After scientists at Menlo Park’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory spent over two decades developing and constructing a car-sized camera, it has now been installed at the new, nearly complete Vera C. Rubin Observatory in the Coquimbo Region of Chile.

A report detailing Menlo Park’s housing construction progress in 2024 reveals that the city is mostly meeting the production targets outlined in its state-certified housing element for the 2023-2031 housing cycle.

Portola Valley Town Council members were relieved to hear about the town’s balanced budget after Finance Director Tony McFarlane gave a presentation on mid-year budget updates during a council meeting on Feb. 26.

Early voting results show that San Mateo County’s Measure A, the ballot measure that would amend the county charter to give the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors the power to remove embattled San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus, appears likely to pass.

For now, Menlo Park will stay the course on the plan to build affordable housing on city-owned parking lots downtown. The decision comes in the face of strong grassroots opposition that has built up over recent months.

The Woodside Town Council voted to approve a resolution to endorse Measure A, a San Mateo County ballot initiative that would allow the Board of Supervisors to remove Sheriff Christina Corpus from office.

Dozens of local leaders, funders and developers of the project gathered to celebrate the beginning of construction for Oak Gardens, a 62-unit housing complex on Chapel Lane at the Veterans Affairs campus.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission has launched an investigation into Sequoia Union High School District Area B Trustee Mary Beth Thompson, according to documents obtained by this news organization. She represents parts of Redwood City, San Carlos and Belmont.

An informational report showed that fewer people are taking advantage of a community electrification program funded by the California Energy Commission after the program’s launch in August 2024. The city is trying to find ways to expand the program and increase uptake before grant money expires.

California Water Service has completed its upgrades to infrastructure in the northeastern area of Portola Valley. Beginning in August 2024, Cal Water has been working on enhancing water supply reliability and fire protection to the Ladera community. The work was done as of Feb. 21.

The Menlo Park city council "reluctantly" voted at its Feb. 25 meeting to pass an ordinance restricting oversized vehicles and RVs from parking overnight on all public streets in the city. The vote was 4-1, with Council member Jeff Schmidt dissenting.

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San Mateo County has named Amy Davidson head of its Center on Homelessness, which coordinates homeless services throughout the county. The county also announced that the center was elevated to a division of the county’s Human Services Agency at the time of Davidson’s appointment.

State Sen. Josh Becker hosted a virtual wildfire town hall with Woodside Fire Protection District Fire Marshal Kimberly Giuliacci and Santa Clara County FireSafe Council Chief Executive Officer Seth Schalet on Feb 18 to educate communities on how they can protect themselves and their neighbors.

At its last meeting, the Atherton City Council took the next step toward resubmitting the town’s housing element to the state, adopting a resolution approving changes to the housing element recommended by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

More than 20 Portola Valley residents attended a protest in San Jose on Feb. 17 as part of a nationwide movement called “Not My President’s Day.”

The Tesla dealership in Palo Alto became a scene of protest on Sunday afternoon as over 400 demonstrators lined two sides of the block to wave signs and chant slogans directed at company CEO Elon Musk, who is playing a leading role in the Trump Administration’s efforts to slash federal programs.

Are you wondering why San Mateo County is holding a special election on March 4? Do you need more information to decide how to vote? Read The Almanac's voter guide for the upcoming election on a ballot measure to remove Sheriff Christina Corpus:

Community members gathered at the Belle Haven Community Campus in Menlo Park on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 8, to celebrate local business owners and community members, and to listen to music and spoken word poetry performances as part of the city’s annual Black Liberation Month celebrations.

Sequoia Union High School District Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Todd Beal is resigning from his position effective June 30. Beal has been with the district since 2022 and says he is resigning due to the impacts his long daily commute is having on his health and time with family.

Do you need sandbags? Here's where you can find them in San Mateo County: www.almanacnews.com/weather/2025...

Local police authorities said they had little or no interaction with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and police would not inquire about the immigration status of a victim, witness or perpetrator.

The Atherton City Council unanimously passed an urgency ordinance to once more regulate backyard chickens after a section of the town’s municipal code relating to chicken husbandry was inadvertently deleted in 2023.

Fern, one of three mountain lion cubs rescued from Portola Valley in late January, has tested positive for giardia. She is currently being treated, according to the Oakland Zoo.

Former Sheriff Capt. Brian Philip has filed suit against San Mateo County, alleging that Sheriff Christina Corpus and her former chief of staff ordered him to serve an “illegal internal affairs notice.” Philip also alleges that the pair retaliated against him due to his refusal to serve the notice.

