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RR crossing plans take shape BY ELAINE GOODMAN Daily Post Correspondent
As the city of Palo Alto starts drawing up designs for railroad bridges at three Caltrain crossings in town, council members admit they don’t know how many of those bridges will ever get built. The three crossings in question are
But they might never get built at Churchill Avenue, Charleston Road and Meadow Drive. The idea is to separate the tracks from the road at those crossings so cars won’t get backed up waiting for a train to cross. The separations are
which the road is lowered some and the tracks are raised some. For Churchill Avenue, officials have also expected to prevent deaths on the settled on a so-called “partial undertracks. pass,” in which Alma Street would be The city has been debating whether split into upper and lower levels near to build an underpass for cars to trav- the crossing. Churchill Avenue traffic el beneath the tracks at Charleston and approaching the crossing from the west Meadow, or to use a hybrid approach in [See CROSSING, page 12]
$160 cake first, now a new tax?
THE UPDATE In the past five sessions
Dow +576.08 Nasdaq +285.48 Oil +0.28 48,710.97 23,593.10 56.93 NY COMEX futures Gold 4,562.00 +193.30 courtesy of Mish Int’l (650) 324-9110 National Debt: $38,533,985,302,823
Trillion
Billion
Million
NINERS WIN A THRILLER: In an offensive thriller, the 49ers beat the Bears 42-38 last night. As a result, the 49ers, 12-4, will enjoy homefield advantage through the post season.
BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ Daily Post Staff Writer
TOLL INCREASE: Tolls on the Dumbarton, San Mateo and other stateowned Bay Area bridges will increase by 50 cents to $8.50 for two-axle cars, trucks and motorcycles on Thursday. Tolls for vehicles with three or more axles will increase by 50 cents per axle. LOW TURNOUT: Only 15% of voters have mailed back their ballots in Tuesday’s special election for Santa Clara County Assessor. The race pits Los Altos Councilwoman Neysa Fligor and former Saratoga Councilman Rishi Kumar. Voters can still mail their ballots or drop them off at the county’s polling centers or drop boxes. BODY FOUND ON BEACH: Firefighters recovered a body from a beach near Davenport on the north side of Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz County — about 30 miles from where [See THE UPDATE, page 9] Beautifully Remodeled Single-Level Carmel Home 3 bd, 2 bath | $2,299,000
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BOMBSHELL BARDOT DIES Brigitte Bardot, the French movie star who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and an animal activist, has died at age 91 in France. She’s seen here in Saint-Tropez in 1958. More on page 19.
The same school district where a former superintendent charged a $160 birthday cake to taxpayers is now considering a tax increase. The Las Lomitas Elementary School District, which serves parts of Menlo Park and Atherton, has reduced a $4.5 million deficit to $2 million, and now the board is considering whether to go to voters with a parcel tax. The tax is one of the options the board will consider on Jan. 14. Superintendent Erik Burmeister will ask the board whether they want to bring in a [See TAX, page 18]
Lifeguard focus of death suit In response, attorneys for the swim club at 3539 Louis Road The only lifeguard on duty at said the lifeguard’s clothes didn’t Palo Alto’s Eichler Swim and Ten- cause the drowning, and the swim nis Club was wearing jeans, had no club isn’t required to provide perbreaks during a six-hour shift and fect surveillance nor a perfect resdidn’t receive training before a man cue. “Our shared common sense drowned there, according to a lawtells us that the risk of drowning suit brought by the man’s family. BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT Daily Post Staff Writer
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