San Benito County Local News

Information provided by the County of San Benito. Lea este articulo en español aquí.PUBLIC REVIEW PERIOD: November 4, 2024, to November 11, 2024The County of San Benito has given notice of the availability of the 6th Cycle (2023-2031) San Benito County Housing Element Public Review Draft. This update of the Housing Element constitutes an amendment of the General Plan and, pursuant to Government Code §65585, a 7-day review and comment period is provided. However, stakeholders may provide comment at any time during the update process and are not limited to the 7-day review period.The 6th Cycle (2023-2031) San Benito County Housing Element Public Review Draft was submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on June 19, 2024. On August 2, 2024, HCD provided preliminary comments in response to the Draft submitted on June 19, 2024. The County updated the Housing Element Draft to respond to HCD’s preliminary comments and published an updated draft for public review on September 3, 2024. The County resubmitted the draft to HCD on September 10, 2024.On September 17, 2024, HCD provided a formal findings letter in response to the Draft submitted on September 10, 2024. The County updated the Housing Element Draft to respond to HCD’s comments and has published the updated drafts on it’s website. The County is required to post the updated Draft for public review for at least 7 days before resubmitting to HCD. The County is proud to present this updated Draft in tracked changes/redline and requests that the San Benito County Community provide recommendations and feedback.Once the 7-day public review period concludes, the County will consider all public comments and may revise the Draft in response to recommendations and feedback. Once the County has considered all comments, the County will resubmit to HCD. HCD will review the updated Draft and provide a formal response letter within 60 calendar days of the County’s submittal.To review or download the Public Review Draft and provide comments, visit: https://san-benito-county-planning-department-cosb.hub.arcgis.com/REVIEW AND COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on the Public Review Draft can be submitted in writing, via email, or online feedback form by November 11, 2024, to the following:Via Mail:Abraham Prado, Director of Planning and Building County of San Benito Resource Management Agency 2301 Technology Parkway, Hollister, CA 95023 Via Email:Abraham Prado, Director of Planning and Building HousingElementUpdate2023-2031@cosb.us Via Online Feedback Form:https://forms.office.com/r/iQpSLbGSWZ For questions or comments concerning the above project, please contact Abraham Prado, Director of Planning and BuildinThe post Notice of availability and public review of Draft Sixth Cycle updating housing element appeared first on BenitoLink.

