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ANNIE JR. P8 | PASSPORT IN REVIEW P16

THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY

MAY 18, 2018

UT & ABO R OF NDA CALE TS EVEN

OUT

A supplement to the Hollister Free Lance

Homes and gardens of Aromas and Gilroy

Mother’s Day Tours

Mother’s Day Tours SAN BENITO MAGAZINE INSIDE THIS ISSUE

ANNIE JR. P8 | PASSPORT IN REVIEW P16

THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY

MAY 18, 2018

UT & ABO R OF NDA CALE TS EVEN

OUT

A supplement to the Hollister Free Lance

Homes and gardens of Aromas and Gilroy

Mother’s Day Tours

San Benito Magazine INSIDE THIS ISSUE

THIS WEEK: Poppy Jasper screens Luis Valdez’s ‘Ceasar’s Last Fast’

ANNIE JR. P8 | PASSPORT IN REVIEW P16

HOLLISTER • SAN BENITO COUNTY

A New SV Media publication

Friday, May 11, 2018

sanbenito.com • Vol. 145, No. 19 • $1

High school AG scuttles 400 block referendum opens its courts to the public FOUNDATION SAYS MAJOR DONOR PLEDGES MORE FUNDS FOR BUILDING By Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor

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California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has spoken. A referendum vote—pushed by Hollister Mayor Ignacio Velazquez— on the sale of a half-acre

empty lot at the city’s center would not be legal. “The City resolution is not subject to referendum,” Becerra concluded in an 11-page opinion released late on a Friday afternoon, April 27. It took Becerra nine months to release the opinion, which had been sought by Assemblymember Anna Caballero, an opponent of the public vote on the Hollister development.

“I was glad to see that the attorney general took that position.” she said in an interview last week. In contrast, the mayor said he was “extremely disappointed.” He said he would be consulting with a lawyer, and was not sure what next steps he would take—except that he would be talking about the issue in his reelection campaign in the fall. The Community Foundation for San Benito

County, some local developers and business owners and Caballero had all lined up in opposition to a referendum that would have sought voter approval of the council’s decision last year. They are hoping that Becerra has the last word—that his longawaited opinion will end the dispute, and enable the project to begin on a plot of land that has been vacant since buildings

destroyed in the 1989 earthquake were cleared. In July 2017 Velazquez collected 2,465 signatures on a petition for a referendum, which Caballero, at the council’s request, immediately passed on to the attorney general for review. Becerra’s opinion, while not the same as a court ruling, effectively blocks any public vote on ➝ 400 Block,4

Scott Forstner Reporter

The public now has access to San Benito High School’s on-campus tennis courts outside of regular school hours. An agreement between the district and the city of Hollister means the courts will be accessible when school is not in session, specifically Monday through Friday from 6:308:30pm and Saturdays from 8am to 5pm. Reservations are required in advance by calling Hollister Recreation at (831) 636-4390. Tennis players must have their receipt with them when they are using the courts and the facility may only be used for tennis. “I’m excited that Hollister Rec and the high school have reached a usage agreement for the Baler Tennis Center Courts,” said Athletic Director Tod Thatcher. “Tennis is such a great sport. I’m pleased that we can offer such a beautiful facility to be enjoyed by our community.” ➝ Tennis, 16 Bryce Stoepfel

HIGHWAY TO HOLLISTER Peter Lago made a lot of stops along the road to Hollister, but his new role, owner of Johnny’s Bar and Grill, makes him the caretaker of a piece of American History.

Iconic Johnny’s is sold

NEW OWNER SAYS HISTORIC DIVE BAR SHOULD BE PRESERVED By Bryce Stoepfel Reporter

Last Friday Johnny’s Bar and Grill new owner Peter Lago was on the road to Gilroy to buy two new filing cabinets for his new bookkeeper. One of his cooks was in jail. His credit card machine was on the fritz, and the replacement was lost in the mail.

It was a week that many bar and restaurant owners can sympathize with, but the restaurateur from Hawaii should be used to challenges, and a little bit of trouble, after four months of finalizing the deal to buy the iconic mecca of bikerdom that’s Johnny’s Bar and Grill. On New Year's Eve, before the calendar flipped, former owner Cherisse Tyson held a formal key transfer ceremony at Johnny's, celebrating her end and

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Lago's beginning as the bar's owner. The ceremony, as it turned out, was a bit premature, but after four months of negotiations and some sentimental severing of ties, Lago became the official owner of Johnny's Bar and Grill on April 1. “Initially the purchase price was $500,000, which at the time, I thought included the building,” Lago said. “It was a big part of the deal and a large assumption to make on my part. I assumed that it was all

included based on the condition of the bar. Eventually, we settled on $250,000 for the bar with $50,000 up front.” What would Johnny's Bar and Grill be without a little bit of trouble? For many of its patrons, those who ride and those who don't, the mystique of trouble is mixed with the fun and charm of Johnny's, and the mix of dive bar atmosphere, with cold beer, hot burgers and Bad Company on the jukebox keeps people coming back.

“It’s a dive bar full of history,” Lago said. “But there are mechanical aspects of the bar that needed to be repaired, like the plumbing and the refrigerators. The theme does not need to change much. We changed a few things around the bar, but I consider myself a custodian of history.” In many ways, Lago personifies the motorcyclist drive for freedom. Lago was born in New York and moved to Las ➝ Johnny’s, 4

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