HOLLISTER • SAN BENITO COUNTY
A New SV Media publication
Friday, February 16, 2018
sanbenito.com • Vol. 145, No. 7 • $1
District elections on tap for San Benito THREE SEATS UP IN SBHSD IN NOVEMBER Scott Forstner Reporter
Submitted
A shift from an at-large to a trustee area election system this year will determine three seats on the San Benito High School District Board of Trustees for the first time in November. For the current fivemember board, the change in format was a welcome one. It was unanimously approved, along with a trustee area district boundaries map, at a Nov. 17 meeting. “I think our board from the beginning either didn’t have a strong opinion one way or another, or were in favor of it,” said Board President Steve Delay, recalling the extended process that included several public hearings to allow for community input and the hiring of a demographer to draw the trustee area maps. “I don’t think ➝ District Elections, 10
SCIENCE OF GOLF Golf pro with students of Southside Elementary at Pebble Beach.
Kids learn the science of golf
THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY
FEBRUARY 16, 2018
OU T & AB OU T OF NDAR CA LE EN TS EV
SOUTHSIDE SCHOOL STUDENTS STUDY TECHNOLOGY
A supplement to the Hollister Free Lance
Competition heats up in Hollister
Under the Spotlight WINE PASSPORT P12 | ALMOST, MAINE P13
Inside this issue: San Benito’s got talent
By Barry Holtzclaw
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
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An advocacy organization that re college instructors across Califo symbolically walk out of the clas what they call a significant pay d
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declaration generally requires two consecutive years of low rainfall. Normally, more than half of the year’s rainfall occurs in December, January, and February. The average annual precipitation for Gilroy and Morgan Hill is about 20 inches. The annual average for Hollister is about 14 inches. The growing season for most crops is just beginning, and farmers
have begun irrigating heavily, in the absence of rain. So far for this 2018 water year (which began October 1), overall Northern California precipitation was about 67 percent of average for this time of year. Snowpack statewide was about 27 percent of average for this time of year. Fortunately, California
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
This may be great weather for weekend fun, but a continued lack of rainfall has state and federal officials worried about a return of drought conditions, after two wet winters. It hasn’t rained a drop
week reported that “abnormal dryness or drought’ are currently affecting approximately 81 percent of the state's population. The “U.S. Drought Monitor” showed abnormally dry conditions in San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, with most of the state south of San Benito already in moderate or severe drought. An “official” drought
TURN TO PIZZA • A8
San Juan resident: ‘Like our own
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Margie Barrios (former San Benito County Supervisor) joined the foundation’s grants committee in December. The foundation also funds groups that serve San Benito County, but are based in Santa Cruz or Monterey County, including the Seniors Council’s Foster Grandparents Program, the Sun Street Center’s capital project for a Women’s Residential Center for drug and alcohol rehabilitation in Hollister.
➝ Drought, 19
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Cake, anyone?
for the science and technology. The Hollister students were among nearly 2,000 who attended the STEM sessions sponsored by Chevron at the Pebble Beach tournament. The largest awards from the foundation for San Benito County last year supported: the Community Food Bank of San Benito County , $125,000; Hazel Hawkins Hospital, $115,000 for its Diabetes Center, and the Hollister Youth Alliance, $150,000.
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
SPORTS
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here for more than a month, and none is forecast for the rest of the month. In Hollister, rainfall this winter is less than half the October-February average—about 4 inches since Oct. 1. In Gilroy and Morgan Hill, less than 4 inches of rain has been recorded since Oct.1, which is barely 25 percent of the normal rainfall for the South County. Federal officials this
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,”
RESERVOIR LEVELS ARE FALLING Managing Editor
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On the first day of the Feb.8-11 tourney, as professional golfers and their amateur teammates headed out on the course, 50 students from Southside Elementary School in Hollister headed into a temporary classroom off the 3rd fairway. The student entered a world of technology, where they made videos, and applied math skills to the world of golf. They learned about the physics of the golf swing and saw real-world applications
No rain may not mean a drought — yet
By Barry Holtzclaw
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Soph surge
The annual Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament is more than one of the premier stops on the Professional Golf Association Tour. It also is an important source of money for San
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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Benito County charities and a venue for learning opportunities for some Hollister fifth- and sixthgrade students. The tournament raises millions for charities and is the main source of income for the Monterey Bay Community Foundation. Last year, the foundation’s philanthropic footprint totaled $12.8 million. The foundation’s 167 awards included almost $500,000 for non-profits in San Benito County.
northeastern.edu/pan/experience