State water storage at healthy levels
California’s water storage and delivery systems are in good shape heading into the rainy season, having benefited from last year’s near-historic rain and snowfall totals, according to the state’s top water managers.
Coming off three years of punishing drought conditions, last year was the sixth...
Local Scene: Academic honors; digital divide survey
Watkins graduates from Shenandoah University
Branden Watkins, of Hollister, was among the 1,143 students who graduated from Shenandoah University during the 2022-23 academic year. Watkins earned a Post-Graduate Certificate in Nurse-Midwifery.
Shenandoah University was established in 1875, and is headquartered in Winchester, Virginia, with additional educational...
Year in review: A look back at 2022 in San Benito County
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...
Local Scene: $500K for San Benito County broadband
Prepare for lane closures
Construction on the Highway 156 Corridor Improvement Project will result in a long-term closure of San Juan Hollister Road starting this week, according to the California Department of Transportation.
Beginning Oct. 24, San Juan Hollister Road will be closed between Union Road...
State stiffens penalties for fentanyl trafficking
People convicted of distributing fentanyl will face stiffer criminal penalties in the coming year under a new law shaped by rising overdose deaths.
The law increases the penalty for selling or distributing more than one kilogram of fentanyl by an automatic addition of three years...
HSD installs tech to improve indoor air quality at schools
The Hollister School District’s indoor air quality is on the rise.
The district has hired contractor Air Duct Cleaning Solutions, based in Hollister, to install the new technology on all campuses, with about half of the installations completed and an expectation to finish all of...
Nurses rally in Hollister
A small group of registered nurses rallied outside Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital Thursday in support of adequate staffing at the Hollister medical facility, which is currently facing a financial emergency.
“(We are) focusing on safe staffing,” said Pedro Silva, an RN at HHMH and member...
San Benito County homelessness up nearly 74%
The Coalition of Homeless Services Providers, in partnership with local governments, community-based organizations, and volunteers, has completed the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count for 2024, says a press release from the coalition. The results indicate an increase in the number of individuals and families experiencing...
Emergency CalFresh benefits to end in March
Thousands of households in San Benito County who have received extra CalFresh benefits due to pandemic-related hardships will see a reduction in their monthly allotments as of April 1, according to authorities.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, households receiving CalFresh benefits received temporary emergency allotments or...
San Benito County prepares for virus
Since San Benito County’s first two cases of the coronavirus were reported in early February, no new cases have been identified in the county.
Local health officials—public and private—aren’t taking any chances.
The county Board of Supervisors on March 10 proclaimed a “state of emergency” to...


















