Economy

After a peer assessment that found night kennel services ineffective, the City of Hollister will close the local animal shelter’s night kennels as of Dec. 30, according to authorities.  The Hollister Animal Shelter earlier this year was awarded a $14,000 grant from Best Friends Animal...

Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital and Anthem Blue Cross announced this week that they have agreed on a new contract that allows patients insured by the company to maintain “in-network access” to the local hospital’s services, services and providers, says a press release from Hazel...

The San Benito County Arts Council is seeking local artists or artist teams to submit their qualifications to create and install a mural on one of five utility boxes along Highway 25 in Hollister.  This project is part of a State Highway Beautification Project, sponsored...

For more than two years, people have clamored for the return to “normal” after the uncertainties of a pandemic. In 2022, we got a taste of normalcy, but it was far from being predictable. Covid-19, which dominated the headlines in 2020 and 2021, seemingly took a...

The San Benito County Board of Supervisors will start 2023 by deciding whether to approve the 141-unit Lee Subdivision residential project in southeast Hollister.  It is the first new housing proposal in unincorporated San Benito County that the board has considered in several years, and...

The new Holiday Inn Express & Suites hotel, developed by Lotus Management, Inc., opened near the intersection of Highways 25 and 156 in Hollister last week.  The 93-room hotel, which shares a border with Santa Clara County, currently employs about 20 people, says a press...

Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital employees received notices this week indicating the Hollister hospital could close as soon as February 2023, according to HHMH administrators.  The hospital’s issuing of Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN) to its employees follows a string of unfortunate financial announcements from...

The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band last week announced that it has filed a lawsuit against San Benito County to halt development of a new commercial project on Betabel Road, which sits on property that “holds significant historical, cultural and religious value” to the tribe.  The...

Construction of a new traffic roundabout at the intersection of State Routes 25 and 156 near Hollister continues this week with work taking place behind protective concrete barriers, according to the California Department of Transportation. Recently installed K-rail at all four approaches to the construction...

San Benito County and its elected board of supervisors violated state environmental protection laws when they approved a conditional use permit for the Betabel commercial project proposed next to Highway 101, according to a lawsuit filed last week by two nonprofit organizations.  The lawsuit—filed Dec....