San Benito County’s population expanded by 5.6 percent over the four years ending in December 2023, while California as a whole lost 1.4 percent of its residents. That’s because the relatively inexpensive county’s proximity to Bay Area jobs has brought commuters to its two incorporated cities, Hollister and San Juan Bautista. Any weekday after 6 p.m., convoys of home-bound vehicles squeeze onto two-lane Hwy 25 heading east from the Hwy 101 offramp. The county population has increased by more than 5,000 since 2020, but new residents are not all spending that much money in the county itself.“People are commuting so much they don’t want to go anywhere when they’re not commuting,” said Kristie Kern, owner of an arts-and-crafts coffee shop in downtown Hollister. She said she hopes to bring in more customers on weekends.This growth and its lack of knock-on revenue are driving a contentious ballot measure that will go before voters countywide on Nov. 5.Measure A, called the Empower Voters to Make Land Use Decisions Initiative, proposes to reverse pro-development land-use changes made along Hwy 101 over the past decade to their pre-2020 status, and would require a separate vote by the public for every conversion of agricultural, range or rural land use for commercial or housing development outside Hollister and San Juan Bautista. The initiative would also remove the commercial status of four “nodes”—essentially highway intersections along Hwy 101: at San Juan Road, Betabel Road, Hwy 129 and Livestock 101.About 99 percent of the 1,391-square-mile county is unincorporated.Preserving open space by halting commercial developmentMeasure A’s proponents believe public votes on each potential project will help preserve San Benito’s rustic character—a tourist selling point—while protecting wildlife in the open grassland and mountains. Opponents say it would halt development on heavily trafficked Hwy 101, and throttle any effort to develop much-needed commercial activity in the county.The measure would effectively decide what happens to future projects such as San Benito County’s most obvious Hwy 101 enterprise, Betabel RV Park. The 25-year-old RV park already pays transient occupancy tax charged on 172 sites for RVs and trailers, plus a tax on some of the sales made in its general store, manager Rachel Labas said. The park gets ample traffic.“It is kind of a deserted section of Hwy 101, but it doesn’t seem to deter people,” she said.Next door to the RV park, property owners Rider and Victoria McDowell have tried over the past five years to build a produce market and restaurant, income from which would eventually help fund the Cancer-A-Gogo charity, created in honor of their teenage son who died from brain cancer.The project faced environmental lawsuits in 2022 after the couple had spent $200,000 clearing land for the project. Today it remains dormant. Rider McDowell did not answer requests for comment.The McDowell project would be stopped from going ahead if Measure A passed, unless the owners reapplied and went to county voters for approval.Opponents say the prospect of going before voters would deter developers of even small-scale projects such as truck stops—the likes of which would create local jobs, contribute tax revenue to the county and allow for upgrades of parks, a jail, rural roads and the library.“The average person is not that aware of financial or growth issues—the impact of an issue like this,” said Bob Tiffany, a spokesman for the opposition. Other rural California counties have taken different routes to limiting commercial growth, particularly in the use of agriculture or open-space preserves that act as unbending guidelines for planners. Napa County, for example, approved an agricultural reserve in 1968, leaving 37,100 acres or 7.3 percent of the county in conservation agreements between landowners and a county trust.Napa has witnessed acrimonious debates among some of its 500-plus wineries against other stakeholders over the past decades regarding growth and took all that time to find the right formula, said Sheli Smith, executive director of the Napa County Historical Society.The reserve, however, has channeled growth into the city of Napa. Meanwhile, the region pulled together as a winery tourism hub through the joint work of county, city, Chamber of Commerce and visitor association officials, Smith said. Napa’s wine sector brings in tax money from hotel stays and some of that goes back into tourism—including the county’s museums and heritage sites. “You could put all your eggs in marketing what you got and maybe that will bring tourism to your doorstep,” she said.  Previously, San Benito County voters faced three other ballot measures asking about commercial growth—a possible source of confusion among the electorate now.Ballot Measure K in March 2020 proposed approving commercial nodes on the seven-mile stretch of Hwy 101 that runs through the county, but nearly 60 percent of voters opposed it. In November 2020, about the same percentage of voters rejected Measure N, which would have allowed a project called Strada Verde Innovation Park to conduct research, test vehicles, operate hotels and house other businesses on 2,777 acres.Measure Q Redux?And two years later, 56 percent of county voters turned down Measure Q, which—similar to Measure A—would have required voter approval for land-use changes leading to development.An advocacy group once called Preserve Our Rural Communities, now known as Protect San Benito County, opposed Measures K and N and led the campaign in support of Measure Q.County officials have tried to develop spots that past ballot measures were meant to protect, meaning the public should be put in charge now, Measure A proponent Andy Hsia-Coron said.“When you go out and talk to people, they say ‘didn’t we vote on these already?’” he said.He believes tourism to wineries and scenic spots should bring in the needed tax dollars but resents heavy traffic. Hwy 101, he believes, gets traffic that’s “backed up for miles” on weekends.Hsia-Coron contends that tourism including ecotourism could add to the county tax base. “This is one of the most spectacular counties in California,” he said.But tourism development moves at a crawl in San Benito County, Tiffany said, noting that Hollister has seen two new hotels open over as many years. Tourists would need more places to stay outside the city near scenic spots such as Pinnacles National Park. “That would be a very positive thing to have a hotel or a small resort,” he said.Pro-Measure A fliers issued this year by Protect San Benito County complain of traffic jams, unsafe roads and a loss of farmland to housing—most of which is within the city limits. The group says it’s a 501c(3) nonprofit, which does not allow political activity. Hsia-Coron has declined to address the group’s legal status.BenitoLink has checked three fliers this election year and found that they contained errors, lacked context or reiterated flawed arguments. A group called the Hollister Guardians distributed two of the fliers. Out-of-county supportSeveral Bay Area environmental groups back Measure A on environmental grounds, though none are based in San Benito County.Jessica Wohlander, an environmental associate with Palo Alto-based group Green Foothills, said keeping Hwy 101 free of more development will let bobcats and mountain lions cross the freeway through tunnels or overpasses between mountain ranges on either side, increasing biodiversity. Green Foothills, along with the Alameda County-based Save Mount Diablo, have helped fund Measure A.The group has also helped gather signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot.Today oak-studded mountains rim San Benito County, stretching southeast through ranches and open space to the Fresno County line. Flatlands closer to the two incorporated cities support farms that grow tomatoes and flowers for nursery use.Former county supervisor Anthony Botehlo, an opponent of Measure A, says income from stores, restaurants, hotels and other new businesses would contribute to the tens of millions of dollars needed for public services. San Benito ranks among four California counties where just 9% of property tax revenue went to the county government in 2022, according to the State Board of Equalization. The board logged about $142 million in property taxes for San Benito in 2022.“It's very uneven throughout the 58 counties,” Tiffany said. “It puts San Benito County at a real disadvantage to start with, and then on top of that, we have very few other revenue sources, like sales tax, that come in from the unincorporated areas of the county.” Among the county’s top priorities, Botelho said a new park would cost $1 million per acre, adding that it would cost $40 million to bring the library up to current standards; road repair normally costs $1 million per mile and 450 miles of road are due for upgrades. He also noted that San Benito County Jail needs $7 million more to avoid losing a $15 million grant.“The measure kills revenue opportunities,” Botelho said. “And that’s it, in a nutshell.”The post Measure A could stall commerical growth in rural San Benito County in perpetuity appeared first on BenitoLink.

