Community leader Elizabeth 'Liz' Goldberg dies at ... - Almanac News

Community leader Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Goldberg 

dies at 69. Page 18 

THE HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER FOR MENLO PARK, ATHERTON, PORTOLA VALLEY AND WOODSIDE DE 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2007 www.TheAlmanacOnline.com m 

| VOL. 43 NO NO. 3 

Since its rebirth, Kepler’s 

has become a premiere 

place for children and youth 

PAGE 12 

IN 

THIS 

ISSUE

apr.com 

REDEFINING QUALITY SINCE 1990 

Reading between the emotional line makes the 

difference between finding a house and a home. 

2 ■ The Almanac ■ September 19, 2007 

ATHERTON 

This well maintained and recently 

remodeled 4bd/2.5ba ranch-style 

home is privately situated at the end 

of a cul-de-sac on park-like grounds. 

Menlo Park schools. 

$2,195,000 

LOS ALTOS 

Beautifully updated 3bd/2ba home 

with office on a newly landscaped 

.24+/- acre lot. Gorgeous new kitchen/ 

family room just completed in 2007 

with top-of-the line appliances. 

Sparkling black bottom pool. 

$1,995,000 

PALO ALTO 

Stunning contemporary home 

offers the ambiance of a country 

retreat. Nestled in a garden setting, 

this charming and light-filled home 

boasts a cozy living room fireplace 

and a gourmet kitchen. This 4bd/2ba, 

2 car attached garage home is 

1,494+/-sf on 7,000+/-sf lot and is 

minutes from the best of urban 

conveniences. Top Palo Alto schools. 

$1,295,000 

apr.com | MENLO PARK OFFICE 620 SANTA CRUZ AVENUE 650.462.1111 

APR COUNTIES | Santa Clara | San Mateo | San Francisco | Alameda | Contra Costa | Monterey | Santa Cruz

This week’s news, features and community events. 

The Almanac/Veronica Weber 

Riding high 

Noah Sankar, 3, displays his horsemanship with help from Jim Rushing at the National Center for Equine 

Facilitated Therapy on Sunday, Sept. 9. The center celebrated the grand opening of its new facility on 

Runnymede Road in Woodside with demonstrations, tours and a U.S. Marine Color Guard. Therapists at 

NCEFT use hippotherapy to help patients with neuromuscular disorders and other special needs improve 

their strength and balance. 

Atherton 

■ Grand jury looking into Atherton’s affairs, again. 

Page 5 

Menlo Park 

■ Is the Park Theatre really historic? The board 

of the Menlo Park Historical Association thinks 

not. Page 8 

■ Joe Morrow takes plea deal in wifeís murder. Page 9 

Portola Valley 

■ Phillips Brooks School buys 10 acres near Portola 

Valley, deputy planner says. Page 5 

Also Inside 

Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 

Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 

Family Almanac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 

Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 

Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 

CALLING ON THE ALMANAC 

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People 

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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. 

■ Jim Rapley, last of the Skyline cowboys, dies at 

105. Page 7 

■ Community leader “Liz” Goldberg dies at 69. 

Page 18 

Schools 

■ Oak Knoll School project moves to design phase. 

Page 11 

County 

■ Supervisors limit big houses in Los Trancos 

Woods. Page 15 

On the cover 

Olivia Mann, center, practices juggling for the 

first time during the 30th anniversary of Klutz 

books at Kepler’s bookstore. Banypaul Beitsayad 

is shown in back. Almanac photo by Veronica 

Weber. See cover story starting on Page 12. 

THE ALMANAC (ISSN 1097-3095 and USPS 459370) is 

published every Wednesday by Embarcadero Publishing 

Co., 3525 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA 94025- 

4455. Periodicals Postage Paid at Menlo Park, CA and at 

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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Almanac, P.O. 

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Short 

takes 

We want some Mo! 

Wonderful children’s 

author/illustrator Mo Willems 

is coming to Kepler’s in 

Menlo Park on Friday, Sept. 

21, for a pajama party with 

his young fans. The Caldecott 

Medal winner will read his 

new book, a sequel to “Knuffle 

Bunny” called “Knuffle 

Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken 

Identity.” The party starts 

at 6:30 p.m. and attendees are 

strongly encouraged to wear 

their jammies and fuzzy slippers. 

Kepler’s promises it will 

be “the best story time ever.” 

Call 324-4321 or go to www. 

Keplers.com. 

Atherton is No. 1 

In the latest Forbes Magazine, 

Atherton tied with 

Miami Beach, Florida, and 

Kenilworth, Illinois, as America’s 

richest neighborhood, 

with a median annual income 

of $200,001 and a median 

home sale price of $1.74 million. 

Atherton beat out Diablo 

and Rancho Santa Fe, both in 

California, for the top honor. 

Promises, promises 

The two architects designing 

the new $20 million complex 

at Portola Valley Town 

Center got a grilling Wednesday 

night, Sept. 12, over the 

use of about $150,000 in 

contingency funds. Councilman 

Ed Davis wanted reassurances 

that it wasn’t going 

to become a habit. 

In the dialogue, architects 

Larry Strain and Jim Goring, 

while not complaining, 

attributed the expenses to 

requests from the town that 

went beyond the agreed-upon 

tasks, and that more such 

charges were not expected. 

“What I’m getting from 

Jim is it’s unlikely,” Mr. Davis 

said. 

“It’s unlikely we’ll be asking 

for the money,” Mr. Goring 

replied wryly. 

“Larry has learned to say 

‘No,’” Town Administrator 

Angela Howard added. 

“You guys are doing a great 

job,” said Mayor Ted Driscoll. 

“We’re very, very happy with 

your work.” 

Ms. Howard had one last 

special request: Could they go 

to the Blues & Barbecue Festival 

on Sunday? 

“I’ll buy you your food,” 

offered Mr. Driscoll. 

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 

Phillips Brooks School buys 10 acres 

near Portola Valley, town official says 

■ Portola Valley council members, residents express 

concerns about possible new school campus. 

By David Boyce 

Almanac Staff Writer 

Phillips Brooks School, the 

private preschool-throughgrade-5 

school now operating 

at 2245 Avy Ave. in Menlo 

Park, has purchased a 10-acre 

undeveloped parcel along Los 

Trancos Creek on unincorporated 

land in Santa Clara County, 

according to Portola Valley deputy 

town planner Tom Vlasic. The 

property is just across the creek 

from the Alpine Inn parking lot 

in Portola Valley. 

The school bought the property 

without having decided 

“exactly what to do with it,” Mr. 

Vlasic said he was told. 

Mr. Vlasic said in a report to 

the Portola Valley Town Council 

that he spoke with Phillips 

Brooks Trustee John Shenk, a 

Woodside resident, on Sept. 10. 

Mr. Vlasic noted that, according 

to Mr. Shenk, the school has not 

yet submitted a plan to Santa 

Clara County and is aware of 

the lengthy planning processes 

facing the school and the need 

to work with concerned neighbors 

and communities. 

Repeated phone calls from 

the Almanac requesting comment 

from Mr. Shenk and from 

Phillips Brooks School were not 

returned. 

Phillips Brooks leases its current 

campus on Avy Avenue 

from the Las Lomitas Elementary 

School District. 

Portola Valley concerns 

Some Portola Valley residents 

are raising concerns that Phillips 

Brooks plans to move its 

campus to the new site. If a 

school is built there, it could 

increase traffic through Portola 

Valley. 

Mr. Vlasic said in an e-mail 

to Portola Valley council members 

that the school could face a 

number of issues in applying to 

the Santa Clara County Planning 

Commission for a use permit to 

operate a school. Among them: 

■ The site adjoins a perennial 

creek that would be vulnerable 

to rainwater run-off 

from impervious surfaces at the 

school. 

■ The site is right across the 

creek from the outdoor eating 

and drinking area of the Alpine 

Inn, a popular tavern. 

■ An engineering consultant 

to the school 

concluded that 

just four acres 

of the hilly site 

are suitable for 

development. 

■ Santa 

Clara County 

may require 

the school to 

serve the local 

“rural” community. 

A 

2007-08 school 

directory 

shows 93 percent 

of Phillips 

Brooks’ 192 

families living 

outside Portola 

Valley and 50 

percent living 

in Menlo Park 

and Atherton. 

■ The site 

is about 300 

feet south of Arastradero Road 

and near the intersection with 

Alpine Road — a junction with 

tight, narrow curves and a short, 

steep uphill grade. Improving 

the intersection would require 

an encroachment permit from 

Portola Valley. 

The school would also have to 

win agreement from neighbors 

to widen the one-lane private 

Some Portola Valley residents are alarmed about 

the possibility that Philips Brooks School may be 

seeking to build a campus on 10 acres along Los 

Trancos Creek, the county boundary. The site is in 

unincorporated Santa Clara County opposite the 

Alpine Inn parking lot in Portola Valley. 

road that fronts the site, said 

Georgia Bennicas, who owns 

five acres between the site and 

Arastradero Road. She lives in 

Portola Valley. 

“They’re never getting access,” 

Ms. Bennicas said in an interview. 

“They’re not coming 

across my land; they’re not buy- 

Grand jury looking into Atherton’s affairs, again 

By Andrea Gemmet 


The current turmoil in the 

town of Atherton, involving 

Finance Director John 

Johns, appears headed for the 

scrutiny of the San Mateo County 

Civil Grand Jury. 

Two Atherton residents told the 

Almanac that they have been called 

in to be interviewed by the grand 

jury this week. 

The turmoil erupted on Aug. 27, 

when Finance Director John Johns 

was placed on paid administrative 

leave reportedly because of complaints 

that he created a hostile 

work environment. 

Mr. Johns denies the allegations 

and said that he himself 

has been subject to threats and 

hostility following his audits of 

the Atherton Building Department 

and his questioning of 

other town financial records. 

Sam Goodman, the chair of the 

Atherton Audit Committee, and 

Bob Jenkins, a former audit committee 

member and director of the 

Atherton Civic Interest League, 

confirmed that they would be 

speaking to the civil grand jury. 

Three members of the grand 

jury, including its foreman, attended 

the public portion of a closed 

session Atherton City Council 

meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 

said Mr. Jenkins. He said several 

other town officials and residents 

are scheduled to be interviewed by 

the grand jury, as well. 

The civil grand jury is a watchdog 

group that investigates city 

and county governments, issues 

reports and makes recommendations. 

Although it’s an arm of the 

courts, a civil grand jury cannot 

hand down criminal indictments; 

it can recommend that a criminal 

San Mateo 

County 

ALPINE ROAD 

Rossotti 

soccer 

field 

grand jury do so. 

Civil grand juries work in secret 

— anyone who has been interviewed 

by a grand jury is not 

allowed to discuss it, and the 

reports are the only publicly available 

information that result from 

their investigations. 

Earlier this year, the grand jury 

issued two reports on problems 

surrounding Atherton’s building 

department. The first report condemned 

lax procedures and a lack 

of communication between the 

town’s building department and 

inspectors with the Menlo Park Fire 

Protection District, claiming that 

safety hazards might exist in some 

Atherton homes. Atherton officials 

vigorously disputed the report’s 

charges, but later agreed to work 

more closely with the fire district. 

The grand jury’s final report, 

issued in July, criticized City Manager 

Jim Robinson for a lack 

parking lot 

PRIVATE ROAD 

GOLDEN OAK DRIVE 

LOS TRANCOS CREEK 

Alpine Inn 

P 

ALPINE ROAD 

PRIVATE ROAD 

ARASTRADERO ROAD 

Possible 

school site 

Santa Clara 

County 

See PHILLIPS BROOKS, page 11 

of supervision over the building 

department staff, not intervening 

in a case of serious employee misconduct, 

and failing to keep council 

members informed of significant 

matters. Mr. Robinson retired at 

the end of July, and the council 

appointed his assistant, Wende 

Protzman, to serve as interim town 

manager until a permanent one is 

hired. 

Currently, attorney Mary Topliff’s 

investigation into the complaints 

against Mr. Johns is ongoing. City 

Attorney Marc Hynes said he did 

not know when the investigation 

would be completed. 

If any disciplinary measures are 

taken against a department head 

such as Mr. Johns, they will be 

meted out by Ms. Protzman, not 

the council, Mr. Hynes said. He said 

he did not know if the City Council 

would view Ms. Topliff’s report on 

her investigation. A 



ALBERTO 

ONCE HELD BACK 

BY WEIGHT 

CURRENTLY: 

DIVES RIGHT IN 

JUST ANOTHER REMARKABLE DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. 

At 13 years old, Alberto was one of more than 2 million overweight kids in this country. 

The good news is, he chose to do something about it. 

Since he enrolled in the Packard Pediatric Weight Control Program last year, Alberto has 

lost over 30 pounds and is now an active and healthy kid. Rather than focus solely on 

calorie intake and weight loss, our program helps families maintain lifelong healthy eating 

and exercise habits. In fact, Alberto’s mom was so inspired, she lost 12 pounds herself. 

Alberto is still headed toward his weight goals. The way we see it, his loss is truly 

his gain. To find out more about the Packard Pediatric Weight Control 

Program call 650 -725 - 4424 or visit pediatricweightcontrol.lpch.org. 

