Free Republic

FBI agents served a federal search warrant at a lice removal salon in Los Altos Wednesday (Dec. 5) morning, but declined to say what the investigation was about. Agents showed up at LoveBugs Lice Removal, located at the Rancho Shopping Center, around 8 a.m. Wednesday, according to an employee at the 76 gas station nearby who said a customer had seen the agents. FBI spokeswoman Cameron Rogers Polan declined to say what the investigation was about because, she said, the affidavit supporting the warrant had been sealed by a judge. LoveBugs founder Marika Mavromatis did not return multiple requests for...

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Two California Highway Patrol Officers came up with a technique on the spot to stop a speeding Tesla Model S with an allegedly drunken driver asleep behind the wheel on the 101 Freeway in Redwood City on Friday, authorities said. The encounter took place just before 4:30 a.m. on the southbound freeway near Whipple Avenue, the CHP said in a written statement. The officers saw the car traveling at about 70 mph and realized the driver appeared to be unconscious, officials said. The driver showed no response when the officers activated their emergency lights and sirens...

Judge to rule whether '91 case has enough evidenceAs if prosecuting a cold murder case without a body isn't challenging enough, a key witness in the alleged murder of a Los Altos prostitute Tuesday denied previous statements implicating her brother as the killer. Bernardo Bass, 47, was first charged with Dawn Sanchez's murder in the fall of 1991 but insufficient evidence led to the dismissal of the case the following year. In April 2007, Bass was charged a second time following a joint investigation by the Los Altos police and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's cold case unit. The...

Local members of the American Civil Liberties Union cheered Tuesday's surprise vote by the Los Altos City Council to rescind a ban on proclamations regarding sexual orientation. "We are pleased with the council's decision. But we're going to be watching to make sure the new rule is applied equally," said Tamara Lange, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California. City officials approved the ban in February after the Gay Straight Alliance of Los Altos High School asked the council -- for a third year in a row -- to OK a proclamation declaring a citywide Gay Pride Day....

After two years of uncomfortable debate about declaring a ``Gay Pride Day'' in Los Altos, the city council changed its rules this week to ban proclamations about sexual orientation altogether. Mayor Ron Packard said the change spares the city council from ``issuing proclamations on issues I consider divisive and not appropriate for our community.'' The debate has grown bitter since high school students first requested the council declare a citywide Gay Pride Day in 2004. Charges of homophobia are flying -- as well as eggs at a council member's home. Yet this is the same city whose Rotary Club spearheaded...