Recent news headlines from Palo Alto Online
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Paly hosts event for 'survivors of suicide loss'
Palo Alto High School will be a host site for the "National Survivors of Suicide Loss Day" Saturday starting at 9 a.m. The event is sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. (Friday, 3:26 PM)

Under the rainbow
A lone horse chews on grass in a field beside Page Mill Road Friday while a rainbow hangs overhead. Photo by Veronica Weber/Palo Alto Online. (Friday, 3:19 PM)

Sherman Avenue development put on hold
A proposal for a new four-story mixed-use building at 385 Sherman Ave. is on hold after the Palo Alto Architectural Review Board Thursday morning listed several conditions to be met before further review after several nearby residents reiterated concerns about the project. (Friday, 12:16 PM)

Man, 20, killed in East Palo Alto shooting
A 20-year-old man was killed in an apparent drive-by shooting in East Palo Alto Thursday afternoon, according to police. (Friday, 9:38 AM)

Ho-ho hum?
Low sales and high unemployment numbers in Silicon Valley could signal a poor spending season for already struggling retailers. Owners of some Palo Alto shops are reporting a 10 percent decline in sales over last year and express grave concerns for the bottom lines. Photos by Veronica Weber and Shawn Fender/Palo Alto Online. Related stories:
■ Shoppers look to celebrate holidays on a slimmer budget (Friday, 8:49 AM)

Shoppers look to celebrate holidays on a slimmer budget
When it comes to holiday cheer, more people this year are saying that money doesn't necessarily buy happiness. (Friday, 8:48 AM)

Thursday, November 19, 2009
Weekly announces new online 'virtual edition'
A new enhanced digital version of the Palo Alto Weekly will now be available on Palo Alto Online. (Thursday, 5:33 PM)

As funds fall, Palo Alto cuts managers' benefits
Palo Alto's professional and management workers will give up their bonus payments, receive no salary increases and pay for a greater share of their medical premiums under a new compensation plan the City Council approved this week. (Thursday, 3:59 PM)

At long last, supermarket opens in East Palo Alto
The supermarket chain Mi Pueblo opened a 35,000-square-foot store in East Palo Alto last Saturday, filling a gaping shopping hole that has existed for three decades in the multicultural city. (Thursday, 3:48 PM)

Parents demand probe of 'egg war' investigation
Angry Palo Alto High School parents are calling for a probe by the school board and district superintendent into how Paly officials conducted a two-week investigation of the Oct. 27 "egg wars" fight behind Gunn High School. Related stories:
■ Palo Alto High principal reflects on 'egg wars'
■ Paly delegation apologizes to Gunn for egg fight
■ Paly students face suspensions for egg fight (Thursday, 3:43 PM)

East Palo Alto man shot in knee on way to store
A 51-year-old East Palo Alto resident who said he had just left his home to walk to a store was shot in his left knee Wednesday night in an apparent drive-by shooting, police said. (Thursday, 12:31 AM)

New hotels reserving space in Palo Alto
If Palo Alto is slogging through a recession, hotel developers apparently didn't get the memo. Three new hotel proposals would add 350 rooms, to produce tax revenues for the city. (Thursday, 12:05 AM)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009
What's happening? Enter Chipotle and T-Mobile
A new Chipotle restaurant, with additional commercial space to be rented out to T-Mobile, will open in Palo Alto Friday (Nov. 20) on El Camino Real a block north of Page Mill Road/Oregon Expressway. Photos by Shawn Fender/Palo Alto Online. (Wednesday, 4:13 PM)

Police: Sexual assault victim 'uncooperative'
The victim of a Nov. 12 sexual assault by two men near the footbridge to Palo Alto at the southern end of Alma Street in Menlo Park is being "very, very uncooperative" with investigators from the Menlo Park Police Department, police said. (Wednesday, 12:13 PM)

Paly, Gunn to host panel on teen mental health
A panel of physicians and mental health professionals will discuss teen mental health and wellness at Palo Alto High School tonight (Thursday). (Wednesday, 11:20 AM)

Dog owners want more play space for pets
Palo Alto's dog owners Tuesday called on the city to change its leash law so their pets could run off-leash in parks and schools at certain hours of the day when few people were around. The discussion at Jordan Middle School marked the city's first formal step in a process to address recreational opportunities for dog-owners and dogs. (Wednesday, 11:10 AM)

