TownSquare on PaloAltoOnline.com

Pet owners become 'guardians'

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 03:25:25 PDT

In an effort to encourage greater care of companion animals, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors today added "guardian" to the term "animal owner." Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=2758 posted Tuesday, April 25, 2006, 2:52 PM

Area Democrats laud 'historic' health care bill

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:21:14 PDT

A bill reforming America's health care system, what one Bay Area congressman said was "one of the most important bills in the past 40 years," was approved Sunday night by the U.S. House of Representatives, with seven votes to spare. After expected Senate approval of House changes, it will go to President Obama to be signed. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16186 posted Monday, March 22, 2010, 12:45 AM

Palo Alto's MacQuitty runs nation's fastest 800 meters

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:23:56 PDT

Palo Alto High senior Philip MacQuitty has made a career out of running well at long distances. He has become so accomplished that he earned a scholarship to UCLA for this coming fall. That's why MacQuitty's latest achievement seems out of character as the national leader in the 800 meters. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16181 posted Sunday, March 21, 2010, 5:39 PM

A haunting tale

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:31:53 PDT

Written by Lanford Wilson in the mid-1980s and currently in production at Dragon Theatre, "Burn This" is the story of four people finding their way in the aftermath of an untimely death. A week prior to the play's opening scene, Robbie, a dynamic young dancer in New York City, drowns in a freak boating accident, along with his lover, Dominic. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=12623 posted Friday, March 19, 2010, 12:00 AM

Foreign language immersion for only one year

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:25:15 PDT

Hi, My child was offered admission into a private foreign language immersion school and after careful consideration of our financial situation we came to a conclusion that we will not be able to afford more than one, maximum two years in private school. We are deliberating if it is worth sending the child for just kindergarten and then switching to public. Will only one year of foreign language give any benefit for the child later on in life? Surely, he will forget it quickly, but will it be any easier for him once he starts foreign language in middle school? I can't seem to find any research on benefits of short term foreign language immersion for children... The school is under-enrolled so we are not taking anyone's spot. The psychological aspect of switching from one school to another is not a big consideration - the child is very social and adaptable. We just can't decide if one year immersion is worth it or not.

Stanford women miss winning NCAA swim title by three points

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:46:15 PDT

Stanford women's swim coach Lea Maurer will be thinking about this one for some time. Why, she'll wonder, couldn't we score three more points? Had the Cardinal accomplished that, it would be the 2010 national champion. As it turned out, after three days of racing, only 2 1/2 points separated Stanford from being the NCAA champion. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16176 posted Saturday, March 20, 2010, 7:33 PM

