Editorials

Editorial: Recent traffic deaths remind us to be safe on the roads

January 24, 2025

Distracted driving is a significant danger for drivers, and it can lead to serious accidents, injuries, and even fatalities. Four such accidents occurred nearby in the past month, killing seven people. The fatalities prompted police to emphasize a message to the public about driving...

Editorial: Tik Tok, misogyny and the presidential election

August 1, 2024

The selection of a Bay Area native as presidential nominee of one of the major parties bears watching here in the bear flag state. If successful, she would not only be America’s first female president and the first one of South Asian heritage—she would...

Hindsight 2019

December 27, 2019

Nov. 22 A lose-lose situation The biggest losers of the two-week soap opera are the citizens of Hollister, who deserve better from their elected and appointed representatives. The opportunities for redemption for all five council members are narrowing, and their remaining abilities to agree on another...

A lose-lose situation

November 21, 2019

Consultants advise policy makers to seek win-win situations, where each side or multiple sides of an issue or a dispute walks away with a smile. Greek philosophers called this phenomenon synthesis, German philosophers refined this concept and called it the dialectic and modern parliamentary democracies...

Time to say ‘Thank you’ for donations to fund

October 24, 2019

After three months of trauma, grief, vigils, fundraisers, healing, memorials and, for many, continuing pain, let’s take some time for some gratitude. As the #Gilroy Strong banner disappeared from downtown Gilroy and the memorial flowers at Christmas Hill Park faded and withered, hundreds of businesses...

Mental illness doesn’t explain gun violence

August 8, 2019

The notion that mental illness drives the current spate of mass shootings is a dangerous oversimplification. Some shooters, such as the Aurora. Col., movie theater gunman James Holmes, yes, have had diagnosed mental illness, while others have not. To unfairly stereotype people with conditions...

400 block deserves better

June 6, 2019

The City of Hollister should go back to the drawing board on the 400 block. The proposed deal has way too many problems and is too polarizing because it wasn’t handled the right way. An appraisal was hidden from the public, allowing the land to...

Avera’s departure overdue

March 29, 2019

A little over two years ago, this newspaper called for the resignation or termination of Hollister City Manager Bill Avera. The Free Lance editorial said Avera’s mishandling of sewage spills and lack of accountability showed that the former development services director lacked the capacity to...

Slower high-speed rail?

February 21, 2019

It sounds crazy, but a presidential rant on Twitter may have forced Gov. Gavin Newsom to “clarify”—actually, backtrack—his position on California’s high-speed rail. “The project, as currently planned, would cost too much and take too long,” the governor said of the state’s high-speed rail plan...

A matter of trust

January 17, 2019

A little over a year ago, we wrote an editorial in this space entitled, “Why should we care?” “Why should we care about any further investigation of the money that disappeared from the Tony and Barbara Matulich Charitable Trust?” was the question we posed. After all,...

Editorial: Mental health deserves our full attention

Editorial: Earth Day is more than a celebration—it’s a call to action

Editorial: Community journalism plays a vital role

Editorial: Food insecurity is a crisis we cannot ignore

Editorial: Support independent bookstores

Editorial: Recent traffic deaths remind us to be safe on the roads

Editorial: Tik Tok, misogyny and the presidential election

Hindsight 2019

A lose-lose situation

Time to say ‘Thank you’ for donations to fund

Mental illness doesn’t explain gun violence

400 block deserves better

Avera’s departure overdue

Slower high-speed rail?

A matter of trust

SOCIAL MEDIA