© 2007 Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital 

Lucile Packard 

Children’s Hospital 

AT STANFORD

By Marion Softky 


Jim Rapley, who died peacefully 

on Aug. 31 at 105, 

was a legend in his time. 

A third-generation rancher 

on Skyline, he ran cattle on 

Langley Hill for 55 years. And 

he had a special talent for spinning 

tales about the old days, 

back to the times when both 

sets of grandparents ranched 

the Peninsula hills. 

With a slow, down-home 

twang, “Jimmy” 

would 

lean back in 

his chair, and 

tell about the 

time his father 

was a kid and 

met two grizzly 

cubs and their 

mother near 

La Honda; or 

his first drunk 

with the hermit 

of Jasper 

Ridge; or the lady from the 

stagecoach who passed out at 

The Landings, his grandparents’ 

stage stop where Skyline 

Boulevard now meets Old La 

Honda Road; or the last cattle 

drive, when all the cows got 

loose. And on and on. 

“He listened very, very 

intensely,” recalls Hildegard 

Jackson, a Skyline neighbor 

and close friend for more than 

40 years. “He could tell the 

story of the past in the finest 

detail — which made the past 

so much more alive. I always 

admired that.” 

Jimmy Rapley was born 

on July 29, 1902, the fourth 

of nine children. He actually 

grew up living on Cedar 

Street (now Buckthorn Way) 

in Menlo Park. His mother 

had had enough of the hassle 

of raising children in the 

mountains, he said in a 1982 

interview, “so that’s how we 

moved to the lowlands.” 

Jimmy attended the old St. 

Joseph School before it was torn 

down. He also remembered 

the 1906 earthquake, not the 

earthquake itself as much as the 

excitement it caused. “At nighttime, 

you could stand in the 

yard, and you could see the sky 

was red,” he said. “These people 

were coming wanting to sleep 

in the barn, carrying a parrot, 

or pushing a baby buggy.” 

Jimmy loved riding with his 

father, who hauled logs and 

hay and grain, and also drove 

the local water tank truck to 

PEOPLE 

Jim Rapley, last of the 

Skyline cowboys, dies at 105 

deliver water. On these trips 

he absorbed stories of the land 

and its people. He remembered 

his father pointing out 

“a whole family buried under 

that oak tree, a guy hung 

under that other oak tree 

down by Searsville.” 

In those days kids worked the 

old-fashioned way. Jimmy put 

in time working at Duff and 

Doyle, the old general store in 

Menlo Park; caddying “for two 

bits” at the Menlo Golf and 

Country Club; dismantling 

Rancher Jim Rapley was known 

for his yarns of the old days 

— cattle drives, stagecoaches, 

grizzlies, the 1906 earthquake, 

moonshine, and colorful 

characters who roamed the hills. 

1982 photo by Marion Softky 

buildings from Camp Fremont 

after World War I; and working 

as a dairyman at the old Diamond 

Ranch above Searsville. 

When he was 15, Jimmy 

passed up Central High School 

to rent some land on Skyline 

and start his first herd of cows. 

“It was not a very big herd, but 

it was a beginning,” he said. 

By the 1930s, he bought the 

family ranch off Rapley Ranch 

Road from his parents. Through 

many years, he tended cattle, his 

own and others’, for meat and 

milk products. “We worked 

around the clock. No one was 

in bed at daylight,” he said. 

Mr. Rapley built a reputation 

for being able to handle horses 

— and mules. For a while he 

drove teams of mules with a 

“reputation,” hauling dirt from 

the construction of the pipelines 

bringing water from the Hetch 

Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite 

to the Pulgas Water Temple. 

Jimmy also trained an 

untrainable Morgan stallion 

for a colorful character named 

Charlie McGonical, an amputee 

with hooks for hands. The 

trick for training horses, Jimmy 

Rapley said, was to treat 

them just like kids. “You don’t 

■ MORE ON JIM RAPLEY 

try to work with the backside; 

you work with the head.” 

While Jimmy was still a 

bachelor in the shack he built, 

lots of relatives would drop 

off their kids to stay with him 

during the summer for wholesome 

work and play. In 1946 

he married Anne Foley, the 

sister of one of those kids. She 

still lives in Redwood City. 

In those days, the ranching 

families on Skyline were 

close. They worked and played 

together and helped each other 

out. Ami Jacqua, 

daughter 

of neighboring 

ranchers 

Rudolph and 

Gerda Isenberg,remembers 

Jimmy 

Rapley fondly. 

He helped her 

father with 

their cattle, fed 

their family big 

ranch breakfasts, 

taught the kids about 

horses and cows, and sang for 

them while they were riding. 

“He was wonderful with 

children, He was a wonderful 

neighbor and teacher and 

mentor,” says Ms. Jacqua, who 

still lives down Langley Hill 

Road. “He had no kids of his 

own, so we were his family.” 

Seven years ago, Jim and 

Anne Rapley’s peaceful aging 

was horribly interrupted when 

their house caught fire and 

burned during a January storm. 

They were rescued and taken in 

by neighbors Bruce and Hildegard 

Jackson. They stayed 

with the Jacksons for six weeks 

before moving off the hill to a 

rest home in Redwood City. 

The Jacksons have been visiting 

them almost daily ever 

since. His death will leave a huge 

void in our life, says Ms. Jackson. 

“With each individual — 

friends, family, neighbors — he 

had an individual relationship. It 

was absolutely amazing.” 

Mr. Rapley is survived by his 

wife, Anne, of Redwood City, 

and a sister, Pauline Murphy 

of Los Altos. 

A celebration of Mr. Rapley’s 

life is being planned. A 

■ To read the 2002 cover story, “Jim Rapley turns 100,” go to: 

http://www.almanacnews.com/morgue/2002/2002_07_31.rapley.html 

■ To read six of “Jim Rapley’s yarns on the old days,” go to: 

http://www.almanacnews.com/morgue/2002/2002_07_31.rapleyyarns.html 

REAL ESTATE Q&A 

by Monica Corman 

Looking for Shifts in the Market 

Q: I am in the market to buy a 

house but want to see if the downward 

trend in real estate prices in 

other parts of the country is affecting 

the market here. Do you see a shift 

from a sellers’ market to a buyers’ 

market happening here? 

A: Many buyers are asking the same 

question as you are. Based on activity 

from the first weeks in September, the 

answer is no. Well-priced properties in 

prime locations continue to get multiple 

offers, although perhaps fewer offers 

than there were earlier this year. 

In the past few weeks I have observed 

that buyers are more hesitant to say 

that they want to make an offer. They 

seem to be waiting to see if there will 

be an opportunity to get a “deal” if the 

property doesn’t get any other offers. 

But as soon as they realize that the 

property is going to sell and that if they 

want a chance to buy it they had better 

make an offer, they step forward and the 

market continues much as it has been 

all year long. 

Why is the market strong here? There 

is still very low inventory for the numbers 

of buyers in the market. And this 

is likely to continue for the foreseeable 

future. Most homeowners aren’t selling 

unless they have a place to move to. If 

they are planning to stay in the area, it 

is not easy to find the right property in 

such a tight market. So they stay put. 

My advice to you is not to sit on the 

sidelines but to prudently look for the 

right property and if you find it, don’t 

hesitate to make a strong offer. This will 

get you the house you want. 

For answers to any questions you may have on real estate, you may 

e-mail me at mcorman@apr.com or call 462-1111, Alain Pinel Realtors. 

I also offer a free market analysis of your property. 

JACK J PIERCE LANDSCAPE INC 

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By David Boyce 


The idea of exposing an 

underground creek and 

allowing it to run through 

the lawn at Portola Valley’s Town 

Center moved closer to reality last 

week, but the Town Council vote 

that authorized it had an unusual 

alignment. 

On the question of whether the 

council should support a proposal 

to raise $1 million to free part of 

Sausal Creek from a culvert buried 

under the 11.2-acre site, an 

environmental champion voted 

against it, a spending skeptic 

voted for it, and a hard-nosed 

finance realist abstained. 

A majority of the five-member 

council, on a vote of 3-1-1, opted 

to make an initial outlay of 

$400,000 from the general fund 

to design a 280-foot stretch of 

creekbed for the north-flowing 

creek after it passes from under 


the baseball field. The majority 

echoed the sentiments of some 25 

residents in the audience. 

The new creekbed would form 

a boundary between a community 

green to the west and a native 

meadow to the east. The creek 

tends to be dry except during the 

rainy part of the year. 

The council acted Wednesday, 

Sept. 12, after considering options 

outlined in a report from a community 

study last year. A consultant 

experienced in “daylighting” 

buried creeks gave a presentation. 

The decision comes in the context 

of an ongoing donor-funded 

$20 million project — still about 

$2.5 million short — to build a 

new library, town hall, community 

hall and recreational fields. A 

grand opening is expected in late 

2008. 

Integrating a $1 million creek 

element to the project would presumably 

put the overall shortfall 

N E W S 

New twist in Park Theatre saga 

■ Andy Duncan proposes city buy theater and lease it back to him. 

By Rory Brown 


When Menlo Park resident 

Andy Duncan 

first came forward 

with his plans to restore the Park 

Theatre and turn it into a dance 

studio, he asked the City Council 

only for nods of approval. 

But in August, he upped his 

request and said he needed 

$500,000 from the city to make 

his plan a reality. 

Now, he has a new plan: The 

city should buy the 60-year-old 

theater for $2.2 million, and 

lease it to him. 

The council could consider 

Mr. Duncan’s latest proposal as 

soon as Sept. 25. 

Talking to a handful of residents 

at a Sept. 12 community 

meeting in the Burgess 

Recreation Center, Mr. Duncan 

unveiled a plan to restore the 

exterior of the deteriorating 

movie house on El Camino 

Real, and remodel the interior 

to make way for the Menlo Park 

Academy of Dance. The dance 

academy is currently housed 

a block away from the theater, 

and co-owned by Mr. Duncan’s 

mother. 

Mr. Duncan suggested the 

city buy the theater and the 

land from the current owner, 

Atherton resident Howard Crittenden, 

for $2.2 million. He’s 

proposing that the city then 

grant him a 55-year lease, so the 

Menlo Park Academy of Dance 

can move into the space. 

Mr. Duncan said he would 

pay the city $750,000 upfront, 

plus ongoing payments yet to be 

determined to lease the property. 

He said he would foot the 

bill for restoring historic elements 

of the building, including 

the exterior, the neon sign, the 

ticket booth, and the lobby. The 

costs of restoring the theater and 

converting it into a dance studio 

are estimated to be $2.5 million, 

Mr. Duncan said. 

Still public funds 

Last month, Mr. Duncan 

asked the City Council for a 

$500,000 grant or loan for his 

project, but many residents 

have expressed major concerns 

with giving taxpayer dollars to 

a private business. 

He called his new proposal a 

“win-win,” stating that the theater 

would be restored, and be 

the city’s to keep once the lease 

ends. 

“Under this plan, we keep the 

Menlo Park Academy of Dance 

in downtown Menlo Park, and 

the city gets a restored theater at 

a major discount,” he said. 

But other than Mayor Kelly 

Fergusson, council members 

have hesitated to support a plan 

that requests the city pitch in 

financially. 

“Again, I have great reservations 

with the city being a 

partner in a private business 

enterprise,” said Councilman 

John Boyle. 

Councilman Andy Cohen 

said he didn’t see much in the 

way of “public benefit” in Mr. 

Duncan’s latest proposal. 

Councilmen Richard Cline 

and Heyward Robinson said 

they needed more details on the 

proposal before making a decision. 

Precedent? 

Mr. Duncan and Mayor Fergusson 

said there is a precedent 

for the city buying land and 

leasing it to a private business: 

the city owns the property at 

1000 El Camino Real — the site 

of an office building built by 

Matteson Reality. 

City Attorney Bill McClure 

said in the 1970s, the city did 

purchase — and still owns — 

the 1000 El Camino Real site, 

but the city acquired the land 

during efforts to re-align Ravenswood 

Avenue with Menlo Avenue. 

The land was not acquired in 

conjunction with Matteson 

Reality, but the city opted to 

lease the property, at marketrate 

rent, after the road work 

was completed, Mr. McClure 

said. He said the lease lasts 

through 2037. A 

■ CORRECTION 

The Almanac reported in a 

Sept. 12 story that Councilman 

Richard Cline was opposed 

to using public funds to help 

restore the Park Theatre. The 

story should have read that 

Councilman Andy Cohen, not Mr. 

Cline, was opposed to the plan. 

at $3.5 million, though fundraising 

for the creek would be a separate 

matter. 

Mayor Ted Driscoll, Councilwoman 

Maryann Moise Derwin 

and Councilman Richard Merk 

voted to spend $400,000 for a 

creek design. 

“We run around town waving 

our little green flag,” Ms. Moise 

Derwin said. The town taxes 

itself to create open space and it’s 

not going to daylight a creek? “It’s 

absurd,” she said. “We are stewards 

of natural resources, which 

includes creeks and ponds. I think 

we should just do it.” 

Moving the project to $21 

million from $20 million “will 

energize fundraising,” said Mr. 

Merk, who frequently indicates 

a preference to err on the side of 

caution. “It’s a risk that we need 

to take.” 

