In Your Town for July 11, 2023
MILL VALLEY
Student honored
for chess project
Henry Lien, a 17-year-old from Mill Valley, has been awarded $36,000 from a Bay Area philanthropy organization for his work in establishing ChessPals, a program to teach chess to younger students from underserved communities in Marin.
Lien was selected as one of 15 Bay Area young people for the 2023 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards from the Helen Diller Family Foundation.
Since its establishment in 2018, ChessPals has provided free chess education for more than 800 children in eight elementary schools and three city-run camps across three school districts in Marin. ChessPals has five additional chapters in California, Texas, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
A majority of students in ChessPals classes are first-generation Latino students, a group largely underrepresented in the youth chess community.
ROSS
Council to review
projects at 2 homes
The Town Council has set hearings on two residential project applications.
The owner of 18 Canyon Road is seeking permits for a remodeling project that will include the construction of a 731-square-foot accessory dwelling unit. The owners of 4 Chestnut Ave. are seeking a permit and variance for new retaining walls, an outdoor kitchen and other changes.
The council is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Thursday at Town Hall. Teleconference access instructions and project details are online at shorturl.at/bDMO2.
SAN RAFAEL
Police: Man stabbed
while walking his dog
A San Rafael man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after stabbing a man walking his dog in the Canal neighborhood, police said.
The incident was reported at 8:40 p.m. Friday in the 3400 block of Kerner Boulevard. Police said the suspect approached the victim and stabbed him three times.
A witness called 911 and officers and paramedics arrived within minutes. The victim told police he did not know the assailant. He was rushed to a hospital and is expected to recover.
A witness showed police a cellphone video of the suspect. An officer recognized the alleged attacker. Police searched the area but did not locate the suspect.
Police were tipped the next day to the suspect’s location at a Kerner Boulevard apartment complex. Officers took the suspect into custody without incident. Police said he was carrying a knife allegedly used in the attack.
Alexander Amaya-Rodriguez, 42, was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder and felony assault with a deadly weapon. His bail was set at $500,000.
Police accuse suspect
of vandalism at hotel
A San Rafael man was arrested after smashing a hotel window with a metal pipe, police said.
Police received a call at 7:10 a.m. Monday about a crime in progress in the 800 block of Francisco Boulevard East. The suspect was located at the intersection of Tiburon Street and Belvedere Street still holding the metal pipe. He was “agitated, screaming, and waving the pipe around,” the police department said in a statement.
Officers took the suspect into custody after a brief struggle. No injuries were reported.
Cesar Samuel Santos-Diaz, 36, was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of felony vandalism, misdemeanor resisting arrest and misdemeanor drug offenses. Police said he was in possession of methamphetamine and related drug paraphernalia.