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valentine's day p4
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vol . 5 , no. 25 : february 18-24, 2026 : losgatan.com
police blotter p7
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sports round-up p10
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swift-water rescue p13 Faizi Samadani / Los Gatan
SUSD LOOKS INTO SCREENING LAPSE AS PETITION CIRCULATES Elementary District: We “immediately” hired Lincoln White Investigations to evaluate case Anik a K apasi, Contributor
A change.org petition that raises safety and accountability concerns within the Saratoga Union School District has been gathering steam. The petition, which was created anonymously on Christmas Day, centers on the District’s acknowledgment that a volunteer who was not properly vetted participated in after-school activities at Redwood Middle School during the 2024-25 school year. The issue was disclosed to the community in a Nov. 12 statement. Community members who publicly addressed some of the issues in the petition at the Dec. 11 board meeting were “dismissed” and “minimized,” according to the petition, which had collected 91 signatures as of Feb. 17. SUSD trustee and board clerk Cynthia Miller said in an interview with the Los Gatan, however, the petition doesn’t “have the full story.” “We get stuck in the middle where we would love to tell the full story, but to do so would be to violate that privacy responsibility we have (to the students),” she said. Miller said the district “immediately” hired Lincoln White Investigations, a third-party investigator, after learning about the uncleared volunteer. ➝ SUSD, 6
A MAN AND HIS BIRD What could be more blissful than spending some quality time with your parrot on Main Street in Los Gatos? Rob O’Reilly and Elvis, the 35-year-old parrot, outside Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company in January.
RAMADAN IN LG: MUSLIMS BEGIN MONTH OF FASTS WVMA founder says attendees know to come-and-go quietly Drew Penner, Editor
It was less than a week before the start of Ramadan, and Samina Chaudhry, a Saratoga resident who owns a gas station on the West Side of Santa Cruz, was carrying boxes of American dates through the tranquility of the one-story building that’s home to the West Valley Mus-
lim Association, on Farley Road in Los Gatos. She used to be a board member with the organization, but now simply serves as one of many volunteers who have been helping the prominent Muslim institution get ready for one of the most sacred months of their year. “I already did set my intention,” she says, when asked about what it’s like to prepare for a time when people of her religion are supposed to abstain from food, sex and drinking
during the day, and abide by several other strict conditions. “Always, as Ramadan is approaching, Oh, I have to fast. Oh, I have to struggle. But this year, I start praying like two weeks back.” There are more than 60,000 families in Santa Clara County that are connected to Islam, representing about 27% of the 250,000 in the Bay Area, according to researchers. ➝ Ramadan, 8
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