Last Week in Danville, Aug. 22 to 28

The week started off with kids across Danville heading out to the first day of school in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. With enrollment numbers up in the district overall, some San Ramon Schools faced overcrowding while Danville schools saw a slight enrollment increase.

The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District achieved national accreditation by the 11-member Commission on Fire Accreditation International, based in Chicago, who voted unanimously Thursday morning to grant the fire district the title. The local fire department is first in Contra Costa County and sixth in California to achieve the status.

Town commissions and the Town Council gave their stamp of approval for initial plans for the Danville Hotel project during a meeting Tuesday night. The plans that include residential, retail and restaurant space, wrapping around Hartz, Prospect and Railroad Avenues and Short Street, were presented to the Town Council, Heritage Resource Commission, Planning Commission and Design Review board. The project is moving forward and could be before the commissions in four to six months for approval to move forward with the site improvement and site detail plans.

As temperatures hit over 100 across the Tri-Valley Tuesday, a fire that charred 375 acres began burning late in the afternoon near the base of Mt. Diablo and Clayton and was not fully contained until Friday. The smoke was visible in Danville and across the Tri-Valley.

Danville Bike was hit with a robbery early last Sunday morning when the driver of a stolen truck rammed the front of the store to gain entry and steal a $5,000 bicycle.

Coming up next week:

Open water swimmer and Danville resident Ken Harmon talks about his recent attempt to swim two lenghts of Lake Tahoe, at a distance of 42 miles.

A look at what's new on the menu this year in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District.

Michael Vawter, the ex-Cub Scout leader from Danville accused of having child pornography on his work computer, is scheduled to appear in court for his preliminary hearing.

Cainan Schierholtz, the 23-year-old being held at the West County Detention Facility in Richmond on felony DUI charges, is also scheduled to appear in court to set a date for his preliminary hearing.