Menlo Park free shuttle adds Palo Alto, Sharon Heights stops
Menlo Park’s free crosstown shuttle extended its existing Belle Haven route into Palo Alto and Sharon Heights, starting Monday, Nov. 9, according to a city announcement.
The shuttle runs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will keep serving the existing destinations: the Belle Haven neighborhood, Menlo Medical Clinic, Menlo Park Library, downtown Menlo park, the Caltrain Station and Little House.
The route will also extend to include the Palo Alto Caltrain station, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Stanford Shopping Center, Stanford Medical Center and Sharon Heights.
The change restores a service lost to Sharon Heights residents when the city’s midday shuttle was suspended in September 2018.
Access the schedule online here.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, shuttle drivers and passengers are required to wear masks, vehicles are cleaned thoroughly, passengers are required to maintain social distance and capacity limits are enforced to prevent crowding.
The city also operates a separate free shuttle that picks up residents at their homes and takes them directly to destinations in Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City several days per week, though reservations must be made in advance. More information is online here.
San Mateo County had the highest self-response rate of people among California counties to the U.S. 2020 census, according to County Manager Mike Callagy in an Oct. 21 press conference.
A total of 78.6% of county residents self-responded, meaning they responded to the U.S. Census Bureau’s census survey online, by phone or by mail. Throughout the county, all communities except Atherton and Woodside surpassed their 2010 self-response rates, the county reported.
Self-response rates in 2020 were as follows: Atherton, 76.2%, down from 77.6% in 2010; Menlo Park, 76.9%, up from 76.1% in 2010; Portola Valley, 78.5%, up from 78.1% in 2010; and Woodside, 75.2%, down from 75.6% in 2010. The census officially ended on Oct. 15, although if they are postmarked by that date they will be accepted until Oct. 22, according to the county. The highest self-response rate in the county was in San Carlos, which reached 85.6%.
The national self-response rate for the 2020 census was 67%, while the California self-response rate was 69.6%, as of the most recent data available at 2020census.gov.
Residents can once again use Sequoia Union High School District tracks, fields, and tennis courts, including facilities at Woodside and Menlo-Atherton high schools.
“I am happy to report that our Interim Superintendent Crystal Leach says that fields and tennis courts at our high school sites will open for use by the public this weekend,” said Sequoia school board president Allen Weiner in an email Oct. 16.
The district closed facilities to the public in June to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Faculty advisers for the Menlo-Atherton High School Black Student Union announced the Ubuntu Scholarship Program, $5,000 college scholarships for graduating African American/Black seniors, in an Oct. 9 press release.
Named for the African term Ubuntu, which stresses a sense of community involvement and giving to others, the program will provide two students each year with college scholarships funded over four years at $1,250 per year.
The awards will be based on a student’s academic achievement, financial need and community service work. Donations have been received to fund the first four scholarships. Additional donations are sought to continue to award two scholarships every year.
Donations can be sent to Menlo-Atherton High School, attention: Treasurer, 555 Middlefield Road, Atherton CA 94027. Checks should be made payable to M-A Scholarships, with Ubuntu Scholarship Program in the memo line. Donations are tax deductible.
For additional information, contact Sherinda Bryant at [email protected] M-A alumni or community members who want to help fundraise for the scholarship can also contact Bryant.
San Mateo County’s Board of Supervisors allocated an additional $2 million to the county’s Immigrant Relief Fund, which provides financial assistance to immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The relief fund provides $1,000 grants to low-income, undocumented San Mateo County residents who may not qualify for federal benefits. The $2 million allocation came from the county’s Measure K funds.
John Sobrato, a real estate developer and founder of the Sobrato Organization, seeded the fund in July with a $5 million contribution. He challenged the board to match his contribution during an Oct. 6 board meeting.
The supervisors requested that an agenda item be added for their meeting Tuesday to allocate $2 million to the fund, in addition to the $2 million they initially allocated in July.
On Oct. 6, management analyst for the county Sophie Mintier reported that the fund had exhausted 96% of its funding.
To date, over 23,000 people have applied and 10,394 have been approved, according to Sobrato.
Tuesday’s allocation brings the board’s contribution to $4 million, in addition to the $5 million from Sobrato, and $4 million fundraised from private donors.
It is administered by the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County and the Mission Asset Fund. For more information, visit missionassetfund.org.
On Oct. 20, the board also allocated money from the county’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act fund.
Supervisors approved allocations of $3.5 million to expand internet and technology access for students, $2 million toward the Second Harvest of Silicon Valley food bank and $2.5 million to the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center to assist small businesses in low-income communities.
Bay City News Service
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