Palo Alto Weekly July 12, 2019 by Palo Alto Weekly

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Palo Alto

Vol. XL, Number 41 Q July 12, 2019

Ravenswood district to consolidate its schools Page 5

Who’s inside the RVs on El Camino Real

Page 16

Spectrum 15 Eating Out 24 Shop Talk 25 Movies 26 Puzzles 39

INSIDE

Q Arts Stanford Repertory Theater tackles global themes Q Home What you should know about peach fruit ﬂies Q Sports The local inﬂuence on Women’s World Cup title

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When it matters most, patients turn to Stanford Health Care “I didn’t know what was happening to me. I was dropping everything. My hands were totally numb.” – Terenia

U.S. News & World Report, again, recognizes Stanford Health Care in the top 10 best hospitals in the nation.

When Terenia lost her ability to hold a paintbrush or a cup of tea, she knew it was time to get help. “I didn’t know what was happening to me,” said Terenia. “I was dropping everything. My hands were totally numb. I had totally given up painting portraits.” The Stanford Health Care’s Neurological Spine Disorders Clinic gave Terenia back the ability to paint pain-free. Neurosurgeon Anand Veeravagu, MD, utilized advanced robotic computer assistance and minimal access surgery to reconstruct both her neck and lower back. “The integration of advanced computer guidance and robotic assistance has transformed complex surgical cases by increasing safety and efficacy – patients do better and recover faster,” he said. Stanford Health Care is the first hospital in the Bay Area to use robotics for complex spine surgery. Months later, Terenia was painting again; her first piece, a painting for Dr. Veeravagu. “Being able to go back to work, it’s amazing,” she said. “I’m very grateful.” Page 2 • July 12, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • July 12, 2019 • Page 3

The Palo Alto Recreation Foundation in partnership with the City of Palo Alto and the Palo Alto Weekly present

You’re invited to the Palo Alto Black & White Ball on Friday, October 4th at the iconic Lucie Stern Community Center. Join us in celebrating the City of Palo Alto’s 125th birthday and Palo Alto Weekly’s 40th anniversary. Spend the evening mingling with friends & neighbors, dancing to live music, & enjoying food & drinks from your favorite local restaurants.

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All proceeds benefit the Palo Alto Recreation Foundation (PARF) which helps fund our City’s most cherished community events, recreational & wellness programs for all ages, while enhancing the extraordinary quality of life in Palo Alto.

Page 4 • July 12, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Upfront

Local news, information and analysis

Struggling, Ravenswood plans to consolidate schools District to hold community meetings, seek feedback on potential closures this fall by Elena Kadvany attling declining enrollment and funding, the Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto is starting to discuss consolidating schools — a process that is sure to be thorny but that the interim superintendent of the K-8 district

says is necessary for its survival. Interim Superintendent Gina Sudaria offered her initial thoughts on school consolidation during a June 27 presentation to the Board of Education on her vision for the next school year. Sudaria’s three primary goals

are to improve instruction by putting “the right people in the right places,” provide holistic support for students and ensure the district is fiscally responsible. “Not only are we going to have to rightsize our district, but we’ll have to do it in a way that doesn’t distract from the work that we have to do day to day in the classroom still,” she told the board. “The fall is going to be a very challenging time. I’m trying

to set the tone and the picture of what we’re going to have to do.” Ravenswood currently enrolls just over 2,000 students — down from about 3,500 seven years ago — with six schools and about 132 teachers. An enrollment consultant estimated this spring that the district will lose 27% of its students over the next five years, a decline far sharper than the district itself had predicted. Ravenswood receives funding

from the state based on average student attendance, meaning revenue has also dropped over the last several years. The district projects it will receive $26.7 million from the state in 2020, down from $31.5 million in 2017. In an interview, Sudaria said she is starting this summer to gather information that will lay conversations around consolidating (continued on page 10)

ENVIRONMENT

Palo Alto takes aim at demolition

City Council adopts ordinance to require reuse, recycling of materials by Gennady Sheyner n its latest bid to curb landfillbound waste, Palo Alto is preparing to effectively ban contractors from demolishing entire buildings starting in July 2020. Instead, workers will now be required to systematically disassemble structures, with the goal of reusing or recycling the bulk of the material on the site. Based on experiences in Portland, Oregon, which has a similar law in place, city staff believes that up to 95% of the construction debris can be salvaged — either reused or recycled — through “deconstruction.” Much like the city’s recent bans on plastic straws and single-use plastic utensils, the newly adopted “deconstruction” ordinance aims to help the city meet its goal of diverting 95% of local waste from landfills by 2030. But while the straw and bag bans have generated substantially more public discussion because of the ubiquitous nature of the objects being regulated, the deconstruction ordinance is expected to make a far greater contribution to the city’s “zero waste” goal. Construction and demolition materials represent more than 40% of Palo Alto debris that gets sent to landfills, according to an estimate from the city’s Public Works Department. As such, it represents a prime opportunity for diversion and recovery, staff told the City Council at the June 10 meeting, shortly before the council voted unanimously to adopt

WILDLIFE

They may be slow, but they’re not easy to find District launches an app to report sightings of Western pond turtles, other species by Sue Dremann hey’re famously slow. They’re also omnivorous, eating everything from insects and aquatic plants to carrion. And they are willing to stick their necks out each and every day, despite a host of dangers that lurk in dark crevices and reeds. Western pond turtles, California’s only native freshwater

turtle species, are trawling the ponds in the Santa Cruz Mountains, sunning on logs and keeping the mosquito population in check. But this most important species and indicator of ecosystem health is also highly vulnerable — listed by the state of California as a “species of special concern.” The population has been

reduced over time because of loss of habitat, predation and competition from non-native species, such as red-eared sliders, said Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District biologist Karine Tokatlian. Now a new program launched by the district aims to help these creatures thrive. Last month Tokatlian launched a new turtle-tracking project through the Midpen Biodiversity Index at the online app iNaturalist. The district is asking people to be on the lookout for the turtles. Through the app, people can upload pictures of the turtles they spot and include data such as time of day, where they were found, turtle activity and other measurements that will help scientists understand the turtle

populations and the quality of their environments. Participants can take a short introductory training with Tokatlian or simply report their findings. Scanning for the turtles with binoculars on Wednesday morning, Tokatlian searched the sunning platform and edges of reeds and grasses of Alpine Pond above Palo Alto where the creatures might be found. Every stick protruding from the water seemed to hold some promise of a head poking up, but the five or so turtles known to live in this pond were no-shows that day. Western pond turtles have a fairly large presence at the district’s newest preserve, Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space (continued on page 12)

Veronica Weber

Karine Tokatlian, a biologist for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, searches for Western pond turtles within the reeds of Alpine Pond at Skyline Ridge preserve on July 10. Tokatlian aims to get a count of the native turtle’s population in the region.

(continued on page 11)

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Upfront

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—Guido Persicone, city community and economic development planning and housing manager for East Palo Alto, on adding more affordable housing. See story on page 7.

Around Town

Contributors Chrissi Angeles, Mike Berry, Carol Blitzer, Peter Canavese, Yoshi Kato, Chris Kenrick, Jack McKinnon, Alissa Merksamer, Sheryl Nonnenberg, John Orr, Ruth Schechter, Monica Schreiber, Jay Thorwaldson ADVERTISING

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ACED IT ... Palo Alto’s new and improved golf course in the Baylands made a splash on the national scene last month, when Golfweek Magazine named it one of the top courses in California. The Baylands Golf Links, which opened in spring 2018 after nearly two years of work, made its debut at No. 13 on the publication’s “Best Courses You Can Play” list (just 12 spots behind the storied Pebble Beach Golf Links course). Designed by the architect Forrest Richardson, the course replaced the former Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course. As part of the redesign, the new course includes 55 acres of native vegetation, 40% less turf and 7.4 acres of marshland geared to improve flood protection around the San Francisquito Creek. The new course also requires 35% less water than the former one. City leaders and course operators welcomed the national recognition. Kristen O’Kane, director of the Community Services Department, said the city is “honored to join the ranks of prestigious courses recognized by Golfweek” and called the new course “an exciting and beautiful course for all to enjoy.” Matt Molloy, senior vice president of operations at OB Sports, which is managing the course, said his team “couldn’t be more proud” to make Golfweek’s list. “The City of Palo Alto had a great vision of what Baylands could become after the redesign, and this is just the first positive step of many toward giving Bay Area golfers a premier golf and dining experience,” Molloy said in a statement. AND THE WINNER IS ... A tasty Palo Alto tradition held every Fourth of July, the annual Chili Cook-off last week drew hundreds to Mitchell Park on Independence Day. Eleven teams went head to head for the title of Best Chili in the city, three of which were new to the competition. MB’s Place ultimately came out on top, followed by Rat Rod Chili and Hung Over Chili

who placed second and third, respectively. Other winners include Sound Bites, who was awarded with Best Decorated Booth and the Klemens Family, who took home both the People’s Choice Award and Best Spirit. The city awarded more than $3,000 in cash to the winning teams picked by a panel of community members who served as judges for the event. Attendees of the event paid $5 for a ticket that included five tastings and a voting ballot. The cook-off brought out about 4,000 people, city officials said. MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING ... The fast-growing Congressional App Challenge has returned to the 18th Congressional District for another year, giving local middle and high school students the opportunity to get creative with their knowledge in science, technology, engineering and math. The first contest was held in 2014 through a bipartisan initiative between Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia. Since then, the competition has grown to include 222 congressional districts across 46 states. To enter the competition, students must register on the contest’s website and upload a short video about their app on either YouTube or Vimeo. Students can submit as individuals or as part of a team of up to four people, and must either reside or attend school within the district. The apps will be evaluated by a panel of judges within the academic, software and entrepreneurial industries. The winning team will receive a $250 Amazon gift card and their app will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol building and on the House.gov website. MenloAtherton senior Anna Quinlan won last year’s competition with her app, “A Smarter Insulin Pump,” which helps regulate a user’s blood sugar levels by automatically dispensing insulin, notifying them when glucose levels drop too low and calculating the amount of carbohydrates they need to consume to return to normal levels. Submissions for this year’s contest will be accepted through Nov. 1. More information about the contest can be found at eshoo.house.gov or congressionalappchallenge.us. Q

Upfront

City eyes multiple strategies for shrinking the housing gap East Palo Alto plans to add 500 new affordable units in five years by Sue Dremann ven as the city of East Palo Alto is reviewing proposals for more than 558 new market-rate apartments, condos and single-family homes, it is also embarking on an ambitious plan to build 500 deed-restricted affordable-housing units by Dec. 31, 2023. The city has approved 91 units of new affordable housing at the Light Tree Apartments at 1805 East Bayshore Road. Additionally, the city is also planning to build 120 below-market-rate apartments at 965 Weeks St. on property it owns. The city’s next step is to find locations for another 290 affordable units, Sean Charpentier, assistant city manager, said this week. East Palo Alto currently has more than $18 million available to fund the additional housing from a variety of sources, including housing in-lieu fees and the Catalyst Housing fund from Facebook, among others. The city expects additional revenue sources could boost that fund to $29.6 million, according to its 2018 Affordable Housing Strategy plan. One new strategy the city’s considering for boosting its stock of affordable housing is an inclusionary housing ordinance, under which developers of market-rate housing would have to designate a percentage of the units as belowmarket-rate. Such an ordinance

could require a 15% to 20% rate, Charpentier said. East Palo Alto is also looking to develop underutilized land to meet its housing goals. The city could potentially leverage school district land, church sites and a small vacant parcel it owns at the corner of Bay Road and University Avenue. The city is also considering working with Barry Swenson Builder, which owns an adjoining property at Bay and University, to potentially use the 20-acre site for mixed-use development. Like other cities, East Palo Alto is also hoping that secondary dwelling units, or granny units, built on existing single-family properties could contribute to its overall housing stock. The city has set a goal to create 50 additional second units, or 10 per year, through 2023, according to Guido Persicone, planning and housing manager for the city community and economic development department. But that housing will just be a drop in the bucket in a city where there is already overcrowding. “It won’t be enough. We’re out of space. We have to intensify (density),” he said. The city has identified a number of areas in its Vista 2035 General Plan for much higher-density housing. The majority are on the city’s west side, where 1,800 apartments

Courtesy Okamoto Saijo Architects/City of East Palo Alto

HOUSING

The redevelopment of the Light Tree Apartments complex on East Bayshore Road in East Palo Alto has been approved by the city. The plans call for 57 apartments to be rehabilitated, 37 demolished and 128 new ones built.

