Vol. XXVI, Number 94 • Wednesday, August 24, 2005 ■ 50¢ AgilentAgilent toto leaveleave PaloPalo AltoAlto PagePage 33 www.PaloAltoOnline.com Merchants, activists debate homeless presence on University Avenue Page 35 Can you find the phony ad? Look inside for details. Norbert von der Groeben ■ Upfront Jordan teacher arrested for alleged sex with student Page 3 ■ People Garden Court’s Gross wins Athena Award Page 10 ■ Business Bell’s Books celebrates 70th anniversary Page 14 $5 off your $20 purchase in the Whole Body Department Our Whole Body Department offers all kinds of Back to School essentials like kid’s vitamins, oral hygiene and back-to-school supplies. Everyday Delicious. Cashier, $ please use PLU 43617 We’ve always been your everyday, Join us on Saturday, August 27th neighborhood grocery store with a 5 your $20 from 11am-3pm for purchase great selection of natural and organic in the foods and friendly, knowledgeable Whole Body Team Members ready to answer Back off Department your questions. Check out some of the changes we’ve made to help to make your shopping trip easier. School • New open floor plan Day • Expanded produce section Kids can join our Kid’s Club • New pedestrian tunnel and receive free treats every time a you shop! • More organic meats & poultry Palo Alto 774 Emerson St. • 650-326-8676 Other Northern California locations: Berkeley 3000 Telegraph Ave, Campbell 1690 South Bascom Ave., Cupertino 20830 Stevens Creek Blvd., One coupon per customer. Void if duplicated. Valid only in San Francisco 1765 California St. & 399 4th St., Fresno 650 W. Shaw Ave., Los Gatos 15980 Los Gatos Blvd., Mill Valley 414 Miller Ave., Monterey Whole Foods Market Palo Alto. Expires August 31, 2005. To 800 Del Monte Center, Petaluma 621 E. Washington St, Redwood City1250 Jefferson Ave., Sacramento 4315 Arden Way, San Mateo 1010 Park receive $5 off a Whole Body purchase, customer must spend Place, San Rafael 340 Third St., San Ramon 100 Sunset Dr., Santa Rosa 1181 Yulupa, Sebastopol 6910 McKinley, Walnut Creek 1333 E. Newell Ave. at least $20 in the Whole Body Department. Page 2 • Wednesday, August 24, 2005 • Palo Alto Weekly UpfrontLocal news, information and analysis that Palo Alto is not alone in losing The relatively new, 430,000- Agilent to leave Palo Alto businesses. square-foot Page Mill Road head- The plan calls for Agilent to vacate quarters on 9.5 acres of land will be its laboratory site in the Stanford Re- put up for sale, news that dismayed HP spin-off heading to Santa Clara search Park by March 2006 and to Susan Arpan, manager of economic by Jocelyn Dong leave its gleaming headquarters on development and redevelopment for “It’s always a little bit of a downer Page Mill Road by October 2006, Palo Alto. The city had worked hard gilent Technologies, the 6-year-old spin-off that carried on Hewlett- (when businesses leave). It’s an indi- said Amy Flores, the company’s cor- to convince Agilent to locate in Palo Packard Company’s original business focus, plans to leave Palo Alto in cation of things not going as well as porate public-relations manager. Alto when it was initially spun off A a little more than a year. people planned,” said Mayor Jim A third Agilent building occupy- from HP, she said. The corporation, which employs about 750 workers in Palo Alto, will relo- Burch. “It’s always tough. You have ing 8.5 acres on California Avenue Although the sale of the building cate its headquarters to Santa Clara, where the company already has manu- to roll with it. I don’t know that has been vacant since the end of will likely bring additional property facturing operations. The campus on Stevens Creek Boulevard used to be oc- there’s anything city staff could have 2002, Flores said. taxes to the city when the property cupied by HP. done.” The cost savings to the company value is reassessed, Palo Alto could The news is a major disappointment to the city and comes just after the com- He added that it’s not unusual for are expected to total $12 million a feel a greater overall loss, she said. pany announced plans to downsize its operation and staff. companies to relocate, emphasizing year. (continued on page 9) SCHOOLS Community stunned by teacher’s arrest Coach faces felony counts alleging a 1991 sexual relationship with teen by Bill D’Agostino and Alexandria Rocha popular physical education teacher at Jordan Middle A School has been arrested for al- legedly having sex with an underage student 14 years ago, stunning parents who learned the news on the first day of school Monday. Bill Giordano, Nicholas Wright 59, was arrested by Menlo Park police officers last Thursday and was in court Monday afternoon. He is currently Regal eagle charged with 28 felony