In Your Town for Jan. 29, 2026
SAN ANSELMO
Grant to support
library renovation
The town is poised to get a $100,000 grant for a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the library.
The system is part of a broader $745,000 renovation at the Tunstead Avenue building, which is more than a century old. The grant is from the Bay Area Regional Energy Network, which supports projects to save energy.
At its meeting Tuesday, The Town Council authorized the public works director to sign an agreement with the organization. The library renovation project is expected to be completed in late February.
LARKSPUR
Board backs plan
at historic house
A proposal to expand a Larkspur residence built in the 1800s has the support of the city’s Heritage Preservation Board.
The property at 9 Murray Lane is listed in the city historic resources inventory, according to a report by Alex Othon, a city planner. Reports by historical consultants indicate that a logger’s house was built on the property in 1866, followed by a two-story home in the gothic revival style in 1882. The home, known as the “Murray House,” was owned by William and Maria Murray and their descendants, one of the founding families of Larkspur.
The property was last sold in 2024 for $2.5 million, according to real estate websites. The owners want to add about 1,767 square feet to the 2,229-square-foot house, expand a workshop by 45 square feet, install a 360-square-foot deck and build a 899-square-foot accessory dwelling unit. The project also would involve removing two heritage trees, a valley oak and a coast live oak.
The preservation board held a hearing on the project on Jan. 22 and recommended that the city approve it.
MILL VALLEY
Woman missing
since weekend
An intensive search for a missing Mill Valley woman has failed to locate the resident, police said.
Judy Gilbert, 72, abruptly left a residence Vista Linda Drive on Sunday after cutting off a phone conversation, according to the Mill Valley Police Department. “Based on recent life events, including the abandoned phone conversation, officers determined that Gilbert was despondent and at risk,” the department said.
Mill Valley police looked for Gilbert on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with the help of about 250 law enforcement agency searchers and volunteers. “Collectively, these teams have searched more than 1,500 miles of trails, fire roads, residential areas, parks, and open space over the past three days,” the department said.
Police planned to continue searching Wednesday, but with a more limited operation.
WEATHER
Brief rain yields
to drier stretch
Several hours of rain in Marin County on Tuesday evening dropped just over an inch of rain on Mount Tamalpais and smaller amounts elsewhere, according to the National Weather Service.
Other rain totals included 0.33 inches in Point Reyes Station, 0.32 in Mill Valley, 0.27 in Kentfield and 0.02 in San Rafael, said Roger Gass, a meteorologist at the agency.
The forecast for Marin includes a 30% chance of rain on Sunday, but otherwise no precipitation, Gass said. “It looks like were going to stick in the dry pattern for the next 14 days or so,” he said.
King tides are expected to return to Marin from Thursday through Monday, but not to the level they reached during the flooding from Jan. 1 to 4, the county said Wednesday.