in Woodland Park, many of which are rent controlled, are owned by Sand Hill Property Company. Some areas north of University Avenue behind the University Circle office center, within areas owned by Woodland/Sand Hill, are designated for 43.1 to 86 units per acre and up to seven stories, known as “urban residential” zoning. This area and south of University between the highway and the creek are zoned for high-density residential development (22.1 to 43 units per acre, maximum five stories) and medium-density residential (12.1 to 22 units per acre, a maximum three stories or 36 feet in height). East of the highway, along University and Bay Road, the city has established a mixed-use corridor that would include low-and highmixed-use developments. No matter how many units the city creates, it won’t be enough to meet current and future housing

demands, Charpentier said. The housing crisis comes after decades of regional failure to create housing, and East Palo Alto can’t be expected to shoulder all local cities’ housing needs. “We can’t keep up. We do our

best,” Charpentier said. “It’s frustrating for us. We can’t build our way out of it. The problem is significantly larger than our impact.” Q Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

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HOUSING

Developers propose to build more than 800 housing units in East Palo Alto Facing housing crisis, city set to review proposals this fall, winter

ast Palo Alto officials will be considering plans for more than 800 new housing units in the coming months, with the majority — 558 — being at market-rate. The most ambitious proposal would add 442 marketrate apartments to the city’s west side. Sand Hill Property’s Woodland Park project, located at 2013 Euclid Ave.-2001 Manhattan Ave., would raze and replace the existing 160 affordable units while adding the new market-rate units, bringing the total to 602 apartments. Other residential projects in the pipeline include both housing-only and mixed-use developments. Thirty-seven apartments have been proposed at Village One, a 37-unit, three-story multi-family project at 1201 Runnymede St., which is currently a vacant

one-acre lot. It would include first-floor parking and second-and third-floor residences with a center courtyard. The project is adjacent to the Primary School site and is in the pre-application phase. It would come before the planning commission and City Council in the fall and winter, respectively, for approval. Thir ty-two apar tments would be included in the University Corner development, a 47,594-square-foot, four-story, mixed-use retail and residential building at 2331 University Ave./573 Runnymede St. It is currently under review and will go before the planning commission and the council for hearing and approval this fall and winter. A 21-unit apartment structure above 1,000 square feet of retail on a 9,000-square-foot lot,

proposed for 2212 University Ave. is currently under review and will go before the planning commission this fall. Ten condominiums in a three-story building with underground parking could be built at 717 Donohoe St., across from IKEA. That project is scheduled for planning commission and council review this fall. Additional smaller housing developments would subdivide lots to build more densely. Plans for 809 Donohoe St. and 961 Beech St. call for four single-family homes each on approximately half-acre lots. A project on Maple Lane would add four new single-family homes to the existing Maple Lane subdivision. Developers for three other parcels in the city want to build individual single-family homes. Q —Sue Dremann

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • July 12, 2019 • Page 7

Upfront TRANSPORTATION

Palo Alto looks to overhaul parking programs City prepares to upgrade downtown garages, introduce paid parking by Gennady Sheyner

consulting firm Dixon Resources completed in early 2017. Dixon found in its survey of downtown that more than 80% of both on- and off-street parking spaces were full, leading drivers to circle around residential streets, garages and parking lots to find a spot. This, the report states, creates further congestion and may deter some customers from visiting downtown. Introducing paid parking, the study argues, would “ultimately save drivers time and reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions.” The Dixon report also noted that the revenue collected through parking can fund the Palo Alto Transportation Management Association, which works to convince solo drivers to use other modes of transportation. To set the stage for paid parking, the city plans to approve a contract with Dixon for a Downtown Parking Operational Study, which will analyze plans to move

The city of Palo Alto is exploring new a paid-parking system for downtown, affecting facilities such as the Bryant Street parking garage. from the current system that mixes free parking and pre-paid permits to one built around dynamic pricing based on usage. The study acknowledged concerns of some business owners, who have chafed at the idea of paid parking and argued that parking meters would drive customers to other locations where parking is free. Indeed, when Palo Alto took down downtown’s parking meters in the mid-1970s, the main concern was competition from Stanford Shopping Center, where drivers don’t have to worry about meters. Dixon, however, concluded that paid parking, while discouraging some drivers from visiting downtown, could attract others. “There is a segment of the

population that may be more likely to go downtown and pay for parking if it means that parking is easier and quicker to find,” the report states. The council has yet to decide exactly what the new program will look like. One option brought up Wayne Tanda, a consultant with the Municipal Resource Group (MRG), is to allow cars to park in downtown garages for free for the first three hours (much like they do today) and then charge a “reasonable fee” beyond that time. Today, by contrast, cars that need to park for longer than three hours must pay $25 for a permit, regardless of whether they are using the facility for four hours or 15 hours. The idea of installing guidance systems and revenue collection

Veronica Weber

o address long-simmering frustrations of Palo Alto residents and workers, city leaders are aiming to accelerate reform of neighborhood and downtown parking programs, starting in August. The extensive to-do list that the City Council and the Planning and Transportation Commission will consider includes moving toward a new pay-by-the-hour system for public garages, planning for a new guidance system at the City Hall garage that will identify available spaces to incoming drivers, and streamlining local neighborhoods’ “Residential Preferential Parking” (RPP) programs while also adding new RPP districts. Some of the initiatives in the city’s ambitious parking overhaul are more than two years in the making. Implementing paid parking in downtown was one of the central recommendations of the City of Palo Alto Downtown Parking Management Study, which the

equipment at the City Hall garage and potentially other downtown structures received a significant boost last month, when the council passed a capital budget that includes the parking equipment on its list of infrastructure priorities — the council’s first addition to the infrastructure list since its adoption in 2014. City Manager Ed Shikada had proposed adding the garage technology, which would include signals marking the individual available spaces in a garage, to the budget partly in response to the council’s decision in February not to move ahead with construction of a new downtown garage. (The city is, however, proceeding with a new garage in the California Avenue area). According to the budget, the $2.8-million project will be completed by summer 2021. The city is also moving ahead with plans to revamp the online system for buying permits and managing citations for all of the city’s parking programs. At its final meeting before summer recess, the council approved a $627,000 contract with the firm Duncan Solutions to develop, implement and maintain such a system. Tanda had recommended that the new system allow employees who buy six-month permits to automatically renew them — thus (continued on page 11)

Investing in a free public commuter shuttle network that provides over 3 million rides per year. So everyone has a better commute. Stanford has called Santa Clara County home for 128 years. That’s why we’re investing in critical local transportation projects to provide more alternatives to traditional commutes. In fact, since 2003, the university has reduced the percentage of single-occupancy vehicle commuters to and from campus from 69% to 43% today. We're finding sustainable solutions to help the community get to where they need to go.

L E A R N M O R E A T G U P. S T A N F O R D . E D U Page 8 • July 12, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Upfront ELECTION 2020

Experts sound the alarm on 2020 election-meddling

Researcher from Institute for the Future and a former Federal Elections Commission chair talk about tactics that could be used by Matthew Vollrath ill deception on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter be a major threat in the upcoming 2020 election? According to Ann Ravel, former chair of the Federal Elections Commission, the troubling answer is “Yes.” Ravel, now the director of the Digital Deception Project at the Berkeley nonprofit MapLight, and Katie Joseff, a digital intelligence researcher at the Palo Alto nonprofit Institute for the Future, spoke about the looming problem at a June 27 event at Menlo Park’s Hewlett Center. Organized online deception campaigns, from both foreign and domestic sources, significantly affected the outcome of the 2016 election, the two said. “A lot of people are unwilling to admit that these campaigns impacted the election,” Ravel said. “I’m here to tell you they did.” Similar campaigns targeting the 2020 election are already appearing, the speakers said. Ravel and Joseff identified several forms of election-related online deception. One is the deliberate spread of misinformation — spreading incorrect details about polling times and locations. For instance, Ravel said, one campaign in 2016 targeted African-Americans, telling them that the voting date had changed. “We know it suppressed the vote because the difference between African-American voter turnout in 2012 and 2016 was almost 8%,” she said. Other tactics include the spread of “deep fakes,” fabricated photos or videos that aim to create a false scandal, and the use of fake accounts, through which paid operatives masquerade as regular Americans to spread politicized messages. With today’s AI technology, the speakers said, many of these are automated “bot” accounts, which can post independently and proliferate rapidly. A major goal of these tactics, according to Joseff, is to undermine faith in democracy. The strategy of “disinformation” began in Soviet Russia as an attempt to “destabilize trust in democratic countries,” she said. Joseff also discussed another alarming tactic: harassment campaigns. In the 2016 election, hate groups and “troll farms” targeted specific demographics, such as African-Americans and immigrants, and threatened them online, she said. “Targeted harassment campaigns play a role in silencing already niche communities,” Joseff

said. This harassment, which sometimes involved death threats or sending law enforcement to the victim’s home, led to a significant decrease in voting turnout among these populations, she added. Addressing the problem of online deception and harassment, the speakers said, will require action on two fronts. The first, Ravel asserted, is to pass federal legislation requiring greater transparency online. While at the Federal Elections Commission, Ravel said, she argued for such a law and was vilified by one of her colleagues, who called her the “Chinese Censorship Board.” But, she noted, such a law is not without precedent. For political speech on radio, television, and in print, there are strict requirements for disclosing the identity of the groups and funding sources behind these messages. “If you pay for political communications, you need to disclose who’s behind it,” Ravel said. Extending these requirements to the online realm only makes sense, she added. The second is for social media companies themselves to take the initiative. Whether or not they are legally required to, Joseff and Ravel say, companies like Facebook should be making active efforts to detect fake and bot accounts, correct false information, and ensure that paid and political content is displayed transparently. According to Brandi Barr, a policy communicator at Facebook, the social media giant is taking a number of steps in these areas. Facebook has blocked millions of accounts, Barr said, both of individuals suspected to have a fake account and of groups of accounts displaying “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” The company has also taken down 45,000 posts “attempting to mislead

people about where and how to vote,” employs third-party factcheckers to identify false content, and keeps a public archive of the ads it displays and the sources and targets behind them, she said. Since 2016, Barr said, Facebook’s efforts have shifted from passive identification based on user reports to active detection of deceptive behavior using “a myriad of signals.” Governments are also turning their focus to this problem as a threat to the integrity of elections, said Jim Irizarry, assistant chief elections officer for San Mateo County. “We realized you don’t have to get into the voting system if you can influence attitudes towards candidates and campaigns,” he said. Combating online deception on the government level requires a “multi-level approach,” Irizarry said. San Mateo and other counties are working with the Cyber Security Division of the California Secretary of State’s Office to report election-related misinformation on social media, he explained. Anyone who encounters misinformation can now report it to the secretary’s office through a new online system at sos.ca.gov/ elections. As a national issue, however, Ravel is not optimistic that the problem of online deception will be solved in time for the election. The reality is that repairing this situation will likely take many years, she said. “I’m trying to sound the alarm that this is not an easy fix,” Ravel said. “We need to get much more information about exactly who they are targeting and why.” Q Almanac Intern Matthew Vollrath can be emailed at m v o l l r a t h@ a l m a n a c n e w s . com. The Almanac is a sister publication of the Palo Alto Weekly.

Public Agenda A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week CITY COUNCIL ... The council is on its summer recess until Aug. 5. ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD ... The board plans to review a proposed mixed-use development at 565 Hamilton Ave. and a proposal to replace the Newell Road bridge. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 18, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. PUBLIC ART COMMISSION ... The commission plans to vote on the funding of temporary public art associated with the California Avenue garage construction fence and discuss the George Washington High School Victor Arnautoff frescoes and the status of Palo Alto’s Arnautoff frescoes. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 18, in the Community Meeting Room at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave.

