Local News

San Benito County Public Health officials report the number of new Covid-19 cases are starting to decrease but their latest newsletter still included three new deaths.  On Jan. 25, the county reported its 49th, 50th and 51st death of the novel coronavirus in San Benito...

State authorities last week certified San Benito County’s latest housing element—more than six months after it was initially submitted, finally unlocking millions of dollars worth of grants that can be used for local infrastructure and services, according to county officials.  Staff from the California Department...

Local ballots include two county supervisors’ seats, Hollister Mayor and two City Council seats, two seats on the San Juan Bautista City Council, Monterey County Board of Education Trustee Area 5, San Benito County Board of Education District 1, Cabrillo Community College Trustee Area 7, South Monterey County Joint Union High School District and Hollister School District Trustee Areas 2 and 4.

The first phase of construction for Gavilan College’s new Hollister campus—which includes a 34,000-square-foot building with classrooms, labs, a cafe, resource center and more—is completed.  Gavilan representatives, public officials and members of the South Valley community gathered at the campus, located at 505 Fairview Road—on...

Due to critically dry hydrologic conditions, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) is updating water supply allocations for Central Valley Project (CVP) municipal and industrial water service contractors.  Effective April 1, water supply for all Central Valley Project Municipal & Industrial (M&I) water service contractors...

Sunnyslope Elementary School’s new weekly food pantry is officially open for business.  Sunnyslope held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Food Pantry that acts as a satellite location in a partnership with the Food Bank of San Benito County. Funding for the pantry site...

The City of Hollister is seeking public input for the next phase of “traffic calming” projects to slow down motorists in local neighborhoods and improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and other travelers. One such project is already underway on Central Avenue in northwest Hollister. Currently...

Hollister Police arrested a suspect believed to be responsible for a string of commercial burglaries that occurred over the last week.

After weeks of constant spikes in new coronavirus cases, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors hoped to curtail the public health crisis by passing a new ordinance that could cite individuals and commercial sites for not following state guidelines.  The board held a special...

The SCU Complex is now between the second and third largest wildfire in California history as firefighters continue to battle the blaze, CalFire officials report.   As of Aug. 26, the fire has burned more than 365,000 acres in seven counties, and destroyed 31 structures. Five...