Portola Valley News

Barron's magazine named financial adviser Hilary Giles of Portola Valley to the 2009 list of the top 100 financial advisers who are women.

Deputies from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and nearby police departments visited Portola Valley and Woodside on two recent days and cracked down on bicyclists riding through stop signs and drivers talking on cell phones without hands-free devices.

The place of the memorial service for Ruth Ann Jordan has been changed to Valley Presbyterian Church, 945 Portola Road, in Portola Valley.

People interested in running for local public office this fall are invited to a two-hour "how to run" seminar, starting at 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 8, in San Mateo.

The San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department is about to sign a contract to knock down and rebuild four playgrounds to make them " boundless playgrounds " accessible to children with disabilities.

An "Honor the Stop" enforcement campaign that was inspired by the deaths of two bicyclists killed by a sheriff's deputy in 2008 was carried out July 1 and netted 45 citations in San Mateo County.

Filmmaker Rob Caughlan spent eight years trying to pack an account of the life and career of Pete McCloskey into his allotted 54 minutes, the length of the program that will run on KQED-TV on Sunday, July 5, as part of the station's "Truly CA" series.

A House of Representatives subcommittee has approved nearly $10 million in funding for projects in the 14th Congressional District, which includes Menlo Park, Atherton, Woodside and Portola Valley.

For some, it's the season for hanging damp clothes on a line. The humidity is low, the wind fresh and the sunshine plentiful.

Atherton is the latest town to get the local history treatment, with a new coffee-table book called "Under the Oaks: Two Hundred Years in Atherton." The book is penned by Nancy Lund of Portola Valley and Pamela Gullard of Menlo Park, the same duo behind "Life on the San Andreas Fault: A History of Portola Valley," published in 2003.

Portola Valley residents will have an opportunity to weigh in on several matters set for Town Council action on Wednesday, June 24, including the town's budget for the next 12 months, the contract for police services with the county Sheriff's Office, and a utility users tax election.

Almanac Arts & Entertainment The Portola Valley School District board is expected to vote on a proposed $11.5 million budget for the 2009-10 school year at its Wednesday, June 24, meeting.

How to design a home's interior to reduce energy and conserve resources is a topic of a two-hour workshop in Portola Valley at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 23.

Laura Stec of Portola Valley will demonstrate "eco-grilling of fruits and veggies you never thought you could grill" at "Picnic for the Planet," to be held from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at Mitchell Park in Palo Alto.

FOR decades, California public school districts located in particularly affluent suburbs were immune to the very worst of the periodic money squeezes emanating from the halls of Sacramento.

The first workshop on upgrading Ford Field in Portola Valley begins with a 7 p.m. walk-around at the field at 3399 Alpine Road on Thursday, June 18.

Portola Valley photographer Alan McGee presents pictures inspired by sculptures by Auguste Rodin in "Rodin Redux - Realization and Revelation" at Portola Art Gallery in Menlo Park.

This story was written by Margaret Brandon for The Sequoian, the publication of The Sequoias retirement community in Portola Valley.

Portola Valley town government is ambitious when it comes to keeping its carbon-dioxide emissions low.

To the disappointment of a handful of residents gathered in Portola Valley's Town Council chambers on May 27, the council voted unanimously to adopt tough state fire-safety regulations, known as Chapter 7A, on the use of ignition-resistant construction materials and methods for all new buildings in town.