News Digest City Hall managers get 3% raises

More than 200 City Hall employees, including department heads, managers and supervisors, received a 3% raise this month under a new contract that the Palo Alto City Council approved in its final meeting before the summer break. The council unanimously approved on June 24 a compensation plan for the 229 positions in what’s known as the “management and professionals” group — the only employee group that is not represented by a union. Raises for these employees typically mirror those for other labor groups, including the more than 600 city workers represented by the Service Employees International Union, Local 521. The raises are expected to add about $1.4 million to the city budget, according to a report from the Human Resources Department. The compensation plan took effect July 1 and runs until June 30, 2020. In explaining the raises, staff pointed to the fact that all other employee groups, including SEIU, the police and fire unions and Utilities Management and Professional Association (UMPAPA), have all received raises of at least 3% in the current fiscal year under recently approved contracts. The council also agreed on June 24 to extend its contract with UMPAPA for another year. The agreement, which the council supported by a unanimous vote, grants the 48 members of UMPAPA a 3% raise in the coming year. As part of its new compensation plan with the unrepresented group of managers, the council also approved additional raises for the positions of division manager in library services (which will see an additional 3.5% pay bump) and urban forestry manager (a 6.4% raise, reportedly to align with the market). Both contracts reflect City Hall’s recent trend toward higher salaries across the organization. The city’s expenditures on salaries and benefits have risen from $176.4 million in fiscal year 2017 to $198.1 million in fiscal year 2019, which ended on June 30. The council’s newly adopted budget for fiscal year 2020 includes $216.3 million for salaries and benefits, an increase of 9.2% over the prior year. The city’s new contract with UMPAPA will expire on June 30, 2020. The raises will add $326,000 in total costs, which will be spread out over various utility funds, according to the Human Resources report. Q —Gennady Sheyner

Ravenswood teachers, staff get raises

After two years of negotiations on a contract that expired in 2016, Ravenswood City School District teachers will receive a 7.5% raise this summer. The school board unanimously approved (in a 4-0 vote, with Trustee Ana Maria Pulido absent) during a special meeting Tuesday night in East Palo Alto new contracts with both of its bargaining units. Both teachers and classified staff will receive a 2% salary increase retroactive to July 1, 2018, and a 5.5% raise that went into effect July 1, 2019. The salary increases come after two years of budget cuts and discord amongst some teachers and staff who had voiced dissatisfaction with the district’s former superintendent, Gloria Hernandez-Goff, including by taking a vote of no confidence in her leadership in 2017. This spring, Hernandez-Goff was placed on paid administrative leave and then forced to resign. The board appointed the district’s director of student services, Gina Sudaria, to replace her on an interim basis. Ravenswood Teachers Association President Ronda White said the new leadership struck a more positive, constructive tone in negotiations, resulting in the raises, additional stipends and better working conditions and health benefits. “We believe that the work that we’ve done over the past three school years will hopefully retain and attract teachers,” she told the Weekly. Ravenswood teachers are still paid lower on average than those in many neighboring districts, White noted, but the increases are an improvement. A new teacher will now be paid a starting base salary of about $51,800 and experienced teachers can earn up to just under $97,000. The retroactive teachers’ raise will cost the district about $587,331 for the current fiscal year and the latter increase, about $1.28 million from the 2019-20 budget. The retroactive salary bump for classified staff will cost $577,331 and the July 1 raise, $1.09 million. The California School Employees Association’s contract had also expired, in June 2017, and negotiations with that bargaining unit began in October of that year. The raises went a long way toward boosting teacher morale, White said. “There has been an incredible amount of positives, a total upswing of the morale of the district and of the community. We’re going to need that moving into the next year because we have a lot of hard decisions we’re going to have to make,” she said. Q —Elena Kadvany www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • July 12, 2019 • Page 9

Upfront

Ravenswood

CityView A round-up

(continued from page 5)

of Palo Alto government action this week

City Council

The council did not meet this week.

These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAlto Online.com/news.

Man arrested for alleged skateboard attack

Palo Alto police have arrested a man who is accused of punching a pedestrian in the face and striking him in the abdomen with a skateboard as he walked along on University Avenue late Wednesday morning. (Posted July 11, 12:57 p.m.)

Hot temperatures in store

After a cool few weeks in the Bay Area, residents should anticipate a serious warm-up this weekend with some places expected to see highs in the 90s and even the low 100s. (Posted July 11 10:46 a.m.)

Skyline homicide suspect pleads not guilty

Double homicide suspect Malik Dosouqi, charged with murder in the stabbing deaths of two men on Skyline Boulevard last month, appeared in San Mateo County Superior Court on Monday, pleaded not guilty and filed paperwork with the court to represent himself, according to Assistant District Attorney Sean Gallagher. (Posted July 9, 8:24 a.m.)

Suspected plane crash turns out to be fires

An initial report of a possible airplane crash at the Palo Alto Airport Monday morning turned out instead to be three electrical fires, two in East Palo Alto and one across San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto.

(Posted July 8, 2:07 p.m.)

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Page 10 • July 12, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Gina Sudaria, the interim superintendent of Ravenswood City School District.

Courtesy Ravenswood

Online This Week

schools this fall. The district will hold public meetings on the topic in September and October before she makes a recommendation to the Board of Education. She anticipates the trustees will make a decision in December. Consolidating schools will allow the district to provide more services to students, such as mental health support and electives, she told the board in June. “I wouldn’t necessarily say school consolidation is something that you successfully get through but you can in the sense that the end result will better behoove students on the other side. The main process is to collect as much information as possible about programs, about your district and presenting that data and information to your community, who should have a primary seat in the conversation,” Sudaria told the Weekly. She emphasized a commitment to being “as transparent as possible about the decisions that are made and what input was considered.” Sudaria plans to talk with superintendents of districts that have closed schools, including the neighboring Redwood City School District, where the board decided to shutter four schools last year due to low enrollment and a budget deficit. Ravenswood is also working with a consultant, Kaya Henderson, the former chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, during this process. In her presentation to the board, Sudaria acknowledged that Ravenswood is “not where we need to be in terms of academic outcomes for our students.” The same percentage of students meet or exceed standards in both math

(12%) and English language arts (18%) this year as they did four years ago, according to Sudaria. She said the district must align its instruction to grade-level expectations and curriculum, offer more “coherent” professional development and improve teacher and administrator morale. “To change course,” she said, “we must elevate instruction districtwide and take action to ensure we have the right educators and the right leaders again in the right seats. Research and experience show improving instruction requires great teachers, effective principals and rigorous and engaging instruction. The presence of one or two of these elements is not enough.” Ravenswood has put new principals in place at several schools for next year and is reorganizing the district office, Sudaria said. The board approved a series of appointments at its final meeting of the school year on June 27, including new directors and coordinators of special education, student services and human resources. Several outside organizations, including Instruction Partners, New Leaders and the New Teacher Center, are helping the district with coaching staff and instructional planning. The Ravenswood Education Foundation is funding these partnerships next year. The education foundation has also allocated $100,000 for Education Resource Strategies, which helps school districts “transform how they use resources (people, time, and money),” the nonprofit’s website states, to conduct an analysis of the district’s “human capital,” starting this summer. Another $107,000 from the Ravenswood Education Foundation will go to a newly approved contract with Attuned Education Partners to help the district develop a long-term strategic plan. Board member Ana Maria Pulido told Sudaria that she liked Sudaria’s vision conceptually but that questions remain about how it will be executed. “I’m hoping a lot of my ‘hows’ ... (are) going to be more defined” in the strategic plan, Pulido said on June 27. Sudaria has led the district on a temporary basis since February, after former Superintendent Gloria Hernandez-Goff was placed

‘Not only are we going to have to rightsize our district, but we’ll have to do it in a way that doesn’t distract from the work that we have to do day to day in the classroom still.’

—Gina Sudaria, interim superintendent of Ravenswood City School District.

on paid administrative leave and then forced to resign. Following Sudaria’s appointment, the Ravenswood Education Foundation saw a windfall of $1.3 million in donations, which Sudaria said donors specified was due to the change in leadership. “There’s a sense of optimism and support for the collaborative environment that has been established in my tenure,” she said. “I don’t make unilateral decisions. I believe in a collective decisionmaking process.” Pulido noted at the meeting that a longtime, major donor is pulling out of donating to the Ravenswood district, a decision Sudaria said was already in the works the last couple of years. After this school year, John and Tashia Morgridge of Portola Valley’s Tosa Foundation will no longer give $700,000 to support Ravenswood’s reading recovery program. “The donors have contributed over 20 years and are minimizing their portfolio of who they contribute dollars to and narrow their focus,” Sudaria said. Q Staff Writer Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com.

By the numbers Ravenswood enrollment

2012: 3,547 students 2019: 2,039 students 2023: 1,747 students, according to a consultant

State funding, based on student attendance 2017: $31.5 million 2020: $26.7 million

Student academic achievement:

2015: Students meeting or exceeding standards in math (12%) and English language arts (18%) 2019: Students meeting or exceeding standards in math (12%) and English language arts (18%)

Upfront

Even so, city staff believes the environmental benefits outweigh the rising costs. Public Works staff pointed to Portland, where up to 25% of materials in residential buildings were deemed reusable and up to 70% recyclable, for a total recovery rate of 95%. Mixed construction-and-demolition debris, by contrast, typically nets recovery rates between 71% and 80%. The new deconstruction ordinance is expected to help the city divert 7,930 tons of waste annually. (By contrast, the disposable-foodware ordinance that the council adopted at the same meetingwould divert 290 tons.) The deconstruction ordinance is also expected to reduce the city’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 22,300 metric tons annually (for the foodware ordinance, the amount is 470 tons). Assistant Public Works Director Phil Bobel noted that deconstruction allows for a “hierarchy of uses,” with reuse at the very top, followed by recycling and composting. A report from staff includes a list of items that can be salvaged and reused during deconstruction, including appliances, cabinets, lumber, windows,

doors, electric and plumbing fixtures and hardwood floors. Tiles, blocks and bricks can at times be reused, if recovered in entirety. In cases where the block or brick is damaged or misshaped, a reuse facility can hammer it down and turn it into base rock, which can then be used in roadway and other construction projects, Bobel said. Wood can also be sold and reused if it’s in good shape. Otherwise, it can be shredded into compost. Even old Sheetrock can be made useful if it’s separated on-site from other debris, Bobel said. It can be ground down into gypsum, which would be used as a soil supplement. Prior to the council’s adoption of the new ordinance, Public Works staff experimented with deconstruction at a city-owned property: a 2,500-square-foot building in the wetlands formerly owned by International Telephone and Telegraph. The city bought the property in 2016 and demolished the building earlier this month. Borges said the deconstruction generated about 184 tons of material, about 4% of which was set aside for reuse (this was mostly old lumber, including

redwood). Another 93% was separated on-site and recycled, with only 3% disposed of as garbage, she said. Staff also solicited input and held two workshops on the proposed ordinance, reaching out to about 1,200 contractors, developers and architects who regularly work in Palo Alto, according to a staff report. Many were reportedly concerned about the city’s initial proposal to apply the ordinance to all projects valued at over $25,000 and about the need to educate contractors about proper materials sorting. Based on the feedback, the city will initially apply the ordinance for total demolitions of commercial and residential projects starting on July 1, 2020. The ordinance is expected to affect about 114 projects, according to staff. The ordinance will attain a broader reach in January 2022, when it becomes applicable to all projects valued at $100,000 or more, and in January 2023, when the threshold is lowered to $50,000. While Borges said some stakeholders expressed concern about the high costs of complying with the new ordinance, Drew

Maran, founder of the local construction company Drew Maran Construction and director at the nonprofit The ReUse People, said he completely supports the new ordinance. The idea of reusing materials in demolished projects is “way, way beyond its time,” Maran said. “We really need to do it. Recycling a 2-by-4 just simply makes it mulch for gardens and landscapes. Reusing it as a 2-by-4 in buildings makes sure that we don’t cut down a whole lot more trees,” Maran said. But Ed Dunn, a longtime employee at San Francisco Community Recyclers, said he and others in the recycling community are concerned about a “serious lack of relevant stakeholder input” with the ordinance. He questioned whether there would actually be a market for the salvaged material. “You’ve seen pictures of a deconstruction project underway,” Dunn told the council after the staff presentation. “You have not seen pictures of people buying that stuff and that’s a crucial thing. Who will take the stuff, take it back to their house and reuse it as is?” Councilman Greg Tanaka also questioned whether the materials recovered during deconstruction will ultimately find new uses. “I know from my own home renovation, it’s really hard,” Tanaka said. “Even when you make a huge effort to try to reuse it, it’s really hard to do it because it’s not the right size.” Ultimately, he joined five of his colleagues (Councilman Tom DuBois was absent) in approving the ordinance. Councilwoman Alison Cormack acknowledged that the ordinance comes with “significant” costs, both to the city and to the residents and businesses undertaking deconstruction. Even so, she said the new requirement is worthwhile. “I do think it’s appropriate. It’s a huge opportunity,” Cormack said. Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

also recommended that the city realign renewal dates for parking permits and replace the existing payment system for employee RPP permits (which are sold for six-month increments) with one that allows for monthly permits. The standards should consider “the residents’ perceptions of the impact of parking availability on their quality of life,” according to a plan that the Office of Transportation released in June. During the council’s May 13 discussion of parking reforms, Mayor Eric Filseth strongly supported establishing the new standards, which he argued will help simplify the program. But even as the city is preparing to move ahead with most of the reforms proposed by Dixon and MRG, there is one area in which staff is clinging to the status quo: chalking tires. In April,

a federal court concluded that chalking tires is unconstitutional because it violates the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. Though the decision from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals only applies to the four states covered by the circuit court — Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee — it has prompted some cities to reconsider their chalking practices. Even before the federal court had issued its decision, Dixon had recommended that the city move away from chalking and toward license-plate readers as an enforcement mechanism. Using the digital technology to track the location of vehicles is more efficient, Dixon argued, and helps cities provide “a more accountable and consistent approach to time limit management

without having to invest in additional labor.” Tanda told the Weekly that the license-plate technology is in widespread use in Los Angeles and other cities. In Palo Alto, however, officials are not ready to abandon the quaint chalk system. Shikada said he had spoken to Police Chief Robert Jonsen and City Attorney Molly Stump, who determined that because the decision does not affect California, the city will not be changing any procedures related to chalking. City staff plans to discuss potential reforms to the parking programs with the Planning and Transportation Commission in the fall, before the issue moves to the council. To help manage the growing workload, the new budget creates two new positions for the Office

of Transportation: a parking manager and a transportation engineer. Shikada is also recruiting for a new chief transportation officer to lead the office, who may make further revisions to the work plan. Staff is confident that once implemented, the changes will make a real difference on an issue that has frustrated residents and council members for years. “Though it will take time to reorganize and scale all of the parking activities that will come in a parking work plan as a result of this report, the benefits to staff, customer service, public relations and the sustainability of the city’s parking programs will be very significant,” the new report from the Office of Transportation states. Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

Waste (continued from page 5)

Parking (continued from page 8)

avoiding the need for the kind of “mad dash” that permit seekers experience every half-year under the current program.

