Around Town Around Town (August 21, 2002)

CITY ASKS WORKERS TO GET OUTTA TOWN . . The City of Palo Alto is once again asking its employees to volunteer to work without pay for the holiday season. Last year the voluntary furlough program saved the city $54,000. This year, workers will be asked to take December 23, 26 and 27 off as vacation time, personal time or unpaid leave. The days just before and after Christmas are typically a low productivity period. A cautionary note to worriers: Essential services such as fire and police will not be affected by this voluntary holiday shutdown.

LIBRARY MODEL UNVEILED . . . Wondering how the new Mitchell Park Library might look? Wonder no more. A model and various images of the library's conceptual design will be on display tonight. Folks from the Library Advisory and the Park and Recreation Commissions will be on hand at a community meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Mitchell Park Community Center, 3800 Middlefield Road. The architect for the new building will also be there to take your questions and suggestions. The purpose of the meeting is to recap the feasibility study and design processes that have occurred over the last year so those who have not been involved can become familiar with and understand the current plans, and give feedback. If you can't make tonight's meeting, don't fret. There's another one scheduled for Sept. 18.

SAN MATEO SUPE OPENS EPA OFFICE . . .East Palo Alto residents finally have a place to get up close and personal with Rose Jacobs Gibson. The San Mateo Supervisor just opened an office in the East Palo Alto Municipal Building at 2415 University Ave. The new office, which will be open to constituents the first and third Thursday evening of each month, has several computers available to the community. The computers were provided by Hewlett-Packard and can be used to access voter, candidate and election information. "I am very excited to open this office in East Palo Alto. It has always been my goal to bring government to the people...this is a great opportunity to answer questions and hear residents' ideas on the issues that affect our community," Gibson said.

A HALF-CENTURY OLD . . . Alumni young and old will spend most of this school year celebrating the 50th birthday of Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School, a.k.a. Wilbur Junior High School. Two eighth-graders have already sent out a press release on the upcoming events and are appealing to interested graduates who would like to be part of the planning. Students are planning a 50-year Wilbur/JLS Book and hope to obtain photos from the early years of the school. They also plan a carnival, 5K Run/Walk turkey trot, talent show, an entry in the May Fete Parade and a setting of class-year stones in the school's courtyard. The students have even created a birthday logo. Interested graduates of Wilbur or JLS should contact the 50th Birthday planning committee at (650) 858-6747.

NEW AND IMPROVED SAFETY TIPS . . . Identity theft is as big as ever. So in the interest of keeping our readers safe, here are a few tips to prevent yourselves from becoming victimized when ordering new checks: 1. If you want to put your phone number on your checks, use a work phone number, not your home number; 2. If you have a P.O. Box, use that as your address, instead of your home address on checks; 3. Never let your social security number be printed on your checks.