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Tonight: Menlo council looks at budget, housing
How do you spend $75.5 million in one fiscal year? Menlo Park plans to answer that question as the city's 2013-2014 budget season kicks off, starting with the city manager's presentation of his proposed budget, before moving on to the housing element update on Tuesday night (May 21). (Tuesday, 10:37 AM)

Menlo Park: Tutors for eBooks
With all the different formats and devices, reading eBooks is not as easy as checking out a hardcover from the library, at least at first. (Tuesday, 9:58 AM)

Wednesday: Community services budget
A 2 percent cost of living increase and travel expenses for professional development figure into Menlo Park's community services budget for fiscal year 2013-2014, according to a memo from Director Cherise Brandell. (Tuesday, 9:57 AM)

East Palo Alto police chief: 'Crime emergency'
A series of gun-related crimes over the weekend that culminated with the the death of 16-year-old boy has prompted East Palo Alto police chief Ron Davis to declare a "crime emergency." (Tuesday, 9:44 AM)

Menlo's Buchanan, SHP's Knox qualify for the state finals
Menlo School senior Andrew Buchanan and Sacred Heart Prep junior Bradley Knox have extended their prep seasons to the fullest following Monday's NCGA/CIF Boys Golf Championships at Diablo Grand Resort in Patterson. Read this and other sports coverage at PA Sports Online.com. (Tuesday, 8:47 AM)

Menlo Park hires consultant to study administration
Now that a $25,000 review of the police department's internal operations is done, Menlo Park City Manager Alex McIntyre has hired a consultant to take a look at the city's administrative services department. (Tuesday, 8:39 AM)

Suicide or murder? Attorneys duel in closing arguments
Did Parima Parineh commit suicide in her Woodside home on April 13, 2010, or was she shot and killed by her husband, Pooroushasb "Peter" Parineh, who is charged with premeditated murder for financial gain? A prosecutor and a defense attorney who argued the case over some 15 days gave their closing arguments to the jury in a San Mateo County Superior Court on Friday. (Tuesday, 8:38 AM)

Monday, May 20, 2013
Paly, Menlo survive but SHP doesn't in playoffs
CCS baseball: It was nearly an improbable day for three local baseball teams in the Central Coast Section quarterfinals on Saturday. But, two out of three certainly wasn't bad. Read this and other sports coverage at PASportsOnline.com. (Monday, 10:50 AM)

Highs and lows at CCS track and field semifinals
Gunn High coach PattiSue Plumer probably said it best following a roller coaster day for local athletes at the Central Coast Section track and field semifinals on Saturday at Gilroy High. Read this and other sports coverage at PASportsOnline.com. (Monday, 10:49 AM)

Menlo Park ... 1927
Downtown Menlo Park, including the building at right that now is known as the British Bankers Club, was photographed in 1927, the year the city incorporated. Photo courtesy of the Menlo Park Historical Association. (Monday, 8:33 AM)

City clerk leaving Menlo Park
Menlo Park needs to break out the recruitment ads once again. City Clerk Margaret Roberts gave two weeks' notice that her last day will be Friday, May 24. (Monday, 8:23 AM)

Saturday shooting: Juvenile hospitalized
Police in East Palo Alto are investigating a shooting that hospitalized a juvenile male Saturday night, police said Sunday. (Monday, 8:04 AM)

Teen killed, two others injured in shooting
Police in East Palo Alto are investigating a shooting that killed one teen and injured two others Sunday night. (Monday, 7:55 AM)

Sunday, May 19, 2013
Report: School inequity threatens U.S. prosperity
"Not every kid's going to be as lucky as I was," says Mariano-Florentino "Tino" Cuellar, whose work ethic and smarts propelled him from a mediocre high school on California's border with Mexico to Harvard University, Yale University and an endowed professorship at Stanford Law School. (Sunday, 9:52 PM)

Decorator Show House runs through Friday
The Peninsula Decorator Show House is a "California Monterey Colonial," built in Woodside in 1938 and updated some 20 years ago. It is situated on 21 acres that include gardens and stables.
(Sunday, 9:29 PM)