Resiliency Expert, Dr. Ken Ginsburg, coming to Palo Alto

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:31:17 PDT

Hi Everyone, Dr. Ginsburg is the great pediatrician/author/speaker, who was featured on a Palo Alto PTA Council/Challenge Success video a couple of years ago. He will be here live this week, to help parents and educators on the important issue of building youth resiliency, and "best practices" for supporting the mental, emotional and physical well-being of our kids, and all kids. He'll be speaking to PAUSD parents and educators at Gunn this coming Thursday night... and he is also leading a workshop next Saturday morning. Both events are free, all are welcome. I know we are never lacking for parent ed programs, but if you can only get to one thing this school-year, Dr. Ginsburg is well worth your consideration. One gem I learned from his last presentation: "No one is invulnerable. True resiliency is knowing when to ask for help." That one nugget of advice really resonated with me, and has served as a healthy reminder to me to reach out, when I am facing something tough. He is a speaker you'll remember. Hope you can make it. �Building Resilience in Children & Teens: Preparing Our Children for Life� Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg Thursday, March 25, 2010 6:30-8:30pm PTA Parent Education Special Event, open to all parents, educators and interested community members! (6:00-6:30pm Community Social & Resource Fair) Gunn High School Spangenberg Theatre 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto Admission is FREE, everyone welcome! No RSVP necessary, just come! Please carpool & arrive early, parking is limited Live Spanish translation available Dr. Ken Ginsburg will discuss how to raise resilient children who can deal with stress in an increasingly complex world. Dr. Ginsburg�s unique perspective emphasizes the developmental strengths of youth, equipping parents and educators with skills needed to better teach kids to help themselves. Learn how to: �Support children and teens to develop positive coping strategies. �Recognize the red flags that may indicate when a youth is at risk. �Help youth develop the seven C�s: competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping & control Dr. Kenneth R. Ginsburg. M.D., MS Ed, FAAP, is a nationally renowned pediatrician, specializing in Adolescent Medicine at our nation�s largest adolescent health clinic in Philadelphia. He is also the director of Health Services at Covenant House of Philadelphia, a shelter for homeless and disenfranchised youth. His books include �A Parent�s Guide to Building Resilience in Children and Teens�, �But I�m Almost 13; An Action Plan for Raising a Responsible Adolescent�, and is co-author of �Less Stress, More Success�. Important note: Here�s another great opportunity for you to learn more about youth resiliency with Dr. Ginsburg, Saturday, March 27, 2010: Dr. Ginsburg is also the guest speaker at an in-depth Saturday morning workshop March 27, geared in particular for educators, counselors and health professionals who work with children and teens. Interested parents and community memebers are also warmly welcome to attend this special event. Best of all, it is free, thanks to our incredibly generous sponsors! Advanced registration is required for this event, just visit www.ginsburg.eventbrite.com We thank the many wonderful organizations and people who have stepped up to sponsor this visit, on behalf of supporting all the youth of Palo Alto, Mountain View and Los Altos. Special thanks to each and every sponsor, listed below: Palo Alto Council of PTAs & local PTAs Challenge Success Nature�s Alley Floral Shop Palo Alto Medical Foundation Lucile Packard Children�s Hospital The Children�s Health Council CSEA (California School Employees Association Palo Alto Chapter 301) Youth Community Service Adolescent Counseling Services SHARE (Student Heath Awareness through Resource and Education), City of Palo Alto Libraries All Saints� Episcopal Church of Palo Alto Congregation Beth Am St Mark�s Episcopal Church of Palo Alto Grace Lutheran Church of Palo Alto First Presbyterian Church Palo Alto Los Altos-Mountain View PTA Council & local PTAs Mountain View-Los Altos High School Foundation Mountain View High School Challenge Success Los Altos United Methodist Church Marriott Courtyard Hotel Kepler�s will sell books. Directions and event details: www.info.paloaltopta.org