Edgewood meeting mends fences
Neighbors of Edgewood Plaza, the historic yet dilapidated Joseph Eichler shopping center along Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto, met with developer Sand Hill Property to discuss potential plans for redeveloping the center at a community meeting on Tuesday night. (Wednesday, 9:56 AM)

School parcel tax renewal may hit April 6 ballot
Palo Alto School Superintendent Kevin Skelly is recommending an April 6 election to seek renewal and increase of the school district's $493 annual parcel tax. (Wednesday, 9:56 AM)

Palo Alto fights downtown vacancies
Seeking to save downtown Palo Alto from a spreading rash of vacancy signs, city officials have tweaked the zoning rules to give property owners near University Avenue more flexibility in choosing their tenants. (Wednesday, 9:54 AM)

Rapist gets 25 to life for Mountain View attack
San Jose resident Melchor Paredes was sentenced last week to 25 years to life in prison for the 2007 rape of a young woman on Terra Bella Avenue in Mountain View. (Wednesday, 9:22 AM)

Tuesday, November 17, 2009
VIDEO/MULTIMEDIA
A compilation of video content from the Palo Alto Weekly and Palo Alto Online staff. (Tuesday, 3:32 PM)

Armed men invade, rob Menlo Park home
Two men armed with semiautomatic handguns confronted a resident outside his home in the 700 block of Pierce Road at around 6:30 p.m. Monday night, forced him inside the home, and held him and his girlfriend at gunpoint while they looted "several electronic items and an undisclosed amount of cash," according to Menlo Park police. (Tuesday, 3:30 PM)

Expert: Officer May shot in the head first
A gunshot-trajectory expert attempted to demolish assertions on Tuesday morning that Alberto Alvarez, 26, murdered East Palo Alto Police officer Richard May in January 2006 in an execution-style shooting. (Tuesday, 3:25 PM)

REAL ESTATE: Palo Alto house sells for $1.7 million
A home on St. Francis Drive in Palo Alto sold for $1,700,000 on Oct. 29, 2009. The home previously sold for $405,000 in April 1998. Palo Alto Online's real estate website features a listing of homes sold in Palo Alto and surrounding cities. Visit PaloAltoOnline.com/real_estate for a map of homes for sale, real estate stories, neighborhood guides, virtual tours and more. (Tuesday, 3:15 PM)

East Palo Alto police hunt for shooting suspect
Police in East Palo Alto are still looking for the man who apparently shot two people in front of a home Thursday evening, a detective said today. (Tuesday, 3:12 PM)

Anti-death penalty meeting scheduled for tonight
A meeting to promote ending the death penalty in Santa Clara County will be held tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. at Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills -- sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Palo Alto and the Americal Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (Tuesday, 12:12 PM)

$5.7 million schools budget gap will get bigger
Palo Alto schools' projected $5.7 million "structural" deficit for next school year is expected to rise to $8 million in 2011-12 and $10 million in 2012-13, Superintendent Kevin Skelly said Monday in an e-mail warning of hard challenges ahead. (Tuesday, 9:50 AM)

25 evacuated after fire in Downtown North
About 25 people had to evacuate an Everett Avenue condominium complex Tuesday morning because of a fire at one of the building's units. There were no reported injuries. (Tuesday, 9:50 AM)

PUBLIC AGENDA: Library Advisory Commission, 2010 goals
The Palo Alto Library Advisory Commission is scheduled to discuss its 2010 goals, priorities for its joint meeting with the City Council and a resolution commending former Chair Susan Thom. (Tuesday, 9:47 AM)

Expert assails May case evidence gathering
A former San Mateo County forensics expert on Monday gave scathing testimony criticizing the evidence gathering in the shooting death of East Palo Alto Police Officer Richard May. (Tuesday, 12:12 AM)

Monday, November 16, 2009
Cal Ave to start seeing new trees next month
Palo Alto will have a greener, slightly shadier California Avenue before the end of this winter -- the City Council Monday night unanimously approved a staff proposal to start planting dozens of new trees in December. (Monday, 11:33 PM)

Palo Alto High principal reflects on 'egg wars'
Eleven Palo Alto High School students were suspended and about seven more received "consequences" for participating in an Oct. 27 "egg war" on the Gunn High School campus, Paly Principal Jacquie McEvoy says in an interview looking back on the incident. (Monday, 4:35 PM)

