Around Town Around Town (April 13, 2005)

PALY 'VOICE' WINS A 'PULITZER,' OF SORTS ... The Voice, Palo Alto High School's online newspaper, has won a coveted first-place "Pacemaker Award" for the second year in a row from the National Scholastic Press Association. The award, announced Saturday by the Minneapolis, Minn.-based association, placed the Voice among three top winners of 42 entries nationwide. "It's the highest honor we can give," Contest Coordinator Chad Rummel said of the award, noting that the award has been dubbed the "Pulitzer Prize of student journalism." The association was formed in 1921 and the Pacemaker Award was created in 1927. The Voice, under adviser Paul Kandell, was a finalist in 2003 and a top winner in 2004. Judges noted the site was highly interactive, had broad coverage, good use of graphics, was "clear and crisp," and showed a good use of technology and photos to match the text of stories.

MEATBALLS OF PALO ALTO? ... Palo Alto's annual Tall Tree Awards last week could have been renamed the Giant Meatballs Award after longtime Master of Ceremonies Hal Michelson's commentary on a new public-art sculpture on an El Camino Real bridge over Adobe Creek. Michelson, using slides of two large composite boulders on the bridge's sidewalk, opined that they resembled giant meatballs -- and launched into a lengthy exposition of the universality, functionality and nutritiousness of meatball-like comestibles from around the world. Michelson, in real life a corporate attorney for Hewlett Packard, said they were appropriate to Palo Alto's longstanding position in the world, representing its diversity of culture and interests. But this year's award winners, longtime girls' softball coach, local-news-show host and former Mayor Mike Cobb, architect Tony Carrasco, and representatives of the organizational winners Adolescent Counseling Services and Compadres restaurant, stayed mum on the meatballs theme.

FUTURE PALO ALTO LEADERS? ...A strong turnout of more than 80 Palo Altans -- many of them "30-something" residents, younger than most of the current city elected leaders -- showed up Saturday to hear "How Local Government Really Works" from state Sen. Joe Simitian, and other civic leaders. The event was a Town Hall Meeting with the overall theme of how to make a good community better, sponsored by the Palo Altans for Government Effectiveness (PAGE) organization and a raft of co-sponsors, including the city, the school district, local chapters of the League of Women Voters and the Association of University Women, the Chamber of Commerce and even the Council of PTAs. Questions following a panel discussion focused strongly on "how to" subjects, such as applying or running for local public office -- leading some observers to surmise that those attending might have future plans for civic involvement. PAGE reached out for co-sponsors in an attempt to reach new and younger people -- "Surprise, we got new people," one event organizer commented.

QUITE AN EDUCATION ... Last Thursday, 35 students from Homestead High School in Cupertino visited the San Jose courthouse where Palo Alto police officers Michael Kan and Craig Lee are on trial. The students witnessed Palo Alto Sgt. Con Maloney, who supervised the officers on July 13, 2003, testify against his fellow officers. Kan and Lee are on trial for beating and pepper-spraying 59-year-old Albert Hopkins without legal justification that night. During his few hours on the witness stand Thursday morning, Maloney testified that the two officers had no specific facts linking Hopkins to a crime before they detained and beat him. Maloney also testified that photographs taken by other officers that performed the case's internal affairs probe -- which exonerated Kan and Lee -- were too dark to accurately represent the scene at the corner of El Camino Real and Oxford Avenue on July 13, 2003. During the three weeks of testimony in the trial, there was a lot of testimony about various photographs of that intersection. Lee, the first officer to talk to Hopkins, said one of the reasons he detained Hopkins was because he was sitting in his car under a tree at a dark corner. When a female student asked prosecutor Peter Waite about the photos, during a mid-morning break, Waite admitted that maybe the attorneys on both sides had dwelled a bit too much on them, since it's a small point. Besides, Waite added, the jurors are required to sit there and listen. Now that closing statements were held on Monday, the case is now in those jurors' hands.

HEALTHY PARADE ... As if you needed to be reminded, Friday is a pretty important deadline. This Friday, April 15, is the last day to enter Palo Alto's annual May Fete Parade. This theme for this year's parade, scheduled for May 7, is "Leading the Way to Healthy Living." Representatives from the farmer's market plan to be there. Youth groups, clubs, troops, schools, or organizations can participate by filling out an entry form. For details, call (650) 463-4921. The Palo Alto Weekly is one of the event's sponsors.

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