Around Town Around Town (June 25, 2003)

KING OF THE REAL WORLD . . . Stanford 2001 grad Adam King - aka "the Kinger" - is taking Paris by storm on this season's MTV Real World. While auditioning for another show at MTV, King was told he wasn't right for that part, but he would be just perfect for the Real World ... so off he went, skipping the tedious multi-step audition process.

SOLAR SYSTEMS . . . Learn how to install solar thermal and solar electric systems into your home this Saturday. The free class will cover installing solar radiant heat, where and how to mount solar panels, photovoltaic systems' economic savings, equipment sales, service and professional installation referrals. Saturday, June 28 from 2-5 p.m. at the Peninsula Conservation Center, First Floor Conference Room, 3921 East Bayshore Road. Presented by the Sierra Club, Palo Alto Hardware and Andy Black. For info contact Kurt Newick at (408) 370-9636.

HIDDEN VILLA . . . Folksinger and social activist Joan Baez will be honored, along with local publishers Bill Johnson and Terri Lobdell of the Palo Alto Weekly, and Paul and Liz Nyberg of the Los Altos Town Crier at the Eighth Annual Josephine and Frank Duveneck Humanitarian Awards Dinner on Sept. 20. The fund-raising awards dinner lauds committed humanitarians and benefits Hidden Villa's multicultural education programs. Baez's long career in social activism includes work with the Civil Rights movement, death penalty abolition, environmental issues, anti-war and disarmament, anti-apartheid, prisoners of conscience and hunger. Baez will be returning to her roots for the dinner. She sang at the Hidden Villa farm during her high school days and gave a benefit concert there in 1996. For more reservations and information call Hidden Villa at 949-8651. Individual tickets are $175 and tables of 10 sponsorships range from $1,750 to $15,000. www.hiddenvilla.org.

BROKEN BONES . . . Esther Wojcicki -- "Woj" - the Paly Campanile faculty advisor, is stuck at home with a broken wrist after a student threw her in the pool at the Campanile's end of the year celebration. Upon getting out of the pool Woj slipped on some ceramic tile and broke her wrist. "It's very painful actually, I had to have surgery," Woj said. The long-time Paly teacher is in the process of applying for workman's comp but it is not yet determined whether she will be covered, since her injury occurred at an off-site pool party. In the meantime, she has four pins in her wrist. "I look sort of like the Statue of Liberty because I have to have my hand up all the time." She cancelled a two-week trip to Cuba, has been watching movies to keep busy and just bought Hillary Clinton's new book.

JURY DUTY . . . Palo Alto residents Walter J. McCullough and Hana R. Pederson are among 25 finalists for the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury. Nineteen finalists will become next year's Grand Jury members. The decision will be announced at the Impanelment Ceremony on Thursday, June 26, 2 p.m., in Department 17 of the Old Courthouse, 161 North First St., San Jose. Palo Altan Micheline Horstmeyer, who served on the 2002-2003 Grand Jury, has been held over to serve a second year.