Lea este articulo en español aquí.The candidates for Hollister City Council have raised a combined $38,954 for their respective campaigns. The majority of the funds have gone to the mayoral race. Incumbent Mia Casey has reported $22,929 in contributions, while challenger Roxanne Stephens has reported $5,082. Councilmember Rick Perez reported the second highest campaign contributions with $8,113.82. Rudy Picha, vying for Perez’s District 1 seat, has raised $1,196.District 4 challenger Priscilla De Anda reported receiving $1,634 for her campaign. Incumbent Councilmember Tim Burns did not file a report. California law only requires candidates who receive more than $2,000 in contributions to file. The City Council earlier this year abandoned its campaign contribution policy that limited candidates to receiving $250 per donor. They are now following the state’s policy which limits contributions to $5,500 and requires candidates to disclose contributors who donated $100 or more. The state also requires elected officials to recuse themselves from voting on projects whose applicant contributed to their campaign within a year of the vote.Below is a breakdown for each race.MayorCasey’s largest contributors are trade unions and Hollister Fire Department union, combining for $8,000. Her largest single contributor is the Ted and Irene Davis Family Trust with $5,000. Ted Davis is the former owner of Hollister-based Teknova, a chemical reagent manufacturing company. Stephens received contributions of $100 or more from individuals mostly from Hollister. She received $1,800 from out-of-county contributors, including her biggest donor, Gerardo Gonzalez from Daly City with $500. She received a total of $748 in contributions of less than $100.District 1Unions have also backed Perez’s campaign with $3,300 in contributions. His biggest individual contributor is Shawn Herrera with $1,000. Herrera is involved in several local nonprofits, including BenitoLink (Herrera and the rest of BenitoLink Board of Directors do not engage in editorial decisions.)Picha reported four contributors of $100 or more. His biggest contributor was Linda Picha with $500. He also reported receiving $496 in contributions of less than $100. District 4$1,034 of Priscilla De Anda’s funds were from contributions of less than $100. She received two contributions of $100 from out-of-the-county residents.Burns has not filed a contributions list.We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.Related BenitoLink articles
2024 General Election Candidates Q&A: Hollister Mayor

