Politics

Judge Harry Tobias on Thursday ruled against environmental groups challenging the Panoche Valley Solar Project whose owners hope to start construction in the coming months.

Hollister City Council members Monday are set to hear from a consultant on potential directions for a sales tax extension.

San Benito County planning commissioners Wednesday supported the Del Webb planned community at San Juan Oaks and sent the consideration to supervisors.

The Hollister Airshow budget as presented by Management Services Director Mike Chambless—whose job includes running the airport and annual event—excluded an estimate of costs for time he put in overseeing it.

Del Webb and San Juan Oaks Golf Club are taking final plans for an active-adult community, along with some market-rate homes, before planning commissioners Wednesday.

Allowing religious organizations to use a downtown public signpost for event advertisements—like a church men’s conference promotion currently displayed—means the City of Hollister must provide the same access for other types of groups “that could be quite controversial,” argued the co-founder of the national Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Thirteen years after an attorney and an anonymous group calling itself Los Valientes filed a lawsuit against then-Supervisor Richard Scagliotti, outside legal fees in the case have reached $585,121, according to records obtained by the Free Lance.

Assemblyman Luis Alejo's bill aiming to ban the use of "Redskins" as a public school mascot name in California is headed to the governor's desk for a possible signature.

Hollister School District trustees voted this week to make a provisional appointment instead of calling a special election to fill a vacant position after their board president resigned in late August.

The Hollister Airshow lost money for the fifth of six years in its existence, while council members didn't show any reluctance toward continuing on for a seventh year.