Local Scene: Academic honors, achievements
Gavilan graduate awarded $20K scholarship
Gavilan College graduate Josephine Torres, who will be transferring to UC Santa Cruz in the fall, has been awarded that institution’s Karl S. Pister Leadership Opportunity Scholarship for 2023.
Torres is a biology major whose career goal is to help people...
Salinas man dies in crash south of Gilroy
A 21-year-old Salinas man died late Saturday night in a solo-car crash on Highway 101 south of Gilroy, the California Highway Patrol said Wednesday.
At about 11:30pm July 8, the man was headed north on Highway 101 just north of Highway 25 in a 2004...
Letter: Water is life
Re: Climate talk focuses on watersheds, Free Lance, March 21, 2025
More than a breath of fresh air or a drink of clear cool water was the group of people who arrived in Aromas to study water, which is life! At a time when governing...
Letter: Congratulations to local schools
We are pleased to extend a well-deserved congratulations to R.O. Hardin Elementary School, Rancho San Justo Middle School, Sunnyslope Elementary School and Calaveras School for the recent performance accomplishments of their students, teachers and administrators.
These schools all recently succeeded in exiting the state Additional...
CDFW names 2023 Wildlife Officer of the Year
Santa Clara County Wildlife Officer Laura Decker was named 2023 Wildlife Officer of the Year, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced this week.
Decker, who is currently based in the CDFW Gilroy office, began her career with CDFW in 2018. In her short...
Letter: Choose JPA to ensure hospital’s success
Imagine the hospital board like coaches on an Olympic Team that already has won gold medals. Unbelievably, these coaches are selling out. They lost faith in their team even though the team has won gold!
This hospital team has accomplished a $15 million profit last...
UC Santa Cruz secures 2,400-acre ranch in San Benito County
UC Santa Cruz recently acquired and established the Strathearn Ranch Natural Reserve, a 2,400-acre oak-studded grassland property in San Benito County that will be used for field research and outdoor education for the university’s students, staff and researchers.
The UC Board of Regents approved the...
South Bay man accused of molesting children in Morgan Hill
A South Bay man has been charged with sexually molesting teenage children during church trips at his house on a Morgan Hill lake, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
The case against 54-year-old Norlan Macias, of San Jose, was launched several years...
Hollister celebrates veterans
Local residents, marching bands, businesses, community organizations and youth groups celebrated and thanked San Benito County’s and the nation’s veterans at the annual Veterans Day parade in downtown Hollister Nov. 11.
Leading the early afternoon procession were the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9242 Honor...
Local Scene: Pumpkin giveaway, Harvest Festival, Bell’s Station at Coe Park
Newsom appoints Butler to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will appoint a woman to fill the seat of the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died Sept. 29.
Laphonza Butler will replace Feinstein, the Governor’s Office confirmed Oct. 1.
Butler is currently president of...


















