Guest view: Gavilan College serves South Valley community
The Gavilan Joint Community College District extends from the Coyote Valley to the southern edge of San Benito County, and includes the communities of Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy, Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Tres Pinos and Paicines, along with the surrounding rural areas. It...
Guest view: I won’t be bullied by signs, special interests
Special interests are at it again in San Benito County.
That said, I want to address the ambiguous signs that showed up throughout the county this past week with my name on them and phrases like Recall, Censure, Unethical and Shameful on them.
To be clear,...
Opinion: Control the future of your county
Measure Q gives San Benito voters the power to stop outside developers from ruining your county. I’ve seen many rural counties get run over by developers who convince local government officials to change their zoning: The developers come in, build, sell and take their...
Guest view: Sign up for vaccine on My Turn site
By Kollin Kosmicki
San Benito County experienced two significant milestones this past week with regard to Covid-19.
For one, we moved from the most restrictive “Purple” tier to the less restrictive “Red” tier for state guidance. This allows us to permit such activities as dining, fitness...
Guest view: With vaccine limits, patience is crucial
This supply limitation along with the state’s tendency to change course—such as Blue Shield taking over vaccine administration in about two weeks—have left our Public Health Services department without the ability to communicate an immediate, firm plan. Our residents, as a result, have felt left in the dark.
Guest view: Library expansion a big win for the community
The San Benito County Free Library will undergo a significant expansion in the coming years with the help of an enormous grant, but that’s not the only exciting progress for the local library this year.
If you’re not aware, library staff recently announced the county...
Guest view: Water conservation is essential
The Western United States is experiencing one of the most extensive and intense droughts on record. January through April were the driest first four months in California’s recorded history, the state’s largest reservoirs are at critically low storage levels, and the state’s snowpack level...
Guest view: Film fest brings online cinema, family fun to South Valley
By Mattie Scariot
The Poppy Jasper International Film Festival will take place virtually from Wednesday, April 7 to Tuesday, April 20 this year. This longtime, internationally acclaimed, local festival in Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy, Hollister and San Juan Bautista will feature fantastic films, panels,...
Guest view: With cases surging, county panel urges vaccinations
A consistent uptick of Covid-19 cases in San Benito County, the Delta variant’s growing presence and a slowing vaccination rate here have raised serious concerns about our progress fighting this deadly pandemic.
This new reality we face is daunting, but vaccines remain the only solution...
Guest view: Hospital needs outside, objective guidance to survive
The best chance for Hazel Hawkins Hospital to survive this fiscal crisis is for district leadership to embrace outside professional guidance—an objective third-party consultant—to develop a business plan in order to stabilize a deep structural deficit while pursuing an acquisition partner.
In my role as...