In response to a reminder from 

Councilman Steve Toben that, 

in 2005, the council agreed to 

Is the Park Theatre 

really historic? 

By Rory Brown 


Add Menlo Park Historical 

Association board 

members to the list of 

people who don’t think taxpayer 

dollars should be used to 

restore the Park Theatre. 

Their reasoning is that the 

deteriorating 60-year-old theater 

isn’t really all that historic. 

“We think there’s a lot of 

other buildings with a higher 

priority for historical designation 

than a cement building 

built 60 years ago,” said Gilbert 

Workman, a member of 

the nonprofit’s board, which 

documents the city’s history. 

Mr. Workman said he and 

his seven colleagues on the 

board voted unanimously 

to oppose the use of public 

funds to restore the Park. Mr. 

Workman relayed the message 

the following evening 

when Menlo Park resident 

Andy Duncan presented a 

new plan to restore the theater 

that would require the 

city to first buy the El Camino 

Real property. 

“Whether it’s for historical 

preservation or some other 

reason, every other business 

in town may want city funds 

if this plan gets approved,” Mr. 

Workman said. He noted that 

older buildings, such as the 

Open creek in the works for Town Center project 

not draw from the general fund 

for capital projects, Mr. Driscoll 

said the town would borrow the 

$400,000 from the general fund. 

The town also has an untapped 

$4 million line of credit from the 

county. 

Abstaining was Councilman Ed 

Davis, the council’s finance man, 

who cited the funding shortfall 

and the countervailing argument 

of community momentum 

behind creek daylighting. 

“You’re seeing a person who’s 

really torn,” he said. “We’ve been 

running this project on time or 

slightly under time, and on budget 

or slightly under budget. This 

complexity so late in this project 

adds a degree of risk.” 

Mr. Toben called adding the 

creek element a “bet on the 

come,” a poker term describing 

a player who, expecting to draw 

good cards, bets on a hand “to 

come.” 

“I don’t think that’s prudent,” 

British Bankers Club building, 

which was built in 1926 and 

served as home to city hall, 

the library and police station, 

are more worthy of historical 

designation. 

Cultural relevance 

But Mr. Duncan and his 

San Francisco-based architect, 

Mike Garavaglia, said the 

cultural relevance of the Park 

Theatre, not necessarily its 

age, is what makes it historically 

significant. 

Mr. Garavaglia said the 

theater is likely to be eligible 

for the National Registry of 

Historical Landmarks, a list 

of landmarks that allows a 

20 percent federal tax break 

on restoring the building, 

because art deco-style theaters 

aren’t easy to come by. 

“These one-screen theaters 

are becoming less and less 

common,” Mr. Garavaglia 

said. “This project would 

restore the key aspects of the 

theater that make it unique. ... 

I’ve seen other projects like his 

get on the national list.” 

Mayor Kelly Fergusson, one 

of the strongest proponents of 

Mr. Duncan’s efforts to restore 

the theater, has repeatedly said 

the restoration of the theater 

makes the use of public funds 

worthwhile. 

“Preservation of a cultural 

resource is an asset,” she said. A 

he said. “We don’t have $500,000 

in our pocket to launch this part 

of the project.” 

Community support 

The council audience included 

several creek optimists. “If we 

start a fundraising drive, we will 

have the money in no time,” said 

resident Marianne Plunder. 

“I think we’ve been headed this 

way for a long time,” said resident 

Danna Breen, adding that the 

creek would “complete” the project. 

“If it is practical to do so without 

derailing the (overall) project, 

I think (this alternative) would be 

a good one,” said resident Derry 

Kabcenell. Mr. Kabcenell and 

his wife Charlene have donated 

$1 million to the Town Center 

project. 

As to the safety of an open 

creek, Marty Mackowski, a member 

of the community group that 

studied the issue, said he had 

heard of no liability issues in conversations 

with officials in other 

California towns with creeks. A

N E W S 

Council settles lawsuit alleging 

racial bias on police force 

By Rory Brown 


The Menlo Park City Council 

voted unanimously last week 

to settle a lawsuit alleging 

racial discrimination in the police 

department, but council members 

say the city is not at fault in the case, 

and they approved the settlement to 

cut legal costs. 

Under the settlement, the city 

agreed to pay $165,000 — $55,000 

each — to three former black officers 

who allege they were harassed 

and discriminated against by Sgt. 

Ron Prickett when working for the 

city’s police department. 

The settlement was approved by 

the council in a closed session on 

Sept. 11, and announced in open 

session later that evening. 

Council members, City Attorney 

Bill McClure, and Suzanne 

Solomon of the San Francisco-based 

firm Liebert Cassidy 

Whitmore, who represented Sgt. 

Prickett, said approving a settlement 

was easier and less expen- 

■ MENLO PARK 

sive than going to trial. 

“The cost of litigation, even if 

you’re 100 percent sure you’re going 

to win, can go into the hundreds of 

thousands of dollars,” said Councilman 

John Boyle. 

Former officers Keith Butler, Joe 

Hinkston, and Kenneth Clayton 

filed their lawsuit in San Mateo 

County Superior Court in October, 

and sought $2 million in collective 

damages. The officers alleged that 

Sgt. Prickett “created an intimidating, 

hostile, abusive and offensive 

working environment” through 

a number of actions, including 

placing white-supremacist images 

in the workplace and calling their 

attention to them. 

Wendy Bemis of San Franciscobased 

Bemis and Associates, who 

represented the plaintiffs, said the 

former officers, all of whom have 

moved on to departments in other 

cities, wanted to “put the case and 

Menlo Park behind them.” 

“We think if we went to trial, 

we would have gotten a higher 

verdict,” Ms. Bemis said in an 

e-mail to the Almanac. “The 

demands of the case on the 

plaintiffs’ schedules at their new 

respective police departments 

were increasing and would continue 

to increase through trial.” 

Sgt. Prickett and the three former 

officers could not be reached for 

comment. 

Earlier this year, Police Chief 

Bruce Goitia said “outside counsel” 

looked into the allegations, and it 

was determined there were no signs 

of racism or a hostile work environment. 

Council members said that, 

despite settling, they stand by the 

results of that investigation. 

“The chief said if there was 

any indication the allegations had 

merit, Ron Prickett would not be 

working for our department, and 

I believe that,” said Councilman 

Heyward Robinson. 

Chief Goitia deferred questions to 

police spokesperson Nicole Acker, 

who had no comment. A 

Morrow takes plea deal in wife’s murder 

By Andrea Gemmet 


After three years of delays, 

it seemed as if Joseph Eli 

Morrow would never go 

to trial on a first-degree murder 

charge that he killed his wife Donna 

in order to avoid an expensive 

divorce. 

And now, he never will. 

On Sept. 10, as the trial was 

finally about to get started, Mr. 

Morrow reached a plea deal with 

Prosecutor Steve Wagstaffe. 

On Sept. 11, a gray-haired and 

pot-bellied Mr. Morrow pleaded 

guilty to a lesser charge of seconddegree 

murder, and seven felony 

counts of assault for spousal abuse 

dating back to 1981. 

Mr. Morrow, 59, faces 25 years 

to life in prison when he appears 

in court at a sentencing hearing 

set for Oct. 24. 

In exchange for his plea, 

prosecutors dropped the special 

circumstances allegation 

of murder for financial gain, a 

charge that could have landed 

him in prison for life without 

possibility of parole. 

Prosecutors contend that a few 

days before Christmas in 1991, 

Ms. Morrow, 37, had decided to 

end her abusive marriage, but 

she never got the chance to file 

for divorce. Instead, Mr. Morrow 

killed her in their Menlo 

Park home, buried her body on 

undeveloped land near Los Gatos, 

and later fled the country under 

an assumed name, said Chief 

Deputy District Attorney Steve 

Wagstaffe. 

“It’s my fervent belief that he 

strangled her,” Mr. Wagstaffe said. 

“The daughter heard a loud argument, 

then she heard her mother’s 

voice go quiet.” 

According to Mr. Wagstaffe, 

when Mr. Morrow’s previous wife 

asked for a divorce, he knocked 

her down the stairs and choked 

her until she was unconscious. 

Back in 1991, Mr. Morrow 

claimed the couple simply had an 

argument, after which his wife left 

the house and disappeared. 

“All (Donna’s) friends said, the 

thing that mattered to her more 

than anything in her life, were 

her four children,” Mr. Wagstaffe 

said. “She never would have left 

them on Christmas.” 

Menlo Park police Sgt. Jim 

Simpson worked for years to keep 

the cold case alive. He finally 

caught a break when Mr. Morrow, 

who is thought to have fled to the 

Philippines in 1993, was arrested 

near Manila in early 2003 and 

extradited to the U.S. on passport 

fraud charges. 

Ms. Morrow’s skeletal remains 

were unearthed on the Los 

Gatos property in September 

2003 after Mr. Morrow’s former 

handyman led law enforcement 

officials to the spot where he 

said Mr. Morrow asked him to 

dig a deep hole for a water feature. 

Mr. Morrow was indicted 

by a criminal grand jury in 

November 2003. 

The trial was set to begin in Feb. 

2004, but a series of postponements, 

medical problems suffered 

by attorneys on both sides, and 

legal maneuvering by the defense 

team made it seem as though the 

trial would never get started. 

Defense attorney Robert Courshon 

said the plea deal was driven 

by Mr. Morrow’s children’s desire 

to see their father get out of prison 

on parole. 

“His kids all want to see him get 

out at some time. That’s why Lisa, 

one of his daughters, went in to 

try to convince Wagstaffe to allow 

him to plea to second-degree 

(murder),” Mr. Courshon said. 

As for Mr. Wagstaffe, he said 

he doesn’t think Mr. Morrow 

will ever be paroled. He’s lining 

up witnesses to testify at the sentencing 

hearing in order to make 

sure any future parole board has 

“all the grimy details” about Mr. 

Morrow, he said. Ms. Morrow’s 

surviving family members will be 

flying in from Missouri to testify, 

Mr. Wagstaffe said. 

“He’s criminal and violent. This 

is my one chance to express the 

outrage that society feels about 

what he did, “ Mr. Wagstaffe said. 

“The saddest part for me is that ... 

Donna’s mom Shirley Rubio 

didn’t get to be here. She died a 

couple of years ago, and the 

most important thing to her 

was to see this carried out.” A 

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10 ■ The Almanac ■ September 19, 2007

By Marjorie Mader 


Revised plans for Oak Knoll 

School’s additions will move 

to the design phase after 

Menlo Park City School District 

trustees unanimously approved 

the revised plans at their Sept. 11 

meeting. 

The district’s facility-planning 

team will develop architectural 

plans for the proposed multipurpose 

building and the separate 

two-story classroom complex for 

fourth- and fifth-graders, both of 

which open onto a courtyard. 

When completed, the plans 

will be forwarded to the Department 

of State Architecture for 

approval. The district also will 

proceed with the environmental 

review of the project. 

Ahmad Sheikholeslami, the district’s 

facility and project manager, 

said the district will conduct a comprehensive 

traffic study, working 

with traffic engineers and the city 

of Menlo Park to improve traffic 

circulation and accommodations 

for bike and pedestrian safety. 

Traffic issues were the key concerns 

when the revised facilities 

plans for the K-5 school were presented 

at an Aug. 29 community 

meeting. 

“I think the positive and constructive 

input and interaction 

that came through the public 

process has assisted the district in 

developing the best plan,” said Mr. 

Sheikholeslami. “It’s a balance of 

accommodating different uses and 

the constraints of a limited site.” 

Some of the changes include 

providing more detail in the pedes- 

N E W S 

Board moves Oak Knoll School project to design phase 

■ Team will continue to work on improving traffic 

circulation, safety for cars, bikes, pedestrians, buses. 

trian-bike area. The plan provides 

parking for up to 250 bikes in 

an accessible area that would be 

shaded by trees. There will be 

ample sidewalks and pathways to 

the school. The present pedestrian 

crosswalk would move 125 feet 

toward Oak Avenue. 

Although there had been a flurry 

of e-mails circulating about traffic 

issues from people concerned 

about bicycle safety prior to the 

Sept. 11 meeting, only two people 

from the public spoke. A number 

of concerned parents reportedly 

had talked previously with board 

President Terry Thygesen and Mr. 

Sheikholeslami. 

“I am encouraged (to learn) the 

plan is not set in stone and there’s 

room for working out the (traffic) 

details,” said the mother of a firstgrader 

at Oak Knoll and a bicyclist. 

“I hope the plan will be done thoroughly 

to accommodate drivers, 

bikers and pedestrians.” 

Foundation reaches $2 million milestone 

By Marjorie Mader 


There’s a $2 million reason 

for the Menlo Park-Atherton 

Education Foundation 

to celebrate. 

The foundation has reached its 

$2 million goal for the “Endowment 

for Excellence in Teaching.” 

The endowment is designed to 

fund professional development 

programs that will attract, develop 

and retain exceptional teachers in 

the district’s Laurel, Encinal and 

Oak Knoll elementary schools and 

Hillview Middle School. 

“Reaching this $2 million mark 

demonstrates the commitment the 

community has for excellence in 

our local schools, and specifically 

for the support of our faculty in 

their continuing education and 

development,” said Mark Box, the 

foundation’s co-president. 

