Friday, May 11, 2012
Emily Benatar passed away after a bout with bacterial meningitis
A former Palo Alto High School student who died Wednesday from complications of meningococcal disease is being remembered as an artist, athlete and a friend. Emily Benatar passed away at Barnes-Jewish Hospital Wednesday morning in University City, CA. Benatar was attending the College of Arts & Sciences. Benatar was an original member of the Paly girls lacrosse team, and teammates remembered her during an emotional SCVAL semifinal game against rival St. Francis Wednesday by placing memorial notes, flowers, and drawings on the fence surrounding the playing fields, according to Paly InFocus. Benatar, who played as an attacker on the team, had a quality about her that glowed both on and off the field, Coach Jamie Nesbitt told the Mercury News…
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The man who brought smiles and musical entertainment to so many is no longer with us.
An American legend has died. Dick Clark, who led American audiences through nationally-televised New Year's celebrations for so many years, suffered a massive heart attack Wednesday at St. John's Hospital in Los Angeles according to several national news sources. Clark was 82. Dick Clark created "New Years' Rockin' Eve", featuring a live show from New York's Times Square, in 1972, and hosted the annual event for nearly 30 years. In 2004, he suffered a stroke, and had to give hosting duties over to Ryan Seacrest. Clark began a career in broadcasting during high school, working in the mailroom of a local radio station in New York state. Eventually becoming an announcer, he would find his way to WFIL, a network-affiliated radio and …
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Anna Eshoo’s top donors revealed.
A look at Open Secrets’ profile for U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) reveals a predominantly high-tech list of donors to her 2012 reelection campaign. Eshoo’s top backer is Gilead Sciences, of Foster City, which has given $22,000 to her campaign committee from individuals and PACs combined, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which runs OpenSecrets.org. Gilead’s PAC has given the same amount of money to Republicans as to Democrats so far this year: $10,000 each, including $5,000 to Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), $5,000 to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and $5,000 to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). In the number two slot is Oracle, which gave Eshoo $15,500 total this cycle. Oracle’s campaign spending has slightly favored …
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Pioneer of Artificial Intelligence dies at his Stanford home.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Fans of Steve Jobs gathered at his Palo Alto home and at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino to pay their respects.
Stephen Colbert offers tribute to Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs received warm tributes from comedy king Stephen Colbert last night. Colbert said "no one else could make me beg quite like him."
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Maathai helped launch Canopy's East Palo Alto Tree Initiative
On the evening of Sunday, September 26, 2011, Wangari Maathai passed away after a long battle with cancer. She was 71 years old. Canopy will always remember her visit to East Palo Alto and the impact of her life, message, and vision that continues with Canopy today. Executive Director Catherine Martineau said, "Wangari's visit to East Palo Alto will never be forgotten. She will always inspire us." On Sunday, April 30, 2006, Canopy welcomed with Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement. In her visit to the Bay Area, Wangari launched the East Palo Alto Tree Initiative at a ceremonial tree planting in East Palo Alto. Wangari Maathai said, “I am happy to join you in launching the campaign to plant …
Monday, August 8, 2011
Active in local Jewish scene, Spiegel was a master of French Language.
After valiantly battling a rare and aggressive type of uterine cancer for over a year, Carolyn Kommel Spiegel died peacefully at her home in Menlo Park on August 5, 2011. Born on September 22, 1942 at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland where her father, Sanford Kommel, was stationed as an officer in the Chemical Warfare Service of the 3rd Army, Carolyn and her brother Bob grew up in New York City with their mother, Charlotte Daniels Kommel. Spiegel graduated from Flushing High School and received a B.A. in French from the University of Wisconsin. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and attended the Sorbonne – University of Paris. Her next accomplishment was a four year National Defense Education Act Doctoral Fellowship at Stanford University…
Monday, April 25, 2011
And how the media got it so very wrong.
I was browsing the local news the other day when I came across this headline: “Apparent Suicide With Chemicals Forces Evacuation in Redwood City.” It seemed so innocuous. A small bit, really. Not even worthy of an obituary. But I knew better. It was what the story didn’t say and what it got so very wrong that haunts me. The article indicated that a 17-year-old boy had committed suicide by inhaling chemicals. This part was factually true. What it didn’t say was that the boy, named Geraldo at birth, wanted to be a girl. She preferred to be called Gennie. She always knew she was different. She told her mother she hated her body, hated who God made her. She longed for a sex reassignment, but her mother’s salary as a house cleaner would never…
Monday, March 28, 2011
Baran developed present-day email communications.
Internet architect Paul Baran died of lung cancer Saturday at his home in Palo Alto. He was 84. Baran pioneered what became known as Arpanet, the foundation of the Internet, in the early 1960s, according to a report by NPR news. Baran sold his “packet switching” communications method to the U.S. Department of Defense—which is still the way emails are delivered today. He started seven companies, five of which went public, said Vinton Cerf, a vice president at Google, in a phone interview. “This guy was wonderful,” Cerf said. “He knew so much. He was not afraid to design things, to push things to the edges.” Baran earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University. He then obtained his master’s degree in engineering …
Gregory
1:57 am on Friday, April 13, 2012
Gilead aka the company that tested its AIDS vaccine on people in Africa. Dirty money. more ›