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San Mateo County Health System is lauding a Millbrae resident who “picked up over 10,000 butts in just 1 month.”

In fact, the do-gooder, identified as Lydia, broke her own record with this feat. She reportedly “takes it upon herself to pick up cigarette butt litter off the ground when walking her dog along Coyote Point,” the county says.

“Thank you Lydia for helping to keep San Mateo County clean,” SMCHS reported on Facebook.

Also did you know? If you need a reusable pocket ashtray, you can get one from the county for free by emailing Environmental Health Services at PollutionPrevention@smcgov.org.

Photo credit: San Mateo County Health System

Redwood City is gearing up for National Night Out events on Tuesday, Aug. 7.

National Night Out is observed in cities across the U.S. on the first Tuesday of August.

It aims to promote partnerships between law enforcement and residents to strengthen public safety and sense of community.

“Eight neighborhood associations are hosting National Night Out events across the city held in parks and blocked off streets,” city officials said. “The Neighborhood Associations are planning great activities ranging from a car show to live local bands and everything in between”

See below for the city’s list of events. Check back for updates to this list, or visit the city’s website here.

Centennial – Mezes Park, 6-8 p.m.

Eagle Hill – Block Party at  Quartz and St. Francis St., 5-8 p.m.

Friendly Acres – Barbeque at Andrew Spinas Park, 6-8 p.m. Fun and games for children and families.

Redwood Shores/Sandpiper Lagoon HOA– Block Party at Avocat Dr. and Waterside Circle from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Redwood City Police and Fire departments will attend. Light food and drinks will be provided. Please park in guest parking only or walk to the area.

Redwood Village – Join your neighbors for food, ice cream, classic cars, and a jumper on Flynn St. (off Greenwood), from 6-8 p.m.

Roosevelt – Gather at the Sheltered BBQ Area at Red Morton Park (by the Bocce Ball Court) from 6 – 8 p.m. Come to tie-dye t-shirts and participate in a dessert contest.

Woodside Plaza – Gather at Maddux park from 4 – 8 p.m. for corn hole, ladder golf, and a bake-off competition. Redwood City Police and Fire departments will attend with cars and trucks. RCPD will have a fingerprinting table. Kona Hawaiian Ice Truck will stop by from 6 – 7 p.m. At 8 p.m. Maddux movie night will follow with  a showing of The Princess Bride.

Photo: City of Redwood City’s website.

Redwood City is in good hands when it comes to fire protection.

The Redwood City Fire Department has just been given a “Public Protection Classification” Class 1 Rating, the top score any fire department can receive.

RCFD is the only fire department in the county to be ranked Class 1;  and nationwide, less than 1 percent of all fire departments meet that standard (If you’re wondering, the rankings go from Class 1 all the way down to Class 10.).

The rankings are done by the Insurance Services Office, which crunches data for the insurance industry – so when they rate the quality of fire protection in a community, they know what they’re talking about.

“We are proud of this partnership that delivers such a high level of service to the communities we serve,” said Stan Maupin, Fire Chief, RCFD.  That partnership is the collaboration between Redwood City Fire, county Public Safety Communications, and the water departments in Redwood City and San Carlos.

Redwood City Fire Department serves residents of Redwood City (naturally), as well as San Carlos, and some unincorporated areas of San Mateo County.

Whether some or all of the Mt. Carmel District in Redwood City should be designated as an historic neighborhood garnered mixed reactions during a well-attended public hearing at Monday’s City Council meeting.

Recently, a number of Mt. Carmel residents have expressed concerns about several new homes proposed in their neighborhood, including their size, style and the city’s existing approval process. In the past decade, the city approved eight demolition permits to properties in Mt. Carmel. Right now, four demolition proposals are in the works, showing that projects to significantly change properties are “picking up steam,” according to city staff.

With the city’s economy enjoying an eighth straight year of growth, some residents fear significant character alterations to Mt. Carmel, which one resident described as “an eclectic mix of Craftsman, Tudors, Spanish revival” and other classic styles. She and other residents are requesting that the city implement design guidelines and study the possibility of designating historic status for the neighborhood, which would restrict certain construction.

Residents opposing such changes don’t want to restrict their flexibility to update or expand upon their homes.

No actions were taken during the council’s study session, but dozens of residents participated in the discussion.

This debate is growing not just in the Mt. Carmel neighborhood, but citywide as Redwood City emerges as a central Silicon Valley hub, prompting a need for more housing.

San Mateo County voters will see a 30-year, half-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot that would “invest approximately $2.4 billion” into relieving traffic and improving transit countywide, according to SamTrans.

On Tuesday, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved placing the “San Mateo County Congestion Relief Plan” on the November ballot.

The plan would dedicate 50-percent of proceeds toward maintaining and enhancing bus, paratransit, rail and other countywide mobility services; 22.5-percent for countywide highway congestion improvement aiming to improve throughput and travel times; 12.5-percent for local safety, pothole and congestion relief improvements, including efforts to separate the rail corridor from local roads and improve traffic flow in congested areas; 5-percent toward bicycle and pedestrian improvements; and 10-percent toward regional transit connections with neighboring counties.

The plan derived from the Get Us Moving San Mateo County community engagement initiative, a nine-month outreach process that gathered feedback from more than 16,000 county residents, not including hundreds-of-thousands more via mail, online surveys, social media town halls and over 100 presentations countywide, the county says. Get Us Moving was led by the San Mateo County Transit District and Board of Supervisors.

“San Mateo County residents are tired of the transportation gridlock in our region,” Dave Pine, president of the Board of Supervisors, said in a statement Tuesday.

Passage of the measure, which requires two-thirds approval from voters, will enable the county “to invest in a wide variety of transportation solutions that will reduce traffic congestion and provide a diversity of transit options for residents and visitors alike,” Pine added.

Rosanne Foust, President and CEO of the San Mateo County Economic Development Association (SAMCEDA), supports the measure.

“SAMCEDA applauds today’s final approval of the Congestion Relief Plan so we can get moving on reducing traffic, improving Caltrain and SamTrans, making streets safer, and leveraging technology and electric vehicles to modernize mobility,” she said in the statement.

Get Us Moving came to be following Assemblymember Kevin Mullin’s (D-South San Francisco) legislation allowing the Transit District Board of Directors and Board of Supervisors to ask voters to consider transportation investment revenue options.

A soldier who went AWOL and stole a military vehicle from a base south of Big Sur was stopped and detained in Redwood City Tuesday evening, according to reports by the military and news outlets.

At about 10 a.m. Tuesday, 34-year-old Spencer Slick, who had been participating in a Combat Support Training Exercise at Fort Hunter Liggett, was reported absent without leave (AWOL). He “left his post with a Humvee without authorization at an unknown time,” officials at Fort Hunter Liggett reported.

According to news reports, the California Highway Patrol received Be on the Lookout order for the Humvee. Just after 6 p.m., the Humvee was pulled over near State Routes 92 and 35 in Redwood City, according to ABC7 Bay Area, and confirmed by Fort Hunter Liggett.

“AWOL Soldier will be returned to the custody of military authorities while they complete an investigation on the incident,” military base officials reported last night. “No further info at this time.”

Photo: Fort Hunter Liggett