Lea este articulo en español aquí.On Nov. 5, San Benito County voters will decide on an initiative that will determine the future of the county’s only hospital. If passed, Measure X would allow the San Benito Health Care District to lease and potentially sell Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital. In recent months, the big money in the Measure X campaign has come from the company that wants to buy the hospital and the largest nurses union in the nation, which opposes the measure.As of Nov. 4, the Yes on Measure X campaign, run by the Committee to Save Hazel Hawkins, has more donations than its opponents. They have received $80,000, of which $75,000 came from Insight Management and Consulting Services Inc, a division of Insight Healthcare Group.Insight is the Michigan-based health care provider that wants to buy the hospital and its assets. Although the agreement is not yet final, if voters approve Measure X, the health care district may proceed with its proposal to lease the hospital for five years and give Insight the option to purchase it at the expiration of the lease term.The “No” campaign, run by Keep Hazel Public, wants to stop the sale of the hospital. It has the support of the California Nurses Association, the nation’s largest nurses union with 250,000 members. The union has reported to San Benito County’s Election Department that it’s spent more than $140,000 to oppose Measure X. More than $119,000 has been spent on video ads, $9,450 on billboards, nearly $9,000 on postcards, and $3,700 on email and text ads.We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. Producing local news is expensive, and community support keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service nonprofit news.The post Insight and nurses union top contributors for and against Measure X appeared first on BenitoLink.

The County of Santa Clara announced last week that it will be augmenting its substance use treatment services with additional inpatient, residential and outpatient offerings through the Behavioral Health Services Department and Santa Clara Valley Healthcare to serve thousands of the county’s most vulnerable residents each year.

We at Ten South feel compelled to address the ongoing misinformation surrounding our Builders Remedy project in Gilroy and to set the record straight, particularly in light of Mayor Marie Blankley’s recent letter to the editor.

The deadlock over what will replace a canceled regional fire protection contract continues, as the City of Hollister and San Benito County are still trading barbs over alleged bad faith bargaining.

Dear San Benito County Residents,

Lea este artículo en español aquí.On Nov. 5, San Benito County voters will decide on two $70 million bond measures that would allow the San Benito High School District to build and equip a new high school campus. BenitoLink reviewed the funding that the campaigns for and against the bonds have filed with the county’s Election Department. Because both campaigns can still collect more contributions, the figures may change.Here are three facts about the funding of the Measures L and M campaigns.The majority of money in support of the bond measures comes from construction companies outside the county.As of Nov. 1, the “Yes” campaign, run by the Committee for Excellent San Benito High Schools, has reported receiving $150,550 in donations. Most of it comes from companies, unions and individuals in the construction industry which would benefit directly from a new high school project.Their donations add up to almost 83% of the money ($124,500) received.The campaign's biggest donor, at $22,000, is HMC Architects, the Ontario company SBHSD hired to design the $206 million high school, which would be completed in 2028.Blach Construction, a Bay Area company with experience in building educational facilities, gave $15,000; Best Electrical Co. Inc, a San Jose-based electrical contractor, gave $12,000.Unions in this industry have also contributed. Santa Clara & San Benito Counties Building and Construction Trades Council gave $10,000 and Sheet Metal Workers' International Association Local Union No. 104 gave $6,000.Asked about the support from companies and unions in the construction industry, a spokesperson for the Committee for Excellent San Benito High Schools said Measures L and M “will create many good local jobs, and put skilled people to work” in San Benito County. “That's why you see labor unions and businesses that work in our area supporting Measures L and M,” the spokesperson wrote in an official statement. “It will be good for students and teachers—and good for the local economy too."Most of the money in the “Yes” campaign comes from outside the county. Overall, of the $150,550 donated, more than 94% ($142,000) comes from companies, unions, or individuals not based in San Benito County.Besides construction companies, L and M have the support of members of the educational sector—including Sierra School Equipment Company, a Bakersfield organization that furnishes schools, which gave $10,000, and Matthew A. Pettler, a Sacramento school facility funding and planning consultant, who contributed $2,500.Yes on L and M has only three local donors: Carol Heiderich, the administrative assistant of San Benito High School District, with $2,500; Carlos Galvez, a consultant and a Hollister High School parent who has been involved in planning the new high school, with $1,000; and Marcus Building Systems Inc, a local construction company, with $5,000.“No” on L and M has not filled any contribution reports.As of Nov. 1, the “No” on L and M side had not reported any cash or nonmonetary contributions. The campaign is run by the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, an organization “protecting the rights and interests of the taxpayers of Silicon Valley against the overreaching and over-spending of government.” BenitoLink sought comment from association President Mark W.A. Hinklehe, but received no response.San Benito County Chief Deputy Clerk-Recorder-Elections Ana de Castro Maquis confirmed that the “No” campaign had not reported any donations.We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. Producing local news is expensive, and community support keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service nonprofit news.The post 3 Facts about Measures L and M campaign funding appeared first on BenitoLink.