About four years ago, foundation 

supporters envisioned establishing 

an endowment to help meet 

longer-term, strategic needs of 

the school district. Established in 

2005, the endowment backers set a 

goal of raising $2 million. Earnings 

from the endowment would fund 

programs for teachers at the rate 

of 5 percent of the endowment, or 

$100,000, each year. 

To celebrate this milestone, 

a garden reception will be held 

Thursday, Sept. 27, in Atherton to 

honor endowment charter donors 

and contributors. 

Leading the endowment’s fundraising 

are Charlot Singleton 

(chair), Carol Fields, Peg Phelps, 

Ted Schlein and Lynne Young. 

The investment committee 

includes: Lynne Young (chair), 

David Breiner, Bob Burlinson, 

Doug Carlson, Jeff Child, Deborah 

Fitz, Russ Hall, Grand Lee, Alex 

Neville, Steve Peterson, Peg Phelps 

and Sue Sutherland. 

Serving on the advisory committee 

are Dr. June Flora (chair), 

Terri Bailard, Floyd Gonella, Dr. 

Ann Lieberman, Dr. Raymond 

Pecheone, Jo Sauer Mitchell, Ken 

Ranella, Charlot Singleton and 

Terry Thygesen. 

Other funds 

The foundation is off to a busy 

year on its mission to raise other 

funds for district programs. 

Its record annual grant of $2 

million, presented last June to 

the school district, is funding 

technology, library, science and 

teacher development programs 

in the schools. The $2 million 

represents 7.5 percent of the 

school district’s budget. 

This year’s annual campaign is 

under way and will culminate 

with “Donation Day” on Tuesday, 

Nov. 6. Families may drop 

off their contributions in the 

symbolic red schoolhouse boxes 

when they bring their children to 

the schools. Volunteers will be on 

hand at each school to meet car 

pools and answer questions. A 

■ SCHOOLS 

Rich Rollins, an Oak Knoll 

neighbor for 25 years, expressed 

his displeasure that the school 

board did not endorse a petition 

to the City Council, signed by 40 

residents last spring, to install traffic 

calming measures on Oak Knoll 

Avenue. Now, he said, the school is 

planning to dump more traffic on 

Oak Avenue and asking residents’ 

cooperation. 

In response, Trustee Laura Rich 

said trustees didn’t have enough 

information then to make an 

informed decision. 

Trustee Jeff Child said he had 

been observing the biking and 

traffic situation at Oak Knoll. “The 

worst behavior,” he noted, “was 

from drivers of cars approaching 

school from Oak Avenue and making 

a right turn onto Oak Knoll 

Lane and dropping off students” in 

PHILLIPS BROOKS 

continued from page 5 

ing an easement from me; they’re 

not getting through me.” 

Real estate agents have 

approached her more than once, 

she added, telling her that an 

individual wanted to buy her 

property for a home. 

“They’re never getting a school 

there, not after the way it was 

misrepresented to me,” she said. 

“It was really very sneaky, the 

whole thing. They did this whole 

thing very sneakily.” 

The Almanac was unable to 

verify Ms. Bennicas’ characterization 

of the school’s intentions. 

Alex Von Feldt lives with her 

family on Creek Park Drive, 

across the creek in Portola Valley 

and just west of the site. “I’m worried 

about the impact of such an 

intense development on the creek 

as well as Arastradero Preserve,” 

she told the Almanac. “I don’t 

know how they (would) plan to 

get the traffic in and out without 

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the area where parking and stopping 

is prohibited during drop-off 

hours. A lot of kids riding bikes 

are coming to school then, and the 

cars are on the right side of the road 

where the children are supposed to 

ride, he said. 

He said he’d like the school and 

city to figure out the best way to 

provide efficient and safe operations 

for everyone — bikers, parkers/walkers, 

and people who use the 

drop-off lane. 

Oak Knoll’s revised plan was 

developed in response to concerns 

from neighbors and directives 

from trustees. It is part of the district’s 

strategic planning process to 

expand facilities at all four schools 

to meet the needs of a growing 

enrollment. Funding comes from 

the $91.1 million bond measure, 

supported by voters in June 2006. 

For more information about the 

district’s facility planning process, 

go to www.mpcsd.org. A 

affecting the neighbors.” 

Five years ago, the potential 

impacts to flora, fauna and a 

wetland nixed a Phillips Brooks 

campus on 14 acres of a wooded 

92-acre parcel on Lawler Ranch 

Road in Woodside, just west of 

Interstate 280 at Sand Hill Road. 

Council weighs in 

Given the potential impacts on 

Portola Valley, Town Councilman 

Steve Toben won a unanimous 

council vote to make the 

Phillips Brooks matter an “emergency 

addition” to the Sept. 12 

meeting agenda so that council 

members could discuss it. 

The council advised Ms. Bennicas 

that she has its support. 

“We’re going to mount a good 

argument in Santa Clara County 

and we’re going to be talking 

with the leadership in Santa 

Clara County,” Mr. Toben said. 

“We’re as aroused by this news 

(as you are). ... They didn’t come 

to the town; they didn’t come to 

the neighbors.” A 


Although Kepler’s had a top-notch 

children book section and occasional 

children and youth events 

before the bookstore closed in 2005, when it 

reopened that October, the staff and supporters 

of Kepler’s had a newfound appreciation — and 

new visions — for their mission. 

“We thought about why the store had been 

resurrected,” said Vivian Leal, the director 

of youth and family events. “We’re a cultural 

center, not just a bookstore and we provide 

communities with support.” 

With that in mind, Kepler’s decided to expand 

its role in the community by developing a detailed 

program of youth initiatives. What began with a 

handful of author visits in the beginning of 2006 

has blossomed into a bustling calendar packed with 

events for children and young adolescents, many 

conducted in partnership with schools, libraries and 


C O V E R S T O R Y 

Kepler’s Kids 

Twins Jessica and Kaitlin Jensen face-paint each other during a 30th anniversary event for Klutz books at Kepler’s. 

Since its rebirth, Kepler’s has become a premiere place for children and youth 

other organizations. 

“Our programs over the last 12 months 

reached about 18,000 youth from pre-school to 

high school age,” says Ms. Leal. 

Led by department manager and children’s 

book buyer Antonia Squire, the Kepler’s Youth 

and Children’s Department, fondly known as 

Kepler’s Kids, is now made up of eight children’s 

specialists — five who work on the floor and 

three who work on programs. 

All eight share a common goal. “We want to 

excite the next generation of Kepler’s readers,” 

Ms. Leal says. 

Binding author to reader 

At the core of the flourishing Kepler’s Kids 

program is the youth author speaker series. 

Every few weeks, authors will come and read 

parts of their writing, speak about their creative 

process and answer questions. The children’s 

staff ties to plan readings that are engaging and 

interactive, with an understanding that children 

can only squirm in a chair for so long. 

“In the events, we try to take the message of 

the book and enforce it, to deepen the reader’s 

relationship with the ideas that came from 

the book,” youth events coordinator Angela 

Kroner-Grafmiller explains. 

Ms. Kroner-Grafmiller and Ms. Leal believe that 

making authors accessible to children — bridging 

the gap between author and reader — can have a 

powerful impact on children’s lives. 

“The book no longer just belongs to the author 

-- it belongs to you [the reader],” Ms. Squire says. 

Among prominent authors who have spoken 

at Kepler’s are fantasy writer Francesa Lia Block; 

novelist Laurie Halse Anderson, acclaimed writer 

of “Speak”; and picture book author Bob Barner. 

S T O R Y B Y N A T A L I E J A B B A R • P H O T O S B Y V E R O N I C A W E B E R

Kepler’s Kids 

From left: Author Joy Hulme talks with Sarmistha Patnaik and daughter Anushka; Elizabeth Semichy helps Lily Olson, 2, put together a puzzle; and kids watch a juggling demonstration. 

Recently, author Sherman Alexie 

came to Kepler’s to speak about 

his new book, “The Absolutely 

True Diary of a Part Time Indian,” 

which is based on his experiences 

growing up on a Spokane Indian 

Reservation. In the next month, 

author Nancy Farmer, a resident of 

Menlo Park who has written popular 

novels such as “The Ear, The Eye 

and the Arm,” and notable author 

Nick Hornby will visit the store to 

talk about their newest works. 

The children’s specialists devotedly 

pore over dozens of books a 

week so that they can develop personalized 

recommendations and 

decide which authors they want to 

invite to the store. 

“If we don’t love the author, we 

don’t bring them,” Ms. Leal says. 

“The threshold is very high.” 

Although the youth and children’s 

department staff selects the 

visiting authors with much deliberation 

and care, they are committed 

to bringing in authors from 

a multitude of genres, schools of 

thought and walks of life. 

“We want to maintain freedom 

of thought and maintain the open 

forum that Kepler’s has stood for 

for 52 years — that’s not going to 

change,” Ms. Leal says. 

Change of setting 

As part of the youth author speaker 

series, Kepler’s invites authors to 

talk with students at local schools 

and libraries, including those that 

may not have the resources to host 

high-profile guests. The goal, says 

Jean Forstner, who runs Kepler’s 

community partners program, is 

to extend the benefits of the author 

visits to the community at large. 

In working with schools, Kepler’s 

makes an effort to choose authors 

that correspond with that school’s 

curriculum, Ms. Forstner says. 

In November 2006, Kepler’s jumpstarted 

its library initiative by bringing 

the popular young adult author 

Tamora Pierce to the Menlo Park 

Library. According to Michelle Barrese, 

the youth services manager at 

the library, about 300 adolescents 

crowded the main lobby on a Friday 

night to listen to Ms. Pierce read her 

stories, speak about being an author 

and answer 

questions. 

“It was magical 

to see Ms. 

Pierce connect 

with the readers 

for hours,” 

Ms. Barrese 

says. “These 

events can 

introduce kids 

to the library 

who may not have ever come before, 

and connect them with books.” 

Tell me a story 

Walk into Kepler’s on a typical 

Sunday morning, and you will 

probably notice clusters of children, 

sitting attentively as someone reads 

to them from the colorful pages of 

a picture book. From 11:30 to 12:30 

on most Sundays, children ages 3 

to 7, along with their parents, are 

invited to Kepler’s for the magical 

hour of story time. 

Although Kepler’s children staff 

often run story time, they also 

bring in local authors of picture 

books to read to the children. 

Story times are interactive and 

fun, Ms. Leal says. Just a few weeks 

ago, author and skateboarding 

mom Barb Odanaka treated young 

listeners to a story and then demonstrated 

her skateboarding savvy 

outside the store. 

Occasionally, Kepler’s partners 

with other organizations to add 

a new dimension to story time. 

In March for example, volunteers 

from Common Ground, a Palo 

Alto nonprofit organization that 

serves as a gardening and educational 

resource, came to Kepler’s to 

help children plant seeds after they 

listened to several nature stories. 

Another fun story time event is 

‘We thought about why the 

store had been resurrected. 

We’re a cultural center, not 

just a bookstore. We provide 

communities with support.’ 

VIVIAN LEAL 

DIRECTOR, YOUTH AND FAMILY EVENTS 

just around the corner. On Sunday, 

Sept. 30, at 11:30 a.m., the Menlo 

Park Police Department’s K-9 unit 

and their dogs will visit Kepler’s to 

share a story about a German shepherd 

police dog, and then discuss 

the unit’s role 

in the community. 

Around 

25 to 30 families 

bring 

their children 

to story time 

every week, 

hoping to foster 

a love of 

reading, Ms. 

Kroner-Grafmiller says. 

Stephanie Seeger of Menlo Park 

makes regular visits with her 

2-year-old son, Henry. She thinks 

of Kepler’s as the “neighborhood 

bookstore” that harkens back to 

the smaller, personal stores from 

her childhood. “Everybody is here 

to find good books and it’s so well 

organized,” she says. “It’s a nice 

place to bring my son.” 

Menlo Park resident Lynn Auslander 

echoes Ms. Seeger’s affection 

for Kepler’s. She says she brings her 

children to the store as much as 

she can and likes that she can let 

them explore freely because of the 

enclosed nature of the children’s 

area. “I hope that they will come to 

the store when they are older and 

just hang out,” she adds. 

Crafting mood and tone 

The youth and children’s department 

at Kepler’s bookstore is in 

itself an immense effort. Although it 

primarily houses a carefully selected 

and scrupulously categorized range 

of books, it also stands as a safe 

alcove where children can curl up 

and escape into faraway lands. 

“We want to create a space that is 

comfortable,” Ms. Antonia says. 

To assess which books should 

be housed and sold in the department, 

she reads more than 50 pic- 

ture books and about six-to-seven 

chapter books a week. 

“I read like a kid,” she says with a 

laugh. “I read like a 12-year-old boy, 

and I can get that boy on my side.” 

In line with Kepler’s communityminded 

efforts, she works to make 

sure that the books she orders mirror 

the needs of her customers. 

“As part of my job, I need to 

know what my community likes 

and where their overall interests 

lie; this community is not homogenous 

by any means, so I have 

to bring in a wide spectrum of 

books,” she says. 

She emphasizes the forethought 

that goes into deciding what books 

to purchase. “Everything you read 

as a child influences you for the 

rest of your life,” she says. 

