Top stories of the week: Downtown’s future and water woes

We take a look at some of the biggest stories of the week. This
week: the strategy for a new downtown is revealed and water woes
hit San Benito County.
1. Paving a path for downtown

Business and government leaders Friday morning got a glimpse of a potential evolution for downtown along with ideas to better market the district and pay for possible improvements.

Consultants with Irvine-based RBF Consulting laid out the final pieces of a more-than-year-long process to develop a new strategy plan for downtown before a breakfast crowd at Paine’s Restaurant. The city, Hollister Downtown Association and local businesses put up the $200,000 cost to hire the company.

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b2. Water challenge/b

Just 15 miles separate Hollister and Gilroy, but farmers in the adjacent towns have been affected by the state’s current drought in entirely different ways.

California is struggling with a complex situation that includes protection of the threatened Delta smelt species, water rationing, proposed bond measures, the lowest level of spring rainfall on record, fields left fallow by local farmers – while proposed state legislation would bring a bond before voters to generate almost $10 billion toward fixing the problems.

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