Tuesday: Talk on black holes and galaxies
It turns out that, like everything else, black holes and galaxies go through love-hate relationships. (Sunday, 9:20 PM)

Saturday, May 18, 2013
Public asked to help families devastated by fire
Redwood City officials are asking the public to help families who lost everything in an apartment building fire in the unincorporated North Fair Oaks neighborhood May 15. (Saturday, 6:35 PM)

Monday: Screening of 'Tapestries of Hope'
As part of their senior project at Woodside Priory School, Clara Johnson and Stephanie Brugger are hosting the screening on May 20 of the film, "Tapestries of Hope," a documentary on young rape survivors in Zimbabwe. (Saturday, 11:28 AM)

Friday shooting: Victim probably shot himself
A 19-year-old man injured in a shooting in East Palo Alto Friday afternoon probably shot himself, Police Chief Ronald Davis said. (Saturday, 10:52 AM)

Obama to attend June fundraiser in Portola Valley
President Barack Obama will attend a $32,400-a-head June 6 fundraising dinner at the Portola Valley home of Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and his wife, Neeru. (Saturday, 10:40 AM)

Friday, May 17, 2013
Atherton residents address police contract issues, from outsourcing to pensions
Should the town of Atherton consider outsourcing its police department? If not, how much should the town be willing to pay to keep residents safe, properties secure, and police officers feeling fairly compensated? (Friday, 11:15 AM)

Plenty of motivation to chase CCS berths at track semis
For some, the semifinals of the Central Coast Section Track and Field Championships is just a mere stepping stone to the finals. For others, it's a much different story. Read this and other sports coverage at PASportsOnline.com. (Friday, 10:18 AM)

Saturday: Filoli volunteer recruitment meeting
Filoli will hold its semi-annual new volunteer recruitment meeting at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 18, at the Filoli Visitor & Education Center, 86 Canada Road in Woodside. (Friday, 9:58 AM)

Tonight: Party at Rosewood hotel
The Rosewood Sand Hill hotel on Sand Hill road at Interstate 280 will hold its annual outdoor party launching the summer pool season from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, May 17. (Friday, 9:55 AM)

Tonight: Symphony gives concert in Menlo
Silicon Valley Symphony, directed by Michael P. Gibson, will present its final concert of the season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 330 Ravenswood Ave. in Menlo Park. (Friday, 9:49 AM)

Prosecutor: Ayres verdict brings relief to victims
After years of legal wrangling, Dr. William Hamilton Ayres, an 81-year-old former San Mateo psychiatrist accused of molesting boys during examinations in the 1990s, has pleaded no contest to the charges against him. (Friday, 8:27 AM)

Sunday: Atherton's 'Evening in Paris'
The Mid-Peninsula League of the San Francisco Symphony will celebrate "An Evening in Paris" with cocktails, floral displays, fine dining and musical entertainment on Sunday, May 19, at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton. (Friday, 8:11 AM)

Portola Valley council vetoes artificial grass
Expanded version of earlier story. The Portola Valley Town Council by a 3-2 vote overturned a Planning Commission decision allowing the Woodside Priory School to use artificial grass on a soccer field. (Friday, 8:01 AM)

Interim chief named while injured chief recovers
A former chief of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, Douglas Sporleder, will serve as interm chief while Chief Harold Schapelhouman recovers from injuries sustained from a fall. Chief Schapelhouman underwent back surgery Monday. (Friday, 7:51 AM)

Thursday, May 16, 2013
Saturday: Imogene Woodruff service
A celebration of the life of Imogene Woodruff of Woodside will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18, at the Woodside Road United Methodist Church, corner of Woodside Road and Alameda de las Pulgas, in Redwood City. A longtime dance instructor, Ms. Woodruff died March 14.
(Thursday, 6:13 PM)

Golden Shears celebrates 50th year
When Louis Arenas opened his barbershop in downtown Menlo Park, he wanted it to be an old-fashioned type of place, where customers could feel as if they were returning to another era when they settled in an antique barber chair for a shave or a haircut. (Thursday, 4:54 PM)

Ormondale principal named
Kevin Keegan, an elementary school principal in the Santa Clara Unified School District, has been appointed the new principal of Ormondale School in Portola Valley. (Thursday, 3:10 PM)

