Opinion

On behalf of 80-plus volunteers from our grassroots group, Campaign to Protect San Benito, we’d like to send a huge “THANK YOU!” to the voters of San Benito County. With your help, we were able to collect 4,092 petition signatures and put our citizens’...

Re: Officials certify initiative petition, Free Lance 6/17/22 Debate happens when both sides are convinced they have learned from the past. The signature gatherers are deeply motivated by the rapid housing growth impacting our roads, traffic and water. The oppositional side is concerned about needed...

As someone who is old enough to have gone to elementary school in the 60s and early 70s, and junior and senior high school in the 70s, I remember teachers passing out gold stars. I remember trophies being awarded for WINNING athletic competitions, pinewood...

As I noted at the San Benito County Board meeting June 14, the discussion about San Justo Reservoir’s longstanding closure has been one of the worst broken records imaginable for local residents.  That stale melody on repeat among political entities—ranging from the county to Congress—has...

Stop using tax funds for transit Highway improvements would not be so delayed if the unelected “directors” at the transit agencies stopped diverting highway trust funds and gas tax revenues to bankrupt-from-conception public sector transit boondoggles.  Why don’t we follow state and federal government experts, who...

The latest episodes of gun violence seem to have tapped into a more concerted public discussion of effective strategy among gun control advocates nationwide. Measures discussed recently range from federally enforced background checks to outright bans on certain types of weapons and accessories.  Another idea...

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...

When the elderly die, we don’t mind so much but we do mind when the young die. Cancer deaths of the young break our hearts, but war deaths of healthy young agonize us. Memorial Day reminds us of these tragedies. Yet after the marching,...

For many years there has been discussion about building a second public high school in Hollister, and it appears that the San Benito High School district board and administration is “getting serious” about making this happen. As I wrote before, I think their suggesting...

May is Water Awareness Month. It’s also the start of our irrigation season when water use starts to go up dramatically. Over 60% of residential water use is for landscape purposes in the summer.   This is especially important since we are in the grips of...