In the latest column, news about Palo Alto celebrating its new “sibling city” relationship with Bloomington, Indiana; the 1 millionth COVID-19 PCR test processed at Stanford Medicine and a longtime local Realtor’s plans to retire.
FAMILY TIES … Few people epitomize the link between Palo Alto and its new “sibling city,” Bloomington, Indiana, like Tara VanDerveer, who played college basketball at Indiana University and cemented her career as a coaching legend at Stanford University.
During a virtual celebration on Tuesday morning, she recalled her time in Indiana, where she learned basketball from legendary coaches Bobby Knight and Bea Gorton, and offered her thoughts on the new sibling relationship.
“If we can encourage sibling or sisterhood between … the people of both cities — Palo Alto and Bloomington — I think it would be a great service,” VanDerveer said. She also invited Indiana University sports teams to come to California and play at Stanford.
The light-hearted event featured interviews with two pairs of siblings (in each case one lives in Palo Alto and the other in Bloomington) and trivia hosted by Palo Alto Mayor Pat Burt. (Those who participated learned that the Grateful Dead originated in Palo Alto while Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth was born in Bloomington.)
The crowd of participants also heard from Vicki Veekner, founder of Sibling Cities USA, and Cornell William Brooks, the NAACP‘s former president and CEO. Brooks, who serves on the Sibling Cities…