Organic is not enough

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:26:17 PDT

Walk into almost any supermarket in America and you are guaranteed to be bombarded. Thousands of products, advertisements, and labels can create consumer confusion over what we buy. Browse any aisle - whether it is the cereal, chips, juice or meat- and you will need a certain degree of linguistic talent. Words like �hydrogenated� and �hydrolyzed� force us to recall 10th grade chemistry material but do not tell us anything meaningful about the food we are putting into our bodies. We had very few tools to navigate our shopping experience until the popularization of universal labels like �organic.� Codified by the US Department of Agriculture�s (USDA) Organic Food Production Act (OFPA), the term �organic� revolutionized the way Americans buy food. Because these phrases are easy recognizable and government regulated, Americans finally found a way to find and buy better food simply by seeking out buzz words and labels we are convinced we can trust. And trust them we do. Most consumers probably do not think twice about organically labeled foods and instead think of them as green light products that are good to buy. This, in itself is not wrong. The organic label has simplified information for the average consumer making it easier to buy better foods for their family. But foods passing the USDA organic requirements are not necessarily better for your, the environment or the animals we eat. The organic label, it turns out, gives little actual information about where our food comes from and how it arrives in our hands. In truth, the term organic is only vaguely defined by the USDA as food produced �without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation� as well as by farmers who emphasize �the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.� These guidelines focus solely on growing and raising crops and animals which is only a portion of the process food undergoes before reaching your mouth. The label leaves out vital information about how organically grown foods are processed. The USDA definition of organic has no real regulations on the food once it has left the organic farm. �Organic� doesn�t necessarily speak to how foods are transported across the country, grown out of season using enormous amounts of energy or the horrible living conditions, treatment and slaughtering practices of cattle, pork and poultry- other important things to think about when buying food. And this is just the beginning. For example, feed lot confined organically fed cattle, which live in restricted dirt lot eating organic grain or corn, could be mistaken as better than grass fed cattle because the latter is missing the organic label. The term organic is much broader than people think. There are industrial organic farms that transport and export food long distances, local organic farms supplying food items to make processed non-organically certified foods, imported organic foods, organically fed battery caged hens who lay organic eggs, organically fed cattle confined to feed lots, and the list goes on. The word �organic� simply is not enough to navigate our current food industry. With so much conflicting information coming from different stakeholders- the food industry, advertisements, popular books, documentary films, governmental departments- we can no longer believe in the goodness of the organic label. With extreme frustration we often ask ourselves what should we buy and from where should we buy it. Consumers like you and me often times feel overwhelmed by information or compelled to change their buying habits but have no idea where to start. �Voting with your dollar� is not so easy when you no longer know what we should vote for. So what can we do? One simple answer is to buy locally grown and produced foods when you can and shop intelligently when you can�t. This may seem daunting but give it a try. Start with one food product. Before your next trip to the supermarket, focus on one item- pick one thing- tomatoes today (maybe eggs in March, yogurt in April). By looking online or reading a book on seasonal produce, you may find that your tomatoes are not in season and should instead buy winter squash. You can then investigate how your squash are grown and where and how they are processed. Buying locally, whether from a farmer�s market, a local foods store or a co-op, gives you an opportunity to engage with your food and find out more about how it reached your refrigerator shelf. Organic might be the answer but it might not be. Changing your buying habits, even if for just one product at a time, will bring you closer to your food. Being closer to your food means knowing more about where it comes from. And as the saying goes, knowledge is power to create change. And let�s face it, with an epidemic of obesity and other nutrition related chronic diseases, disparate access to fresh fruits and vegetables, outbreaks of food contamination, and inhumane treatment of farm animals, change is what the American food industry needs right now.

Shop Talk

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:16:17 PDT

DEMISE OF DIDDAMS � OR NOT? ... One of Palo Alto's most established businesses, Diddams, the popular downtown toy and party store, is calling it quits � with a late-breaking maybe. "But not because we want to," owner Steve Diddams said. "We're actually in good shape. I have six other stores. It's only Palo Alto and it's only because our landlords have not offered us a new lease." The store at 215 Hamilton Ave. is set to close March 27, which incidentally is the store's 20th birthday. "It's a hell of a way to celebrate an anniversary," one employee said. The 10,000-square-foot-store with the dark-green awning is selling all its remaining merchandise at half-price. Steve Diddams' Palo Alto store was his first. "It's depressing," he said. "This was my baby. ... My mother and father helped paint the walls when we first got here." But Diddams learned this week that there is a chance a last-minute lease offer may happen, which could throw the close-out sale into reverse. Still, business is challenging in downtown Palo Alto these days in any event, he said. "Retail sales are lousy around here." Diddams said he believes some of the nearby shopping-area developments also cut into sales, referring to the extensive renovation of the Town & Country Village shopping center and the nearly four-year-old Charleston Plaza, whose tenants include REI, Best Buy, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=12649 posted Friday, March 19, 2010, 12:00 AM

44% Strongly Disapprove of Obama's Job Performance

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 09:25:31 PDT
According to the latest Rasmussen daily Presidential Tracking Poll: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll * 44% Strongly Disapprove of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President * 23% Strongly Approve, giving Obama a -21% Presidential Approval Rating, his lowest yet. How might this be related to ObamaCare? The article says: "Each time the President leads a big push for his health care plan, his job approval ratings suffer... most voters continue to oppose the legislation. Just 20% of voters believe that most Members of Congress will understand the proposed health care bill before they vote on it...Voters still say deficit reduction is the most important (goal) and the least likely to be achieved." Will the mainstream media start referring to our "increasingly unpopular President" and his "unpopular health care proposals"? I doubt it--doesn't fit the narrative.

