Around Town Around Town (October 19, 2005)

BEHIND THE SCENES, PART II ...As mentioned last week, the Palo Alto Weekly photographed City Council hopefuls differently this year. Chief Photographer Norbert von der Groeben shot the City Council candidates at his or her favorite outdoor location in Palo Alto. Here are the stories behind the five photographs in this week's cover story: Harold "Skip" Justman was one of the first candidates von der Groeben called. Justman thought the idea of being photographed at an outdoor location was wonderful and immediately came up with his favorite -- Heritage Park. Yoriko Kishimoto was not immediately sure whether she wanted to be photographed in Foothills Park or at Johnson Park. Kishimoto called later to say she wanted the Farmers' Market. But scheduling conflicts prevented a time for a photo shoot there so she switched back to Foothills Park. After a couple of phone calls for a candidate photograph, Larry Klein chose the exterior of the Children's Theatre at the Lucie Stern Community Center. Klein, who arrived for the photo session before his campaign manager Susan Rosenberg, did not want any pictures taken until she arrived. Initially, Danielle Martell wanted to turn in her own pictures, but we don't accept hand-in photos. Martell next wanted to know how the other candidates were dressed when photographed. After several phone calls and visits to the newspaper office, Martell finally agreed to be photographed at the Gamble Gardens. Jack Morton chose a sculpture outside the Palo Alto Art Center. After the picture was chosen, he asked reporter Bill D'Agostino to check out the photo for him, and make sure he didn't look "grim." The request was denied. He then tried again, and asked to use his own photograph because he was worried about his dark glasses. "I don't want to look like something out of the Godfather," he wrote in an e-mail. There are two other candidates that dropped out of the race after being photographed: Roger Smith and Sanford Forte. Smith chose Mitchell Park as his favorite outdoor location, and showed up for the photo shoot with his wife, Judy Kay. Our ever-resourceful photographer used Kay as his assistant, asking her to hold the flash, which she did gracefully. Forte wanted the hustle and bustle of California Avenue reflected in the council candidate photograph. But once there, the candidate said he was surprised at the avenue's tranquility.

LOCAL TV ONLINE ... Speaking of the local election, the Midpeninsula Media Center has now posted online a list of all the forums they're broadcasting on cable. A few can even be viewed online, for the first time year. In addition, two of the Media Center's channels -- 26 and 27 -- are now being Web cast live. Channel 26 carries Palo Alto and Menlo Park city council meetings. Check out: www.communitymediacenter.net.

KEPLERITES DONATE WINNINGS ... Palo Alto residents Bill and Kara Rosenberg turned a windfall into an opportunity for charity last week. The couple won a $500 gift certificate to Kepler's bookstore, part of the recent 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 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.

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