Furnishings/
Household items
No phone
number in the ad?
GO TO
425 Health Services
Struggling with Drugs
or alcohol? Addicted to pills?
Talk to someone who cares. Call The
Addiction Hope and Help Line for a free
assessment. 800-978-6674
455 Personal Training
Over 50’s outdoor exercise group
Newspaper Delivery Routes
Immediate Openings Routes available to deliver the Palo Alto Weekly,
an award-winning community
newspaper, to homes in Palo Alto
on Fridays. From approx. 440 to
1,140 papers, 8.25 cents per paper
(plus bonus for extra-large editions).
Additional bonus following successful 13 week introductory period. Must
be at least 18 y/o. Valid CDL, reliable
vehicle and current auto insurance
req’d. Please email your experience
and qualifications to jon3silver@
yahoo.com. Or (best) call Jon Silver,
650-868-4310
Pet Sitter
P/T for MP/PA area. Weekends, holidays
reqd. 650/856-4056
Technical
Informatica Corporation is accepting
resumes for the following positions in
Redwood City, CA:
Jobs
500 Help Wanted
Business
Informatica Corporation is accepting
resumes for the following position in
Redwood City, CA:
Vice President, Global Talent
Attraction (RCBCO): Provide leadership and coaching to the worldwide
talent acquisition team to ensure
high quality, innovative and timely
hiring practices are in place to support the business and deliver against
financial and company plans. Position
may require travel to various, unanticipated locations.
Please mail resumes with job title and
reference Job Code # to Informatica
Corporation, ATTN: Global Mobility,
2100 Seaport Blvd., Redwood City, CA
94063. No phone calls please. Must
be legally authorized to work in the
U.S. without sponsorship. EOE.
Business
Hewlett-Packard Company is accepting resumes for the position of
Product Manager in Palo Alto, CA
(Ref. #PALZTA1). Provide initial product/services/solution (PSS) design,
pricing, value proposition, messaging
and/or whole product strategies.
Develop company market
requirements for specific product(s)
or product line(s), including product
strategy definition, requirements
analysis, and pricing. Mail
resume to Hewlett-Packard Company,
3000 Hanover Street, MS 1117, Palo
Alto, CA 94304. Resume must include
Ref. #, full name, email address and
mailing address. No phone calls
please. Must be legally authorized
to work in the U.S. without sponsorship. EOE
Principal Software Engineer
(RCSUPE): Responsible for designing and developing easy-to-use user
interfaces for Informatica Cloud/Web
applications using technologies such
as Java, HTML5, CSS3, and jQuery.
Professional Services Senior
Consultant (RCRGO): Ensure customers are successful in deploying
Informatica data integration and analytic platforms. Position may require
travel to various, unanticipated
locations.
Professional Services Senior
Consultant (RCKVA): Ensure customers are successful in deploying
Informatica data integration and
analytic platforms. Position may
require travel to various, unanticipated locations. Telecommuting may
be permitted.
Senior Software Engineer (RCDKH):
Design and develop easy-to-use user
interfaces and platform for Cloud/
Web applications.
Senior Technical Support Engineer
(RCGUVI): Diagnose and resolve
customer inquiries related to operating company’s software products in
customer’s environment.
Software Engineer Lead (RCSHAG):
Design and develop test plans, test
cases based upon functional and
design specifications.
Please mail resumes with job title and
reference Job Code # to Informatica
Corporation, ATTN: Global Mobility,
2100 Seaport Blvd., Redwood City, CA
94063. No phone calls please. Must
be legally authorized to work in the
U.S. without sponsorship. EOE.
fogster.com
for contact
information
TM
fogster.com
go to fogster.com to respond to ads without phone numbers
Page 46 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Classified Deadlines:
NOON,
WEDNESDAY
“The Worst of 2014”--so much room for improvement. Matt Jones
MARKETPLACE the printed version of
fogster.com
TM
Technology
TIBCO has openings for:
560 Employment
Information
Test Architect [Ref PCA97] in Palo
Alto, CA to review functional specifications and rqmnts and create test
specification documents.
AVON
Earn extra income with a new career!
Sell from home, work, online. $15
startup. For information, call:
877-830-2916. (CalSCAN)
Sr. Consultant [Ref PCA98] to support TIBCO products based in Palo
Alto, CA and may work from home
and be required to work at client sites
at unanticipated locations throughout the United States approximately
50% of time. All travel is reimbursed
by employer.
Change the Lives of Others
Start your humanitarian career!
Change the lives of others while
creating a sustainable future. 1, 6, 9, 18
month programs available. Apply today!
www.OneWorldCenter.org
269-591-0518 [email protected] Mail resume to TIBCO Software Inc., C.
Ramirez, 3307 Hillview Ave., Palo Alto,
CA 94304. Must include Ref# to be considered and have unrestricted U.S. work
authorization. No phone calls, pls.
Answers on page 48
©2014 Jonesin’ Crosswords
Across
1 The P of PBR
6 “How do you measure, measure
___?” (“Rent” lyric)
11 Org. for pinheads?
14 Birth country of Amy Adams and
Rose McGowan
15 Music in some “Weird Al”
Yankovic medleys
16 Cafeteria coffee holder
17 She got a Worst Actress nomination for a 10-Down for “The
Other Woman”
19 Hang behind
20 “Dark Angel” star Jessica
21 “Aw, shucks!”
22 Many South Africans
24 #2 on Time’s 10 Worst Songs of 2014
28 Absolute last-minute day for
shopping
29 Formal footwear
30 Bicycle shorts material
33 Go after flies
35 Aspirations
38 Reptilian squeezer
39 Sworn enemy
42 Grammy winner Kool Moe ___
43 It’s not worth much
45 Facts
46 Out there
48 “The Golden Notebook” author
Lessing
50 Anti matter?
51 “Conscious Uncoupling” person
of 2014, instead of just saying
“divorce”
57 Muslim veil
58 NYC thoroughfare
59 “Am ___ only one?”
61 “I ___ Rock”
62 John Travolta mispronunciation
that made Rolling Stone’s “Worst
TV Moments of 2014”
66 “Morning Edition” producer
67 Big top figure
68 2006 movie subtitled “Cultural
Learnings of America for Make
Benefit Glorious Nation of
Kazakhstan”
69 Eeyore, for one
70 “The Waste Land” poet T.S.
