City buckles down on water consumption Page 5 6/,86 .5-"%2s*5.% WWW.PLEASANTONWEEKLY.COM Congratulations to this year’s local favorites PAGE 13 5 NEWS School board OKs local accountability plan 8 NEWS Another successful Ladies Day at the Races 32 REAL ESTATE U.S. home builder confidence rises June 18 - July 6 Taste the Open Tuesday - Sunday REd HWhite & Blue Safeway Concert series AMPHITHEATER Free Show Nightly At 8 PM Ashanti july 2 Paul rodriguez Jt hodges tesla true 2 crue June 27 June 28 June 29 july 1 “Best Seats” concerts wristbands free with adUission for Årst in line starting at 2 PM daily. 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Let Jill help you HomeCareAssistance.com and your family! 190-G Alamo Plaza, Alamo, CA 94507 We've moved to Alamo! Page 2ÊUÊJune 27, 2014 UÊPleasanton Weekly AROUND PLEASANTON BY JEB BING At last, we’re getting a second dog park here are 26,800 dogs in park clause would mean going Pleasanton and if they back to voters, which no one FREE Tcould vote, they would wants to do. have had the city’s second dog So fast-forward to last Feb- park in town long ago — and ruary after another eight years LUNCH probably quite a few more. As of petitions and emails to city it is, they and their owners leaders. The current council, will have to be content with a no doubt exasperated with all BUY 1 decision by the City Council the dog talk, and with several last week to spend $300,000 on the council who own dogs, GET 1 to build an off-leash dog park gave the green light to the on a two-acre site at the La- Parks and Recreation Commis- with beverage purchase goon Road/Bernal Avenue stag- sion and Community Services (not good with other offers/discounts) ing area of the Marilyn Murphy Director Susan Andrade-Wax Kane Trail. VALID TUES-SUN to find other dog park sites as DOWNTOWN It’s flatland sandwiched be- part of the commission’s new TILL 3PM ASSOCIATION tween the Arroyo de la Laguna Master Plan. In their research, Offer valid with coupon just south of the Bernal Av- they determined that at least thru July 27, 2014 enue bridge and the on-ramp two acres are needed to meet to southbound I-680. Heavy existing demand. Besides the brush along the arroyo and immediate need for a second the Pleasanton Ridge to the off-leash park, a third is also west make the area a bit more needed, and maybe more. attractive than it sounds, but To be fair, dogs parks then dogs just want a place to should be scattered in differ- run unfettered, not a scenic ent parts of Pleasanton, in- park. cluding Staples Ranch to the (925) 462-8218 Pet owner pleas for more northeast, Vineyard Avenue 828 MAIN STREET dog parks in Pleasanton, or at or around Callippe Preserve PLEASANTON least one more, go back well to the southeast, and in the past the time I started writing vicinity of the new Safeway this column more than 14 years Gateway Center at Bernal and ago. When Pleasanton was half Valley Avenue. the size, city leaders fenced The Marilyn Murphy Kane off a strip of Muirwood Park Trail site won out at the start. next to the freeway for a dog The primary uses for this 13- run, adding a few benches and acre area where the trail be- tables to please their owners. gins are already earmarked It’s done its job and pet (dog) for open space, park and rec- aficionados long ago asked city reation, possibly an environ- 2013 leaders to do more. mental education center, and In 2000, when Pleasanton Native American history reflec- acquired free-of-charge 138 tive area and other public and acres of the 515-acre Bernal quasi-public uses compatible site that developers bought, with the Kane trail. The stag- pet lovers were ecstatic. This ing area already includes 12 We Now land, now called Bernal Com- parking stalls, though more SUMMER munity Park, had all the room will have to be added, a paved Sell Dog needed for the many sports entrance area, covered benches and 4-H demonstration fields and a water line. Food planned there along with a The distance from homes far- youth center, cultural arts cen- ther south on Lagoon is enough ter, wooded trails and even a to assure little noise or incon- meandering creek with surely venience from a dog park that’s several acres left over for a dog likely to become quite popular Chip Car Key park. to pet owners. Even though it’s But then the City Council, in not on the city’s east or south $ 99 its wisdom or lack of it, specifi- sides, it’s easy to reach and 69 cally ruled out using any part (Some Restrictions will be especially convenient to Apply) of Bernal for a dog park when Foothill Road neighborhoods. it won approval from voters in The Tankana Design Group, November 2006 of the Bernal a San Francisco-based land- Ask Us About: Property Phase II Specific Plan scape architecture and urban Rescreening Or New Window (Measure P). Lighted baseball design firm, has been awarded Screens, Sharpening Knives, fields, several of which have the design work, which, with Scissors, Chainsaws, Mower since been built, and many construction, is expected to Blades and Many other amenities, which have cost in the range of $300,000. Garden Tools. not, were OK, but no dogs al- The dog park could be open lowed. To change the no-dog later this year. N About the Cover Two Locations to serve you: 1807 Santa Rita Rd, Pleasanton Pleasanton Weekly readers selected the Pleasanton Ridge as 2014’s Best Phone (925) 846-0660 Now Kept Secret Treasure of Pleasanton and the Best Place to Walk, Jog or Bike. 652 Main Street, Pleasanton Open Photo by Amanda Aguilar. Cover design by Shannon Corey. Phone (925) 846-9727 DOWNTOWN Vol. XV, Number 22 www.truevalue.com/pleasanton ASSOCIATION Pleasanton WeeklyÊUÊJune 27, 2014 U Page 3 DINING GRAND OPENING SPECIALS ON THE TOWN Streetwise Eddie Papa’s ASKED AROUND TOWN 20% OFF 50% OFF American Hangout the purchase of $10 or more with coupon. 4889 Hopyard Road, Pleasanton, HOUSE SPECIAL ROLLS 469-6266. Winner of The Drinks excluded. Mon – Fri only. Buy 1, get the 2nd half off. Pleasanton Weekly’s Reader What is the most unusual gag gift May not be combined with any other offer. Drinks excluded. Mon– Fri only. Choice Awards for “Best American Expires 7/20/14 Food,” “Best Meal under $20” you have ever given or received? May not be combined with any other offer. and “Best Kid Friendly Restaurant,” t4FSWJOH#FFS8JOF t(SPVQ1BSUJFT Eddie Papa’s American Hangout t%JOFJO 5BLFPVU t(JGU$BSET"WBJMBCMF Expires 7/20/14 celebrates the regional food and Ethan Ringel t$BMMBIFBEPSQMBDFZPVSPSEFSPOMJOF beverage cultures of America. Retired 4515 Rosewood Dr., #700 Bring the whole family to enjoy (in the Walmart & Kohl’s Shopping iconic dishes from across the United When we were kids, my cousin and Center - next to Payless Shoes) States, Old World Hospitality, and I bought little explosives to put in his 925.225.9988 hand crafted artisan cocktails. mother’s cigarettes, but while we were www.zumisushipleasanton.com www.eddiepapas.com. testing them beforehand, they explod- ed in our faces. So I guess the joke was on us. Kari Solofnenko High school student I was once given a soap dispenser that was shaped like a nose and it squirted out green soap.