Hol1749

Page 1

HOLLISTER • SAN BENITO COUNTY

A New SV Media publication

Friday, December 8, 2017

sanbenito.com • Vol. 144, No. 49 • $1

Nitrates remain high in San Juan SAN JUAN BAUTISTA PUBLIC HEALTH NOTICE IN EFFECT FOR SIX MONTHS Nicholas Preciado Reporter

Roseann Hernandez Cattani

For six months the City of San Juan Bautista has been under a public health warning about high nitrate levels in the city’s water system. Now it looks like it could be another six months before the problem is fixed. Since June 20 the city has advised locals with health conditions, infants and pregnant women to avoid consuming city water. San Juan Bautista sent out the drinking water warning after a sample from the city’s water system, comprised of two wells, showed nitrate levels of 11.64 milligrams per liter. The maximum contaminant level

CHRISTMAS WISHES Lillian, 6, and Sophia, 3, Holmes pose for a picture with Santa Claus at the 12th Annual San Juan Bautista Holiday of Lights Parade Saturday. The event is put on by the city’s Rotary Club.

San Juan ushers in holidays

➝ SJB Water, 4

THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY

DECEMBER 8, 2017

12TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY OF LIGHTS PARADE DRAWS CROWDS TO THE HISTORIC DOWNTOWN

Ron Erskine takes readers to Lassen National Park

Stunning Summit

WASHINGTON HAWTHORN P8 | BENITO BENE P14 | SEASONAL NOSTALGIA P16

Editor

HOLLISTER CA. PERMIT #48

BRIGHT LIGHTS Hollywood comes to San Juan Bautista as a

group of Minions from the popular movie are lit up and conveyed down Third Street during the city’s annual holiday parade.

****ECRWSS**** Residential Customer

BOSTON | CHARLOTTE | SEATTLE | SILICON VALLEY | TORONTO | ONLINE

see those beds filled,” he said. The HOME Resource Center supplements the temporary Winter Warming Shelter at the Migrant Center on Southside Road in Hollister, but the new homeless shelter only accepts individuals. Homeless families can still stay at the Family Winter Shelter at the Migrant Center. San Benito County has

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

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

TURN TO BRIDGE • A8

LOOK FOR IT ON THE WEB

An advocacy organization that re college instructors across Califo symbolically walk out of the clas what they call a significant pay d

GAIN IN-DEMAND TECH SKILLS WITH LEVEL BOOTCAMPS.

Reyes Bonilla, executive director of Community Homeless Solutions, which operates the shelter, said the facility is below capacity now, as clients tend to use any monetary support they receive to pay for a hotel room or other low-cost, private accommodation, but expects to see more clients as the month progresses. “As it gets colder and the word gets out, we will

TURN TO PIZZA • A8

San Juan resident: ‘Like our own

Fifteen individuals stayed at the new Homeless Opportunities Meals and Empowerment (HOME) Resource Center during its grand opening last Friday.

The new homeless shelter, located at 1161 San Felipe Road, opened its doors on December 1 to 15 guests Friday, 12 guests Saturday and 15 guests on Sunday. “Last year, we had one guest on the first night,” said Enrique Arreola, county deputy director of community service and workforce development. “Overall, the first weekend went very smooth.”

operated the Family Winter Shelter for more than 30 years. “We serve up to 30 homeless families during the winter months from December to March,” Arreola said. “This program charges families up to $300 per month along with a $300 security deposit. At the conclusion of the program, both the security deposit ➝ Homeless Shelter, 4

ACCELERATE YOUR CAREER THROUGH THE

TAKE THE

NEXT STEP

Cake, anyone?

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

SPORTS

7

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,”

HOME RESOURCE CENTER SERVES 15 OPENING DAY Reporter

58015 02002

and sought a good spot on the sidewalk, shops catered to the burgeoning crowd. “One of the reasons why we do this event and kept it going is to bring business into the town,” said Karen Dorn, president of the Rotary Club of San Juan Bautista. The group also organizes a beer garden in the spring, the popular Ghost Walk in October and the massive antiques fair in August. “The money we bring in from the Ghost Walk and antiques fair goes into our funds that we give back to the community,” said Dorn.

New shelter opens in Hollister

Nicholas Preciado

6

Soph surge

Shops stayed open late as locals strolled Third Street in San Juan Bautista Saturday, waiting for the annual holiday parade where floats, classic cars and a group of semi-trucks covered in dazzling lights illuminated downtown.

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

PAID

Roseann Hernandez Cattani

The parade that more than a decade ago started with a dozen entries and lasted just 15 minutes has grown into a family-friendly event with 35 entries and a timeframe that stretches to nearly an hour. Called a “true California Christmas-San Juan style” by the local Rotary Club that puts it on, the parade also featured a marching band, dance groups and horseback riders. Santa Claus and Nanta (Mrs. Claus) stuck around after the parade to take pictures with local children. As people congregated

The San Benito County Roseann Hernandez Cattani 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

Inside this issue: Ron Erskine is getting everyone out

PRSRT STD US POSTAGE

A section of the Hollister Free Lance

OU T & AB OU T CA LE NDAR OF EV EN TS

northeastern.edu/pan/experience


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.