Lea este artículo en español aquí.The good news for Adam Jones is that the closing of the Mitchell Road/Hwy 156 intersection has not completely isolated his Harvest Time Roadhouse. The detour starting at the Bixby Road roundabout is easy to navigate and the trip down Freitas Road only adds a few extra miles to the trip.But it has taken a toll on his business, with the slowdowns at lunch and dinner that Jones had anticipated becoming a reality. His regulars from Pacific Scientific, across the newly-constructed road, are blocked from getting to the restaurant easily for lunch. And many of his older dinnertime regulars are shying away from navigating the poorly lit back roads.“Our lunch rush has gone from three-and-a-half hours to 45 minutes,” Jones said. “Our evenings are slower, but I'm still getting people. One person said, ‘I took all the detours and that stupid road just to come here to support you.’”Jones said this new detour is shorter than the previous Union Road bypass. “It was a lot harder to get over here when that part of the intersection was closed,” he said. “You had to go all the way down to Fourth Street and then double back. This new detour is more direct.”Jones has been told that Caltrans might soon reconnect the old Hwy 156, which will soon be the new frontage road, back to Mitchell. This would obviate the need to take Freitas Road, considerably cut the detour’s length, and make it a bit easier for people to find their way.“It will seem more direct, I think,” Jones said. “I can put some signs up telling people, ‘Hey, we’re right here. Come on. And you won’t have to worry about going in the back roads in the dark.’”In the meantime, Jones is taking advantage of the spare time by installing new tables, working on the front outdoor dining area and redesigning the closed side patio. Most importantly, despite the slowdown in business, he said, he has kept its core intact. “I have not shut down any hours,” he said. “I have not laid off any employees. We have not had to do anything, and I don't see it coming in the future. Because of the community and the people working at the businesses in the area, we've been able to survive.”Jones said once construction on Hwy 156 is completed and the Union/Mitchell Road intersection is reopened, he plans to open a fruit stand on the site, set up old farm equipment to serve as a “selfie station,” and repair his parking lot so it does not flood during the rainy season.“It took me five months after I bought this place to get it rocking,” he said. “And we just won the best new restaurant from Best of San Benito County. I think I am sitting on a goldmine out here. And when the road opens, people will realize, ‘Hey, we can get there again!’” Garlic Bread Grilled Cheese – Made with cheddar cheese, pepper jack, salami, and pepperoni sandwiched between thick slices of garlic bread sourced from Golden Sheaf bakery, it is gooey, buttery and salty all at once. It appealed to the starving 8-year-old in me, but the Roadhouse also offers the classic grilled American cheese and a version with sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and a balsamic glaze. They are all perfect bar food and, coupled with beer, would be great shared appetizers or a nice comfort-food lunch.  Garlic Bread Grilled Cheese. Photo by Robert Eliason.BBQ Tri-Tip Salad – Just to get the obvious out of the way, this is a massive salad. The ingredients are few and simple: just spring mix, tomatoes and blue cheese crumbles—along with half a pound of Jones’ amazing and tender tri-tip. The meat is prepared by a gentleman known as “Uncle Roger” using a secret recipe he refuses to divulge to Jones. “If I tell you,” Uncle Roger said, “then you won’t need me anymore.”The peppery tri-tip is used in other menu items, including sandwiches served on ciabatta bread, loaded baked potatoes, and the house stout chili. For the salad, it is cubed and served medium rare. The default dressing is a balsamic glaze, but any dressing can be substituted. BBQ Tri-Tri Tip Salad. Photo by Robert Eliason.Fish & Fries – When I go to the Roadhouse, I almost reflexively order the patty melt served on a killer rye bread from Sysco Bakery, which really highlights the quality of the beef Jones uses. He offers a variation of burgers, of course, tarted up with maple bacon, BBQ sauce, jalapenos, avocado or whatever, but to me, it’s a shame to obscure the flavor of the meat.That’s a long-winded explanation for why I had never ordered the fish and fries before this. I had mistakenly thought that, like many other places, I would get frozen, battered, boring fish. Wrong. Jones gets cod from Lusamerica, a premier supplier of sustainable fish in Morgan Hill. The fillets are deep-fried in a lightly seasoned batter, and the results are masterful. The fish is clean and flaky, the batter, light and crispy. It comes with tartar and cocktail sauces, but the dish doesn’t need more than a squeeze of lemon to make it shine.The recipe comes from Mike Benson, late of the fabled Claddagh Irish Restaurant and Pub in Gilroy. With the closure of his restaurant, Benson had no qualms about coming to the Roadhouse to personally instruct the chefs on how to make this dish. This could be my new go-to, or at least in heavy rotation with the patty melt. It’s the best fish and chips I’ve had outside of the classic restaurants in San Francisco.Fish and Fries. Photo by Robert Eliason.Harvest Time Roadhouse is located at 3650 San Juan Hollister Road, which can be reached by taking the roundabout on Hwy 156 to Bixby Road, turning right onto Freitas Road, then right onto Mitchell Road. Phone: (831) 636-1010Hours:Tuesday – 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.Wednesday – 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.Thursday – 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.Friday – 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.Saturday – 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.Sunday – 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.Closed MondayRecommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.BenitoLink thanks our underwriters, Hollister Super and Windmill Market, for helping to expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and give our readers the stories that interest them. Hollister Super (two stores in Hollister) and Windmill Market (in San Juan Bautista) support reporting on the inspired and creative people behind the many delicious food and drink products made in San Benito County. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.The post Eat, Drink, Savor: Harvest Time Roadhouse serves food worth the detour appeared first on BenitoLink.

