Community members rallied together in Los Gatos Thursday as they raised funds for the people in Gaza. Despite the rain in Los Gatos, many people stood in line with their umbrellas, buying tacos, pastries and coffee to support Palestinian-owned businesses. Some even came from the East Bay. “I think it’s important to show up in spaces like this. Especially, if we may not be Palestinian, but just make sure people know that we are all supporting and here for the cause,” said Dublin resident Joanna Giron. Businesses here included El Halal Amigos based in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood and Kenz ..read more

Some people visiting Vasona Lake in Los Gatos are surprised to find it’s nearly dry as the rainy season is winding down. The Santa Clara Valley Water drained it so that crews could make repairs on the dam. It also means people cannot be able to use the paddle boats this Easter weekend. Los Gatos resident Jeanette Rasmussen told NBC Bay Area Wednesday that she was caught off guard. “It’s the first time in 30 years I’ve seen it this low,” she said. “So I was pretty shocked to be quite honest.” The Santa Clara Valley Water District drained the lake last week to repair a nearby dam built in the 19 ..read more

A South Bay teacher has been arrested in connection with the rape of a student more than two decades ago. Shawn Thomas, 56, of Los Gatos, was a teacher at Leigh High and also a football coach and a track and field coach at Los Gatos High School at the time of the alleged incident. Police said they received a delayed report on March 8 of alleged sexual assault that happened between 2002 and 2003 involving a female student at Leigh High School. Police also said the tip was from someone who was not the victim. “There is not statute of limitations when this involves a minor, and the fact that this ..read more

From the beaches of Oahu to the town of Los Gatos, Kathy Mlinarich has consistently advocated for her community. “Because there’s a need, and I’ve been gifted with the ability to do stuff like this, and I don’t want to waste that gift,” Mlinarich said.  Her advocacy started at the age of nine years old when she organized a trash pick-up day in Oahu, Hawaii that continues to this day. As a young mom in Palo Alto, Mlinarich established a support group for parents that is also still going on.   It was no surprise that when Kathy moved to Los Gatos, her transition to volunteering w ..read more

South Bay mother, Shannon O’Connor, officially retained a new criminal defense attorney in her high profile case that’s been fraught with court delays. O’Connor, from Los Gatos, has been awaiting trial in jail for nearly three years since her arrest in June 2021. She has never spoken publicly. In an interview outside court Wednesday, private defense attorney Stephen Prekoski spoke with NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit. He said this is “day 1” for him, and that a judge granted his request for 90 days to review evidence. “That material, I estimate to be somewhere between 30 and 50,000 pages of ..read more

No trial date was set Wednesday for the mother accused of hosting alcohol-fueled parties for her underage son and his friends in Los Gatos, and she will be getting a new attorney. Shannon O’Connor, who has been in jail on a no-bail hold for more than two years awaiting trial, was appeared in a San Jose courtroom Wednesday with the intention of setting a trial date and identifying O’Connor’s attorney. But O’Connor no longer can afford her own counsel and will now be assigned a public defender. The next hearing with the new defense lawyer was set for March 6. Last year, a grand jury indicted O’C ..read more

Demonstrators attended at least two pro-Palestinian protests across the Bay Area Saturday, calling for a ceasefire and holding a vigil for children killed during the war.  In San Francisco, protesters gathered near Powell and Market streets in the afternoon for the “No Christmas As Usual: Shut It Down For Palestine” rally. Organizers called for a permanent cease-fire as well as an end to U.S. spending on the war.  “Instead of funding things to heal and alleviate poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, hunger, and so many of the other issues that are going on in our own country, they w ..read more

The Los Gatos mother accused of hosting wild, alcohol-fueled parties for her underaged son and his friends is now facing additional criminal charges in a new grand jury indictment. Monday morning, Shannon O’Connor pleaded not guilty to all the charges, which came with seven additional felonies. The added felonies include allegedly encouraging sexual acts between some of the teens. O’Connor now faces a total potential sentencing of 31 years if found guilty, instead of 17 years based on her earlier charges. The criminal grand jury indictment is in lieu of a traditional preliminary hearing for O ..read more

Around a hundred people attended a teach-in at a Los Gatos coffee shop Saturday, looking to learn more about the Palestinian people and what they’re experiencing. “We want people to understand that this is a political crisis and a humanitarian crisis,” said Santa Clara resident Rami Sultan. “And I want to raise the level of understanding and discourse to humanize Palestinians, including my family. To make people understand that the lives of Palesetinians are equal to the lives of Israelis.” San Francisco Oct 19 Hundreds call for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza at San Francisco rally U.S ..read more

In Los Gatos, members of the Jewish community gathered Sunday night to show support for the people in Israel. The vigil took place at Congregation Shir Hadash. Some say they felt helpless and needed to come together to help process the horror of the terrorist attacks in Israel. “We have been crying for the last two days. Because there are no explanations, there are no words for what’s happening in Israel. For the brutality we are experiencing, for the horror we are seeing,” said Nico Socolovsky, a senior rabbi at Shir Hadash. Matan Zamir, the deputy consul general of Israel to the Pacific Nort ..read more