71 Apartments, e.g.
Down
1 12-point type
2 In any way
3 Animated ruminant
4 ___-Kinney (band with Carrie
Brownstein of “Portlandia”)
5 Norse god
6 Breathing interruption
7 Climber’s calling?
8 Whitney with a gin
9 “Alias” equivalent
10 Award celebrating bad movies
11 Bring into a private conversation
12 Author of “The Cat Who...” mysteries
13 Teen turmoil
18 Fearsome sort
23 The Daily Bruin publisher
25 “Thirteen” actress ___ Rachel
Wood
26 ___ apso
27 Rumored Himalayan beast
30 “Selma” role
31 “Oh, it’s ___”
32 Glass containers
33 Chart-topper
34 Soaked
36 Mal de ___ (seasickness)
37 Turn from liquid to Jell-O
40 Use Pro Tools, say
41 Santa’s laundry problem
44 Coffee coast of Hawaii
47 “Can you hear me now?” company
49 Mail-in offer
50 Ran off
51 Accra’s country
52 Scaredy-cats
53 Caveman diet
54 Prevent, as a disaster
55 “SNL” alumna Cheri
56 ___ Thins
60 911 responders
63 The Mavericks, on scoreboards
64 “Never Mind the Bollocks” closer
(or label)
65 “Aladdin” monkey
This week’s SUDOKU
7
6
1
2
2
3
6
8
3
9
8
1
7
2
9
1
7
5
4
8
Answers on page 48
4
6
9
1
9
5
TECHNOLOGY
Medallia, Inc. has the following
positions open in Palo Alto, CA:
Senior Manager, Client Solutions
(Engineer): Lead a highly effective team to implement and evolve
Medallia’s Customer Experience
Management (CEM) solutions across
a portfolio of diverse customer programs. To apply or for more
information, please go to www.
medallia.com/careers and refer to job
code: Req#190
Technology
Intuit, Inc. has openings for the following positions in San Mateo County,
including Menlo Park; Santa Clara
County, including Mountain View:
Software Engineers (Job code: G1):
Design, develop, troubleshoot and/or
test/QA software.
Drivers: Attn: Drivers
$2K Sign-On Bonus! SAME DAY
APPROVALS. Stay Warm w/ APU New
KW Trucks! Earn $55K p/yr! CDL-A Req
- (877) 258-8782 www.ad-drivers.com
(Cal-SCAN) Drivers: Obtain Class A CDL
in 2 ½ weeks. Company Sponsored
Training. Also Hiring Recent Truck
School Graduates, Experienced Drivers.
Must be 21 or Older. Call:
(866) 275-2349. (Cal-SCAN)
tegic decision making on product and
marketing tactics/strategy using data.
Business Data Analysts (Job code:
I-168): Interpret large volumes of data
to tease out actionable insights, telling a
story that drives revenue, product and/
or business change.
Data Engineers (Job code: I-45):
Senior Software Engineers (Job code:
Responsible for the design, developG2): Use knowledge of software engiment, and implementation of data
neering best practices and principles to
movement and integration processes in
design and develop web applications.
preparation for analysis, data warehousing, and operational data stores involvStaff Software Engineers (Job code:
ing very large quantities of data.
G3): Use technical expertise to develop
code and unit test for software and/
Group Managers (Job code: I-288):
or analyze user needs and/or software
Define the roadmap to achieve straterequirements to determine required
gies that will drive quality product expesoftware improvements and/or modiriences for customers and will accelerate
fications.
business growth.
Software Engineers in Quality (Job
code: G4): Design, create, document,
and/or implement test strategies, test
automation and quality tools and processes to ensure quality of products and
services.
Development Managers (Job code:
I-346): Supervise and contribute to
the design, development, testing, and
deployment of web-based applications.
Sr. Product Managers (I-460): Identify
deep customer insights that lead to better products and marketing/ messaging
methods.
Senior Software Engineers in Quality
(Job code: G5): Use knowledge of
software engineering best practices and
principals to design, create, document,
Sr. Product Managers (Job code:
implement and/or maintain test scripts
I-315): Lead innovation in products and
for complex on-demand and integration
business models, primarily in the areas
applications.
of Small Business Accounting, Payments,
Point of Sale and QuickBooks ecosystem
Senior Applications Operations
offerings. May require up to 20% interEngineers (Job code: I-370): Drive the
national travel.
design, development and implementation of operational standards and capaSenior Technical Data Analysts (Job
bilities for connected services.
code: I-105): Engage with key stakeholders to understand critical business requireOnline Acquisition Marketers
ments and identify ways that analytics can
(Job code: I-7): Serve as the Online
best support or optimize business growth.
Acquisition Lead for QuickBooks
Access and synthesize data using approEcosystem Creative to be responsible for
priate tools and technology.
the development of an OA creative brief
for the QB Ecosystem and coordinate the
Submit resume to Intuit Inc., Attn: Olivia
relationship with our external agency
Sawyer, J203-6, 2800 E. Commerce
partner.
Center Place, Tucson, AZ 85706. You
must include the job code on your
Senior Business Analysts (Job code:
resume/cover letter. Intuit supports
I-65): Partner closely with product and
workforce diversity.
marketing managers to help guide stra-
525 Adult Care
Wanted
Companion
Seeking kind, empathic, intellectually curious and patient individual to
spend 6-8 hours per week with charming, distinguished Stanford Emeritus
Professor in the early stages of dementia. Activities (most of them outside
the Professor’s home) include walks
(campus, Baylands, parks), museums,
attendance at Stanford sports’practices
or games, and interesting conversation.
Hours flexible. Must have safe car and
good driving record.
fogster.com
TM
www.sudoku.name
Delivery: Contract Driver
If you have a vehicle that can tow at
least 7,000 pounds, you can make a living delivering RVs as a contract driver
for Foremost Transport! Be your own
boss and see the country.
ForemostTransport.Blogspot.com or
866-764-1601!
Make $1,000 Weekly!
Mailing Brochures From Home. Helping
home workers since 2001. Genuine
Opportunity. No Experience Required.
Start Immediately. www.theworkingcorner.com (AAN CAN)
No phone
number in the ad?
GO TO
fogster.com
for contact
information
THE PENINSULA’S FREE
CLASSIFIEDS WEBSITE
TO RESPOND TO ADS
WITHOUT PHONE NUMBERS
GO TO WWW.FOGSTER.COM
Business
Services
609 Catering/Event
Planning
Did You Know
7 IN 10 Americans or 158 million U.S.
Adults read content from newspaper
media each week? Discover the Power
of Newspaper Advertising. For a free
brochure call 916-288-6011 or email
[email protected] (Cal-SCAN)
620 Domestic Help
Offered
Housekeeper/Cook Available
Seeking room in exchange for reduced
rent, PA and surrounding. I will do cooking, housework chores. 408/826-2080
624 Financial
Big Trouble with IRS?