Lea este articulo en español aquí.On Nov. 3 at 2 a.m. local time, most of the United States and Canada returns to standard time. That is, it will fall back to 1 a.m. Returning to standard time brings both morning light and evening dark an hour earlier. According to the website https://www.timeanddate.com, parts of Canada used saving time as early as 1908. Germany introduced it in April 1916, two years into World War I, to minimize the use of artificial lighting and save fuel for the war effort. Within a few weeks, Britain, France and other countries followed suit. Most reverted to standard time after World War I, and it wasn’t until World War II that daylight saving time returned to most of Europe. The U.S. took up the mantle in 1966. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in the U.S daylight saving time begins the second Sunday in March and ends the first Sunday in November. Not all states follow this plan, Arizona being one of them. Some states are pushing to extend daylight saving time year-round. Pacific Daylight Saving Time is seven hours behind UTC. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine daylight saving time is not good for human health and we are more in tune with standard time:Daylight saving time goes against your body’s circadian rhythm which helps regulate your sleep-wake cycle, according to a growing body of research.

Insight Health, the company looking to take over Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital, terminated an agreement with CarePoint Health, which operates a hospital group in Hudson County, New Jersey. Insight’s CEO, Dr. Jawad Shah stepped down as CarePoint Health’s president and CEO on Oct. 27, after about three weeks of serving in that role, as reported by John Heinis for Hudson County View.

The Hollister School District has been busy making improvements to various sites’ facilities and grounds.

Recently, I’ve begun to feel very sorry for November. It seems like every year now, just about the beginning of the 10th month, October and December start to battle for supremacy.

