|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Celebrate Ladera Community Church’s 70th anniversary, Dec. 7
Ladera Community Church, 3300 Alpine Road in Portola Valley, will celebrate its 70th anniversary on Saturday, Dec. 7, from 2-5 p.m.
There will be food, drinks, music, games and heartfelt reflections on the church’s history, according to a church press release.
“No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you’re welcome here,” the release states. “We are dedicated to making a positive impact through social, environmental, and educational initiatives that promote justice, kindness, and a healthier world. We seek to create a community that inspires and connects.
The celebration will also be a chance to welcome the new pastor, Rev. Evelyn Vigil, to the church.
Prior to joining Ladera Community Church, Rev. Vigil served as a chaplain in Santa Clara jails for 18 years, where she led worship services and Bible studies in the acute psychiatric unit, according to a church press release. After this role, she supported families as a grief counselor in hospice care.
Rev. Vigil has served as pulpit supply for various Bay Area churches, taken on sabbatical replacement roles. She has also worked as an associate pastor at the Community Church of Sunnyvale-UCC.
Email church@ladera.org for more information on the event and the church.
Take the Highway 101 Crossing Improvement Plan survey
The San Mateo County Transportation Authority is developing a US 101 Crossing Improvement Plan (Active 101) to identify and prioritize projects that will create safe crossings and corridors within a quarter mile of Highway 101 throughout San Mateo County.
The survey closes at the end of November. Participants will have a chance to win a $250 gift card.
Participate in the survey on at smcactive101.com.
Improved parking completed at Nealon Park
In response to community feedback to alleviate existing Nealon Park parking demands and safety concerns, the city of Menlo Park reconfigured and improved parking conditions at these two parking locations, according to a city newsletter:
- Park parking lot: added nine parking spaces by reconfiguring the parking spaces in front of the pickleball court and softball field from diagonal spaces to perpendicular space.
- Park frontage parking: added 12 parking spaces by reconfiguring the parallel spaces to back-in angle parking.
With back-in angle parking, loading and unloading since the trunks of vehicles will be adjacent to the sidewalk adjacent to Nealon Park and there would be no interference with car doors, as they would open away from the roadway and bike lane, according to the city. The back-in angle parking also makes it safer for bicyclists since the driver has greater visibility as they exit onto Middle Avenue, the newsletter states.
— Angela Swartz
Menlo Park council to discuss affordable housing in downtown on Jan. 14, 2025
At its meeting on Nov. 19, the Menlo Park City Council heard from a slew of residents who said that the city was moving too fast with its plans to place affordable housing on three parking lots between Santa Cruz and Oak Grove avenues in downtown Menlo Park. The council decided to continue the meeting to Jan. 14, 2025 to give residents more time to learn about the project and comment.
At the meeting, the council planned to vote on something called an “Surplus Land Act exemption” in order to begin the process of designing and building housing on the three lots, but opted to place a pause on the project after public comment from approximately 40 residents asking them to pump the breaks.
“I see this as an opportunity around good governance, to make sure that the city is doing adequate outreach,” said Mayor Cecilia Taylor. “When I head that folks have not been informed, it makes me concerned — not that we are rushing the process — but it is probably the hardest part about government is doing outreach, because there is always someone who didn’t know.”
Taylor said that the city will use this as an opportunity to improve its outreach process, and the council members will come back to the issue and take a vote with more community input at the January meeting.
Learn more about the project on Menlo Park’s website.
Office of Traffic Safety grants Menlo Park Police awarded $75K
The Menlo Park Police Department announced on Wednesday, Nov. 20, that it had been awarded a $75,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to help support traffic enforcement and education programs.
“We are grateful for this funding, which will be used as part of our on-going commitment to keep our roadways safe through both education and enforcement,” Chief Dave Norris said in a press release. “We will be able to focus on critical areas such as speeding, distracted driving and impaired driving.”
The police department said that the grant will be used to help provide additional traffic safety programs, including DUI checkpoints and patrols, distracted driving and cell phone enforcement, community presentation on traffic safety, collaborative enforcement with nearby police agencies and officer training in impaired driving recognition and enforcement.
Programs funded by this grant will run through September 2025.
— Eleanor Raab
YouTube 'auditor' provoked, pepper-sprayed shopper at Mountain View Costco, police sayApril 8, 2026 12:23 pm