Are you in BIG trouble with the IRS?
Stop wage and bank levies, liens and
audits, unfiled tax returns, payroll issues,
and resolve tax debt FAST.
Call 844-753-1317 (AAN CAN)
Big Trouble with IRS?
Are you in BIG trouble with the IRS?
Stop wage and bank levies, liens and
audits, unfiled tax returns, payroll issues,
and resolve tax debt FAST. Seen on CNN.
A BBB. Call 1-800-761-5395. (Cal-SCAN)
Reduce Your Past Tax Bill
by as much as 75 Percent. Stop Levies,
Liens and Wage Garnishments. Call The
Tax DR Now to see if you Qualify
1-800-498-1067. (Cal-SCAN)
Social Secuity Disability
Benefits. Unable to work? Denied benefits? We Can Help! WIN or Pay Nothing!
Contact Bill Gordon & Associates at
1-800-966-1904 to start your application
today! (Cal-SCAN)
636 Insurance
Auto Insurance
starting AT $25/month!
Call 855-977-9537 (AAN CAN)
Lowest Prices
on Health and Dental Insurance. We
have the best rates from top companies!
Call Now! 888-989-4807. (CalSCAN)
Home
Services
748 Gardening/
Landscaping
J. Garcia Garden Maintenance
Service
Free est. 21 years exp. 650/366-4301
or 650/346-6781
LANDA’S GARDENING &
LANDSCAPING
*Yard Maint. *New Lawns. *Rototil
*Clean Ups *Tree Trim *Power Wash
*Irrigation timer programming.
18 yrs exp. Ramon, 650/576-6242
[email protected]
759 Hauling
J & G HAULING SERVICE
Misc. junk, office, gar., furn., mattresses,
green waste, more. Lic./ins. Free est.
650/743-8852 (see my Yelp reviews)
767 Movers
Sunny Express Moving Co.
Afforable, Reliable, References. Lic. CalT
#191198. 650/722-6586 or 408/904-9688
771 Painting/
Wallpaper
DAVID AND MARTIN
PAINTING
Quality work
Good references
Low price
Lic. #52643
(650) 575-2022
Glen Hodges Painting
Call me first! Senior discount. 45 yrs.
#351738. 650/322-8325
STYLE PAINTING
Full service painting. Insured.
Lic. 903303. 650/388-8577
775 Asphalt/
Concrete
Roe General Engineering
Asphalt, concrete, pavers, tiles, sealing,
artificial turf. 36 yrs exp. No job too
small. Lic #663703. 650/814-5572
779 Organizing
Services
End the Clutter & Get Organized
Residential Organizing
by Debra Robinson (650)390-0125
781 Pest Control
Did You Know
144 million U.S. Adults read a
Newspaper print copy each week?
Discover the Power of Newspaper
Advertising. For a free brochure call
916-288-6011 or email
[email protected] (Cal-SCAN)
Real
Estate
805 Homes for Rent
Palo Alto Home, 4 BR/2 BA - $4500.mont
809 Shared Housing/
Rooms
All Areas: Roommates.com
Lonely? Bored? Broke? Find the perfect
roommate to complement your personality and lifestyle at Roommates.com!
(AAN CAN)
PA: Room
in 3BR College Terrace home.
Furn./unfurn. Kit. privs, internet.
Walk to Stanford. $625, incl. utils.
Plus dep. 650/464.3456
825 Homes/Condos
for Sale
Menlo Park, 3 BR/2 BA - $899000
Palo Alto, 3 BR/2 BA - $1099000
R.G. Landscape
Yard Clean-ups, debris removal,
maintenance, installations. Free est.
650/468-8859
Tired of Mow, Blow and Go?
Owner operated, 40 years exp.
All phases of gardening/landscaping.
Ref. Call Eric, 408/356-1350
Sunnyvale, 3 BR/2 BA - $899000
850 Acreage/Lots/
Storage
Palo Alto
Rare Flat Vacant 1.03 Acre Low Density
Residential or SFR $11,888,000
751 General
Contracting
A NOTICE TO READERS:
It is illegal for an unlicensed person
to perform contracting work on any
project valued at $500.00 or more in
labor and materials. State law also
requires that contractors include
their license numbers on all advertising. Check your contractor’s status
at www.cslb.ca.gov or 800-321-CSLB
(2752). Unlicensed persons taking
jobs that total less than $500.00
must state in their advertisements
that they are not licensed by the
Contractors State License Board.
BIG DRIVE-UP STORAGE UNITS
Large 12’ x 22’ drive-ups. No stairs.
Sunnyvale. 408-734-6000
PA: Secured Storage
New secured storage and car storage
facility located in Palo Alto bordering
Los Altos. Storage units vary in size
ranging from 100 - 250 sq ft. Prices start
at $145/mo. Car storage is $159/mo. For
more information call 650-209-9711
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 47
MARKETPLACE the printed version of
fogster.com
TM
woodside in 30 min
38 knoll top acres cleared w/utlities
$3,588,000
Public
Notices
995 Fictitious Name
Statement
JAMBIP
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
File No.: 599596
The following person (persons) is (are)
doing business as:
Jambip, located at 3247 Murray Way,
Palo Alto, CA 94303, Santa Clara County.
This business is owned by: An
Individual.
The name and residence address of the
owner(s)/registrant(s) is(are):
JAYNE PEARCE
3247 Murray Way
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Registrant/Owner began transacting
business under the fictitious business
name(s) listed above on N/A.
This statement was filed with the
County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara
County on December 24, 2014.
(PAW Jan. 9, 16, 23, 30, 2015)
BLUE TURTLE DENTAL
BLUE TURTLE DENTAL, PRACTICE OF K.
SCHEEL, DDS INC.
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
File No.: 599774
The following person (persons) is (are)
doing business as:
1.) Blue Turtle Dental, 2.) Blue Turtle
Dental, Practice of K. Scheel, DDS Inc.,
located at 2290 Birch Street, Ste. A, Palo
Alto, CA 94306, Santa Clara County.
This business is owned by: A
Corporation.
The name and residence address of the
owner(s)/registrant(s) is(are):
K. SCHEEL, DDS INC.
2290 Birch Street, Ste. A
Palo Alto, CA 94306
Registrant/Owner began transacting
business under the fictitious business
name(s) listed above on N/A.