Ms. Squire says the children themselves 

can be her best resources. She 

makes an effort to talk to them as 

they meander about the store. “They 

are the ones who are reading the 

books, so it’s important to talk to 

them and listen to them.” 

The books she purchases are 

arranged and organized by genre 

and age. High-school students, for 

instance, have their own separate 

bookshelf apart from the rest of 

young adult books. “The parents 

have to know that when their 

12-year-old daughter comes to 

Kepler’s, she won’t be given something 

inappropriate,” she says. 

The pages in between 

Amidst the author visits and story 

time events, Kepler’s provides a 

range of other programs for young 

readers and their families. 

Families can subscribe online to 

“Book Blasts,” a monthly e-newsletter 

filled with information on 

newly released books, including 

reviews written by staff members. 

Kepler’s also features book reviews 

and staff recommendations on its 

Web site at keplers.com. 

See KEPLER’S, next page 


Menlo Swim and Sport 

10 reasons why Burgess Park pools 

are the center of Menlo Park’s 

active community 

1. Open & Lap Swim 

2. Masters Swim 

3. Masters Water Polo 

4. Youth Swim Teams 

5. Triathlon Teams 

6. Swim School 

7. Summer Aquatics Camps 

8. Adult Aqua Fitness 

9. Snack Bar and Pro Shop 

10. Family Picnics and Parties 

501 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025 

Burgess Park Pools • 650-328-SWIM (7946) 

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS 

Whether you are wearing eyeglasses with 

prescription lenses or looking at someone 

wearing them, reflections and glare can be very 

distracting. Thus, it is a good idea to opt for 

an anti-reflection (AR) coating for your lenses. 

This can be especially advantageous if you have 

stronger prescription, which usually require 

high index lens materials that reflect more light. 

AR coatings reduce the light reflected off your 

lenses, both front and back. This means that you 


Information and registration 

www.menloswim.com 

would be less susceptible to glare emanating from 

behind. As for reducing the light that is reflected 

off the front of the lens, this feature enables others 

to see what lies behind your lenses. 

Seeing clearly is important for your day-today 

tasks. Clear vision is particularly important 

if you are behind the wheel of a car. Applying 

anti-reflective coatings on your lenses will 

remove ghost images and reflections as well as 

glare-associated eyestrain. Please call MENLO 

OPTICAL at 322-3900, or bring your prescription 

to 1166 University Drive, on the corner of Oak 

Grove Avenue and University Drive. We are not 

a large, impersonal corporation where personnel 

changes are frequent. You can be assured of 

attention from people who understand you. 

P.S. An anti-reflective coating provides a 

great safety benefit by providing better vision 

for driving at night. 

Mark Schmidt is an American Board of Opticianry 

and National Contact Lens Examiners Certified 

Optician licensed by the Medical Board of California. 

He can be easily reached at Menlo Optical, 1166 

University Drive, Menlo Park. 650-322-3900. 

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 the following item: 

Use Permit/Mandana Jamshidnejad/578 Olive Street: Request 

for a use permit to construct a new two-story, single-family residence 

on a substandard lot with regard to lot width in the R-1-S 

(Residential Single-Family Suburban) zoning district. 

NOTICE IS HEREBY FURTHER GIVEN that said City Council will 

hold a public hearing on this item in the Council Chambers of the City 

of Menlo Park, located at 701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park, on Tuesday, 

October 2, 2007 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 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. 

Documents related to this item may be inspected 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 Community Development Department, 

701 Laurel Street, Menlo Park. Please call Megan Fisher, 

Associate Planner, at 650-330-6737 or email at mefisher@menlopark.org 

if there are any questions or comments on this item. 

DATED: September 13, 2007 

Silvia M. Vonderlinden, City Clerk 

PUBLISHED: September 19, 2007 

Visit our Web site for public hearing, agenda, and staff report 

information: http://www.ci.menlo-park.ca.us 

Published in THE COUNTRY ALMANAC on September 19, 2007. 

Above: Parents and kids at Kepler’s story 

time. Right: Sherman Alexie, author of a 

young adult novel, “The Absolutely True Diary 

of a Part-Time Indian, speaks at Kepler’s. 

KEPLER’S 

continued from previous page 

The newsletter also provides detailed, 

personalized context for parents who are at 

a loss when it comes to understanding what 

their children might want to read. “Often, 

parents feel alienated from children’s literature,” 

Ms. Kroner-Grafmiller says. “The 

newsletter can help the dialogue begin.” 

To bridge the gap between children 

and adults, Kepler’s annually invites local 

librarians, teachers and parents to the store 

for a “Diva’s Night,” when staff members 

and publishers discuss new children’s 

books. This year’s Diva’s Night will be held 

at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2. 

“The event helps build excitement,” 

explains Ms. Leal. “It also provides valuable 

information on what’s new and high 

quality in literature, especially for librarians 

who are hard-pressed with budgets.” 

On top of trying to provide the community 

with a thorough understanding of the 

ins and outs of current kids’ reads, Kepler’s 

now works with local organizations and 

groups that express interest in hosting their 

programs at the store because of the larger 

space and potentially bigger turnouts. 

From welcoming a spelling bee for 

SCORE (Schools of California Online 

Resources for Education) to hosting a local 

poetry slam, Kepler’s invites groups to use 

the store’s space for free. 

Also, Kepler’s hosts book fairs for schools 

that are interested in a smaller, more personalized 

version of the more typical, corporate 

book fairs. The staff will work with 

the teachers and librarians at each school 

C O V E R S T O R Y 

INFORMATION 

to ensure that the books will be tailored to 

meet their needs, says Ms. Forster. Kepler’s 

staff members help set up and take down 

the fair displays, and staff the fairs so that 

they can talk to parents and students and 

offer book reviews and recommendations. 

Among schools that have made use of 

Kepler’s book fairs are Palo Verda Elementary 

School in Palo Alto, St. Joseph’s School 

in Atherton, and Phillips Brooks School 

and Trinity School in Menlo Park. 

You might also be surprised to learn that 

Kepler’s sponsors a Little League team, 

Kepler’s Klobberers. According to Ms. 

Squire, the store ran a baseball story time 

as a benefit for the team, and provided each 

player with a Kepler’s water bottle. Members 

of the Kepler’s staff go to the games, 

cheering in the stands as coach Larry Kelmar 

leads his team of Little Leaguers. 

“We try to do whatever we can to support 

the community,” Ms. Leal says. A 

Kepler’s is located at 1010 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. For a comprehensive 

calendar of Kepler’s youth and family programs, go to www.keplers.com. To subscribe 

to the Book Blast e-newsletter, send an e-mail request to angelak@keplers.com.

N E W S 

Supes limit big houses 

in Los Trancos Woods 

By Marion Softky 


From now on, you won’t be 

able to build a really big 

— say 6,000- to 16,000square-foot 

— house on most 

lots in Los Trancos Woods, even 

if the new sewers can serve it. 

On Sept. 11, the San Mateo 

County Board of Supervisors 

amended the zoning for 137 lots 

in the former summer-home community 

to limit the size of houses 

that can be built in two zones. 

The new zoning replaces the 

old means of calculating maximum 

house size with a new 

formula that bases total square 

footage of a house on the size of 

the lot. For a lot of 7,500 square 

feet, the maximum house will 

be 3,200 square feet. For larger 

lots, the maximum house size 

will increase by 10 percent of the 

lot area above 7,500 square feet. 

Under the new zoning, a halfacre 

lot can support a house of 

4,628 square feet, according to 

the county staff report. 

More than 16,000 square feet 

could be built under previous zoning, 

which allowed a three-story 

house to cover 25 percent of the lot. 

Amazingly, no one from the 

community spoke at the hearing, 

either for or against the dramatic 

change in zoning restrictions. 

Planning Director Lisa Grote 

presented the zoning amendments 

for two areas of the foothill 

community. The board voted 

unanimously for the new limits. 

Supervisor Rich Gordon congratulated 

the community on 

coming together to support 

a compromise on maximum 

house size. He recalled the first 

community meetings about eight 

years ago as full of “contention, 

disagreement, and argument.” 

“Sewers were the impetus,” 

said Armin Staprans of Los 

Trancos Woods, who chaired 

the semi-official committee 

�� 

that finally came up with the 

compromise adopted last week. 

Sewers for small wooded lots 

that often have problems with 

septic tanks have been under 

discussion in the community for 

almost 10 years. Finally, in June, 

legal and financial issues had been 

resolved, and construction started 

on sewers that will serve some 60 

lots — for starters. They should 

begin service this winter. 

Sewers mean that much larger 

houses can be built. With no sewers, 

the size of a house is limited by 

the capacity of the lot to support a 

septic tank drain field; with sewers, 

that limitation goes away, and house 

size is determined by zoning. 

“In the beginning, the subject 

was very contentious,” Mr. Staprans 

said. Some people wanted to keep 

house sizes way down, while property 

rights advocates wanted no 

limits. “We really got nowhere; the 

county threw up its hands.” 

As it became clear that the sewers 

were coming, Mr. Staprans and 

his group came together to seek 

common ground. They decided 

not to tinker with zoning details 

like setbacks, height and slope, he 

explained. Instead, the committee 

focused on a formula that related 

total floor area to lot size. 

“We found the neighborhood 

could live with that,” Mr. Staprans 

said. “We were racing with sewers.” 

A survey of the community 

generated an 86 percent response; 

72 percent supported the compromise, 

Ms. Grote reported. 

As the time neared for sewer 

construction to begin, the county 

revived the planning effort. 

A community meeting in June 

drew strong support, and the 

Planning Commission approved 

the community proposal in 

August, with no opposition. 

“Everyone was notified,” Mr. 

Staprans said. “Under the previous 

zoning, you could build a 

9,000-square-foot house on a 

sixth of an acre.” A 

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New law aims to curb 

distracted teenage drivers 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger 

signed a new law Sept. 13 

that beginning in July 2008 

will make it illegal for 16- and 

17-year-olds to drive while talking 

on their cell phone or text 

messaging. 

The governor signed the law 

at Sequoia High School in Redwood 

City alongside state Sen. 

Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, the 

author of the bill. 

Gov. Schwarzenegger said the 

law is necessary because statistics 

show a link between distractions 

and accidents among 

teenage drivers. 

“The simple fact is that teen 

drivers are more easily distracted,” 

he said. “The majority 

of accidents with teen drivers is 

because they’re distracted.” 

16th Annual 

Artistry in 

Fashion 

Saturday, October 20 

Cañada College 

Professional 

Designer Sale 

10am–5pm 

Student Fashion Show 

1pm 

www.artistryinfashion.com 

$8 donation to benefit Cañada College 

Fashion Design Dept. Present this ad 

to receive $1 off the entry. 


Sen. Simitian echoed the governor, 

saying that the two years 

between ages 16 and 18 are especially 

dangerous driving years. 

“The crash rates for 16-yearolds 

are five times greater than 

they are for their 18-year-old 

friends,” Sen. Simitian said. 

The law takes effect on July 1, 

2008, the same time as another 

new law written by Sen. Simitian 

and previously signed by Gov. 

Schwarzenegger that makes it 

illegal for adults to talk on a cell 

phone while driving unless they 

use a “hands-free” device. 

“Starting in July if you’re 18 or 

over it’s hands free but if you’re 

under 18, hands off. That’ll be 

the law,” Sen. Simitian said. 

— Bay City News Service 

Japanese woodblock prints topic of talk 

Docent Florence Hitchcock 

from the San Francisco Asian 

Art Museum will give a talk in 

Menlo Park on Thursday, Sept. 

20, about the museum’s 100 

woodblock prints by Taiso Yoshitoshi 

(1839-92), dating from the 

last decades of Edo Japan to the 

westernizing Meiji era. 

The program runs from 1:30 

to 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium 

of Little House activity center, 

800 Middle Ave. in Menlo Park. 

Admission is $1 for members 

and $2 for others. 

Other Little House programs: 

■ A Wednesday lecture series 

on “Modern American Presidency 

on the Campaign Trail,” presented 

by the Osher Lifelong Learning 

Institute/UCSC Extension, Sept. 

12-Oct. 3, from 1 to 3 p.m. 

■ The Little House Gallery is 

featuring the paintings of Leah 

Lubin during September. There 

is no charge. 

■ Dr. Martin Duke will 

speak on “A History of Medical 

Technology” from 2 to 3 p.m. 

Tuesday, Sept. 18, at the Little 

House auditorium. The talk is 

part of the Little House Tuesday 

Tea series. Refreshments will be 

served. There is no charge. 

For more information on Little 

House programs, call 326-2025. 

Cañada College, 4200 Farm Hill Blvd., Redwood City 650-306-3370 

N E W S 

Fire sprinkler debate to come back 

By Rory Brown 


Menlo Park City Council 

members aren’t ready 

to take sides in the city’s 

contentious fire sprinkler debate 

— at least, not yet. 

At a Sept. 11 study session, council 

members discussed proposed 

changes to the city’s fire sprinkler 

ordinance that would require more 

stringent sprinkler regulations. 

After hearing the arguments 

from both sides, council members 

opted to hold another study session 

on the issue later this year, 

rather than schedule the matter for 

a council decision. 

