Local News

San Benito County will host a town hall workshop on the draft environmental impact report for the John Smith Road Landfill expansion project on Aug. 22. The workshop will start at 6:30pm, at the Veterans Memorial Building, 649 San Benito Street in Hollister.  The workshop...

The San Juan Bautista Rotary Club in December will host the “Saints to San Juan” fundraiser for local schools, parks and other community causes.

Special to the Free Lance The Hollister City Council agreed Feb. 22 to update the city’s current noise ordinance to establish a more defined decibel level requirement. Hollister Police officials stated that the department has received “numerous complaints” for noise in the residential areas of the...

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office confirmed this week that a body found Dec. 15 in unincorporated Gilroy has been identified as a missing San Martin man.  The remains were positively identified as Gabriel Laradelara, 21, who was last seen alive Dec. 1 in Gilroy.  Laradelara’s...

A total of 780 students graduated from Hollister High School’s Class of 2024 last week. Graduates, school faculty, parents, families and friends gathered for a ceremony June 7 at Hollister High’s multi-purpose field.  The ceremony’s program included speeches by the Class of 2024 Valedictorian Lucas Fowler,...

The incumbent members of Congress representing portions of Santa Clara and San Benito counties—Anna Eshoo, Ro Khanna, Zoe Lofgren and Jimmy Panetta, all of them Democrats—are easily headed to reelection this year, despite encountering significant changes in district boundaries because of reapportionment based on...

Statewide tourism spending hits all-time high Gov. Gavin Newsom announced May 5 that travel spending in California hit an all-time high of $150.4 billion in 2023, outdoing the previous record of $144.9 billion spent in 2019. The state has retained its title as the world’s fifth...

With a deadline looming for San Benito County voters to correct their damaged or challenged ballots in the June 2 election, “yes” votes maintain a slim majority on the measure to recall District 5 Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez.  The latest unofficial election results update from the...

The community is invited to Hollister High School's library on Jan. 17 (in Spanish) and Jan. 18 (in English) for community town halls to update the planning and preparation process for a second high school in the San Benito High School District.  The events, which...

The California Coastal Commission announced that the 37th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day will return to in-person gatherings at sites around the state on Sept. 18. On that day, Californians are encouraged to take to streets, parks, creeks, streams, rivers and the coast from 9am...