Enjoy Mill Valley Blog
The Enjoy Mill Valley Blog is the official storytelling platform of the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce — and the most comprehensive source for what’s happening in and around town.
Whether you’re looking to explore something new, support a neighborhood business, or stay informed about upcoming events, the Enjoy Mill Valley Blog is your trusted source for local insight — thoughtfully curated and proudly community-driven.
Marin IJ: Mill Valley Offers Funding for the Mt. Tam Community Land Trust to Address Affordable Housing Possibilities
There’s buy-in not only from our city but also potential big donors in the community, philanthropic donors, MCF, the county,” Vice Mayor Max Perrey said. This is a really important step,” Mayor Stephen Burke said. “The city’s commitment will lead to getting the county’s commitment” and others. Councilmember Urban Carmel struck a cautionary note, saying the city’s affordable housing trust funds are needed for its 45-residence project on Hamilton Drive. Carmel also said the trust has to meet with the city’s Housing Advisory Committee, which would issue recommendations to the council. “Signing the MOU, I’m certainly in favor,” he said. “It doesn’t commit the city to anything, but shows that the city is very interested in the CLT and wants to make sure the CLT succeeds.”
Read MoreCurated News You Can Use, From Mill Valley & Beyond – Week of May 25th
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Read MoreConnie Leyva and Steven Glazer: Meta & Google Garnered Tens of Billions of Dollars in Q1. Should Tech Pay Their Share to Mitigate the Impact of their Products? Tax Big Tech to Mitigate Harm on Kids
We have a common and accepted practice of requiring housing developers, or any business that creates an impact on its neighbors, to mitigate the damage to communities from their actions. These fees pay for traffic, school and environmental impacts. We should now assess the same cost to these technology platforms for the harms they have caused to California teens, the public school system and independent news reporting. No one likes new taxes, but most people understand the necessity if the money is going to compelling needs, with accountability and oversight. In this case, the new proposed tax would only be paid by the entities causing the harm. Last month, Google, Meta and Amazon reported first-quarter profits in the tens of billions of dollars.
Read MoreMill Valley’s Danica Remy of the B612 Foundation: “The Fact Is That Humanity Has a System That’s Been Put in Place & it Worked for YR4”
In December, astronomers calculated that the asteroid YR4 had a small but not insignificant chance of striking Earth in 2032, a scenario that experts postulated could have more explosive potential than 500 Hiroshima nuclear bombs. Researchers reclassified YR4 as a non-threat in February, but the interim period was the first time that the International Asteroid Warning Network had been activated to respond to a threat since its formation about a decade ago. “The fact is that humanity does have a system that has been put in place in the last decade, essentially, and it worked for YR4,” said Danica Remy, president of the B612 Foundation, a Mill Valley nonprofit focused on identifying near-Earth objects (NEOs) that pose a threat to humanity.
Read MoreThe New York Times Created a Spectacular, Multi-Media Piece Around the History of Coyotes in San Francisco and Marin County – It’s Well Worth Your Time
They walk along busy San Francisco streets. In Chinatown plazas. Across the paths of Muni buses. One was found dozing in a laundromat. Many people simply wonder where they all came from in the first place. Scientists found that the DNA of the first arrivals did not match that of coyotes to the south. Instead, it matched the DNA of coyotes found to the north, beyond the strait and bay that separate the city from Marin County. “Did they walk over the Golden Gate Bridge?” asked Christine Wilkinson, a carnivore ecologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “That’s my top theory.”
Read MoreMarin IJ Earns Statewide Awards For News Coverage, Photos, Opinion Section & Much More!
The Marin Independent Journal has been a beacon of top-notch journalism for decades, and this year has been no different.The organization earned 20 awards — including five first-place honors — in an annual statewide journalism contest. The California News Publishers Association announced the results of its California Journalism Awards at a gala in Universal City on May 17. The association, which distributes awards by circulation division, includes hundreds of publications. The judges honored the IJ with a first-place award for in-depth reporting for a six-part series on President Trump’s impact on Marin. The paper also took the top prize for outstanding local news coverage of the November 2024 elections.
