Health

Hollister School District sites enthusiastically participated in the recent Mental Health Awareness Week with a variety of activities for students and staff members.  District schools held activities for Mental Health Awareness Week from May 13-17. The days’ themes included Meditation Monday, Thoughtful Tuesday, White Out...

PG&E is encouraging customers around the Bay Area to prepare for excessive heat on Friday that could contribute to power outages.  PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian said in an email that this could be an “all-hands on deck event,” and said crews will be out and...

California Coastal Cleanup Day will celebrate its 41st year this September with its first ever “Trashure Hunt,” offering participants the chance to win a variety of prizes by volunteering to pick up litter and garbage at hundreds of locations across the state, organizers announced...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued its approval Monday of the first non-prescription at-home Covid-19 test that also detects the flu.  The test allows users to swab the inside of their nose and send the sample to the test's manufacturer, Labcorp, for analysis. In...

The Central California Alliance for Health last week announced its collaboration with Serving Communities Health Information Organization (SCHIO), one of the oldest and most advanced multi-stakeholder health information exchanges (HIEs) in the country.  The partnership will help Alliance Medi-Cal members and providers in five counties,...

The San Benito County Behavioral Health Department recently announced the launch of its new community Mobile Crisis Response program, which aims to bring crisis management and support to residents wherever they are.  The phone number for the Mobile Crisis Response Team is 831.902.2911. The line...

Gun violence is a public health crisis in the United States, and an upcoming firearms buyback event in Morgan Hill aims to address the problem by keeping unwanted weapons out of the wrong hands, according to county law enforcement and government officials.  Some of that...

San Benito County will conduct a full audit of the public library after two former employees were convicted of embezzling more than $360,000 from the county.  Former library staff members Erin Baxter and Mary Alvarez were recently convicted of embezzling about $360,755 of library funds...

A wrongful death lawsuit filed earlier this month in San Benito County Superior Court accuses Hollister drug rehabilitation facility Bright Future Recovery of negligence related to the  2021 death of Andrew McConnell, a patient of the facility. According to the lawsuit filed Aug. 11 on...

The Office of the State Fire Marshal recently established a statewide program to allow qualified applicants to support Cal Fire in its defensible space and home hardening assessment and education efforts, says a press release from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.  Qualified...