CALL A REFEREE: Heated dispute over Pop Warner practice

Transcription

CALL A REFEREE: Heated dispute over Pop Warner
practice sessions breaks out in Atherton. Page 9.
T H E H O M E TO W N N E W S PA P E R F O R M E N L O PA R K , AT H E RTO N , P O RTO L A VA L L E Y A N D W O O D S I D E
A P R I L 2 3 , 2 0 0 8 | VO L . 4 3 N O. 3 4
SPRING
REAL
ESTATE
INSIDE
www.TheAlmanacOnline .com
tiedUP
The salmon season is over before it
began. Restaurants and food retailers,
including Menlo Park’s farmers’ market,
will be the poorer for it. Page 16
apr.com
R E D E F I N I N G Q U A L I T Y S I N C E 19 9 0
Reading between the emotional line mak es the
difference between finding a house and a home.
PA LO A LTO
Located on one of the most
prestigious, sought-after streets in
Old Palo Alto, the home has been
masterfully renovated and cared for
over the years with special attention
to maintaining its original character.
Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances and
antiqued cabinets highlight the 2004
kitchen. Five Bedrooms, a basement
playroom/media room and an
expansive rear yard with exquisite
landscaping, and more.
$6,595,000
M E N LO PA R K
Incredibly charming, 1-story
Craftsman style home substantially
re-built 7 years ago with separate
guest cottage and separate artist’s
studio on almost 2/3 acre with
beautiful mature landscaping and
solar heated pool. Gorgeous country
kitchen with screened-in dining porch,
cathedral ceilings, and extensive
moldings, abundant professionally
designed art lighting, luxurious
master suite with spa-inspired bath.
$3,700,000
P O R TO L A VA L L E Y
Tucked away amidst 1+/- acre of
pristine surroundings, this 4bd/3ba
hidden estate evokes a relaxed
“wine country” lifestyle in the
heart of Portola Valley. Outstanding
Portola Valley schools.
$2,998,000
apr.com | MENLO PARK OFFICE 1550 EL CAMINO REAL, SUITE 100 650.462.1111
apr.com | WOODSIDE OFFICE 2930 WOODSIDE ROAD 650.529.1111
APR COUNTIES | Santa Clara | San Mateo | San Francisco | Alameda | Contra Costa | Monterey | Santa Cruz
2 ■ The Almanac ■ April 23, 2008
“Your Mom doesn’t want any fuss,
but when she opens a little gem from
us, she’ll be quietly overjoyed.”
This week’s news, features and community events.
George Tom
F IR S T SH OT
Exquisite Jewelry Design
TOM WING
8 8 8 S A N T A C RU Z AV E .
M E N L O P A R K 6 5 0. 3 2 6 .0 8 8 8
A legacy of excellence
Customized High School
at Lydian Academy
“I realized that Algebra 2
wasn’t as difficult as
I previously thought.
The one-on-one attention
really helped me learn
the material.“
Photo by Candy Murphy
Supporting the troops
LYDIAN ACADEMY
Menlo School eighth-graders and Army soldiers gather at the Menlo School campus with hundreds of care
packages for the troops and Iraqi children. See story on Page 21.
815 El Camino Real, Menlo Park
650-321-0550 • www.lydianacademy.com
Atherton
Schools
■ Gridiron gridlock: Heated dispute over Pop
Warner practices goes nowhere. Page 9
■ Menlo Park district sees surge in kindergarten
enrollment. Page 5
■ Letters sent to Portola Valley district voters:
Cast vote for one candidate only. Page 11
Menlo Park
■ With bond money far short of needs, city
examines options for new gym. Page 5
People
Woodside
■ Holy Trinity church rector Michael Spillane
dies. Page 13
■ Woodside scholar helps write the book on
women’s roles in shaping history. Page 7
■ Supervisors may approve parks’ master plan
this week. Page 5
■
Same Day Ap
Appointments
ppointments
■
Open Saturday
ay
■
Graston Technique
nique
■
Free half hour massage
with initial consultation
Family Almanac
Regional
■ Key hearing Sunday on future of GGNRA
parklands. Page 8
■ Oak Knoll students build dragon from trash in
project that combines art and environmental
awareness. Cover, Section 2
Also Inside
On the cover
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34
Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Obituary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Police Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
The harbor at Half Moon Bay is unusually quiet
this April, a time when Northern California harbors
normally buzz with activity as fishermen prepare for
the May 1 start of Chinook salmon season. Federal
and state regulators canceled the season because
the salmon population is alarmingly low. Almanac
photo by Veronica Weber. Story starts on Page 16.
CALLING ON THE ALMANAC
The Almanac offices are at 3525 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
For Classified ads, call 854-0858
For all other calls, phone 854-2626
News: Ext. 213
Display advertising: Ext. 233
Fax: 854-0677
Dr. Jordan Savara,
Savara, D
D.C.
.C
C.
invites you to
to experience
e x p e r i e nc e
your Peak Performance
P e r f or m a n c e
■ E-mail news to (no photos please):
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letters@AlmanacNews.com
To request free delivery, or stop delivery, of The Almanac in zip code 94025, 94027,
94028 and the Woodside portion of 94062, call 854-2626.
THE ALMANAC (ISSN 1097-3095 and USPS 459370) is
published every Wednesday by Embarcadero Publishing
Co., 3525 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA 940254455. Periodicals Postage Paid at Menlo Park, CA and at
additional mailing offices. Adjudicated a newspaper of general
circulation for San Mateo County, the Almanac is delivered
free to homes in Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and
Woodside. Voluntary subscriptions for $30 per year or $50 per
2 years are welcome from residents of the above circulation
area. Subscription rates for businesses and for residents of
other communities is $50 per year and $80 for two years.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Almanac, P.O.
Box 7008, Menlo Park, CA 94026-7008. Copyright ©2006 by
Embarcadero Publishing Co., All rights reserved. Reproduction
without permission is strictly prohibited.
2100 Gordon Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Ph: 650.233.7333 ■ Fax: 650.233.7330
www.peakperformancei.com
Summer School
at Lydian Academy
“The quality of my writing really
improved. I came to Lydian
writing low quality papers, and
now I am able to write a paper
I’ d be proud to turn in.“
– M-A Student
LYDIAN ACADEMY
815 El Camino Real, Menlo Park
650-321-0550 • www.lydianacademy.com
April 23, 2008 ■ The Almanac ■ 3
A TOWN MARKET PLACE
3015 WOODSIDE ROAD
WOODSIDE, CA 94062
650-851-1511
Open 6:30AM - 8PM
Sale Dates: April 23, 24, 25, 26
www.robertsmarket.com
Twice Baked
Potatoes
$ 00
3
ea.
Fried Chicken
Pieces
$ 69
6
Sour cream Cheese and Chives
Extra fancy
LARGE FUJI APPLES
Sweet California
STRAWBERRIES, PINTS
Vine ripe
CLUSTER TOMATOES
lb.
$1.99lb.
$1.99ea.
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Extra fancy
ZUCCHINI SQUASH
79¢lb.
TOM – GROCERY
UN-CHARDONNAY
S
auvignon Blanc is sometimes referred to as the “other white wine” owing to the
fact that it often takes a back seat to Chardonnay and other, more popular white
varietals. However, if you give it a chance, Sauvignon Black will
reward you with an engaging, food-friendly white wine. This varietals
possesses enough palate-cleansing acidity to make it a pleasant accompaniment with hors-d’oeuvres and main dishes, particularly seafood. It
possesses herbal character, fruity aromas, and vibrancy with none of the
heaviness that is often associated with Chardonnay. Thus it comes as
something of a revelation to those who come to know it for the first
time. Grown all over the world, Sauvignon Blanc can also be had at
bargain prices.
If you have any interest in Sauvignon Blanc comes to ROBERTS
MARKET. Whenever you shop with us your satisfaction is guaranteed.
You will find that we have the most extensive selection of California and
European wines in the valley. Whether you are looking for domestic or
imported wines we are your best source. Our wine department is the
most extensive in the area, more than most liquor stores.
Hint: Unlike Chardonnay, which retains it varietals characteristics
regardless of where it is grown, Sauvignon Blanc reflects the characteristics of its soil and site.
Sauvignon Blanc
Juicy, crisp, succulent and food-worthy. Sound good? These are common
descriptions for Sauvignon Blancs, wine that usually sees little, or no, oak. With
warmer weather upon us, time to chill down some S.B. with fish, vegetables
and salads. Here are a few fun suggestions from around the globe.
2006 Graham Beck, South Africa
................................. Reg $10.99
$9.99
Great value.
2007 Joel Delaunay Touraine, Loire Valley
........ Reg $12.99
Bright, crisp, lively citrus-lime, with mineral complexity
2007 Grath, Napa Valley .................................................... Reg $16.99
A Napa Classic. Clean and fresh.
2007 Dog Point Vineyards, Marlborough, NZ ..... Reg $19.99
Vibrant, intense and lingering. Outstanding.
2007 Pretty Sally, Victoria, Australia ....................... Reg $19.99
Balanced and fragrant. Lovely.
$10.99
$14.99
$16.99
$16.99
2005 Lucien Crochet Sancerre "Le Chene", Loire Valley Reg $29.99 $25.99
GLACÉAU VITAMIN WATER
99¢
STOUFFER'S LEAN CUISINE LASAGNA WITH MEAT SAUCE $
2.69
YOPLAIT LIGHT FAT FREE YOGURT
55¢
STAR EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
$4.99
NATURE VALLEY GRANOLA BARS
$2.49
NEWMAN'S ORGANICS CANNED DOG FOOD $
1.59
A traditional, dry sancerre with a razor's edge.
Sale prices are net and do not qualify for futher discounts
20 oz. – Plus California Redeem Value
10 oz. – Also Spaghetti – Chicken Florentine Lasagna
Special This Week at Roberts
CHICKEN HAWAIIAN SAUSAGE
$4.98lb.
17 oz. – Also Extra Light
HOT AND SPICY PORK BACK RIBS
$7.98lb.
12 Pack
JUMBO PRAWN
12 oz.
PEELED AND DEVEINED PRAWN
6 oz.
$20.984-6 count
$17.98lb.
M
E N L O
P
A R K
|
A
T H E R T O N
|
W
|
O O D S I D E
P
O R T O L A
V
A L L E Y
MP sees surge in kindergarten enrollment
■ Numbers greatly exceed expectations. Officials wonder if
this is a one-time aberration or a sign of things to come.
By Andrea Gemmet
Almanac Staff Writer
A
pparently, you can be too popular.
No one is sure why, but there is
a surprising surge in kindergarten
enrollment in the Menlo Park City School
District. The district’s demographer predicted that fewer than 300 new kindergarteners would start school in the fall.
Already, 337 children have been enrolled,
said Superintendent Ken Ranella at the
school board’s April 15 meeting.
Is it because the highly regarded schools
are luring to the district lots of new residents with young children? Or is there a
really high birth rate among the existing
population? Whatever the cause, the school
board is busy coming up with creative ways
to accommodate all those kids.
To deal with demand, the school board
voted April 15 to add a combination kindergarten-first grade class at Oak Knoll
Elementary School, and will likely add
another Spanish language immersion
kindergarten at Encinal.
District officials are also projecting
that at least six kindergarten classes will
have more than 20 students, possibly
causing the district to forfeit some of its
class-size reduction grant money.
Last month, it was Oak Knoll elementary school that was overfilled, but there
was still room at Encinal and Laurel
schools. Now, all three of the elementary
schools have too many kids signed up.
For the district, accommodating the
growing number of children means
taking a financial hit, and it’s causing
officials to wonder if this is a one-time
aberration or a sign of things to come.
Going from 15 kindergarten classes
in the district to 16-1/2 next year is one
thing, but adding new classrooms to each
subsequent grade as the kindergartners
progress through the K-8 district could
cause a serious space crunch over the
long-term.
It would make it more likely that the
district will reclaim the O’Connor school
‘Is this a blip, or is this a trend?
If it’s a trend, we’re likely to
look at the O’Connor (site) as
overflow space.’
SUPERINTENDENT KEN R ANELLA
site at the end of the private GermanAmerican School’s lease in 2012.
“Is this a blip, or is this a trend?” Mr.
Ranella said. “If it’s a trend, we’re likely
to look at the O’Connor (site) as overflow
space.”
Board members took cold comfort in
the fact that it does not appear that the
recent redrawing of attendance boundaries is to blame.
“It’s not a boundary problem, it’s a
growth problem,” said Board President
Bruce Ives.
Oak Knoll
The good news for residents of the Oak
Knoll attendance area is the district won’t
be conducting a lottery to forcibly trans-
fer out the overflow of children signed
up for kindergarten. The board voted 5-0
to allow all the children who signed up
during the February priority enrollment
period to stay, although about 10 of them
will be assigned to a multi-grade class
with about 10 first-graders.
A vocal group of parents who live near
the school have been lobbying mightily
to prevent their children being subject to
the lottery.
Oak Knoll principal David Ackerman
said he plans to group the combination
class kindergartners with first-graders
who are on a slower developmental track.
The first-graders can serve as role models
to the kindergarteners in the morning
and then benefit from being in a smaller
group with their teacher in the afternoon,
after the kindergartners go home, he said.
It makes more sense to group children
according to their developmental stage,
rather than chronological age, he said.
“In our recent history, we’ve only done
(multi-grade rooms) when there is an
odd number of kids, but across the counSee KINDER, page 8
With bond money far short of needs,
city examines options for new gym
By Rory Brown
I
t looks as if Menlo Park doesn’t
have the money to build the
state-of-the-art Burgess Gym
the community wants, and that
dilemma will likely be on City
Council members’ minds when
they discuss plans for the new gym
at an April 29 study session.
The study session is scheduled to
start at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at the Civic Center, between
Laurel and Alma streets.
The meeting comes about six
weeks after representatives from
Field Paoli, the San Franciscobased architect hired to design the
new gym, said rising construction
costs could push the price of the
project to the neighborhood of
■ MENLO WAT CH
$26 million to $42 million.
The upcoming bond issue slated
to fund the construction of the
new gym is expected to raise about
$9 million, leaving the city well
short of projected costs.
Field Paoli representatives will
outline several floor plans for
the new gym. The designs were
developed in response to comments from the public about
features people want to see in
the new facility.
CBS moves to town
CBS Interactive, the online extension of media powerhouse CBS
Broadcasting Inc., is opening a sat-
ellite office in Menlo Park, according to reports in the New York
Times and Washington Post.
CBS Interactive encompasses the
company’s online ventures, such
as CBS.com, CBSsports.com, and
CBSnews.com, according to the
CBS Interactive Web site.
The digital arm of the company
has offices all over the country,
including in New York, Detroit
and Los Angeles.
Meet the mayor
Menlo Park Mayor Andy Cohen
is holding open office hours on
Saturday, May 3, from 10 a.m. to
noon. He will be available to
answer questions and talk about
city issues in the Burgess Recreation Center at 701 Laurel St.
A
Supervisors may approve parks’ master plan this week
By Dave Boyce
T
he San Mateo County
Board of Supervisors may
vote to approve the master
plan for Huddart and Wunderlich county parks when it meets
Tuesday morning, April 22.
A public hearing on the plan
is scheduled to start at 9:45 a.m.
The board plans to hear comments, discuss the plan, and then
may approve the plan and its
environmental impact report.
The supervisors meet in the
Hall of Justice and Records at
400 County Center (corner of
Bradford Street and Hamilton
Avenue) in Redwood City.
Representatives from Woodside will likely attend the meet-
ing. The staff report to the
supervisors lists three “outstanding issues of concern,” and
each one involves Woodside.
Residents along Greer Road have
complained to the Woodside Town
Council about the volume of traffic
using a rear gate into Huddart Park
via the narrow wooded lane.
See PARKS, page 8
En garde!
Daniel Clark and Stephen Szczurko, members of the Elite Musketeer
Fencer’s Club in Menlo Park, duel in the plaza in front of Kepler’s
bookstore during an April 11 fencing demonstration. The club was
invited to give the demonstration prior to a reading by Australian author
John Flanagan from his latest adventure book, “Ranger’s Apprentice.”
