Health

Applications for the 2025 Hazel Hawkins Hospital Auxiliary Scholarship Awards are now available.  Each year, the Auxiliary awards scholarships to students who are pursuing a medical or medically oriented career, says a press release from Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital. The total amount awarded to each...

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...

UC Santa Cruz recently acquired and established the Strathearn Ranch Natural Reserve, a 2,400-acre oak-studded grassland property in San Benito County that will be used for field research and outdoor education for the university’s students, staff and researchers.  The UC Board of Regents approved the...

Government, business and nonprofit leaders around San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties staged the 2025 State of the Region Oct. 17 at CSU Monterey Bay to discuss a vast list of topics from healthcare and air mobility to hospitality, tourism, advances in the...

San Benito County residents can get rid of their bulky items for free this weekend at John Smith Road Landfill.  The California Department of Transportation and the county’s Integrated Waste Management are sponsoring the two-day Bulky Item Recycling Event from 9am-3pm March 25-26. The John...

Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital’s financial advisors and administrators assured the public at a crucial May 22 meeting that a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing is their only option to keep the Hollister hospital functioning—though perhaps eventually with reduced services—and would not result in a closure...

Celebrate Earth Day San Benito County’s Earth Day celebration will take place 11am-2pm April 19 in downtown Hollister. The event will include booths hosted by local clubs, businesses and organizations; games; art; performances and free recycling programs. More than 30 booths will offer environmental programs,...

Three California hospitals that declared bankruptcy earlier this year are hashing out deals that could bring back or save much-needed health care services for their communities.  Defunct Madera Community Hospital in the San Joaquin Valley, cash-strapped Beverly Community Hospital east of Los Angeles and Hazel...

The Gilroy City Council voted unanimously Aug. 15 to voice its opposition to the proposed quarry in southern Santa Clara County, but noted that while such a resolution makes a strong statement, the county is ultimately in charge of the project’s fate. The recent vote...

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...