Menlo Park Fire Protection District 

officials, led by Chief Harold 

Schapelhouman and Fire Marshal 

Earn 8-10%* 

Interest 

Private Capital 

Fund 

YTD 

9.4% 

Geoff Aus, are pushing the stricter 

sprinkler ordinance, which would 

require fire-suppression sprinklers 

in new single-family homes of 

more than 1,000 square feet; homes 

where more than 50 percent of the 

structure is to be remodeled; and all 

planned buildings with a basement 

of more than 250 square feet. 

“Sprinklers put out fires,” Chief 

Schapelhouman told the council. 

“When that happens, we’re pushing 

water out of the building, not 

pulling bodies.” 

Chief Schapelhouman said he 

was “encouraged” by the council’s 

Sept. 11 discussion. 

But developers and some residents 

are opposed to stricter sprin- 

For more info call: 

800-785-9156 

www.stonecrestmanagers.com 

*Anticipated Return 

kler regulations, arguing potential 

water damage and installation 

costs outweigh any safety benefits. 

Outspoken sprinkler opponents 

Richard Li, Michael Lambert and 

Dick Poe made their case to the 

council during the study session. 

All council members but John 

Boyle favored requiring sprinklers 

in planned basements, but council 

members were undecided whether 

sprinklers should be required in 

new or remodeled homes. 

Councilman Boyle said sprinkler 

regulations should be up to experts 

at the federal and state level, but 

Mayor Kelly Fergusson disagreed. 

“Heaven help us of we have to 

look to the federal government 

and state government for leadership,” 

she said. A 

Lane Woods named after Lane family 

The 32-home project approved 

for 75 Willow Road in Menlo 

Park has been named Lane 

Woods after the Lane family, 

which founded Lane Publishing 

and Sunset magazine. 

Sunset’s headquarters, located 

at Willow and Middlefield roads, 

is adjacent to the 4.5-acre site. 

Palo Alto-based SummerHill 

Homes, the developer behind 

the project, is expected to sell the 

three- and four-bedroom homes 

for $1 million to $2 million each. 

The homes will be built by early 

2008, according to a SumerHill 

Homes press release. 

Hazardous waste drop-off 

On Oct. 13, residents of Menlo 

Park, Atherton, Woodside, and 

■ MENLO PARK 

■ MENLO WATCH 

Portola Valley can drop off hazardous 

waste, such as batteries 

and pool chemicals, at a special 

location in Redwood City. 

Participants must make an 

appointment by calling 363-4718, 

or visiting SMHealth.org/hhw/ 

appt. After making an appointment, 

participants will be given 

the location of the drop-off site. 

Caregiving library 

at Rosener House 

It seems only natural. The Peninsula 

Volunteers Rosener House, 

which offers adult day services at 

500 Arbor Road in Menlo Park, 

has opened a new lending library 

of books, videos and CDs on caring 

for an elderly person. 

Among the topics: advice and 

instruction for caregivers, home 

safety, and sharing activities with 

family. Some Spanish and Chinese 

translations are available. Among 

the titles: “Bathing without a 

Battle” and “The Educated Caregiver 

— Coping Skills, Hands-On 

Skills, and Essential Knowledge.” 

The library is funded through 

a grant from the Aging and Adult 

Services division of the San Mateo 

County Health Department. 

To celebrate the library’s opening, 

Aging and Adult Services Social 

Worker John Khajit will give a talk 

at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, on 

care-giving and related programs. 

For more information, call 

322-0126. 

“When you 

don’t want 

just anybody 

working on 

your car!” 

• TIRES • ALIGNMENTS 

• SHOCKS • BRAKES 

2115 El Camino Real 

Redwood City 

650.365.0280

NEWS OF LOCAL PEOPLE AND EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY 

Woodside sets date for annual Barn Dance 

Tickets are now available for the 

annual Woodside Barn Dance, 

sponsored for Woodside residents 

by the town’s Recreation Committee 

as a way of celebrating the 

town’s long equestrian history. 

Held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on 

Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Runnymede 

Sculpture Farm, the 

event features games and hayrides 

beginning at 3 p.m.; a barbecue 

dinner from 5 to 7 p.m.; and 

dancing from 5 to 8 p.m. 

Cost is $35 per person for 

adults; $20 for children (under 

14); and $95 for a family of up to 

five (immediate family only). 

Participants may also tour the 

sculptures at Runnymede. Children’s 

activities include rides on 

a fire truck or draft horse wagon 

and a petting zoo. 

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You can download a reservation 

form at the Recreation Committee’s 

Web site, www.woodsiderec.com; 

or, before Sept. 20, send a check payable 

to the Town of Woodside with 

name and address and number of 

tickets wanted to: P.O. Box 620005, 

Woodside CA 94062. 

Space is limited and tickets may 

sell out. For more information, 

call 851-3534. 

Museum celebrates 

local history 

The San Mateo Historical Association 

will host the annual “Yesterday, 

Today and Tomorrow” event at 

the history museum on Saturday, 

DAR takes part in Constitution Day 

The Palo Alto chapter of the 

Daughters of the American Revolution 

will take part in Constitution 

Day, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 

at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs 

Medical Center. Constitution 

Week is Sept. 17 to 23. 

Events begin at 10 a.m. and 

continue until 2:30 p.m. Genealogy 

groups will help interested 

persons determine if they have 

an ancestor from the colonial 

era, Revolutionary War, or the 

War of 1812. Table displays will 

have patriotic items available 

and craft items for sale. Carica- 

■ AROUND TOWN 

ture artist Jody Carr will share 

her talents with veterans and 

their families in the afternoon. 

Maritza Frankfurt, Caroline 

Landes and Angelica Volterra 

became full members of the 

Daughters of the American 

Revolution at the group’s first 

meeting of the 2007-2008 year, 

held Sept. 17 at the Covenant 

Presbyterian Church in Palo 

Alto. Guest speaker was Dr. 

Charles Hanson of Menlo College, 

who spoke on the constitutional 

aspects of immigration, 

naturalization and citizenship. 

Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Local historical societies will 

provide displays. Visitors are invited 

to explore the museum’s exhibits 

during a treasure hunt. 

A historical dramatic re-enactment 

of “Broads, Bootleggers 

and Bookies” will be performed 

in Courtroom A. The authentic 

“Museum on Wheels,” a restored 

1961 yellow school bus, will also 

be displayed. 

The museum is in the historic 

courthouse at 2200 Broadway 

in Redwood City. Admission is 

free. For more information, call 

299-0104. 

Unreleased Beatles 

topic of talk 

Beatlemania lives on. Author and 

“Beatles expert” Richie Unterberger 

will speak, play rare recordings and 

show rare film clips of the Fab Four 

in a two-hour presentation starting 

at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18, at the 

Portola Valley library at 4575 Alpine 

Rd. at Corte Madera School. (He 

gave the presentation at the Atherton 

library the night before.) 

Mr. Unterberger is the author of 

a new book “The Unreleased Beatles: 

Music and Film,” in which he 

covers rarely heard and seen audio 

and film footage extending from 

1957, when they were the Quarrymen, 

to the final sessions of “Let It 

Be” in 1970. The book also covers 

bootleg recordings and includes 

more than 100 photos. 

�� 

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GENERAL PUBLIC BEWARE 

THE LAW REQUIRES BANKS & OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 

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THIS INCLUDES THE CONTENT IN SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES 

THE PROPERTY IS THEN SEIZED BY THE STATE, SHOULD YOU MAINTAIN A 

SAFE DEPOSIT BOX IN A BANK OR ANY OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTION. 

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HAVE READ ABOVE WILL NEVER HAPPEN � �� TO YOU. 

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Photo by Jim Milton 

Cathy Glazer, left, her daughter and a group of friends get ready for a 

wagon ride at last year’s Woodside Barn Dance. 

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CASTILLEJA SCHOOL 

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Celebrating 100 years of Excellence 

Fall 2007 Open House Dates 

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Saturday, October 13 

Sunday, November 11 

Berkeley 

1716 Fourth Street 

510.559.1760 

Menlo Park 

850 Santa Cruz Ave. 

650.325.4849 

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Wednesday, November 7 

Sunday, December 2 

Visit www.castilleja.org for more information 

650.328.3160 � admission@castilleja.org 

C O M M U N I T Y 

Menlo leader ‘Liz’ Goldberg dies at 69 

By Jane Knoerle 

Almanac Lifestyles Editor 

Amemorial service will 

be held at 1:30 p.m. 

Monday, Sept. 24, at 

Peninsula Temple Sholom, 

1655 Sebastian Drive in Burlingame, 

for Elizabeth “Liz” 

Goldberg of Redwood City. 

Ms. Goldberg died at home 

Sept 13 after a long battle with 

cancer. She was 69. 

Ms. Goldberg was born 

in St. Paul, Minnesota, and 

moved to California when she 

was 8 years old. She attended 

UC Berkeley, where she met 

her husband, Peter. They were 

preparing to celebrate 50 years 

of marriage this November. 

Blessed with movie-star good 

looks and a sense of style, Ms. 

Goldberg cut quite a swath on 

the local scene when she and 

her husband moved to Menlo 

Park in 1969. Proving she had 

brains as well as beauty, she 

served as the first woman president 

of the Sharon Heights 

Homeowners Association. 

She soon invaded the “old boy 

network” of city politics and 

organized Menlo Park’s Centennial 

celebration in 1974. She 

served as president of the Menlo 

Park Chamber of Commerce 

in 1976-77 and as executive 

vice president of the chamber 

from 1985 to 1989. She helped 

create the first “Connoisseur’s 

Market,” Menlo Park’s annual 

street fair. 

“Liz” Goldberg at age 45 

Ms. Goldberg also spent six 

years as marketing director of 

the Menlo Management Co., 

resigning to take the executive 

position at the Chamber 

of Commerce. 

When Ms. Goldberg 

received a Golden Acorn 

Award from the Menlo Park 

Chamber of Commerce in 

1992, master of ceremonies 

Tormey Ward recalled, “She 

lit a fire under the business 

community.” 

Her family recalls that Ms. 

Goldberg was “extremely caring 

and generous with her 

time” for those diagnosed 

with cancer, as she first was in 

1980. She served as president 

and longtime board member 

of the Cancer Support Center 

of Menlo Park. She also 

served as president of the 

Community Breast Health 

Project of Palo Alto. 

In a 1984 article in the 

Almanac, Ms. Goldberg talked 

about her battle with breast 

cancer, which she fought suc- 

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cessfully. At the time she said 

her mother had died of cancer 

at age 38, and she knew she 

had a genetic predisposition 

toward the disease. 

“By the time I got cancer, I 

was ready for it,” she said. She 

lauded the Cancer Support 

Center, then located at Vallombrosa 

Conference Center, 

as “a place that was teaching 

what I essentially had to do 

on my own.” 

In later years Ms. Goldberg 

was also a volunteer for both 

Gilda’s Club and the Desert 

Cancer Foundation of Palm 

Desert. For nearly 30 years, 

she counseled hundreds of 

people diagnosed with cancer, 

including relatives, friends, 

and patients of the organizations 

she served, or sometimes 

strangers referred to her by 

friends, say family members. 

Ms. Goldberg enjoyed golf, 

playing at Peninsula Golf and 

Country Club, tennis, and 

bridge, and loved to travel 

abroad, say family members. 

The Goldbergs were members 

of Ladera Oaks Swim & Tennis 

Club when they lived in 

Menlo Park. She was also an 

expert needlewoman and at 

one time taught needlepoint 

to friends. 

She is survived by her husband, 

Peter, sons Brad and 

Doug, and five grandsons. 

The family prefers charitable 

donations to Stop Cancer at 

stopcancer.com. A 

TAIJIQUAN TUTELAGE 

OF PALO ALTO 

Our classes in T’ai Chi Ch’uan 

are held in Palo Alto at the 

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C O M M U N I T Y 

Local hearing Wednesday 

on rebuilding water system 

Five public hearings are being 

held this month, from San Francisco 

to Sonora, on the massive 

Program Environmental Impact 

Report (PEIR) for the $4.3 

billion project to rebuild San 

Francisco’s water system that 

supplies drinking water from 

the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in 

Yosemite National Park to 2.4 

million people in five counties. 

The closest hearing will be 

held in Palo Alto on Wednesday, 

Sept. 19, at 6:30 p.m., at Avenidas 

Senior Center, 450 Bryant St. 

The 3,000-page PEIR, prepared 

by the San Francisco Planning 

Department, analyzes the impacts 

of the proposed Water System 

Improvement Program planned 

by the San Francisco Public Utilities 

Commission to make its aging 

water system reliable. 

The program consists of 22 

projects to strengthen the system 

of dams, pipes, tunnels and pumps 

that carry water 150 miles, across 

three major earthquake faults, to 

serve homes and businesses in San 

Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, 

and Santa Clara counties. 

Key local projects are: replacing 

two pipelines that run under 

the Bay between Fremont and 

East Palo Alto with a tunnel; 

and adding an extra pipe in the 

right-of-way that runs through 

East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and 

North Fair Oaks. 

Most controversial is the plan 

to increase the water supply for 

2030 by taking an additional 25 

million gallons per day from 

the Tuolumne River. Palo Alto 

Councilman Peter Drekmeier has 

just become Bay Area program 

director for the Tuolumne River 

Trust, which is spearheading the 

opposition. It supports increased 

conservation and recycling to 

accommodate future growth. 

