Here’s a concept that seems to be catching on in Hollister and
San Benito County.
Your daily hometown Free Lance is putting real local news in the
newspaper.
Honestly.
Here’s a concept that seems to be catching on in Hollister and San Benito County.
Your daily hometown Free Lance is putting real local news in the newspaper.
Honestly.
It’s not slanted for any self-serving reasons. The quotes are exactly what you have said. They haven’t been made up, altered or partially omitted to change their meaning and make you look bad or stupid.
In my five months here as Executive Editor, we have not had one complaint about being misquoted. I’m very proud of that.
Guess what we have a lot of on our Opinion pages? A bunch of your opinions (and ours) five days a week. Some of them are signed, which we always appreciate, and others are not.
We honestly – there’s that word again – believe some people cannot sign their names for fear of reprisal to them or their families. But they can still have a voice in our Citizens Voice.
We also don’t have any local politicians in our pocket or owe them any favorable coverage or paybacks.
Hey, it’s not our fault our Mayor needs Map Quest to find City Hall.
Speaking of politicians, guess who doesn’t like Citizens Voice the most? You guessed it.
We didn’t start any investigation of our county government, but we felt it was important to tell you about it. Plus, it’s been officially and legally filed and both volumes are sitting there for anyone to read.
Go check it out. It’s over at the Superior Court. If they won’t let you see it, come to the Free Lance. We will.
Now here’s a few warnings. There might be some names in it you don’t want to see. And bring a lawn chair and a thermos full of coffee because it is hundreds of pages long.
Believe me, I was so glad to get back to the box scores and Racing Form after I looked through that thing.
Or maybe you’re an accomplished speed reader like our District Attorney John Sarsfield, who said he read it “four or five times.” Did you know that John holds the world record for reading War and Peace in 12 minutes and 14 seconds?
Now there’s a quote taken out of context and some false information. Just kidding, John.
I don’t like trying to do investigative reporting with a small staff and told Sheriff Hill that when we first met. The Los Angeles Times has the resources to do that stuff, we don’t.
(By the way, here’s a personal opinion since I have the floor for a few minutes. I don’t care if Hill did rough up some guys who beat up a fellow cop many years ago. If that happened where I grew up in Chicago, those guys would have turned up at the morgue, not the county jail.)
But that doesn’t mean we’re going to throw a report that’s dropped off to us in the trash just because it might step on some toes.
Why? Because we haven’t put ourselves in that awkward position where you can’t write about someone when, as a real newspaper with value and courage, you should.
We didn’t call the Fair Political Practices Commission to come to San Benito County to snoop around. We just told you they were here because it is our duty as unbiased professional journalists.
When a longtime leader in our county government told us San Benito Tire was the lowest bidder for a lucrative county contract, we looked it up in the county records.
What he said was inaccurate and we reported it as such. The lowest bidder, by far, was Hollister Tire and Battery. I have never met Bob Cain or Don Kelley, but I have no doubt that they are real good guys.
I have met Celerino Lopez, the owner of Hollister Tire and Battery.
On May 29, 2003, my first day in Hollister when I didn’t even know where downtown was or had found a place to stay for the night, I pulled my broken car into his shop at 10 Fourth Street. It was close to 100 degrees and my muffler had fallen apart.
A stranger decided not to close on time that day until he had welded my muffler back together for 30 bucks, sweat pouring down his face under the shield as he held the torch above his head for half an hour.
He saved me hundreds of dollars and I know he does good work. My muffler is still quiet today. The stranger was Lopez. Gracias, Celerino.
Why didn’t Hollister Tire and Battery get the county contract as the lowest bidder? Hmmm…
We wish the Robert Orabuena trial never had to happen for any reason. One of my best friends died in a car wreck and the pain will never go away. I’m so sorry for the Judnick family, that it brings tears to my eyes. But we still want fairness for the accused. And we are covering it.
I live and eat and drink beer after work right here in Hollister. So does most of the newsroom staff (except for the beer, they’re smarter than me).
Some of my favorite folks are the construction workers and contractors who I see every morning getting coffee at 7-Eleven, when it’s still cold and dark and a long, hard day of work is still ahead.
I worked with guys like that to pay my way through college. So did my dad, for more than 45 years.
Unless I hit the Super Lotto, I won’t be able to suddenly own any expensive land in our county, although it would be nice. Hey, if I hit the Super Lotto I’ll throw the biggest party Hollister or San Benito County has ever seen next to the Independence Rally.
Everyone will be invited. Even the politicians and stuffy school administrators who don’t like Citizens Voice. Ha!
We like stories that talk about the heroes in our community and county.
Today, there’s a front-page feature on Baler football coach Chris Cameron, who year after year teaches his lads important life skills as well as how to tackle the guy with the ball. It was written by Hollister’s own Nathan Mixter.
On Monday, we have a great front page story on our crossing guards, who risk their lives each day to help keep our school children safe. It is written by Hollister’s own Michelle Hatfield.
On Tuesday, we will have a wonderful front page story on two Vietnam veterans, one from San Juan Bautista, who saw each other for the first time in 35 years since serving together. I promise it will bring tears to your eyes. It is written by Erin Musgrave, one of the best young writers in the country.
On Wednesday, we will have great front page coverage of the Veteran’s Day parade in downtown Hollister. It will be written by Kollin Kosmicki, another one of the best young writers in the nation.
They will all be edited and designed by Morgan Tharp and Terri Scheumann, two of the best young editors in the country.
The photographs will be taken by Nick Lovejoy, one of the most talented young photographers in the nation.
Veteran’s Day will be very special for me. My dad served in the front lines of the Korean War. A picture of him in his U.S. Army uniform is right next to me in my office at the Free Lance. Come on by. I’ll show it to you.
He died almost two years ago after dedicating much of his life to our greatest heroes, the war veterans who gave us the freedom we enjoy today. Bob Fitzgerald was an active VFW officer and volunteer, including commander, until the day he died.
One of my favorite Hollister stories in the Free Lance so far is the one we ran on Bob Poelker, Jeff Contival and Mike Bishop, who rode their motorcycles to every Hollister in the country.
I met Jeff, a great guy, at his Lock, Stock and Barrel store. He put a new 10-pound test line on my fishing reel that morning.
Well, deadline approaches and so does the end of this longer-than-usual column.
Thanks for taking the time to read it and for checking out the new and improved Free Lance.
It is a privilege to serve as your daily hometown newspaper.