Jazz at Gavilan is Nov. 7

Lea este artículo en español aquí.Judi Jaeger and Bob Reid met by chance in 2015 at the California Coast Music Camp when, as Reid passed through the crowd during a group singalong of Beatles tunes, their voices locked in harmony. On Nov. 3, they will bring their unique talents to the Aromas Grange for an evening concert that will include award-winning singer/songwriters Alisa Fineman and Kimball Hurd.“I was standing at the edge of the circle,” Jaeger said, recalling the music fest, “and I started to sing along. Bob was going around the outside singing stellar harmony parts with people. I sang this note, and from nowhere, this voice came up and met mine in this amazing resonance.”
Bob Reid and Judi Jaeger performing "Bridges" by Bill Staines.. Photo by Robert Eliason.
Bob Reid and Judi Jaeger performing "Bridges" by Bill Staines. Video by Robert Eliason.Reid was a visiting instructor at the event, one of the thousands he has participated in since realizing at 12 that music could be a profession and not just an entertaining pastime.“I went to the Berkeley Folk Festival,” he said. “In the hallway, I saw Pete Seeger playing a banjo, and as I watched him, I thought, ‘This guy is working. This is his office.’ Nobody told me about this. Nobody said, ‘You can do this for a living.’”By 17, Reid was a traveling musician, playing in bars in small communities and making contacts by joining their softball teams.“I hoped to give people a reason to want to know me,” he said. “So, all my friends were from either playing music or playing softball. I did that for quite a while before I wound up living in Big Sur.”Reid produced albums for Rick Masten, played clubs in Santa Cruz with Mark Bradlyn and eventually became friends with Seeger, the acknowledged dean of 20th-century folk singers who had inspired him to become a musician. “I became part of his secret extended family,” he said. “He had a beautiful boat, and we’d sail for a couple of weeks, doing little festivals along the way. Musicians and storytellers from all over the country would join this program because of Pete.”Reid moved to San Juan Bautista in 2000 to help raise young horses for veterinarian and breeder Deborah Harrison. He was also a journalist for the weekly San Juan Star. In 2013, Reid became the first content director for BenitoLink, having been an active member of the Community for San Benito County Vision San Benito advisory committee and listening sessions resulting in the nonprofit news service. When he met Jaeger two years later, she had been playing music for about five years. She had been spurred to write her first song following the death of her mother, who had suffered from dementia for 10 years.“I ended up writing about my feelings,” she said. “I had decided that was going to be how I would express my grief. I went to sing my one song at an open mic. I had never dreamed of standing up on a stage and singing a song I had written.”She attended the California Coast Music Camp for several years before meeting Reid, mostly to concentrate on songwriting. One night, she decided she had been cocooning with friends to avoid the crowd of people before joining a sing-along on her way back to her cabin for the night.Standing beside Reid, they recognized the connection they made when they sang together, which was the start of their collaboration. “He looked at me,” she said, “ and I looked at him. I said, ‘Did I do something wrong?’ And I was serious, but he looked at me and said, ‘No, that was beautiful.’”Reid said that the duo’s harmonies are their “special sauce” and that not just any two voices sound good together. “There's probably something biological about it that I don't understand,” Reid said. “Judy has a beautiful singing voice, and I love to find that voice of mine that fits it. And the result of our voices together is just amazing.”Reid said they have a wide range of material drawn from their separate work and songs others have written.“On any given night,” he said, “we have a wide assortment that we perform, but we probably have another 40 we didn’t play that night that were fighting to get on stage. You can only ask people to sit for so long, right?”Judi Jaeger and Bob Reid will perform with Alisa Fineman and Kimball Hurd at the Aromas Grange, 361 Rose Ave., on Nov. 3 from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available on the Grange website.We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. Producing local news is expensive, and community support keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service nonprofit news.The post Judi Jaeger and Bob Reid bring perfect harmonies to the Aromas Grange appeared first on BenitoLink.

After a load of graduations, the Hollister volleyball team is rebuilding and holding its own in the competitive play of the Pacific Coast Athletic League, Gabilan Division.

Last year’s Gilroy football team finished the season 0-10, running their losing streak up to 13. But Coach Dillon Babb’s turnaround of the Mustangs is in full swing and this year is different. After a couple close losses in an 0-4 start this season, Gilroy broke through in dominant fashion.

Each year, CASA of San Benito County advocates for and provides essential services to foster children in our community. These vital services are delivered by community members who receive training from experts in the field.CASA San Benito County believes that every child deserves to experience joy and a sense of belonging, especially during the holiday season.

Christopher HS Football (7-1 overall, 4-0 BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division)