Around Town Around Town (June 16, 2004)

HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU, COUGAR ... In the wake of mountain lion fever, the Palo Alto Police Department announced it is purchasing digital cameras to track the movements of wildlife. The cameras will be portable, so the locations will change depending on where sightings occur. One camera will be initially placed in the San Francisquito Creek, where a mountain lion was thought to have traversed to get into a residential area May 17, before police shot and killed it.

'THE LION' IN PALO ALTO ... More than a month before the ill-fated mountain lion was treed and killed in Palo Alto, a resident sighted it -- or another lion -- running around inside a construction site for a senior housing project along Sand Hill Road on Stanford land. Lynn Ross, whose apartment complex is a short distance from the new project, said she was walking her dog April 11 when she heard a "blood-curdling screeching" from inside the chain-link fence, about 7-ish in the evening. She said she approached the fence and actually caught sight of the lion, "still screeching its head off." Ross said she took her dog home and returned about 8 p.m. with a flashlight, and called the police from her cell phone. Three officers showed up, but the lion may have departed or gone to ground -- they left after informing her that animal-control officers don't work at night, she said.

THE BOOKWORM LOSES OUT... The Downtown Library in Palo Alto is looking for a mascot, according to the Friends of the Palo Alto Library newsletter. The three finalists are Professor Chimpson, Huggy-Bear, and Linda Librarian. Ballots can be found at the library. Meanwhile, neighbors of the library are pushing to reopen the library on Saturdays. Last year, the library was threatened when the city's Library Advisory Committee considered closing it to the public, to focus the library's scarce resources on the other, larger branches.

FUTURE FOR CRAIG ... Last week, the Weekly reported that the Craig Hotel, one of the few remaining homes for extremely low-income Palo Altans, was shutting down and kicking out residents. It is unclear what the owners hope to do with the property, since they did not return calls to the Weekly. But after the paper went to press, Planning Director Steve Emslie reported that they had met with city planners a few months ago, and floated the idea of turning the property into offices and retail. The city was cool to the idea, because of the lost housing, and now city leaders are hoping to find some kind of a rescue plan for the hotel.

WAITER, THERE'S A BADGE IN MY SOUP ... Palo Alto police officers traded in their badges and handcuffs June 15 for menus and serving trays to benefit local Special Olympics athletes. The officers tried their hands as waiters at the Olive Garden Restaurant in Palo Alto, with all tips going to local Special Olympic training and competitions.

LINES OF COMMUNICATION ... Got a gripe against the police department? Or, for that matter, an accolade for a cop? The Palo Alto Police Department has established a "feedback" telephone line to increase communication with the community. The telephone line is a voice-mailbox on which you can leave a message on a recent encounter with an officer. The messages will be retrieved daily.While callers are encouraged to leave their names and return phone numbers, the phone line is also being set up to receive anonymous messages.The telephone number is (650) 329-2545. For those wishing to talk directly with an officer, they may still call (650) 329-2406.

BIGGER THAN 10 EICHLERS? ... For Councilmember Jack Morton, apparently the phrase "monster home" wasn't broad enough to define the11,000-square-foot, two-story home and 2,300-square-foot sports facility to be built on 10 acres of land in the Palo Alto foothills. Morton referred to the proposed project as "bigger than 10 Eichlers." The Palo Alto City Council last week approved plans for the home, following some lively discussion over its size. Morton and several other councilmembers were concerned that the approval of "shopping-center-sized homes" might set a precedent for future approvals. City staff, however, indicated it would not. Councilwoman LaDoris Cordell commented that, so long as owners are sensitive to the environment, "my value judgment has no place" in the decision. Property owners Yoav Shoham and Orit Atzmon declined to comment.

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