News

The Hollister Police Department on Saturday arrested 33-year-old Hollister resident Jason W. Spears on four counts of arson after neighbors reported him trying to set fire to a local condominium, according to police.

Hollister school officials are scrambling to make repairs following a fire earlier this month to part of the library at Gabilan Hills Elementary School.

Several relatively prominent cases are in court Thursday. That is when Jorge Diaz, who accepted a plea deal in a homicide case, is scheduled for a sentencing. The Diaz sentence hearing is set for 9 a.m. Thursday in courtroom 101 at the San Benito County Courthouse.

Licorice is a black beauty with faint tabby markings and a subtle orange/brown topcoat. She loves to play with everyone, and her favorite toys are little balls of fluff, dangly things, and toy mice. In her mind, a kitty can never have enough mice. She also like to cuddle, but only after play time.

Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) today introduced Assembly Bill 280, which places a three-month cap on the severance pay of a school district superintendent. Currently, when a superintendent’s contract of employment is terminated, he or she is eligible for a severance pay of up to 18 times their monthly salary, which can potentially be very costly.

Gavilan College is offering writing workshops by veterans, for veterans from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Thursdays in room SS203 on campus, located at 5055 Santa Teresa Blvd. in Gilroy.

Every summer and fall the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center in Morgan Hill receives calls from well-meaning people who have taken in an orphaned baby animal (often a bird) in the spring, and raised it in their home.  The animal is now grown up and the caller wants to know where and how it should be released.

On Feb. 2, 11 members of Fairview 4-H, along with parent volunteers, trimmed the rose buses at Dunne Park. The local 4-H club takes on the task of cutting back the branches of the rose bushes during the winter months so that the bushes will have plenty of blooms when spring comes.

Emergency resources personnel from San Benito County gathered Thursday morning for a four-hour workshop to discuss how sharing information with community members might play out in a serious emergency situation – including notes on the benefits and pitfalls of social media, needs of traditional media outlets and what role different agencies might have in an emergency.

The Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center (WERC) is holding its 21st Annual Pet Photo Days Benefit event from 5 to 8 p.m. March 1; from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 2 and noon to 4 p.m. March 3 at the Granary, located at 17500 Depot St. in Morgan Hill.