Immersed in Mandarin
The world's most widely spoken language, Mandarin Chinese, increasingly is being spoken by the children of Palo Alto. Photos by Veronica Weber and Shawn Fender/Palo Alto Online. (Monday, 1:15 PM)

California Avenue trees may be planted next month
Palo Alto's dramatic scramble to replace felled trees along California Avenue is expected to hit a milestone tonight, when the City Council is scheduled to debate a staff proposal to plant dozens of silver lindens, southern live oaks and other leafy species before the end of the year. (Monday, 9:35 AM)

SPORTS: Stanford football shocks No. 11 USC, 55-21
It was a victory as complete as the final score as Stanford destroyed nationally ranked No. 11 USC on the Trojans' own field on Saturday, 55-21, in one of the more improbable football victories in Cardinal history. Visit PASportsOnline.com for the complete story, as well as scores, schedules, photos, video and team pages. (Monday, 8:46 AM)

Another home-invasion robbery reported
A man forced his way into a Mountain View woman's apartment through a closed window early Saturday morning, held her at gunpoint and forced her to drive to a bank and withdraw cash for him, police said. Police are unsure if the robbery is connected to a home-invasion robbery in Palo Alto in October or an earlier robbery in Mountain View. (Monday, 8:15 AM)

Weekly launches 16th Holiday Fund campaign
The annual Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund campaign kicks off this week, with the aim of raising more than $260,000 for local, family-oriented nonprofit agencies. Adolescent Counseling Services of Palo Alto is one of 38 agencies supported by the fund this past year. It received $10,000 to provide counseling on local middle- and high-school campuses. (Monday, 6:45 AM)

Sunday, November 15, 2009
Rail authority approves $9 million PR effort
The California High-Speed Rail Authority has just welcomed a new member to assist its admittedly flagging community-outreach effort -- the global firm Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. Ogilvy, which will be paid up to $9 million over five years, is expected to increase the frequency and effectiveness of the rail authority's communications. (Sunday, 10:29 PM)

Palo Alto Utilities changes tests for gas workers
Dogged by a federal investigation and accusations of fraud in its gas division, Palo Alto's Utilities Department has quietly revised the testing procedures for its gas-line operators to make sure they are fully qualified for the work. The department has been in the spotlight since Feb. 6, when a group of federal agents from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) seized seven boxes of operator-qualification tests. (Sunday, 10:21 PM)

Saturday, November 14, 2009

(Saturday, 9:11 AM)

Friday, November 13, 2009
Coroner IDs 6-year-old victim of hit-run crash
The 6-year-old Menlo Park girl who was fatally injured in a hit-and-run "street racing" crash last week has been identified as Lisa Xavier. She died from injuries received when her family's car was hit by a street racer who ran a red light, police reported.
■ To view pictures of Shannon Fox, for whom police are "actively searching," click here and here. These pictures are from the Menlo Park Police Department. (Friday, 7:26 PM)

PALO ALTO STORY PROJECT
Seven new Palo Alto Story Project videos have now been posted. Heard the one about the plane that crashed into a family's car on Embarcadero Road? Or a mother's recollection of her daughter's first May Fete Parade? The Palo Alto Story Project is a collection of brief tales, reminiscences and reflections about the city, as told by residents and visitors. (Friday, November 13, 2009, 4:49 PM)

'Addictive' culture causes teen substance abuse
Teenagers often begin abusing substances not just by individual choice but as a consequence of an "out of control" American culture, a psychologist said Thursday evening at a community forum at Palo Alto High School. (Friday, November 13, 2009, 3:00 PM)

HP to acquire 3Com in $2.7 billion deal
In a direct challenge to networking giant Cisco Systems Inc., HP announced this week it will acquire 3Com in a deal worth $2.7 billion. (Friday, November 13, 2009, 10:10 AM)

Defense expert: Officer May broke rules
A use-of-force expert for Alberto Alvarez, who is on trial for the murder of East Palo Alto Police Officer Richard May, testified Thursday there was no justifiable reason for May to stop Alvarez on Jan. 7, 2006. Related story: • Alberto Alvarez testifies
(Friday, November 13, 2009, 9:55 AM)