The environmental impact 

report can be viewed online 

by going to PEIR.sfwater.org 

and linking to the site. A copy 

is available at the San Mateo 

Library at 55 West 3rd Avenue. 

Comments on the report are 

due by Oct. 1. Comments may be 

submitted at the hearing, or by 

e-mail to wsip.peir.comments@ 

gmail.com; or in writing to Paul 

Maltzer, Environmental Review 

Officer, WSIP PEIR, 1650 Madison 

St., Suite 400, San Francisco, 

CA 94103. 

PUBLIC NOTICE 

TOWN OF 

PORTOLA VALLEY 

The Town of Portola Valley is seeking an individual to serve on the 

Planning Commission. 

All interested parties are requested to please submit a letter to the 

Town Council by closing date of Friday, October 12, 2007. 

For further information, please contact Leslie Lambert, Planning 

Manager at 650-851-1700, extension 12 

Town Hall 

765 Portola Road, Portola Valley, CA 94028 

650-851-1700 

Published in THE COUNTRY ALMANAC on September 19, 2007, 

September 26, 2007, and October 03, 2007. 

ALLIED ARTS GUILD 

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2007 

The Winners 

Best Hardware Store 

Menlo Park Hardware 

700 Santa Cruz Ave 

Menlo Park 

325.2515 

Best Book Store 

Kepler’s Books & 

Magazines 


Menlo park 

324.4321 

Best Jewelry Store 

Hirzel Fine Jewelers 


Menlo Park 

328.6030 

Best Fitness Facility 

Sequoia YMCA 

1445 Hudson St. 

Redwood City 

368.4168 

Best Meat Store 

Draeger’s 

1010 University Dr. 

Menlo Park 

324.7700 

Best Chinese 

Restaurant/Take Out 

Su Hong 


Menlo Park 

323.6852 

Su Hong Take Out 

630 Menlo Ave 

Menlo Park 

322.4631 

Best Sandwiches 

Luttiken’s 

3535 Alameda de las Pulgas 

Menlo Park 

854.0291 

Best Bakery 

Draeger’s 

1010 University Dr 

Menlo Park 

324.7700 

Woodside Bakery 

3052 Woodside Rd 

Woodside 

851.7247 

Best Seafood 

The Fish Market 


Palo Alto 

493.TUNA(8862) 

Best Italian Restaurant 

Carpaccio 

1120 Crane St 

Menlo Park 

322.1211 

Best Painter 

Ruben’s 

322.5062 

Best Produce 

Sigona’s Farmers 

Market 

Stanford Shopping Center 

Palo Alto 

329.1340 

2345 Middlefi eld Rd 

Redwood City 

368.6993 

Best Stationery Store 

Village Stationers 


Menlo Park 

321.6920 

310 California Ave 

Palo Alto 

326.7970 

Best Thai Restaurant 

Thai City Restaurant 


Palo Alto 

493.0643 

Best Hotel 

Stanford Park Hotel 


Menlo Park 

322.1234 

Best Toy Store 

Cheeky Monkey 


Menlo Park 

328.7975 

Best Hair Salon 

Images of Woodside 

3040 Woodside Rd 

Woodside 

851.7103 


Dr. Kathleen Tavarez has been named an 

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SUNDAY OCTOBER 14 • 4TH ANNUAL 

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Early registration 

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BENEFITS ROTARY TUTORING, SCHOLARSHIPS 

■ OBITUARIES 

F O R T H E R E C O R D 

John Francis “Skip” 

Pelan Jr. 

Cytotechnologist and lawyer 

Relatives and friends of John 

Francis “Skip” Pelan Jr. plan to 

gather at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, 

Sept. 19, in Christ Episcopal 

Church in Portola Valley. Mr. Pelan, 

who resided in Menlo Park for 28 

years, died Sept. 10 at age 75. 

Prior to his 

Menlo Park 

years, he lived 

in Portola Valley’s 

Woodside 

Highlands 

neighborhood 

for 21 years. 

Mr. Pelan 

enjoyed two 

careers: in cytotechnology, 

the 

study of human 

John Francis 

“Skip” Pelan 

Jr., from 

around 1970. 

cells for evidence of diseases such as 

cancer, and in the courtroom as an 

attorney for the insurance industry, 

his daughter Janie Barman said. 

He received a bachelor’s degree 

from Juniata College in Pennsylvania 

and a master’s degree in biology 

in 1955 from the University of 

Virginia, his daughter said. 

In the U.S. Army, Mr. Pelan 

worked in cytotechnology at 

Letterman Army Hospital at the 

Presidio in San Francisco, his 

daughter said. He married Katherine 

“Kay” Stivers in 1958 and 

the couple moved to the Peninsula. 

Mr. Pelan spent nine more years as 

a cytotechnologist at El Camino 

Hospital in Mountain View. 

After completing a law degree 

at Hastings College of the Law in 

1968, Mr. Pelan took a position as 

a staff attorney and litigator for 

Industrial Indemnity Insurance 

Co. in San Francisco. He retired 

in 1995, his daughter said. 

While in Portola Valley, he was 

active in the Woodside Highlands 

homeowners association and 

helped get Rep. Pete McCloskey 

elected to Congress, his daughter 

said. His favorite activities were 

sharing family meals and spending 

time with grandchildren. “His 

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deft wit and humor will be dearly 

missed,” his daughter said. 

He also loved the outdoors. He 

hiked “all up and down the Peninsula” 

and opposed the development 

of what is now the Portola 

Valley Ranch subdivision, 

his daughter said. “He learned 

to live with it,” she added. “He 

wanted to keep it pristine.” 

Mr. Pelan is survived by his 

wife, Kay of Menlo Park; sister 

Jane Ayres of Tyrone, Pennsylvania; 

daughters Laura Gambel 

of Lafayette, California, and 

Janie Barman of Portola Valley; 

and five grandchildren. 

In lieu of flowers, the family 

suggests a donation to the 

Parkinson’s disease research 

foundation of one’s choice. 

Marilouise Alfano 

Longtime Woodside resident 

Rosary services will be held at 

7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, at the 

Redwood Chapel, 847 Woodside 

Road, in Redwood City for 

Marilouise M. Alfano of Woodside. 

Ms. Alfano died Sept. 12 at 

Stanford Hospital, surrounded 

by her family. She was 77. 

Ms. Alfano was born in Evanston, 

Illinois. She attended Grinnell 

College in Iowa and transferred 

to the University of New 

Mexico, where she graduated 

with a bachelor of arts degree in 

1952. While in college she met 

her future husband, Bill Alfano. 

They were married in 1953. 

Ms. Alfano is survived by her 

husband of 54 years, Bill; daughters 

Helen Vickers and Mary Hull; 

sons Rich Alfano and Bill Alfano; 

and seven grandchildren. 

Visitation at Redwood Chapel 

begins at 3 p.m. Thursday. Graveside 

services will take place at 

noon Friday, Sept. 21, at Skylawn 

Memorial Park in San Mateo. 

Robert W. Taylor 

A career in writing 

A get-together to remember the 

lives of former Ladera residents 

Robert and Virginia Taylor is set for 

Nov. 10 at the Ladera Oaks Swim & 

Continued on next page 

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Form and Service Center since 1985. We are not attorneys. We provide only self-help services 

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F O R T H E R E C O R D 

Partying teens can ride home free 

Substance abuse by teens on 

weekend nights need not result in 

their getting behind the wheel. 

The “Safe Ride” program 

engages teen volunteers in a taxicab-like 

service for other teens 

who shouldn’t be driving and who 

have the presence of mind to call 

for a free and confidential ride 

home. Teens who just need a ride 

can also call. 

The program, which includes 

service to Atherton, Menlo Park, 

Woodside and Portola Valley, 

operates between 10 p.m. and 2 

a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays 

during the school year, with the 

last request accepted at 1:30 a.m. 

Now in its 22nd year, the 

program is run by the Palo 

Alto chapter of the American 

Red Cross. In 2006-07, the program’s 

Web site lists 698 calls 

received, 537 rides given and 

2,175 volunteer hours served. 

Continued from previous page 

Tennis Club. Mr. Taylor died Aug. 

6 at a skilled nursing facility in 

Tacoma, nine weeks after the death 

of his wife Virginia. He was 82. 

The Taylors left Ladera for Tacoma 

in 2003 to be closer to their son, 

a physician, after Mr. Taylor suffered 

a severe stroke, relatives said. 

Mr. Taylor was an undergraduate 

at Stanford University 

and Cal Tech, which he attended 

with the help of the U.S. Navy in 

exchange for a commission. He 

did graduate work at Stanford’s 

school of journalism after World 

War II, relatives said. 

Robert married Virginia Mays 

of Bronxville, New York, in 1950 

and the couple moved to Trona, 

California, where Mr. Taylor 

edited the Trona Argonaut. 

The first of many positions in 

public relations followed when 

the couple moved to Burbank. 

In 1955, they moved to Ladera 

where they raised three children. 

Among the companies he worked 

for are Standard Oil of California, 

National BankAmericard, Palo 

TechShop is a membership-based workshop that lets you drop in and 

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■ SPORTS ONLINE 

As the Pop Warner football 

season shifts into high gear, the 

Menlo-Atherton Vikings teams 

seem to be hitting their stride. 

Four of five Vikings teams 

posted victories against the 

Mountain View Marauders on 

Saturday, Sept. 15, during a full 

day of competition at Graham 

Middle School in Mountain View. 

For details on this and 

other sports news, check 

www.AlmanacNews.com. 

Alto Medical Research Foundation, 

and the Electric Power 

Research Institute, relatives said. 

Mr. Taylor was “very upbeat, 

generous with his time and 

resources and a friend to all,” 

relatives said. He particularly 

enjoyed watching football, made 

time for tennis, sailing, gardening 

and travel, and concerned 

himself with animal welfare and 

the environment. 

He was an active and longtime 

member of the Ladera Community 

Church. 

Mr. Taylor is survived by his 

brother Paul A. (Pat) Taylor of 

Sacramento; daughter Carol Taylor 

Clay of Eugene, Oregon; sons 

Curt of Portola Valley and Jim of 

Tacoma; and six grandchildren. 

In lieu of flowers, the family 

requests donations to the Taylor 

Memorial Project at Ladera Community 

Church at 3300 Alpine 

Road in Portola Valley, 94028. 

For more information about the 

Nov. 10 memorial in Ladera and 

to indicate plans to attend, contact 

Curt Taylor at curttaylor@ 

sbcglobal.net or at 851-5288. 

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Major Additions and 

Whole House Remodels 

D 

ispel the myths of remodeling and learn the facts and how-to’s of the process 

in an interactive workshop designed specifically for homeowners. 

Whether you are undecided about remodeling or ready to go, the class will cover all the details, 

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-Workshop Attendee 

Saturday, September 22, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm 

1954 Old Middlefield Way, Mountain View, CA 94043 

2979 Woodside Road 

Woodside, 650.851.4747 

www.villagedoctor.com 

We at The Village Doctor enjoy serving 

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– The Bowshers 

Menlo Park parents of a 3 yr. old and 9 mo. old 


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 

Editorial Intern Natalie Jabbar 

Contributors Barbara Wood, 

Bryan Wiggin, 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, Eric Kinnaird, 

Nancy Hwang, Joanne Lee, 

Laura Don 

Advertising 

Advertising Manager Neal Fine 

Display Advertising Sales 

Sandra Valdiosera 

Real Estate Account 

Representative Donna Berryhill 

Advertising Assistant 

Coordinator Deborah Carbone 

Advertising Services 

Receptionists Renee Meil, 

Liz Reiter 

Circulation, Classified, 

& Legal Advertising Bill Rayburn 

Published every Wednesday at 

3525 Alameda de las Pulgas, 


(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 qualifi ed 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 Almanac Web site, www. 

AlmanacNews.com, and occasionally on 

the Almanac’s 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. 

Theater pitch a can of worms 

The City Council should tread very carefully as members 

examine yet another scheme to “save” the Park Theatre, 

downtown Menlo Park’s humble, 700-seat movie house 

that has come on hard times. 

The plot in this drama could easily have played in the Park, 

which was built in 1947 to a design that is said to be historic, 

at least as far as theaters are concerned. Members of the Menlo 

Park Historical Association aren’t that impressed, because other 

historic buildings in the city are well over 100 years old. 

When Andy Duncan first 

EDITORIAL 

The opinion of The Almanac 

Chatterbars best solution 

for Valparaiso 

Editor: 

As a resident of the Victoria Manor 

neighborhood for the past 20 years, I 

am totally in favor of the chatterbars 

or permanent barriers which are 

scheduled to be reinstalled during 

the repaving of Valparaiso. 

Members of our homeowners 

association went before both the 

Atherton and Menlo Park councils 

to ask for a solution to the unsafe 

entrance and exit to our neighborhood. 

A traffic study was done by 

both cities and the solution was a 

“Keep Clear” area and the installation 

of the chatterbars. 

I, too, have been caught in the 

back-up on Valparaiso waiting 

to turn onto Victoria, but I can 

assure you that when I want to 

turn left out of Victoria onto 

Valparaiso, it is much safer with 

the chatterbars in place than trying 

to get out with three lanes of 

traffic coming east towards me. 

