THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF SAN BENITO COUNTY
JUNE 15, 2018
San Benito is putting dreams to work
A supplement to the Hollister Free Lance
San Benito Arts Council changes lives
SAN BENITO MAGAZINE INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Inspiring Youth GARDEN MELONS P6 | WINE SIPS P13
HOLLISTER • SAN BENITO COUNTY
A New SV Media publication
Friday, June 15, 2018
sanbenito.com • Vol. 145, No. 24 • $1
Both supe races are November runoffs JUDGE VOTES CLOSE IN LOW TURNOUT By Barry Holtzclaw Managing Editor
Catalina Lemos
Barely more than 25 of San Benito County voters took the time to vote in the June 5 primary, but in the San Benito County supervisors’ races at least, they will get another chance. With final counts in, the preliminary results mean there be contested races for supervisor in both District 3 and District 4, as no candidates got more than 50 percent of the electorate. County election officials reported that 7,357 votes were cast, of 28,774 registered voters. In the race for the Third District, Patricia Loe and Peter Hernandez will face off in November. Loe, a former supervisor, mayor and councilmember, led the field with 526 votes, or 46 percent, while Hernandez, a Hollister School District trustee, polled 369 votes, 32 percent of the total. In the Fourth District race, the margins were similar, with business owner and former Gilroy police officer and county sheriff’s deputy Jim Gillio topping the field with 925 votes, or 44 percent. Gillio’s total was twice that of incumbent Supervisor Jerry Muenzer. The two will meet in November. The election for Superior Court Judge was a nailbiter for the second runoff position. Gregory Michael Laforge, a veteran criminal defense lawyer, came in first with 1905 votes, or 28 percent. The race for second, between Jose “Omar” Rodriguez, was close, with Rodriguez, a former San Benito assistant district attorney, capturing 1753 votes to Frances Henderson's 1712.
GRADUATE PRIDE Kenny Bisceglia proudly displays his diploma at June 8 commencement.
Grad 2018: Balers forever!
Catalina Lemos
CAPPING IT OFF The caps tell it all in Hollister.
San Benito High School graduate Kenny Bisceglia, pictured above, holds his diploma case after walking the stage during the 2018 commencement ceremony held on campus June 8. Bisceglia, who is turning to the pipeline welding trade after high school, was one of 657 San Benito High School graduates making up the Class of 2018. Graduation speeches and commencement ceremony photographs inside, and even more online at sanbenito.com.
Barbecue may have started fatal wildfire MOTHER, SON, DAUGHTER DIED IN JUNE 4 PANOCHE FIRE Michael Moore Reporter
A 27-year-old mother frantically tried to save her two small children when an errant barbecue fire spread out of her control and into the family’s camping trailer, quickly
engulfing the surrounding property on Panoche Road June 4, according to the San Benito County Sheriff ’s Office’s initial investigation. Their burned bodies were found by firefighters who responded to the Panoche fire, which ultimately burned about 64 acres of vegetation, according to authorities. Sheriff ’s Capt. Eric Taylor said the mother, as
well as her 3-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, died in the blaze north of San Benito. The unincorporated town of San Benito is about 30 miles southeast of Hollister, and just on the east side of Pinnacles National Park. The mother’s boyfriend—the father of the infant who died in the fire—had been out shopping for supplies and was returning to the camping
trailer at the time of the fire, Taylor added. “We’re pretty confident he was about 40 minutes away from the residence when the fire started,” Taylor said. He stressed that sheriff ’s staff “are not fire investigators,” and the official cause of the fire and other circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated by CalFire. That investigation is ongoing.
“Our role in this matter is to determine cause of death, and to determine if a criminal act may have occurred that lead to that death,” Taylor wrote in a June 8 press release updating the public about the incident. As of now, law enforcement officials do not think the fire or deaths resulted from any criminal activity. ➝ Fire, 2