RPP and chalking tires

The council largely embraced the 35 recommendations in Tanda’s report, including one that calls for establishing standards for how much parking should be available to the public in various Palo Alto neighborhoods. He recommended that the city eliminate the inconsistencies between the different RPP districts, which currently vary in terms of how many permits are distributed and how much residents and employees are charged for permits. He

A bulldozer grabs piles of demolition debris at Zanker Recycling in San Jose. Retrieved wood is ground and churned into wood chips and mulch for landscape and biofuel use.

Veronica Weber

the new ordinance. Paula Borges, the city’s zerowaste manager, called construction and demolition debris “one of the largest landfill contribution materials,” comprising about 19,000 tons of waste annually. “It is therefore essential that we focus on reducing the source of this landfill material in order to meet the city’s goals,” Borges told the council. To do that, the city is preparing to fundamentally change how contractors take down old buildings. Under the old model, excavators smash and knock down the structure, reducing its materials into rubble that gets placed in containers and shipped to a waste-sorting facility. The operation takes a few days and a crew of two to three people, according to staff, and costs between $8 and $12 per square foot to complete. The new model calls for buildings to be systematically disassembled, typically in the reverse order in which they were constructed. Based on two recent pilot projects, deconstruction work using this method would take about 10 to 15 days to complete and require a crew of four to eight people, with the cost ranging from $22 to $34 per square foot. Under the old model, demolition debris is placed in containers designated “as mixed waste.” In the new one, a contractor fills out a “salvage survey” listing all materials that can be reused and then source-separates the debris accordingly in blue and green containers. The city’s hauler, GreenWaste of Palo Alto, would then deliver these materials to cityapproved recovery stations. Staff estimates that the deconstruction-collection program will cost the city about $243,000 in one-time expenses and $567,000 in annual ongoing expenses. In addition, the city plans to spend about $118,000 in one-time expenses for consulting services related to outreach and education.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • July 12, 2019 • Page 11

Upfront (continued from page 5)

Preserve near Los Gatos. Tokatlian estimates that about 300 reside in two ponds at the preserve. The turtles also frequent La Honda Creek, Windy Hill, Russian Ridge and Sierra Azul open spaces. They are usually found in aquatic areas such as ponds, lakes, creeks and rivers, but they also leave the water to search for food, other water sources or to lay their eggs in the spring in sunny, grassy areas near streams or ponds.

healthy for the turtles, she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you see a turtle in these areas, do not disturb them. Contact us so that we can monitor potential nesting sights,â&#x20AC;? she said. Western pond turtles donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t breed until they are 8 to 10 years old. Although they have hard shells, as juveniles and hatchlings, the shells are soft, making them easy prey. Pond turtles are about four to eight inches in size and can live for about 14 years. They have smooth, flattishdomed shells that are brown or blackish and are smooth around the edges of the shell. Other turtle species tend to have higher domes, she said.

Courtesy Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

Turtles

A Western pond turtle These dry-area locations are of particular interest to Tokatlian because they indicate possible nests, a sign that the habitat is

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Red-eared sliders, an invasive species, are distinguishable from pond turtles because they have red markings near their eyes. They also have notches along the edges of their shells. These are the turtles most people have as pets, along with painted turtles. Once they become unwanted pets, people sometimes deposit them in creeks and ponds where they out-compete the pond turtles for food, critical basking locations that regulate body temperature and other habitat. Red-eared sliders also have larger clutches of eggs â&#x20AC;&#x201D; twice as many as pond turtles, which lay two to 11 small, white ovalshaped eggs. Red-eared eggs hatch earlier than pond turtles, so they can take advantage of establishing dominance over resources, she said. These invasive species can be prolific. During an attempt to trap an invasive snapping turtle at Windy Hill, biologists caught 10 red-eared sliders and painted turtles, another invasive species, and only two western pond turtles over a two-week period, Tokatlian said. The pond turtles are an important species that contributes to the overall health of the ecosystem, she said. They take less energy out of the food they consume than do other species and leave behind what remains for other creatures to feed from the pellets they excrete. They eat

What to do with unwanted pets Pet lizards, reptiles, frogs and turtles should never be released into the wild. If a pet is no longer wanted, it can be given to the following rescue groups: â&#x20AC;˘ Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA: phs-spca.org/ â&#x20AC;˘ Bay Area Turtle and Tortoise Rescue: 510-886-2946 â&#x20AC;˘ Bay Area Amphibian & Reptile Society: baars.org â&#x20AC;˘ Joe and Wendyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Reptile Rescue: 707-557-5213

decaying vegetation and insects. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are using them as an indicator of whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening around us â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to see if they are healthy and abundant â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and we are using their behavior to gauge the health of the pond habitat,â&#x20AC;? she said. With the information they gather, scientists will be able to better manage the pond resources, which will benefit all of the creatures who rely on the water. To learn about the turtle-tracking project or to sign up for a training session, people can visit openspace.org/visit-a-preserve/ plants-wildlife/turtles#healthy. Q Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

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Pulse A weekly compendium of vital statistics

POLICE CALLS Palo Alto

July 3-July 9

Violence related Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Sexual assault. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft related Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Prowler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Vehicle related Auto burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Auto recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Driving w/ suspended license. . . . . . . . 8 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Lost/stolen plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . 4 Vehicle accident/prop damage. . . . . . . 6 Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Alcohol or drug related Drinking in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Driving under influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Possession of paraphernalia . . . . . . . . 4 Under influence of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Miscellaneous Animal call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Disturbance/annoying phone calls . . . . 1 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Menlo Park July 3-July 9

Violence related Assault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft related Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft undefined. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle related Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Driving w/ suspended license. . . . . . . . 4 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . 2 Vehicle accident/no injury. . . . . . . . . . . 2 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Alcohol or drug related Driving under influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Under influence of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Miscellaneous Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Info. case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Located missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Psychiatric subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . 1 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

VIOLENT CRIMES Palo Alto

Louis Road, 6/16, 9:40 p.m.; battery. Forest Avenue, 6/26, 1 p.m.; domestic violence. Middlefield Road, 6/28, 7:05 p.m.; battery. Vernon Terrace, 7/2, 8:16 a.m.; domestic violence. Bryant Street, 7/2, 2:46 p.m.; sexual assault.

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Transitions Births, marriages and deaths

Robert Harmon Carlstead

The DeLeon Difference® 650.543.8500 www.deleonrealty.com 650.543.8500 | www.deleonrealty.com | DeLeon Realty CalBRE #01903224

Robert Harmon Carlstead, 90, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died on April 28 at Stanford Hospital. He was born in C h i l l i c o t h e, Missouri, in 1929 to Edward Robert Carlstead and Sarah Kather ine Ker r. After graduating high school in Webb City, Missouri, he attended the University of Missouri and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1952. He

enrolled in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps and served in the U.S. Navy for four years as a first lieutenant. His naval tour of duty included South America, the Panama Canal, the Caribbean and Guantanamo Bay. Following his tour in the Navy, he attended Oklahoma State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1957 before moving to the Bay Area. He married Mary Louise Braxmeier in 1960 and they raised their three children in Palo Alto. While working full-time, he earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Santa Clara University and remained a registered

Beverly Aarts

Judy C. Daniels Judy contributed to the lives of numerous people through her extraordinary kindness, positivity and love. While living at Kensington Place, a memory care facility, she passed away peacefully. Until her death, Judy remarkably continued to bring love and warmth to others and will always be remembered for her loving spirit. Judy was born in Providence, RI and subsequently raised in Santa Barbara, CA. She attended Santa Barbara High School and was voted to be “May Queen” at Prom and “Most Popular Girl.” She attended college at U.C. Santa Barbara and San Francisco State, earning a teaching credential. Judy worked as an elementary school teacher and helped pay her husband David’s way through medical school at Stanford University School of Medicine, before she turned her focus to full time parenting. She was a resident of Palo Alto, CA and the Greenmeadow neighborhood since 1964. Judy was a phenomenal tennis player, she greatly enjoyed the outdoors, and she was a gifted cook. She was a volunteer docent and philanthropist for the David C. Daniels Nature Center through the Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District, and was active in Kara – Grief Support, Neighbors Abroad, the Gamble Garden Club, Foothills Swim & Tennis Club, and worked as a Teacher’s Assistant for the Palo Alto Unified School District. Judy was deeply dedicated to supporting her husband, David N. Daniels, and his work teaching the Enneagram worldwide. At her core, she was a force of goodness in this world, and she possessed a natural warmth that could light up a room. Judy loved her family and was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She is survived by daughter Denise, son John (“JD”) and his wife Karen, grandchildren Dylan, Kailey, and Mac. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 62 years, David N. Daniels, and her youngest son, David C. Daniels, by 29 years. Her loving spirit will be missed by all that knew her. Donations in memory of Judy may be made to the MidPeninsula Open Space District at openspace.org/daniels. A private memorial service will be held for her family and friends. Feel free to correspond with Judy’s family via email: ddanielsphd@gmail.com. PAID

David I. Brees

September 9, 1936 – July 7, 2019

Resident of Palo Alto September 4, 1934 – June 19, 2019

OBITUARY

Page 14 • July 12, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

professional engineer in California throughout his 37-year career. He worked in the Silicon Valley semiconductor industry for several companies, including Lockheed, Hewlett-Packard and Fairchild Semiconductors, and his design for a Transducer Output Indicator was patented in 1969. He retired in 1994 but occasionally returned to consult and teach. He was an avid traveler, and visited many historic sites across the U.S. and Europe with his wife. He was active in the Palo Alto Senior Men’s Golf Association, serving as president in 2014. He is survived by his two daughters, Martha and Carrie Carlstead of Seattle; four nieces and one nephew. He was preceded in death by his wife; their son, William Carlstead; and his siblings Carolyn Gray, and Edward Carlstead.

Beverly Aarts passed away peacefully July 7, 2019 surrounded by her family, after 12 years of living gracefully with Multiple Myeloma. Beverly was born September 9, 1936 in Spokane WA to Fred and Edna Cochran and moved many times during her childhood, settling with her parents and brother, Bill in Los Altos as a teenager. Beverly attended The University of Oregon where she was a member of Delta Gamma sorority and where she met her husband, Jan Aarts, a Fulbright student from the Netherlands. She and Jan would live in Eureka and Santa Rosa before settling in Palo Alto in 1959. Beverly would go on to have five children and begin 6 decades of adventures in charitable works and business ventures – always involving food. Her philanthropic ventures included cooking for the Allied Arts Restaurant, starting a homegrown food coop, and organizing the menu and food for the annual “Lifetimes of Achievement” for Avenidas for 25+ years. She designed and organized the menus for the fundraising events and monthly luncheons at the Elizabeth Gamble Gardens. Beverly was also a successful businesswoman starting with a catering business, a restaurant in Palo Alto, Baskin-Robbins (Menlo Park) for 10 years and eventually Beverly’s English Toffee which continues today. Beverly was a loyal friend and mother figure to many and was capable of boundless unconditional love for anyone who crossed her path, especially her grandchildren. She was everyone’s first champion and made sure all knew their worth. She was a divine cook who never let anyone go hungry. She enjoyed growing her own vegetables, playing bridge and cherished her bible study group and all of her “foodie” friends. She was a member of the Palo Alto Garden Club and PEO. Beverly is survived by her devoted husband of 62 years, Jan Aarts, 5 children, Mary Zweng (Tom), Carolyn Keddington (Michael), Tricia Law (Michael), Tom Aarts (Ali) , Jennifer Keenan (Andrew) and 16 grandchildren, Katie (Patrick), Taylor, Sarah, Amy, Joe, Carter, Maggie, Claire, Emma, Beau, Julia, Ryan, Braden, Connor, Aidan, and Will. The family would like to thank all of her caregivers, especially the PAMF oncology staff and more recently the Channing House Skilled Nursing staff and Pathways Home Health & Hospice. A memorial service will take place at 2 PM on Friday July 19, 2019 at Menlo Church, 950 Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park. PAID

OBITUARY

David I. Brees, 88, died on June 15 in Carson City, Nevada. He was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1930 and attended the University of California, Los Angeles. He and his wife Jan were married for 64 years. The couple lived in Palo Alto for 20 years and they owned the flower shop Nature’s Alley in the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park. He was also a longtime member of both the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church and the San Francisco Presbytery. Upon retirement, he and his wife moved to Markleeville, California, and then to Carson City. They were active in the First Presbyterian Church there, helping with hospitality and missions. He is survived by his wife, Jan of Carson City; his sons, Jeff (Lisa) of Markleeville; Jim (Carol) of Louisville, Kentucky; Doug of Redwood City; and Dave (Tara) of Menlo Park; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Visit

Lasting Memories An online directory of obituaries and remembrances. Search obituaries, submit a memorial, share a photo. Go to:

PaloAltoOnline.com/ obituaries

Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions

Letters Praising Palo Alto 311

Editor, The Palo Alto 311 app, which can be used to report infrastructure and other problems to the city, is excellent. Easy user interface, quick response — you can even take a picture. I’ve reported an abandoned bike, a broken sidewalk and a streetlight in need of repair. All matters were handled quickly, and I was kept updated (via the app) throughout. My hat’s off to all who developed this app and who do the work to help the city and residents! Leslie Berlin Fulton Street, Palo Alto

Ban single-family zoning?