Palo Alto eyes expanding plastic-bag ban
Palo Alto's crusade against non-reusable bags is expected to spread far and wide next year, when the city plans to expand its ban on plastic bags and possibly start charging a fee for paper bags. (Friday, November 13, 2009, 9:53 AM)

Autumn jog
A student at Palo Alto High School goes for a run along a path beside the tennis courts, where trees on either side are beginning to lose their leaves. Photo by Veronica Weber/Palo Alto Online. (Friday, November 13, 2009, 9:45 AM)

Thursday, November 12, 2009
Gun battle erupts in East Palo Alto
Twenty-five to 30 shots were fired in a gun battle in East Palo Alto Thursday evening, injuring two men, according to an East Palo Alto detective. (Thursday, November 12, 2009, 8:17 PM)

Craigslist ad leads Palo Alto police to bike thief
Palo Alto police arrested an alleged bike thief Wednesday after he posted an ad on Craigslist for a bicycle that had been stolen from Palo Alto on Nov. 4, Agent Dan Ryan said. (Thursday, November 12, 2009, 4:07 PM)

Admitted officer-killer testifies
Sometimes barely audible, soft-spoken 26-year-old Alberto Alvarez Thursday morning described how he often sold drugs in East Palo Alto and always carried a gun for protection. Alvarez, a Redwood City resident, has admitted he shot and killed East Palo Alto Officer Richard May on Jan. 7, 2006. (Thursday, November 12, 2009, 3:56 PM)

REAL ESTATE: Dennis Drive home sells for $1 million
A house on Dennis Drive in Palo Alto sold for $1,050,000 on Oct. 20, 2009. The home previously sold for $968,000 in September 2005. Palo Alto Online's real estate website features a listing of homes sold in Palo Alto and surrounding cities. Visit PaloAltoOnline.com/real_estate for a map of homes for sale, real estate stories, neighborhood guides, virtual tours and more. (Thursday, November 12, 2009, 3:25 PM)

Residents to weigh in on Edgewood Plaza
Just weeks after a lawsuit regarding Palo Alto's Edgewood Plaza was settled, a public meeting about redeveloping the Joseph Eichler-built shopping center has been scheduled for next Tuesday (Nov. 17) from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Palo Alto Golf Course clubhouse. (Thursday, November 12, 2009, 3:22 PM)

Family: Drowned man was a loving son, brother
The 21-year-old man found dead in a Redwood City swimming pool last week was a loving son and brother who always gave without reserve, family members said. (Thursday, November 12, 2009, 11:45 AM)

Improvements eyed for Oregon Expressway
A busy stretch of Oregon Expressway in Palo Alto will soon see major renovations, including timed signals, new bike lanes and left-turn lanes. (Thursday, November 12, 2009, 9:51 AM)

Jewish family agency wins citizenship grant
A $90,000 government grant to help persons with cognitive problems become U.S. citizens has been received by the Jewish Family and Children Services agency, with offices in Palo Alto and San Mateo. (Thursday, November 12, 2009, 9:15 AM)

Gas prices stay high in Bay Area, drop statewide
The average price for gas remained above $3 in the Bay Area but has dropped below that mark statewide due to high supplies and weak consumer demand, according to an AAA survey released Wednesday. (Thursday, November 12, 2009, 9:14 AM)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Teens get rare inside view of Google, Facebook
About 30 teenagers from lower-income families in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park will get a rare insider's look at Silicon Valley giants such as Google and Facebook this Friday, while others will tour NASA Ames and a half-dozen other sites. (Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 5:20 PM)

Gunn senior gathers shoes for those in need
Gunn High School senior Alexandra Yesian has reached her goal of donating 1,000 pairs of shoes to the Ecumenical Hunger Program (EHP), a nonprofit organization that helps low-income families in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park with food, clothing and support. Photos by Veronica Weber/Palo Alto Online. (Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 10:27 AM)

Teachers, district share 'exploding' health costs
Entry-level teachers in Palo Alto will continue to earn $51,422 a year under a union agreement discussed by the Board of Education Tuesday night -- but teachers and staff will share some of the "exploding cost of medical insurance." (Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 9:40 AM)

School parcel tax renewal vote may be in April
Palo Alto school officials are eyeing an April election to renew the district's $493-a-year parcel tax. Based on results from a community poll taken in October, officials believe voters would support a "modest" increase in the six-year tax with a possible 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment built in. (Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 8:54 AM)

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