Nowhe Says It Made Him a Better
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Palo 6°Ê888]Ê ÕLiÀÊ£ÊUÊ"VÌLiÀÊ£ä]ÊÓäänÊN xäZ Alto Water prices to double in next decade Page 3 www.PaloAltoOnline.com Rick Walker was wrongfully imprisoned for 12 years. Now he says it made him a better man. page 19 Eating Out 29 Movies 33 Home & Real Estate 41 Crossword 60 NA&E Monk’s dance, music and vocals ‘ascend’ Page 25 NSports Stanford football in a rush to get better Page 36 NFall Real Estate Why are these towns different? Special Section Page 2ÊUÊ"VÌLiÀÊ£ä]ÊÓäänÊUÊ*>ÊÌÊ7iiÞ UpfrontLocal news, information and analysis Water prices may double in next decade ous position. And in the future, it plies from a major earthquake. to double between now and 2018, With costly seismic improvements ahead could also be far pricier, pending The plan includes 37 renovations officials say. enactment of a new plan from the or flat-out rebuilds of pipes and res- For Palo Alto, that may mean a for system, city plans to increase conservation San Francisco Public Utilities Com- ervoirs by 2015 for a total of $4.4 household increase from about $69 by Arden Pennell mission (SFPUC). billion. to $127 per month, according to The agency that supplies pristine Who will pay? The drinkers. Jane Ratchye, the assistant direc- snowflake in the high Sier- finally pours out a tap in Palo Alto. water from Yosemite National Park To fund upgrades to the 70-year- tor for resource management in the ras melts into a stream, flows If only it were that simple. The to many Bay Area cities — includ- old water system, household water city’s utilities department. It could A down hundreds of miles of poetic, school-child narrative is ing Palo Alto — released last week rates in Bay Area cities served by gravity-driven rivers and pipes and true, but water is also in a precari- its latest plan to protect water sup- the utilities commission are likely (continued on page 11) SCHOOLS High school bike riders on the rise Jammed bike racks facing issues of safety, security by Allen Clapp t could be the surging tide of freshmen flooding into Palo I Alto’s high schools or it could be the greening of the local student body. But whatever the reason, a re- cord number of students at Paly and Gunn are getting to school on two wheels these days, causing crowds at the bike racks. Recent counts by PTA members and city program managers show 632 students biking to Gunn and 520 cycling to Paly on a regular ba- sis, up from last year’s numbers of Dan Sullivan 495 and 433 respectively. The sudden 25 percent increase at Gunn and nearly 20 percent increase at Paly over last year has taken stu- Father George Aranha of Our Lady of the Rosary blesses Miguel Cardenas and his dog during a blessing of the animals Oct. 5. dents and authorities by surprise, jamming bike racks to overflow ca- a wooden casket with the late rat’s “appreciation for the love of the pacity, according to Paly PTA traffic COMMUNITY name, Thing One, engraved on it. animals in our lives and an ac- safety representative Rich Swent. At Our Lady of the Rosary and knowledgement of their beauty.” “It’s a good problem to have,” elsewhere, the spirit of St. Fran- Bradley said she’s found Palo Swent said. cis is alive and well in Palo Alto Alto to be very pet friendly. But the unexpected volume is cre- Blessed are the furry this autumn. Unity Church and The Evangelical Lutheran pet- ating issues of capacity, safety and the Evangelical Lutheran Campus blessing event Sunday — which security, Swent said. and feathered Ministry of Stanford University included 30 stuffed animals in ad- President of the Paly Bike Club, held their ceremonies last week- dition to 20 live ones — included Julian Pitt, concurs. “It’s definitely Palo Alto churches celebrate the spirit of St. Francis end. The First Christian Church of the singing of a hymn written by noticeable. The racks are so over- Palo Alto is planning its first pet St. Francis. filled the bikes won’t all fit. They’re by Karla Kane blessing this Saturday. “So often, public policy and spilling out into other areas of the hen young Miguel Carde- nual event for the past four years According to Ramacciotti, the church polity are focused on people campus. nas held up his two pet and intermittently for years before, blessing celebrates St. Francis and only. This is a chance for us to say, “It makes you wonder why the W turtles, Crash and Squirt, according to the church staff. the special bond between humans ‘We are in a sibling relationship school district isn’t investing in to be drizzled with holy water “We’ve had all kinds of animals; and animals. with all of creation’ and to remind more bicycle parking,” the Paly ju- Sunday, he was