Peninsula Perfect!
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Broker Participation Welcome
Map not to scale. Pricing effective as of publication deadline. Renderings are artist’s conception.
6■
The Almanac ■ April 23, 2008
SHH 235 Menlo Park Almanac 10x13.indd 1
4/18/08 2:23:34 PM
R EAL E STATE Q&A
P EOPLE
by Gloria Darke
Telling the whole story
What if the house doesn't appraise out?
Woodside historian helps write the book on women’s roles in shaping history
By Renee Batti
Almanac News Editor
W
hen the new Oxford
Encyclopedia
of
Women in World
History was published earlier
this year, historian Karen Offen
didn’t waste any time adding the
four-volume set to her shelves.
That’s not only because the
encyclopedia’s subject matter
is of great interest to the longtime Woodside resident and
independent scholar, but also
because Ms. Offen is a contributor to the groundbreaking work. Her article, “History
of Women,” and her biographies of two 19th centuryborn European feminists —
Swedish author Ellen Key and
French women’s rights activist
Ghenia Avril de Sainte-Croix
— are included in the set.
The encyclopedia, edited
by Rutgers University history
professor Bonnie G. Smith,
includes more than 650 biographies of influential women
and some 600 articles.
Ms. Offen’s contributions to
the encyclopedia are among
the many works she has published in the field of women’s
history over the past 25 years
— books, articles and papers
that have contributed significantly to the growing visibility
of women’s roles in shaping
history.
Her latest book is “European
Feminisms, 1700-1950: A Political History,” and books she
has co-edited include a study
of women’s lives in England,
France and the United States
during the Victorian era.
An affiliated senior scholar
with the Michelle R. Clayman
Institute for Gender Research
at Stanford University who
has taught occasional under-
Photo by Veronica Weber/The Almanac
Karen Offen sits with a stack
of books from her library in the
Woodside home she shares with
her husband, George Offen.
graduate and post-doctoral
courses at Stanford, Ms. Offen
has been in demand as a guest
lecturer, teacher and consultant, primarily in Europe.
This summer, she will be the
keynote speaker for a major
Latin American women’s history conference.
A native of Idaho, Ms. Offen
became enthralled by the
study of history while at the
University of Idaho. She also
developed an “overall fascination with things European,”
and spent a year in Nancy,
France, as a Fulbright scholar
in the early 1960s.
It was after completing her
doctorate in modern European history from Stanford University in 1971 that she began
focusing almost exclusively
on women’s roles in history
— a perspective, she says, that
has been largely ignored by
historians and without which
an incomplete story about the
history of human endeavor
has been told.
In learning about the past,
it’s important for children to
understand women’s roles in
the development of ideas and
civilization, she says.
In a recent paper delivered
in Vienna, Ms. Offen notes
that the history of feminism is
“women’s political and intellectual history, and it must be
researched just as seriously as
that of men. ... We can learn
a great deal about the possibilities for women’s activism
under particular circumstances, and we can draw strength
from the stories of its participants and their struggles.
Every group needs a heritage
to draw on.”
Although her writing and
lecturing schedule keeps her
busy, Ms. Offen manages to
devote time and energy to a
nonprofit project close to her
heart: She serves on the board
of directors of the International Museum of Women, headquartered in San Francisco.
The museum sponsors online
exhibits and “on-the-ground”
events, and Ms. Offen was
instrumental in shaping the
museum’s current exhibit,
“Women, Power, Politics.”
With this exhibit, she has
also embarked on a new facet
of her work: Last week, she
made her debut as a blogger.
The women’s history blog is
titled “Clio Talks Back,” and
Ms. Offen promises it will be
“somewhat irreverent.”
The exhibit and the blog can
be found at imow.org. To find
the blog, click on the Community link on the top of the
page, then click on “Blog.”
Mr. Madia has previously
worked as director of the Oak
Ridge National Laboratory and
the Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory.
“Bill Madia’s knowledge and
experience in this area is without parallel,” Stanford Univer-
sity President John Hennessy
said. “He brings tremendous
insight about the importance of
research at national laboratories
as well as real-world expertise in
managing the work.”
— Bay City News Service
THE
ALMANAC
ONLINE
DELIVERS
24/7.
Dear Margaret, Unless you put a specific contingency in the contract “house to
appraise out” you do not have a valid reason
to back out of the contract. You didn’t state
whether or not you signed liquidated damages which would limit your damages to
3% of the purchase price. I’m sure you don’t
want to just walk away from your deposit so
you have a decision to make. Do you want to
pay more for your house than an appraiser
thinks its worth or do you want to potentially loose your deposit? With the upheaval
going on in the financial institutions now
appraisers have become more conservative
as have lenders. It is possible that the house
won’t appraise out but if you are going for an
80% loan it will mean that you would need
to put more cash in to make it close. I can see
that there is a psychological problem with
buying a house for more than a professional
appraiser might think it’s worth but remember we are in some tough times now with
our economy. It may well turn out that this
is an excellent time to buy; interest rates are
low, our area is and always will be a desirable
place to live and people will always want to
own the place they call home.
For answers to any questions you may have on real estate, you may e-mail me at gdarke@apr.
com or call 462-1111, Alain Pinel Realtors. I also offer a freemarket analysis of your property.
WEST BAY SANITARY DISTRICT
GENERAL REGULATION NO. 125
*****
A REGULATION AMENDING GENERAL
REGULATION NO. 58 “A GENERAL
REGULATION ADOPTING CODE
OF GENERAL REGULATIONS”
*****
BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED BY THE District Board of West
Bay Sanitary District that General Regulation No. 58, “A General
Regulation Adopting Code of General Regulations”, passed and
approved on November 27, 1982, as heretofore amended, is further
amended as follows:
SECTION 209. Board Members Compensation
Effective 60 days from the date of approval of this Regulation,
members of the District Board shall be compensated in the amount
of $149.12 $155.00 per day for each day’s attendance at meetings of the District Board, attendance at California Association of
Sanitation Agencies’ conferences and for each day’s service rendered
as a Member of the District Board by request of the District Board.
Compensation shall not exceed a total of $894.72 $930.00 (six days
service) in any calendar month.
A
New vice president named at Stanford Linear Accelerator
Stanford University officials
have named a new vice president for the Stanford Linear
Accelerator Center, a position
created to encourage coordination between the laboratory, the
university, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
William Madia began working
in January as the vice president
of the center, which is managed
and operated by Stanford University and owned by the U.S.
Department of Energy. SLAC
is built around a two-mile-long
electron linear accelerator that
runs south of Sand Hill Road in
unincorporated Menlo Park.
Dear Gloria, We have an offer in on a
house. We put a contingency in for a
home inspection which we have had and
the inspector didn’t find anything that
was a big deal to us. We are going to put
a loan on the house but didn’t make it
contingent on the loan. We were preapproved and knew that we would get
the loan with no problem. Our concern
now is that several houses have come
on the market in this general area and
while they aren’t the same as our house,
we don’t think our house will appraise
for as much as we paid for it. Can we get
out of the contract?
Margaret N.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
AT TOWNSQUARE
TheAlmanac
The
AlmanacOnline.
Online.com
com
Compensation to Board Members attending conferences of the
California Association of Sanitation Agencies shall be limited to two
day’s compensation regardless of the number of days attended.
Passed and approved by the District Board of the West Bay
Sanitary District on April 9, 2008 by the following vote:
Ayes:
Noes:
Abstain:
Absent:
Shepherd, Walker, Lomax, Knight, Harrison
None
None
None
Ronald Shepherd
President of the District Board
of the West Bay Sanitary District
County of San Mateo, State of California
Attest:
David Walker
Secretary of the District Board
of the West Bay Sanitary District,
County of San Mateo, State of California
Published in THE ALMANAC on April 23, 30, 2008
N E W S
Key hearing Sunday on future of national parklands
■ Golden Gate National Recreation Area includes
Phleger Estate near Woodside and coastal spread.
By Marion Softky
R
esidents in the Bay Area are
blessed to have the Golden
Gate National Recreation
Area (GGNRA), one of the largest
urban parks in the world, and one
of the most popular national parks
in the country.
Stretching in patches of land
from Woodside north to Point
Reyes, the GGNRA includes Bay
Area icons such as Muir Woods,
Alcatraz, Marin Headlands and
the Presidio. It also includes less
developed, less famous lands that
have been acquired more recently,
or are still to be acquired.
Its boundaries are set by Congress; within the boundaries are
areas authorized for acquisition in
the future.
The two southernmost properties in San Mateo County that are
part of the GGNRA are:
■ The Phleger Estate comprises
1,250 acres of the forested hillside
of Skyline Ridge, north of Woodside and wedged between Huddart
Park and the San Francisco Watershed. The Peninsula Open Space
KINDER
continued from page 5
try, multi-age primary (classes)
are a better way to organize a
school,” Mr. Ackerman said at
the meeting.
Another Spanish class
The Menlo Park school board
members, in a straw poll taken
at the meeting, support adding a second Spanish language
immersion class at Encinal,
rather than a regular kindergarten class.
“There are the advantages of
collaboration between the two
PARKS
The gate used to be locked closed
except for emergencies, residents
say, but Parks Department officials disagree with that account.
The gate is now locked open and
the master plan describes it as “an
entrance for park users (arriving
by foot, bicycle, or horse) and
park maintenance vehicles.”
The master plan includes proposals to add lights to Folger
Stables in Wunderlich Park to
“enhance use during the winter
months,” and to replace a seasonal picnic area in Huddart Park
with an all-season community
building.
Trust (POST) bought it from the
heirs of Herman and Maria Elena
Phleger, and sold it to the federal
government in 1995.
■ Rancho Corral de Tierra is
4,262 acres located north of Half
Moon Bay, where massive subdivisions were once planned. Purchased by POST in 2001 for $29.75
million, it has been included in
the boundaries of the GGNRA by
Congress, but awaits $15 million in
federal funding before it transfers
to the national park.
The GGNRA is engaged in a
multi-year program to develop a
general management plan to guide
future uses, development, and
protection of its park units over the
next 30 years.
As part of the planning process,
GGNRA is inviting the public to
learn about and comment on the
plan at seven open houses and
“scoping sessions.” They began
April 19, and will continue until
May 16 at locations ranging from
San Mateo and Half Moon Bay,
to Sausalito and Mill Valley, with
one in Pacifica and two in San
Francisco.
The closest session will be in San
teachers in immersion, and
having a larger cohort of (students) would help support the
program,” said Assistant Superintendent Jo Sauer Mitchell.
District officials have discussed the possibility of moving the language immersion
program to the O’Connor site
and making it a district magnet
school, but no official decisions
are expected any time soon.
The district is currently soliciting applications for the second
Spanish immersion teacher
position. A final decision on
adding an immersion class will
likely be made by May 30, Mr.
Ranella said.
■ PU BL IC MEET IN G
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is developing a general management plan to guide
future uses, development and
protection of its parks. The closest open house and “scoping”
session on the plan will be held
in San Mateo on Sunday, April
27, from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., at
the Peninsula Community Foundation, 1700 South El Camino
Real, Suite 300.
yet owned by the park or managed
by the park, she noted.
Some 23,000 acres of watershed
owned by San Francisco are within the GGNRA boundaries; the
GGNRA administers the conservation and recreation easements
that protect the lands that protect
the water supply.
Other lands in San Mateo County include Sweeney Ridge, Milagra
Ridge and Mori Point, in and
around Pacifica.
Phleger property
Mateo on Sunday, April 27, from
3:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Peninsula Community Foundation, 1700
South El Camino Real, Suite 300.
The final “Scoping Open House”
will be in Half Moon Bay, on Friday,
May 16, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the
Community Center, 535 Kelly St.
Lennie Roberts of the Committee for Green Foothills encourages
people to attend and participate
in planning the future of the local
national park lands. “They never
had a general management plan
for San Mateo County lands,” she
said.
The GGNRA includes about
32,000 acres in San Mateo County,
said Chris Powell, spokeswoman
for the GGNRA. Not all of that is
In the planning meetings, Ms.
Powell said, “We’ll be looking at
the type of activities appropriate
for the next 30 years.”
The Phleger property, for example, is heavily forested and currently reached by trail from Huddart Park or Kings Mountain. “Do
people want to see other uses?”
Ms. Powell asked. “We want to
allow recreation but protect the
redwoods.”
Rancho Corral de Tierra, by
contrast, is much larger and more
diverse; it stretches across the western slopes of Montara Mountain
from McNee Ranch State Park to
El Granada. “It has more opportunity than Phleger because of its
size and variety,” Ms. Powell said.
Special meeting on Oak Knoll project
The Menlo Park City School District board has set Thursday, May
8, as the date of a special meeting
for the adoption of the “negative
declaration,” the environmental
study of the Oak Knoll campus
plans. The meeting is set to start at
7 p.m. at Oak Knoll School, 1895
Oak Knoll Lane in Menlo Park.
The final document will include
the 13 comment letters from the
community, and the responses to
the issues raised in the letters.
The district plans to begin
construction this summer at Oak
Knoll to replace portable rooms
Rancho Corral de Tierra is
included in the federal planning
process even though it is still
owned and managed by POST.
In January, Sen. Dianne Feinstein
and the Bay Area Congressional
delegation were able to secure the
first $1.96 million appropriation
toward the $15 million purchase
price for the property.
Sen. Feinstein sees Rancho Corral de Tierra as the “southern
gateway” to the lands protected
by the GGNRA. “In today’s tough
budgetary times, private organizations like POST play a critical role
in helping the government protect
open space at a more affordable
price,” she said. “POST’s anticipated transfer of Rancho Corral
de Tierra for about half the original
purchase cost makes this an especially worthwhile project.”
Rancho Corral de Tierra provides major opportunities for trail
connections to other state and
county parks and the Bay Area
Ridge Trail, as well as equestrian
use. “We may want a visitor center,” said Ms. Powell.
A
■ I NF O RMATI O N
For information, call 415-561-4965;
e-mail goga_gmp@nps.gov; or go to
parkplanning.nps.gov/goga.
with a new classroom complex,
restore athletic fields, and add a
multi-use room and parking areas.
The board must vote to adopt the
negative declaration in order for
the project to move forward.
Information about the project
is at www.mpcsd.org (click on
“Facility Development”).
See Page 27 for pro and con
views on the Oak Knoll project.
A
Woodside residents have complained that such steps would
attract more people to the park
and that the resulting noise, traffic and parking problems have
not been adequately considered
by the county.
One other point of contention is the equestrian habit of
allowing horses to step into West
Union Creek in crossing it. The
master plan considers replacing
the existing bridge so that horses
can use it.
Attorney Robert Susk, representing Woodside property owner Elizabeth Flood, contends that
the trail leading to the bridge is
private property and closed to
the public.
A
It’s all Greek to them
Sixth-graders at Hillview cheer on their teammates during a high-spirited game of “Mythology Pursuit” during the
Menlo Park middle school’s Greek Festival on April 17. The game tested knowledge of — what else? — Greek
mythology.
N E W S
Gridiron gridlock: Heated dispute over
Pop Warner practices goes nowhere
By Andrea Gemmet
S
omebody call the referee.
The Pop Warner youth
football league may give
youngsters a chance to channel
their aggression in a healthy and
constructive environment, but the
grown-ups involved seem to be
lacking a healthy outlet for their
own aggravation.
League officials and a group of
Atherton residents are at odds over
Pop Warner Vikings’ use of MenloAtherton High School’s fields for
practices and games, and their frustration bubbled over at the April 16
Atherton City Council meeting.
Comments made during the
meeting led to a confrontation outside the council chambers between
a small group of Pop Warner officials and a couple of Lindenwood
neighborhood residents. The two
groups accused each other of lying,
and the situation escalated to the
point where Phil Lively, a member
of the Atherton Planning Commission and Lindenwood resident,
started shouting expletives.
The town’s rules governing private groups’ use of athletic fields at
public schools limit the hours that
practices and games can be held —
in theory, anyway.
Under the rubric of the special
events ordinance adopted by
the City Council in September
■ ATHERTON
2006, the fields can’t be used
after 7 p.m. on weekdays, 6 p.m.
on Saturdays or 5 p.m. on Sundays without a permit.
