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Employees with the YWCA of the Mid-Peninsula's Rape Crisis Center -- who were accused of mismanaging grants and pilfering charitable contributions -- will not be charged with any crimes, officials reported last week

The Palo Alto police initiated an investigation following accusations from whistle-blowing employees, but the district attorney's office did not find evidence that a crime had been committed, and closed the case.

It was the second such investigation. The first found similar results. Palo Alto Police Chief Lynne Johnson, who sat on the YWCA's board, initiated a new investigation following accusations from the employees that her seat on the board played a role in the initial investigation.

The YWCA board decided to closed the Rape Crisis Center in May due to scarce dollars, but also following reports of mismanagement and personality conflicts within the center.

A few weeks later, the board chose to close the entire YWCA of the Mid-Peninsula, a Palo Alto institution for more than 50 years, by the end of August. The Alma Street property in south Palo Alto is in the process of being sold.

The Rape Crisis Center's services have been taken over by the YWCA of Santa Clara Valley. --Bill D'Agstino
Ballot order chosen for Palo Alto council race

On Thursday night, the sequence in which Palo Alto City Council candidates will appear on the ballot was chosen by lot in front of a nearly empty audience in the City Council chambers.

Peter Ahn, the incoming chair of the Palo Alto youth council, had the honor of carefully plucking small pieces of papers with the candidates names on them.

The fateful order is as follows: Harold "Skip" Justman, Dena Mossar, LaDoris Cordell, Judy Kleinberg, Bern Beecham, Nancy Lytle, John Karl Fredrich, Victor Frost, Edmund Powers, and Ronny Bar-Gadda.

Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 4. Whether the newly-chosen order will have any impact on the race is anybody's guess.

"There's a lot of theories," Councilman Vic Ojakian said. "I don't know if any of them hold any salt." --Bill D'Agostino
Woman arrested for underage sex

Palo Alto police Friday announced an arrest has been made in a months-old case involving unlawful sex with a minor in a public park after the suspect turned herself in on Thursday.

According to authorities, officers were called to the Mitchell Park Dog Run on May 20, responding to a report of two people having sex in the area.

The officers contacted the two subjects, who initially told police they were both juveniles and had been dropped off at the park by a friend.

Further investigation, however, revealed that one of the subjects was Rita Sharma, age 27, of Newark. Her sexual partner was indeed a juvenile, the two knew each other and had planned the meeting, authorities said.

Police learned that Sharma and the victim had been introduced by a mutual friend and had known each other for about three months, communicating mainly via computer instant messaging and telephone. Eventually the two agreed to meet, Sharma picked up the teen and drove to Mitchell Park where they engaged in sex, officials allege.

Responding officers released both Sharma and the teen to allow for further investigation, after which the case was forwarded to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office for review. The District Attorney then issued a warrant for Sharma's arrest.

Sharma turned herself in to Palo Alto police Thursday after learning of the arrest warrant. Police said she was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Bail was set at $5,000. --Bay City News