October 14, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

News Digest

Palo Alto police have arrested two people and have a warrant out for a third person for allegedly posing as Hurricane Katrina victims and receiving or attempting to receive cash and benefits from the Palo Alto Area Red Cross.

"We were pretty disappointed," Trish Bubenik, executive director of the Palo Alto Red Cross, said. "Our volunteers are trained to give aid and be compassionate."

But Red Cross volunteers became suspicious in mid-September over the demeanor of three people and checked the Social Security numbers with the federal government and their driver's licenses with the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles, Bubenik said. Two of the Social Security numbers came back as false, Bubenik said, and the information was turned over to Palo Alto police.

The two people arrested were identified by the Palo Alto Police Department as: Jamaine Dontae Barnes, 23, of East Palo Alto, charged with burglary and grand theft, and Beverly Joyce Jackson, 39, of East Palo Alto, charged with attempted grand theft. Police are still trying to track down the third person, a male, suspected in the case.

Bubenik said that Jackson had been denied services, but that the two men had received cash and lodging. One of the two men, allegedly representing himself as a family of five, received the maximum Red Cross benefit of $1,565, Bubenik said.

"It has been a learning experience for us," she said.

-- Don Kazak

Palo Alto a tourist destination?

Is there value in promoting Palo Alto as a tourist destination? Should the city form a visitor's bureau? Should it set up information kiosks or print maps identifying all its various cultural and recreational hotspots?

City officials could discuss all of these questions if the Palo Alto City Council agrees to form a committee to look into the way it promotes itself to tourists. Three council members -- Dena Mossar, Bern Beecham and Judy Kleinberg -- asked their colleagues to consider forming that committee, via a memo distributed this week.

One way to pay for such programs would be to increase fees, such as an increase in the tax local hotel occupants pay, the memo pointed out.

The idea of promoting Palo Alto as a tourist attraction, Mossar said, has been discussed since she was mayor in 2002 and started the "Shop Palo Alto" campaign, which encouraged residents to spend their retail dollars locally. She said more actively promoting Palo Alto's tourism could help raise sales tax dollars.

"It seems to me that Palo Alto is a destination and we would do well to market ourselves in that way," Mossar said.

At Monday night's meeting, the full council will vote about whether to hold a future hearing where it could vote on forming the "ad hoc committee."

"We have so much to offer," Mossar said. "I think it would be a really good exercise for the community to think about what its assets are."

-- Bill D'Agostino

LWV forum focuses on state propositions

All eight state ballot measures will be subject to a "Pros and Cons" forum Monday sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Palo Alto. The free, open-to-the-public forum will begin at 7 p.m. at the Channing House Auditorium, 850 Channing Ave., Palo Alto.

Non-partisan speakers from the league will "thoroughly cover the background, facts and arguments by supporters and opponents of the state measures," according to Diana Steeples of the league. The league also has prepared a summary Pros and Cons publication, available online at www.SmartVoter.org.

The propositions on the Nov. 8 ballot include:

* Prop. 73 -- A constitutional amendment to require a waiting period and parental notification before termination of a minor's pregnancy.

* Prop. 74 -- Increasing the probationary period for public school teachers from two to five years and modifying dismissal processes.

* Prop. 75 -- Requires government-employee unions to get written agreement from each worker before using that worker's dues (or non-member fees) for political contributions.

* Prop. 76 -- A constitutional amendment to lower the minimum state funding for schools and social programs by $4 billion and overturns Prop. 98 school-funding guarantees.

* Prop. 77 -- A constitutional change to shift the setting of state Assembly and Senate districts from the state Legislature to a panel of retired judges.

* Prop. 78 -- To create a new drug-discount program for persons without government or private-insurance coverage.

* Prop. 79 -- To create a drug-discount program for those not under Medi-Cal or Health Families medical programs. * Prop. 80 -- To increase state regulation over California's electricity market and require greater use of renewable-energy sources, up to a goal of 20 percent by 2010. *
South Palo Alto candidates' forum Thursday

Council candidates will square off Thursday, Oct. 20, at a forum being sponsored by 12 neighborhood associations. The meeting at the Mitchell Park Community Center, 3800 Middlefield Road, will be moderated by Gloria Hom, the former chair of the economics department at Mission College.

Audience questions will be taken.

In anticipation of the event, the neighborhood groups have compiled the candidates' opinions on 15 questions, which can be found at www.paneighborhoods.org. Nine of the 10 candidates are expected. Harold "Skip" Justman will not attend, according to Annette Ashton of the Midtown Residents Association.

The sponsoring neighborhoods include Adobe Meadow, Barron Park, Charleston Meadows, Charleston Gardens, Fairmeadow, Greenacres I and II, Greenmeadow, Meadow Park, Midtown Residents Association, Palo Alto Orchards and Walnut Grove.

The doors will open at 6:30 p.m.; the forum is scheduled for 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Commissioners appointed to city boards

Architects Grace Lee and Clare Malone Prichard were appointed to the city's Architectural Review Board by the City Council this week. Lee, a designer with CJW Architecture of Portola Valley, and Malone Prichard, an associate with Stoecker & Northway Architects of Palo Alto, were two of five candidates for the vacant spots on the five-member volunteer board.

Marilyn Keller, a former research biologist for PG&E, was appointed to the five-member Utilities Advisory Commission for a term that will end next June. Keller said this week she is interested in helping the city reduce the environmental impacts of utilities and foresee issues that might arise, so the city can save money.

-- Jocelyn Dong

New nonprofit formed

Approaching its 60th anniversary, PreSchool Family has established a volunteer nonprofit public benefit corporation called Friends of PreSchool Family to support and raise funds for the organization's programs and activities.

PreSchool Family has offered a parent education program to Bay Area families with children from birth to age 5 since 1946. It is a part of the Palo Alto Unified School District's Adult School and housed at the Greendell Elementary School site on Middlefield Road.

As part of Friends of PreSchool Family, the organization now has a database of the 14,000 families it has served in nearly 60 years. As a result, the first alumni breakfast and gala fundraising event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 29 at the center.

For more information, call Coordinator Sharon Keplinger at 856-0833 or e-mail her at skeplinger@pausd.org.

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