Grant helps expand childcare services in Gilroy
A grant of $1,749,800 from the Valley Health Foundation will help the YMCA of Silicon Valley expand and enhance childcare services for families in Gilroy.
Specifically, the grant—funded through Santa Clara County’s Childcare Expansion Grant Program—will support the renovation of the Gavilan College Child Development...
Santa Clara, Santa Cruz counties report measles exposure
Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties may have been exposed to measles in recent days after an infected person from outside the region visited, according to public health officials.
The infected individual traveled out of San Jose Mineta International Airport on July 2, the Santa...
Red Ribbon Run raises awareness of dangers of substance abuse
The local Red Ribbon Run & Festival will help raise awareness of substance abuse prevention and education in San Benito County.
The 34th annual Red Ribbon event will take place 8-11am Oct. 19, starting in front of the Veterans Memorial Building, 649 San Benito Street...
Local Scene: Tourism spending is up
Statewide tourism spending hits all-time high
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced May 5 that travel spending in California hit an all-time high of $150.4 billion in 2023, outdoing the previous record of $144.9 billion spent in 2019.
The state has retained its title as the world’s fifth...
BLM eases fire restrictions
The Bureau of Land Management Central Coast Field Office is easing seasonal fire restrictions as of Nov. 19 for about 300,000 acres of BLM-managed public lands in Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and...
Visitors on a mission
These family members from Texas, Alaska and San Jose traveled through San Juan Bautista this week in an effort to get a closer look at the historic town’s mission.
Renita Brien, of San Jose; Joann Szymanski, of Texas; Ruth Evans, of Alaska; and Bobby Szymanski,...
Heat advisory in effect for Bay Area, Central Coast
By late morning on Monday, temperatures around the Bay Area and Central Coast are forecast to rise rapidly and a heat advisory will be in effect for the entire region.
“A fall heat wave kicks off today and will last for several days,” the National...
‘Aggressive’ non-native mosquito found in Gilroy
A non-native Aedes aegypti mosquito—an aggressive species that can spread certain diseases—has been discovered in a residential area of Gilroy, according to the Santa Clara County Vector Control District. A mosquito of the same species was also found recently in a neighborhood of east...
Thousands of volunteers join 40th annual Coastal Cleanup
Thousands of volunteers flocked to the California coast and waterways on Sept. 21 to participate in the 40th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day.
The event, which is the largest single-day volunteer event in the world, according to Guinness World Records, invited eco-friendly volunteers across the...
Letter: Sportsmanship
I humbly apologize for a final line of the letter in last week’s paper (Hollister Free Lance, June 13) that missed the mark.
Team A (HHMH Board) and Team B (Board of Supervisors) may have finished a game but my omission stumbled and fell. Rather...

















