Digest Digest (August 25, 2004)

City parking lot for sale?

When large "Available" signs showed up on a parking structure at Lytton Avenue and High Street, some folks thought the city might be selling a parking garage. Not so. The structure is privately owned and is tied to a 48,000-square-foot professional office building built in the early 1980s at Alma Street and Lytton. The whole thing -- or parts thereof -- are up for lease, along with the garage, following expiration of an earlier long-term lease. The building was originally built by the former development firm of Hare, Brewer & Kelley, but currently is owned by the Menlo Park-based Kenson Group. Roger Fields, senior vice president of Cornish & Carey real estate firm in Palo Alto, said the building is available as a whole or in segments down to 4,000 square feet at about $3.50 per square foot triple net (leaser pays for improvements), for at least 7- to 10-year leases.
Drive safe - school's back in session

With school now in session, Palo Alto police are cracking down on school traffic violations. Through "Operation Safe Passage," a countywide campaign, drivers who speed, run red lights, fail to yield at stop lights or crosswalks and commit other safety violations around local schools will be targeted by regular traffic team officers and additional patrol officers. Palo Alto police will also take part in this year's Walk to School and Way2Go events at Palo Alto Unified School District from Oct. 4-8. In an effort to reduce traffic congestion around schools, police are asking residents to choose alternative methods to driving to school, such as walking, biking and carpooling. For more information, call Mark Venable at 329-2449.
Festival of the Arts this weekend

Downtown will be a zoo Aug. 28 and 29, when Palo Alto Festival of the Arts takes over from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. More than 125,000 people are expected to fill the streets, so take public transportation if possible, notes the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, the festival sponsor. University Avenue will be closed to traffic between High and Webster streets from 1 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28 to midnight on Sunday, Aug. 29. Tasso Street will be closed at Lytton. High and Webster streets will be open for through traffic. Cars parked after 2 a.m. on Saturday will be towed. Three stages of entertainment, wine, gourmet foods and 300 artists will be on hand for the city's largest art festival. The festival will feature a Kids Art Zone and Italian street painting. For transit information, call TravInfo at 817-1717. Biking to the festival? Free, secure bike parking will be available at the Union Bank parking lot on Waverley Street. Don't forget to look in Friday's Weekly for your free official festival program guide and map.
Where to turn for mosquito info

For the latest buzz on mosquitoes, now Bay Area residents can log onto the Mosquito Activity Forecast through the Weather Channel's Web site. The forecast predicts how active mosquitoes will be, based on temperature, wind, humidity, time of day and season. Levels run from "None: Conditions not favorable for mosquitoes" to "High: Be on the lookout! Lurking mosquitoes likely to be busy," to "Very high." The mosquito forecast can't predict how many mosquitoes are in the area or how often one will be bitten. Visit www.weather.com and click on Home and Garden.

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