State Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) made this announcement:

“On August 1, California begins implementing the nation’s strongest AI transparency law, marking the beginning of a new age of transparency on the internet.

“As AI-generated images, videos, and audio become increasingly indistinguishable from authentic content, consumers deserve better tools to know where digital content comes from. It’s been clear we need regulation with common sense guardrails. California’s law will begin embedding provenance information into AI-generated content, helping people identify manipulated media, combat scams, and make more informed decisions about what they see online.

“This matters because AI is making it easier than ever to create convincing election misinformation, deepfakes, and scams that cost Americans more than $1 billion each year. AI-generated content also poses growing risks during elections by making it easier to impersonate candidates and public officials or spread deceptive content that misleads voters.

“California is leading where others have yet to act. I’m also authoring SB 1000 to ensure California’s landmark transparency law keeps pace with rapidly evolving AI technology and emerging global standards.

“That Act’s impacts won’t just be felt in California. Anyone who sees content produced by a model covered by the law — regardless of what state they live in — will benefit from added transparency.

“The bill will require tools for detecting content disclosures be publicly available, providing every American with the resources they need to determine from where the content they see online comes. Then, on January 1st of next year, large online platforms will be required to surface provenance data so people can easily access this information.

“This law is setting the de facto standard for AI transparency internationally. I’ve been engaged with the European Union Code of Practice Working Groups, and the French Ambassador for Digital Affairs, Clara Chappaz, to ensure the law works in harmony with Article 50 of the EU AI Act.”

The post AI Transparency Law goes into effect on August 1 — what it means for you appeared first on InMenlo.

On Wednesday, August 5, 2026 from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, join the Menlo Park Library online to learn about easy-to-grow veggies for the fall — and how to get them started.

Register via Zoom.

The post Find out about “Fall Crops to Grow Now” on August 5 appeared first on InMenlo.

Given to Fly — a band that draws inspiration and energy from rock, pop, and soul music — will be at Fremont Park from 6:00 to 7:30 pm on Wednesday, August 5.

Free, zero-waste party packs (complete with shatterproof plates, tumblers, utensils, and cloth napkins for up to 40 people) are available to Menlo Park residents who are planning to picnic.

For more information about borrowing or reserving a party pack, please fill out the form at bit.ly/partypackmp.

This opportunity is brought to you by 350 Silicon Valley and funded by the City of Menlo Park Community Grant funding program. Please email menlopark@350siliconvalley.org with any questions.

The post Given to Fly appears at Fremont Park on August 5 appeared first on InMenlo.

The addition of one more dead crow testing positive for West Nile virus in Menlo Park makes it a total of three dead crows from the Willows neighborhood and one dead crow collected from Nealon Park since June, 2026.

The San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District set additional mosquito traps in the area, and no West Nile virus positive mosquitoes were detected in the nearby area. Because crows can travel long distances, a crow that tests positive for West Nile virus does not necessarily indicate an increased risk for Menlo Park community members at this time.

The San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District encourages you to protect yourself and others against West Nile virus by following the safe practices below:

• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants, especially in the early morning, evening and night when mosquitoes are most active.
• Dump standing water so mosquitoes can’t grow.
• Protect yourself from mosquito bites. Use an EPA-registered insect repellent. Learn more about insect repellent.
• Check and repair broken screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out of your house.
• Report biting mosquitoes – San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District staff will check the neighborhood for standing water and work to stop the mosquito breeding. Report biting mosquitoes by calling 650-344-8592 or submitting a request online.
• Report dead birds to help track West Nile virus using the online reporting portal.

Learn more about West Nile virus.

The post Another dead crow in Menlo Park has tested positive for West Nile virus appeared first on InMenlo.

Elisa Sunga will be on hand to talk about the CAKE PICNIC phenomenon and her brand new book — part how-to guide, part recipe collection.

