Local News

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...

Sixth-grade teacher Hector Jimenez has organized science fairs the past two years at Rancho San Justo Middle School, with the latest one Nov. 16.  “It’s more of a museum science fair environment,” said Jimenez. “Students just walk around. Once they find a certain project they...

In Becky Bonner’s decade-long tenure as the Hollister High girls soccer coach, she’s never carried more than three freshmen on the team in a given year.  Until now. The Haybalers have eight freshmen and seven seniors to go along with sophomores and juniors filling out...

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....

Members of Texas Masonic Lodge #46, located in San Juan Bautista, held a fundraiser on Nov. 12 to benefit local youth and homeless programs.  Texas Lodge’s Teresa Herrick and her husband, Kevin, spearheaded the fundraiser by holding  a “Legit Phở Cooking Class” and holiday floral...

James Ponzio didn’t get the result he wanted in the Central Coast Section Cross Country Championships at the famed Crystal Springs Course in Belmont on Nov. 12. So, two weeks later in the biggest race of his career in the CIF State Championships at Woodward...

A 3.4 magnitude earthquake struck early Tuesday morning in the Gabilan Range about 25 miles east of Salinas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The 4:31am quake was centered at a depth of about 5 miles just west of the San Benito River and State...

Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital—whose administrators earlier this year declared a state of fiscal emergency—recently requested $10 million in the form of emergency bridge funding from the San Benito County Board of Supervisors, according to the Hollister hospital.  The hospital sent the proposal for a $10...