Emperor Said to be Without Clothing

A Palo Alto developer has rudely observed that vagrants begging in front of stores along University Avenue are hurting business. City policy has been to pretend to see a group of competent people temporarily down on their luck. After all, they could be your neighbor--assuming that your neighbor camps out on the sidewalk, drinks heavily, doesn't bath and prefers public urination. Because the same individuals maintained a steady presence, Palo Alto officials assumed they had stumbled on a solution to a vexing problem--sidewalk employment.