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Briefs: Wrong-way driver pleads not guilty

by Sandy Brundage

It was a fine Wednesday afternoon in Menlo Park as 26-year-old Efrain Avalos Moreno-Avalos drove along Marsh Road. Trouble was, he was reportedly driving on the wrong side of the street.

Police, responding to a 911 call about the wrong-way driver, arrived to find the Menlo Park man sitting in a car "parked crookedly on the street" with his 10-year-old brother beside him, according to the district attorney's office.

Although Mr. Moreno-Avalos denied being behind the wheel, both the person making the 911 call and his brother contradicted him, the police report said. A breathalyzer allegedly measured a blood alcohol level of .21 percent. In California a level of 0.08 percent is considered above the legal limit for driving.

He pleaded not guilty in San Mateo County Superior Court on Friday, Dec. 14. Mr. Moreno-Avalos remains in custody on $7,500 bail, the district attorney's office said, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Dec. 28.

New blood center

The Stanford University School of Medicine's newest blood donation center is now open. The university relocated its 780 Welch Road center to 445 Burgess Drive in Menlo Park.

Call 888-723-7831 for more information. The Menlo Park center is open six days a week, from noon to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.