Politics

South Santa Clara County’s 50-plus-year honeymoon with the 408 is over, and telephone users are encouraged to get their dialing fingers warmed up to welcome a new area code to town.

After months of arguing over county building codes in an effort to keep the proposed Cordoba Center Islamic mosque and cemetery out of San Martin, the Gilroy/Morgan Hill Patriots are turning the debate to the perceived threat of an Islamic presence in the South Santa Clara County with a public event this Saturday.

District Attorney Candice Hooper at Tuesday's board meeting broached the upcoming parole hearing of local murderer Gustavo Marlow and vowed she will push to "keep him in state prison where he belongs."

An overcapacity crowd flowed into San Juan Bautista City Hall on Tuesday evening to mostly voice opposition to a planned gas station and convenience store expected for the area near Highway 156 and the San Juan Inn.

Campaign fundraising by local candidates is down to the final stretch as the Nov. 3 election for two San Benito County Supervisors’ seats, two Hollister City Council seats, the mayor’s office and other local races quickly approaches.

The head of the local water conservation agency told Hollister council members Monday that although the area has experienced about 12 inches of precipitation this rainy season, it wasn’t nearly enough to get the community out of the four-year drought.