The following events, organizations and people deserve either a
Thumbs Up or a Thumbs Down this week:
THUMBS UP: The City of Hollister broke ground Tuesday on the long-awaited wasterwater treatment plant. The price tag is high – $120 million – but existing treatment facilities were overwhelmed by the housing boom of the 1990s and the state slapped us with a moratorium on new sewer hookups that has effectively halted new development in Hollister since 2002. It will be another two years before the plant goes on line, but this marks the beginning of the end for the moratorium.
THUMBS DOWN: We learned this week that more than $100,000 in public money intended to help local folks who are elderly or disabled remain in their own homes had been misappropriated. A former employee of the San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency and a home health care provider were charged with fraud and embezzlement. As HHSA director Kathy Flores said, “This is something we feel is an egregious betrayal of the public trust.”
THUMBS UP: The San Benito County Association of Realtors got into the Santa spirit in a big way last Saturday by delivering 25 Christmas trees to needy local families. And while they might have left the sleigh back in the garage, the Realtors didn’t forget that bag of goodies filled during their toy drive. “It was awesome,” said the group’s Dick Rogers. “We had all these toys and the look on the kids’ faces was unbelievable.”
THUMBS DOWN: We continued to be troubled here by a methamphetamine problem. One accused dealer was arrested this week – for the third time in less than a month. Help may be on the way, however. A $300,000 state grant will provide an extra deputy for the county sheriff’s office and an additional officer for the city police department. Both will work with the county’s United Narcotics Enforcement Team.
THUMBS UP: Last Saturday, 150 students from San Benito High School turned out to spend the day cleaning up trash that had been dumped in the bed of the San Benito River. Not only did the kids fill three dump trucks with trash, they also discovered two stolen pickup trucks that thieves had abandoned along the river. The vehicles were returned that day to their owners.
THUMBS DOWN: An arsonist put a whole lot of people’s lives in danger last Sunday by setting a fire inside Hollister’s Target store. Fortunately, store staff got shoppers and themselves out the door without injury and firefighters quickly got things under control. By Wednesday, authorities had arrested a 17-year-old Hollister boy in connection with the arson.
