News Digest News Digest (December 17, 2004)

School board borrows from reserves, hopes to pass tax

The Palo Alto school board took a risk earlier this week when it approved a budget for the 2005-'06 academic year with a $600,000 structural deficit. To avoid layoffs in that year, the district will use funds from its reserve account to fill the shortfall.

"I'm leaning toward passing the budget with the expectation that we will place a parcel tax on a ballot in June and it will pass," said board member Cathy Kroymann, before the vote.

The district tried to pass a parcel tax in November, but it was narrowly defeated, getting fewer than the two-thirds vote needed to pass. Measure I would have increased the amount and longevity of a current parcel tax from $293 per year to $521 until 2013. The current tax, which voters approved in 2001, generates $5.5 million annually for the district and is set to expire in 2006.

Supporters of Measure I have been criticized for running a low-key campaign and expecting the proposal to pass.

Starting off on a different foot, the school board will hold an open discussion with the public on Jan. 11 about its next parcel tax election, in hopes that better communication with its community will lead to success. The public will have a chance to comment on the "amount, length, type of ballot and a date for election," said Superintendent Mary Frances Callan. The board then plans to discuss a ballot proposal Jan. 25, making an official decision Feb. 11. endbullet>
-- Alexandria Rocha

Accused rapist pleads not guilty

A registered sex-offender who allegedly raped a woman at knifepoint last month in her Palo Alto home pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that could land him in prison for life, according to Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker.

Stanley Vernard Wells, 44, entered the not guilty plea to alleged charges of forcible sexual penetration and sodomy during the course of a burglary.

Following the plea, attorney Gary Goodman said he had a conflict of interest and was excused from the case. Goodman would not comment on the nature of the conflict, but insisted it did not relate to the defendant himself.

Wells will appear on Thursday for identification of counsel and on Dec. 28 for a preliminary hearing, Baker said. The sexual assault occurred on Nov. 5 when Wells broke into a home in the 700 block of Alester Avenue through an unlocked door, according to police. The victim, identified only as a woman in her 40s, was staying home alone as her children spent the night at their father's house.

Wells is facing life in prison under the "Three Strikes Law" and faces an automatic sentence of 25 years to life in state prison if convicted of the rape count, Baker said. He has a 1983 conviction in Santa Clara County for a similar rape, burglary and robbery, according to Baker.

That same year he was convicted of a San Mateo County burglary, however Baker was unsure of how lengthy a sentence Wells was given for the crimes. Wells was again convicted in 1990 for another San Mateo County burglary.
-- Bay City News Service

DUI checkpoints on horizon

Palo Alto police will conduct a sobriety checkpoint on Alma Street beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday evening and ending at 3 a.m. Sunday morning. Mountain View and Los Altos officers will also participate in the checkpoint.

There will also be a sobriety checkpoint in East Palo Alto on Friday night, although the time and location haven't been announced yet.

The checkpoints are part of a police effort in both counties to reduce impaired driving during the holidays.
-- Don Kazak

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