Editor, Do Californians really want single-family zoning banned? Oregon just passed a law to do that. Right now, California legislators are proposing to do much the same across the state. SB 592 proposes to: 1) Per m it multi-stor y, multi-unit bunkhouses to be built in single-family home neighborhoods. 2) Eliminate use clauses for residential zones, paving the way for bars, hotels and car repair

WHAT DO YOU THINK? shops to be permitted “by right” in residential areas. SB 330 proposes to: 1) Subject residential areas, without a public hearing, to nonresidential uses. 2) Ban voters from overturning any of SB 330’s elements. Owning a home has always been the American dream. A majority of renters want to eventually own a single-family home. It happened in Oregon, but it doesn’t have to happen in California. Now’s the time to speak up. Kathy Jordan Walter Hays, Palo Alto

College parking

Editor, So, when people have trouble finding nice quiet places to park their RVs, they just enroll in a few courses at Foothill or another community college and they are in? What’s not to like? The staff folks are pretty high quality, the students are wellbehaved, only college cops to hassle you and no late night traffic to whiz by. What could possibly go wrong? Raymond R. White Whitney Drive, Mountain View

Don’t add more homes; limit the population

Editor, Michael Harbour’s June 21 comment, “In Response to ‘Lawmaker behind SB 50 makes case for zoning reforms to address state housing crisis,” motivated me to share some thoughts. It seems there is not a day we do not read or hear about the “housing crisis.” Instead of submitting to the appearance of not enough affordable housing, why don’t we eliminate the problem — meet it head on? Stop inviting people to come to the Bay Area through enticing jobs. Support small businesses. Hire people from the local community. Family planning should be supported. Encourage people to think about how every child that comes into the world will affect other people, our natural resources and our planet as a whole. How much money will it take to have and raise a child without any help from outside? The Bay Area is greatly hurting from the overabundance of people both coming from outside (for jobs) and from inside. It is time to say “no” and start supporting our own community. There are no more vacancies. Jackie Leonard-Dimmick Walnut Avenue, Atherton

The Palo Alto Weekly encourages comments on our coverage or on issues of local interest.

What one problem in Palo Alto most concerns you?

Submit letters to the editor of up to 300 words to letters@paweekly.com. Submit guest opinions of 1,000 words to editor@paweekly.com. Include your name, address and daytime phone number so we can reach you. We reserve the right to edit contributions for length, objectionable content, libel and factual errors known to us. Anonymous letters will generally not be accepted. Submitting a letter to the editor or guest opinion constitutes a granting of permission to the Palo Alto Weekly and Embarcadero Media to also publish it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square. For more information, contact Editorial Assistant Cierra Bailey at cbailey@ paweekly.com or 650-223-6526 or Editor Jocelyn Dong at editor@paweekly.com.

Streetwise

What are your plans for the summer? Asked at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto. Question, interviews and photographs by Christian Trujano.

Marina Boada

Preston Carter

Alan Kulawik

Anita Dubinko

Sophia O’Brien

Nanny Middlefield Road, Mountain View

Retiree Emerson Street, Palo Alto

Chip design engineer Sycamore Drive, Palo Alto

Nanny Mercy Street, Mountain View

Sixth-grader Newell Road, Palo Alto

“I’m leaving to Spain in August for a month.”

“In August, my nephew will be visiting us from France, so we’re going to show him a good time.”

“Summer camps and work.”

“I just started a new job as a nanny and I’m really excited to take a quarter off of college and just relax.”

“I’m pretty much doing a bunch of summer camps.”

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • July 12, 2019 • Page 15

Cover Story

Living on four wheels The h people l iinside id the h RVs on Palo l Alto’s Al ’ Ell C Camino i Reall

he more than 40 recreational vehicles parked along El Camino Real, just outside Stanford University, have been deemed eyesores and nuisances, but inside them are people facing diverse circumstances: among them, families struggling to make ends meet

Photographs by Veronica Weber | Story by Cierra Bailey and traveling contractors who work locally but have permanent homes in other California cities. Over the course of two weeks, the Weekly spoke to nearly a dozen residents of this de facto RV park and found that for many, like a family of 10 who share one camper, living in an RV is

a means of survival. For others, including a 62-year-old Central Valley resident approaching retirement, an RV is a temporary home away from home. Some were reluctant to share their stories and others were eager to clear up misconceptions about people who live in RVs. Palo Alto is exploring the possibility of following in the footsteps of neighboring cities East Palo Alto and Mountain View, which each launched safe parking programs for RVs this year. In addition to free overnight

parking, the programs provide access to showers, restrooms and laundry services. The following stories offer a glimpse into the lives of the people inside the controversial vehicles that city leaders are trying to get off the streets.

The young families: Just trying to get by

bigail, who asked not to be identified by her last name, lives in an RV with her husband, her mother, her

four children — ages 14, 12, 8 and 1 — and her niece Karen, her husband and their 16-monthold son, who moved into the RV about a month ago. This makes for 10 people living in the RV, which contains a full-sized bed, one set of bunk beds, a pullout sofa bed and a twin-sized bed all arranged like an intricate jigsaw puzzle. Abigail said her family transitioned to RV living about a year ago, after her landlord increased their rent by $600. Despite some challenges, like

Top, On any given day, more than 40 recreational vehicles are parked along the portion of El Camino Real that stretches along Stanford University. Above left, Ivan Castillo and Tynika Davis, both 23, stand outside of their RV with their dog, Khaleesi. Castillo works as a valet driver for a major Silicon Valley tech company and Davis works at a dog daycare and boarding center. Before moving into their RV, the couple said they applied for about eight or nine apartments but got turned down because of their credit score. They then looked into staying in RV lots, but the costs were out of their range and the lots wouldn’t accept their 1974 American Clipper RV. Above right, A girl holds her baby cousin in the RV they share with 10 family members. Page 16 • July 12, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Cover Story

the lack of personal space and limited access to restroom facilities, Abigail said her family doesn’t mind living in their RV. Without the burden of rent, the family is able to save up a lot more money, which they put toward food and other necessities. Abigail said her goal is to save up enough money to move to a state where the cost of living is cheaper. She currently works part-time as a housekeeper and her husband works in construction, as does Karen’s husband. Karen works at McDonalds. Tynika Davis and Ivan Castillo are a young couple who have lived in their RV for about a year with their dog, Khaleesi. The 23-year-olds previously lived in their van in San Mateo until “the city started cracking down really hard on people living in their cars,” Davis said. She is originally from Oregon but moved to San Mateo when she was young with her mother. Castillo grew up nearby in San Bruno. Davis works at a local pet day care facility, and Castillo is a valet driver for a major tech company in Silicon Valley. Despite both being employed, neither of them makes enough money to afford rent in the area, which is why they’ve resorted to RV living.

Above left, Journeyman plumber Todd Boyd from Martinez, right, talks with fellow journeyman plumber Ricardo Garcia before work. Garcia, who commutes from Los Banos to Palo Alto three to four days a week, stays in Boyd’s RV a few days out of the week to cut back on his commute. At left, Michael Reed, 53, a plumber and pipe fitter from San Luis Obispo County, sits in his RV parked along El Camino Real. Reed, who has an 18-month job contract at Stanford University, said he chose to live in an RV because he couldn’t find an affordable hotel in the area. Above, Alex and Miguel, who asked not to be identified by their last names, spend time with their 4-month-old daughter, Mia, in the RV that Miguel has been living in while working in the Bay Area to support his family, who lives about 175 miles south in Paso Robles. Miguel drives home on the weekends.

“Most people want three times the amount for rent,” Davis said, referring to monthly income requirements. Castillo said even the apartments that they could potentially afford wouldn’t accept them because his credit score wasn’t high enough. “I think it’s all kind of different on each person because you have people that choose to be out here living in their RVs compared to people who ended up out here, or need to be out here, or were kind of forced, as we were,” Castillo said. “We didn’t really have many other options.”

He said that many of his colleagues are commuters who live in the east bay or even as far out as the Sacramento area, and they travel long distances every day to get to work because they can’t afford to move closer. “A lot of people have asked me ... ‘Well, if you can’t afford to live here, why don’t you leave?’ And, for me, the answer is simple: I don’t have much family anywhere else. ... And I grew up here. This is my home,” Castillo said. Davis and Castillo said they are trying to build their credit scores up so they can afford permanent housing. “I don’t want to be in this RV forever, let alone a year from

now,” Castillo said.

The commuters: ‘We’re not homeless’

iguel, who asked not to be identified by his last name, came to the Bay Area from Paso Robles earlier this year to find employment as a delivery driver after his wife, Alex, had a difficult pregnancy and gave birth to their daughter two months before her scheduled due date. Miguel had to quit work to care for his wife and quickly racked up credit card debt and other bills. To pay it off, he needed a higher-paying job that offered health benefits. The job market isn’t as good in Paso Robles, he explained.

“There is no livable wage for rent, plus food, plus transportation,” he said. While finding work in the Bay Area was easy, Miguel underestimated how difficult it would be to find a place to live. “I thought it would be easy to come up here and get an apartment. ... I didn’t know how high the price of the housing market was,” he said. He is now among those living along El Camino in an RV while his wife and baby, Mia, remain in the family’s Paso Robles home about 175 miles south, near San Luis Obispo. He’s been living in his 1991 (continued on page 18)

Left, Ray, who asked not to be identified by his last name, gets ready to head into his RV parked on El Camino Real after working a full day at his job at a major institution in Menlo Park where he’s been employed for more than 29 years. Ray owns a home with his wife in Modesto, where he lives on the weekends. For the past five years, he has been living in the RV to avoid having to drive the long commute during the work week while recovering from a back injury. “Do I like being out here? No not at all, but the fact is I’m not going to pay someone $1,200 to sleep on a couch,” he said. Right, Arturo Torres, 48, checks his phone to get the address of a work site before heading off to his job as a commercial painter. Torres lives in his RV while working in the area full time Monday through Friday. On the weekends, he drives to his home in Fresno, where he lives with his wife and four of his six children (two of his children, ages 27 and 25, have moved away from home). www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • July 12, 2019 • Page 17

Cover Story

On four wheels (continued from page 17)

Holiday Rambler for less than a month. Prior to that, he was renting rooms in homes and hotels while applying for one-bedroom apartments and studios. One studio apartment he found in Mountain View was going for $1,900 a month with a $1,900 security deposit. “No way could we afford that,” he said. In shared homes, where Miguel found some rooms for about $800-$900 per month, he faced strict rules against cooking, having overnight guests and even making phone calls after 8 p.m. He finally decided to purchase an RV. “I’d rather live here than live in the same amount of space in a studio,” Miguel said. Alex and Mia visit Miguel a few times a month. They are keeping their primary home in Paso Robles so the family can remain close to Miguel’s daughter from a previous relationship. “We’re not homeless; I have a home. It’s just the situation we’re in right now,” Alex said. “It’s not what you would choose, and we’re trying to get out of where we are, but it takes a while, and we’re dealing with it the best way we can.” Todd Boyd became a Palo Alto RV dweller about a year ago, one of many construction workers from across the state hired to build Escondido Village graduate housing at Stanford University. The multi-building project, which broke ground in 2017, is set for completion by 2021. Boyd lives in Martinez but has been living primarily in his RV while working on the project. Every weekend, however, he makes the 65-mile drive to his home in Contra Costa County. Like Alex and Miguel,

he doesn’t consider himself unhoused. “I’m not homeless. I’m not trying to abuse any system,” he said. “I just don’t want to drive threeand-a-half hours (during rush hour) every day to get to work.” While being away throughout the week takes a toll on his relationship with his longtime girlfriend, he said he appreciates the convenience of living in his RV -- being able to walk back and forth to the job site and relax immediately after getting off work. “Travelers have a hard time, and we work all day. It’s a physical job. The last thing you want to do is drive three hours to get home,” he said. Arturo Torres is another contractor who has made El Camino Real his temporary address. The traveling painter has worked on projects for various Bay Area clients, including Santa Clara University, Facebook and Apple. His homebase is in Fresno, where his wife lives with four of their six children. Like Boyd, Torres goes home every weekend to spend time with his family and lives in an RV during the week. He parks wherever is close to a given job site. “I park in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Redwood City. ... I’m parking everywhere,” he said. Taking high-paying jobs in the Bay Area allows him to make enough money to pay his mortgage in Fresno and take care of his family. Ray, who declined to give his last name, is one of the longerterm RV residents who spoke with the Weekly. Another commuter, he’s been living in his RV since 2014. He and his wife own a home in the Central Valley. “It’s tiring living in the RV for me,” said the 62-year-old, who’s chosen to sacrifice living at home until he reaches retirement. The former Bay Area resident said he didn’t want to resign from his job at a major institution in Menlo

