Locals play gorgeous convention
The two most important questions in bridge are: 1) what level should we play at—part score or game? And 2) which strain (suit or notrump) should we play in?
It’s Showtime: Gymkhana State Show comes to Bolado Park
Every year in late July, Bolado Park turns into a small city, its expansive dirt parking lot filled with hundreds of motor homes.
ABC show ‘The Chew’ filming segment at DeBrito Chocolate Factory
The ABC television show “The Chew” is coming for a taste of Hollister and Gilroy.
A taste of South Valley
Many regions of the country in the southern barbecue belt specialize in their own unique barbecue. Many of those different styles of barbecue can be found here in California. I appreciate these different styles, but it is high time we had our own unique barbecue. This week, I introduce a style of barbecue and sauce residents of the South Valley can finally call their own.
Churches are historical trove for communities
A recent newsletter of the Gilroy United Methodist Church contained an interesting article by Dispatch columnist Kat Teraji. She explained how the daughter of a former pastor (back in 1938) recently donated to the church “a wealth of artifacts and articles” from that time period.
Pinnacles’ attendance increases 5.9 percent despite shutdown
Pinnacles National Park registered more than 237,000 visits in 2013, up from about 225,000 visits the prior year, according to a report issued last week.
County’s jobless rate dips to 7.8 percent
San Benito County's unemployment rate dipped to 7.8 percent in June, a decline from the prior month and a drop from the same period in 2013.
Marty: Water situation boiling over in San Juan Bautista
Excessive nitrates ingested from the water supply are a serious public health threat. They can interfere with the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen to the tissues of the body especially in infants and pregnant women. This threat exists at various times in more than 700 of California’s water supplies, primarily from fertilizer-related agriculture operations, but that is not the only source. There are three primary sources of nitrate contamination; agricultural/fertilizer operations, septic systems/waste, and natural erosion. Droughts do not cause nitrate contamination – the nitrates are either already in, and/or currently entering, the supply. The drought-reduced water levels in the aquifer can raise or lower the concentration depending on the where the nitrates are in the earth or water supply.
