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Every week, the Almanac reports on news from Menlo Park, Woodside, Portola Valley, Atherton and surrounding communities, and these stories often generate thousands of pageviews and lots of engaged reading. There is no hard-and-fast rule that determines what kind of stories draw the most eyes, but breaking news and enterprising investigations always do well.
These are the 10 most-viewed stories on almanacnews.com in 2025, in order.
In July, Almanac staff writer Arden Margulis obtained public records from the town of Atherton showing that outside agencies conducted millions of searches of Atherton’s automatic license plate reader data. The news came to light amid growing concerns around federal immigration enforcement, when federal authorities were searching for local residents.
These findings revealed that for months Atherton had not been following its own policy that required the police commander to review every search the town receives. Outside agencies were also omitting their reason for the search request.
Margulis continued to dive into license plate reader networks for other local jurisdictions. Over the course of the year, ,he continued to obtain public records from Menlo Park, Redwood City and the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
A tsunami advisory was canceled for the Bay Area after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. While the advisory remained active for other coastal cities in California, the National Weather Service deemed the Bay Area and Central Coast as safe.
A longstanding Italian restaurant in Menlo Park closed in June after 36 years of business. The owner blamed the loss of outdoor dining and inflation for his business troubles. Ristorante Carpaccio had been the longest-running restaurant in downtown Menlo Park, open since 1988.
The restaurant’s owner claimed that the city’s decision to reopen a portion of Ryans Lane took away its outdoor dining space and made it less competitive with other downtown restaurants.
When Sushi Sam’s Edomata closed its doors in December 2024, the community feared it had lost a cultural epicenter for sushi on the Peninsula. Luckily, the legacy of the restaurant was revived with the opening of Sushi Edomata in a new San Mateo location. The new restaurant is headed by the nephew, niece and son-in-law of the retired owner of Sushi Sam’s.
The Presidio Bay Ventures, the group behind Springline in Menlo Park, bought the former U.S. Geological Survey campus in Menlo Park for over $137 million during a bid auction in April. The group’s purchase of the property was lauded by city officials who hope the site can help fulfill the state-mandated housing allocation.
Two Menlo Park neighbors joined together to open Haven Wine & Cheese, an eatery and bar located at 1925 Menalto Ave. in Menlo Park. The store features a retail section where patrons can purchase cheese, wine bottles and grab-and-go food items such as sandwiches, parfaits, chia seed puddings and charcuterie boxes.
The Almanac shared 19 different community events worth attending during Labor Day weekend. As many people looked forward to an extra day off on a long summer weekend, The Almanac offered a list of free events hosted across the Peninsula ranging from concerts, plant exchanges, art fairs, festivals and cookouts.
Claims and lawsuits against the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office began to pile up after voters approved giving the county Board of Supervisors the power to remove then-Sheriff Christina Corpus from office.
In April, Assistant Sheriff Ryan Monaghan, who had been fired by Corpus in September, filed a $5 million claim against Sheriff’s officials, claiming retaliation. On Dec. 17, Monaghan was reappointed to his former position as assistant sheriff by newly appointed Sheriff Ken Binder.
In another claim, County Executive Mike Callagy filed a $10.5 million claim against Corpus. Union official Carlos Tapia, who was wrongly arrested for timecard fraud, also filed a claim against Corpus, detailing information about the former sheriff and her former Chief of Staff Victor Aenlle’s efforts to dismiss rumors about their alleged affair.
Aenlle also filed a claim against the county alleging he should have been represented in a separate lawsuit alleging retaliation.
Results from a San Mateo County special election, known as Measure A, passed by a landslide in early March. By 11 p.m. on election night, 85% of voters opted to approve the measure. With Measure A approved, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors was granted the power to remove former San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus. After a series of investigations and legal processes, the board unanimously voted to remove Corpus from her position on Oct. 14.
The county appointed Ken Binder as sheriff on Nov. 12.
The opening of Jagalchi, a 75,000-square-foot Korean food complex, was long-awaited and brought huge crowds to long aisles of products. Shopping in the Daly City store can be overwhelming. So, food editor Adrienne Mitchel walked through the store with acclaimed Korean chef Michael Kim to get his opinion on what he would buy at the Bay Area’s newest Korean supermarket. His selection of items varied from snacks, teas, alcohol, produce, seafood and more.
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Draeger’s Market closing store in Blackhawk, cites ‘declining condition’ at plazaJanuary 9, 2026 4:37 pm