It is my opinion that a little 

inconvenient waiting to get to El 

Camino is more than worth the 

safety of the residents trying to get 

revealed his intent to purchase 

the theater and convert it to a 

dance studio for his mother’s 

business, there was no mention 

of city involvement. But in August, Mr. Duncan asked the City 

Council to hold a special meeting to consider his request for a 

$500,000 subsidy to make his deal work. Mayor Kelly Fergusson 

called the meeting despite grumbles from several council members. 

In the end, no action was taken. 

Then Mr. Duncan retreated, and building owner Howard Crittenden 

said he would resubmit his offer to restore the shell and 

marquee of the building if the city would approve his plan to use 

the interior for retail or office space. This project would not require 

a subsidy, and received a thumbs-up on these pages two weeks ago. 

But now, in his third act, Mr. Duncan says he would contribute 

$750,000 if the city would purchase the Park, and lease it to 

him for 55 years at a rate to be negotiated. Mr. Duncan said he 

would restore the building for a dance studio, and preserve the 

building’s historic features so that it could be reconfigured as a 

LETTERS 

Our readers write 

See LETTERS, next page 

movie theater once his lease is up or the city buys him out. 

The City Council is likely to consider Mr. Duncan’s new proposal 

Sept. 25. It is no secret that restoring the Park Theatre is 

a top priority for Mayor Fergusson. But if the city is going to 

invest any capital in the Park, it must first determine if it can 

reach its objectives without risking city funds. 

The big question: Is the Park historic enough to warrant the 

city’s investment of its precious tax dollars to preserve it? Members 

of the Menlo Park Historical Association do not think so, 

even though Mr. Duncan’s request for at least $1.5 million of 

upfront capital is based on preserving the so-called historic 

structure. Mr. Duncan and his architect are convinced that the 

Park is one of the last remaining art deco-type theaters in the 

area and that it could be eligible for inclusion on the national 

registry of historic buildings. 

Before the council commits any funds to Mr. Duncan, the 

city needs to conduct a thorough historical, architectural and 

cost analysis of the Duncan and Crittenden offers, especially in 

regard to restoration of the building’s interior. As council members 

consider their decision, they should also evaluate the likelihood 

that movies will ever again be shown at the Park. 

If the city is mainly interested in seeing the exterior of the 

building restored, including the marquee, Mr. Crittenden seems 

to have the edge with his no-subsidy offer. Mr. Duncan promises 

to retain many of the interior qualities of the theater, but at 

a price of $1.5 million or more. The council needs to decide if 

there ever will be a viable use for the Park up to 55 years from 

now, when Mr. Duncan’s lease would expire. This is at least a 

$1.5 million question. 

Atherton Heritage Association 

Our Regional Heritage 

A Boy Scout Court of Honor was held in June 1980 to congratulate two new Eagle Scouts, David Van 

Poppelen and Steve Rehmus, left and right center. The Troop 206 ceremony was held at Holbrook-Palmer 

Park in Atherton, with committee chairman Leo Dreyer, left, and Scoutmaster Arthur H. Brodenbeck, 

right, officiating.

LETTERS 

Continued from previous page 

in or out of our neighborhood. 

Donna Wada 

Victoria Manor resident 

Quick response from police 

saved the day 

Editor: 

Recently, in the late evening, my 

wife was putting out the paper and 

recycling in the boxes on our front 

porch and the door was open. 

I didn’t see the dog and when I 

called him in the house there was 

no response. I asked my wife if he 

had run by her, but she replied 

she didn’t think so. More looking 

around and calling, but no dog. 

I got in the car and drove 

around the neighborhood, looking 

and calling. No positive result. 

The dog is AKC registered and my 

hunting companion. 

We noticed there was a dark colored 

car across the street that was 

gone by the time I started my outside 

search that might have taken 

the dog. I called the humane society, 

but got no response. Since we 

live in the county unincorporated 

area, I finally called the sheriff. 

Amazingly, the officers 

responded within five minutes. 

As the officer was taking 

information he turned to me 

and asked, “Do you hear a dog 

barking? It sounds like it’s coming 

from your garage.” My wife 

went and opened the door to the 

lower level garage and, of course, 

there was our missing animal. 

We were both very embarrassed, 

and still at the same time 

very relieved and thankful. The 

fast response and professional 

service from the Sheriff’s Department 

was great. Thank you. 

Fred and Bev Benz 

Camino A Los Cerros 

Menlo Park 

Resident at odds with 

Sausal Creek project 

Editor: 

On Sept. 12, the Portola Valley 

Town Council passed a motion three 

to one with one abstention to make 

V I E W P O I N T 

Termites are the methane champs 

By Lawrence S. Lerner 

Malcolm Davidson’s letter 

last week (Meat production 

has big role in 

warming) expresses concern about 

the contribution of greenhouse 

gases by animals raised for meat. 

The big culprit here, of course, is 

methane produced by ruminants 

— or more specifically, by the 

bacteria in their rumens which 

digest the cellulose that constitutes 

a large part of their diets and 

is otherwise undigestible. Several 

alternatives present themselves: 

1. Switch from eating beef and 

lamb to pork and chicken; pigs 

and fowl are not ruminants. 

2. Stop 

eating beans 

(including 

such products 

as tofu) 

which have a 

well-known 

effect on 

human 

methane 

production. 

But sadly, 

the methane 

GUEST 

OPINION 

production of ruminants pales in 

comparison with that of termites 

available $400,000 from the town’s 

general fund to finance engineering, 

architectural and landscaping design 

work to open Sausal Creek, which 

flows through a culvert under the 

Town Center property. 

It was said the $400,000 would 

be considered a loan but nothing 

was said about interest, period 

of the loan or who is responsible 

for repayment. This is hardly a 

loan that would be approved by a 

proper loan officer. The estimate 

given for the cost of the total 

project, including earth removal, 

landscaping, bridges, and so on 

was $1 million to $1.2 million. 

There was much discussion 

that these costs would be repaid 

from donations and grants with 

(mostly in low latitudes), which 

have evolved a parallel symbiosis 

with bacteria that enables them 

to digest the cellulose in wood. 

Perhaps we can learn to emulate 

the many mammals that make a 

diet of termites, and thus reduce 

their numbers. 

Unfortunately, the realistic longterm 

path to reduction of greenhouse 

gases is control of human, 

not livestock, population. 

Lawrence S. Lerner is a retired 

physics professor emeritus from 

Cal State Long Beach. He lives 

in Woodside. 

much giggling and laughter 

about the wealth in Portola Valley 

and that “the money is out 

there.” However, it was also said 

that an affluent city would stand 

no chance of receiving grants to 

open a creek when so many poor 

regions have much dire needs. 

It has been stated many times 

that the town’s general fund is to 

be used for operating expenses. 

It was never intended to finance 

the projects of special-interest 

groups. Statements made during 

the meeting that kids would 

wade through the open creek are 

pure fantasy when you consider 

that in the summer the creek is 

only a trickle and that random 

pools would be treated with 

City settles suit filed by three black police officers 

Here’s what people are saying 

in Town Square: 

Posted by Concerned, a resident of Menlo 

Park’s Sharon Heights neighborhood 

This is clearly another “race card” 

being thrown for money. If there was any 

merit to this it would have seen a jury. 

Since it did not, this is a waste of taxpayer’s 

money for a bunch of ridiculous 

horse crap. These unethical officers need 

to learn to quit throwing the race card 

when they get themselves into trouble. 

Posted by AuContraire, a resident of the 

Menlo Park: Allied Arts/Stanford Park 

neighborhood 

Concerned, you need to get a grip on 

reality. If the city thought it had a case, it 

would have met the three officers and their 

lawyer in court. This is not the first time 

Officer Prickett has been the subject of an 

internal investigation. I don’t know how the 

past investigations were resolved but the 

latest is what smells bad here. White supremicist 

images in the workplace shouldn’t 

have been too difficult to verify. 

VTA cuts bus service to Menlo Park 

Posted by KD, a resident of Menlo Park’s 

‘other’ neighborhood 

A “mere” 400 riders, eh. That will be an 

additional 400 cars on El Camino. Oh, 

TownSquare 

Join the conversation on www.AlmanacNews.com. 

Click on links under the TownSquare banner 

on the left side of the screen. 

and that presumes the poor riders actually 

can drive as an alternative. I work in 

Mountain View between the train station 

and El Camino. I’ve looked into (and 

have taken) the bus and taken the train. 

Due to scheduling, it’s hard to work 

a full eight hours, plus take a half-hour 

lunch and not have to wait a long time for 

the bus. If you miss it, you are sentenced 

to waiting an additional hour for the next 

one. Realistically, it extends my commute 

by at least an hour (over the time it takes 

if I drive) to take public transit. 

It is a Catch-22 that they eliminate service 

because of low ridership, but have low ridership 

because of poor or inconvenient service. 

Transit is supposed to be a public service, 

partially subsidized by ridership, not existing 

solely because of ridership funding. 

People who want to use public transit 

would be attracted by better scheduling 

and more convenience. VTA, Samtrans 

and CalTrain should look at the schedules. 

If it’s almost exactly eight hours 

between the north and southbound 

directions, and the trains are an hour 

apart, it just doesn’t make sense, and, 

accordingly, no wonder ridership is low. 

In addition, service to community colleges 

is horrible too. Zero transit after 

6:30 p.m. Friday nights to or from either 

College of San Mateo or Canada College. 

Atherton torn by dissension 

Posted by Concerned Citizen, a resident of 

the West Atherton neighborhood 

Our City Council is an embarrassment for 

our town. The council is filled with people 

who have nothing better to do with their 

time than to spend the town’s money on 

things it has no business being involved in. 

The council is also to blame for all the 

audits that have taken place in the building 

department and now the finance department. 

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or 

audit) to tell you that the town has antiquated 

computers and systems. With little 

revenue coming in it is hard to keep up with 

all the modern technology out there. 

Many of the council members have their 

own agendas and axes to grind. This is not 

how a town should be run. If we are not 

careful and don’t get control of the City 

Council this town could be run into the 

ground very quickly. Has anyone seen what 

the town has spent on legal fees in the past 

year? The dollars spent to defend the council 

and its bad decisions could have been 

spent in much better ways. 

mosquito abatement materials. 

The work on the creek was voted 

to run concurrently with the ongoing 

work for the new Town Center, 

requiring the project manager to 

institute time-keeping procedures 

that ensure creek work is not 

commingled with the new Town 

Center work. This is an obligation 

of honor to the donors for the new 

Town Center, since opening the 

creek is not part of that project. 

I recommended that the Town 

Council rescind the motion passed 

Sept. 12 on the grounds that the 

authorization to spend $400,000 

from the general fund is not prudent 

and that there is no viable plan 

to obtain funds for repayment. 

Bernard F. Bayuk 

Paloma Road, Portola Valley 

Safe Ride program 

on the road again 

Editor: 

With the beginning of a new 

school year, the Safe Ride program 

sponsored by the Palo Alto 

area chapter of the American Red 

Cross, is back in operation again. 

To some local residents who have 

heard of the program, it is just an 

excuse for teens to get drunk and 

then get a free ride home. However, 

Safe Ride has been potentially saving 

lives for more than 20 years. 

It is a service for teens by teens. Its 

purpose is to provide free, safe and 

confidential rides home on weekend 

nights for high school students 

— who do not have to be drunk or 

high to call for a ride. Also, Safe Ride 

volunteers provide peer education 

about the dangers of drinking and 

driving; there’s a proactive, preventive 

aspect to the program, as well. 

Safe Ride operates on Friday and 

Saturday nights during the school 

year (except on holiday weekends) 

from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m., with the 

last call taken at 1:30 a.m. Teams 

from the seven participating high 

schools take turns staffing the 

service at the Palo Alto Red Cross 

offices, where two cars are maintained 

for this program. 

The progam’s service area includes 

Redwood City, Woodside, Portola 

Valley, Atherton, Menlo Park, Palo 

Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, 

Mountain View, Moffett Field, and 

Stanford, meaning that Safe Ride 

volunteers can pick up or drop off 

teens in those areas. 

We remind teens to “Arrive 

Alive! Call Safe Ride at 1-877- 

753-RIDE.” 

And to parents and everyone 

else in the community interested 

in protecting the lives of teens who 

might otherwise drive or ride under 

unsafe conditions, we say please 

support this important program 

and the Red Cross chapter that has 

kept it operating for more than two 

decades. It could be the life of a teen 

you know and love who is saved. 

Betsy Burch 

Student and Safe Ride Coordinator 

Menlo-Atherton High School 


Friars Lane, Woodside 

FOR SALE $2,750,000 – price reduced 

Scott Dancer 

650.529.2454 

scottdancer.com 


2969 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA 94062 

Information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 

represented by Scott Dancer 

Buck Meadow Drive 

Portola Valley 

FOR SALE $4,695,000 

Kings Mountain Road 

Woodside 

FOR SALE $995,000 

Bear Gulch Road 

17 acres 

Woodside 

FOR SALE $2,250,000 

18th Avenue 

Menlo Park 

FOR SALE $869,000

Community leader Elizabeth 'Liz' Goldberg dies at ... - Almanac News

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