Menlo Park smoking ban: a one-woman crusade
Menlo Park’s City Council passed an ordinance banning smoking in public places. The law takes effect in November, giving the city one of the toughest smoking laws in the state.
Politics & Gov
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California children must be 5 to start kindergarten
Four years old is too young to go to public school in California, according to a new state law that was the brainchild of two Palo Alto teachers.
Sunnyvale gun store opens near schools
U.S. Firearms became Sunnyvale’s first dedicated gun store in 20 years, drawing the ire of many nearby residents and parents.
The business, permitted under the city’s zoning codes, is less than a mile from two elementary schools and a preschool. While the business owner began applying for permits in December, neighbors were caught off-guard — only discovering the store’s existence when the building’s marquee was unveiled three weeks ago.
PG&E mislabels high-risk pipe; angers East Palo Alto
An East Palo Alto City Council member scolded PG&E last week, saying the utility’s mistake in naming the wrong location of a potential at-risk pipeline in the city highlights a larger problem: lack of respect.
Council member Peter Evans wasn’t satisfied with a public apology by PG&E representative Jimmy Harris during the Sept. 27 City Council meeting.
“We’re seeing you now because you’ve failed any type of relationship with us,” Evans said. “You gave our community no respect, sir. No respect at all. And we don’t appreciate that.
Palo Alto schools debate new calendar
The Palo Alto school district’s proposed new academic calendar, designed to alleviate stress among high school students, has met varying levels of support and resistance from the community.
Superintendent Kevin Skelley would like to see Palo Alto students at all grade levels start classes a week earlier, on Aug. 16. First-semester finals would be shifted to December to prevent high school students from spending their winter break studying for exams.
New dental clinic to add dentists to East Palo Alto
East Palo Alto, CALIF.—Waiting for her doctor, six-year-old Alejandra Vazquez sat patiently on the check-up table, every fidget crinkling the paper beneath her. Yesterday a dentist at Willow Dental Care in San Jose extracted one of her baby teeth. Alejandra said the dentist pulled the tooth because “it was loose,” but her mom explained, through a translator, that the tooth was decayed and that Alejandra needed several cavities filled.
Santa Clara County schools to improve lunch meat quality
As Congress prepares to revamp the Child Nutrition Act in July, after lax federal school food safety measures and concerns over child obesity, Santa Clara County schools join local farms to improve standards and students’ eating habits.
Menlo Park buys foreclosed homes
Menlo Park, home of Silicon Valley’s venture capitalists and million-dollar abodes, was not eligible for the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program – so the city decided in May to fund one of it’s own.
Business district may replace Ravenswood industrial park
STANFORD, CA.–Lack of investor interest and economic adversity have kept East Palo Alto’s Ravenswood district in a 20-year redevelopment gridlock, but the city is moving ahead on a proposal that would rezone the area to spur job growth and make Ravenswood a new city hub. “The city needs to be able to insure investors that