In practice, for the past couple
of years, neighbors have complained to police that the Menlo-Atherton Vikings practice
later than allowed.
Pop Warner officials complain
that the town’s rules are unfair
and will kill off youth sports by
limiting field time.
‘‘There’s been a lot of overstatements made tonight.
Atherton supports its kids
as much as anyone else.’
MAYOR JIM JANZ.
“Youth sports are not a special
event. It’s part of life, part of buying
a house next to a school,” said Greg
Baty at the meeting.
Mr. Baty, a Pop Warner coach
and former NFL player who lives
in Atherton, said that most Atherton residents don’t agree with the
town’s restrictions.
“This is all about the Lindenwood homeowners association
... trying to exert their might.
They don’t represent the people
of Lindenwood and they certainly don’t address all of Atherton,” he said.
Mr. Lively said at the meeting that
the Lindenwood Homes Association has been trying for three years
to work out an agreement with Pop
Warner and even wrote out a check
to pay for the permit to legalize the
league’s use of the field.
“The special events ordinance
does work well,” Mr. Lively said.
“Complaints are down and no
sports events have been canceled.”
However, it was all moot. The
City Council couldn’t address
the issue at the April 16 meeting because the agenda item was
carefully worded to be no more
than a procedural item clarifying a council directive to the city
manager in May 2006.
Councilman Charles Marsala, a
vocal opponent of the town’s special events ordinance, lobbied his
colleagues to get the full issue on a
future meeting agenda, but failed to
muster any support.
Councilwoman Kathy McKeithen said the town’s new city
manager, Jerry Gruber, needed
a chance to work out the issues
between the two factions without
council interference.
“There’s been a lot of over-statements made tonight. Atherton
supports its kids as much as anyone else,” said Mayor Jim Janz.
A
The Almanac launches online real estate site
■ Homes for sale, open homes, and prior sales
information is shown on maps and in chart form.
A comprehensive online guide
to local real estate was launched
this week by TheAlmanacOnline.com, The Almanac’s news
and information site that is affiliated with Palo Alto Online.
Go to TheAlmanacOnline.com
and click on the “Real Estate” link
in the navigation bar on the left,
or enter TheAlmanacOnline.com/
real_estate in your browser.
The site features maps, photos,
pricing and other information on
most homes and condominiums
currently for sale on the Midpeninsula, all “open” homes scheduled
for the upcoming weekend, and
sales price information on homes
sold dating back to 1994.
It also includes links to real
estate agent directories, recent
real estate articles, and neighborhood guides for each community prepared by the staffs of The
Almanac, the Palo Alto Weekly
and the Mountain View Voice,
“While national real estate Web
sites have some of the same information we are providing, we have
focused on pulling all the informa-
tion a home buyer or local resident
could want into one convenient,
locally oriented site,” said Tom Gibboney, publisher of The Almanac.
“The Almanac and the Palo Alto
Weekly have long been the Midpeninsula’s leading sources of information on local real estate activity and
the only place publishing a comprehensive guide to home opens
each weekend,” Mr. Gibboney said.
“With the launch of our new online
real estate site, users will be able to
quickly see all homes that are on the
market, print out maps or lists, and
research prior sales.”
The site will include virtual tours
of featured homes paid for by the
listing real estate agent or company.
The site draws its information
directly from RE InfoLink, the
Multiple Listing Service for the
area, and then supplements it
with information from other
sources, including reporting and
databases of The Almanac and
Palo Alto Weekly staff.
The site uses Google’s mapping
technology to present homes
and condominiums for sale and
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
CITY OF MENLO PARK
CITY COUNCIL
APPEAL OF PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Council of the City
of Menlo Park, California is scheduled to review an appeal of the
Planning Commission’s approval of the following item:
Use Permit/The Hagman Group/1010 Doyle Street: Request for
use permit approval to add 84 square feet to an existing building that
currently exceeds 100 percent FAR in the C-3 (Central Commercial)
zoning district, and to apply the use based parking guidelines to retain
the nine existing off-street parking spaces where one additional parking space would otherwise be required for the additional floor area.
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that said City Council
will hold a public hearing on these items in the Council Chambers
of the City of Menlo Park, located at 701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park,
on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. or as near as possible
thereafter, at which time and place interested persons may appear
and be heard thereon. If you challenge these items in court, you
may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else
raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written
correspondence delivered to the City of Menlo Park at, or prior to,
the public hearing.
The project file may be viewed by the public on weekdays
between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through
Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, with alternate
Fridays closed, at the Department of Community Development,
701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park. Please call Megan Fisher,
Associate Planner, at 650-330-6737 or email her at mefisher@
menlopark.org if you have any questions or comments.
to map open homes and prior
home sales data.
For a small fee, Realtors will
be able to enhance the basic
listings shown on the site and
include a link to the Web site
for a specific home listing and
to the agent’s general Web site.
Si usted necesita más información sobre este proyecto, por
favor llame al 650-330-6702, y pregunte por un asistente que
hable español.
DATED:
Correction
The first name of Laird Cagan, a
Portola Valley resident and a major
donor to the funding of the town’s
new Town Center complex, was
incorrectly reported as Larry in the
April 16 issue of the Almanac. The
Almanac regrets the error.
April 17, 2008
Sherry M. Kelly
Interim City Clerk
PUBLISHED: April 23, 2008
Visit our Web site for public hearing, agenda, and staff
report information: http://www.ci.menlo-park.ca.us
Published in THE ALMANAC on April 23, 2008.
Our Family Gives
to Packard Children’s Hospital...
Because of the Gift it Gave to Us.
Our son, Alexander, was born with a near fatal
condition known as hydrops, which filled his
tiny body with fluid. Thanks to the expert care
from Packard’s team of doctors and nurses,
Alexander’s life was saved.
Please join us in making a gift to Packard
Children’s. Your support will bring the most
advanced care to any child in our community.
And that can make a world of difference to
families like ours.
Support YOUR Children’s Hospital
Visit www.supportLPCH.org
YO U R
SUPPORT
C H I L D R E N ’ S H O S P I TA L
N E W S
Portola Valley voters:
vote for one candidate
Failure to print “Vote for One” on
mailed ballots in the Portola Valley
School District’s special election
prompted the San Mateo County
elections office to mail a letter April
11 to the district’s 4,479 voters to
explain that only one seat is to be
filled on the school district’s fivemember governing board.
Ballots in the special, all-mail
election must be received by the
elections office by 8 p.m. Tuesday,
May 6.
Dr. David Morris, a physician,
and Bill Youstra, an Internet production and media consultant, are
vying to fill the remainder of former trustee Donna Carano’s term,
which ends in December 2009.
The ballots mailed April 7 did
not contain an instruction to vote
for only one candidate, wrote
David Tom, county elections manager, in his letter to voters.
Apologizing for the confusion,
he referred voters with questions to
MP schools pursue off-site child care
By Andrea Gemmet
Greta McElroy, election specialist,
at 312-5389 or by e-mail at gmcelroy@smcare.org.
By the close of the business day
April 17, 567 ballots had already
been received by the elections
office, according to Ms. McElroy.
Voters who think they voted for
two candidates are asked to call
her at 312-5389 as soon as possible.
The voted ballot can be retrieved by
checking the signature and a new
ballot mailed to the voter, she said.
If voters mark their ballots for
two candidates, it’s an “overvote”
and those ballots cannot be counted, said Ms. McElroy.
Voters are encouraged to mail
their ballots by April 29, using the
stamped envelope enclosed with
the ballot.
Ballots also may be dropped
off in the locked ballot box at
Portola Valley Town Hall, at 765
Portola Road, on or before 8 p.m.
on May 6.
Correction
■ The wrong date for the Portola
Valley school board candidates’
night at The Sequoias in Portola Valley was reported in The
Almanac newspaper last week
and online. The forum was held
Tuesday, April 15, and will not
be held April 22. The Almanac
apologizes for any inconvenience
this has caused.
Elizabeth
LEWIS
ATHERTON COUNCIL
I
s busing an answer to the critical shortage of after-school
child care for Menlo Park City
School District students?
There is a “high likelihood”
that a child care organization in
the community could accommodate as many as 80 district
students this fall, Superintendent Ken Ranella said at the
April 15 board meeting. The
school district could organize
transportation — or perhaps
even run its own buses — to
take children to the off-site
facility, he said.
Mr. Ranella said he could not
yet reveal the organization’s
name or any details about its
child care program.
So far, the district’s attempts
to find a place to house an afterschool program on its elementary school campuses haven’t
been too successful.
Reputable child care providers require dedicated space and
won’t consider running programs in existing classrooms,
Mr. Ranella said. The city of
Menlo Park recently rebuffed a
chance to partner with the district in pursuit of a state grant
to build a small facility on the
Laurel School campus.
Plus, the district’s school campuses are highly constrained,
‘It’s just not feasible at
this time to create child
care centers on our
campuses.’
SUPERINTENDENT KEN R ANELLA
both in terms of size and because
of major construction projects
over the next few years, he said.
“It’s just not feasible at this
time to create child care centers
on our campuses,” he told The
Almanac.
The city of Menlo Park buses
district students to its Menlo
Children’s Center after-school
program, but the demand far
exceeds the space that’s available.
The waiting list is so long that
enrollment is essentially limited
to Menlo Park residents, who get
priority over non-residents. The
The results of the Survey show that our Town wants new leadership.
On June 3rd, with your help, I will bring strong leadership and a
balanced, solutions-focused perspective to the Atherton City Council.
For more information about my campaign please visit my website:
elizabeth2008.com or email me at elizabeth@elizabeth2008.com.
Elizabeth Lewis
Atherton Resident Survey Findings
• 62% feel that they do not receive adequate notice from the
Town on meetings or important building code changes that
affect their property.
650/533-8830
99 Alejandra Ave., Atherton, CA 94027
A
Atherton Neighbors for Elizabeth PARTIAL LIST
Most humbling is that since the Survey was mailed there has been
an outpouring of support for this campaign for new leadership.
My campaign, which is headquartered from my kitchen table, has
grown tremendously. Neighbors sign up everyday to lend their
name, put up a lawn sign, and vote for me.
• A majority of residents feel that Atherton is headed either in the
“wrong direction” or were “not sure” of the Town’s direction. This
shows we must do more to reach out to our citizens and provide
stronger leadership locally.
school district includes neighborhoods in Atherton and unincorporated San Mateo County,
as well as much of Menlo Park.
“I don’t see this as a school
district issue,” Mr. Ranella told
the board April 15. “Whatever
we put together is my donation
to the community in terms of
time and effort.”
Mr. Ranella said he hopes to be
able to make an announcement
about the after-school care in the
next month.
“The capacity of the facility,
the availability of the provider,
the scope of service, how many
children they can serve, all of
those are really up in the air,” Mr.
Ranella said. “What we’re trying
to do is take a step. If it comes to
fruition, I’m not going to assume
that it solves the problem.”
The school board has been
under pressure from a vocal
group of parents that has been
vigorously lobbying for the district to emulate neighboring
districts by offering on-site
child care.
Visit elizabeth2008.com to become a Neighbor for Elizabeth
Two weeks ago I mailed a Survey to Atherton residents in an effort
to listen to them rather than talk at them. The response has been
strong and I wanted to share the findings below.
Thank you for your support and your vote on June 3rd!
■ SCHOOLS
• Many residents are concerned about fiscal responsibility and
accountability of the City Council in light of recent, ill-advised
lawsuits—one involving our local school district and the other
a Historical Artifacts Ordinance. These lawsuits cost Atherton
nearly $250,000 in legal fees.
• Residents want safe streets, road repairs, traffic mitigation,
and attention to dangerous intersections.
Didi & John Fisher
Former Mayors
Sheri & John Shenk
Chris McDonnell
Patty & Mark Davis
Kristina & Mike Homer
Carolyn & Bob Jenkins
Director, Atherton Civic Interest League
Environmental Programs Comm.
Rose Hau
Former Member, General Plan Comm.
& Planning Comm.
Nancy & Rob Faisant
Former City Attorney
Lainie & George Garrick
Carolyn & Scott Feamster
Carol & John Flaherty
Lee & Bill Schroeder
Dolly & Tom Colby
Cynthia & John Lovewell
Connie & Stuart Weisman
Janice & Bob Mondin
Dena & John Denniston
Libby & Burgess Jamieson
Julie Brody
Bonnie & Joe Morey
Clary & Dean Riskas
Eileen Holtvedt
Robin & Phil Taylor
Charlie King
Terri Watters
Valerie Gardner
Environmental Programs Comm.
Joe & Gina Andrighetto
Cliff Lavine
Natalie & Joe Comartin
Silicon Valley Association of Realtors
Betsy & Tom Glikbarg
Public Safety Comm.
Courtney & Michael Charney
Missy & Jeffrey Morris
Jillian Manus-Salzman & Alan Salzman
Laurie & Rich Bassin
Michelle & Dave Dollinger
William Grindley
Neil Rasmussen
Bill Hoy
Rhoda & David Herron
Steve Dostart
Sharon Meers
Ian Lewis
Candi & Nick Athens
Suzanne & Bill Shaw
Katherine & Jeff Wise
Pat & Larry Briscoe
Jim Massey
Former Member, Parks & Rec. Comm.
Catherine & Eric Lamb
Sandy & Dave Levison
Ms Charlie Hays
Kristina & Gary Gavello
Ron & Karen Johnson
Charlot Singleton
Kathy & Gary Swart
Susan Akbarpour
Margaret & John Worthing
Terri & Henry Bullock
Patricia & Newt Yaeger
Laurie & Rod Shepard
Alison Ross
Lori & Steve Bouret
Melinda & Doug Kaewert
Friends for a Better Atherton
FPPC #: 1305204
Our new
Real Estate Web Site is
H T
EXPLORE OUR INTERACTIVE MAPS, HOMES FOR SALE, OPEN HOMES, VIRTUAL TOURS,
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1322 University Dr, Menlo Park
$1,295,000
3 beds/3 baths
2,155 square feet
Jolain & Jack Woodson
Alain Pinel Realtors
(650) 740-9694
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Explore local real estate
www.TheAlmanacOnline.com/real_estate
NEWS OF LOCAL PEOPLE AND EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY
Holy Trinity church rector dies
The Bowman program builds
confidence, creativity and
academic excellence.
This story is based on an obituary
posted on TheAlmanacOnline.
com by Linda Hubbard Gulker, a
member of the church’s vestry.
The Rev. Michael Spillane,
rector of Holy Trinity Episcopal
Church in Menlo Park, died on
April 15 from complications of a
brain tumor. He was 58.
A memorial service to celebrate
his life was held April 19 at the
church, 330 Ravenswood Ave.
When The Rev. Spillane
became the 17th rector of Trinity last year, he was returning
to Menlo Park where he had
earned his master’s in divinity
degree at St. Patrick’s Seminary.
He became an Episcopal priest
in 1992 and previously served in
the Diocese of Idaho.
In an essay about his spiritual
journey, he talks about an influential priest he met while he was
a “home beat officer” (a Bobbie)
in London, describing the priest
as “approachable, someone with
a sense of humor who liked to
kick the soccer ball around.”
The description fit him just as
well, the church said in a statement.
Known at the church as
“Father Mike,” he wrote in
his essay: “I now realize that
Lower School - Grades K - 5
Middle School - Grades 6 - 8
Individualized, self-directed program
Rich international and cultural studies
Proven, Montessori approach
State-of-the-art facility
The Rev.
Michael
Spillane
had earned
his master’s
in divinity
degree from
St. Patrick’s
Seminary in
Menlo Park.
Low student-teacher ratio
www.bowmanschool.org
4000 Terman Drive Palo Alto, CA Tel: 650-813-9131
)&)43./4).4()36!5,4)43./43!&%
in some sense everything that
happens in our lives, from the
mundane to the spectacular, is
part of one’s spiritual journey. It
is an autobiography that we are
all writing each day about how
God is present in each moment
of our lives, and more importantly, how we respond to that
presence.”