Page 18 • July 12, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Left, Arturo Torres was renting a room for $500 a month that he shared with two others in San Jose but decided to buy an RV in September 2018 so he could have more space and save money. Torres, who currently works as a commercial painter, is studying to get his business license and hopes to start his own company. Right, Aleman Cruz Francisco, left, his dog, Galaxy, and Jacob Tyo step outside the RVs they occupy on El Camino Real. Francisco, who currently works 4-5 hours per day at a car wash for minimum wage, is unable to afford an apartment. Tyo just moved back to the Bay Area and was sleeping in his friend’s Mini Cooper on El Camino for more than a month and half when Francisco offered to help him out. Tyo said he wants to save for his own RV. “I’m used to not having too much,” Tyo said. “But now I’m doing good, “this is definitely an upgrade.” Park and risk losing his retirement benefits. So he’s still working at the company, whose name he asked not be disclosed for fear he could be identified. “My house is out in a place that I will retire to, you know. I don’t need to live here in the Bay Area after I retire.” While he takes umbrage with trash left behind by other RV dwellers and passersby, and puts up with the difficulty of finding parking when he returns from work and the noise from traffic that shakes his vehicle as it passes by, he maintains that it beats sitting in traffic for several hours, day in and day out.

The individuals: Hanging on and making it work

leman Cruz Francisco, 57, works part time at Lozano Brushless All Cloth Car Wash in Mountain View operating the vacuums. He bought his RV about a year and a half ago. Before moving to Palo Alto and getting hired at the car wash, he parked in Sunnyvale and Mountain View and worked odd jobs. Francisco, who is from Nicaragua and speaks very broken English, said the language barrier has been an obstacle to finding work. “My problem is my English is no good,” he said. His brother lives in an RV of his own as well, which is also parked on El Caminow Real. Despite facing his own financial

‘It’s not what you would choose, and we’re trying to get out of where we are, but it takes a while, and we’re dealing with it the best way we can.’

—Alex

obstacles, Francisco was able to help someone else in need. Jacob Tyo was living in a Mini Cooper for a month and a half after moving to Palo Alto from Florida. When Francisco noticed this, he offered to let him stay in his brother’s RV while he’s out of town for a month visiting Nicaragua. Originally from San Mateo, Tyo said he moved back and forth between the Bay Area and Denver, Colorado, over the years and was incarcerated in prison at 18 after a dispute with a friend over a BB gun before landing in Florida to stay with a friend. Things eventually went sour in the sunshine state and a childhood friend who manages the Village Cheese House in Town & Country Village offered him a job. Upon finding out his mother was ill, he decided to return to California and take the job. “So, I started and I’ve been

here ever since,” he said. Tyo is an aspiring tattoo artist, but in the meantime, he wants to work his way up to manager at the Cheese House, a position in which he would make more money. “It’s really a nice little gig,” he said. “And my manager, my owner, I love him. He’s fully supportive of giving people second chances.” Q Staff Photographer/Videographer Veronica Weber and Editorial Assistant Cierra Bailey can be reached at vweber@paweekly.com and cbailey@paweekly. com, respectively. About the cover: A stroller, generator and Razor scooter are left in front of a family’s RV parked on El Camino Real. Many RVs and vehicles, occupied by individuals, couples and families that see the street as a relatively safe space to stay, provide an alternative means of affordable living in Silicon Valley. Photo by Veronica Weber

WATCH IT ONLINE

PaloAltoOnline.com

There’s much more to the RV dwellers’ experiences of living on El Camino Real. To hear Weekly journalists Veronica Weber and Cierra Bailey discuss their full interviews, including subjects such as the RV residents’ encounters with police and the general public and how they manage day-to-day life, watch the Weekly’s webcast, “Behind the Headlines,” which will be posted by Friday evening on YouTube.com/paweekly/videos.

A weekly guide to music, theater, art, culture and more, edited by Karla Kane

e h t o t g n Listeni ’ h t r a E e h t f o s e c i ‘ Vo Stanford Repertory Theater tackles environmental and social justice themes by Karla Kane

Photos by Sam Duke

his summer, Stanford Repertory Theater (SRT) is not shying away from some big — global, in fact — topics, with its annual festival taking the theme of “The Environment and Social Justice.” Running July 11-Aug. 12, the festival includes three new plays (“Voices of the Earth: From Sophocles to Rachel Carson and Beyond...,” “Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids” and “Anna Considers Mars”), plus a partnership with Stanford’s Planet Earth Arts, which will screen environmental documentaries over the course of five Monday evenings and host discussions with faculty, filmmakers and special guests. The topics of environment and social justice are deeply intertwined, festival participants said. And while theater productions and film screenings may not solve problems, they can go a long way toward shedding light on them. “Art is a reflection of life and vice versa, right? Art is pivotal in shaping how people think and approach the world. I think this is going to help change how people perceive these issues,” said SRT actor and Stanford student Victor Ragsdale. “Voices of the Earth,” running July 11-14 and compiled by SRT Artistic Director Rush Rehm and Stanford dean-admin Charles Junkerman, consists of a variety of staged readings on the environment, from the ancient world to current events, representing around 70 diverse voices of scientists, philosophers, poets, activists and more, including climate-change skeptics and deniers. The play is structured around numerous themes, such as creation, animals, the sea, and “what’s left and what’s left to do?” “I have to say, putting this together so far has been the delight of the summer, reading all these amazing environmental writers,” Rehm, who is also directing the show, said. “The ultimate story of it is that these are all voices responding to the natural world and although they

take many shapes, there is a way to shape it.” Delightful as selecting the “Voices” has been, he also sees this summer’s theme as a critically serious one. “I think of this as an opportunity for everybody — the people working on the show from the inside and the people seeing it from the outside — to realize in a deeper, harder way that we are facing an existential crisis. There is not a doubt about that in my mind at all,” Rehm said, naming flooding, wildfires, plastic in the ocean and fracking among some of the many facets of the crisis, and adding that he’s been taking a closer look at his own environmental impacts and what people can do on both small and larger scales to help. “I don’t know if the theater can do anything about this. I’ve lived long enough now to be dubious about everything, except that you have to try,” he said, “It’s a terrific opportunity to do something that we think matters. Even if it only reminds people, in a sense, of what’s being lost.” “Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids,” running July

Stanford University students Victor Ragsdale (left) and Sequoiah Hippolyte (top) perform in “Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids,” part of SRT/ Planet Earth Arts’ “The Environment and Social Justice” summer festival. 18-28, is a new one-act written by Vincent Terrell Durham and also directed by Rehm that imagines a confrontation between well-meaning white liberals in Harlem and members of the Black Lives Matter movement, and considers gentrification, the privilege inherent in many environmental issues, and police brutality, among other topics. “I usually work with old plays,” Rehm said, “but I’m very excited about this.” The third show, “Anna Considers Mars,” by San Francisco playwright Ruben Grijalva, was commissioned by Planet Earth Arts and production partner PlayGround. It recently had its debut in San Francisco; that production will be imported to Stanford for the festival, running Aug. 1-11, with SRT actors serving as understudies. The show takes place in the near-future, where the gap between poor and rich is ever widening, many species have been lost and technology reigns supreme. A young woman, Anna, dreams of being chosen for a one-way move away from Earth. “Environmentalism is such a pressing issue,” said Stanford student Sequoiah Hippolyte, who’s

taking part in all three productions and said she’s honored to be involved. “Especially as someone who was just able to vote for the first time, contemplating that responsibility, my job as an actor and as a politically active person,” she said. “It’s so great when theater can intersect with politics.” Gianna Clark, another SRT actor and a recent Stanford graduate, hails from Chicago and said she’s seen winters and summers grow more intense with climate change. “Within our lifetimes we’ve really seen the effects humans have been having on the planet. We see in ‘Voices’ pieces that talk about the Keystone pipeline, water access in Flint, and it’s poor people, black and brown people, who are going to be the ones that feel it first,” she said. “The people coming from affluence that are able to live here in Silicon Valley ... are going to be able to push it off onto disenfranchised communities.” At the same time, “environmentalism has become this white, liberal upper-middle class issue. That’s something I really appreciate about ‘Polar Bears,’ a lot of different voices are coming into the conversation.” Though the plays and films tackle life-and-death issues, the festival is not all doom and gloom. “Voices” also explores the wonders of the natural world, and the extraordinary heroes who’ve fought to study it, protect it, or simply celebrate it. Hippolyte named Margaret Walker, who in her poem “Southern Song” desires “to touch the rain-soaked earth and smell the smell of soil,” as one of her favorite “Voices” to portray. “What do you get when you allow yourself to immerse your consciousness in some small natural thing? A cloud; a flower. All these people have these moments of mystical union with something,” Rehm pondered. “It’s not just human survival in the sense of having water to drink and air to breathe, but a whole way of relating to the world beyond yourself.”

Immersing himself in the world of environmentalism has included, for Rehm, a new appreciation of Palo Alto-born author and environmental activist Bill McKibben, whose latest book, “Falter,” has become his go-to gift for graduating students. While making a difference in the grand scheme of things can seem overwhelming, Rehm said, he finds in the work of McKibben some inspiration, a view which he paraphrased as, “until we can’t do anything, we need to do things. And we can do things.” For Ragsdale, who considered majoring in environmental engineering before switching to performing arts, this summer’s festival is a fitting way to combine his love of theater with his interest in the environment and social justice. “I’ve always looked for ways to be parts of solutions. I’m so glad that we’re finding ways to incorporate that in an artistic way. It’s not, ‘Oh the scientists can take care of it.’ No, we can all contribute.” “I think we have to,” Clark agreed. Q Arts & Entertainment Editor Karla Kane can be emailed at kkane@paweekly.com. What: ‘The Environment and Social Justice,’ Stanford Repertory Theater’s summer festival, in partnership with Planet Earth Arts and Playground. Where: Theater productions take place at Nitery Theater, 514 Lasuen Mall, Stanford. Check online for film-screening schedule and locations, which are subject to change. When: July 11-Aug. 12. Theater productions are held Thursdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Film screenings are held Mondays at 7 p.m. Cost: Theater tickets are $10$15. Film screenings are free. Info: stanfordreptheater.com.

