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vol . 6, no. 4 : september 23-29, 2026 : losgatan.com
fmr undersheriff convicted p7 : flag football p8 : the bywater p11 : teen mental health p12 Dinah Cotton / Los Gatan
RENO PLANS FOR HWY 17 INTERCHANGE UNVEILED AT LG COUNCIL Officials say the $178 million project could reduce beach traffic cutting through town Sasha Ryu, Contributor
On Sept. 15, the Town Council held a special study session to share an overview of the plans to redesign the often congested Highway 17/Highway 9 interchange near downtown Los Gatos. The plan comes as part of a joint initiative between the Town of Los Gatos, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the California Department of Transportation to ease gridlock beach traffic on the highway and in Los Gatos by replacing the aging cloverleaf interchange with a “spread diamond” configuration. At the meeting, VTA project manager Chris Lilley explained that the current design creates a bottleneck due to the short distances between the onramps and off-ramps. During weekends and heat waves, when traffic tends to be heaviest, drivers often exit the freeway to avoid the slowdown and end up driving through Los Gatos. This, in turn, contributes to the “traffic degradation and congestion” that often plagues streets like University Avenue and Winchester Boulevard on popular beach days. The proposed redesign would add a third lane in each direction of Highway 17 between Lark ➝ Highway 17, 4
TASTY TIMES Paul, Calahan and Siri Lackovic, with Sanjag Patel holding Olive, along the wine and bites stations at Taste of Los Gatos, which brought locals and visitors to downtown streets on Saturday. P10.
LGMSPD CHIEF MAKES CASE FOR SARATOGA EXPANSION Upfront costs draw concern; privacy advocates worry it would revive offline Flock cameras Drew Penner, Editor
Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Chief Jamie Field made her pitch for adding Saratoga to its jurisdiction, at the regularly-scheduled Los Gatos Town Council meeting on Sept. 15, including
presenting a plan to recruit 16.5 new officers and support staff. This drew mixed reactions from Council members and attendees. There was plenty of enthusiasm for the proposal. Some liked the idea in theory, but worried it could degrade the high-touch community police service the town has enjoyed. Some saw risk in the upfront and ongoing costs for which Los Gatos would be responsible as the employer.
Others, including several Los Gatos High School students, said they feared it could mean automated license plate reader (ALPR) company Flock Safety would be able to restart cameras in Saratoga that went dark after Santa Clara County identified data misuse. “I don’t want technology to overshadow what actually defines this department,” Field said, addressing the privacy ➝ LGMSPD, 6
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