OPINION

BY DAVE PRICE
Daily Post Editor

This is the time of year when newspapers look back at the year’s biggest news stories. But I thought that instead of telling you about news you’ve already read, it might be more fun to find out how much of the news you remember. See how many of these questions you can answer correctly. The answers are on page 8.

1. The new president of Stanford University is Marc Tessier-Lavigne, who succeeded John Hennessy in September. Tessier-Lavigne was head of what institution of higher learning before arriving at Stanford?
A. Rockefeller University
B. Trump University
C. College of San Mateo
D. UC-Berkeley

2. Dennis Burns announced last month that he would be retiring as Palo Alto’s police chief. How many years has he been with the city’s police department?
A. 20
B. 10
C. 35
D. 7

3. Elizabeth Holmes, the CEO of Palo Alto-based startup Theranos, last year saw her net worth go from $4.5 billion to zero in the wake of a scandal over questions about the reliability of her blood-testing procedures. The scandal inspired Hollywood to do a movie about Holmes, the 32-year-old Stanford dropout who fashioned herself in the likeness of Steve Jobs, including wearing black turtlenecks. Who will play Holmes?
A. Jennifer Lawrence
B. Scarlett Johansson
C. Cameron Diaz
D. January Jones

4. Name the Silicon Valley tech investor who spoke in favor of gay rights at the Republican National Convention?
A. Sean Parker
B. Peter Thiel
C. Marc Andreessen
D. John Doerr

5. Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commissioner Kate Downing resigned in August, saying the city hasn’t done enough to increase the housing supply. She said the high cost of housing forced her to move out of Palo Alto. Where did she and her family go?
A. Bakersfield
B. Hayward
C. Santa Cruz
D. Menlo Park

6. What did the Menlo Park City Council ban in its parks?
A. Bullies
B. Drones
C. Ice cream salesmen
D. Chess players

7. Name the woman who, for the past four years, has been trying to get city approval to redevelop the buildings in the 400 block of University Avenue of Palo Alto that once included Shady Lane?
A. Condoleezza Rice
B. Lucie Stern
C. Elizabeth Wong
D. Joan Baez

8. Why have the development of major housing and commercial projects in East Palo Alto been put on hold?
A. The city is out of water
B. Too much traffic
C. Facebook is scaring off developers
D. Music from the churches is too loud

9. Keeble & Shuchat Photography, at 290 California Ave. in Palo Alto, closed its doors in August. How many years had it been in business?
A. 20
B. 51
C. 70
D. 150

10. In September, one of the donkeys who lives in Palo Alto’s Bol Park died at age 32. The donkey named Perry lives on, but what was the name of the donkey who died?
A. Miner Forty Niner
B. Eeyore
C. Pookey
D. Alec Baldwin

11. On Dec. 12, an advisory committee recommended that the Palo Alto school board rename two schools. The schools they said should be renamed are:
A. Hoover and Nixon
B. Escondido and Juana Briones
C. Jordan and Terman
D. Clinton and Bush

12. The city of Palo Alto is fining the developer of the Edgewood Shopping Center at Highway 101 and Embarcadero Road because a space for a grocery store there is empty. How much is the developer being fined per day?
A. $10
B. $200
C. $1,000
D. $5,000

13. A Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge was been widely criticized for the six-month jail sentence he gave to former Stanford swimming star Brock Turner, who was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster by a campus fraternity house. What’s the judge’s name?
A. Joseph Wapner
B. William Elfving
C. Ron Del Pozzo
D. Aaron Persky

14. Many mid-Peninsula cities are grappling with the question of how to separate streets from the Caltrain tracks, so cars don’t have to stop every time a train comes through. In May, the Burlingame City Council voted in favor of building a bridge over Broadway for the train tracks. The option was seen as less expensive than other ideas. What’s the projected cost of the chosen option?
A. $50 million
B. $250 million
C. $415 million
D. $75 million

15. In March, the city of Mountain View and Police Chief Max Bosel were sued. What was the claim made in the suit?
A. Police brutality
B. Sexual harassment
C. Racial profiling
D. Unfair enforcement of parking regulations

16. Rent control was on the ballot in three mid-Peninsula cities. It passed in Mountain View. But where did it fail?
A. Redwood City and Belmont
B. San Mateo and Burlingame
C. San Mateo and Hillsborough
D. Burlingame and Palo Alto

17. Liz Kniss was re-elected to Palo Alto City Council in November. She’s also served on the school board and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. In how many elections has she run?
A. 22
B. 10
C. 6
D. 11

18. Despite efforts to rein in the cost of employee pensions, the city of Palo Alto’s shortfall for paying pensions, known as an “unfunded liability,” is expected to grow to what figure next year, according to CalPERS?
A. $30 million
B. $338 million
C. $1 billion
D. $206 million

19. Name the Peninsula highway that, according to UC-Davis, leads the state in roadkill.
A. Foothill Expressway
B. Highway 92
C. Interstate 280
D. El Camino Real

20. After 62 years in Menlo Park, the U.S. Geological Survey says it’s going to move. Where is it moving to?
A. Palo Alto
B. Burlingame
C. Moffett Field in Mountain View
D. Stanford

 

Answers

1. A. Rockefeller University
2. C. 35
3. A. Jennifer Lawrence
4. B. Peter Thiel
5. C. Santa Cruz
6. B. Drones
7. C. Elizabeth Wong
8. A. City’s out of water
9. B. 51
10. A. Miner Forty Niner
11. C. Jordan and Terman
12. D. $5,000
13. D. Aaron Persky
14. B. $250 million
15. B. Sexual harassment
16. B. San Mateo and Burlingame
17. B. 10
18. B. $338 million
19. C. Interstate 280
20. C. Moffett Field in Mountain View