counts, stem- Karen Hoyt, the raptor team leader at Wildlife Rescue in Palo Alto, releases a golden eagle at Felt Lake in Portola Valley on Sunday. The ea- ming from the 28 months police say gle was found at Moffett Field on May 16 with a broken wing. This is only the second eagle Wildlife Rescue has released back into its natu- he had sexual relations with the stu- ral environment in the organization’s 31-year history. dent, who was also a volleyball play- er under Giordano’s tutelage. The school district has placed SCHOOLS the summer time. It just feels very The “ski week” calendar was draft- Giordano — known as “Mr. G” — on early.” ed at the request of staff for a leave administrative leave. He is currently The calendar, a pilot for this year between spring break and summer in custody in San Mateo County jail. Summer interrupted and 2006-2007, was approved 4-1 at vacation. Advocates said a strategi- The alleged victim was 14 in De- Parents upset over earlier start to school year a meeting June 22 with member Gail cally placed week off in February cember 1991, when the sexual en- Price dissenting. The board rejected would help reduce student stress, a counters began, according to court by Alexandria Rocha the early start day, the calendar in- the same calendar two weeks prior claim that has been challenged since documents. here has the summer gone? cludes a four-day Labor Day break and advised the staff committee to re- day one. In court Monday, Deputy District It is an infuriating question in less than two weeks. (In the past, vise it. That didn’t happen. The cal- Overall, district staff supported the Attorney Melissa McKowan said the Wto some Palo Alto parents, the holiday has only garnered a three- endar came back unchanged, and the current calendar, favoring it over three sexual relationship began when the who canceled vacation plans this day weekend.) But the most contro- district either had to drag the issue other versions. One of the other student was working as a babysitter month to prepare for the earliest versial aspect of the calendar is a into negotiations with its employee choices was a more compacted for Giordano. school start day ever employed by the break in February dubbed “ski week,” unions or adopt it as is. school year that ended the high Weekly sexual encounters ensued district. which parents blame for the shorter “I voted against that calendar when schools’ first semester before winter during school hours, after school and “We would be in Tahoe right now summer. it (first) came up. A longer summer break. on weekends, McKowan told the for sure,” said Carrie Maser, a parent “I certainly feel a lot of discomfort. has greater benefits for our commu- “I hate starting school this early,” judge. The knowledge of the encoun- of elementary and middle school stu- The whole family feels a lot of dis- nity than several intermittent breaks,” said Isabelle Cole, whose children ters only surfaced recently, during dents, last week. “We were not happy comfort,” said Camilla Olson, a par- said board Vice President Mandy started second and fifth grades at dis- therapy that the alleged victim was with the whole thing.” ent of an eighth-grader and a fresh- Lowell. “I don’t think there was suf- trict schools Monday. “When we undergoing, McKowan said. Maser is referring to the controver- man. “Is it worth having an extra ficient input from students and par- grew up, we always started school af- There is also an ongoing investiga- sial calendar adopted by the district’s week in February? Our family does- ents. Our backs were against the ter Labor Day. Most parents that I tion into a second potential victim, Board of Education in June. Besides n’t go to ski, but we do really enjoy wall.” (continued on page 9) (continued on page 9) Palo Alto Weekly • Wednesday, August 24, 2005 • Page 3 Our Family Understands Your Home Health Needs 703 HIGH STREET, PALO ALTO, CA 94302 (650) 326-8210 PUBLISHER William S. Johnson EDITORIAL Jay Thorwaldson, Editor Our Early Bird Special Marc Burkhardt, Managing Editor • Custom Knee Bracing Jennifer Aquino, Associate Editor Allen Clapp, Carol Blitzer, Assistant Editors • Osteoarthritis and ACL knee Keith Peters, Sports Editor braces for stability and Rick Eymer, Assistant Sports Editor pain relief Rebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment Editor Town by Don Kazak Calendars Don Kazak, Jocelyn Dong, Senior Staff Writers • Non-surgical approach to Bill D’Agostino, Alexandria Rocha, Staff Writers regaining normal activities Norbert von der Groeben, Chief Photographer 20%OFF Specializing in home medical Nicholas Wright, Staff Photographer Sausage and pierogi Tomomi Tsuda, Photo Intern equipment and mobility products.