Read MoreSFist: Noe Valley Jokesters Want to Secede from SF and Join Marin County Instead
We assume this is satire, because the petition language is full of jokes and makes no real substantive arguments. “Noe Valley might be vibrant, but it deserves more than the constraints of high-density urban living,” the petition says. “By joining Marin, we reclaim our right to a peaceful, suburban life — where parking spots are a given, and the existential crises over every artisanal loaf of bread become a relic of the past.” The petition also says that by being annexed into Marin County, Noe Valley can “Embrace a vision where Noe Valley stands as a beacon of renewal — where innovative programs like Marin’s renowned ‘Golden Retriever Ownership Program’ (yes, really) illustrate a commitment to quality and community joy.”
Read MoreWith an Eye on Updating Parking Regulations Within City Limits, the MV Planning Commission Hosts a Study Session on the Subject – More to Come in the Months Ahead
City planners are working to update the City’s parking regulations, which have not been updated in decades. The City hired Walker Consultants to assist the City in collecting parking data and best practices to update the regulations. The parking update will mainly focus on commercial parking regulations, which at times have hindered changes in uses, infill development, and broader economic development. City planners invite and welcome public comments on the draft parking study and offer feedback to staff on proposed parking regulations at the May 27th Planning Commission Study Session (6:30pm; Mill Valley City Hall, 26 Corte Madera Avenue).
Read MoreThe Mercury News: California’s Insurance Crisis Continues, As State Farm an Insurance Rate Hike of 30%, Soon After the Company Won Emergency Approval for a 17% Rate Increase After the LA fires
While the insurance industry faces headwinds, State Farm, for instance, is now seeking to boost California home insurance rates by 30%. The company last week won emergency approval for a 17% rate increase after the Los Angeles fires. A week after winning emergency approval to raise Californians’ home insurance premiums, State Farm is seeking to boost that rate hike even higher to 30%. On May 13, the state’s largest insurance company got the OK from regulators to increase rates by an average of 17% starting next month. State Farm secured the expedited rate hike after asserting it was in financial distress and expected $7.6 billion in claims arising from the deadly Los Angeles wildfires in January.
Read MoreArthur Drooker’s 36 Views of the Golden Gate Bridge! ArtWalk is Tuesday, June 3rd from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the MV Chamber, 85 Throckmorton Ave.
After photographing the Golden Gate Bridge intensively for two years, I indeed came to see it anew. What I found most impressive, even more than the span’s status as an engineering and architectural icon, is its power as a symbol of possibility. When it was first proposed, naysayers declared there was no way to build what was then the tallest and longest suspension bridge in the world over such a treacherous strait. Undaunted, Joseph Strauss, the Golden Gate’s visionary chief engineer, replied, “Our world today revolves completely around things which at one time couldn’t be done because they were supposedly beyond the limits of human endeavor. Don’t be afraid to dream.” I dedicate Thirty-Six Views of the Golden Gate Bridge to this spirit of possibility.
Read MoreMarin IJ: Mt. Tamalpais Hiking Acclaimed in State Parks Poll And Insider’s Guide to Mount Tamalpais Hiking, Camping and Beyond
The state’s park system has 280 parks and about 5,200 miles of trails. The poll, conducted this spring, garnered more than 1,300 responses from the foundation’s members and supporters. Rachel Norton, the executive director of the foundation, said the effort was about introducing places to people who might not know about them. The survey featured 10 categories, including best for dog-friendly adventures, best for birdwatching, most kid-friendly, best for camping and best for wildflowers. “To people in San Francisco and in southern Marin, Mount Tam is not a secret, but it could be to someone from Southern California who is visiting the area for the first time, or somebody from the East Bay who hasn’t been over the bridge in a while,” Norton said.
Read MoreThe Legendary Sequoia Theatre Welcomes the Return of Summer With $1 Screenings Starting 🍿, Community, and More This Memorial Day at the Sequoia 🍿
The Legendary Sequoia Theatre Welcomes the Return of Summer With $1 Screenings Starting 🍿, Community, and More This Memorial Day at the Sequoia 🍿 – The California Film Institute this week is bringing back a beloved cultural landmark to the heart of Mill Valley. Lilo & Stitch (Regular Pricing): Dir. Dean Fleischer Camp (US 2024). Starring Maia Kealoha as Lilo with original Lilo & Stitch writer-director Chris Sanders reprising his voice role as Stitch. A live-action animated reimagining of the beloved Disney classic about a young Hawaiian girl and her unusual pet, who happens to be a genetically engineered alien with a knack for trouble.
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