Publication Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
News Digest
News Digest
(October 19, 2005)
Community members to review school boundaries
The Palo Alto school board last week approved a yearlong study of its 17 schools' boundaries and will convene a 45-member committee to aid the process.
The committee, which will review various data such as birth rates, housing development and school capacities, will include one parent and an alternate from each school; two high school students; three principals; one former board member; one person each from the teachers' and classified employees' unions; one person from the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education; one member of the Palo Alto Community Child Care; and someone from the Palo Alto Council of PTAs.
Each school's PTA and site council will nominate its campus' two representatives.
South Palo Alto candidates' forum Thursday
Council candidates will square off Thursday, Oct. 20, at a forum 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.
EPA police seek help in shooting death
A young male Latino, identified by the San Mateo County Coroner's Bureau as Mario Dias, 22, was shot dead while sitting inside a vehicle in front of 351 Wisteria Drive, East Palo Alto, Sunday evening and police have issued an urgent appeal for help in solving the case.
Sgt. Alma Zamora said the county emergency line received a call at 7:43 p.m. about the shooting, and officers immediately responded. Paramedics from the Menlo Park Fire Protection District pronounced him dead at the scene.
Witnesses reported hearing a gunshot and seeing the victim slumped over inside the vehicle. The victim was shot once in the chest.
"The help of the community is urgently needed to help identify the person who committed this murder," Zamora said. Anyone with information should call either Detective Rich Maher at (650) 363-4055 or Detective Gary Ramos at (650) 599-4064. Confidential calls may be made to the Anonymous Witness Line at (800) 547-2700.
Man pleads guilty to Katrina fraud
An East Palo Alto man who reportedly scammed a local chapter of the American Red Cross out of thousands of dollars by claiming to be a victim of Hurricane Katrina pleaded guilty Friday to charges of burglary and grand theft, Palo Alto Police Agent Dan Ryan said.
Jamaine Dontae Barnes, 23, claimed to be a New Orleans resident when trying to get financial and housing aid from the Palo Alto chapter of the Red Cross, according to police.
Barnes went to the Red Cross Sept. 16 and claimed he lost everything after Hurricane Katrina, Ryan said Friday. The Red Cross gave Barnes $965 in cash and a voucher worth $1,265 as he claimed he had four other family members who were displaced, Trish Bubenik, executive director of the Palo Alto chapter, said.
She said he also received a 30-day lodging voucher for the Homestead Studio Suites in Sunnyvale.
Barnes allegedly returned to the Red Cross Sept. 20 and asked for more handouts under his twin brother's name, Ryan said.
Police continue to investigate Barnes' alleged use of his twin brother's name -- Jamar Deontae Barnes -- to get additional money from the Red Cross.
Ryan said Jamar Barnes will not be arrested and is not suspected of being involved in his brother's swindle.
Bubenik said volunteers now ask people claiming they were affected by Hurricane Katrina for Social Security numbers and drivers' licenses, which must pass a thorough verification process matching them with Louisiana's Department of Motor Vehicle records.
Bubenik said that names of six other people suspected of fraud have been turned over to the Palo Alto Police Department.
Kepler's revival aids Katrina schools
Palo Alto residents Bill and Kara Rosenberg turned a windfall into an opportunity for charity this week.
The couple won a $500 gift certificate to Kepler's bookstore last weekend, part of the grand re-opening festivities. The Menlo Park store had been closed for a month while investors from the community worked to revive it.
The Rosenbergs chose a few books for themselves and donated the rest to schools damaged by Hurricane Katrina in St. Tammany Parish, La., as part of the "Bridge of Caring" project sponsored by Palo Alto school groups.
The couple asked the children who had sold them the winning raffle tickets -- Adriana and Elena Mendez, Talia Jade Sourkes and Peter Rosston -- to select the books.
Some of the reading material the kids chose included: "Because of Winn Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo; "Ramona's World" by Beverly Cleary; "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean George; and "From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg.
Kara Rosenberg is the principal of the Palo Alto Adult School. Bill is a mathematician at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale. He said he's been shopping at the 50-year-old Kepler's since the 1960s.
-- Jocelyn Dong
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