This statement was filed with the
County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara
County on December 31, 2014.
(PAW Jan. 9, 16, 23, 30, 2015)
L.S. & CO.
LS & CO.
LS AND COMPANY
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
File No.: 599976
The following person (persons) is (are)
doing business as:
1.) L.S. & CO., 2.) LS & CO., 3.) LS and
Company, located at 555 Byron St. #105,
Palo Alto, CA 94301, Santa Clara County.
This business is owned by: A General
Partnership.
The name and residence address of the
owner(s)/registrant(s) is(are):
LAURENCE L. SPITTERS
555 Byron St. #105
Palo Alto, CA 904301
LAURENCE LOUIS SPITTERS, JR.
96 N. 3rd., St.
San Jose, CA 95112
PETER J. SPITTERS
1346 El Moro Dr.
Campbell, CA 95008
ARTHUR J. CASEY
227 N. 1st. St.
San Jose, CA 95112
Registrant/Owner began transacting
business under the fictitious business
name(s) listed above on 01/05/2015.
This statement was filed with the
County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara
County on January 6, 2015.
(PAW Jan. 9, 16, 23, 30, 2015)
ATALACO
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
File No.: 600010
The following person (persons) is (are)
doing business as:
Atalaco, located at 702 Garland Drive,
Palo Alto, CA 94303, Santa Clara County.
This business is owned by: An
Individual.
The name and residence address of the
owner(s)/registrant(s) is(are):
ALLEN TAVAKOLI
702 Garland Drive
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Registrant/Owner began transacting
business under the fictitious business
name(s) listed above on 01/07/2015.
This statement was filed with the
County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara
County on January 7, 2015.
(PAW Jan. 16, 23, 30, Feb. 6, 2015)
ADORE HANDCRAFTED
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
File No.: 600011
The following person (persons) is (are)
doing business as:
Adore Handcrafted, located at 702
Garland Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94303,
Santa Clara County.
This business is owned by: An
Individual.
The name and residence address of the
owner(s)/registrant(s) is(are):
KAREEN TAVAKOLI
702 Garland Drive
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Registrant/Owner began transacting
business under the fictitious business
name(s) listed above on 01/07/2015.
This statement was filed with the
County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara
County on January 7, 2015.
(PAW Jan. 16, 23, 30, Feb. 6, 2015)
Assistant.ai
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
File No.: 599861
The following person (persons) is (are)
doing business as:
Assistant.ai, located at 443 Waverley
Street Palo Alto, CA 94301, Santa Clara
County.
This business is owned by: A
Corporation.
The name and residence address of the
owner(s)/registrant(s) is(are):
SPEAKTOIT INC.
443 Waverley Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Registrant/Owner began transacting
business under the fictitious business
name(s) listed above on N/A.
This statement was filed with the
County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara
County on January 5, 2015.
(PAW Jan. 16, 23, 30, Feb. 6, 2015)
ETCHED IN STONE
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
File No.: 600298
The following person (persons) is (are)
doing business as:
Etched In Stone, located at 644 Azule
Ave., San Jose, CA 95123, Santa Clara
THE PENINSULA’S FREE CLASSIFIEDS WEBSITE
TO RESPOND TO ADS WITHOUT PHONE NUMBERS
GO TO WWW.FOGSTER.COM
County.
This business is owned by: An
Individual.
The name and residence address of the
owner(s)/registrant(s) is(are):
DAVID A. BECERRA
644 Azule Ave.
San Jose, CA 95123
Registrant/Owner began transacting
business under the fictitious business
name(s) listed above on 12/19/2003.
This statement was filed with the
County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara
County on January 15, 2015.
(PAW Jan. 23, 30, Feb. 6, 13, 2015)
Api.ai
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
File No.: 600295
The following person (persons) is (are)
doing business as:
Api.ai, located at 443 Waverley Street,
Palo Alto, CA 94301, Santa Clara County.
This business is owned by: A
Corporation.
The name and residence address of the
owner(s)/registrant(s) is(are):
SPEAKTOIT INC.
443 Waverley Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Registrant/Owner began transacting
business under the fictitious business
name(s) listed above on N/A.
This statement was filed with the
County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara
County on January 15, 2015.
(PAW Jan. 23, 30, Feb. 6, 13, 2015)
NexMove
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
File No.: 600184
The following person (persons) is (are)
doing business as:
NexMove, located at 826 Rorke Way,
Palo Alto, CA 94303, Santa Clara County.
This business is owned by: An
Individual.
The name and residence address of the
owner(s)/registrant(s) is(are):
JEANNE YUE
826 Rorke Way
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Registrant/Owner began transacting
business under the fictitious business
name(s) listed above on 02 Jan. 2015.
This statement was filed with the
County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara
County on Jan. 13, 2015.
(PAW Jan. 30, Feb. 6, 13, 20, 2015)
SUMO
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
File No.: 599912
The following person (persons) is (are)
doing business as:
SUMO, located at 450 Serra Mall,
Building 380, Stanford, CA 94305, Santa
Clara County.
This business is owned by: A General
Partnership.
The name and residence address of the
owner(s)/registrant(s) is(are):
EDWARD DAI
655 Escondido Road
Stanford, CA 94305
MOOR XU
2070 University Avenue #219
Berkeley, CA 94704
Registrant/Owner began transacting
business under the fictitious business
name(s) listed above on N/A.
This statement was filed with the
County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara
County on January 6, 2015.
(PAW Jan. 30, Feb. 6, 13, 20, 2015)
997 All Other Legals
NOTICE OF BULK SALE
(A.B.C. License)
The following definitions and designations shall apply in this Notice without
regard to number or gender:
SELLER: Withers Food Service, Inc.
4546 El Camino Real, Los Altos, CA
94022
BUYER: Festivus Incorporated
5490 Lauren Drive, San Jose, CA 95124
BUSINESS: KIRK’S STEAKBURGERS
75-76 Town & Country Village, Palo Alto,
CA 94301
A.B.C. LICENSE: California Department
of Alcoholic Beverage Control license
issued to Transferor for Business.
Notice is hereby given that Seller
intends to make a bulk sale of the assets
of the above described Business to
Buyer, including the A.B.C. License, stock
in trade, furniture, and equipment used
in the Business, to be consummated at
the office of WILLIAM H. DUNN, 1350
Dell Avenue, #204, Campbell, CA 95008,
on or after the date the A.B.C. License
is transferred by the A.B.C. to Buyer
(estimated to be February 27, 2015).