Stanford's 'stopper' will play a key NCAA role

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:03:28 PDT
Rosalyn Gold-Onwude has her name etched into the Stanford record books twice, right there on page 133 of this year's media guide. She shares a special record with her fellow starters from the previous two years -- games played in a season. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16152 posted Thursday, March 18, 2010, 4:45 PM

Summer Camp

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:25:29 PDT
Can anyone recommend a summer camp for a young teenage boy? Overnight or day camp. Thanks.

Jobs, Schwarzenegger campaign for organ donation

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:32:06 PDT
Speaking at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Friday morning, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stumped for a different kind of candidate -- people who need an organ transplant. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16172 posted Friday, March 19, 2010, 6:01 PM

Calls to Eshoo mostly in favor of health overhaul

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:26:19 PDT
As President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders continued twisting arms for votes, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, said calls to her office have been two-to-one in favor of passing the health care reform package. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16168 posted Friday, March 19, 2010, 3:25 PM

Doctors: Haitian will to survive amid 'stench of death'

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:56:03 PDT
Palo Alto physicians displayed wrenching photos of conditions in Haiti in a "thank you" presentation to volunteers and donors who supported a recent medical relief trip there. A presentation about the relief work, open to the public, will be held April 16. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16151 posted Friday, March 19, 2010, 8:24 AM

Voting for trust

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:10:26 PDT
Located in downtown Palo Alto, Open Source Digital Voting Foundation's goal is to build a publicly owned digital elections system that is practical, secure, affordable and above reproach. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16153 posted Friday, March 19, 2010, 9:24 AM

Jury finds Koloto guilty of first-degree murder

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:30:11 PDT
A Santa Clara County Superior Court jury has convicted a Gilroy man of first-degree murder in connection with the killing of 27-year-old Philip Lacy during a robbery in downtown Palo Alto two years ago. Otto Emil Koloto, 23, faces life in prison without parole. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16165 posted Friday, March 19, 2010, 12:36 PM

Paly community honors devoted office clerk Lue Phelps

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:17:03 PDT
Palo Alto High School's band is brushing up on "When the Saints Go Marching In" to honor Lue Phelps, who, at 89, was still working at Paly until a month before she died Sunday. Phelps was at her desk, working as a data processing clerk in Paly's counseling office when colleagues noticed she was ill and took her to the Stanford University Hospital Emergency Room Feb. 16. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16163 posted Friday, March 19, 2010, 11:38 AM

Guest Opinion: If ROTC returns will it compromise Stanford's core mission?

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:04:52 PDT
There appears to be much concern these days about "identity": Who or what it is we are, what we need and what we, as individual persons or as organizations, should become. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=12642 posted Friday, March 19, 2010, 12:00 AM

Bay Area housing market remains slow

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:41:29 PDT
Despite a modest rise last month, Bay Area home sales continue to stagnate, according to the latest figures released Thursday by San Diego-based real estate analysts MDA DataQuick. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16157 posted Friday, March 19, 2010, 8:37 AM

more businesses being kicked out of downtown Palo Alto

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:39:43 PDT
Story in the Mercury-News: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_14705247 Anyone know what is really going on?

Thoughts on Meg Whitman's Political Ads for Governor ?

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:47:42 PDT
I have not been paying that much attention to the governor's race in CA, except I have heard blips in the news about Meg Whitman, and her tons or money, and heard some or her commercials. I have no idea of what to make of Whitman, I think her non-specific, cheerleading, hand-waving ads are baffling, and her negative ads about Stever Poissner(sp?) are terrible. I cannot believe this is inspiring people to vote for Whitman, but they say these negative type ads work. What do people think of this? Any thoughts about the governor ... backed up by some facts?