He is survived by his wife, Julie,
and two children, Brendan and
Kim of Menlo Park; his mother,
Kathleen Spillane of New York
City; and two brothers, Kieran
of Louisville, Kentucky, and
Brendan of Katonah, New York.
Those wishing to make a
memorial in his name are asked
to contribute to the Spillane
Children Education Trust at
any Wells Fargo Bank or make a
check out to that account name
and mail it to Holy Trinity, 330
Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park,
CA 94025.
Menlo School hosts Special Olympics
More than 100 athletes will
take part in a Special Olympics
track, field and tennis competition on Sunday, April 27, at Cartan Field on the Menlo School
campus in Atherton.
Opening ceremonies with the
lighting of the Olympic torch
start at 10 a.m. on the field. The
public is encouraged to attend
and cheer on the athletes from
San Mateo and San Francisco
counties. Admission is free.
Cartan Field borders Alejandro
Avenue, off El Camino Real.
Special Olympics provide
year-round training and competition opportunities for people
with disabilities. The track and
field competition also includes
adaptive sports activities such
as the softball throw. This is the
17th year that Menlo School has
hosted the event.
Contestants train for a minimum of eight weeks in order to
compete, but all Special Olympics
athletes are encouraged to participate, regardless of skill level.
All athletes will receive T-shirts
and water bottles, designed by
Menlo students. Volunteers
include Menlo students and parents, as well as volunteers from
the Atherton and South San
Francisco police departments
and the San Mateo County
Department of Public Works.
Menlo high school students
will team up with the athletes as
buddies. Middle school students
and their parents are organizing
the Olympic Village, where athletes and their buddies can relax
and play games between events.
Local merchants helping sponsor
the event are: Draeger’s markets,
See’s Candy, JiBE Promotional
Marketing, Posh Bagels, Peet’s
Coffee and Tea, Sigona’s Farmers
Market, and Sodexho Services.
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Stanford Hospital Health Notes
A co m m u n i ty h e a l t h e d uc a t i on se r i e s f r om St a n f o r d H o s p i t a l & C l i n i c s
Three Brothers
and the Gift of
Life
In 1997, Ronald Westgate was an active 59-year-old living
with his wife Mary in Pleasanton, CA. “My father’s side had
a history of heart failure. My father and grandfather both
died of heart attacks in their fifties,” explains Ron. “I kept in
shape because of that, a lot of exercise, biking, hiking, you
name it.” In the years to come, genetics would prove a stronger force for Ron and his two brothers Jim and Chuck, also
of Northern California. By 2006, all three brothers would
undergo heart transplants at Stanford Hospital & Clinics.
Jim Westgate, Chuck Westgate and Ron Westgate
at a recent golf tournament in Palm Springs.
Familial cardiomyopathy, a form of inherited heart disease, often leads to heart failure. Heart failure affects nearly 5 million U.S. adults, with an
estimated 400,000 to 700,000 new cases each year. In the case of cardiomyopathy, the heart muscle loses the ability to pump blood effectively. Cardiomyopathy is progressive and sometimes worsens fairly quickly. While there are a number of medications that can slow cardiomyopathy’s progression,
some patients require a new heart to survive.
Journey to a New Heart
In 1998, nearly one year after Ron noticed he couldn’t exercise as much
as he used to, his heart had begun to fail. The year was spent in and out
of John Muir Clinic in Walnut Creek. As Ron’s condition deteriorated,
Dr. Michael Fowler, a cardiologist at Stanford Hospital & Clinics, took
over his care. His treatment included having a defibrillator implanted in
his chest to reduce the risk of sudden death.
“My heart had become so weak, it was in real danger of stopping,” says
Ron. “The defibrillator would fire—there would be these storms of it
going off.” With the defibrillator doing all it could to keep Ron alive, it
became clear that he would require a new heart. After spending days at
John Muir Clinic, the Stanford Hospital LifeFlight helicopter was dispatched by Dr. Fowler to bring Ron to the hospital, where he would wait
for a heart transplant.
“I still remember that
first breath. My breathing before the transplant was so shallow—
I was too weak. But that
first breath, it was the
first time in months that
I got a lung full of air.
“Ron was the worst,” says Chuck Westgate, one of Ron’s younger brothers. “He
was on a left ventricular assist device for
a while, just a survival situation.” The
Westgate brothers rallied around Ron,
and were there when he finally received
his heart.
“I still remember that first breath,” Ron recalls. “My breathing before the transplant
was so shallow; I was too weak. But that
first breath, it was the first time in months
that I got a lung full of air.” Ron’s condition
steadily improved, though he did experience some rejection of the organ.
All patients who have a heart transplant are vulnerable to their own
immune system putting up a response to the new organ. Most require
more than one immunosuppressive drug for the rest of their lives.
One Recovers, Another Heart Fails
Jim watched his brother recover from his transplant with an additional
level of trepidation. “My heart failure started in about 1998. I had a minor heart attack. That was an alert for us,” Jim explains. “I went through
the typical process— getting a pacemaker and defibrillator after Ron
had his transplant. That told us that we were getting pretty close.”
Jim began seeing Dr. Fowler as well, who put him on the transplant list
in early 2000, hoping to prevent the rapid decline Ron endured before
his transplant. But Jim’s case would have an additional complication.
On his 37th wedding anniversary, while Jim was undergoing testing for
a new heart, doctors had found a mass on his kidney.
“That was really our lowest moment,” admits Jim. “More than two years
earlier, I had had melanoma. They thought the mass on the kidney was
a malignant tumor; they had to go in and take it off.”
The prospect of cancer returning was deflating, not just because of the
obvious risk cancer presents. If Jim lost his kidney entirely, his body
might not be able to handle the immunosuppressive drugs he would
need to take after his transplant. If he kept the kidney, he would have a
harder time beating the cancer, and would still need to be cancer-free
for three years before he became eligible for a heart transplant. Jim
didn’t have that kind of time.
Jim received prayers from across the Christian ministries he’d been
involved with for more than a decade. One week later, those prayers
tqfdjbm!gfbuvsf
40 Years and Looking Forward
Forty years ago, a 54-year-old American steel
worker spent the final two weeks of his life with a
donated heart pumping in his chest. The first successful adult heart transplant in the U.S. had been
completed by Dr. Norman Shumway and his team
in the cardiothoracic surgery division at Stanford
Hospital. The event was the culmination of more
than a decade’s worth of research, finally translated
into a therapeutic option for patients with endstage heart failure.
TOP: Dr. Norman Shumway (right) performs surgery
BOTTOM: Shumway (left) and Donald Harrison meet the press
after they perform the first adult human transplant in the
United States on Jan. 6, 1968. The recipient lived for 14 days.
In the 20 years that followed that first procedure,
researchers and clinicians at Stanford continued to
make steady progress in all areas of heart transplant, including efforts to increase the donor pool,
improve organ preservation and heart biopsies and
advance development of drugs to prevent rejection
of the transplanted organ. In late 1980, the Stanford
team was the first to introduce cyclosporine for
heart transplantation. The availability of this immunosuppressive drug, which is still in use today, was a
giant leap forward for the field.
“The first successful heart transplant in the country
took place only 10 years after Stanford Hospital
opened in Palo Alto,” said Dr. Robert Robbins, current chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic
Surgery at Stanford who trained with Dr. Shumway.
“As Stanford Hospital looks to the future with the
construction of a new facility, patients in Palo Alto
and beyond will benefit from the discoveries Hospital clinicians will make in the years to come.”
were answered—Jim’s kidney was spared
and the mass on the organ turned out to
be benign. He would be able to go forward
with the transplant.
On August 4, 2000, Jim left Stanford
Hospital with a new heart. He credits his
successful outcome with the teamwork
the Hospital staff displayed while he was
Back to life: Jim at 8,000 ft on Sentinel
there. “I never felt like there was just one
Dome in Yosemite National Park
person making decisions for me,” says
Jim. “I nearly died twice in Fresno because
my cardiologist wasn’t talking to my family doctor and it almost cost me
my life. Seeing how much was done by teamwork at Stanford was the
most comforting thing for both Nancy and me.”
A Family at Risk
Chuck Westgate was there for his older brother Ron’s transplant, and
again for his twin brother Jim’s. As Ron and Jim got back on their feet,
Chuck knew he needed to keep a close watch over his own heart health.
Three years passed without incident, and it seemed like Chuck might
avoid the troubles his brothers endured.
“I saw Ron go through it and then Jim went next; I thought I would go
through the same thing, says Chuck. “The help for me was that I’d seen
what they went through, it prepared me.”
“You need that at times—
you need a kick in the
pants. All of us have a
great appreciation for her
and everyone at Stanford
Hospital, we give them an
A+, that’s for sure.”
In 2003, Chuck was in Poland on a
mission trip with his church. Like his
brothers, Chuck has a very strong
spiritual side; he has been a pastor for
37 years. During the second week of the
trip, Chuck experienced heart failure.
He was treated in Poland, and had a
defibrillator implanted when he got
back to the states. Two years later, Dr.
Fowler added Chuck’s name to the
transplant list.
(From left to right) Jim, Ron and Chuck.
“Mentally, I was ready to accept a heart.
I knew that yes, I would,” Chuck says.
He knows what a difficult decision it is
to accept a transplant. Many recipients
deal with guilt after a transplant. Stanford Hospital provides support groups for
transplant patients where they can discuss
their feelings. Additionally, a team of social
workers meets with patients and their
families, facilitating the difficult emotional
process each side experiences.
Celebrating Life
Chuck, just over a year out from his transplant, is still benefiting from
the follow-up care he receives from Stanford. “I have a terrific follow-up
nurse. She answers questions and chews me out when she needs to,”
admits Chuck. “You need that at times; you need a kick in the pants. All
of us have a great appreciation for her and everyone at Stanford Hospital,
we give them an A+, that’s for sure.”
In the fall, Stanford Hospital will welcome heart transplant patients
and their loved ones to a celebration of life at the annual heart and lung
transplant patient reunion. The tradition began 20 years ago when Stanford Hospital social worker Mary Burge arranged a potluck dinner for
about a dozen patients
who’d received transplants and an equal
number of people on
the transplant waiting list. Since that
time, the reunion has
grown. This year the
Hospital expects to
host 200 people at the
reunion.
***
(From left to right) Jim and Nancy, Ron and Mary, and Chuck and Sandra
celebrate Chuck and Jim’s 68th birthday.
Stanford Hospital & Clinics is known worldwide for advanced treatment of complex disorders in areas such as cardiac care, cancer treatment, neurosciences, surgery, and organ transplants. Consistently ranked among “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News
and World Report, Stanford Hospital & Clinics is internationally recognized for translating medical breakthroughs into the care of
patients. The Hospital is part of the Stanford University Medical Center, along with the Stanford University School of Medicine and
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford
Photos by Veronica Weber/The Almanac
COVER STORY
tiedUP
BY DAVE BOYCE
The salmon season is over before it began.
Restaurants and food retailers, including the Menlo
Park’s farmers’ market, will be the poorer for it.
Above: Veteran fisherman and
former Woodside Priory School
teacher Pietro Parravano will
likely re-rig his fishing vessel, the
Anne B., for catching something
other than Chinook salmon now
that federal and state authorities
have canceled the fishing season.
Regulators acted in response
to dramatically low numbers of
adult salmon returning to the
Sacramento River system.
Right: A clear blue sky above
Half Moon Bay harbor one day
last week belied the clouds
that overshadow the livelihood
of Pietro Parravano and other
fishermen whose boats are idle at
a time when they would normally
be preparing for the May 1 start
of the salmon season. Other
viable species they may fish for
include Dungeness crab, rock cod,
albacore tuna, halibut and squid.
A
t the entrance to the Half
Moon Bay harbor, a sound
buoy bobs in the waves.
Every nine seconds, it wails in
the mournful way that buoys do
to remind fishermen and other
mariners of where they are on the
trackless sea.
Now the mournful tones seem
fitting in light of the recent turn of
events for salmon fishermen and
the communities that depend on
their enterprise. At least until next
April, Chinook salmon won’t be
part of the catch, and it will be rare
at restaurants and fish retailers,
including the Menlo Park Farmers’ Market. If you do find it, it will
probably be from Alaska and you
will pay dearly for it.
Due to dramatically low numbers
of two-year-old “jack” Chinook
salmon returning to their spawning
streams in the Sacramento River
system, federal and state regulators
recently canceled the commercial
and recreational salmon
fishing season along the California and Oregon coasts. (The state
Fish & Game Department rules on
salmon fishing in rivers on May 9.)
The season usually begins May
1 and lasts through September.
This year, about 55,000 adult
salmon are expected to pass
through the Golden Gate and on
into the Sacramento River watershed. A migration of 122,000 to
180,000 is typical, said Chuck
Tracy, a staff officer at the Pacific
Fishery Management Council, a
group of 14 appointed representatives from Oregon, Washington,
California and Idaho and based in
Portland.
Other ocean food fish populations are lower, too, Mr. Tracy said,
but he noted that the number of
salmon heading into the Sacramento system is “far below” normal, an
indication of problems in the freshwater system.
“The pathway (for salmon)
from the ocean is the most fragile
because of all the obstacles,” said
Pietro Parravano, a fisherman and
a popular regular selling Chinook
salmon at the Menlo Park Farmers’ Market. “A river system that
was very productive has failed. ...
I think this issue reflects the lack
of understanding of how comprehensive salmon fishing management really is. You can’t manage it
just in the ocean.”
The Almanac visited
with Mr. Parravano at the
Half Moon Bay harbor, where
his fishing vessel, the Anne B., is
berthed.
A former teacher
Mr. Parravano is a former resident of Portola Valley. He arrived
as a high school junior in an
academically oriented family and
graduated from Woodside Priory
School in 1967, he said. After
he finished graduate school, he
returned to Portola Valley and to
the Priory in 1978 to teach earth
sciences for three years.
His attraction to fishing evolved,
he said, beginning with the purchase of a 19-foot Boston Whaler
after a fellow Priory teacher took
him out on the ocean for sport fishing. He later crewed on a crab boat
out of Half Moon Bay and eventually, after spending a couple of years
asking questions about commercial
fishing, bought the Anne B. in
Oregon in the mid-1980s.
The boat, which had been repos-
COVER STORY
Photos by Veronica Weber/The Almanac
sessed
by the bank
and wouldn’t start, but
all it needed were new batteries, he
said. “It made me feel more connected to the boat, the fact that I
got it running.”
In the company of another boat,
Mr. Parravano and his wife, Joan,
a nurse, made a storm-interrupted
trip down the coast to Half Moon
Bay, where, he said, “I really felt
welcomed.”
He’s been fishing ever since.
Among his many achievements:
Mr. Parravano is a past president
of the Pacific Coast Federation
of Fishermenís Associations, an
elected commissioner for the San
Mateo County Harbor District,
and a member of the Pew Oceans
Commission along with former
New York governor George Pataki
and former White House chief of
staff Leon Panetta.
Managing fish
A young salmon in a river or
stream and heading to the ocean
must negotiate many complications, including hatchery routines
that are predictable to predators,
farm fertilizers that change water
chemistry, and large fish kills
at pumps that send water to Southern California, not to mention
dams, Mr. Parravano said.
The fisheries council in Portland
considered “40 some reasons” for
the salmon population problems
in the Sacramento system, said
Steve Martarano, a spokesman
for the California Department of
Fish & Game. “There are a lot of
theories out there,” he said in an
interview. “The fact is we don’t
know. It’s going to basically take
more study.”
“There are no smoking guns,”
said Mr. Tracy of the fisheries
council, but he added that it’s likely
that the Chinook’s problems lie in
traveling from stream to ocean.
(Unlike the Columbia River in
Washington, a salmon’s path back
to its home stream in the Sacramento River system usually does
not involve a dam, Mr. Tracy said.
Northern California dams tend not
to have fish ladders, so hatchlings
are released only in streams in
which the path to the ocean is not
interrupted by a dam, he said.)
If the salmon’s problem is in the
fresh water, that is the state’s bailiwick. Mr. Martarano of Fish &
Game said his agency is engaged
in various ways, including looking into better water pumping
strategies as well as hatchery
routines that are less predictable
to predators.
