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It’s hard to believe that for the first several years of his career, San Jose Sharks legend Patrick Marleau seemed uncomfortable in front of the media or having any attention heaped his way.  If the Feb. 23-25 festivities surrounding Marleau proved one thing, it was...

San Benito County elections officials have a total of 617 ballots left to count in the Nov. 8 election as of Monday morning. The vast majority of the uncounted ballots—498 mailed ballots—are considered “challenged,” and the voters who submitted them have until 5pm Nov. 23...

For the past four years, the San Benito County Arts Council operated in two separate locations across the street from each other in downtown Hollister. At just under 2,000 square feet combined, the spaces worked out well for its needs, constantly holding art classes,...

A photographic exhibition and screening of the documentary film “Contemporary Indigenous Voices of California’s South Coast Range” will be featured on March 15 in San Juan Bautista. Previously debuted at the de Young Museum of Fine Art in San Francisco, the free photographic exhibit will...

By the time Sara Steiner’s custom-made, herbal tea blends reach various farmers markets in the Bay Area, they will have gone through the most rigorous testing standards—Steiner’s palate. “I’m more critical than the people drinking it,” says Steiner, who is the owner of San Benito...

If the Hollister High baseball team has a run in it to win the program’s first Central Coast Section championship, this year’s squad probably represents its best opportunity in the last handful of seasons. That’s because the Haybalers return their entire infield, their center...

Re: Fire on the hill, Free Lance 8/11/23 “Fire on the hill,” headlines partnered with the front page photo of a firefighter pummeling a blaze gripped my attention, as I had just watched a TV news program showing that Lahaina in Hawaii had been destroyed...

After celebrating the holidays with her family and recovering from a bout of Covid, Zoe Lofgren flew back to Washington, DC on Jan. 2 to begin her new term representing California’s 18th Congressional District in the US Congress. The district follows Highway 101 from...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the shooting of an endangered California condor found in Hollister, according to authorities who are offering a $5,000 reward for information.  The condor was found deceased in July 2022 on private property directly off Lone Tree Road...

Just days before her 5th birthday in August, Rubi Melendez of Hollister was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. That meant immediate treatments at Stanford Hospital, and the cancellation of Rubi’s police officer-themed birthday party. When her mother Sally made the announcement over social media, word spread,...