Palo 6°Ê888]Ê ÕLiÀÊ£ä£ÊUÊ"VÌLiÀÊÎ]ÊÓäänÊN 50¢ Alto Reprieve for JJ&F Page 3 www.PaloAltoOnline.com WILL PALO ALTO SINK OR SWIM? Local businesses, residents unsettled over fi nancial meltdown Page 21 Title Pages 17 Eating Out 31 Movies 34 Crossword 68 NA&E Teachers gain music insights in master class Page 25 NSports Palo Alto girls’ volleyball faces tough stretch Page 39 NHome & Real Estate Nuts and bolts of green interior design Page 45 ALBERTO ONCE HELD BACK BY WEIGHT CURRENTLY: DIVES RIGHT IN JUST ANOTHER REMARKABLE DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. At 13 years old, Alberto was one of more than 2 million overweight kids in this country. The good news is, he chose to do something about it. Since he enrolled in the Packard Pediatric Weight Control Program last year, Alberto has lost over 30 pounds and is now an active and healthy kid. Rather than focus solely on © 2007 Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital calorie intake and weight loss, our program helps families maintain lifelong healthy eating and exercise habits. In fact, Alberto’s mom was so inspired, she lost 12 pounds herself. Alberto is still headed toward his weight goals. The way we see it, his loss is truly Lucile Packard his gain. To find out more about the Packard Pediatric Weight Control Children’s Hospital Program call 650 -725 - 4424 or visit pediatricweightcontrol.lpch.org. AT STANFORD Page 2ÊUÊ"VÌLiÀÊÎ]ÊÓäänÊUÊ*>ÊÌÊ7iiÞ UpfrontLocal news, information and analysis Early morning crash kills two young men Speeding van in Palo Alto wraps READ MORE ONLINE www.PaloAltoOnline.com around a tree near Peers Park For the latest information on this story, by Don Kazak and Jay Thorwaldson go to Palo Alto Online. wo young men were killed ized Traffic Reconstruction Team land avenues was closed during the when their speeding minivan (STAR) is investigating the crash, STAR Team’s investigation, Ryan T ran a stop sign at 3:39 a.m. Agent Dan Ryan reported. He said said. Thursday morning at Park Boule- a preliminary finding suggests that A patrol officer reported seeing a vard and Stanford Avenue in Palo the vehicle was speeding north on similar van, a Mercury Villager, at Alto. The van hit a curb and a tree Park, and the driver failed to stop the Jack-in-the-Box at Cambridge and spun out of control, wrapping at the stop sign at Stanford Avenue. Avenue and El Camino Real shortly around a second tree at the south The vehicle struck the curb and a before the crash. It had five young end of Peers Park, police reported. tree as the road curved to the left men in it, the officer reported. If it Sadoughi Marjan The driver was pronounced dead just past the intersection. was the same van, apparently three at the scene and the passenger was The occupants were identified had gotten out of the van prior to still alive at the scene but badly in- only as Peninsula residents in their the crash. N jured. He later died at Stanford Hos- early 20s, with identities withheld Editor Jay Thorwaldson can pital, police said. Firefighters took until the Santa Clara County Coro- be e-mailed at jthorwaldson@ about 45 minutes to extract the oc- ner’s Office can notify families. paweekly.com. Senior Staff Writer Rex Morgan, of Ed’s Tow & Cradle, helps load the wrecked van onto a tow cupants, removing the van’s roof. All vehicle and pedestrian traffic Don Kazak can be e-mailed at dka- truck Thursday morning. Both the driver and the passenger died as a result The Police Department’s Special- on Park between Stanford and Le- [email protected]. of the crash at Park Boulevard and Stanford Avenue, near Peers Park. PALO ALTO Tourism plan to appear before council Marketing ‘overlooked treasures’ could bring extra taxes to city coffers, rep says by Arden Pennell aris, Portland ... Palo Alto? If pancy partially because business a city plan were to succeed, visitors don’t always stay in town. P Palo Alto would become a Yet if informed of where to shop desirable tourist destination and and dine, visitors might extend their reap the fiscal benefits thereof. stays, Lonnquist said. Their sales The city-promotion plan, dubbed tax would pay for city services and “Destination Palo Alto” and ear- everybody would benefit, she ex- marked for $240,000 annually in plained. city funding, will appear once more before the City Council Monday. The plan’s goals include increas- Colleen Cummins ing tourism, attracting more busi- The promotional push ness visitors to the city and boosting would help make hotel occupancy on weekend nights. Begun in 2006 and shepherded by visitors aware of the former City Manager Frank Ben- city’s ‘overlooked est, Destination Palo Alto brought Arborist Dave Muffly uses his laptop