Cover: Driven to Kindness
What's the story with people who stop to help stranded motorists out of the goodness of their hearts? More than you might think.

News: Hate Crime Bombshell
Thanks to repeated media reports, most valley residents can tell you almost everything about the hate crime against Judge Jack Komar this past summer. Almost. Plus: Metro managing editor Corinne Asturias on hiding from hate.

Metropolis News Extras

• Sunnyvale: Lakewood spirit lights up the night.
  
• Cupertino: Library thief used fake ID to check out $5,000 in CDs.
  

One Nation, Under Dom: Mistress Laurie fesses up to geek-whipping agony.

Public Eye: Twins separated at birth? Expansionistas ready for campaign take-off. Mr. Roberts gets drunk and goes to jail.

Box-Set Boogie: New jazz, rock, and folk CD collections hit the music stores.

The Frog That Could: Christina Alexander leads Little Tin Frog to best-of-bill honors at WORKS.

Aural Fixation: Local bands tore up the weekend of clubs.

Woody's Tin Eras: Woody Allen's 'Sweet and Lowdown' mixes the hot jazz of the '20s with the stiff morals of the '50s.

Maternal Instinct: In Pedro Almodóvar's 'All About My Mother,' women can win respect and yet be completely undignified.

Greene Party: Viewers have to take Neil Jordan's 'The End of the Affair' on faith.

Italian Masquerade: Matt Damon gives chilling performance in 'Mr. Ripley.'

Busted Play: Stone drops the ball with 'Any Given Sunday.'

Space Cases: A motley crew of actors tour the stars.

Under the Influence: Want some work with those drugs?

They Like Mike's: Odd orthography aside, regulars are still spellbound by Mike's Xlint Foods.

A La Carte: Giovanni's in Santa Clara is more than a place to dine.