Citing the decreased salmon run,
a federal judge on April 16 faulted
federal water regulators for failing
to adequately address the impact
of pumping fresh water out of the
Sacramento River delta.
Sustaining communities
Governors in California, Oregon
and Washington have declared
states of emergency and are seeking millions in state and federal
dollars to help the fisheries and the
fishing industry.
With their boats rigged for
salmon, what will the commercial fishermen in Half Moon Bay
do? Re-rig for Dungeness crab,
said Jim Anderson, who fishes
for salmon and crab out of Half
Moon Bay. He also chairs the
California Salmon Council. Other viable species include rock and
black cod, albacore tuna, halibut
and squid, he said.
Crab season ends June 30 and
restarts in mid-November. Crab
is one species that
yields a decent return with
diesel fuel over $4 a gallon, Mr.
Anderson said.
But there is competition from
large-scale enterprises, he said.
Legislation to make crab fishing
more equitable for independent
fishermen, as exists in Washington
and Oregon, has not made it past
the governor’s desk in California,
Mr. Anderson said.
“We have a lot of people trying
to survive with crab,” he added.
“It just divides the pie up into
smaller pieces.”
Economic hardship will be
spreading to other parts of the
larger community, including boat
builders, bait and tackle retailers,
restaurants, recreational fishing
outfits, hotels and motels, Mr.
Parravano said.
There have been interruptions
in previous salmon seasons, but
they’ve been scattered, he said. Not
this time. “It’s going to show that
it takes a community to sustain
fisheries,” he said.
He looked up from a bench in
front of the harbor master’s office
at a silent scene of idle boats with
their upright poles. “This would
normally be alive,” he said. “You
would hear saws buzzing. It’s a
whole different scene now.”
Fishing in San Mateo County is
part of a network of food resources
that the county can lay claim to in
any discussion of becoming selfsustaining. Some are already talking about this larger picture.
San Mateo County is one of five
California counties, and the only
Bay Area county, that belongs to
the Ag Futures Alliance, based in
Sebastopol. Of the 27 San Mateo
County members listed at the
Web site, one is Ladera resident
and Committee for Green Foothills member Lennie Roberts. The
county health officer and agriculture commissioner also belong, as
does Mr. Parravano.
The alliance’s goals include
explaining to the public the role of
agriculture in a sustainable society,
preserving viable agriculture in
“urban fringe zones,” looking after
the health and quality of life for the
people who work the land and the
sea, and showing how communities can work together on complex
social challenges.
A
KEPLER’S FEATURED AUTHORS IN MAY
Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
C O M M U N I T Y
Barbara Walters
Audition: A Memoir
Hank Zipzer #14: The Life of Me
(Enter at Your Own Risk)
Saturday, May 17, 10:00 a.m.
Friday, May 16, 7:00 p.m.
Mom and Dad remember him as
“the Fonz,” but you know him as
the author of the great series Hank Zipzer. Based on the true life
experiences of Henry Winkler, this superb series about the world’s
greatest underachiever is funny and touching, while dealing with
learning differences in a gentle and humorous manner.
Event sponsored by the Kepler’s and Menlo Park Library Youth Author Series.
The most important woman in the
history of broadcast journalism writes
with candor about her private life
and professional career, reflecting on the choices she has made, the
work she has done, the people she has met, the heartbreak she has
faced, and the challenges she has coped with and overcome.
TICKETED EVENT – SIGNING ONLY Learn more, go to:
Keplers.com
Don’t miss these other exciting author events!
Jennifer Sey
Chalked Up
Thursday, May 1, 7:30 p.m.
Eleanor Coppola
Notes on a Life
Monday, May 19, 7:30 p.m.
A behind-the-scenes look at the brutal
competition, dangerous training regimes, and
pervasive win-at-all-costs attitude of professional gymnastics..
Eleanor Coppola shares her extraordinary
life as an artist, filmmaker, wife, and mother.
Stuart Kauffman
Reinventing the Sacred: A New View
of Science, Reason, and Religion
Tuesday, May 20, 7:30 p.m.
Firoozeh Dumas
Laughing Without an Accent
The beloved author of “Funny in Farsi”
launches her new book, a warm and humorous autobiographical story, at Kepler’s!
A compelling and sweeping argument that
complexity theory can build a bridge between
science and religion.
Roger Lowenstein
While America Aged:
Leonard Mlodinow
The Drunkard’s Walk:
How Randomness Rules Our Lives
Wednesday, May 21, 7:30 p.m.
How Pension Debts
Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego, and Loom as the Next Financial Crisis
We all assign meaning to purely random events,
but the story of our existence turns out to be governed more by chance than by our best-laid plans.
Masterfully written and convincingly argued, “WHILE
AMERICA AGED” is a wake-up call to a pension
damaged America, and the roadmap for a way out.
David Gilmour
The Film Club
Aleksandar Hemon
The Lazarus Project
A native of Sarajevo who settled in Chicago in 1992,
Hemon is the author of the award-winning story collections The Question of Bruno and Nowhere Man.
Canadian novelist Gilmour expertly tackles the
nostalgia not only of film but also that of parents,
watching as their children grow and develop
separate lives.
Cook Green: Charlie Ayers
Food 2.0: Secrets from the Chef Who Fed Google
Michael Ondaatje
Divisadero: A Novel
Sunday, May 25, 2:00 p.m.
In a cookbook for the Internet generation, Google’s
founding super-chef outlines everything one needs to
know about the newest nutrition buzzword: brainfood.
From the author of “The English Patient” and “In
the Skin of a Lion” comes a remarkable novel of
intersecting lives that ranges across continents
and time.
Cook Green: Bruce Brennan & James Ehrlich
The Hippy Gourmet’s Quick and Simple
Cookbook for Healthy Eating
Saturday, May 10, 2:00 p.m.
Elias Aboujaoude, M.D.
Compulsive Acts: A Psychiatrist’s Tales
of Ritual and Obsession
Join us for a great afternoon, including delectable,
healthy and organic appetizers from recipes in their
book, as well as a demonstration of a solar oven.
Writing with compassion and humor, Stanford’s
Aboujaoude, an expert on OCD and behavioral addictions,
tells stories inspired by memorable patients he has treated.
Simon Winchester
The Man Who Loved China: Joseph Needham and the Making of a Masterpiece
Marilyn Yalom
The American Resting Place
A sweeping history of America as seen through its
gravestones, graveyards, and burial practices, stunningly
illustrated with photographs taken by son Neil.
The “New York Times” bestselling author of “The Professor and the Madman” and “Krakatoa” returns with
the remarkable story of the growth of a great nation.
Adam Gollner
The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature,
Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession
Marjorie Price
A Gift from Brittany
In this enchanting European version of “A
Year by the Sea,” an artist recalls her liberating sojourn in France during the sixties.
Gollner has traveled around the globe to report
on the fruit underworld. This extraordinary book
unveils its hidden universe.
David Benioff
City of Thieves: A Novel
Andrew Sean Greer
The Story of a Marriage: A Novel
From one of Hollywood’s most sought after screenwriters
comes a thrilling and original adventure story of two young
men on an impossible mission.
From the bestselling author of “The Confessions
of Max Tivoli,” a love story full of secrets and
astonishments set in 1950s San Francisco.
Special Family Events
Kepler’s Story Time every Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
Celebrate – The Magic of Reading
Saturday, May 3, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Join Kepler’s and the Friends of the Menlo Park Library for our 14th annual
Celebration. Local school bands will be playing on the Plaza all day.
Live Cooking Demonstration with Julia Myall
SF Chef Myall brings ingenuity and fun to young chefs.
Calling all aspiring tiny chefs! San Francisco chef Julia
Myall brings ingenuity and fun to young chefs with her
bright, beautiful kid’s cook book.
Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians,
Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth
May 4th – Story Time with Lynn Hazen: Cinder Rabbit
Hop, don’t walk, to this delightful Story Time as local
author Hazen unveils her new picture book!
May 11th – Mother’s Day Story Time
with Stephanie Cruz: Delta & Dawn
Celebrate Mother’s Day as TV anchorwoman/author
reads her book inspired by the true 2007 story of the
mother and baby hump-backed whales trapped in the
Sacramento River.
May 18th – Story Time with Chuck Ashton
Beloved Redwood City Librarian Chuck Ashton
returns for another wonderful morning of creative
story telling.
May 26th – Corduroy Story Time
Help us celebrate as the adorable little brown bear
in green overalls with one button missing turns 40.
Location: Redwood City Main Library,
1044 Middlefield Road, Redwood City
All events are at Kepler’s unless otherwise noted. Learn more, go to: Keplers.com
KEPLER’S 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park • 650-324-4321 www.keplers.com
Follow me to Kepler’s. It’s our bookstore.
“Untitled,” a collage by Michael Pauker, is among the works in the
“Outside the Box, Inside the Frame” exhibition.
Menlo College exhibition
launches new arts program
The art exhibition “Outside
the Box, Inside the Frame,”
opening this week and featuring the work of six local artists,
launches Menlo College’s new
program aimed at spotlighting
art at the Atherton campus.
The exhibition, with works
ranging from painting and
sculpture to photography and
printmaking, is on view in the
college’s administration building through May 12.
A reception is scheduled for
Thursday, April 24, from 5 to
7 p.m. The event will include a
brief talk by the artists.
Featured artists are Michael
Pauker, who is also the show’s
curator, Sharon Chinen, Katrine
Hildebrandt, Peter Foley, Robin
McCloskey and Nancy White.
The artists “address the transformation of simple materials
and images into poetic works of
art,” according to a press release
from the college.
For example, Mr. Pauker paints
on leaves of 19th century Japanese ledgers, “and lets his marks
and the original written characters merge to form complex
landscapes,” the statement said.
The exhibition is sponsored
by the Menlo College Campus
Art Council, which was recently
created “to help foster an appreciation of the arts on our campus,
support the artistic endeavors of
our community, and promote
artistic expression,” explained
Ann Haight, organizer of the art
See ART SHOW, next page
Try to
match this!
5.00%*=8.48%**
With a Federal income tax rate of 35% a
California resident would have to find a taxable
investment yielding 8.48% in order for it to
be equivalent to a 5.00% tax-free California
Municipal Bond.
Smith Barney would like to show you how to put
municipal bonds to work for you. Please call me
at the number below to discuss the opportunities
in today’s municipal bond market:
Donna P. Willard
Second Vice President- Wealth Management
2882 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
(650)234-5165 or (650)346-6896
*General market rate effective 04/01/2008 on bonds with a Aaa/AAA rating maturing in approximately 30 years. Early call may affect stated yield.
Interest on the bonds is exempt from Federal and (when applicable-state income taxes), however, interest may be subject to the federal alternative
minimum tax (when applicable). Yields will fluctuate if sold prior to maturity. Subject availability and price change. **Assumes 35% Federal Income tax
rate and 9.3% California income tax rate.
2008 Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Member SIPC. Smith Barney is a division and service mark of Citigroup Global
Markets Inc. and its affiliates and is used and registered throughout the world. Working Wealth is a service mark
of Citigroup Global Markets Inc.
C O M M U N I T Y
M-A’s annual fun run happens May 4
By Dave Boyce
Hairstyling for kids
and their grownups!
10 OFF with this ad
%
T
he 5-kilometer Big Bear
fun run at Menlo-Atherton High School begins
at 9 a.m. sharp on Sunday, May
4, and will wind from the Ringwood Avenue side of the campus
into Atherton, through the shady
Lindenwood neighborhood, and
back to Coach Parks football
field on campus.
Tickets for the 3.1-mile race
are $15 for students 18 and
younger, and $25 for adults.
Medals will go to winners in the
different age groups.
To register online at www.
active.com, enter “big bear” into
the search box, click on the link
for 2008 M-A run, and follow
instructions. A blank registration form is available at www.maboosters.org.
Race-day registration begins
at 8 a.m. on May 4, on the
Ringwood Avenue side of the
school at 555 Middlefield Road
in Atherton.
T-shirts and racing bibs are
scheduled to be handed out near
the M-A gymnasiums on Thursday, May 1, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.,
and Friday, May 2, from 2:30 to
3:30 p.m.
Proceeds from the race will
help pay for uniforms, equipment and upgrades to M-A’s
athletic facilities. The race is
being put on by the M-A Boosters, which expects to raise close
to $60,000 this year, says race
spokeswoman Kim Young.
Of more than 100 commercial
and family sponsors of the race,
the leading sponsors are Orrick,
an international law firm based
in San Francisco and the municipal bond counsel for the Sequoia
Union High School District;
See RUN, page 20
ART SHOW
continued from previous page
council and wife of Menlo College
President G. Timothy Haight.
“We hope this will be the first
of many gallery shows, and plan
to further expand our program
in the future to bring dance,
music and theatrical productions
to campus as well,” she said.
The Thursday evening reception will be in the main hall of
the administration building of
the college, located at 1000 El
Camino Real. The building is the
first one on the right when using
the school’s El Camino entrance.
The public can view the exhibit Monday through Friday from
9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more
information, call 543-3901.
M-A students
Taylor Wentz,
left, and Reed
Foster practice
for the Big Bear
Run. In the back
is Lexy Keller,
a Hillview
teacher.
Bree specializes in haircuts of jiggiling wiggling giggling kids.
Family hairdressing service:
• Certified color technologist • Precision haircutting
A family friendly full service salon
MASTER STYLING
1030 Curtis Street, Menlo Park, Ca.
Exp. 4.30.08
650.326.6447
Near Trader Joes
ADDITION AND RENOVATION TO THE
WEST BAY SANITARY DISTRICT BUILDING
SHELL AND INTERIOR IMPROVEMENTS
Sealed proposals for the Addition and Renovation to the West Bay Sanitary District Building Shell and Interior Improvements will be received at
the West Bay Sanitary District, 500 Laurel Street, Menlo Park, California 94025 until 3:00 PM on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at which time they will
be publicly opened and read. Bids shall be labeled “West Bay Sanitary District, Proposal for “ADDITION AND RENOVATION TO THE WEST BAY
SANITARY DISTRICT BUILDING SHELL AND INTERIOR IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT.”
The Work will include the furnishing of all labor, materials and equipment, and other appurtenances for the demolition of a one-story structure and
the construction of a two-story structure office building with site improvements at 500 Laurel Street, Menlo Park, CA.
The contract documents may be inspected at the office of the West Bay Sanitary District; San Francisco Builders Exchange, 850 So. Van Ness
Avenue, San Francisco, California 94110; Reed Construction Data, Attn: Jeannie Kwan, 30 Technology Parkway South, Suite 500, Norcross, Georgia
30092; Peninsula Builders Exchange, 735 Industrial Road, Suite 100, San Carlos, California 94070; Santa Clara Builders Exchange, 400 Reed
Street, Santa Clara, California 95050; Builders Exchange of Alameda, 3055 Alvarado Street, San Leandro, California 94577; Construction Bidboard
Incorporated, Attn: Plan Room, 4420 Hotel Circle Court, Suite 215, San Diego, California 92108; McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge, 11875 Dublin Blvd.,
Suite A118, Dublin, California 94568; and, Contra Costa Builders Exchange, 2440 Stanwell Drive, Concord, California 94520.
Copies of the Contract Documents may be obtained at the office of the West Bay Sanitary District upon payment of a check or money order in the
amount of $40.00 for each set. The check or money order must be issued to the West Bay Sanitary District. All payments are nonrefundable.
A pre-bid meeting will be held at 10:00 am on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at the West Bay Sanitary District Office in Menlo Park, California.
Each bid proposal shall be accompanied by a certified or cashier’s check or a proposal guaranty bond payable to the order of the West Bay Sanitary
District in an amount not less than ten percent (10%) of the amount of the bid as a guaranty that the bidder will execute the contract if it be awarded to
him in conformity with the proposal. The successful bidder will be required to furnish a performance bond in an amount not less than one hundred percent
(100%) of the contract price and a labor and material bond in an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the contract price.
The District (“Owner”) reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to determine which proposal is, in the judgment of the District, the lowest
responsible bid of a responsible bidder or group of bidders and which proposal should be accepted in the best interest of the District. The District
also reserves the right to waive any informalities in any proposal or bid.