Atherton city manager gets compensation boost, sort of
With one council member calling the change "outrageous," the Atherton City Council last night (May 15) approved a compensation increase, that by some calculations is a decrease, for City Manager George Rodericks. (Thursday, 11:57 AM)

Assemblyman seeking summer interns
State Assemblyman Richard Gordon is accepting applications from high school and college students for part-time summer internships. (Thursday, 9:54 AM)

Paly, Menlo and SHP all win CCS baseball openers
Palo Alto, Menlo School and Sacred Heart Prep all advanced in the Central Coast Section baseball playoffs on Wednesday, but Menlo-Atherton couldn't make it a clean sweep while suffering a season-ending loss. Read this and other sports coverage at PASportsOnline.com. (Thursday, 9:47 AM)

Friday: "City of Ember" author at Kepler's
Marking the 10-year anniversary of her graphic novel "City of Ember," Jeanne DuPrau will give a free author talk on Friday (May 17). (Thursday, 9:24 AM)

Fire marshal leaving Menlo Park Fire Protection District
Geoff Aus, long-time Menlo Park Fire Protection District fire marshal, is changing employers, but not job titles – he has accepted a position as fire marshal for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (Thursday, 9:18 AM)

May 23: Service for Henry Blume, engineer, sportsman
A celebration of the life of former Portola Valley and Menlo Park resident Henry Martin Blume Jr. will be held at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, May 23, at All Saint's Episcopal Church in Palo Alto. (Thursday, 9:03 AM)

Lawsuit filed over collision with horses on I-280
A lawsuit has been filed by Menlo Park physician Dr. Jean W. Gillon over an incident in the early morning darkness of Dec. 29, 2012, in which a Mercedes Benz she was driving collided with at least one of four Webb Ranch horses that had gotten loose and wandered on to the northbound lane of Interstate 280 just north of Alpine Road. (Thursday, 8:57 AM)

Two injured in North Fair Oaks fire
Two residents were injured and roughly 25 residents were displaced by a three-alarm fire at an apartment building in unincorporated Redwood City early Wednesday morning, a fire official said. (Thursday, 7:40 AM)

Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Mitchell Johnson: 'Color and Shape'
"Mitchell Johnson: Color and Shape," an exhibit of the paintings of Mitchell Johnson of Menlo Park, is on display at the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View through Sunday, May 26. (Wednesday, 10:26 AM)

Menlo Park traffic stop turns into drug bust
Running a stop sign can get you a ticket for at least $214, but as two men discovered on Tuesday, it can also rack up some jail time. (Wednesday, 10:03 AM)

Menlo Park fire chief recovering from fall
After tumbling off a ladder at his San Jose home over the weekend, Menlo Park Fire Protection District Chief Harold Schapelhouman is on the mend. (Wednesday, 10:00 AM)

New owner applies to remodel $117 million Woodside mansion
The new owner of the mansion at 360 Mountain Home Road in Woodside has applied to the town to redesign parts of the main house and three accessory buildings on this 8.74-acre estate that sold in November for $117.5 million. The sale was a new U.S. record for a single-family home, according to news reports. (Wednesday, 7:58 AM)

Pedestrian killed by train; morning commuter service disrupted
Service was disrupted on the Caltrain tracks after a train in San Bruno fatally struck a pedestrian this morning (May 15), but is now back to normal, according to a Caltrain spokeswoman. (Wednesday, 7:41 AM)

Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Robert Taylor honored for pioneering work on computers, Internet
Robert W. Taylor, a Woodside resident for 30 years and a visionary in the development of computer networks and modern personal computing, including the availability of information online, has been inducted into the Computer History Museum Hall of Fellows in Mountain View. (Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 8:35 PM)

Wednesday: Woodside girls softball in CCS playoff
The girls softball team at Woodside High School at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15, will be away to face North Salinas High School in a first round playoff game for the Division 1 of the Central Coast Section of the Peninsula Athletic League. (Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 8:29 PM)