Ticket holders are welcome to bring a cake to share on the Plaza outside Kepler’s after the event. If you plan to bring a cake Kepler’s will share instructions closer to the time of the event.

Purchase tickets in advance online.

Photo courtesy of Kepler’s

The post Learn about cake — and eat it, too — at Kepler’s on August 7 with author Elisa Sunga appeared first on InMenlo.

You could say Menlo Park is in Eric Kinney’s blood. The ties are deep. His father Chuck is a former Mayor and City Council member.

The long-time Menlo resident has worn many hats in the fintech industry. But we talked to him about one of his newest ventures — that of author.

His novel, Scurry (Fraud Squad) is the first of a four-book series — a Silicon Valley based, fintech thriller exploring the active warfare between sophisticated fraud rings and the U.S. banking system. Blending financial crimes investigation, money laundering schemes, AI-enabled fraud, insider threats, Marine special operations, endurance athletics — and an unexpected romance — the novel offers an insider’s view of startup culture and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) inter-company coordination.

“The book includes real stores that I’ve fictionalized,” he explained. “I’m interested in financial crimes and scams.”

His second book Scurry (Fraud Syndicate), will be published in December. And he’ll start work on the third book in a few months.

Scurry is also the name of the company Eric founded.  And he’s recently joined the board of local nonprofit Beyond Barriers.

And yes, there’s a reason Eric is pictured poolside.

“Menlo Masters [which swims at Burgess Pool] is my community. I’ve gotten the chance to make a lot of great friends — smart,  outgoing, gregarious people. Makes me feel so lucky.”

Purchase Scurry Fraud Squad online.

Photos courtesy of Eric Kinney; top photo with his parents, Chuck and Marilyn

The post Eric Kinney turns to novel writing with “Scurry (Fraud Squad)” series appeared first on InMenlo.

National Night Out is a national community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships, neighborhood camaraderie and crime prevention — and both Atherton and Menlo Park are participating on Tuesday, August 4.

Atherton’s National Night Out takes place from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Holbrook Palmer Park. Enjoy games and activities along with a classic cookout, with food donated by Interwest Consulting.

The event is hosted and sponsored by the Atherton Police Department, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, the California Highway Patrol, and Atherton Get Ready.

Here are Menlo Park’s National Night Out locations:

-1000 Block of Sonoma Avenue, 4:30-8:30 pm
-Sharon Park, 1100 Monte Rosa Drive, 5:00-7:30 pm
-200 Block of University Drive, 4:00-10:00 pm
-900 Block of Florence Lane, 6:00-10:00 pm
-Cafe Zoe, 1929 Menalto Avenue, 4:00 to 8:00 pm
-Hamilton Park, 531 Hamilton Avenue, 5:00 to 8:00 pm

InMenlo file photo from 2022 Atherton Night Out (c) 2022

The post National Night Out takes place on August 4 in Atherton and Menlo Park appeared first on InMenlo.

Editor’s note: We were reminded of Searsville Lake’s history thanks to the Portola Valley newsletter and the town’s Historical Resources Group.

It is hard to imagine today with Searsville Lake locked away inside Stanford’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve and accessible only to researchers that the same quiet waters once roared with the splashes of world-record swimmers and the crowds that came to watch them. But in the early 1920s, this man-made reservoir was one of the most exciting aquatic venues in the American West — and in 1923 and 1924, it became a proving ground for the U.S. Olympic team bound for Paris.

The couple behind it all

The story begins with two Swedish immigrants who fell in love over a diving board. Greta Johanson was the first female Olympic diving champion, winning the 10-meter tower dive event at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics — the first-year women were allowed to compete. She married Olympic teammate Ernst Brandsten, and the two taught swimming and diving first in Sweden and then in the United States.

Ernst Brandsten became Stanford’s aquatics coach and began building a powerhouse program with his wife Greta, who also became director of the newly built Roble women’s pool starting in 1916. They were, in every sense, a dynasty in the making.

