IT'S BAACK! ... The Palo Alto May Fete Parade and Fair is going back to its traditional format this Saturday to the delight of many. The beloved community affair, which is celebrating its 98th year, was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and reworked last year into a week of festivities. The annual march downtown was replaced in 2021 with a "reverse parade," during which locals decorated their homes and businesses for the public to enjoy. This year, participants can once again expect groups to show off their floats under the theme "What emPowers you?" The Palo Alto Recreation Foundation is sponsoring a contest that will judge floats on their connection to the parade theme and the amount of youth participation, among other criteria. At stake are a first-place prize of $500, second-place prize of $250 and third-place prize of $125. The festivities kick off at 10 a.m., May 7. The parade route starts at University Avenue and Emerson Street, continues down University, turns right at Waverley Street and ends at Heritage Park, where the Kiwanis Club of Palo Alto will host a fair until 1 p.m. The park will feature booths showcasing 30 community organizations, games and prizes for children, food trucks and music by city middle and high school bands and the local band Past Curfew. For more information, visit cityofpaloalto.org/mayfete.

CAN YOU SOLVE IT? ... Palo Altans have a chance to challenge their brains through a citywide scavenger hunt kicking off Saturday, May 7. The city has teamed up with local organization Solving Fun for the free four-week event, where one puzzle will be released each week. For weeks two through four, the puzzle will be available on Thursdays at noon. Here's how it works: Participants can download and print the puzzles at solvingfun.com/paloalto, or pick up a printed set at the Mitchell Park or Lucie Stern community centers. Every challenge takes players to a different part of the city where they'll search for a sign with a series of bold letters. Organizers note that the signs won't be hidden or buried and will be placed on public property. "You will not need to damage anything to find them," directions posted on Solving Fun's website state. Once players write down the letters, they can put them together for that week's final answer, which can be entered through a Google Form on Solving Fun's website or written on the printed form and dropped off at any city community center. Players can enter into a drawing each week for their shot at prizes. Those who complete all four weeks of puzzles can figure out the final location based on all the answers from the previous weeks and a last set of puzzles. The ultimate drawing will be for a grand prize of Palo Alto goods, according to Solving Fun's website. For more information, visit solvingfun.com/paloalto.

A GIFT OF EPIC PROPORTIONS ... Venture capitalist John Doerr and his wife, Ann, have donated $1.1 billion to Stanford University in support of a new school focused on climate change and sustainability, the university announced Wednesday. In recognition of the gift — the largest in the university's history — Stanford is naming the school after the couple. The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability will be the university's first new school in 70 years. "We have designed a school for the future combining knowledge generation and impact, building on the strong foundation established through Stanford's history of scholarship in Stanford Earth and our other schools and interdisciplinary institutes," university President Marc Tessier-Lavigne said in a statement. "We are deeply grateful to John and Ann for partnering with us to realize the school's mission, as well as the other generous lead donors who are leveraging their resources to help us create a more livable future." The school will focus on three broad areas, earth, climate and society, under the leadership of Arun Majumdar, who will serve as the inaugural dean. Majumdar is a professor of mechanical engineering and former co-director of the university's Precourt Institute for Energy. The school is expected to debut with 90 current faculty members and add 60 more over the next decade.