Pleasanton INSIDE Legacy Awards: YMCA to honor local leaders at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast in Pleasanton PAGE 5 Soccer showdown: Alumni play in memory of Ryan Gordon Weekly and raise money for high school programs PAGE 17 6/,8)) .5-"%2s*!.5!29 WWW.PLEASANTONWEEKLY.COM IS LIFE A New pro troupe to present thought- provoking musical at Firehouse Arts Center PAGE 12 MY FRIENDS? C Over 20 years of Exceptional Customer Service Highest Quality Products Blinds, Shades Great Selections Shutters and more… We also do… Showroom and Factory UÊ ÕÃÌÊ À>«iÀià located at 4225 Stanley Blvd UÊÌÀâ>Ì near downtown Pleasanton UÊ,i«>Àà ÌÀ>VÌÀ½ÃÊViÃiÊä{ÓnÓÊUÊÜÜÜ°Ü`Ü}Þ°VÊÊUÊÓx{ÈÓ£ÓäÇ Begin our weight loss program with a spouse, friend, relative, partner, or co-worker and we will discount each of your initial visits by $75. The Jumpstart program can transform your life through rapid, safe, and proven weight loss methods that let you eat the fresh foods you love. Walk-Ins Welcome £nxx1*-/,/ÊÊÊUÊÊÊwww.jumpstartmd.com New owner Dan Pell, has been " /" -\Ê>ÀëÕÀÊUÊ->ÊÀ>VÃVÊUÊ ÕÀ}>iÊUÊ,i`Ü`Ê ÌÞÊUÊ*i>Ã>ÌÊUÊ7>ÕÌÊ Àii with the shop since 2005. 925 462-0864 Formerly Ben and Bill’s Barber Shop located at 448 Main St., Pleasanton www.BarberDans.com (behind the Old Republic Title Building) Tues-Fri 9am-6pm Over Business hours: 40 years of Sat 8am-4pm • Sun 12-5pm experience ADVANCE DIRECTIVES Men’s Hair Cuts • Beard Trims • Shaves Men’s Hair Color • Razor Fades FREE EDUCATION SEMINAR Plus a range of American Crew hair products Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 Time: 6:00 pm PACIFIC COAST REPERTORY THEATRE Location: ValleyCare Medical Plaza 5725 W. Las Positas Blvd. 2nd floor Conference Room Director: Pleasanton David Judson Two blocks west of hospital Music Director: How can you be sure your wishes are Pat Parr known, honored and address the Assistant Director power of giving your loved ones the gift & Choreographer: of knowledge so they will be prepared to Joy Sherratt make decisions on our behalf if/when the time comes? ValleyCare Health System is offering a free education seminar to discuss Firehouse Arts Center Advance Directives. Find out what they 4444 Railroad Ave. are, how they work, what you need to do to make them legal and more. Please Pleasanton, CA attend with the person(s) you would like to designate as your agent in your power of attorney for health care. Notary publics January 21, 22, 27, will be available for a small fee if you wish 28, & 29 at 8 PM to have your Advance Directive notarized. January 23 & 30 We invite you to register by at 2 PM calling our Health Information Line at 1-800-719-9111 or visit www.valleycare.com/educationseminars. Tickets: $15-$35 www.firehousearts.org Book by Joe Masteroff Music by John Kander Lyrics by Fred Ebb Produced in arrangement with TAMS-WITMARK MUSIC LIBRARY, INC. Serving the Tri-Valley with Medical Facilities in Livermore and Pleasanton. and Actors’ Equity Association Page 2ÊUÊJanuary 14, 2011ÊUÊPleasanton Weekly AROUND Follow us... www.PleasantonRealEstate.com @PleasantonNews PLEASANTON If you are considering buying or selling a BY JEB BING home this winter, consider the following... nesses. A Downtown Specific Plan, Interest rates are at record lows, Living in Downtown which was adopted by the City which enables buyers to afford Council in 2002 but without the Click “Like” to receive updates in your news more home for their money. feed on the latest and greatest in Pleasanton needs our help controversial First Floor Retail only Check out our wall! the best restaurants, provision. There are typically fewer homes shopping e keep hearing that the This same issue is now being de- places to go and Start the on the market at this time of year, things to do in Pleasanton recession is on the wane bated by city planners as rezoning and to measure the sales plans proceed for an 800-unit, high New Year off which means less competition for Find your perfect W home in Pleasanton reports of several of the major de- density affordable housing develop- right...With sellers. Give me a call today to partment store chains, holiday sales ment near the Bart station in Haci- great Eyesight! learn more about how you can Pleasanton is were indeed favorable. Business also enda Business Park. Some on the take advantage of the winter picked up in downtown Pleasanton, City Council and Planning Com- now on Facebook! but not by much and only at certain mission are insisting that ground Real Estate season. stores. Others didn’t make it, includ- floor — particularly corner ground at “Living in Pleasanton” ing the Stork’s Nest and Euphoria. floor spaces — be reserved for re- Convenient Weekday & Evening Hours The once popular Thriving Ink and tailers. The