Community

The 2024 Gilroy Rodeo broke records for highest attendance and the most contestants participating in the event’s seven-year history on Aug. 9-11.  More than 1,000 contestants competed and performed in the local rodeo, which is run entirely by volunteers and returns all of its annual...

The acclaimed Poppy Jasper International Film Festival returns to Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Hollister and San Juan Bautista April 8-15. This year’s festival features more films—and at more venues—and is expected to draw a larger number of filmmakers than any previous edition in the event’s...

After an 18-year absence, Gavilan College reinstituted its women's soccer program in 2023. Javier Alejo, a Gilroy High graduate who played on the Gavilan men's soccer team, was named the head coach.  The program slowly came back to life and won its first match last...

Hollister City Council member Rolan Resendiz was stripped of his committee appointments during a tense Sept. 18 city council meeting.  In a  4-0 vote, his fellow council members took the action in an escalating disciplinary course against Resendiz for allegedly violating the council’s code of...

San Benito County public health officials will soon begin mailing notices to local Medi-Cal members to let them know that they are no longer guaranteed continuous coverage under pandemic-era waivers, and will resume the normal process to redetermine eligibility for the state’s public health...

Gavilan College on May 13 announced it has named Gilroy native and college alumnus Joffre Longoria as its new football coach. Longoria is also Gavilan’s new manager of the Rams Athletic Academic Mentorship Program.  Longoria played for the Rams in 1995-96 and was on the...

It’s great to see Hollister leaders dedicating funds toward new playground equipment, including a structure at Park Hill.

Re: Insight backs off, Free Lance, Aug. 22, 2025 We could gaze at an innocent, adorable, smiling baby and simply melt into joy. Sometimes it seems that our own hospital is like an irresistible baby begging for tender loving care. Our hospital, like our adorable...

Our rain has been great and so far, no rainbow. When a rainbow beauty does color over gray skies I wonder if Mayor Casey will find her pot of gold under that arc. With careful reading of her “State of the city” report (Free...

Hollister went on an amazing playoff run and captured the school’s first-ever boys soccer Central Coast Section championship.  The Balers won the Division II title and did so as No. 8 seed, upending host and No. 1 seed Westmont 3-2 in overtime and outplaying lauded...