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Vol. XXVII, Number 10 • Friday, November 4, 2005 ■ 50¢ Sky is the limit for Check out the Weekly’s ‘Little’ new online classifieds at fogster.com WeWeekend eEdition k l y Page 18 www.PaloAltoOnline.com Nicholas Wright Worth A Look 17 Movie Times 19 Eating Out 23 Goings On 29 Crossword Puzzle 41 ■ Upfront Stanford Theatre’s alarming spat with city Page 3 ■ Sports Historic runs by Palo Alto cross-country teams Page 32 ■ Home & Real Estate Single-stream recycling: Convenient or klutzy? Section 2 We Think William Deserves a Medal Before the Race Begins. A brain tumor hasn’t slowed down 10-year-old William. Because of the world class care he received at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, William is now up on his feet every morning, training with his mom for a half marathon and setting an aggressive pace to help others in need. Ranked as one of the top ten pediatric hospitals in the nation by U.S.News & World Report, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford is a world class hospital devoted entirely to the care of children and expectant mothers – right in your backyard. Read more about William and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at www.lpch.org. L U C I L E PA C K A R D C H I L D R E N’S H O S P I T A L Page 2 • Friday, November 4, 2005 • Palo Alto Weekly UpfrontLocal news, information and analysis ELECTION ’05 Stanford Theatre gallery’s alarming delay Candidates Numerous false alarms and obscure compromised city ordinance by union? postpone opening of memorabilia museum Drekmeier, Barton get labor nod by Bill D’Agostino by Bill D’Agostino f this particular tale had a clas- sic-movie title, it might be he City of Palo Alto’s largest I “The Alarm That Went Off Too union mailed an expensive Much.” T full-color political flier this Or perhaps, “Gone with the Bu- week in support of two City Coun- reaucracy” or “Some Like It Quiet.” cil candidates: John Barton and Pe- Once upon a time, the Stanford ter Drekmeier. Theatre, downtown Palo Alto’s It is unusual for Service Employ- classic-movie house, planned to ees International Union, Local 715, open a gallery next door to the the- to play a notable role in a Palo Alto atre to display movie memorabilia campaign. Mayor Jim Burch ques- from the Golden Age of Holly- tioned whether the union’s support wood. Nearly all the posters, would compromise the candidate if scripts, stills and other items were he were elected to the council when to come from the personal collec- it came time to vote on contracts. tion of the president of the non- “I think there’s a question there, a profit that runs the theatre, David real question,” Burch said. W. Packard. Construction was Maya Spector, the past chair of the nearly complete in July, and an Oc- union and a steward, said she didn’t tober grand opening was planned. see her chapter’s support as any dif- But now in November, the win- ferent from any other group that en- dows are still dark, and Packard — dorses candidates. The union doesn’t the son of Hewlett Packard Co.’s expect to dictate decisions to the two co-founder David Packard — is candidates if they get on the council, blaming the city for an unplanned (continued on page 10) delay in the gallery’s opening, cit- ing the city’s “strict” interpretation of an obscure ordinance. City offi- DISASTER RELIEF cials responded by saying the gallery itself is responsible. Palo Altans The setback is due to the fact that Palo Alto police officers are no longer responding to the gallery’s far from security alarm. By city ordinance, officers stop tapped out responding to an intrusion alarm after six or more false alarms are Community rallies support triggered in a 12-month period. for earthquake victims in During the final stages of the Stan- South Asia ford Theatre Gallery’s construc- tion, eight false alarms were trig- by Alexandria Rocha gered in three weeks, starting in n the wake of last year’s devas- May 2005. tating tsunami in Southeast Asia, Without police protection, Norbert von der Groeben I the Palo Alto educational com- Packard is not comfortable put- munity rallied to raise funds for dis- ting his “unique and valuable” aster relief. The same happened on collection in the gallery. The city a much larger scale when Hurricane also fined the theatre $1,450. Katrina hit a few months ago, and “The total denial of protection [to local efforts continue on behalf of the gallery] for a year (or even six those victims. months) is grossly out of propor- Four weeks ago, a disastrous tion to the cost and inconvenience to Owners of the Stanford Theatre are blaming city officials for delaying the opening of a new movie museum. earthquake measuring 7.6 on the the City caused by any errors during Richter Scale hit south Asia. For a our construction activity,” Packard theatre’s recent newsletter: “We “He’s putting the blame for The letter blamed the gallery’s third time, the local community wrote in a letter to the Palo Alto had hoped to open our new Gallery something he caused on the city, contractors for the false alarms, snapped into action. City Council this week, shared with in October, but the City of Palo not taking any responsibility for saying there was “faulty commu- “It really proved that the whole the Weekly. The fee, he noted, Alto has chosen to follow very himself. ... I think the city has treat- nication.” Packard noted he himself idea that this community was tapped “seems like a reasonable and ade- rigid rules and withhold certain es- ed him as well as we’ve treated was responsible for two of the false out was just wrong,” said Julie Gre- quate penalty to reimburse the City sential services from us until next anybody else, and fairly,” Burch alarms after a contractor failed to icius, the mother of an Addison El- and deter future carelessness.” spring (presumably teaching us a said. “We’re not here to keep run- inform him that the security code ementary School second-grader and Officers are scheduled to return long-needed lesson). Your elected ning out two or three times a week had changed. organizer of one of the relief efforts. to responding to the gallery’s alarm representatives at work!” because you’re putting in all these “I immediately called the Police “We’re far from tapped out.” in March 2006. Mayor Jim Burch was upset with false alarms. Somehow I would Department and explained the sit- Efforts to raise awareness and pro- The news of the delay was men- the newsletter’s unexplained alle- have expected a more honest re- uation,” Packard wrote. “I offered vide relief quickly cropped up. An tioned, in mysterious terms, in the gation. sponse from Dave Packard.” (continued on page 11) Adopt-a-Tent/Save-a-Life drive at (continued on page 10) Palo Alto Weekly • Friday, November 4, 2005 • Page 3 GET READY 703 HIGH STREET, PALO ALTO, CA 94302 FOR THE HOLIDAYS (650) 326-8210 • PlatesGE and NapkinsT READY• Name Tags, placecards PUBLISHER William S. Johnson ReaderReaderWire comments via e-mail, voice mail and U.S. mail • Invitations • Greeting Cards EDITORIAL FOR THE Jay Thorwaldson, Editor of whether we hold vigils or not. After • Stationery • Holiday Boxed Cards Marc Burkhardt, Managing Editor Behind the sun Jocelyn Dong, Associate Editor all, 9/11 destroyed thousands of Amer- Allen Clapp, Carol Blitzer, Assistant Editors I think the city staff proposal to lo- • Wrap, Bags & Ribbon Keith Peters, Sports Editor cate a set of solar panels on the East ican lives well before any vigil was held. HOLIDAYS Rick Eymer, Assistant Sports Editor Rebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment Editor Bayshore Utility Service Area is very So Steinhoff asks us to consider Don Kazak, Senior Staff Writer abandoning vigils that honor fallen Bill D’Agostino, Alexandria Rocha, Staff Writers reasonable. With skyrocketing gas • Plates and • Name Tags, Norbert von der Groeben, Chief Photographer prices, the economics of new rotating friends. If we did so, we would be buck- Nicholas Wright, Staff Photographer Napkins Placecards Brian Connelly, Photo Intern solar systems becomes attractive. ling to terrorist intimidations and disre- Tyler Hanley, Assistant to the Editor & specting brave compatriots. No Mr. Online Editor Solar cells produce electricity in the • Invitations • Greeting Cards Sue Dremann, Staff Writer, Special Sections daytime, when commercial air-condi- Steinhoff, I won’t consider that. Cammie Farmer, Calendar Editor Jeanne Aufmuth, Dale Benson, Lynn tioning and electric demand is at its Daniel Rand • Stationery • Holiday Boxed Comeskey, Tim Goode, Jill Slater, Susan Park Boulevard, Palo Alto Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors peak. The rotation devices help main- Cards Suman Mudamula, Saqib Rahim, Ken Selis, tain maximum generation over many • Wrap, Bags & Editorial Interns daylight hours. Since the recent large Too far to ‘trample’ Ribbon • Holiday Crackers DESIGN reduction of committed energy and ca- Carol Hubenthal, Design Director In response to Paula Elster (“Foothills Judith Alderman, Assistant Design Director pacity from the federal hydropower sys- value,” Weekly, Nov. 2) who said that Diane Haas, Lynda Lumish, Sue Peck, Senior tem, we must add new fossil genera- Designers; “Foothills Park is worth protecting. Hike Dana James, Sarah McAleer, Scott Peterson, tion or buy it from someone else. on the trails and see for yourself,” I Designers I don’t think the rotating “billboards” can’t hike and see for myself because I PRODUCTION (solar panels) would have a significant live three blocks on the wrong side of Jennifer Lindberg, Production Manager environmental impact on the baylands; Dorothy Hassett, Brooke Fox, the creek.

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