This transfer is not subject to California
Commercial Code Sec. 6106.2.
Seller has used the following other
business names and addresses within
the last three years so far as known
to Buyer: Kirk’s Steakburgers, 2388 S.
Bascom Ave., San Jose, CA, 95124.
Festivus Incorporated
__________________
BY: WILLIAM H. DUNN
Agent for Buyer
1/30/15
CNS-2710776#
PALO ALTO WEEKLY
GENESIS PAINTING & DECORATING
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT
File No.: 600563
The following person (persons) is (are)
doing business as:
Genesis Painting & Decorating, located
at 5497 Spinnaker Walkway, San Jose,
CA 95123, Santa Clara County.
This business is owned by: An
Individual.
The name and residence address of the
owner(s)/registrant(s) is(are):
VICTOR GARZA
5497 Spinnaker Walkway #4
San Jose, CA 95123
Registrant/Owner began transacting
business under the fictitious business
name(s) listed above on N/A.
This statement was filed with the
County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara
County on January 22, 2015.
(PAW Jan. 30, Feb. 6, 13, 20, 2015)
fogster.comTM
Answers to this week’s puzzles, which can be found on page 47.
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Page 48 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
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Free. Fun. Only about Palo Alto.
C R O S S W O R D S
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Sports
Shorts
OF LOCAL NOTE . . . Palo Alto High
graduate Kelly Jenks (Class of
2010) has just signed a pro soccer
contract with Finnish Professional
League Team Kokkola 10FC. Jenks
has been serving as an assistant
coach for Paly girls soccer team this
season after a decorated career in
club, prep and college soccer. . . .
Seven local boys have been selected
by high school water polo coaches
to the California-Hawaii All-America
team. Sacred Heart Prep is represented by three players — Stanfordbound Nelson Perla (first team),
Princeton-bound Michael Swart
(second team) and sophomore
Jackson Enright (honorable mention). Menlo School also has three on
the team — Andreas Katsis (fourth
team), Nick Bisconti (fifth team) and
Spencer Witte (fifth team). Also
receiving recognition was MenloAtherton senior John Knox. He was
named honorable mention.
ON THE AIR
Friday
Prep basketball: Menlo-Atherton at
Carlmont, 6 p.m. (girls, boys at 7:45
p.m.;); KCEA (89.1 FM)
Saturday
Women’s basketball: Washington
St. at Stanford, 12:30 p.m.; Pac-12
Networks; KZSU (90.1 FM)
Men’s basketball: Stanford at
Washington St., 5:30 p.m.; Pac-12
Networks; KNBR (1050 AM)
Monday
Women’s basketball: Washington
at Stanford, 7 p.m.; Pac-12 Networks;
KZSU (90.1 FM)
www.PASportsOnline.com
For expanded daily coverage of
college and prep sports, visit
www.PASportsOnline.com
Stanford junior Maggie Steffens (left) and senior Kiley Neushul are two-time first team All-Americans and have helped the Cardinal win
last year’s NCAA title.
Stanford’s polo goal hasn’t changed
Cardinal women want a shot at defending their national championship this season
By Rick Eymer
S
eniors Kiley Neushul, Ashley Grossman and M-A
grad Emily Dorst already
have a pair of national titles to
their credit and their Stanford
women’s water polo team has
won three of the past four NCAA
championship trophies.
It’s a different team this time
around but the Cardinal (25-1 last
year and unbeaten in Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation play)
maintain the same high standards
and expect to be playing when the
NCAA tournament comes around
in May.
Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center will be the setting for this
year’s national championships
May 8-10) and there’s not much
more motivation than wanting to
play in front of a packed house in
your home pool.
Stanford has previously hosted
the national tourney in 2004 and
‘08, but watched USC and then
UCLA win the titles. The goal is
to end that streak this season.
The first step began two weekends ago at the LouStrong Memorial at San Jose State. The
Cardinal won a pair of exhibition
matches against China (10-6) and
Brazil (13-6). The Cardinal (2-0)
also dunked Pacific (14-3) and Cal
State Monterey Bay (20-0).
Stanford opens its home season this weekend at the Stanford
Invitational. The Cardinal will
face UC Davis (9:10 a.m.) and
UC Irvine (3:45 p.m.) on Satur-
day before taking on San Jose
State (8:08 a.m.) on Sunday. The
championship match will be later
in the day.
Stanford enters this weekend
with a 497-81 overall record since
the program’s inception in 1996
and should hit the 500-win plateau on Sunday.
“All of them have signed on to
blast off,” Stanford coach John
Tanner said. “We’re going to get
(continued on next page)
PREP BASKETBALL
STANFORD ROUNUP
Pinewood girls
ranked among
the nation’s best
Busy weekend
for Cardinal
teams at home
by Keith Peters
By Rick Eymer
O
T
ne year ago, the Pinewood girls
were 15-1 in their first 16 basketball games. The Panthers eventually improved to 24-1 and wrapped up a
30-3 season by winning the CIF Division
V state championship.
This year, Pinewood is 14-2 after its
first 16 games. The Panthers, however,
may be a better team than a season ago.
“We have a lot of good wins under our
belt — Lakewood (No. 7 in Colorado),
South Medford (No. 1 in Oregon), Sacred
Heart Cathedral, Eastside (Prep), McClatchy, and now Carondelet (No. 8 in
California),” said Pinewood coach Doc
Scheppler. “We’ve had a very challenging
preseason set of games!”
Pinewood’s 69-55 nonleague win over
Carondelet on Saturday in the Corner
Bakery Showdown in Lafayette was just
another example of how deep and talent(continued on page 51)
Don Feria
READ MORE ONLINE
Hector Garcia-Molina/stanfordphoto.com / photo illustration Paul Llewellyn
CARDINAL CORNER . . . Senior
Anthony Brown scored 23 points,
Chasson Randle added 20 and the
Stanford men’s basketball team won
for the fifth time in six times, beating
host Washington, 84-74, Wednesday
in Pac-12 action in Seattle. Stefan
Nastic scored 17 points for the Cardinal (6-2 in the Pac-12, 15-5 overall),
which took over sole possession of
third place in the conference, a game
behind Arizona and a half-game behind Utah, which played Thursday at
UCLA. Stanford ends the first half of
conference play at Washington State
on Saturday in a 5:30 p.m. start on
the Pac-12 Networks. Marcus Allen
scored 12 points for the Cardinal,
which never trailed in the contest . .