Bid proposals received after the time announced for the opening will not be considered. No bidder may withdraw his proposal after the time
announced for the opening, or before award and execution of the contract, unless the award is delayed for a period exceeding forty-five (45) days.
Pursuant to the provisions of Public Contract Code Section 22300, and upon the request and at the expense of the Contractor, securities equivalent
to the amount withheld by the District to insure performance under the Contract may be deposited with the District, or with a state or federally chartered
bank as escrow agent who shall deliver such securities to the Contractor upon satisfactory completion of the contract. Only those securities listed in
Government Code Section 16430 or other securities approved by the District are eligible for deposit. The deposit of securities with an escrow agent or
the District shall be made in the form and on such terms and conditions as the District may require to protect the interest of the District in the event of the
Contractor’s default. The Contractor shall be the beneficial owner of any securities that are deposited and shall receive any interest thereon.
Pertaining to Sections 1770, 1773, and 1773.1 of the California Labor Code the successful bidder shall pay not less than the prevailing rate of
per diem wages as determined by the Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations. Copies of such prevailing rates are on file at the
District office of the West Bay Sanitary District and which copies shall be made available to any interested party on request. The successful bidder
shall post a copy of such determinations at each job site.
In accordance with the provisions of California Public Contract Code Section 3300, the District has determined that the Contractor shall possess a
valid Class B License at the time that the contract is awarded. Failure to possess the specified license(s) shall render the bid as non-responsive and
shall act as a bar to award of the contract to any bidder not possessing said license(s) at the time of award.
West Bay Sanitary District
Board of Directors
San Mateo County, California
Dated: 3/31/08
C O M M U N I T Y
Menlo mom wins makeover contest
By Jane Knoerle
John & Adele Dayeh & Son
Almanac Lifestyles Editor
Serving the Valley since 1976
HOMEMADE GOURMET PIZZA
Burritos • Burgers • Sandwiches
Salads • Espresso
$2.00 OFF
Any Large Pizza Exp. 5/30/08
3 Portolaa Road • (650) 851
851-1467
1467 • Portola Valley
HOURS: Mon-Fri 8:00am - 7:00pm; Sat 10:00am - 7:00pm; Sun Closed
I
t was a dark and stormy day on
Jan. 24, but the weather failed
to dampen Gudrun Enger’s
spirits. Winner of a makeover
contest sponsored by the Silicon
Valley Moms blog, the Menlo
Park mother of two began her
day with a facial and massage at
Thermae Day Spa and Salon, followed by a haircut, manicure and
makeup at 1258 Hair Studio.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING AND
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
CITY OF MENLO PARK PLANNING COMMISSION
MEETING OF MAY 5, 2008
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Planning Commission of the City of Menlo Park, California, is scheduled to
review the following items:
After a shopping spree at
Calla, where she selected seven
items she could mix and match,
her husband, Tom, took her out
to dinner.
Mr. Enger approved of his
wife’s new look, which included
highlights in her hair. “I was
giving him a hard time on the
phone. I told him I had really big
hair,” she says.
Friends have complimented
the winner on her new clothes.
They say, “Gosh, you really look
put together today.” She is also
enjoying a three-month membership in Fitness 101. “It’s nice
and low key there,” she says.
As to her day of pampering, she
says: “I had a good time. Everyone was so kind. It was a pleasant
experience all day long.”
RUN
PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS
Use Permit/Cesareo Cruz/504 Hamilton Avenue: Request for a use permit to demolish an existing single-story,
single-family residence and construct a new two-story, single-family residence and detached garage on a substandard lot with regard to lot width and lot area in the R-1-U (Single Family Urban) zoning district.
Use Permit and Architectural Control/Muthana Ibrahim/1110 Marsh Road: Request for a use permit and
architectural control to expand the existing restrooms to make them ADA accessible and for exterior modifications to
the snack shop/service bay building and pump island canopy in the C-4 (General Commercial) zoning district.
Use Permit Revision and Architectural Control/German American International School/275 Elliott Drive:
Review of use permit for the effectiveness of policies and programs related to traffic and parking for the German
American School Society of San Francisco, the German American School of Palo Alto, and the Palo Alto French
Education Association. The applicant is also requesting a use permit revision and architectural control to add two new
portable buildings, to install a new fire access road from the existing parking lot to the asphalt playground, to install
landscaping near the parking lot along Oak Court, and to extend the use permit for operation of the schools and the
four existing portables until 2011. The maximum school enrollment would remain unchanged.
Use Permit/Menlo Business Park LLC/1525 O’Brien Drive: Request for a use permit for the indoor use and storage of hazardous materials for research and development purposes in the M-2 (General Industrial) zoning district.
Demandtec, a San Carlos-based
business-software firm; the
Herbst Foundation based in San
Francisco; and the Falkenhagen
family, Ms. Young says.
Scheduled entertainment
includes the M-A dance team
and pep band and M-A vocalist Holly Smolick singing the
national anthem. An honoree
this year will be athletic director and girls’ varsity basketball
coach Pam Wimberley, who
recently marked her 600th victory with the M-A Bears, Ms.
Young says.
Bicycle racer MaryAnn Levenson and M-A industrial arts
PUBLIC MEETING ITEMS - None
Gudrun Enger: “I had a good time.”
All goods and services were provided by Menlo Park businesses.
For more information, visit
SVMoms.com.
A
teacher Mark Leeper, who regularly commutes on his bike from
San Carlos, will lead the racers
through the flat course, Ms.
Young says. Ms. Levenson is still
recovering from being run over
and severely injured by a drunken driver in December 2006.
The race is popular with
alumni, with local middleschool children, and sometimes
Stanford University students,
says race co-chair Darci Wentz.
Breakfast food such as coffee
cake, coffee and water will be
provided free of charge, as will
warm-up assistance by personal
trainers from the Axis Performance Center in Menlo Park
and chiropractic adjustments
from Peak Chiropractic, also in
Menlo Park.
A
Mother's Day
STUDY ITEM –
2550 Sand Hill Road/Study Session/Kenneth Rodrigues and Partners, Inc.: Study Session request for a
proposal to demolish an existing convalescent facility and to construct a new 23,190-square-foot non-medical office
building and related site improvements, which would require a use permit, architectural control and environmental
review, in the C-1-C (Administrative, Professional, and Research District, Restrictive) zoning district.
NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that said Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on public hearing items in the Council Chambers of the City of Menlo Park, located at 701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park, on Monday,
May 5, 2008, 7:00 p.m. or as near as possible thereafter, at which time and place interested persons may appear
and be heard thereon. If you challenge this item in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or
someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the
City of Menlo Park at, or prior to, the public hearing.
Give her something special. Treat her to
lunch or dinner on the Trellis Patio.
W
ith the truly unique upstairs patio Trellis offers, “al fresco dining”
along with its many other charms. The new low carb seasonal
menu, the vibrant specials and the daily homemade soups and desserts
are tantalizing. A warm, comfortable dining room and banquet-catering
facilities with2 full bars, insure that Trellis is the choice for any occasion.
Banquet facilities are available for groups from 10 to 120 guests
and the Chef will gladly consult on any special banquet catering needs.
The project file may be viewed by the public on weekdays between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, with alternate Fridays closed, at the Department of
Community Development, 701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park. Please call the Planning Division if there are any questions
and/or for complete agenda information (650) 330-6702.
Si usted necesita más información sobre este proyecto, por favor llame al 650-330-6702, y pregunte por un
asistente que hable español.
DATED:
April 17, 2008
Deanna Chow, Senior Planner
Menlo Park Planning Commission
Visit our Web site for Planning Commission public hearing, agenda, and staff report information: www.menlopark.org
Published in THE ALMANAC on April 23, 2008.
650-326-9028
1077 EL CAMINO REAL, MENLO PARK
LUNCH MON.-FRI. 11-2:30 • DINNER NIGHTLY 5-10
w w w . T R E L L I S R E S TA U R A N T . c o m
“The Best of
Menlo Park”
C O M M U N I T Y
Menlo School students write letters, assemble care packages for Iraq
ing from toiletries to stuffed
animals for the soldiers to give
to the Iraqi children.
Items were also given by
s our community service
day activity, the Menlo many private donors: Smart &
School eighth-grade class Final, Safeway, Target, Dr. Scott
on April 3 packed hundreds of Kaloust, Best Buy, Skin Spirit,
care packages and wrote letters Dr. Marcie Arnesty-Olian, Dr.
Honor Fulto our troops
lerton Stone,
in Iraq. EighthAbout the author: Wade Avery,
Borel Private
grade parents
14, is an eighth-grader at Menlo
Bank and Trust
and faculty put
Middle School in Atherton and a
Co., Drs. Kathy
together this
resident of Woodside.
Lee and Shaun
Soldier Project.
Woo, ACCO
Throughout
Management,
the previous
three weeks, middle school stu- Dr. Pai, Draeger’s market, and
dents in all grades were assigned Dr. Connie Ho.
On April 2, each seventh- and
items to bring to school to help
fill the care packages. Students eighth-grader wrote about seven
were assigned by their teacher letters to the soldiers. The letters
advisers to bring in items rang- had a picture of students hold-
By Wade Avery
Special to The Almanac
A
Mental health conference at Menlo Pres
A mental health conference
—”Where Does My Help Come
From?” — will he held Saturday, May 3, in Fellowship Hall
at the Menlo Park Presbyterian
Church, 950 Santa Cruz Ave. in
Menlo Park.
The church-sponsored conference is open to the community,
says church spokesperson Nicole
Laubscher.
The keynote speaker is Ste-
phen Hinshaw, professor and
chair of the Department of
Psychology at U.C. Berkeley. His
topic: “Mental Illness in Families: Stigma and Disclosure.”
Workshops will cover a wide
variety of mental health topics,
said Ms. Laubscher.
The $30 fee includes lunch.
People can register at mppc.org
or call Diane Lopez at 329-7421.
THE
ALMANAC
ONLINE
DELIVERS
24/
24
/7.
See picture on Page 3.
ing “Support Our Troops” signs
and a personal message from
the students that thanked the
soldiers for their service.
The following day, instead
of going to first period class at
7:50, the eighth-graders met in
The Commons for an assembly,
where Army troops came to talk
to us. They told us how our ser-
vice project is very important to
them, and answered questions
about what they did in the Army
and what it was like in Iraq.
The students were then shown
images of Iraq taken by the
soldiers. After that, students
overflowed tables with massive
amounts of toiletries, snacks,
magazines, paperback novels,
baseball caps, and stuffed animals
for the Iraqi children.
Kids then grabbed small cardboard boxes and thoughtfully
selected items to include in
their packs. Then students were
allowed to have a break, which
most of the kids spent in the
cockpit of the soldiers’ truck
and a Hummer, which they had
parked on the lawn.
After that, kids decorated boxes with USA-themed designs.
Then the troops loaded up their
care packages and were thanked
by the students and faculty.
The students had made 500
boxes for the troops in Iraq.
A
The Spring
Hillsborough
Antiques & Decorative
Arts Show & Sale
NOW 3 DAY EVENT
April 25, 26, & 27, 2008
Early Bird Preview Night: Thurs, April 24 6pm-9pm $25
AT TOWNSQUARE
TheAlmanac
The
AlmanacOnline.
Online.com
com
Show Hours:
Fri 11am-9pm • Sat 11am-7pm • Sun 11am-5pm
San Mateo Event Center
Next to Bay Meadows in San Mateo at Delaware St. & 25th Ave.
(Take Hwy 92 west off Hwy 101, exit Delaware Street)
On site porcelain and glass repair. Restaurants and Piano Bar on Premises.
Comida Fresca! Salsa Caliente!
Fresh Authentic Mexican Food
Everything is homemade!
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo
All Weekend Long!
Friday, May 2nd - Monday, May 5th,
Food and Drink Specials
Open late till 10 pm
Place Takeout orders early
and be ready for your Mexican Fiesta!
Admission $9 • $2 with this ad, Seniors $3 off
For general information (650) 574-3247
www.hillsboroughantiqueshow.com
Bob Taylor, Show Director
(208) 629-0891
Produced by The United Voluntary Services. Serving all Veterans.
3539 Alameda del las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA.
Take-Out (650) 854-TACO (8826) Fax (650) 854-8228
C O M M U N I T Y
ILLINOIS PUMP STATION RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT
EAST PALO ALTO, CA
Sealed proposals for the Illinois Pump Station Reconstruction Project, in East Palo Alto will be
received at the West Bay Sanitary District, 500 Laurel Street, Menlo Park, California 94025 until 2:00 PM
on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at which time they will be publicly opened and read. Bids shall be labeled
“West Bay Sanitary District, Proposal for “ILLINOIS PUMP STATION RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT,
EAST PALO ALTO.”
The Work will include the furnishing of all labor, materials and equipment, and other appurtenances
for the reconstruction of the existing sanitary sewer pump station and the construction of new gravity
sewer mains and manholes. The pump station renovation will include concrete construction, wet well
construction, replacement of emergency generator and fuel tank, and replacement of existing pumps
and pump control panels.
The contract documents may be inspected at the office of the West Bay Sanitary District; San
Francisco Builders Exchange, 850 So. Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California 94110; Reed
Construction Data, Attn: Jeannie Kwan, 30 Technology Parkway South, Suite 500, Norcross, Georgia
30092; Peninsula Builders Exchange, 735 Industrial Road, Suite 100, San Carlos, California 94070;
Santa Clara Builders Exchange, 400 Reed Street, Santa Clara, California 95050; Builders Exchange of
Alameda, 3055 Alvarado Street, San Leandro, California 94577; Construction Bidboard Incorporated,
Attn: Michael Schafer, 4420 Hotel Circle South, Suite 215, San Diego, California 92108; McGraw-Hill
Construction Dodge, 11875 Dublin Blvd., Suite A118, Dublin, California 94568; and, Contra Costa
Builders Exchange, 2440 Stanwell Drive, Concord, California 94520.
Copies of the Contract Documents may be obtained at the office of the West Bay Sanitary District
upon payment of a check or money order in the amount of $40.00 for each set. The check or money
order must be issued to the West Bay Sanitary District. All payments are nonrefundable.
A pre-bid meeting will be held at 10:00 am on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at the West Bay Sanitary
District office in Menlo Park, California.
Each bid proposal shall be accompanied by a certified or cashier’s check or a proposal guaranty
bond payable to the order of the West Bay Sanitary District in an amount not less than ten percent (10%)
of the amount of the bid as a guaranty that the bidder will execute the contract if it be awarded to him
in conformity with the proposal. The successful bidder will be required to furnish a performance bond
in an amount not less than one hundred percent (100%) of the contract price and a labor and material
bond in an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the contract price.
The District (“Owner”) reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to determine which proposal is,
in the judgment of the District, the lowest responsible bid of a responsible bidder or group of bidders
and which proposal should be accepted in the best interest of the District. The District also reserves the
right to waive any informalities in any proposal or bid.
Bid proposals received after the time announced for the opening will not be considered. No bidder
may withdraw his proposal after the time announced for the opening, or before award and execution of
the contract, unless the award is delayed for a period exceeding forty-five (45) days.
Pursuant to the provisions of Public Contract Code Section 22300, and upon the request and at the
expense of the Contractor, securities equivalent to the amount withheld by the District to insure performance under the Contract may be deposited with the District, or with a state or federally chartered bank
as escrow agent who shall deliver such securities to the Contractor upon satisfactory completion of the
contract. Only those securities listed in Government Code Section 16430 or other securities approved
by the District are eligible for deposit. The deposit of securities with an escrow agent or the District shall
be made in the form and on such terms and conditions as the District may require to protect the interest
of the District in the event of the Contractor’s default. The Contractor shall be the beneficial owner of any
securities that are deposited and shall receive any interest thereon.
Pertaining to Sections 1770, 1773, and 1773.1 of the California Labor Code the successful bidder
shall pay not less than the prevailing rate of per diem wages as determined by the Director of the
California Department of Industrial Relations. Copies of such prevailing rates are on file at the District
office of the West Bay Sanitary District and which copies shall be made available to any interested party
on request. The successful bidder shall post a copy of such determinations at each job site.