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Arts & Entertainment

Cage the Elephant, Beck, Spoon and more come to Shoreline ‘The Night Running Tour’ mixes established acts with up-and-comers

ith the popula rity of Outside Lands, Coachella and Bonnaroo, destination musical events have taken up the pop-cultural real estate once occupied by touring festivals. Indie rockers Cage the Elephant and singer/ songwriter Beck are doing their part to bring a broader swath of musical offerings with their coheadlining 24-city “The Night Running Tour.” The roster for

this alternative mini-festival, which makes a stop Tuesday evening at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, also includes fellow indie veterans Spoon and punky SoCal upstarts Starcrawler. “I would like to expand it even more,” said Brad Schultz, Cage the Elephant’s guitarist and co-founder. “Just the time constraints that we have wouldn’t let us. We wanted it to be a bigger

by Yoshi Kato bill as far as the most bands we could possibly fit in. “The reason we have the opening acts” — Wild Belle or Sunflower Bean instead of Starcrawler in other cities — “is because we wanted to get some of those bands as much exposure as we possibly could,” he continued, by phone from his home in Nashville. “We really like to support some of the younger bands and be a platform for them.” Beck appears on Cage the Elephant’s fifth and most recent studio album, “Social Cues.” The charismatic troubadour contributes to a song called “Night Running,” appropriately enough, and became part of a larger Cage the Elephant collaborators community that includes vocalist Alison Mosshart (The Kills, The Dead Weather) and saxophonist Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones). Beck’s father, David Campbell, even wrote arrangements for and conducted on “Social Cues.” Are all groups and artists with whom Cage the Elephant tours as familiar to the Schultz and his bandmates as Beck is to them? “Some of them, yeah,” Schultz replied. “Some of them, we just really like their music. “We’re always pretty handson when it comes to our tours. Some of the ones beginning out, you’re not able to do that,” he said. “But for the last two albums, we’ve been really intent on choosing the bands we tour with.” A Grammy win in 2017 for Best Rock Album (for 2015’s “Tell Me I’m Pretty,” produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys) may have given the band some status when it comes to

tour planning. But a 20-minute conversation with Schultz reveals that he’s still a pure music fanatic at heart. “I mean, the younger bands have some of the freshest stuff. So I’m kind of fanning out when they’re on tour with us,” he declared, letting out one of several hearty laughs. Schultz even recalled being in the audience for some inspired in-concert musical matchmaking. “When Weezer was touring for the green album, when ‘Island in the Sun’ was a hit, The Strokes were opening for them. And that was amazing — a real one-two punch.” As for the old(er) friends on “The Night Running Tour,” there are plans for them to sit in with each other nightly: “We’ve definitely talked about it with Beck, and Spoon as well,” he revealed. “It’d be like a big family jam. I always love seeing that kind of stuff.” An actual familial relationship is at the core of Cage the Elephant. Brad’s brother Matt, a fellow co-founder, is lead vocalist. He said the pair’s shared upbringing in Bowling Green, Kentucky, continues to influence their artistry. “We grew up in Section 8 housing, and we really didn’t have money to buy instruments,” he recalled. “My first guitar was a $20 guitar, a classical guitar that I bought from a kid from the neighborhood. Matt wanted to play drums when he was younger. We used to dumpster dive, and somehow we found a drum kit in the dumpster. “At least creativity for us, a lot has come from the lack of other things. We learned to take what we had and make something from it,” he added. “And so I

think that was one of the biggest influences on us growing up.” Not having the latest/greatest/ shiniest gear made for a longer and likely more considered musical journey for the siblings, Schultz said. He and Matt met and started playing with current band members Daniel Tichenor (bass) and Jared Champion (drums) back in high school. In the 10 years since their self-titled debut album was released, that core quartet has managed to dominate the Billboard alternative radio chart with the most No. 1 songs (seven) of any artist. “It slowed us down to the point where we were a bit of late bloomers. I feel like I’m still discovering things,” he reflected. “There’s always a fear that things will become static or stagnant or stale because you’ve reached your capacity for wanting to learn and expand. Or you just get complacent, “I feel like it kind of slowed us down because we weren’t exposed to very much. I mean, we were first finding out about the Pixies, which is just a band that everybody should know about, when we were, like, 24 years old!,” he chuckled. “So I think that actually worked in our favor, because we’re still very much in a discovery phase.” Freelance writer Yoshi Kato can be emailed at yoshiyoungblood.net. What: “The Night Running Tour” with Beck and Cage the Elephant featuring Spoon and Starcrawler. Where: Shoreline Amphitheatre, 1 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View. When: Tuesday, July 16, 6 p.m. Cost: $29.50-$200.50. Info: Go to tinyurl.com/yxzcuyry.

Page 22 • July 12, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Neil Krug

Alternative-rock band Cage the Elephant will perform at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View as part of “The Night Running Tour,” alongside Beck, Spoon and more.

Arts & Entertainment

Felipe’s

Kiln gods and inner cavemen

Local artists look forward to annual ACGA Clay & Glass Festival by Daniel Li

lass artist Martin Ehrensvard always has been a creator, building structures out of blocks, clay and paper. Growing up, he was also somewhat of a pyromaniac and was fascinated by candles and fireworks. To him, glassblowing is a perfect combination of those elements. “I thrive in creative environments that are raw and physical, places that require the focus and strength of my body and mind,” he told the Weekly. “This is why I love the art glass process. Glass is born in a dance of sand, fire and metal that fuels the spirit of my inner caveman.” Ehrensvard is one of more than 135 juried artists who will showcase their work at the 27th annual ACGA Clay & Glass Festival set for July 13-14 at the Palo Alto Art Center. The festival, hosted by the Association of Clay and Glass Artists, will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. According to media contact Kathy Bentaieb, there also will be live demonstrations on both days from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring pottery-throwing, glassblowing and ikebana arrangements, along with an interactive clay art project for artists of all ages. Some artists have also been exhibiting every year since the festival started 27 years ago, Bentaieb said, while approximately 20% of the artists are new. Ehrensvard, a 2014 Palo Alto High School graduate, will be attending the ACGA Clay & Glass festival for the first time this year. He was introduced to glassblowing after taking a ceramics and sculpture class during his sophomore year of high school. “My family moved to Palo Alto from Sweden and we didn’t know if we would stay very long,” Ehrensvard said. “My parents told me to take classes that I would think was fun and to not worry about college.” Since graduating, Ehrensvard has traveled the world, learning from many different glassblowing artists, including Tobias Mohl, Davide Salvadore and David Patchen. He came back to

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Local artist Martin Ehrensvard will be selling his glass creations at the ACGA Clay & Glass Festival for the first time this year.

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Palo Alto artist Celma Kirkwood will be selling her ceramic art at the ACGA Clay & Glass Festival at the Palo Alto Art Center.

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Palo Alto two years ago to teach ceramics and sculpture and run the studio at Paly. “I’m super excited about this festival because it is a juried show so it’s harder to get into,” Ehrensvard said. “When someone who juries the show says your work is good enough for you to be here, that means so much to me as an artist. It’s a big honor because a lot of the artists I’ve learned how to blow glass from will also be at the festival.” Celma Kirkwood, a Palo Altobased ceramics artist originally from Brazil, will also be attending the ACGA Clay & Glass Festival for the first time. Kirkwood did not start off with ceramics; in fact, her background was in architecture. However, when she moved to the United States, she chose not to pursue it anymore because she would have to start again from scratch and go back to school. “Many years ago in Brazil, I did a sabbatical in an art department,” Kirkwood said. “I’ve always liked painting and drawing. I had access to this studio and played with clay a little bit. I’ve been taking it more seriously in the last few years.” Kirkwood considers herself “self-taught” in ceramics and said that she generally does not have a plan when she starts a project. She gravitates toward pieces that are functional, such as vases. “I like to do my own thing and discover stuff because that is the sense of adventure for me,” she said. “I don’t like going with the rules and do what everyone else is doing. I start with a piece of clay and play a little bit and see where it wants to go. I work on it and feel the direction that I want to follow. There are so many possibilities and you can make anything.” One of the biggest challenges in ceramics is having the “kiln

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gods in your favor,” according to Kirkwood. “Many times you have everything looking how you want and when it goes into the kiln something breaks, the temperature is too high or the colors you want don’t come out the way you expect,” she said. “The challenge is to get to the final object the way you envisioned.” In conjunction with this year’s festival, the Palo Alto Art Center is also presenting a new exhibit, “Connections — ACGA at PAAC,” which will run through Aug. 4. The exhibit unveils a selection of pieces made by artists and members of the ACGA who have a special connection with the art center. “In addition to showcasing their work, the artists will be sharing their personal stories of the long-standing relationship between ACGA and the Art Center,” Bentaieb said. Q Editorial Intern Daniel Li can be emailed at dli@ paweekly.com. What: ACGA Clay & Glass Festival. Where: Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto. When: Saturday, July 13, and Sunday, July 14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: Free. Info: acga.net.

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SILICON VALLEY SAFETY FAIR SAFETY FAIR “RESOLVETO TO BE BE READY” READY” “RESOLVE WHEN Saturday July 27th Noon - 4pm WHERE Stanford Shopping Center 180 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (By Flemings Restaurant)

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Fire and Wildfire Safety Utilities Safety Child Safety Seats Threats & Hazards Make a Plan / Build a Kit … and more!

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • July 12, 2019 • Page 23

July 13 & 14 • 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto

Eating Out

Ow Wing

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Photo by Magali Gauthier

Sergio Mendez makes the Milagros margarita, a quenching, slightly smoky cocktail. Pizzichillo

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www.clayglassfestival.com Free Admission • Valet Parking

Milagros keeps the fiesta going Cocktails and good times keep flowing at 18-year-old Mexican mainstay by Edward Gerard Fike

I “WISE AND WONDERFUL!” Talkin’ Broadway

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Page 24 • July 12, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

t’s hard to recall a time when Milagros, the perpetually packed Mexican restaurant located on a prime corner in downtown Redwood City, wasn’t an established Peninsula draw. Yet Milagros, which means “miracles” in Spanish, was not always a surefire success. When the restaurant debuted in the summer of 2001, diners typically shunned moribund “Deadwood City.” An early critique from the Weekly panned the restaurant’s food and service. The bleak headline: “Milagros Needs a Few Miracles.” We’ll never know if supernatural forces played a role, but 18 years later, Milagros, like the Redwood City food scene, is thriving. One earthly explanation for the restaurant’s rise is the influence of parent company Avenir Restaurant Group. Avenir, which also owns the venerable Town in San Carlos and perennial Stanford student hangout Nola in downtown Palo Alto, has a reputation for savvy hiring and menu development. A Milagros visit begins with a seemingly benign question: “Inside or out?” It’s worth noting that your seating choice dictates which distinct ambiance you will experience. A table in one of the two spacious interior dining rooms or central bar will place you inside walls teeming with colorful indigenous carvings and ceramics from south of-the-border galleries. A Latin pop soundtrack and laughter echo throughout as the open kitchen

hums with propulsive energy. For a more relaxed and significantly less noisy vibe, opt for the outdoor seating area that lines the perimeter of the restaurant and opens up onto a large east-facing patio. Milagros boasts one of the largest al fresco venues in Silicon Valley, with seating for up to 100. A mini tequila bar located at the entrance to the main patio serves open-air cocktails during the busiest times. Once seating is settled, you’ll want to peruse the extensive beverage menu. Milagros excels at mixing crowd-pleasing libations featuring tequila and rum. Several of the specialty cocktails are offered in pitchers yielding three to six servings. I sampled several styles of margarita over a series of visits. The “Milagros” ($10) was a quenching, slightly smoky combination of Mi Campo Blanco tequila, freshpressed citrus juice and organic agave nectar. The casa ($8) mixed the same juice and nectar blend with smooth, herbal flavored Sauza blue tequila. The “fire engine” ($8) — the standout sip — blended tequila with refreshing, fruit-forward red sangria. (Wacky promo alert: Diners get $2 off this drink when a siren-blaring fire engine whizzes down the street.) As you await your drink order, you may notice that chips, while sufficiently warm and salty, are served sans salsa. Milagros charges for its salsa trio ($3.95). The three dips — spicy salsa roja,

tomatillo and charred pineapple — are satisfying, if unspectacular. If you forgo them, you’ll save room for the generously portioned dishes yet to come. The convivial atmosphere at Milagros lends itself to casual communal dining. The bulk of the menu is wisely reserved for shareable small plates designed to pair with hand-crafted tacos. The taquitos de pollo ($9.95) were a highlight, featuring tender shreds of Pitman Family Farms chicken and queso fresco inside lightly fried tortilla cylinders. Crispy yucca fries ($ 6.95) also demonstrated the kitchen’s restraint with the fryer, giving the thick wedges a clean texture and allowing the chili salt, cilantro and dipping sauce flavors to more fully emerge. While the mahi mahi taco ($5.95) with habaneromango sauce was tasty, the paltry portion rendered the dish most notable for its outsized price. Additional taco fillings include crispy coconut shrimp, chili-lime cauliflower, churrasco steak and Scottish salmon. The “special plates” section of the menu lists 10 larger items typically ordered as individual entrees. Sharing, alas, was far from my intention as I devoured the superb carnitas nortenas ($18.95), my Milagros MVP. The dish was composed of a heaping portion of tender, juicy Coleman Ranch pork accompanied by red rice, black beans and warm corn tortillas. The enchiladas suiza ($14.95) were also terrific, with quality cuts of Mary’s chicken and a savory roasted poblano cream. I gave a minor deduction, however, for some unwieldy, oversized slices of caramelized onion. Sizzling skillet chicken fajitas ($18) were substantial, though basic. A murky coating of chipotle cashew crema drenched the hearty vegetable medley of roasted sweet potato, baby kale, quinoa and more, served in the “super bueno bowl” ($12.95) — Milagros’ take on the trendy veggie bowl — relegating the item to mere “bueno” status. Service ranged from cheery to slightly brusque, though efficiency never wavered. Staff hustled to take orders, deliver full trays and clear tables. The kitchen crew churned out attractively plated dishes at an impressive clip. Milagros goes to great lengths to accommodate guests with dietary restrictions. It took me a few beats to realize that the bright colored dots appearing throughout the menu were not design elements, but rather markers for an impressive array of vegan, dairyfree and gluten-free options. Em(continued on page 25)

