Health

Hollister Police recovered a stolen U-Haul van after the vehicle’s illicit driver was exiting an appointment with San Benito County Probation staff, authorities said.  About 10:15am Nov. 7, a Hollister Police Department license plate reader scanned the plate of the vehicle when it was parked...

Wildfires and climate change are locked in a vicious circle: Fires worsen climate change, and climate change worsens fires. Scientists, including those at the World Resources Institute, have been increasingly sounding the alarm about this feedback loop, warning that fires don’t burn in isolation—they produce...

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...

California will lift its indoor mask requirements Tuesday for unvaccinated people and March 12 for schools and child care facilities, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Feb. 28. The changes will mark the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began that both unvaccinated people and students will...

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said Jan. 16 that he would veto any bill with an outright ban on youth tackle football. “My Administration will work with the Legislature and the bill’s author to strengthen safety in youth football—while ensuring parents have the freedom to...

With the Bay Area currently showing the highest Covid-19 infection rates in California, health officers are reminding people of the importance of safety precautions such as continued masking indoors and vaccine boosters. The current wave of infections is fueled by the highly contagious Omicron subvariants,...

In an effort to cut costs as Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital (HHMH) faces a potential bankruptcy, the San Benito Health Care District Board of Directors voted Jan. 6 to close the hospital system’s home healthcare department.  The board’s vote was in line with a recommendation...

U.S. Army veteran Ramon Reyes and his chocolate labrador, Huey—who are clients of San Martin-based Operation Freedom Paws—were recently recognized in an effort to highlight the life-changing impact that service dogs can have on military veterans who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.  Huey and...

Three mothers from California's South Valley have turned their grief into advocacy after losing their teenage sons to fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills. Gilroy residents Geralyn Vasquez, Lisa Marquez and Stephanie Carrasco each lost sons between ages 17 and 21 to what the young men believed were...

Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital was recently targeted by an information security hoax in which the perpetrator demanded a ransom payment, hospital officials said in a statement.  The Hollister hospital received correspondence from a suspect or suspects suggesting that an outside party had gained access to...