In accordance with the provisions of California Public Contract Code Section 3300, the District has
determined that the Contractor shall possess a valid Class A License or a combination of the Class
C licenses indicated in Article B8.01-License Requirements, at the time that the contract is awarded.
Failure to possess the specified license(s) shall render the bid as non-responsive and shall act as a bar
to award of the contract to any bidder not possessing said license(s) at the time of award.
Run or walk to help
clothe the homeless
A 5-kilometer run and walk
organized by Bay Area high school
students for the benefit of homeless
children is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Sunday, April 27, at Shoreline Park
in Mountain View.
The teens who are organizing
the second annual “Step-By-Step”
walk/run, including some from
Menlo-Atherton High School, are
members of the Junior Board of
the My New Red Shoes program,
a Menlo Park nonprofit with a
mission of providing new clothes
to homeless kids “so that they may
greet the school year with pride,”
said spokeswoman Katie Blawie.
The teens are $3,000 toward
their goal of $12,000, Ms. Blawie
said, a total that includes $500
gifts from Menlo Park publisher
Mind Garden Inc., the Menlo Park
Kiwanis Club, and R. Tobias Physical Therapy in Menlo Park.
Registration is $20 for adults
and $10 for students, with children
under 5 admitted free. To register,
go to www.mynewredshoes.org
and click anywhere on the poster at
the Web site. For more information,
call program director Meredith S.
Ackley at 462-8411.
Virtual tour of
Hayward Fault
A wild ride along the Bay Area’s
most dangerous earthquake fault
via Google Earth is in store for people attending the U.S. Geological
Survey’s public lecture on Thursday, April 24, at 7 p.m. in Building
3 on the Menlo Park campus at 345
Middlefield Road.
Scientists David Schwartz,
Heather Lackey, Luke Blair and
■ A RO U ND TOW N
Scott Haefner will guide visitors on
a virtual tour of the Hayward Fault,
which slices through East Bay communities with a population of 2.4
million.
With its last major earthquake in
1868, the Hayward Fault is the most
likely fault to rupture in the next big
earthquake, which could devastate
the East Bay, and shake the whole
Bay Area.
For information, call 329-5000 or
go to online.wr.usgs.gov/calendar.
Business property
statements due
Business owners take note: You
must file your annual business
property statements by 5 p.m. on
May 7 or face a 10 percent penalty.
Assessor Warren Slocum noted that
14,000 businesses in San Mateo
County received 571-L statements
in January, almost 30 percent more
than last year.
All business personal property
is reappraised annually, and businesses with an aggregate personal
property cost of $100,000 or more
on Jan. 1 are required to file a statement, even if the assessor didn’t
send them one, according to a
press release from Mr. Slocum.
Forms, information and help
are available online at smcare.
org (click on “Business Services”).
People with questions can also call
363-4501, or come in person to the
assessor’s office on the first floor at
555 County Center, at the corner of
Bradford and Hamilton streets in
Redwood City.
■ BIRTHS
Menlo Park
Portola Valley
■ Amy and Michael Moody, a daughter,
March 5, at Sequoia Hospital.
■ Helen and Gregory Ungerman, a
son, March 11, at Sequoia Hospital.
■ Elizabeth and Mark Holmes, a daughter,
■ Allison and Peter Virsik, a daughter,
Heather Moore
Trunk Show
Friday,April 25th
West Bay Sanitary District
Board of Directors
San Mateo County, California
Dated:
1060 Evelyn Street, Menlo Parkm CA
650-322-5524
C O M M U N I T Y
Memorial May 11 to honor
veterinarian Tom Harris
A memorial celebration of the
life of Dr. Tom D. Harris Jr. will
be held in the polo area of the
Horse Park at Woodside at 10
a.m. Sunday, May 11. Dr. Harris,
who died Jan. 24, founded the
Horse Park Polo Club in 1986.
A severe shoulder injury in 1992
ended his polo playing days.
A veterinarian and 48-year resident of Woodside, Dr. Harris was
a founding member of the Los
Altos Hounds and served three
terms as Joint Master. He was 88.
A lifelong horseman, Dr. Harris rode his first horse when he
was 4 years old. He earned a
degree in veterinary medicine at
Texas A&M University, where he
entered the Cavalry ROTC.
He joined the U.S. Army’s
11th Cavalry in World War
II. In 1945 he spent a year at
the Army’s advanced school
of horsemanship at Fort Riley,
Kansas. The students rode seven
days a week, with classes for five
days, and fox hunting and polo
on weekends. It was there that
Dr. Harris became acquainted
with English-style fox hunting.
An article about Dr. Harris
in the San Mateo Horseman in
1963 said, “Once exposed to the
bug of fox hunting, few recover,
and Tom is no exception.”
After leaving the service, Dr.
Harris practiced veterinary
medicine in San Francisco and
Oakland before moving to San
Mateo, where he founded the
San Mateo Animal Hospital. Dr.
Harris retired from his practice
in 1995.
Dr. Harris joined the Los Altos
Hunt (now Los Altos Hounds) in
1953. Over the years, he served
as whip, master of foxhounds,
veterinarian, pony club instructor and Pacific Coast district
representative of the Masters of
Foxhounds Association.
For many years he hunted and
showed horses with his daughter, Elizabeth Caselton.
Dr. Harris is survived by
his wife of 66 years, Margaret Lorraine Harris; daughters
Margaret Helton and Elizabeth
Caselton; and two grandsons.
N. Scott Momaday to give POST Stegner lecture
As part of the Peninsula Open Space Trust lecture
series, Native American author
N. Scott Momaday will give a
lecture at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April
29, at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, at
500 Castro St.
Born on the Kiowa reservation in Lawton, Oklahoma,
Mr. Momaday is a voice for
Native American art, oral
history and traditions. His
first novel, “House Made of
Dawn,” won the Pulitzer Prize
in 1969.
Among other honors, he
received the National Medal
of Arts from President Bush
in 2007. He has held tenured
positions at the University of
California at Berkeley, and at
Stanford, and he now teaches
at the University of Arizona.
The POST lecture series, sponsored by Bill and Jean Lane of
Portola Valley, honors the late
Wallace Stegner. The final lecture in the series will be Tuesday, May 20, at 8 p.m., when
actress Kaiulani Lee portrays
Rachel Carson.
Tickets at $22 each may be
purchased by calling 9036000 or by going online at
ci.mtnview.ca.us/mvcpa.
Hillview hosts ‘Parent 2 Parent’ event
Hillview Middle School in
Menlo Park is hosting a “Parent 2 Parent” program at 6:45
p.m. Wednesday, April 23, in the
school library at 1100 Elder Ave.
Parents are invited to bring questions and share ideas.
Hillview counselors Debbie
Devoto and Robyn Watts and
Vice Principal Joy Shmueli will
moderate the discussion as small
groups of parents will tackle
some of the “thorniest issues,”
said the organizers.
Questions should be sent in
advance to Natalie Diller at ndiller@
comcast.net or Lisa Carhart at
lisawcarhart@yahoo.com. There
also is a “Parent 2 Parent” drop box
in the school office for questions.
AA cornucopia
T ASTEofOF
THE P ENINSULA
restaurants and cafes providing
the finest dining from brunch to dessert.
Celia’s Mexican Restaurant
3740 El Camino, Palo Alto (650) 843-0643
1850 El Camino, Menlo Park (650) 321-8227
www.celiasrestaurants.com
Full Bar - Happy Hour Specials; Catering
Vive Sol-Cocina Mexicana
2020 W. El Camino Real, Mtn. View (650) 938-2020.
Specializing in the Cuisine of Puebla.
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
Connoisseur Coffee Co.
2801 Middlefield Road Redwood City (650) 369-5250
9am-5:30pm Mon. - Sat.
Coffee roasting & fine teas, espresso bar, retail & wholesale.
To Advertise in “A Taste of the Peninsula” call The Almanac 650-854-2626.
F O R
What you need to
know about
The 5 Principles
of
Great Design
ell-conceived homes are a source of pleasure that endures.
Before you remodel, learn the Five Principles of Great Design.
Presented especially for homeowners, this class covers timeless
principles for creating the home you’ve always wanted.
■
■
■
■
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Harrell Remodeling. We never forget it’s your home.
Alice Del Bono
Longtime Portola Valley resident
Alice Del Bono, a resident of
Portola Valley for 56 years, died on
April 11 at the age of 90.
“A very kind person who
walked through life with a smile
on her face,” Ms. Del Bono
enjoyed spending time with her
family, traveling, and “having a
daily cup of coffee with her best
friend, Eleanor,” her family said.
www.harrell-remodeling.com
License: B479799
For more information or to pre-register for the workshop call (650) 230-2900 ■ Fee is just $20 per household
with pre-registration, or $25 at the door ■ No credit cards accepted ■ Refreshments will be provided
This information is from the Atherton and
Menlo Park police departments and the
San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. Under
the law, people charged with offenses are
considered innocent until convicted.
Burglary reports:
■ Tools and equipment stolen from residence under construction, first block of
Fredrick Ave., April 14.
■ Purse stolen from red Chevy Suburban,
intersection of Edge Road and Lowery
Ave., April 15.
■ Computer stolen after vehicle smashed
in green Volvo, intersection of Edge Road
and Lowery Ave., April 15.
Petty theft report: Wallets stolen from
three backpacks, Menlo-Atherton High
School at 555 Middlefield Road, April 15
and 16.
MENLO PARK
Burglary reports:
■ Navigation device stolen after vehicle
break-in, 600 block of Sharon Park Drive,
April 11.
■ Door broken and water pipe damaged,
1000 block of Hamilton Ave., April 12.
■ Five locked storage containers broken
into, U.S. Geological Survey in 1000 block
of O’Brien Drive, April 14.
■ Navigation system stolen from vehicle
after break-in, 300 block of Sharon Park
Drive, April 15.
2979 Woodside Road
Woodside, 650.851.4747
www.villagedoctor.com
CONGRATULATIONS to The Village Doctor of
Woodside for being named one of the “Top 32
Travel Clinics” in the United States by Condé Nast
Traveler! The only program recognized in Northern
California, The Village Doctor is under the direction of ERIC L. WEISS, MD, DTM&H who founded the Stanford Travel Medicine Service. Dr.
Weiss boasts a longstanding membership in, and
certification by, the International Society of Travel
Medicine (ISTM) and American Society of Tropical
Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) and specializes in
both adult and pediatric travel medicine.
PHOTO: RIO COSTANTINI
With an encompassed understanding of travel medicine based on over 20 years of experience, The
Village Doctor is the ideal departure and return point
of any travel itinerary by providing:
• Printed health recommendations
customized for you and your trip
• Electronic medical records to track
your immunization history
• Wilderness Medicine expertise
• Designated Yellow Fever vaccine center
The Village Doctor is open to the public
Monday – Friday, 9:00 – 5:00 by appointment.
She is survived by a daughter,
Suzanne Kimerer; a son, Mark
Del Bono; three grandsons; and
a great-granddaughter. She was
preceded in death by her husband, Peter Del Bono.
A service celebrating her
life has been held. Her family
requests that, in lieu of flowers,
memorial donations in Ms. Del
Bono’s name be made to the
charity of the donor’s choice.
■ POLICE CALLS
ATHERTON
®
Dr. Eric L. Weiss
Obituaries are based on information
provided by families and funeral homes.
(Doors open at 6:00 pm)
Defining your project ■ Understanding your personal needs and styles
Effective space planning and creating spaces without walls
Thoughtful organization ■ Selecting finishes and materials
Maximizing energy efficiency and more!
Harrell Remodeling is an award-winning Design + Build firm on the Peninsula
known nationally for creating extraordinary homes that reflect each client’s
unique signature for living. We welcome you to attend our workshop so you can
approach your major remodel confidently, and with intelligence.
■ OB I TUA RY
R E C O R D
Wednesday, April 30
1954 Old Middlefield Way
Mountain View, CA 94043
Topics will include:
T H E
■ Briefcase stolen from vehicle after breakin, 1300 block of Elder Ave., April 17.
■ Purse stolen after vehicle break-in, 100
block of Independence Ave., April 17.
Stolen vehicle report: 1996 four-door
white Honda Accord, 100 block of Alma
St., April 17.
Grand theft report: Wire stolen from construction site, intersection of Willow and
Bay roads, April 17.
Fraud reports:
■ Identity theft, 200 block of Oakhurst
Place, April 11.
■ Unauthorized use of debit card, 300
block of Waverley St., April 14.
■ Unauthorized access to checking
account, 1000 block of Trinity Drive, April
15.
■ Check fraud, 700 block of Laurel St.,
April 15.
Spousal abuse report: Ravenswood
Ave., April 13.
Child abuse report: 400 block of Ivy
Drive, April 17.
Shoplifting report: Police cited an adult
on shoplifting charges, 500 block of El
Camino Real, April 16.
WOODSIDE
Burglary report: Cafeteria office and
office safe burglarized, Canada College at
4200 Farm Hill Boulevard, April 11.
Theft report: About $900 cash stolen
from unlocked drawer inside locked theater box office, Canada College at 4200
Farm Hill Boulevard, April 13.
St. Bede's Episcopal Church
2650 Sand Hill Road Menlo Park
on Sunday
8 am Holy Eucharist, Rite I
9 am Soulwork — Education for Adults
10 am Sunday School — Children’s Worship & Education
10-11:30 am Childcare
10:15 am Holy Eucharist, Rite II, with hymns, choir, & organ
INSPIRATIONS
A resource for special events and ongoing religious
services. To inquire about or make space
reservations please contact Blanca Yoc at
650-326-8210 x221 or email byoc@paweekly.com
C O M M U N I T Y
Syd and Linda Smith
look back on 36 years
in the carpet business
By Jane Knoerle
Almanac Lifestyles Editor
W
e’ve all seen those
“going out of business
sale” signs plastered on
windows of carpet stores, but the
tasteful “retirement sale” sign on
the front of The Oriental Carpet
store really means it.
After 36 years in business, Syd
and Linda Smith, owners of The
Oriental Carpet, located at 707
Santa Cruz Ave. in Menlo Park, are
retiring. They are in the process of
selling the business to Bruce Good,
one of the store’s salesmen. The
Smiths officially retire at the end
of May, but right now they are busy
reducing their inventory in a sale
with “once in a lifetime” prices.
Syd was a lab technician and
Linda was a social worker when
the couple first went into the
carpet business in the 1970s.
“I acquired a knowledge of
antique carpets through a friend
of mine who was an antique
rug collector,” says Mr. Smith.
“We started out in partnership
■ BUSINESS
in Berkeley, then we branched
out on our own with a store on
Ramona in Palo Alto.”
The business moved to Menlo
Park 12 years ago when Santa Cruz
Avenue was coming into its own as
a home furnishings center.
The Smiths started with mostly
antique goods, but as those
goods became more expensive
and more scarce, they moved
toward a newer type of merchandise. Today their handmade
rugs come mostly from India,
Pakistan and Nepal. Iran is the
home of Oriental carpets, says
Ms. Smith, but its designs are not
popular with Americans.
The Smiths’ carpets are geared
toward the home furnishing
industry. “If it is selling sage
green, then we have to have sage
green,” he says.
Contemporary rugs in stunning designs account for 30 to 40
percent of the store’s inventory.
Wool is the material of choice.
Syd and Linda Smith at the Oriental Carpet store in Menlo Park.
“I’ve always loved the warmth of
wool,” says Ms. Smith. “And it
lasts much better.”
Rugs at Oriental Carpet range
in size from 2x3 feet to 15x26
feet, a fitting size for some of
the mansions being built along
Atherton Avenue.
Mr. Smith travels to India and
Pakistan twice a year, and to
Nepal once a year, on business
trips. He notes that the carpet
business is a cottage industry,
with many carpets made in the
workers’ homes.
What do the Smiths think
about tourists buying carpets for
their homes on trips to foreign
countries? “When buying a rug
in a foreign land, buy a little rug
(and consider it) as a souvenir,”
advises Ms. Smith.
