OUT & ABOUT WEEKLY CALENDAR COVERAGE STARTS THIS WEEK IN SAN BENITO MAGAZINE
HOLLISTER • SAN BENITO COUNTY
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Friday, August 4, 2017
sanbenito.com • Vol. 144, No. 31 • $1
Families attend National Night Out EVENT BRINGS COMMUNITY AND POLICE TOGETHER By Roseann Hernandez Cattani Editor
Nick Preciado
Hollister families mingled with local law enforcement on Tuesday at National Night Out, an annual community-building event that brings public safety officers and neighbors together with local agencies and organizations. “It’s awesome,” said Sonny Flores, as his sixyear-old son, Jimmy Rodriguez, sat behind the wheel of an off-road vehicle at the California State Parks booth. “It gets us out of the house and the kids get to interact with all the police officers and fire chief.” Held along San Benito Street in downtown Hollister during the early evening hours, National
RELAY TOGETHER Members of the Sunnyslope Christian Center perform a flash mob dance Friday at the Relay for Life
event at San Benito High School. The cancer fundraiser included more than 200 participants.
Walking for a cure
➝ National Night Out, 4 THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY
AUGUST 4, 2017
UT OUT & ABO R OF CALE NDA EVEN TS
RELAY FOR LIFE RAISES $107K FOR CANCER RESEARCH
Dirt-licious Delights
Nicholas Preciado Reporter
18TH BARREL P17 | PEANUT CACTUS P18 | REALTOR SEAN DINSMORE P21
Inside this issue: San Benito magazine
➝ Relay for Life, 12
Out of the 15 people who spoke during public comment, only three were optimistic about the ambitious project proposed for a 550-acre rural parcel with open grassland, some heavily wooded areas and two lakes. “I’m strongly opposed to this project for all the pretty obvious reasons,” said San Juan Bautista resident Jim Ostdick.
said Jim Brumfield, whose 14-acre horse ranch on San Juan Highway is a short walk from the site of the planned bridge. The riverbed crossing will be funded completely with federal money from the Federal Highway Administration's Toll Credit Highway Bridge Program, with construction slated for the spring of 2017. “The key to a better transportation
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“The enormous carbon footprint it would cause on our county, the noise, traffic, the impact on water and sewer. To me those are no-brainers.” Resident Amy Covington, who lives near the proposed project site by Lausen Drive, was opposed to the racetrack based on the noise level alone.
make his pizzas. In starting the business, he is also bringing a taste of his family’s home country to his family’s hometown in Hollister. The Felice family is from the Calabria part of Italy and has deep roots in San Benito County as well. With the opening of Forno, meanwhile, Hollister will once again
San Juan Bautista residents crowded city hall to speak out against a proposed Formula One Grand Prix racetrack at a Tuesday meeting of the city planning commission.
Before opening the meeting to public comment, commission chairman John Hopper said there was no formal application to consider. “They brought this to the community, the commission, and the city to tell us about their thoughts and ideas so we could weigh in on them,” Hopper told the packed room. “It’s very important that we have your input.”
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a tough guy until I started hearing the stories of the survivors,” said Todd Leonard, team captain for Clamping for a Cure. “You realize you aren’t that tough. The people you see out here in the purple shirts, they’re the tough ones.” Leonard has participated at the local event since 2010. “It brings everybody together for a common cause, no matter what walk of life we come
Cake, anyone?
each day why we relay,” said Krystal Lomanto, San Benito County school superintendent. “We relay for our survivors, we relay for the folks that are fighting right now and we relay for those that we’ve lost. Remember that as you continue on your journey from today until tomorrow.” The event started with the Survivor’s Lap, when purple-shirted cancer survivors walk with caregivers and family members. “I used to think I was
The San Benito County chapter of the national nonprofit organization Birthday Cakes 4 Free started last spring and group members have been bringing cakes, cupcakes and muffins to low-income seniors and children ever since then. Since the group started in June, its members have delivered about five cakes a month to the Emmaus House, Chamberlain's Children Center and the assisted living facility Whispering Pines Inn. Now they're looking to expand to individual homes in the county. A2
Solar revisions
The company vying to build a 247-megawatt solar farm in Panoche submitted a draft supplemental environmental impact report addressing plans to examine impacts under a revised, reduced proposal. PV2 Energy filed the supplemental draft EIR on Dec. 23. The prior company overseeing the project, Solargen Energy, had an initial EIR approved by the county board in late 2010. A5
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The proposal, Motor & Technology Center of Excellence, includes a raceway, convention center, eateries, luxury condominiums and hotel, in addition to high-end shops and boutiques. Representatives from WY2M, Inc., the Los Gatos-based company behind the $300 million proposal, were unable to make the meeting, city staff said.
Project planned for Y Road
KATIE HELLAND •REPORTER khelland@freelancenews.com
HOLLISTER
A $16 million bridge stretching 900 feet across the San Benito River is planned to connect Y Road and San Juan Bautista. But in this rural area, the number of people it will serve is small. “It's like our own bridge to nowhere,”
REPS. BEHIND FORMULA ONE PROPOSAL SKIP MEETING Reporter
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has raised $2.3 million since 2007. “All the money goes to support cancer research,” said Jessica Ruiz, community development manager at the American Cancer Society, which spearheads the national fundraising initiative. “We also have money working locally for cancer patient services.” Emotions ran high during the opening ceremony on Friday. “As we come together for this fight for a cure, we want to remember
San Juan Bautista residents reject racetrack Nicholas Preciado
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Soph surge
Beneath the Hollister night sky at the San Benito High School football stadium, more than two hundred people walked at the Relay for Life of Hollister cancer fundraiser last weekend. Twenty-four teams and 222 participants took part
A year ago, Brad Sparrer was the No. 5 player in the lineup on San Benito High’s golf team. But entering the 2015 season—practice starts on Feb. 1—the 5-foot-8, 140pound sophomore will likely be the Haybalers’ No. 1 player. Sparrer’s meteoric rise came the good old-fashioned way: hard work. B1
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A section of the Hollister Free Lance
Hollister Farmer Grows for Gilroy
in the overnight event on Friday and Saturday. But organizers estimate more than 300 people were in attendance. “It’s always about fundraising,” said event cochairman Chuck ObesoBradley. “We’ve done an amazing job in this little community.” The event raised $107,832.65, just shy of the local initiative’s $110,000 goal. Donations are still being accepted online until August 31. Relay for Life of Hollister
➝ Formula One, 4