Publication Date: Friday, August 19, 2005
News Digest
News Digest
(August 19, 2005)
A dozen candidates file for City Council race
A dozen candidates will vie for five seats on the Palo Alto City Council in the Nov. 8 election.
The 5:30 p.m. Wednesday filing deadline for the council race passed without two announced candidates -- Charlie Scurlock and Tim Harrington -- making the deadline, according to City Clerk Donna Rogers.
The candidates that will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot are:
*John Barton, a member of the school board and an architect;
*Norm Carroll, the coordinator of the "Downtown Streets Team," which uses homeless persons to clean downtown streets;
*Peter Drekmeier, an environmentalist who was the last candidate to file;
*Sanford Forte, a member of the Library Advisory Commission and a business owner;
*Victor Frost, a panhandler;
*Karen Holman, a member of the Planning and Transportation Commission;
*Harold "Skip" Justman, a land-use attorney;
*Yoriko Kishimoto, an incumbent and a consultant;
*Larry Klein, an attorney and a former mayor and City Council member;
*Danielle Martell, an educational software writer;
*Jack Morton, an incumbent and a certified public accountant; and
*Roger Smith, the retired CEO of Silicon Valley Bank and the co-founder of the Friends of Palo Alto Parks.
Five other residents pulled paperwork to run, but did not file.
Incumbents had to file by last Friday for the City Council. Councilwoman Hillary Freeman and current Mayor Jim Burch announced earlier they would not seek re-election. Councilman Vic Ojakian, whose seat is also up this year, cannot run due to term limits.
Two incumbents, Morton and Kishimoto, met Friday's deadline. When an incumbent is not seeking re-election, the filing deadlines for non-incumbents are automatically extended five working days, under state law.
Stadium plan calls for evening construction work
Rebuilding the Stanford Stadium could be a day-and-night operation, if construction plans are approved by the county.
The university's hope is to build the new $85 million stadium in nine months, starting after the final seconds run out on the football season Nov. 26.
To do so, the university would have two shifts working from early morning to 11:30 p.m., according to Jean McCown, Stanford's director of community relations.
The stadium lights would illuminate the work after dark, along with other types of lighting, McCown said.
Stanford submitted an environmental report to the county in which the impacts of the construction and new 50,000-seat stadium were considered and suggestions for easing the negative effects given. That document is available for public review and comment for another week.
According to McCown, noise should not be an issue.
"The project team had a noise consultant do a study. … It turns out the lion's share of the work will be done inside the earthen bowl. That provides an enormous benefit of a sound barrier. Noise impacts are substantially below the county's noise limits," she said.
Meetings with two nearby neighborhoods, Southgate and College Terrace, have been held. Residents expressed concerns over additional traffic during construction, due to the trucks. However, those vehicles will be limited to the routes that normally allow them, McCown said, and should not pose a problem.
The project will be reviewed by the county, which oversees Stanford University land use, for architectural and site approval in early September.
-- Jocelyn Dong
'We Fix Macs' holdup ends with gunshot
A lone clerk at the "We Fix Macs" computer sales and repair shop at 3159 El Camino Real in south Palo Alto received a head wound when he attempted to wrest a gun from a holdup man trying to steal computers about 6 p.m. Tuesday night, Palo Alto police reported.
Agent Dan Ryan said the gunman, apparently alone, entered the store when no one else was there, displayed the gun to the clerk, who has not been identified, and began to pick up computers.
At some point the clerk tried to grab the gun and it went off as they wrestled over it. Although the clerk sustained a head wound, it wasn't clear if a bullet caused the injury, Ryan said.
"It could have been grazing from the bullet, it could have been grazing from the action of the gun or he could have hit his head on the table," said Ryan.
The man then fled, apparently on foot, Ryan said.
He said the clerk remained conscious and called police, and was later transported to Stanford Hospital for treatment and released.
Ryan said it is unknown whether the would-be robber got away with a computer. The We Fix Macs store is on the east side of El Camino several blocks south of Page Mill Road, nearly opposite the Fish Market restaurant and a McDonald's.
The robber was described as an African American male, 30 to 35 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 200 pounds and wearing sideburns leading into a partial beard. He was wearing tan pants and a tan shirt, with a dark bandanna across his face and a dark cap.
Police have released two sketches of the suspect, one with and one without the bandana. Anyone with information about the incident or the suspect is asked to call the police tip line at (650) 329-2190.
-- Jay Thorwaldson
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