developers, who have Your Stage Toys closed their retail experience at building this type of Amador Valley outlets earlier. What surprised me, housing, argue that there’s already Optometric too, is that as I visited the shops and too much vacant retail space in the Complete eyecare for Men, a few restaurants over the holidays, area and these corner units will sit Women, Teens, & Children Broker I ran into a number of Pleasanton empty, possibly for years, and be- Gina Piper Happy 2011 from Dr. friends. But this happened when come neighborhood eyesores. Winston and the Amador 925 462 9175 I was at Hacienda Crossings in That’s the problem with impos- Dublin, at the Livery in Danville, in ing a similar regulation downtown, Valley Optometric Team [email protected] downtown Walnut Creek and even where an empty Domus and vacant DRE# 01201349 s4REND3TYLED%YEWEARWITHEXCELLENT at Nordstrom and Macy’s in San lot where the old Union Jack tavern FRAMESTYLISTTOHELPYOUREYEWEAR Francisco. These are folks who said used to stand are causing would-be NEEDS they go to downtown Pleasanton for shoppers to pause before parking sh.O ,INEv,ENSES#OMPUTER,ENSES First Wednesday street parties, Con- their cars and heading to the shops. Are you paying too certs in the Park and a few other Property owners need tenants and sh$RY%YEv4REATMENTAND times, but they don’t think of our if there aren’t any retailers able to -ANAGEMENT downtown as a having a sufficient afford or wanting the space, an- s-ACULAR$EGENERATION!SSESSMENT much for COBRA? mix of retail business that they find other bank, real estate office or title s#OMPLETECONTACTLENSCARE INCLUD Or do you just need individual, senior, family or ING/RTHOKERATOLOGY group health coverage at affordable rates? in these other locations. company suits them fine. Call Today to save money! Some of you may remember Merchants here are seeing a NEARSIGHTEDNESSREDUCTION Ask about my low rates for life insurance. Craig Scharton, who was the ex- steady decrease in day-trippers to s,ASER6ISION#ARE ,!3)+ ecutive director of the Pleasanton downtown. Residents seem to be Downtown Association in the mid the only ones supporting busi- Charlene Beasley to late 1990s and was responsible nesses here and even that isn’t s-OST6ISION0LANS!CCEPTED Lic#0C26292 for starting the First Wednesday saying much. Shoppers used to fill s-EDICARE!SSIGNMENT!CCEPTED Beasley Insurance Services parties in 1998. Downtown was fac- Main Street between noon and 3 s#HECK9OUR%MPLOYERS ing tough times then and Scharton p.m., during and right after lunch. &LEX"ENEFIT0LANS 925-803-9799 pressed for changes. He suggested The peak now is 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Keep Your Eyecare Local! www.beasleyinsurance.com that property owners fill some of Downtown also is becoming less of Serving Pleasanton their first floor building spaces with a retail environment. Take a close for more than 25 years retail stores that would appeal to look at the PDA website and you’ll Dr. Barry C. Winston Plans a wide variety of shoppers, even see that there are 80 personal care Faculty, UC Berkeley chain stores such as Crate & Barrel, places in the downtown and only School of Optometry as low as Restoration Hardware, Ann Taylor 25 retail stores. Businesses that have Jr. or other regional and national been here for more than 10 years Board Certified in the chains that would add to the mix seem to be weathering this well, but Treatment of Ocular Disease 00 of smaller business on Main Street. newer businesses aren’t, as we saw Black Avenue per Burlingame has done this in its with Stork’s Nest, Thriving Ink and Professional Offices month downtown where the sidewalks are Doodlebug before that. 4450-C Black Avenue, $55 crowded on many Saturdays and The city of Pleasanton, its econom- Pleasanton Sundays. Banks, real estate offices, ic development arm and the PDA *Based on HealthNet PPO dentists and law offices are often the are working with merchants to boost 925.462.2600 Optimum Advantage 4500 off Santa Rita Road behind Single Plan for Males age 25 preferred tenants for property own- business. A Danville consulting firm’s Lynnewood Methodist Church ers because they pay their rent on promotion didn’t work; a committee time and generally stay put. But in to add more nighttime entertainment Free Quote go to www.beasleyinsurance.com terms of appealing to shoppers, they in the downtown area to make Pleas- don’t. These are businesses, too, that anton more of a night-life destination seldom open on Saturdays or nights has merit, but lacks the week-day, and never on Sundays. weekend, daytime attraction mer- Corporate-owned stores that also chants need. The 2002 Downtown Beautiful Flooring have deep pockets for advertising.