In 1922, the Brandstens leased the land around Searsville Lake so they could teach water sports and run a summer camp, which they called Camp Searsville. They hauled in tons of sand to create a beach, built a boathouse, and — most importantly for what was to come — constructed a formidable high-diving facility right on the dam itself.

A tower like no other

The Brandstens constructed 16- and 32- foot-tall high diving towers at Searsville Lake — the taller one more than three times as high as a standard springboard. A three-tier diving platform was built on the dam, used for National High Diving Championships. Olympic trials for the U.S. team were also held at the resort.

Training there was not for the faint of heart. At Searsville, divers would climb a three-story ladder with missing rungs. The platforms would sway in the wind, and natural fluctuation in the lake’s water level meant divers were never quite sure how far they were diving.

Ernst Brandsten’s coaching philosophy was relentless and innovative. He believed that becoming a champion diver required 80 practice dives a day for six years. To pack more dives into practice periods divers would practice off a board into a sandpit and walk tightropes to improve their balance.

A far western tryout

In the spring of 1924, Searsville Lake hosted a critical West Coast qualifying meet for the Paris Games. Warren Kealoha and Bill Kirschbaum set world records at a “Far Western” tryout at Searsville Lake, with leading swimmers and divers from across the country descending on the Peninsula to compete. The event was part of an elaborate, multi-stage qualification process unlike anything athletes face today.

Stanford’s own Olympian

Among those who trained at Searsville and went on to Paris was a young Stanford student named Clarita Hunsberger. She was the first female Stanford athlete to travel to the Olympics, spending countless hours training in the Stanford pool and at Searsville Lake under the Brandstens’ guidance.

The Brandstens believed in her deeply. Often without access to a car, she walked the five miles each way to Searsville Lake and climbed those swaying towers again and again. She recalled going out on the springboard to find a layer of frost on it.

Her sorority paid for her train journey to reach the New York trials. Eight days later, she was aboard the USS America, setting off for France

Paris and a golden sweep

The Brandsten program arrived in Paris ready to dominate. In 1924, Al White led Stanford divers to a sweep of the platform and springboard competitions, leading Dave Fall and Clarence Pinkston on the platform, and Pete Desjardins and Pinkston on the springboard. White was the first diver ever to win both diving titles in a single Olympic competition.

Brandsten’s divers won 25 AAU national championships over a nine-year stretch, and he served as U.S. diving coach on four consecutive Olympic teams from 1924 to 1936.

A lost world

For half a century, Searsville Lake functioned as a man-made playground that drew thousands of people from all over the Bay Area for water sports, summer camps, picnics and more — with 1,500 people showing up on a Sunday and 2,500 on holiday weekends. By 1976, pollution had forced its closure, and Stanford eventually converted the land into the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve it remains today.

If you visit and see a rusted metal frame on the old dam, you are looking at what remains of the diving platform — the same structure from which America’s Olympic divers launched themselves toward Paris — and glory.

Contributing Sources: Portola Valley Archives, San Mateo Daily Journal, Stanford Magazine, KOED, Bay Curious, Swimming World Magazine, GoStanford.com

The post The story of when the world’s best divers came to Searsville Lake appeared first on InMenlo.

On Sunday, August 2, 2026, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm, gather at the Menlo Park Library (800 Alma St.) for to connect with other writers to discuss and share creative works with like-minded people.

Staff will provide structure and writing activities, but the main focus is getting into the habit of writing and sharing what you feel comfortable with to push your writing in the direction you want to go.

Menlo Park Library’s Co-Writing Workshop takes place monthly. Beginning in September, it will happen on second Sundays from 2:00-3:00 pm.

Photo courtesy of Menlo Park Library

The post Menlo Park Library hosts co-writing workshop on August 2 appeared first on InMenlo.

Read more about her — and her story — on Palo Alto Online.

The post Menlo School student Keira Lew wins short story contest appeared first on InMenlo.