Budget and Fire Station 8

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:57:31 PDT
A possible budget saving could come to the City of Palo Alto if they would consider a cooperative agreement with the State of California. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF), also known as Cal Fire, needs to relocate two of their existing stations due to septic/wastewater requirements and their current stations proximity to reservoirs/drinking water. Their two stations in limbo are Alma (along Hwy 17 near Lexington Reservoir) and Stevens Creek (on Stevens Canyon Rd near Steven Creek Reservoir). The State is looking for a location site in the northern part of the SCU unit to relocate their Stevens Creek station. Existing practice - Palo Alto Fire Station 8 at Foothills Park is currently been staff for 120 days per year on overtime. The department pulls staff off their regular station/engine, sends them to the foothills and backfills these three slots with overtime. Fire Station 8 is staffed for 12 hours per day, 8 am to 8 pm. The engine 8 crew drives from Fire Station 5 on Arastradero Rd where the wildland engine is kept for night responses. Staffing station 8 starts on or near July 1st and extends for 120 days or until the first significant rainfall (end of October). Possible solution - Lease Palo Alto Fire Station 8 to CDF/Cal Fire with an agreement for local response to the Palo Alto foothills during wildland fire season. Palo Alto Fire backfills the station with their personnel and equipment when the CDF/Cal Fire engine is dispatched out of the unit/area. There would still be overtime incurred by Palo Alto Fire, but could be significantly less than current practice. The city saves money with the Fire Department's overtime, CDF/Cal Fire can keep an engine in the northern part of their unit, and the foothill residents and visitors to the parks have a station that is staffed for 24 hours a day for the true declared fire season, not just 120 days per year on 12 hour days. I'm sure this is controversial to the fire union, but it is an idea worth considering.

Memorial service set for Tesla employee

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:11:04 PDT
Friends and family of Andrew Ingram, the youngest victim of the Feb. 17 plane crash in East Palo Alto, plan to celebrate Ingram's life at a March 27 memorial service. Read the full story here http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story.php?id=16146 posted Thursday, March 18, 2010, 2:51 PM

Reflections on Reflections

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:07:29 PDT
Tonight we returned disheartened from what should have been a proud moment for our family. Our daughter entered an art contest called Reflections, sponsored by the PAUSD, last fall choosing photography as her medium to convey the assigned theme of Beauty. To her big surprise her work was chosen and she was looking forward to receiving a Merit award at tonight�s awards ceremony. Having grandparents and siblings in attendance, our daughter was full of anticipation, but was disappointed when she was unable to find her artwork on display. The various submissions were scattered on tables throughout the back room of the PAUSD offices with no identifying information attached, save the official entry form on the backs of the works. It was unclear which works were given awards and which ones was simply honorable mentions, and which school and what age group the artists represented. Unfortunately, as soon as the �ceremony� began, it was clear that it would lack direction and organization. The presenter, the PTA Council Arts Chair Roxane Mehta, was ill-prepared and relayed no information regarding the premise of the contest, its purpose or its scope. She mentioned that the works that were not in the room had been �held back� by the sixth district but did not tell the audience what that meant or how the artists could get their artworks back. After several minutes of incongruous babbling, the winners of the highest awards (Excellence and Merit) were called first, but, as they approached the front of the room, no mention was made of what category they had won for, nor was their work shown in any way. Inexplicably, a computer screen was running in the back but no list of names or slide show of submissions appeared. No distinction was made between winners and runners-up. In the name of fairness, all nominees received a certificate with no distinction between the various levels of achievement, which begs the question: why have different levels of awards if it makes no difference at awards-time? Overall, it was a rather embarrassing and tedious couple of hours and, regrettably, it made us wish we had not invited the grandparents to attend. Needless to say our daughter, who received a Merit award, was sorely disappointed to not be able to show her grandparents her winning contribution. She appeared confused and upset when some children were allowed to represent their works more fully by reading their submitted poems or playing their compositions. Because her work had been �held back� by God-knows-who she felt a bit embarrassed about having nothing to show. Afterwards, we inquired as to where our daughter�s artwork was and when she could expect to get it back. We also mentioned that it would have been nice to have received an email stating that our daughter�s particular piece would not be on display and why. Ms. Mehta stated that our daughter�s photo was going to the sixth district level (again, without explaining what and where that is), although no prior communication about the Reflections contest has mentioned this apparently secret level of competition. When pressured about who carries the responsibility for the artwork, Ms Mehta got fairly upset and claimed the volunteer-card, i.e. nobody is responsible because the whole thing is a volunteer effort. After this anti-climactic encounter we left, relieved that it was over but still short of one piece of award-winning art.