Opinion

This year, San Benito County is focused on repaving some of the most traveled commuter routes with a focus on safety.  Of course, the list of rural San Benito County roads needing repairs is seemingly endless due to decades of deferred improvements. The vast majority...

Re: Hospital proceeds with negotiations, Free Lance, April 18, 2025 Instead of the Easter Bunny, we get the Big Bad Wolf and he is trying to blow the house down.  The Easter basket from the San Benito County Health Care District over-flowed with attractive colors,...

Re: Insight backs off, Free Lance, Aug. 22, 2025 We could gaze at an innocent, adorable, smiling baby and simply melt into joy. Sometimes it seems that our own hospital is like an irresistible baby begging for tender loving care. Our hospital, like our adorable...

As Memorial Day approaches, our community—like many across the nation—prepares for parades, backyard cookouts, and the unofficial start of summer. But at the heart of this holiday lies something far deeper and more solemn: the remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in...

In reading the Sept. 5 Hollister Free Lance I was encouraged by the fact that you are allowing protests against rodeos. I have long felt they should be banned due to the horrific cruelty inflicted on helpless animals.  Years ago, a young calf died during...

The San Benito County Board of Supervisors released the following letter to the local community on Dec. 23.  As we enter this joyful holiday season and look ahead to a hopeful new year, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors would like to take a...

A coordinated effort has been underway to make false claims about specific public officials. It’s clear their motivation is to discredit elected officials who support slow housing growth—a movement favored by a vast majority of local residents.  It’s no coincidence those behind this effort are...

Like the TV commercial that promotes a squeeze product in a tube to repair damage, our county wants us to prepare for the next damage. According to the Free Lance, our county wants us to attend a workshop and to respond to a survey...

In a previous letter to the editor, I briefly listed some reasons to adopt a more skeptical outlook of the recall campaigns. And so far, none of those reasons have been resolved.  However, one concern stands out above the rest: the unnerving reluctance among the...

Thanks for these tricks and treats in the Free Lance.   The recall effort tries for the trick. Recalling a supervisor shortly after an election seems like a tricky situation. A recall seems as though voters changed their minds rather soon after voting. Since no one volunteered...