. Cardinal sophomore Akash Modi
was named the College Gymnastics
Association Gymnast of the Week for
the third consecutive week, as announced by the organization Thursday. . . . Elizabeth Price attained the
first 10.0 score in Stanford women’s
gymnastics competition in eight
years and it helped the No. 19 Cardinal recorded a season-best score in
beating visiting No. 10 Oregon State,
197.000-196.450, Monday night in
Pac-12 action.
Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler has his girls team
off to a 14-2 start.
he 12th-ranked Stanford women’s
basketball team faces a big test this
weekend at home, beginning with
Washington State’s visit Saturday for a
12:30 p.m. tip-off.
The Cardinal (7-1 in the Pac-12, 15-5
overall) responded quite nicely following
its home loss to Arizona State. Stanford
beat both UCLA, 79-70, and USC, 71-60,
on the road last weekend.
Stanford resides in a second-place tie,
with the Sun Devils, a game back of Pac12 leader Oregon State and a game ahead
of fourth-place California.
The Cougars (4-4, 13-6) dominated
most of the action in their game against
the Cardinal in Pullman. Stanford rallied
to send it into overtime before pulling
away.
Washington State has won its past
three games, even without senior center
(continued on nextv page)
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 49
Sports
Water polo
win gold medals at the FINA
World Cup in Russia and at the
(continued from previous page)
FINA World League Super Final
in China over the summer.
“There are a lot of players on
after it from the get-go. These
guys aspire to be great every day.” the team, who, in their own right,
Neushul and Grossman were are sensational,” Tanner said of his
freshmen when junior Maggie players. “But, water polo for them
Steffens was helping the United has always been about team.”
Grossman is rounding into
States win a gold medal at the
2012 London Olympics. Stanford shape after a shoulder problem
was missing its top three players two years ago slowed her down.
“She’s getting stronthat year.
ger and she’s a hard
No Olympians? No
worker,” Tanner said.
problem. Neushul led
“She’s exuberant and
the team in scoring
fun to be around. She
and was won the Peter
brings a lot of energy.
J. Cutino Award as the
She’s found another levnation’s top player after
el and is having a good
helping Stanford win
season so far.”
the national title. GrossSteffens’ water polo
man was second on the
bloodlines extend beteam in scoring.
Steffens was actually Ashley Grossman yond the borders. Her
father, Carlos, helped
part of the same recruiting class with Neushul and Gross- Cal win a national championship
man, but deferred a year to play in and later helped Puerto Rico win
the Olympics with her older sister, a Pan Am gold medal. Her uncle,
Peter Schnugg, played at Cal and
Stanford grad Jessica Steffens.
“All these guys grew up in wa- was an U.S. Olympian in 1980.
ter polo households,” Tanner said. Her older brother also played for
“They have a sense of how the Cal.
Steffens opened her season with
game is played across the board.
The environment they grew up in four goals last weekend.
“She just has a great feel for
emphasized movement and fastpaced water polo. That fits in with the sport,” said Tanner. “She just
feels comfortable and is calibratwhat we’re trying to achieve.”
For Neushul, Grossman and ed enough that she builds bridges
Steffens (a two-time FINA Player with players of all ages.”
Neushul enters her senior seaof the Year), last weekend seemed
very familiar. The Team USA son with 159 career goals. She
teammates helped the Americans tallied five last weekend and now
has 164.
“They are all different in how
they play and it’s fun to see how
they perform as leaders.”
Stanford lost five seniors from
last year’s title team, including
Olympian and Cutino Award winner Annika Dries, but returns six
of its top 10 scorers. Neushul and
Steffens tied for the team lead,
each with 51. Grossman added 45.
Junior Anna Yelizarova (38),
sophomore Jamie Neushul
(17),and sophomore Dani Jackovich (17) are also back. Yelizarova
tallied five goals at San Jose State.
Junior goalie Gabby Stone appeared in all but two of Stanford’s
games, ending the year with a
7.64 saves average and a 5.91
goals against average. Dorst, who
played in 13 games, had a 7.79
saves average and a 6.04 goals
against average. Sophomore Julia
Hermann played in eight games.
Juniors Rachel Johnson and
Gupreet Sohi, who combined to
score 11 goals last year, add experience, while sophomores Cassidy
Papa, Sophia Monaghan and Jessica Webster, who combined for
nine goals, add depth.
Jordan Raney leads a strong
class of freshmen, which also
includes Katie Dudley, Shannon
Cleary, Natalie Chen and Lauren
Norheim.
“We can’t play for a championship until May,” Tanner said.
“What we can do is practice, compete and support each other at the
highest level.” Q
Stanford roundup
(continued from previous page)
Shalie Dheensaw, who suffered a
season-ending knee injury in the
Cougars’ 3-point loss at Oregon
State two weeks ago.
Briana Roberson took advantage of her first start of the season
and second of her career in Stanford’s win over the Bruins. She
scored a career-high 21 points,
one of three players, with Bonnie
Samuelson and Amber Orrange,
to reach 20 points in the contest.
Lili Thompson, who scored one
point against UCLA, went for 21
against the Trojans.
Stanford faces the top three
scorers in the conference this
weekend and four of the top eight.
Washington State’s Lia Galdeira
(19.6) and Tia Presley (18.9) are
second and third.
Washington brings sophomore
Kelsey Plum (24.5) and senior
Jazmine Davis (15.0) to Maples
Pavilion for Monday’s 7 p.m.
game.
Women’s swimming
Nationally No. 3-ranked Stanford (4-0 in the Pac-12, 5-1 overall) hosts a homecoming of sorts
this weekend when UCLA and
USC visit Avery Aquatic Center
for a pair of Pac-12 dual meets.
There are swimmers from both
Southern California schools who
have competed at Stanford while
in high school, though none more
experienced than Palo Alto grad
Jasmine Tosky, a junior who has
the Trojans’ top times in the 400
individual medley (4:12.05) and
200 fly (1:55.59) this season.
No. 12-ranked USC (3-1, 4-1)
comes to town for a noon meet on
Saturday, the day after swimming
at California. The No. 13-ranked
Bruins (3-1, 7-1) arrive for a 2 p.m.
meet on Friday.
Tosky, who is part of the USC
record-holding team in the 400
free relay, has competed in most
every event for the Trojans, including the 1,000 free, a tribute
to her versatility. She’s been a
part of the Palo Alto Stanford
Aquatics Club program most of
her life.
PASA swimmer and MenloAtherton grad Kindle Van Linge,
a freshman, is beginning to
emerge at USC. She’s participated
with the 200 and 400 free relay
teams and has one of the Trojans’
top times in the 100 fly (56.22),
which she accomplished at the
Texas Invitational. Van Linge also
won the 50 free against Oregon
State.
