Los Altos police arrested a San Jose man late Tuesday night (Dec. 3) for a car burglary that occurred approximately 24 hours earlier in an apartment garage on El Camino Real, according to Los Altos Police Sgt. Brian Jeffrey.
News
Rain prompts first-ever Festival of Lights Parade cancellation
Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
Festival of Lights volunteer Brian Johnston puts away parade costumes Sunday afternoon at the city of Los Altos’ maintenance yard. Rain and heavy wind forced parade organizers to cancel the event, which was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Sunday night should have been a time for illuminated holiday floats, costumed characters and marching bands parading down Main Street before thousands of cheering people. Instead, downtown Los Altos streets were mostly empty amid occasionally brisk winds and a steady downpour of rain.
For the first time in the 42-year history of the event, there was no Festival of Lights Parade. Organizers made the tough call late Friday night to cancel the popular parade – traditionally held the Sunday following Thanksgiving – as weather forecasts showed no break in the rain blanketing the Los Altos area.
Los Altos firefighter hangs up helmet after four decades
One might say Jim Werner was destined for a firefighting career. He rode his first fire engine at age 3, a toy steered around the backyard of his parents’ Los Altos home. By age 6, “Smokey the Bear,” the classic tale of a black bear who teaches children about the danger of fire, had become Werner’s favorite book. And when the Santa Clara County Fire Department captain retired last month, he did so from the Loyola Fire Station, the same station that helped him license his first bicycle at age 9.
“It was a great career,” Werner said in an interview last week. “I feel immensely blessed. I’m very thankful for the Lord for providing this job.”
Los Altos entrepreneurs take business elsewhere as mandated housing takes center stage
Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
The former commercial building at 4856 El Camino Real sits empty. It will be demolished, alongside the smaller structure at 4846 El Camino Real, to make way for the Altos I apartment complex. Of the new building’s 52 condos, 10 will be below-market rate.
This is the first in a three-part series focusing on Los Altos business owners who have been – or may soon be – displaced by construction of state-mandated affordable housing units zoned for the commercial areas they once operated from.
MVPD program reconnects residents with missing bikes
Lost and stolen bicycles may soon reunite with their rightful owners, thanks to a new Mountain View Police Department initiative.
Once a month, the department plans to publish a Nextdoor.com post featuring vague descriptions of bicycles recovered in Mountain View. To claim a bike described on the social media network, owners will need to call 903-6375 and provide detailed information about the bike, including but not limited to its serial number.
County offers new low-income dental services
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Nov. 19 to lease dental office space in Mountain View in an effort to provide access to dental health care for North County residents who would otherwise go without.
The new offices will house a dental clinic serving patients who were previously seen at the Valley Health Center clinic in Sunnyvale, and will now be able to serve additional low-income patients, including those covered by Medi-Cal, Valley Health Plan and some commercial insurers. The clinic will be open to those without insurance on a sliding scale up to 200% of the Family Poverty Level, which is approximately $50,000 for a family of four.