A case of H5N1 — known as bird flu — was detected in a domestic stray cat in Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County reported on Thursday, Feb. 6. This is the first case of bird flu reported outside of chickens in the county.

Hundreds of students across the Sequoia Union High School District walked out of their classrooms Thursday in protest of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, calling attention to the impact of deportations on their families and communities.

Menlo Park’s Civic Center area and public parks could return to the table as possible sites for residential development in the wake of the recent storm of opposition to potentially building houses on city-owned parking lots downtown.

The Las Lomitas Elementary School District has opened an anonymous survey asking for the community’s input on the selection of its next superintendent. Former Superintendent Beth Polito is currently on leave amidst a financial audit by San Mateo County and investigation by the DA’s Office.

A neighbor of the Flood School teacher housing development has submitted an appeal, asking the Menlo Park City Council to revisit the Planning Commission’s entitlement of the project.

On Jan. 24, the city of Menlo Park released a request for proposals from environmental consultants to prepare a California Environmental Quality Act review of the controversial development proposal for the site of the former Sunset Magazine Headquarters at 80 Willow Road.

The League of Women Voters of North and Central San Mateo County will host a nonpartisan informational session on pros and cons of the upcoming March 4 special election on Thursday, Feb. 6, from 6-7 p.m. on Zoom.

After Sheriff Corpus filed a complaint against the county seeking to halt the March 4 election that would allow the Board of Supervisors to remove her from office, attorneys for county and board replied, stating that Corpus filed her complaint too late, as the election is already underway.

Atherton received a letter from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) stating that the town still has to make a couple tweaks to its most recent housing element plans.

A new green space began shape at Los Robles-Ronald McNair Academy in East Palo Alto on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 20. Volunteers gathered to plant the final trees needed to qualify the school as California’s first accredited arboretum on a K-12 public school campus.

While Google’s humble garage beginning is Menlo Park’s most famous startup story, fewer people know that the city is also the birthplace of Round Table Pizza. The original outpost of the nationwide pizza chain has remained a fixture of the community for more than six decades.

San Mateo County Board of Supervisors President David Canepa is proposing the development of workforce housing at the current site of the San Mateo County Law Library.

Rob Silano, a resident of the Suburban Park neighborhood in Menlo Park, is leading a recall effort against Mayor Drew Combs following the Planning Commission’s final approval of an educator housing development on the site of the former Flood School at 320 Sheridan Drive.

A dead mountain lion was found in Portola Valley near Portola Road and Willowbrook Drive earlier this week on Monday, Jan. 13. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, it is currently investigating the death and suspect the lion was struck by a vehicle.

The flight touched down at Hayward Executive Airport on Friday, Jan. 17, and as the gates opened, the runway erupted with barks. Greater Good Charities had successfully transported dozens of shelter animals from Southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area in the wake of the Los Angeles fires.

One person is dead following a two-car collision around 5:30 p.m. on Highway 35/Skyline Boulevard in Portola Valley on Monday, Jan. 20. All lanes in that section of the road were closed until around 10 p.m. almanacnews.com/portola-vall...

Superintendent Beth Polito’s leave comes after the District Attorney’s office launched an investigation into credit card spending at the district. An Almanac investigation discovered Polito stayed at the Four Seasons in San Francisco on the taxpayer dime.

Menlo Park has granted entitlements to a project that plans to turn a long-vacant parcel previously serving young students into new affordable housing catering to local teachers.

It was standing room only in the Menlo Park City Council Chambers on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 14, as about 250 people turned out to listen to and comment on the council’s discussion of the city’s plans to place affordable housing on downtown parking lots, with another 200 attending on Zoom.

Pottery enthusiasts on the Peninsula have something new to get fired up about: Spiffy Pottery Studio, located in the Willows neighborhood of Menlo Park, is a community pottery studio and ceramics teaching space that is set to open its doors in February.

The San Mateo County Office of Education has determined an external audit of the Las Lomitas Elementary School District is warranted. “Extraordinary audits” occur when the county superintendent believes “fraud, misappropriation of funds, or other illegal fiscal practices have occurred.”

The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety SWAT team descended on East Palo Alto in the early morning of Jan. 9 to arrest suspect Vicente Aguilera-Chavez in relation to a cold case murder that occurred in Sunnyvale in 2017.

A pro-housing group has told Menlo Park that it will face litigation if it does not move forward with affordable housing downtown, while lawyers representing several downtown property owners have let the city know that they plan to pursue legal action if the city does move forward with the plan.

This November, researchers discovered an aggressive new lineage of the pathogen that causes sudden oak death in Woodside and Burlingame.