Lights out for holiday trees? Menlo Park weighs budget cuts
The Menlo Park City Council is considering ending the annual holiday tree-lighting event and scaling back maintenance work as the city grapples with a structural budget deficit which threatens to deplete its already-diminished reserve funds.
More Local news
Woodside High School embraces new beginnings
Woodside High School graduated about 400 students during its June 5 commencement on Bradley Field. The Class of 2026, draped in bright orange gowns, closed a chapter of their lives as they crossed the stage with diplomas in hand.
More than 400 Sequoia High seniors graduate in ceremony celebrating immigrant pride, belonging
The 129th commencement ceremony at Sequoia High School on the morning of June 5 was sweltering and sentimental, with student speakers emphasizing immigration, inclusion and the power of community.
Blueprints confirm ICE involvement in Santa Clara County facility
Detailed blueprints show an ICE facility with detention and processing space is planned in unincorporated Santa Clara County outside Gilroy
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Food
How a Palo Alto transplant went from home baking to winning ‘The Great American Baking Show’
Ruiqi Chen did not think she’d win “The Great American Baking Show.” During the first challenge of the finale, she made a mistake that she thought sealed her fate – her meringues were all cracked.
Haru Japanese Restaurant brings gozen, dry-aged fish to downtown Los Altos
The team behind Mountain View’s Sushi Jin debuted a new sushi restaurant in downtown Los Altos May 22.
Padoca Brazilian Bakery opens in San Bruno
From classic French to Asian-inspired, there’s no shortage of bakeries along the Peninsula. But the latest bakery to open isn’t offering croissants or trendy salt bread – instead, you’ll find Brazilian favorites such as pão de queijo and bolo de…
Arts & Culture
Here comes sunshine: ‘World’s first’ Grateful Dead drag band plays The Guild
The seven-piece Nashville-based BERTHA brings extra sparkle to favorite Grateful Dead songs. The band performs June 11.
Festivals celebrating ube, jazz and Pride Month are on the calendar in June. Here’s how to spend the month in Silicon Valley
From the annual San Mateo County Fair to events for Pride Month and Juneteenth, here are some of the biggest happenings in Silicon Valley this month.
‘The silliest circus on Earth’: Exhibition brings the playful spirit of improv to Art Bias
Terry Sand’s ‘The Shinsplintski Family Circus’ exhibition opens June 7, with circus-inspired improv performances, complete with hula hoops and a “little crazy modern dance” to mark the event.
Spotlight
Why more Peninsula homeowners are choosing to remodel instead of move
Across the Peninsula, more homeowners are choosing to renovate their existing homes instead of putting them on the market.The trend has become increasingly visible in communities such as Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Los Altos and Mountain View, where longtime homeowners…
Local nonprofit offers no-cost home repairs to eligible Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto homeowners
Since 1989 Rebuilding Together Peninsula (RTP) has been ensuring safe and healthy homes for our neighbors to age in place and live in comfort. RTP offers a variety of repairs, at no cost to eligible homeowners.
Community Calendar
Did you miss
Meta halts $3.5B project, leaving Belle Haven empty-handed
For the three decades that Peter Adams has lived in Menlo Park’s Belle Haven neighborhood, he hasn’t had access to basic amenities such as a full-service grocery store. Now, he will have to wait even longer after Meta halted work…
YouTube ‘auditor’ provoked, pepper-sprayed shopper at Mountain View Costco, police say
Mountain View police arrested a Southern California YouTuber for blasting pepper spray at a man outside Mountain View’s Costco. He was with a group of “First Amendment auditors,” one of whom is being sued for pepper-spraying a man in downtown…
Real Estate
What $7.25M gets you in Palo Alto: The historic ‘Crown Jewel of College Terrace’ built for early Stanford Latin professor
For more than a century, the two-story Queen Anne at 2275 Amherst St. has stood as one of Palo Alto’s most ornate Victorian residences — admired from the street, featured in magazines and carefully maintained through generations of families. Now,…
June gardening on the Peninsula: Peppers, herbs and battling spider mites
As summer gets underway, this month’s column looks at ways to improve pepper production, how to help herbs thrive year-round in Peninsula gardens and how to identify and manage early spider mite activity in vegetable beds.
At $22.7M, restored Mediterranean Revival in Atherton top sale of the week
Each week, Embarcadero Media takes a look at home sales activity along the Midpeninsula in the communities of Atherton, East Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Portola Valley and Woodside. See what sold…
The Six Fifty
The Six Fifty Peninsula Photo Contest entry window is open now. Here’s what you need to know before you submit your pics
Peninsula photographers of all ages and skill levels who live, work or attend school within the 650 area code are invited to submit entries for six different visual categories now through July 3.
Renowned restaurants, historic architecture and a car-free corridor: Here’s what downtown San Mateo has in store
Within its five square blocks, downtown San Mateo packs in award-winning dining, historic architecture, niche shops and a slew of new developments.
Nature can be unpredictable. Here’s what Silicon Valley experts say you should do to have a mishap-free summer outdoors
We asked Silicon Valley outdoor experts and officials to share their advice on how best to prepare for excursions outside this summer so misadventures are less likely to happen.