at Coupa Cafe about twice a week, to help maintain his nomadic together businesses, Stanford Uni- treasures’ ... Palo business. Coupa Cafe now offers Mizoon, a new social networking tool to help connect users with fellow- versity, the Palo Alto Arts Center Alto is packed with users in the same cafe. and other stakeholders in an effort historical gems. to promote the city, particularly to TECHNOLOGY business visitors. — Sandra Lonnquist, Chamber Having already green-lighted the of Commerce CEO budget, the Council Monday will Love and lattes: vote on whether to approve a pro- posal from the San Mateo County She predicted the program would Online networking comes to life? Convention and Visitors Bureau, the more than recoup its costs in the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce first year. Riding trend, startup aims to spread worry-free networking in cafes, bars and the Palo Alto Weekly to run the The currently proposed three-way by Arden Pennell program. partnership would divide responsi- The promotional push would help bilities. riendster, Facebook, MyS- trump the others. Mizoon, a Palo the people are [instant-messaging] make visitors aware of the city’s Out-of-town promotion to travel pace — Sonia Cheng has Alto-based network launched last others. But they’re disconnected “overlooked treasures,” according agents and planners would be han- F tried them all. A self-de- week, holds a heady promise other from the people right around to Chamber of Commerce CEO dled by the San Mateo bureau. The scribed “techphile,” the Palo Alto networks don’t, Cheng said — re- them,” Cheng said. Sandra Lonnquist. bureau has netted more than $72 resident is an early adopter of each ality. Mizoon aims to bridge the gap Average weekend hotel occupancy million for San Mateo County in the new Web-based social network. “Any cafe you go to, everyone is — and the tax revenue thereof — is Now she’s found one that could on a laptop. Ninety-nine percent of (continued on page 11) lower than average weekday occu- (continued on page 10) *>ÊÌÊ7iiÞÊUÊ"VÌLiÀÊÎ]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 Middle School Open Houses: 11/2/08 1:00 pm; 12/4/08 6:30 pm Allen Clapp, Carol Blitzer, Associate Editors Keith Peters, Sports Editor Town Upper School Open Houses: 10/16/08 6:30 pm; 12/7/08 1:00 pm 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 A place to belong Sue Dremann, Staff Writer, Special Sections Editor ! Karla Kane, Editorial Assistant little bit of history is being conductor Pops Fielder. Marjan Sadoughi, Veronica Weber, Staff rebuilt on Ramona Street Natis returned to Palo Alto in " Photographers Jeanne Aufmuth, Dale Bentson, Colin Becht, A between Homer and Chan- 1946 and then spent more than Kit Davey, Iris Harrell, Jack McKinnon, ning avenues near downtown Palo 30 years working for the Stanford ! # Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors Megan Rawlins, Johanna Toivio, Kris Young, Alto. Research Institute. ! " Editorial Interns A spot-on replica of a church is His memories of that early Jill Kimball, Arts and Entertainment Intern rising as part of a development of church on Ramona Street are ! Colleen Cummins, Photography Intern new office buildings. strong. DESIGN ! !! Shannon Corey, Design Director But it isn’t just any church. Ruth Anne Grey also has ties Diane Haas, Sue Peck, Senior Designers The University AME Zion to the church that go back to the $ ! Dana James, Paul Llewellyn, Scott Peterson, Church was founded in 1918 by early years. Grey, who lives in Designers the city’s African-American fami- Sunnyvale, now goes to another " PRODUCTION Jennifer Lindberg, Production Manager lies so they would have a place of church, but University AME Zion Dorothy Hassett, Blanca Yoc, their own to worship. has been a big part of her family’s Sales & Production Coordinators The congregation used several history. 7BMQBSBJTP"WFOVF "UIFSUPO $"tFYU ADVERTISING buildings in the early years until a Her grandfather was a founder Walter Kupiec, Advertising Director Cathy Norfleet, Display Advertising Sales Asst. plot of land was bought on Ramo- and her family had ties to the Judie Block, Janice Hoogner, Gary Whitman, na Street and a church was built, community before Palo Alto was Display Advertising Sales which opened in 1925. incorporated in 1894. Kathryn Brottem, Real Estate Advertising Sales Joan Merritt, Real Estate Advertising Asst. The congregation left to build a Her great, great grandfather, a David Cirner, Irene Schwartz, new church on Middlefield Road former slave from North Carolina, Inside Advertising Sales in south Palo Alto in 1965, where moved to the community in 1887, Alicia Santillan, Classified Administrative Asst.