VOLUME LII, NUMBER 52 Your Local News Source Since 1963 SERVING DUBLIN • LIVERMORE • PLEASANTON • SUNOL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2015 Poll Shows Dissatisfaction Over Dublin Growth Problems By Ron McNicoll developers should pay for However, the survey does ties to participate in the were unaffiliated. Most of the current Dub- all or most of the cost of include a big sampling of poll. They included DRRG, In the survey, Gupta is Find Out What's lin City Council members, building schools, and there the attitudes of many people and other growth-concerned the only official that respon- Happening except for Vice-mayor Abe is little confidence in the who have have shown up at groups, such as Dubliners dents clearly say should be Gupta, have high negative school board. meetings to urge the council for Change and onedublin. retained, although Mayor Check Out Section A ratings that reflect they are The poll was conducted to halt any new General Plan org. Others contacted were David Haubert does better Section A is filled with dropping the ball when it by Ganesan Ramu, who Amendments for residential change.org, neighborhood than Coucilmembers Don information about arts, comes to growth, according organized Dublin Residents growth, mainly citing im- Google groups, and the Dub- Biddle, Doreen Wehrenberg people, entertainment and to a selective, on-line poll of for Responsible Growth pacts to school population lin Chinese Association. and Kevin Hart. special events. There are 405 residents. (DRRG), and Bhaskar Teta- and traffic congestion. Approximately 100 of the Gupta, who has made a education stories, a variety Other conclusions drawn of features, and the arts and li. Unlike professional polls, Ramu and Tetali invited total number of respondents point of trying to convince entertainment and bulletin from the unscientific sample scientific sampling was not neighborhood groups from belonged to the invited or- the council to stop granting of the community show that board. part of the process. different Dublin communi- ganized groups; the others (See POLL, page 2) Study Finds Market Can Support 185 Room, Upscale Hotel Independent hotel con- architect Bruce Cousins, the sultants have found that Committee proposed a “dual the 185 room, upscale ho- branded” hotel concept that tel concept is feasible for would incorporate an up- downtown Livermore under scale hotel of 125 rooms the assumptions outlined in and an affiliated hotel with their analysis. 60 suites. According to the The Ad Hoc Advocacy Committee, this study uti- Committee, which describes lized hotel concepts similar itself as a loose-knit group to hotel chains such as AC of Livermore residents with and Residence Inn by Marri- civic, business and cul- ott or Curio and Homewood tural interests, contracted Suites by Hilton. with independent hotel con- In their report, PKF con- sultants PKF to analyze siders increased expected the market feasibility for a hotel demand from recently downtown hotel suitable for proposed major construc- the “Lucky” site in the core tion at Lawrence Livermore of downtown Livermore. National Laboratory, Sandia With the help of local hotel (See STUDY, page 4) Council Makes Changes In Lund Ranch II Plan The Pleasanton City plan approved by the council Council voted to remove at its December 1 meeting five units and relocate a sixth were retained. Photo - Doug Jorgensen in revising the Lund Ranch The December 15 meet- Covered California Certified Enrollment Counselors Erika Alvarez and Alex Garcia are ready to assist those II development, leaving 45 ing vote would have been the needing help enrolling. units. second reading. The vote at the December The 195-acre former 15 meeting was 3 to 1 with Lund Ranch parcel is lo- Karla Brown opposed and cated in the southeast hills Axis Provides Help With Covered California Process Jerry Pentin recused. The of Pleasanton. Thirty-four meeting was adjourned to acres will be developed. By Carol Graham presentation, “Getting Start- nia-related events in the past a Covered California Certi- January 5, 2016. The remaining 161 acres Exactly halfway through ed with Covered CA and year, including presenta- fied Enrollment Counselor Brown continued to sup- will be designated as perma- Covered California's current Medi-Cal,” on December tions to community groups, with Pleasanton-based Axis port a 10-unit plan. nent open space with public open-enrollment period, the 15th. tabling at health fairs, and Community Health. "It’s Mayor Jerry Thorne cited walking trails. Livermore Public Library "We’ve participated in Q & A sessions at local amazing how many people the potential of a referendum At its December 1 meet- hosted a free community about 50 Covered Califor- libraries," said Alex Garcia, or lawsuits based on the pro- ing, the Pleasanton City (See COVERED, page 12) visions in Measure PP if the (See LUND RANCH, page 2) Racing Past Edison: Former Livermore Inventor Has More Patents Than Any Other American A physicist who once