Eating Out

Camera as Witness, Stanford ARTS, and Stanford Continuing Studies present

STANFORD SUMMER HUMAN RIGHTS FILM SERIES

ShopTalk

Camera as Witness: Human Dignity—Faces of Immigration

Local food & retail happenings

BUFFALO-MILK CREAMERY COMES TO DOWNTOWN ... Morsey’s Farmhouse Kitchen in Los Altos, which makes gelato, cheese and butter from water buffalo milk, is expanding to downtown Palo Alto. Husbandand-wife co-owners Kal and Yulia Morsey are opening a creamery at 125 University Ave. this month, their son Evan confirmed. The couple opened Morsey’s in early 2018, claiming to be the only restaurant in the country cooking from a wide range of water buffalo products. They own a herd of 400 water buffalo on a

Milagros (continued from page 24)

ployee welfare is also addressed with a $1 per guest surcharge funneled exclusively toward workers’ wages and health insurance. With its carnival-esque atmosphere and crown jewel of a patio, Milagros is a top tier summer destination. During peak hours — evenings and weekends — you’ll want to make a reservation. Otherwise, getting in might take a miracle. Q Freelance writer Edward Gerard Fike can be emailed at egfike@gmail.com.

farm south of Sacramento. Kal, who is from Egypt, and Yulia, from Russia, wanted to educate American diners on the merits of water-buffalo products, which are more widespread in South Asian and European countries. The 476-square-foot University Avenue location will focus mostly on gelato (Morsey’s serves flavors such as buttercream, apricot, hazelnut, passionfruit, chocolate and pistachio). Morsey’s cheese and other dairy products also will be for sale, Evan said. — E.K. COUPLE BRINGS CHINESE ZONGZI TO MOUNTAIN VIEW ... A Fremont couple who drew a local following for their homemade zongzi, a hefty bundle of sticky rice stuffed with savory or sweet fillings and wrapped in a bamboo leaf, has opened a bare-bones storefront in Mountain View, Eng’s Zongzi at 855 W. El Camino Real. Owner Pa Eng said they used to deliver to customers in the Mountain View area so decided to open up shop here. They serve several kinds of fresh zongzi: pork, mushroom and peanut; pork and egg yolk; vegetarian; adzuki, or red, beans; and Chinese dates. The pyramid-shaped rice dumplings are enclosed in the bamboo leaves, secured with string and then boiled or steamed. (Zongzi are often described as Chinese tamales, though one customer pointed out that tamales could just as easily be described as Mexican zongzi.) All of the zongzi are $3.25 each except the pork-egg yolk, which costs $3.75. Eng’s Zongzi also sells frozen meat, fish and vegetable dumplings (each bag has 50 dumplings) and shrimp and pork wontons. — E.K. Compiled by the Weekly staff; this week written by Elena Kadvany and Linda Taaffe. Got leads on interesting and newsworthy retail developments? The Weekly will check them out. Email shoptalk@paweekly.com.

Milagros, 1099 Middlefield Road, Redwood City; 650369-4730; milagrosrc.com Hours: Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Happy hour: Monday-Friday, 3-5 p.m.

Reservations Credit cards Happy hour

SCHEDULE Thursday, July 18 • 7:00 pm Which Way Home (83 min.) Thursday, July 25 • 7:00 pm Well-Founded Fear (119 min.)

Saturday, July 27 • 2:00 pm* Dreams Awake (7 min.) Death on a Friendly Border (25 min.) Without Country (21 min.) Undocumented (72 min.) *The films on Sat., July 27, will run in consecutive order.

All films screened in Cubberley Auditorium Stanford University • Free and open to the public For more information: continuingstudies.stanford.edu/events

In collaboration with PLANET

EARTH ARTS & PLAYGROUND, STANFORD REPERTORY THEATER presents its 21st Annual Summer Festival

THE

ENVIRONMENT AND

AMITY CROSSFIT LEAVES ‘FITNESS ROW’ ... After occupying the former Keeble & Shuchat Photography studio at 261 S. California Ave. since January 2017, Amity CrossFit has relocated to 505 Barron Ave. in the former Blossom Birth & Family building in Palo Alto’s Barron Park neighborhood. Classes at the new site were up and running at the start of July, according to Amity’s website. The California Avenue site — located in the area between Birch Avenue and Park Boulevard that has developed into a “fitness row” in recent years with the opening of a cluster of gyms, including Pilates Vis, Pure Barre fitness center, Performance Gaines and Girya Strength — is vacant and a lease sign was in the window earlier this week. Founded in an industrial building at 3516 El Camino Real in 2010, the fitness center was among the earliest in Palo Alto to offer CrossFit workouts — an intensive group fitness program founded in Santa Cruz in 1995 that incorporates weight lifting with cardio and body-weight exercises. After outgrowing its space on El Camino Real, the gym moved to California Avenue where, according to staff, they hoped to attract drop-in foot traffic as commuters walked to and from the nearby Caltrain station. — L.T.

The Camera as Witness program is devoting a film series to the urgent and fraught challenge of human immigration. The filmmakers in this Summer’s series give this global political issue a human face, taking us inside the lives of men, women, and children who leave home, setting out for what they hope will be better and safer lives elsewhere. The film series is moderated by Jasmina Bojic, Camera as Witness program director and founder of the UNAFF (United Nations Association Film Festival) international documentary film festival.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

JULY – AUGUST 2019

Three plays and a free film series at Stanford

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Bathroom cleanliness: Excellent

FOR INFORMATION AND TICKETS, VISIT:

STANFORDREPTHEATER.COM OR CALL: 650-725-5838 www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • July 12, 2019 • Page 25

Movies Join an all-female yachting crew in a race around the world 000 (Guild) Alex Holmes’ docuand an exhilarating OPENINGS mentary “Maiden” is and frustrating young an intriguing human-interest story adulthood spent trying to break with a wealth of concrete visual in and move up in an entirely imagery that provides a fresh ac- male-dominated sailing world count of the first-ever all-female that nonetheless held her dream of yacht crew to compete in the in- freedom and self-empowerment ternational Whitbread Round the on the waves. World Race in 1989. After hard-won stints as a Holmes appropriately frames stewardess, deckhand and first “Maiden” as a character study mate, Edwards found her entrée of Tracy Edwards, an English- into the Whitbread by agreeing woman who overcame long odds to serve as cook to an otherwise to achieve her dream of skipper- all-male crew (even in this caing a sailboat in the competition. pacity, she met resistance from Through an extensive interview some of the men). The principal and home movies, Holmes lays narrative kicks in when Edwards out Edwards’ difficult yet strange- determines that the only way to ly inevitable path to becoming a get what she wants is to do it with yachting legend — a happy youth an all-female crew. After assemmarked by an inspiring mother, bling a 12-woman crew and rean adolescence devastatingly dis- storing a salvaged yacht redubbed rupted by abuse and acting out, Maiden, the 26-year-old Edwards GRAB YOUR CREW AND SEE THE FEEL GOOD MOVIE OF THE SUMMER!

++++!

“A MUST-SEE FOR ALL AGES AND GENDERS! SIMPLY MAGNIFICENT!” -Lindsey Bahr, ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE TRUE STORY THAT PROVED EVERYONE WRONG

MAIDEN

A FILM BY

ALEX HOLMES

WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM

Sundance Institute

The ‘Maiden’ voyage

“Maiden” recounts the story of the first all-female crew to compete in the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989. thrusts herself into the daunting task of funding and prepping a 1989-1990 Whitbread bid. Unable to drum up British patriotism or media support, Edwards at last secures funding by mining the goodwill of King Hussein of Jordan, who became an admirer after a chance meeting with her. At 33,000 nautical miles, the Whitbread constitutes the longest race on Earth, with all the mortal dangers such a venture entails:

MOVIES NOW SHOWING Aladdin (PG) ++ Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Avengers: Endgame (PG-13) +++1/2 Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable (PG) Century 20: Fri. - Sun. The Biggest Little Farm (PG)

Aquarius Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

Bread, Love and Dreams (1953) (Not Rated) Stanford Theatre: Fri. - Sun. Crawl (R)

Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Echo in the Canyon (PG-13)

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (R) Century 20: Fri. - Sun. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (R) Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Maiden (PG) +++

VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.MAIDEN-MOVIE.COM

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Annabelle Comes Home (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Late Night (R)

STARTS FRIDAY, JULY 12

fatigue, weather, remoteness, mechanical or human failure. Holmes gathers an impressive roster of interviewees, including much of the Maiden crew and a handful of male competitors and sports journalists from the time. Supported by Super-VHS footage shot on the Maiden and vintage news clips, the talking heads tell the story while acknowledging the best and worst of their own attitudes and those of Edwards: a

phenomenally dedicated but often difficult leader operating under immense strain. Holmes examines the time’s ugly, vocal sexism that ruled mainstream culture: The film is a coming-of-age tale of personal triumph, an underdog sports story, a human-against-the elements survival tale, and a drama of a team coalescing under an inspiring leader. It’s a tricky balance, to be sure, one Holmes strikes by not getting into the weeds (or the reefs?) of anecdotes specifying sailing technique and teamwork. Though understandable, the choice sometimes contributes to a sense of airbrushing this portrait when greater detail could add texture. Overall, though, this “Maiden” voyage’s degrees of heroism and ugly behavior and victory and defeat illuminate a gripping and inspiring story that demands to be remembered. Rated PG for language, thematic elements, some suggestive content and brief smoking images. One hour, 37 minutes. — Peter Canavese

Guild Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

Men in Black: International (PG-13) ++ Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Midsommar (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun. Pavarotti (PG-13)

Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun.

Rocketman (R) Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun.

Roman Holiday (1953) (Not Rated) Stanford Theatre: Fri. - Sun. The Secret Life of Pets 2 (PG) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Spider-Man: Far From Home (PG) +++ Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun. Stuber (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun. Toy Story 4 (G) +++1/2 Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun. The White Storm 2: Drug Lords (Cantonese with subtitles) (Not Rated) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Wild Rose (R)

Aquarius Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

Yesterday (PG-13) ++ Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Century 16: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun.

+ Skip it ++ Some redeeming qualities +++ A good bet ++++ Outstanding

Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (For recorded listings: 327-3241) tinyurl.com/Aquariuspa Century Cinema 16: 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View tinyurl.com/Century16 Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City tinyurl.com/Century20 CineArts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (For information: 493-0128) tinyurl.com/Pasquare Guild: 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (For recorded listings: 566-8367) tinyurl.com/Guildmp ShowPlace Icon: 2575 California St. #601, Mountain View tinyurl.com/iconMountainView Stanford Theatre: 221 University Ave., Palo Alto (For recorded listings: 324-3700) Stanfordtheatre.org

Find trailers, star ratings and reviews on the web at PaloAltoOnline.com/movies

“SCRUMPTIOUS! WILL CHARM THEATREGOERS OF ALL AGES.”

“THIS REIMAGINED ‘CINDERELLA’ MUSICAL IS A DELIGHT!”

– USA TODAY

– SF Chronicle

A contemporary take on the classic fairy tale, this enchanted musical is the perfect summer treat for the whole family!

July 18-August 4 7:30 pm ThuR • 8 pm Fri & Sat (+ 2 pm Sat, July 27) • 2 pm Sun Tickets at foothill.edu/theatre or call (650) 949-7360 Smithwick Theatre • El Monte Road at HWY 280 • Los Altos Hills

Page 26 • July 12, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Answers to this week’s puzzles, which can be found on page 39.

Home&Real Estate

OPEN HOME GUIDE 36 Also online at PaloAltoOnline.com

Home Front DOCUMENT SHREDDING ... Clear out some clutter and safely dispose of personal documents at a shredding event at the Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer (SMaRT) Station on Saturday, July 13, 8 a.m. to noon. The City of Sunnyvale’s SMaRT Station and its partners, the cities of Palo Alto and Mountain View, offer this free event periodically to help deter identity theft. You must be a resident of Palo Alto, Mountain View or Sunnyvale to participate. The SMaRT Station is located at 301 Carl Road, Sunnyvale. For more information, call 408-7528530 or visit cityofpaloalto.org (search “document shredding”). MOONLIGHT GARDEN ... Who says it has to be daytime to enjoy a garden? Find out how to make your yard come to life after sunset with a moonlight garden class on Sunday, July 14, 9 a.m. at Summer Winds Nursery. Learn about sweetsmelling night bloomers, foliage with white and silver tones that show up well after dark and plants that absorb daylight and glow at night. The class is free. Summer Winds Nursery is located at 725 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto. Register at summerwindsnursery.com/ca/ events or call 650-493-5136. NATIVE PLANT PRUNING ... It might seem like native plants would grow best untamed. But even native plants can do with a little attention, and now is the time for it. Longtime gardener and landscaper Frank Niccoli leads this workshop for the California Native Plant Society on summer pruning for native plants. Learn about different pruning cuts and how to bring out the best in your California natives. This free workshop takes place Thursday, July 18, 7-8:30 p.m. at the Mountain View Public Library, 585 Franklin St., Mountain View. For more information, call the library at 650-903-6887.

Send notices of news and events related to real estate, interior design, home improvement and gardening to Home Front, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302, or email editor@ paweekly.com. Deadline is one week before publication.