Community

Maze Middle School has made substantial improvements with prior behavior and academic issues, which prompted its removal from a federal designation requiring efforts to cure the problems.  Five years ago, the U.S. Department of Education listed Maze as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school....

The Hollister softball team capped an amazing 10-day span with an 18-0 blowout win over Stephenson on May 6. That victory gave the Balers their second straight league title, as the previous week included wins over second-place Monterey 6-2 and third-place Salinas 14-2. Additionally, Hollister...

The San Benito County Board of Supervisors at the latest meeting initiated efforts to significantly strengthen the county’s illegal dumping ordinance to deter those activities.  Supervisor Dom Zanger and I had requested this formal consideration, and I have been pushing for more action with regard...

San Benito County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) this week announced the launch of a new program, in partnership with Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, to expand buprenorphine distribution by emergency responders to reduce opioid overdoses. Buprenorphine is a medication that helps reduce opioid withdrawal and...

It is horrible, immoral, rude and bullying behavior to remove Councilmember Rolan Resendiz (District 2, Westside of Hollister) from his committee seats.  The target of this attack is not Resendiz, but his constituents and those he represents, and all of us who have different opinions...

The San Benito Health Care District announced that it is planning to appeal the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s ruling that denied the district’s Chapter 9 filing for Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital.  Northern District Judge Stephen L. Johnson in a March 21 ruling sided with the California...

The San Benito County Office of Education announced the results of its “There’s Snow Better Time to Read” reading challenge this week, praising students who collectively read 8,120,876 words from Oct. 1-Nov. 30, says a press release from the office. The students doubled the...

Enlightening how certain events, photos or occurrences can influence our thinking.   The Free Lance (April21) front page demonstrated how Hollister High students engage with the robotics program to learn the mechanics of robots. This reminded me how much the same happened to my son who...

The City of Hollister is working on an inclusionary housing ordinance that could require future residential developers to make up to 20% of their projects affordable under state guidelines.  A draft ordinance, produced under the council’s previous direction, was presented at the May 1 council...

Hollister High has had a lot of great sports teams over the years. Many have won league titles and some have excelled in the Central Coast Section playoffs. This year’s Baler flag football team is staking its place among the school’s all-time elite.  With one...