doesn’t count Wood's “more of the Laboratory. He is viewed or to comment for worked at Lawrence Liver- than 3,000 inventions await- now an inventor with Intel- this article. more National Laboratory ing perusal by the U.S. Pat- lectual Ventures in Seattle. At LLNL, where he (LLNL) has been awarded ent and Trademark Office,” Bloomberg describes him as joined Edward Teller in more patents than any pre- according to Bloomberg. the “inventor-in-residence” 1972, Wood’s intellectual vious American, surpassing A Wikipedia article cred- at the company, which is a energy and creativity led even the inventiveness of its Wood with 1,094 patents, 15-year-old private partner- him to research in an ex- Thomas Edison. suggesting that nine more ship that operates invest- tremely wide range of fields, The physicist, Lowell patents were credited to him ment funds and describes from strategic defense to Wood, had received 1,085 after the Bloomberg article itself as a “leader in the energy generation, from as- patents as of July, according appeared. business of invention.” trophysics to cancer therapy, to an article by Bloomberg Wood, a geophysicist by Consistent with a long- from computer design to News. That’s one more than training, was a protégé of the standing passion for privacy, interplanetary travel. Edison ever received, and it late Edward Teller, a founder Wood declined to be inter- (See INVENTOR, page 4) A Look Back at the First Four Months of 2015 During the first months of lected students in the Liver- Las Positas College, and election. Johnson, a domi- 2015, controversy continued more, Pleasanton and Dublin the Tri-Valley Regional Oc- nant left-handed pitcher, regarding the Eastside Spe- school districts, would begin cupational Program. received 97.3 percent of cific Plan process in Pleas- in fall 2015. Students would Livermore High School the vote, well over the re- anton and expansion of the receive both college and high graduate Randy Johnson quired 75 percent. A ten- Carnegie off-road vehicle school credits for their work. was elected to the Base- time All-Star, Johnson was park. Both the City of Liver- The collaborative includes ball Hall of Fame. He was celebrated for having one of more and Alameda County the Pleasanton, Livermore chosen for the honor by the the most dominant fastballs Photo - Doug Jorgensen Board of Supervisors took and Dublin school districts, Baseball Writers Associa- in the game. He won five Cy The newest Star Wars film inspired the Williams family a stand in opposition to the Chabot-Las Positas Com- tion of America on the first Young Awards, recorded 303 of Pleasanton to dress up as their favorite characters expansion. In Dublin, ap- munity College District, ballot that he was eligible for to watch the movie. proval of a massive water (continued on page 5) park was questioned in light of the state's continuing drought. Randy Johnson was PET OF THE WEEK elected to the Baseball Hall Inside Dogs don't come much sweeter than eight-year-old Cookie! of Fame. A gentle and loving black Labrador, Cookie has plenty of energy, loves to play fetch, and enjoys walks and the outdoors. SECTION A Editorial..............................4 JANUARY 2015 He’s the perfect family dog: calm, patient, and mature, with The Tri-Valley Edu- Art & Entertainment.......... 8 Mailbox...............................4 kindness and happiness mixed in. For a goodness-filled, cational Collaborative an- Bulletin Board.................. 10 Roundup...............................3 irresistible treat come for a taste of Cookie at Valley Humane nounced that a middle col- Society, 3670 Nevada Street in Pleasanton, Tuesday through lege would be located on the Milestones ......................12 Short Notes....................9 Saturday from 10am – 4pm. For more information, visit Las Positas College campus. MAIN SECTION Sports.................................7 valleyhumane.org or call (925) 426-8656. Adoption fees on The program, open to se- adult animals are 50% off through December 31. Photo - Valley Classifieds.......................10 Obituaries.......................9 Humane Society/V. Kelly PAGE 2 - The Independent, DECEMBER 24, 2015 Federal Center Deals With Cyber Thefts The federal government Knobloch passed on this ment offered identity and has set up a center for na- information by email to financial monitoring to those tional laboratory workers Lawrence Livermore Na- affected by the thefts. and retirees who believe tional Laboratory, among The massive records their security clearance in- other national laboratories, thefts are believed to have formation was stolen but where most employees have been carried out by Chinese were not notified by letter security clearances. He hackers seeking informa- of the theft, according to the noted “two separate but tion with which to identify U.S. Department of Energy. related cyber incidents” and perhaps blackmail U.S. The center is operated affecting files at the Office government employees and 24 hours a day by the U.S.