October 21, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

News Digest

Students in Gunn and Palo Alto high schools' Youth Community Service and Key clubs have organized a community-wide town fair this weekend to benefit schools in Louisiana's St. Tammany Parish ravaged by Hurricane Katrina as part of the local "Bridge of Caring" program. Families and kids from across the Palo Alto Unified School District will host fundraising booths featuring games, live music, crafts, food, emergency preparedness information and a carwash. There will also be a tarot card reader and a portrait artist -- both are refugees from the hurricanes. The fair will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday in the Paly quad. For more information, visit www.paloaltopta.org.
Teacher sues Ravenswood district alleging discrimination

A former fifth-grade teacher at Willow Oaks Elementary School in Menlo Park has filed a lawsuit against the Ravenswood City School District saying that he was forced to resign earlier this year after he told students he is gay.

Emmit Hancock resigned from the district Feb. 4 after less than six months as a fifth-grade teacher. His complaint of harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination against the Ravenswood City School District was filed with the Superior Court of Santa Clara County Oct. 13. His attorney, Waukeen McCoy, said Hancock did not file the lawsuit earlier because of legal matters.

Hancock said after being hired in August 2004, he heard some students calling each other derogatory names of a sexual nature on the playground and told them to stop. He said he told them he was gay, and that they shouldn't make fun of other people's sexual orientations.

For the next five months, Hancock alleges that he was discriminated against after other teachers and administrators learned of his sexual orientation through parents who had called the district. He said the harassment eventually led to his forced resignation.

The district denies the allegations.
Parking woes rise for Stanford games

When the Stanford football team plays at home, the resulting crowd leads to some extra traffic -- and a lot of towed cars parked in temporary no-parking zones. There were 49 parked cars towed during a recent game, said Palo Alto Detective Kara Apple.

Stanford is playing at home on Saturday and again on Oct. 29, Nov. 19 and Nov. 26.

The no-parking zone is along El Camino Real from Embarcadero Road to Stanford Avenue and on Churchill Avenue from Alma Street to El Camino Real from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Many people trying to sell their cars leave them on El Camino Real, with "for sale" signs, Apple said. But their owners have to move them for the football games. - Don Kazak
Fiber-to-home trial extended to Dec. 14

Palo Alto will close down its fiber-to-the-home trial on Dec. 14 instead of at the end of October, Assistant City Manager Emily Harrison told the City Council in a memo Tuesday.

The council voted July 25 to end the trail and to study a partnership with a private company to provide high-speed Internet access to homes instead of it being entirely a city service. - Don Kazak

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