News

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
GreenTown Los Altos encourages people to use battery-powered leaf blowers like this one deployed in Veterans Community Plaza.

As Los Altos author Hisako Matsubara attempted to sleep in the afternoon after writing through the night, she heard it again. That persistent, buzzing sound would permeate through the walls of her house for hours each day.

“I don’t mind car noises, but the leaf blowers vibrate insistently,” Matsubara said. “The sound is monotonous and extremely persistent, and never stops.”

The driver of the car who hit and killed a Mountain View cyclist last year pleaded not guilty Jan. 22 to a misdemeanor charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. 

Several California Senate and Assembly bills traveled through the State Legislature and became law Jan. 1. In recent weeks, the Town Crier has highlighted new legislation and its ramifications, categorized by topic. Previous articles in the series centered on housing, workplace standards and sexual assault protections. The final part reviews new laws that aim to mitigate the financial and emotional impacts of fires on homeowners and firefighters.

Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office detectives are processing evidence recovered earlier this month from a Los Altos Hills burglary that cost a family more than $242,000 in stolen valuables. 

Updated 12:34 p.m. Jan. 28

Video surveillance from a Los Altos Hills resident’s home may be the key to helping Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office detectives uncover the identity of the two individuals who tried to carjack the victim in her driveway earlier this month. 

Updated 12:41 p.m. Jan. 28 

Authorities don't expect to receive autopsy results for another three to four weeks in the Jan. 17 death of a Los Altos High School graduate, an employee from the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner's office said Monday.