Politics

Councilman Doug Emerson in July 2011 accepted $4,650 for a trip to China – and apparently exceeded the state’s gift limit for elected officials – from a private solar company that requested he speak at a seminar to help recruit investors for California projects.

At the same meeting the San Juan Bautista City Council decided to hire a cannabis consultant, city leaders moved to draft an ordinance that would ban recreational cannabis businesses within city limits before the state is expected to start issuing licenses next year. City...

In a major upset in the Hollister city elections on Tuesday, Nov. 6, newcomer Rolan Resendiz, a likely ally of Mayor Ignacio Velazquez, unseated one-term District 2 Councilmember Mickie Solorio Luna. The campaign was contentious, with personal attacks on Resendiz raised by Luna’s supporters. Despite...

The San Benito County Board of Supervisors is placing an advisory measure on the Nov. 5 ballot regarding the potential private sale of Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital. The non-binding measure would ask voters if they prefer to keep the Hollister hospital locally owned.  This comes...

Emails obtained by the Free Lance regarding the Hollister Freedom Rally event showed that city officials behind the scenes held talks on possibly lifting the public nudity ban, agreed to a settlement with Abercrombie & Fitch over use of the event name logo, and experienced tensions with the promoter over what he called “permit hell” and other financial issues.

Nearly eight months after the county board chose a Southside Road location for a permanent homeless shelter in San Benito County, supervisors Tuesday reversed course and opted for a different site along Flynn Road.

Hollister City Council members Monday OK'd a new ordinance to

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The Hollister Police Department did not issue a single citation to minors for violating the state’s helmet law between 2011 and late September of this year, according to documents obtained by the Free Lance through a records request.