Weekend Edition
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Vol. XXIX, Number 68 • Friday, May 30, 2008 ■ 50¢ Same old ‘Sex’ Page 25 Check out the Weekly’s online classifieds at fogster.com WeeklyWeekend Edition www.PaloAltoOnline.com THE ARTIST MAPS IMAGINARY LANDS, WELCOMES IMMIGRANTS PAGE 9 UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY Danielle Vernon Danielle Eating Out 19 Movie Times 26 Goings On 37 ■ Upfront A paucity of polling places Page 3 ■ Sports Palo Alto’s Noyola wins national soccer awards Page 29 ■ Home & Real Estate Contemplating a new commode? Section 2 JOIN OUR TEAM Make us a partner in your estate plan 7-year-old Joseph loves to play ball, but suffers from juvenile arthritis. Only a year ago, he was so sore and lethargic that he could barely walk. Today, under the care of pediatric rheumatologists at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Joseph is back to playing second base on his little league team. By including Packard Children’s in your estate plan today, you help children like Joseph receive specialized care not found at most hospitals. Your gift can create tax savings for your estate or help fulfill your financial goals — all while improving the health of children. Contact our gift planning office to learn more. Visit: www.lpfch.org/giftplanning or call (650) 736-1211. SUPPORT YOUR CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL Page 2 • Friday, May 30, 2008 • Palo Alto Weekly UpfrontLocal news, information and analysis After years of talk, Lytton Plaza changes on the way Protests, rallies could still be held in ture would stay, as would on-street If approved by city leaders, the lunch — as well as a clean, classy parking on Emerson and University, $700,000 project would draw aesthetic — the central plaza would renovated park, organizer says Gross said, addressing a tiny gather- on $350,000 of city money and welcome many more people who by Becky Trout ing of curious, and opinioned, Palo $350,000 raised by the Friends, don’t frequent it now, Gross said. Altans at a public meeting on the Gross has said. One of the park’s potential visi- y next summer, Lytton Pla- Street parking lot. Movable tables project. “The premise is the park is under- tors is Forest Avenue resident Olga za’s long-discussed overhaul and chairs would replace the circu- Gross, general manager for the utilized now,” Gross said. It would Thomson, one of three members of B could be complete, Barbara lar concrete benches and decidu- Garden Court Hotel, is serving as remain open to all and accessible for the public who attended Wednes- Gross said Wednesday night. ous trees would blanket the new the spokeswoman for the recently protests, rallies or demonstrations, day’s meeting. Gone would be the wall separat- patterned, permeable paving with formed Friends of Lytton Plaza, she said. The plaza is currently a “very un- ing the 0.2-acre University Avenue shade. which is spearheading the park’s Yet by adding shade and seating pleasant place,” Thomson said. She park from the abutting Emerson The “Digital DNA” egg sculp- makeover. conducive to business folk enjoying (continued on page 8) ELECTION Polling places dwindling Surge in mail-ballot requests closes some walk-in voting locations by Don Kazak ome registered voters in Palo Alto won’t have a polling place S to punch their ballots at on Tues- day. Due to a surge in registered voters wanting to cast their ballots by mail, entire precincts have been converted to “mail-ballot precincts” for the elec- tion, the second of three this year. The June 3 election includes the Santa Clara County Superior Court judge race, state propositions 98 and 99, and Measure A, a bond-measure for the Palo Alto Unified School Dis- trict. Twenty-two precincts out of 65 in David Cenzer the school district, which includes Palo Alto, Stanford University and part of Los Altos Hills, have been designated “mail-ballot precincts” because 250 or fewer voters in that area opted to vote Leaders of the pack in the traditional way, as walk-ins, Elma Rosas of the Santa Clara County Sosi Lepejian, left, and Emma Miller, students at Jordan Middle School, load school supplies into backpacks to be donated to local low-income Registrar of Voters Office said. children as a service-learning project Wednesday morning. The packs will be distributed by the Ecumenical Hunger Program (EHP), serving There are 41,444 registered voters families on the Midpeninsula. in the Palo Alto Unified School Dis- trict. Of those voters, 30,499 requested evaluation, along with a review of mit Fire show how the fire spread, mail-in ballots, or 74 percent of the el- DISASTER PREPAREDNESS the trails master plans for Pearson- starting from lower vegetation such igible voters, according