emulating a tradi- it’s so much fun and so cute,” said “St. Francis was ahead of his time ourselves of what that means for nior said. tion dating back to St. Francis of Jean Ramacciotti, who is on Our by hundreds of years in protesting us and for creation,” Pastor Greg Over at Gunn, a new bike parking Assisi, the patron saint of animals Lady of the Rosary’s pastoral staff. cruelty to animals,” she said. Schaefer said. cage was installed last year. and the environment. In addition to the turtles, Sun- The Our Lady event has been First Christian Church of Palo “It’s full now,” according to Chris- Blessing pets is a common prac- day’s 45-minute event drew about open to the community at large, Alto’s event Saturday will be both tine Fawcett, a Gunn PTSA traffic- tice in many Catholic dioceses, in- 20 dogs, three cats, three guinea and the pets, she joked, do not have a community service as well as a safety representative. cluding Palo Alto’s Our Lady of the pigs, two goldfish (in water bot- to be Catholic or even Christian to celebration for church members, According to Swent, the school Rosary, where Cardenas brought tles), photographs of a recently participate. said Wanda Smith, the church pas- district is working on a solution, but his turtles. Catholic churches gen- deceased cat, and one rat, named Reverend Karyn Bradley of tor’s wife. She is planning to have “not fast enough for the students,” erally hold pet blessings near the Thing Two. The owner of the rat, Unity Church has seen everything a fair with several animal-rescue he said. feast day of St. Francis, Oct. 4. Our Ramacciotti said, also brought the from lizards to dwarf hamsters. Swent’s daughter, a student at Lady of the Rosary has held its an- remains of the rodent’s sibling in The ceremony, she said, shows (continued on page 5) (continued on page 9) *>ÊÌÊ7iiÞÊUÊ"VÌLiÀÊ£ä]ÊÓäänÊU Page 3 703 HIGH STREET, PALO ALTO, CA 94302 (650) 326-8210 PUBLISHER Our William S. Johnson EDITORIAL Jay Thorwaldson, Editor Jocelyn Dong, Managing Editor Allen Clapp, Carol Blitzer, Associate Editors Keith Peters, Sports Editor Town Tyler Hanley, Online Editor by Don Kazak Rebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment Editor Rick Eymer, Assistant Sports Editor Don Kazak, Senior Staff Writer Arden Pennell, Becky Trout, Staff Writers American dreams Sue Dremann, Staff Writer, Special Sections Editor Karla Kane, Editorial Assistant sabel Aguirre and her four the country when she was 3. She Marjan Sadoughi, Veronica Weber, Staff Photographers children were faced with a gut- has legal-resident status now, but Jeanne Aufmuth, Dale Bentson, Colin Becht, I wrenching decision last year. she told about how difficult it was Kit Davey, Iris Harrell, Jack McKinnon, They lived in Palo Alto. Her kids, to get a college scholarship because Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors Megan Rawlins, Johanna Toivio, Kris Young, who were born in the United States she wasn’t an American citizen. Editorial Interns and hence are American citizens, Maria Sanchez lives with her Jill Kimball, Arts and Entertainment Intern Colleen Cummins, Photography Intern went to Palo Alto schools. But family in Concord. She has been in Aguirre was “undocumented,” not America since 1992, and three of DESIGN Shannon Corey, Design Director a U.S. citizen. Her husband, Pedro her five children were born here. Diane Haas, Sue Peck, Senior Designers Ramirez, already had been deport- “We did not know what is was to Dana James, Paul Llewellyn, Scott Peterson, ed back to Mexico. have papers or not have papers,” she Designers “There was very intense terror told the audience last week (with PRODUCTION Jennifer Lindberg, Production Manager and grief on this woman’s face,” Torres translating for her). Dorothy Hassett, Blanca Yoc, remembers Weekly reporter Sue She went to an immigration law- Sales & Production Coordinators Dremann, who wrote several stories yer and paid the lawyer $11,000 ADVERTISING last year about the plight of Aguirre to help her become a citizen. She Walter Kupiec, Advertising Director Cathy Norfleet, Display Advertising Sales Asst. and her family. didn’t find out until after she paid Judie Block, Janice Hoogner, Gary Whitman, Dremann recounted the episode the money that she was “actually Display Advertising Sales last week at a forum on immigration paying for an order of deportation,” Kathryn Brottem, Real Estate Advertising Sales Joan Merritt, Real Estate Advertising Asst. at First Congregational Church in she recounted. David Cirner, Irene Schwartz, Palo Alto, sponsored by Multifaith Now, another lawyer is helping Inside Advertising Sales Voices for Peace and Justice. her. Alicia Santillan, Classified Administrative Asst.