Editor,
The problem with having three newspapers, the Hollister Free Lance and the Morgan Hill Times sharing the same newspaper segments and articles, is that the local news is not always reported!
Case in point: The Henry Coe State Park (Lick Fire) was well reported by Emily Alpert in Gilroy, but as there was no mention of how it affected us in Hollister, I phoned her.
It is CalFire’s Air Attack Base here, at the Hollister Municipal Airport, that is one of the busiest bases right now, yet they have not been mentioned or interviewed.
The smoke-filled skies, the smell of smoke in the air and the dust that covered cars around Hollister were not reported until I phoned.
Henry Coe State Park’s southernmost point is on Highway 152 right next to Hollister. That state park along with the state parks in San Benito County, Hollister Hills, Fremont Peak and San Juan Bautista, (and others out of county), are all a part of the same district or region of the Sate Park System.
Educating the public about our own community and how out-of-county events affect us, is, after all, one of the premises of good reporting and journalism, especially in small communities.
Ruth Erickson, Hollister
