The following events, organizations and people deserve either a
Thumbs Up or a Thumbs Down this week:
THUMBS UP: Ed and Leona Valdez have been celebrating Valentine’s Day together for 58 years. The Hollister couple met as children – back when he was 11 and she was 9 – growing up in Tres Pinos. They were engaged on Feb. 14, 1949, and have enjoyed a long and happy marriage that produced two children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Even after all these years, said their neighbor, Margie Barrios, “They’re just like newlyweds.” Cupid’s arrow doesn’t always stick, so it’s nice to meet a couple who know how to make love last.
THUMBS DOWN: Gasoline prices are up and commuters are feeling the pain. Pump prices this week in Hollister averaged $2.64 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas. Some people are able to deal with the higher prices by cutting back on their driving. But the more than 10,000 Hollister residents who commute to jobs outside San Benito County often have little choice but to simply absorb the additional costs. “I’m going to drive whether gas is $3.50 per gallon or $1.50,” said Mark Mayhorn, who commutes from Hollister to work in Los Banos.
THUMBS UP: Arts programs in local schools are getting a nice infusion of money from the state. Visual and performing arts programs in schools throughout California have seen a $105 million increase this year in state funding and schools will also benefit from a one-time $500 million state grant for art, music and physical education programs. Locally, the Hollister School District is getting an extra $24,000 in annual funding, while San Benito High School District is getting $13,000. The high school is also getting $219,000 from that one-time grant. Band teacher James Zuniga said he’d like to use the money to buy musical instruments that could be used by students who can’t afford to buy or rent their own instruments.
THUMBS DOWN: Hollister experienced its first drive-by shooting of 2007 this week. Police said occupants of a light-colored Honda fired 10 shots at a house in the 800 block of B Street. An 18-year-old former gang member who lives there blamed the shooting on gangsters, who he said won’t leave him alone even though he has quit the gang life. The teen’s grandmother, mother, sister and nephew were inside the house at the time of the shooting, but fortunately nobody was injured.
THUMBS UP: The Monterey Bay Area Council of Boy Scouts used the occasion of the 97th anniversary of the national organization’s founding to announce that Boy Scouts have contributed 12,000 hours of community service in Monterey and San Benito counties during the past year. We appreciate and applaud all of the young people who are helping to make this a better place.