New school campus: Bond measure on ballot as early as November
Although no formal action was taken, Menlo Park City School District board members agreed on two key issues they discussed last night (May 13): The district must ask voters to pass a bond measure to build new facilities on its O'Connor campus, and the private school that now occupies that campus should be allowed to remain almost a year longer than its contract allows while the district plans the new campus. (Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 11:55 AM)

Las Lomitas parents pepper high school district superintendent in forum
Had public comment been darts, Sequoia Union High School District Superintendent James Lianides would have had puncture wounds aplenty after more than two hours on the stage of the Performing Arts Center at Menlo-Atherton High School on Monday (May 13). (Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 11:49 AM)

Re-designing Willow-101 interchange
It has been 25 years since voters approved funding to replace the Willow Road-U.S. 101 outdated interchange, Menlo Park City Council members tried to finally nudge the project closer to reality by giving a nod to one of the design options. (Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 11:37 AM)

Local rowers win gold medals, head to junior championships
Three local high school girls earned gold medals in rowing and trips to the national championships following successful efforts at the USRowing Southwest Junior District Championships earlier this month at Lake Natoma near Sacramento. Read this and other sports coverage at PA Sports Online.com. (Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 11:36 AM)

La Entrada seventh-grader performs in state honor band
John McGrory, a La Entrada Middle School seventh-grader, recently performed with the prestigious California Band Director's Association All-State Junior High School Concert Band. (Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 10:19 AM)

Police calls: Ice skating gear stolen
Crime reports from Atherton, Menlo Park and Woodside. (Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 9:33 AM)

Nancy Reyering named environmental champ
Woodside resident Nancy Reyering, an active volunteer in the civic affairs of the town, received the town's Environmental Champion Award for 2013 at the Earth Day Fair on April 27. (Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 9:32 AM)

Menlo commission votes on Louise Street issue
Expanded version of a story previously published online.
After much discussion, the Menlo Park Planning Commission voted 4-2 on May 6 that if the city turns over a piece of land in the public right-of-way on Louise Street to adjacent homeowners, it would follow the general plan. (Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 9:26 AM)

Tonight: Police contract talks on Atherton agenda
A session to allow the public to comment on upcoming contract talks between the town and the police union, and potential changes in the city manager's contract, are on the agenda when the Atherton City Council meets on Wednesday, May 15. (Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 8:17 AM)

Monday, May 13, 2013
SHP boys, Menlo girls win WBAL championships
Nico Robinson of Sacred Heart Prep and Maddy Price of Menlo School proved themselves time and again during the regular season as the top track and field athletes in the West Bay Athletic League. Read this and other sports coverage at PASportsOnline.com. (Monday, May 13, 2013, 11:55 AM)

Menlo boys wrap up another CCS tennis title
Menlo School senior co-captain Daniel Morkovine has clinched titles before. Like, for instance, last year at the National Invitational in Newport Beach. His latest title-clinching effort, however, was a little different. Read this and other sports coverage at PASportsOnline.com. (Monday, May 13, 2013, 11:53 AM)

Tonight: M-A forum on planning for growth
In a public forum at 7 p.m. Monday, May 13, in the Performing Arts Center at Menlo-Atherton High School, officials from the Sequoia Union High School District will be seeking community input on possibly redrawing boundary maps that connect schools to neighborhoods. (Monday, May 13, 2013, 11:50 AM)

Portola Valley: 'We love horses' essay contest
Strideaway Farms in Portola Valley is hosting a "We love horses" essay contest. (Monday, May 13, 2013, 7:51 AM)

Viewpoint: Passing on appreciation of heirloom plants
I don't think we can expect the young – or home buyers of any age who've never gardened here – to understand the nature of the land they will inhabit. They need to learn how to sustain and care for its many gifts. (Monday, May 13, 2013, 7:30 AM)

Tonight: Talk on future of 3D printing
What does the future hold for three-dimensional printing -- the fabrication of machine parts from digital models? Philipp Schmaelzle, a member of the Google[x Rapid Evaluation team, will give a talk on this topic at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, at SRI International in Menlo Park. (Monday, May 13, 2013, 7:29 AM)

Steering kids away from drugs
Programs designed to help steer kids away from drugs, such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), can be only as effective as the people who work face to face with the kids. (Monday, May 13, 2013, 7:21 AM)

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