Guest View

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,...

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...

One of the more encouraging recent announcements at a San Benito County Board meeting happened Aug. 8 when supervisors learned about a new partnership to provide local residents the option to buy annual memberships for air and ground ambulance needs if they arise.  Of course,...

There has been a lot of talk recently about the John Smith Landfill and the fact that San Benito County accepts garbage from Santa Clara County. As the President of the San Benito County Business Council and a former County Supervisor who was involved...

The past year and a half has been extremely hard on everyone, but it has been especially hard on small business owners. And according to Americans for the Arts, the arts were tremendously impacted by the pandemic, with an overall expected financial loss of...

From the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the state’s six million public school students have been used as pawns in political power struggles and abused by having their educations stunted. Both mistreatments continue as, finally, in-person classes resume with the new and more virulent “delta”...

It’s often said the City of Hollister and San Benito County have a history of not getting along. We want to share a shining example of the city and county working together to enhance economic development opportunities while avoiding sprawl in our community.  In early...

San Benito County supervisors have tackled many profound challenges in the past year and a half since I joined the board with other first-term colleagues.  Some of those immense undertakings include boldly responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, assisting businesses and nonprofits through the pandemic with...

While we remain in the midst of this historically devastating pandemic, boldly responding to Covid-19 and keeping our community as safe as possible – while vaccines are rolled out – is by far the most pressing issue for the county to address in 2021.

During December 2022, Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital first notified the County of San Benito of its untenable financial status. On Dec. 10, 2022, the San Benito Board of Supervisors was given a notice requesting a $10 million loan. The Board of Supervisors and staff...