News Features

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier

Dennis Young is the Town Crier’s 2018 Los Altan of the Year. The honor recognizes Young’s volunteerism, which spans more than four decades across a wide range of activities and organizations.

Dennis Young would be the first to tell you he’s shy by nature. But shyness doesn’t stop the mild-mannered accountant from turning into a superhero when it comes to community involvement.

Since the early 1970s, when he first arrived in Los Altos, Young has been a ubiquitous volunteer. He’s been active in everything from the Rotary Club of Los Altos to the Community Health Awareness Council. He’s used his accounting expertise to crunch the numbers for local nonprofit organizations. He’s served as master of ceremonies for the annual awards luncheon honoring other community volunteers. And he’s even played Santa Claus at the Festival of Lights Parade.

Town Crier File Photos

Clockwise from top left: A man rides a motorized scooter along Castro Street in downtown Mountain View, a respirator protecting his lungs from smoke from the Camp Fire in Butte County; Los Altos businessman Mark Feathers is sentenced to 33 months in prison for financial fraud; electric bikes await use in Mountain View after the city adopts a dockless bike program; Enchante Boutique owner Abigail Ahrens, center, accepts awards and proclamations from State Sen. Jerry Hill, left, and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, right; shoppers stroll in the Kohl’s parking lot after the Los Altos School District reveals its interest in acquiring the Mountain View site for a 10th school campus; a pup sunbathes in Rosita Park after the Los Altos Parks and Recreation Commission’s decision to reject a proposal for a dog park in town.

The ballot box was a focal point locally as well as nationally in mid-term election year 2018.

Los Altos and Mountain View residents passed a $295 million bond measure in June for the local high school district, while giving incumbents the boot in the November Mountain View and Los Altos city council elections.

• Ted Laliotis (Oct. 24), former Los Altos City Council member; mayor of Los Altos in 1991

• Lydia Young (Oct. 18), makeup artist and hair stylist for Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell; founder of Men’s Health Club and women’s-only spa Lydia’s in Los Altos

Courtesy of Pets In Need

Pets In Need Animal Care Manager Anamarie Johnson plays with adoptable dog Ambrosia. The Redwood City nonprofit organization expects to assume operations of Palo Alto Animal Services by mid- to late-February.

Pets In Need officials believe they could begin operating Palo Alto Animal Services by mid-February following the nonprofit’s official sign-off of an operating agreement with the city.

By most accounts, the 41st annual downtown Los Altos Festival of Lights Parade Nov. 25 was pure holiday bliss. Thousands of spectators gathered along Main and State streets to witness the procession of floats and performers, their smiles beaming as brightly as the colorful lights decorating Santa’s float and the uniforms of the local high school marching bands.

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier

Los Altos resident Ron Ligon said construction crews working across the street from his house have blocked access to his mailbox on multiple occasions. His mail carrier has refused to exit his vehicle and deliver the mail on foot, citing a policy instituted by Postmaster Anli Zhao.

Los Altos resident Ron Ligon is on a mission to ensure that the Miramonte Avenue U.S. Postal Service adheres to federal policy that requires a mail carrier to deliver his mail even if access to his mailbox is obstructed.

Ligon said that after engaging in fruitless discourse with Postmaster Anli Zhao over the USPS holding his mail because construction trucks blocked his mailbox, “I told her, ‘If you want a war, you’ve got one. Because I’m retired. I’ve got time.”