to registrar’s Arastradero Preserve and Foot- as grasses and shrubs and quickly office. hills Park. climbing a “ladder” among tightly As a result, all voters in mail-ballot City to re-ignite foothills While local conditions — such spaced vegetation to jump into and precincts — not just those requesting as wind, humidity and tempera- over trees. the mail option — were sent ballots fire-prevention plan ture — contribute to a wildfire, The master plan will identify ar- early enough so they could send them massive amounts of dry vegeta- eas with a potential 8-foot flame back before election day, Rosas said. Comprehensive effort picks up tion, known as the fuel load, can length — the height of flames They were also given information on create a fire storm, she said. from the ground up that make the two walk-in polling places nearest where city left off in 1997 One of the chief goals of the fighting a blaze hazardous to fire to where they live, Rosas said, so they by Sue Dremann plan will be to lower that fuel load fighters, she said. can drop off their ballots on Election with the help of residents. The management plan will in- Day instead of mailing them back. ith the Summit Fire near management consultants met at Marinaro said the last assess- clude more stringent review of pri- In addition, voters can bring their Santa Cruz still a smol- Foothills Park to re-ignite the ment of the fuel load in the Palo vate properties to make sure that mail-in ballots to the Palo Alto City W dering reminder, Palo city’s efforts to prevent a fiery di- Alto foothills was 20 years ago. brush is cut back to a “defensible” Clerk’s office at 250 Hamilton Ave. or Alto Fire Chief Nick Marinaro saster by creating a long-term fire- Now, that material is four to five space, according to Rice, who has the VTA park-and-ride lot at El Cami- Wednesday told residents a fire management plan. times greater than normal, he developed nearly 30 wildland- no Real and Oregon Expressway. disaster in the Palo Alto foot- Consultant Carol Rice said a said. management plans in Santa Clara Ballots must be cast by 8 p.m. Tues- hills is a matter of not “if” but draft foothills plan was developed “There has not been a major fire and San Mateo counties, and de- day. ■ “when.” in 1997 but never passed by the here since 1912,” he warned. veloped a strategy for the Oakland Senior Staff Writer Don Kazak can Fire officials and wildlands- City Council. It is scheduled for Rice said images of the Sum- (continued on page 8) be e-mailed at dkazak@paweekly. com. Palo Alto Weekly • Friday, May 30, 2008 • Page 3 Your dog needs you... THIS WEEK ON 703 HIGH STREET, PALO ALTO, CA 94302 TownSquare (650) 326-8210 PUBLISHER Comments from the community forum on the Weekly’s Web site William S. Johnson EDITORIAL Jay Thorwaldson, Editor Dancing sans alcohol Jocelyn Dong, Managing Editor Posted May 28 at 10:45 a.m. by Paly Parent, a resident of the Allen Clapp, Carol Blitzer, Associate Editors Keith Peters, Sports Editor Crescent Park neighborhood: Tyler Hanley, Online Editor “This is wonderful and long overdue. Kudos to PAUSD. We can Call today Rebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment Editor no longer continue to be two-faced with kids about substance Rick Eymer, Assistant Sports Editor for Summer abuse, i.e., saying no, but doing (it) ourselves. Our kids smell men- Specials Don Kazak, Senior Staff Writer Arden Pennell, Becky Trout, Staff Writers dacity. Sue Dremann, Staff Writer, Special Sections Editor Karla Kane, Editorial Assistant The schools are yet again coming to the rescue of parents who Marjan Sadoughi, Veronica Weber, Staff refuse to parent and who indirectly condone alcohol and drug Do you have the time? Photographers abuse with limos and hotel rooms for their kids.” Jeanne Aufmuth, Dale Bentson, A dog walking business serving the mid-peninsula since 1996 Kit Davey, Iris Harrell, Jack McKinnon, Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Craig Wentz, Seeing results Contributors walk this way (408) 340-8977 Monica Guzman, Jillian Keenan, Posted May 28 at 10:59 a.m. by Another Paly Parent, a member Alex Papoulias, Veronica Sudekum, of the Palo Alto High School community: Editorial Interns “This must not only be done, but be seen to be done. And it David Cenzer, Danielle Vernon, Photography Intern must be the parents as well as the kids who pay the consequenc- DESIGN es. Shannon Corey, Design Director Often it is the parents who give the teens champagne or some- Diane Haas, Sue Peck, Senior Designers thing before they go off to a school prom, and it is this type of Dana James, Paul Llewellyn, Charmaine Mirsky, Scott Peterson, Designers behavior that must stop. Not only must the kids be penalized, but PRODUCTION parents too.