Politics

The Hollister City Council on Monday unanimously approved a $50,000 allocation to the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau for tourism efforts.

San Benito County Public Health Department officials are set to ask Hollister council members Monday to ban tobacco sales in local pharmacies, a move that would make it the first city in the Central Coast region to do so.

San Juan Bautista will host a public meeting in February to get comments on the fourth draft of a general plan.

Integrated Waste Management Director Mandy Rose is set to retire after serving in the role since August 1999.

Grocery Outlet is planning to open a store at the former Dollar Tree location destroyed by fire in December 2013, according to a city council agenda.

Hollister City Council members Monday are set to consider funding for improvements to Valley View Park, a new school resource officer, tourism efforts overseen by the chamber and recruitment of four top officials.

To divert skaters away from the Veterans Memorial Building and offer more places to skate, the city is moving ahead on developing “skate spots” in Hollister. They are used in other communities and are smaller versions of a skate park like the one along Memorial Drive.

The city’s website is partying like it’s not 1999.

The Hollister city council narrowly rejected an idea to close a section of Nash Road in front of the high school while students are in class, but the superintendent of the campus didn’t know the topic was up for a vote.

Panoche Valley Solar, which is developing the 247-megawatt solar farm in southern San Benito County, is hosting an open house to celebrate the opening of a new Hollister office. The open house is set for 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 5 at The Vault, 452 San Benito St.