Tennis
Both the men’s and women’s
teams are in action at home this
weekend, with the Stanford men
(1-2) hosting UNLV on Saturday.
The eighth-rankled women’s
team hosts St. Mary’s on Friday
(1:30 p.m.) after opening the season against Princeton on Thursday. Q
Valentine’s Day Special
Four course dinner Served with
Complimentary glass of Proseco Champagne
$59 per person
Featuring live performance by guitarist Kenya Baker
Appetizers
Bruschetta – Toasted slices of oven baked bread topped with Roma tomato cubes
marinated with olive oil, garlic and fresh basil.
Crispy Zucchini Cakes – Served with marinated cucumber & mint yogurt.
Salad
Summer in Sorrento – Watermelon topped with Feta cheese squares, arugula, figs,
Sicilian olives with Vidalia onion dressing.
Strawberry Fields – Crisp mixed lettuce, fresh strawberries, toasted pecans, and
gorgonzola cheese served with our tangy Vidalia onion dressing.
Entrees
Filet Mignon – Filet mignon in a red wine reduction. Served with broccolini and a risotto
cake filled with blue cheese.
Braised Short Ribs in a light red wine sauce – Served with polenta and seasonal fresh cut
vegetables.
Grilled Lamb Chops in a lemon vinaigrette sauce – Served with Swiss chard and roasted
potatoes.
Linguine Pescatore – Fresh salmon, snapper, clams, mussels and prawns in a spicy
tomato sauce.
Heart Shape Mushroom Ravioli – With truffle filling, Roma tomatoes and fresh spinach in a
light Marsala cream sauce.
Grilled Salmon – Served with sautéed spinach, wild rice and vegetables.
Dessert
Chocolate Duet Cake
Raspberry Cheesecake
Executive Chef – Antonio Zomora
Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday - Thursday
9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday - Saturday • 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
1390 Pear Ave., Mountain View | (650) 254-1120 | www.cucinaventi.com
Page 50 • January 30, 2015 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com
Sports
PREP SOCCER
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
(continued from page 49)
Rivals set
to battle
for first
SHP, Menlo boys
meet again with top
spot in WBAL at stake
by Keith Peters
T
he Sacred Heart Prep and
Menlo School boys will
meet on the soccer field for
the second time on Friday, with
plenty at stake in the rivalry.
The Gators will bring a 6-0
record in the West Bay Athletic
League into the 3:30 p.m. match
in addition to a sparking 10-1-2
overall record. SHP needs a victory to remain alone in first place
as the second half of the league
season begins.
Sacred Heart Prep already
holds a 2-0 win over Menlo this
season. The Gators are 11-0-2
against the Knights since the
teams began playing each other
in the WBAL in 2009. The Gators are also 67-2-5 in the league
since that time and have won six
straight league titles.
The Gators wrapped up the
first half of WBAL action with a
5-0 victory over host Harker on
Wednesday. The eventual winning goal came in the first half
on an unassisted goal by Derek
Chou. Philip Petrakian made it
2-0 by halftime off an assist from
Nikhil Goel.
SHP padded its lead in the second half when Fernando Monteon
scored off an assist from Josh Lin.
Matthew MacFarquhar (assist
Danny Sanchez) made it 4-0 before Monteon got his second goal
on an assist from Chou as the Gators ran their unbeaten streak to
eight matches.
In Atherton, Menlo School
took over sole possession of second place with a 4-3 victory over
visiting King’s Academy. Menlo’s fifth straight win moved the
Knights to 5-1 in league and 7-4-1
overall.
Menlo started the game on the
front foot and quickly took the
lead. After an initial goal was
ruled out for offside, Menlo found
the breakthrough when junior forward Will Chisholm fed freshman
winger Dylan Williams in the box
and Williams convincingly beat
the King’s Academy keeper. Williams doubled his tally 10 minutes
later.
Williams completed his hat
trick in the first minute of the
second half off another pass from
Chisholm. Chisholm put Menlo
4-0 ahead after a great solo effort.
In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo-Atherton stayed in the hunt for
a possible title with a 4-2 win over
host Woodside on Wednesday.
Mario Rodriguez scored twice
with Juan Gastelum Urquidez tallying on a penalty kick and Jesus
Ortega finding the net late as the
Prep basketball
Jacey Pederson
Michel-Ange Siaba
PALO ALTO HIGH
PALO ALTO HIGH
The junior midfielder scored
three goals and added an assist as the Vikings won three
soccer matches, including a
win over Mountain View that
was Paly’s first since since
2007 and earned a firstplace tie.
The sophomore scored two
winning goals in three 1-0
soccer victories, including the
Vikings’ first win over Mountain View since 2010 and a
triumph over co-leader Homestead that gave them sole
possession of first place.
Honorable mention
Gabi Bade
Pinewood basketball
Tierna Davidson
Sacred Heart Prep soccer
Greer Hoyem
Menlo-Atherton basketball
Stella Kailahi*
Pinewood basketball
Julia Lodoen
Castilleja soccer
Tess Preising
Palo Alto soccer
Ryan Cole
Menlo-Atherton basketball
Ian Cramer*
Gunn wrestling
Josh Lin
Sacred Heart Prep soccer
Sean MacPherson
Gunn soccer
Mason Randall*
Sacred Heart Prep basketball
Wesley Woo
Palo Alto soccer
* previous winner
Watch video interviews of the Athletes of the Week, go to PASportsOnline.com
Bears improved to 5-2 in league
(8-3 overall).
Girls soccer
Sacred Heart Prep and Menlo
School remained first and second,
respectively, in the WBAL Foothill Division following big wins
on Tuesday.
SHP freshman Mia Shenk
scored two goals and added an
assist as the Gators rolled to a 6-0
victory over visiting Notre DameSan Jose. The Gators moved to
5-0 in league (11-2-1 overall) as
junior Tierna Davidson contributed one goal and two assists. Lexi
Lamb, Brigid White and Olivia
Athens also scored for SHP.
Meanwhile, host Menlo School
remained a game back in the
standings following a 9-0 rout of
Priory. Menlo senior Leah Swig
had a hat trick while teammate
Alexandra Walker finished with
two goals and one assist as the
Knights improved to 4-1 in league
(7-3-3- overall). Priory dropped to
0-5 and 0-9-1.
