Community Corner
🌱 Patch AM: How a Menlo Park lab just broke a global X-ray record
And check out Beach Break Film Festival on the Menlo Park Patch calendar
Morning Menlo Park! We've got the scoop on the latest happenings in town. Read on to get looped in. ☀️
In today's newsletter:
- How a Menlo Park lab just broke a global X-ray record
- Could Menlo Park teachers finally afford to live near their schools?
- Could Meta’s Menlo Park smart glasses be secretly recording you?
Also on today's calendar: Beach Break Film Festival and 8 more events.
Find out what's happening in Menlo Park-Athertonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Find out what's happening in Menlo Park-Athertonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
- Wednesday: A few showers, with a high of 63 and low of 52 degrees.
- Thursday: Windy with occasional rain, temps: high: 58, low: 49.
- Friday: Rain; breezy in the morning, with a high of 56 and low of 43 degrees.
📰 News we're reading
• A new world record set in Menlo Park: LCLS approaches 100,000 pulses per second (inmenlo.com) — Menlo Park’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory just set a world record with its upgraded LCLS-II X-ray laser, hitting 93,000 pulses per second on the way to a million. This leap in performance will let scientists study ultrafast, atomic-scale processes more precisely, with potential benefits for quantum materials, clean energy research and medical advances, all happening right in your backyard. 
• Palo Alto's teacher housing project welcomes new residents (mv-voice.com) — Menlo Park and Ravenswood district teachers now have access to 32 dedicated apartments in a new Palo Alto teacher housing complex, The Acacia, which opened this summer. The below-market units, funded through a regional public–private partnership, aim to keep local educators living near their schools, with rents tied to income and amenities like courtyards, parking stackers and shared laundry facilities.
• Are Those Eye Glasses Recording You? (wabcradio.com) — Menlo Park briefly enters the spotlight as Meta’s headquarters, where CEO Mark Zuckerberg showcased the company’s latest Ray-Ban smart glasses that can discreetly record video. The story follows women in Boston and Sydney who later discovered they’d been filmed without consent, raising fresh questions about privacy, social media posting, and how current laws handle recordings made in public spaces.
📸 Around Menlo Park
Show off your photography skills and the sights around town! Click here to submit your Photo of the Day to Patch AM!
🗓 Upcoming Events in Menlo Park
Add your event to our calendar and newsletter!
★ Featured events ★
- Beach Break Film Festival
1167 Main St, Half Moon Bay
3:30 pm - Crossing Over with Psychic Medium John Edward live in San Francisco, CA!
The Westin San Francisco Airport, 1 Old Bayshore Hwy, Millbrae
7:00 pm
Sunday December 28
Friday January 9
Want to see your event featured? Click here!
Other local events
- Step Into Wellness: Atherton Library's Walking Club
Holbrook Palmer Park - Jennings Pavilion , 2 Dinkelspiel Station Lane , Atherton
9:45 am - Tech Tutors Drop-In Sessions
Atherton Library , 2 Dinkelspiel Station Lane , Atherton
10:30 am - New Parent Meetup: Tiny Sweater Weather
Atherton Library , 2 Dinkelspiel Station Lane , Atherton
12:00 pm - Live Music at Hotel Nia
Hotel Nia, Autograph Collection , 200 Independence Dr , Menlo Park
4:00 pm - Family Storytime with Stay and Play!
Atherton Library , 2 Dinkelspiel Station Lane , Atherton
10:30 am - Maker Exploration for Families
Atherton Library , 2 Dinkelspiel Station Lane , Atherton
11:00 am - It's Sew Easy: Gift Bags
Atherton Library , 2 Dinkelspiel Station Lane , Atherton
12:00 pm - Baby Bounce Storytime With Stay and Play!
Atherton Library , 2 Dinkelspiel Station Lane , Atherton
12:00 pm - New Year's Eve Celebration & Dance Party at 4 Star Hotel
Hyatt Centric Mountain View , 409 San Antonio Rd , Mountain View
7:30 pm
Friday December 26
Saturday December 27
Sunday December 28
Monday December 29
Wednesday December 31
📣 Menlo Park Shout Outs!
Want to say something great about someone in town? Click here to submit your Shout Out to Patch AM! It's free!
🗓 Events Nearby
- Winter Camp #2 (1 day)
Menlo College , 1000 El Camino Real , Atherton
9:00 am - Tech Tutors Drop-In Sessions
Atherton Library , 2 Dinkelspiel Station Lane , Atherton
10:30 am - Portola Art Gallery Presents "Six by Six" -- Small Works by Gallery Artists
Portola Art Gallery , 75 Arbor Rd # W , Menlo Park
11:00 am - Bilingual Storytime / Hora de Cuentos Bilingüe
East Palo Alto Library , 2415 University Avenue , East Palo Alto
11:00 am
Wednesday December 24
Have we missed something on our calendar? Add an event yourself! As always, before attending confirm event details to ensure accuracy.
Thank you 👏👏👏 to the local businesses for making Menlo Park PatchAM possible:
- Amara — (650) 486-1703
A California cuisine restaurant with mediterranean leaning. - The Harker School — (408) 345-9200
Magic Happens at Harker - Cool Aid Air Conditioning and Refrigeration — (800) 266-5243
Voted Best HVAC & Refrigeration Company in the Bay Area - Samaritan House — (650) 347-3648
Fighting Poverty. Lifting Lives - Atherton Inn Bed & Breakfast — (650) 474-2777
Luxury five room boutique hotel w/FULL breakfast
Click here to show your appreciation! 💚
Want to see your business here? Click here to connect with local customers.
💬 Chatter
What your neighbors are talking about on social media
- “First-of-Its-Kind Hanukkah Celebration Sends Powerful Message in Menlo Park, CA” —Dovid Read on Patch
- Thanks so much to the kind neighbor, how many years ago messaged on ND that she was making latkes and would anybody like some freshly baked latkes?
As a senior in not very good health, not to mention being a terrible cook, I messaged her that I would love some. She brought them fresh off the… (Nextdoor Sharon Heights) - Update: thank you, all, for your amazing care and advice.
We have connected with Bay Area Cats and have a plan for capturing the rest of the kitty’s family. The kitten is safe in their care now. Thanks again… (Nextdoor Central Menlo Park)
- i9 Sports Corporation posted a job opening for Senior Sport Coordinator Flag Football in Menlo Park. Apply here.
- Starbucks posted a job opening for shift supervisor - Store# 05798, ALAMEDA & AVY in Menlo Park. Apply here. You can search for other jobs near Menlo Park here.
🗞 Nearby News
East Palo Alto
- Palo Alto's teacher housing project accepting applications (paloaltoonline.com)
Stanford
- Stanford installing more security cameras (padailypost.com)
- Indian American-led engineers develop 3D chips to accelerate AI (americanbazaaronline.com)
- Researchers Develop Accurate Womb-Lining Replication System (lifetechnology.com)
San Mateo
Ok Menlo Park! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!
-- The Patch AM Team
P.S. The answer to today's riddle: I got tired of the hole business.
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Send it to us!
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