An important part of the
Smiths’ success in the carpet business these past 36 years is listening
to what the customer wants, then
providing it, says Mr. Smith.
When asked if retirement means
moving to another community,
the Smiths said they intend to keep
their home in Palo Alto. “We can’t
think of any place where we’d
rather live,” says Ms. Smith.
A
f iloli Flower Show
Join us for the 20th annual
Country Elegance
A wonderful
wond
n er
e ffu
ul
ul wa
way
ay to
to c
celebrate
eleb
el
bra
ratte
eM
Mother’s
othe
ot
her’
he
r’s
s
Day Weekend with friends and family
Filoli Flower Show
Thursday, May 8 - Sunday, May 11
Come see the magnificent surroundings
of the beautifully furnished House and
world-renowned Garden filled with
exquisite bouquets, colorful garden
vignettes, spectacular table settings and
unique horticultural specimens.
They’re more than stains. They’re shades of your life.
Opening Night Reception
Thursday, May 8, 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
No matter what type of home you
have, Benjamin Moore has a stain
that captures the personality of you
and your family. Our stains are designed to protect and enhance the
appearance of your deck, exterior siding, or outdoor furniture, in an
array of captivating colors that let you express your own unique sense
of style. Visit us today for a stain that best fits your life.
Advance purchase required.
Flower Show General Admission
Friday, May 9 - Sunday, May 11
10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Please note: last admission is 2:30 p.m.
Advance purchase recommended.
The Leader in Paint & Color™
The backdrop to your life.
benjaminmoore.com
717 Oak Grove Avenue (Across from the Fire Station)
Menlo Park U 650-322-2238
1411 Woodside Road (next to Woodside Deli)
Redwood City U (650) 365-6222
For pricing and event details, visit
Filoli’s web site:
www.filoli.org/calendar.html#flowershow
or call 650 364-8300, extension 508
Filoli Center
86 Cañada Road, Woodside, CA 94062
www.filoli.org
Filoli is a National Trust for Historic Preservation site.
Tuesdays-Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sundays 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Last admission is 2:30 p.m.
Closed Mondays
Serving Menlo Park,
Atherton, Portola Valley,
and Woodside for 40 years.
Editor & Publisher
Tom Gibboney
Editorial
Managing Editor Richard Hine
News Editor Renee Batti
Lifestyles Editor Jane Knoerle
Senior Staff Writers
Marion Softky, Marjorie Mader
Staff Writers Andrea Gemmet,
David Boyce, Rory Brown
Contributors Barbara Wood,
Kate Daly, Bill Rayburn, Miles
McMullin, Katie Blankenberg
Special Sections Editors
Carol Blitzer, Sue Dremann
Photographer Veronica Weber
Design & Production
Design Director Raul Perez
Designers Linda Atilano,
Gail Thoreson, Joanne Lee,
Laura Don, Gary Vennarucci
Advertising
Advertising Manager Neal Fine
Display Advertising Sales
Ella Fleishman
Real Estate Account
Advertising Assistant
Coordinator Nora Cecilia Meléndez
Advertising Services
Receptionists Renee Meil
Circulation, Classified,
& Legal Advertising Bill Rayburn
Published every Wednesday at
3525 Alameda de las Pulgas,
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 854-2626
FAX (650) 854-0677
e-mail news (no photos please) to:
editor@AlmanacNews.com
e-mail photos with captions to:
photo@AlmanacNews.com
e-mail letters to:
letters@AlmanacNews.com
The Almanac, established in September, 1965,
is delivered each week to residents of Menlo
Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and Woodside and
adjacent unincorporated areas of southern San
Mateo County. The Almanac is qualified by decree
of the Superior Court of San Mateo County to
publish public notices of a governmental and legal
nature, as stated in Decree No. 147530, issued
November 9, 1969.
Voluntary subscriptions are available for delivery
to homes in Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley
and Woodside at $30 per year or $50 for 2 years.
Subscriptions by businesses or residents outside the
area are $50 for one year and $80 for two years.
■
WHAT’S YOUR VIEW?
All views must include a home address
and contact phone number. Published
letters will also appear on the web site,
www.TheAlmanacOnline.com, and
occasionally on the Town Square forum.
TOWN SQUARE FORUM
POST your views on the
Town Square forum at
www.TheAlmanacOnline.com
EMAIL your views to:
letters@AlmanacNews.
com. Indicate if it is a
letter to be published.
MAIL or deliver to:
Editor at the Almanac,
3525 Alameda de las
Pulgas, Menlo Park,
CA 94025.
CALL the Viewpoint desk at
854-2626, ext. 222.
Ideas, thoughts and opinions about
local issues from people in our community. Edited by Tom Gibboney.
Town Center campaign over the top
I
t isn’t often that a do-it-ourselves story appears that features more
than 500 members of a community who voluntarily lay out $17
million of their own money to build a town hall, library, community hall and recreation facilities. Only $3 million in public funds was
needed to reach the funding goal for the complex.
Granted, Portola Valley is a special community: 47 donor-residents
gave more than $25,000 to the project, including six who gave more
than $1 million. Since the town’s incorporation 44 years ago, its
residents, now numbering about 4,600, have set a staunchly environmental course, keeping housing density low and promoting campaigns to preserve open space.
Their latest feat, which at one time looked like an impossible dream,
is an accomplishment that will stand as testimony for years to come
about how much the residents care about their town.
The cap in the fundraising drive, a $1.4 million donation, came on
April 15 from Laird and Sherry Cagen. “We are proud to support a
project that will provide so many excellent facilities to our community,
including those that facilitate sports and active living for all ages,” Mr.
Cagen said in a statement issued last week.
Many contributions to the new Town Center came in much smaller
amounts, and from residents who actually feel good about their local
government and are willing to share significant amounts of their
income to build a Town Center that everyone can point to with pride.
A big pat on the back is due to Beth Rabuczewski, SallyAnn Reiss
and Jocelyn Swisher, the co-chairs of the Portola Valley Community Fund, which over three years raised the millions needed to make
this new community complex a reality.
It’s a small community but a vibrant one, if the level of volunteerism on the Town Council and the 16 other commissions and committees is any indicator.
Even the initial design of the new complex in 2004 was a community process, open to all residents who wanted to take part. Out
of it came a decision to design buildings approaching the highest
environmental quality, including the recycling of most of materials
taken from the old complex.
When completed, the new library, Town Hall and community
hall will be joined by a baseball diamond, a refurbished soccer
field, tennis courts, probably a basketball court, and a lawn for
outdoor performances. A recent addition to the plans, to bring part
of Sausal Creek into the open from its long-buried culvert, will
require more fundraising.
A school site remade
The flat 11.2 acres of the Town Center was home to a public school
for many years, then abandoned and sold to the town for a song,
given that the site was considered vulnerable to earthquakes.
The plan to stay a few years turned into decades until, in 2003, a
study showed more specific indications of the earthquake danger.
In February 2004, the Town Council decided that it was no longer
safe to occupy the seismically threatened school buildings, and
further decided to build a new complex of buildings against the
western edge of the property, where evidence of seismic faults has
not been found.
The council’s support notwithstanding, many residents opposed
the idea and fought tooth and nail to prevent any town money
from being spent on the project. But they underestimated the willingness of residents to open their minds and their wallets to enable
the construction of a beautiful, sustainable set of green buildings
complete with classrooms, a multi-use room, emergency headquarters and administrative offices.
A $1 million donation from longtime residents Bill and Jean Lane
in 2004 kick-started the campaign. The Lanes were instrumental in
the town’s incorporation back in 1964.
Portola Valley is blessed with an extraordinary town planning
team, headed by George Mader, that has kept the town true to its
original values since incorporation. It is a special place and it is no
surprise that its residents cared enough to contribute $17 million to
house their local government and provide for their community.
L ETT E RS
Our readers write
Help save the planet by
dropping meat from diet
Editor:
It’s not about changing light
bulbs anymore.
When Al Gore’s and Leonardo
DiCaprio’s dramatic documentaries alerted us to the devastating impacts of global warming,
many people went through
the ritual of switching from
incandescent light bulbs to the
compact fluorescent variety.
Unfortunately, in the case of
global warming, good intentions and switching light bulbs
are not good enough.
The most powerful individual
lifestyle solution was suggested in a
2006 report by the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization. The report found that meat
production accounts for 18 percent
of greenhouse gas emissions that
See LETTERS, next page
Menlo Park Historical Association
Our Regional Heritage
In 1891, President Benjamin Harrison surprised residents when he left his train at the Menlo Park depot
while on his way to a vacation at the Del Monte Hotel in Monterey. The president was greeted by young
students who dressed in paper hats for the occasion. He later joined the Stanfords for a tour of the new
university and later had lunch arranged by Jane Stanford in Palo Alto.
V I E W P O I N T
Two views of plans to rebuild Oak Knoll School
Hillview student says project would damage community
By Maddie Nepal
I
was horrified to hear of the impending Oak Knoll plan and the implications that it would create.
As I see it, this project could be achieved
without many of the drastic changes that
have been proposed. The point of the
renovation is to expand the school district to fit the needs of approximately 150
more students. If this plan goes through,
it would unnecessarily remove up to
eight beautiful mature trees, create an
onslaught of traffic along the now peaceful Oak Avenue, and decrease the value of
many properties along or in close proximity to school boundaries. Not only would
trees be damaged, but families within the
community would be damaged too.
The loss of the many mature oaks would
be devastating to the community as a
whole. Not only would Oak Knoll lose the
“oak” part of its name, but also thousands
of childhood memories would be lost. I
myself have spent countless days in the
shade of the oak trees catching relief from
the late afternoon sun. Without these trees,
Oak Knoll would lose one of its prime
sources of cooling. It is proven that wellplaced trees can cut a home’s cooling cost
by up to 40 percent. Now translate that into
Oak Knoll, and we’re looking at a sweltering campus. Trees also cleanse and purify
the air that we breathe as well as provide
homes for birds and other animals. And
that is not even mentioning the horrendous
cost of removing century-old trees.
The increased traffic along Oak Avenue
would do more than aggravate the neighbors. It would provide a serious danger
for young students. In order to ensure
safety along such a highly trafficked
drop-off zone, the city would have to
L E T T ER S
Continued from previous page
cause global warming. That’s more
than automobiles.
Carbon dioxide, the chief
greenhouse gas, is emitted by
burning forests to create animal
pastures and by combustion
of fossil fuels to operate farm
machinery, trucks, refrigeration equipment, factory farms,
and slaughterhouses. The much
more damaging methane and
nitrous oxide are released from
digestive tracts of cattle and
from animal waste cesspools.
Moreover, animal agriculture
contributes more pollutants to
our waterways than all other
human activities combined.
Principal sources are animal
wastes, soil particles, minerals,
crop debris, fertilizers, and pesticides from feed croplands. It is
also the driving force in worldwide deforestation and wildlife
invest quite a large sum of money in
crosswalks, speed bumps, and the like.
The new parking lot would have to be
strategically designed to keep kindergarteners safe. Still, when the day’s work is done,
the kids living on that street will have lost
the friendly neighborhood feel of the school.
The increased traffic would also affect the
traffic going to Hillview and would create
a general backup of cars in the morning
and afternoon hours. All of this would be
inconvenient to the neighbors as well.
Finally, the decrease in property values
would be devastating to the neighborhood.
I know of several families that will move
if the improvement plan is passed.
They will need compensation
for their property, and that
will add on more to the
project. If compensation
is refused, these families
will not have the means
to purchase another
house in this area. This
could mean the relocation of families to new
jobs and new lives.
I know that you can’t
stand in the way of progress. I personally think that
this plan is far from progress. Quite
the contrary, this plan will destroy century-old trees, create a large amount of
unnecessary traffic, and relocate families.
If you honestly think that a 30-foot multipurpose room is worth all of that, then
there’s nothing more that I can say or do.
The general public opposes this plan, and
if it were to go through, it would be an insult
to our community and our values.
Design team did its best to address concerns
by Kim Guthrie
I
write in response to concerns expressed
in your paper regarding the campus
design process under way at Oak Knoll
School, and to address the misconception
that public input has been ignored.
I am a parent at the school, last year’s
president of the parent-teacher organization, and a current member of the Oak
Knoll site design team. I have actively
participated in Oak Knoll’s design process
from its beginning.
The design team, which is responsible
for the overall campus plan, includes the
principal, parents, teachers, architect,
and a neighborhood representative who lives close enough
to be impacted by traffic,
but does not have children
who attend the school.
Our representative has
been proactive and conscientious about sharing
design plans with the
neighborhood and providing their feedback to the site
design team.
From the beginning
stages, the district has sought
broad community involvement and
input. There have been numerous school
board and Oak Knoll-sponsored meetings
where plans have been shared and public
feedback was welcomed and encouraged.
Feedback from those meetings has driven
multiple changes in the campus plan.
For example, feedback from the neighbors across the street from Oak Knoll
encouraged the design team to alter the
landscape plan for the front of school by
increasing the grass and trees seen from
the street. Efforts to save heritage trees on
pro
&
con
A
Maddie Nepal is a student at Hillview
School who lives on Blake Street.
habitat destruction.
The annual observance of
Earth Day this Tuesday provides an excellent opportunity
for every one of us to help save
our planet by dropping animal
products from our diet. More
details are available at www.
CoolYourDiet.org.
Miles Barne
Sharon Park Drive, Menlo Park
Driveway construction flaw
has concrete consequences
Editor:
As a 60-year resident of Menlo
Park, I have witnessed much
good and bad as this commu-
nity has grown. Yesterday, I
drove into the cul-de-sac where
we live to hear the sound of
jackhammers. The driveway of
my neighbor’s new home was
being torn apart. Apparently
the concrete pour was only 5
inches instead of the mandatory
6 inches. Horrors.
Thank goodness that the city
caught this grave error before
someone was injured. I commend
the city for demanding that the
driveway be torn out without any
concern over the noise or air pollution as well as the disposal of
a truck load of broken concrete.
Way to go Menlo.
Dave Skuce
William Court, Menlo Park
&
Join Now
& Save
$75*
A
Kim Guthrie lives on Mercedes Lane in
Menlo Park
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Now Open
in Menlo Park
TownSquare
Join the conversation on
www.TheAlmanacOnline.com.
Click on links under the TownSquare banner.
campus prompted the development of a
revised plan for the new fourth/fifth-grade
wing. Ongoing concerns about traffic and
safety drove much of the thinking on the
drop-off/pick-up design. The district has
provided a continuous flow of information
to parents and neighbors, most recently the
March 2008 Community Report, mailed to
all homes in the district.
In summary, the district and the site
design team have taken significant steps to
ensure an open dialog with the community. Far from ignoring public input, many
changes in the plan reflect this community
input. With any public process, there is no
solution that will please everyone; new construction and change are often met with
varying reactions.
The Measure U construction projects are
critically important for our schools. My site
design team colleagues and I have worked
diligently to balance community input
with the commitment to delivering the
highest quality educational programs for
our kids on space-constrained campuses.
We urge the community to maintain confidence in the process and support the
plans for each of our district schools. This
effort is crucial to developing our schools
for the future.
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Menlo Park
Los Altos
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www.litefor life.com
Circus Club Estate on approximately 2.4 acres
172 ISABELLA AVENUE
■
ATHERTON
W
elcome to this three-story Country French estate home set on a double flag lot of approximately
2.42 acres in close proximity to the Circus Club. In addition to the six-bedroom, five-bath main
residence, the property includes a pool house with full bath and kitchenette plus a studio apartment
above the three-car garage. A separate driveway leads to the romantic garden house, which has a
wrap-around loggia, a full bath, and chef’s kitchen. The beautifully landscaped garden encompasses
a swimming pool, circular spa, tennis court, sport court, fire pit, children’s play area, and a lush lawn
shaded by a variety of trees. Excellent Menlo Park schools.
Offered at $18,995,000
International President’s Premier
Top 1% of Coldwell Banker Agents
650-566-5353
hcornish@cbnorcal.com
Atherton
Menlo Park
Portola Valley
Woodside
WWW.HUGHCORNISH.COM
Information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.
For more information on this property and others, please visit my Web site at:

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