In the PAL Bay Division,
Menlo-Atherton began Tuesday
contending for a possible title. As
the sun was going down, however,
so were the Bears’ hopes as first-
place Woodside pulled away for a
4-1 victory.
The Bears came into the first
of two showdowns with the Wildcats tied for third place with Burlingame, trailing second-place
Carlmont by just two points. M-A
needed to pull an upset, however,
to move closer to Woodside’s 18
points.
That didn’t happen, however,
as the Bears fell to 3-2-2 (6-3-3)
while the Wildcats improved to
7-0 and 11-1.
In the WBAL Skyline Division, Pinewood rallied from a 1-0
halftime deficit to beat visiting
Eastside Prep, 3-1. Jordan Berke,
Emma Doettling and Laine Corfield all scored for Pinewood (41-1, 7-5-2) following assists from
Caleigh Page while Eastside Prep
fell to 0-5 in league.
In Hillsborough, Castilleja
grabbed a 1-0 halftime lead following a goal by Julia Lodoen off
a corner kick by Ella Nudell, but
the Gators could not make it stand
up and eventually had to settle for
a 1-1 deadlock with host Crystal
Springs. The Gators moved to
4-0-2 in league (7-3-3 overall)
and held on to first place ahead of
Crystal Springs (4-0-1, 9-4-1). Q
ed the Panthers are this season.
Seven players scored, with senior
Gabi Bade having her best game
of the season with 22 points after
getting her season off to a slow
start.
“Gabi was out with a stress
reaction in her foot in December and was sick for a couple of
league games,” Scheppler said.
“By far her best game this year.
It takes awhile to get game acclimated, skillfully, condition-wise.
We’re looking for more great
games from her and, a level of
consistency in her play.”
Pinewood enters this weekend atop the West Bay Athletic
League (Foothill Division) standings at 6-0. The Panthers cruised
past host Castilleja, 72-38, on
Tuesday and should do the same
against Notre Dame-San Jose on
Friday before visiting secondplace place Eastside Prep (4-1,
14-3) on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) with
sole possession of first place at
stake.
The combination of Pinewood’s
tough schedule and seven-game
win streak has the Panthers
among the nation’s best this week.
MaxPreps.com has Pinewood No.
10 in the nation, No. 7 in the state
and No. 1 in California among Division V teams.
“Rankings really don’t matter
to me,” said Scheppler. “It’s all
opinion-based. We are a really
good team that still has to make
another giant step to be considered great and, anything comparable to other teams.
“Our defense has been poor
in the last two weeks, but, we’ll
get back to work on the specific
things we need to be great.”
With Bade getting back to full
health, Scheppler has — arguably — his deepest team ever. His
roster numbers 14 with 11 players
generally seeing action.
The Palo Alto girls are also enjoying a hugely successful season
and are off to a 16-2 start. The
Vikings are ranked No. 4 in the
CCS by MaxPreps.com, trailing
only SI, Pinewood and Mitty and
should contend for the CCS Division I crown this season — perhaps with Menlo-Atherton (14-5).
Paly sits atop the SCVAL De
Anza Division standings at 6-0
following a 56-38 romp over host
Los Gatos (3-3) on Wednesday as
Alexis Harris and Lauren Koyama tallied 10 points each.
In Palo Alto, host Gunn got 17
points from Olivia Tapia in a 5148 victory over Los Altos. The
Titans improved to 3-3 in the
division (6-7 overall) as Archer
Olson added 12 points and four
rebounds with senior Meghan
Mahoney finishing with 10 points
and six boards.
In the West Bay Athletic
League (Foothill Division), Menlo School’s Sam Erisman had a
career-high 30 points to pace the
Knights to a 58-48 victory over
host Castilleja. Hannah Paye and
DJ Stine each added eight for the
Knights (4-1, 12-4), who grabbed
a 41-25 halftime lead against the
Gators (1-5, 9-9). Paige Vermeer
led Castilleja with 23 points, eight
rebounds and five steals. Yasmeen
Afifi pulled down 11 rebounds.
In the WBAL Foothill Division
on Tuesday, Riley Hemm tossed
in 18 points and Sacred Heart
Prep held on to a 45-44 victory
over host Notre Dame-San Jose.
The Gators (2-4, 11-7) fell behind
by 32-21 at the half, but held the
Regents to just 12 points after intermission.
In the WBAL Skyline Division,
freshman Tatiana Reese returned
after missing two games with an
injury and produced 31 points
and eight rebounds to pace Priory
to a 46-25 win over host Crystal
Springs. Reese finished with five
3-pointers.
In the PAL South Division,
Menlo-Atherton remained in the
hunt for a possible title following
a 54-26 romp over visiting San
Mateo on Wednesday. In a first
quarter where M-A had trouble
sinking baskets, freshman Carly
McLanahan gave the Bears (6-1,
14-5) a lift when she hit the first
of her three 3-pointers in the closing moments. She finished with
13 points, as did freshman Greer
Hoyem.
Boys basketball
Kevin Mullin did his best to
keep Palo Alto in the running for
the SCVAL De Anza Division
title on Tuesday night. The senior
made 14 of 26 field goals (54 percent) while scoring a career-high
35 points — one of the best individual performance in school
history.
Mullin also grabbed six rebounds, had five steals and two
assists for the Vikings. The
standout effort, however, went
for naught as Palo Alto dropped a
64-59 decision to host Los Gatos.
The loss was the second straight
for the Vikings, who fell into a
tie for second with Los Gatos at
4-2. Paly (13-4 overall) trails firstplace Fremont (5-1, 13-4) heading
into the second half of the season.
In the SCVAL El Camino Division, Gunn remained tied for
first place with Saratoga following a 52-36 thumping of visiting
Cupertino. The Titans (5-1, 112) wrapped up the first half of
division play with senior Chris
Russell leading the way with 17
points.
In the West Bay Athletic
League, Sacred Heart Prep won
its eighth straight and held on to
first place with an 85-57 romp
over host Eastside Prep. The Gators (7-0, 15-2) were led by junior
Mason Randall’s 24 points with
senior Corbin Koch adding 19
points and nine rebounds.
In Los Alto Hills, Pinewood
held on to second place and
knocked Menlo School to third
with a 68-65 WBAL triumph.
Menlo’s Ben Simon missed a long
3-point attempt at the buzzer, allowing the Panthers (6-1, 12-3) to
escape with the win.
The Knights fell to 5-2 (11-5
overall) despite a 26-point outburst by Liam Dunn, who scored
17 points in the second half. Q
www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 30, 2015 • Page 51
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• Palo
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