Arts & Entertainment

The Week That Was in Mill Valley

With one massive fall festival in the rearview mirror and another on the way, excitement is in the air for local lovers of the arts.

Legions of art fans poured into Old Mill Park last weekend for the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, drawn by the work of more than 140 artists but also by the oasis of cool under the redwoods on  a scorching weekend.

But while city streets were bustling all weekend, they're about to get an even bigger jolt with the arrival this week of the Mill Valley Film Festival. Event organizers continued to add films to its star-studded lineup, and gave us the inside scoop on the wry trailers starring Lars Ulrich and Peter Coyote.

Across town from the arts festival last weekend, hundreds gathered with an entirely different agenda. The Bay Area Patriots, a Tea Party-affiliated group started by San Rafael resident Zelikovsky, held its second Conservative Groupapalooza, drawing a bevy of conservatives with an eye on making gains in the November elections. 

Find out what's happening in Mill Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At City, Ged Robertson's plans to bring a music venue back to downtown Mill Valley got a huge boost when the Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit Monday for the Woods Music Hall. And Mill Valley made Forbes' list of the most expensive zip codes in the U.S.

On the law-and-order front, 23-year police department veteran Angel Bernal got the official nod from city manager Jim McCann, who appointed Bernal to police chief this week. We also learned that a 66-year-old German tourist died while riding his bike up Camino Alto, and a rollover accident on East Blithedale slowed traffic but luckily looked a lot worse than it really was. And Berkeley Police said they are investigating the death of Tam High grad and UC-Berkeley student Alex Lowenstein.

Find out what's happening in Mill Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Our Jon Bontz continued to chronicle the Survivor saga of Strawberry resident Marty Piombo on CBS' Survivor: Nicaragua. Piombo has shown a knack for strategy and sharp elbows, leading his fellow tribe members to oust form NFL coach Jimmy Johnson from their ranks in the third episode.

Tam High's sports teams had a mixed bag of a week. While the girls tennis team surged toward the playoffs, the football squad was roughed up badly by Marin Catholic and fell in overtime to Redwood in a defensive struggle. And the boys water polo team had an up-and-down week all by itself, dropping a tough game to Marin Academy before pulling off a remarkable comeback against Heritage High of Brentwood a few days later.

Hundreds of hikers and runner capped off the week by tackling the famed Dipsea course and raising money for cancer research in the Zero Breast Cancer Dipsea Hike/Run.

Tune in this week as our film festival coverage kicks into high gear.


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