Menlo Park Police Department receives $74,000 road safety grant

The Menlo Park Police Department received a grant for $74,000 to use for road safety improvements by September 2024.

The grant comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the money will go toward efforts to reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths on the road, including DUI checkpoints and patrols and enforcement operations focused on cell phone use while driving, speeding and stop sign violations.

Menlo Park's most recent road safety data from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) is from 2020, when the city ranked sixth worst out of 91 similar-sized California cities in bicycling collisions where the cyclist was injured or killed, and the third worst for cyclists under age 15. The OTS reported that Menlo Park had a total of 88 crashes resulting in injury or death in 2020, the 13th highest among comparable cities.

-Cameron Rebosio

Grab coffee with the new town manager

Portola Valley's new town manager, Sharif Etman, will be meeting with residents for coffee on Dec. 5 from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Town Center Heritage Room (next to the library), 765 Portola Road. The town appointed Etman to the role in August. He filled the vacancy left by longtime town manager Jeremy Dennis.

-Angela Swartz

Books and toys for low-income families

Low-income households in San Mateo County can look forward to receiving toys and books during the holidays, according to county officials.

Families on time-limited programs and served by the Housing Authority of the County of San Mateo are invited to complete a survey listing at least three appropriate gift choices for each child living in their home, county officials said in a statement Monday.

The child will receive at least one gift from their wish list. The deadline for the survey is Nov. 17.

Toys will be distributed by HACSM staff during the second and third weeks of December, according to county officials.

"Every year, all of us at the Housing Authority look forward to this tangible reminder that we provide more than rental assistance -- first and foremost, we are here to support families," HACSM coordinator Victoria Grant-Velgado said in a statement.

According to county officials, the effort is a joint project between HACSM, the County Human Services Agency and the Peninsula Library System.

-Bay City News Service