San Benito County Resilience Digest

Luis Yauri Oyola hopes one day to buy a tractor to start a business in Peru; he estimates that he is six years away from that goal, for which he will have spent more than a decade of his life living thousands of miles away from his family. He is on call 24/7 and doesn’t leave the job site except for necessities.

Though the Council of San Benito County Governments voiced concerns, they voted 4-1 to approve additional funds for the Hwy 156 Improvement Project, which partially cover a $13.8 million increase in costs incurred due to the 2022-23 rainy season.

This strategy update for 2023-2027 will align San Benito County, the cities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista, and nonprofits in the region around priorities and projects that are important to the community.

On May 25, the Hollister Planning Commission unanimously approved the site and architectural applications for the construction of the 10-megawatt Stodola Battery Storage Energy System that will be built at the Gateway Center Subdivision.

California regulators say the state is unlikely to run short of electricity this summer, thanks to new power sources and a wet winter that filled reservoirs to restart hydroelectric power plants shuttered during the drought.

U.S. Representatives Zoe Lofgren, Jimmy Panetta and Salud Carbajal are encouraging Central Coast local and tribal governments, nonprofits, and institutions of higher education to apply to the U.S. Economic Development Administration for disaster supplemental funding.

The California Department of Social Services announced that individuals and families affected by the recent severe winter storms in San Benito, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Kern, Mariposa, Tulare, and Tuolumne counties could be eligible to receive Disaster CalFresh food benefits.

For most Californians, the sight of aircraft spewing neon pink liquid over flaming trees and brush has become a hallmark of aggressive wildfire suppression campaigns. But some forest advocates say the substance does more harm than good. A federal lawsuit could reshape how the U.S. Forest Service battles wildfires throughout the western United States.

It has been many years since water was released from the Hernandez Reservoir, and it would be natural for residents to worry when they saw water coming over the spillway, said Jason Ince, with the California Department of Water Resources Division of Safety.

In his initial climate budget proposal, the governor has cut about $561 million from local coastal resilience projects. Legislators, cities express concerns.

"It isn't just a slap of the Band-Aid," said one official. "This is going to take some time."

A number of climate researchers say recent storms appear to be typical of the deluges the state has experienced periodically and not the result of global warming.

VFW Post 9242 members, their wives, local business, clubs and churches helped northern San Benito County flooding evacuees on Jan. 4, and again Jan. 16 and 17.

Nestled in San Benito County’s rural expanse between Highways 5 and 25 lies a route traveled by a small populace and the bold few who seek New Idria’s decommissioned mercury mine.

Cell phones buzzed 10 seconds ahead of shaking in Northern California.

On Election Day, a tornado with wind gusts of up to 70 mph touched down in a rural area of Sacramento County near Galt. The Bee looks at how common tornadoes are in California, what causes them and how dangerous they can be.

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, trying to ease an insurance crisis that’s hurt rural California, has announced that all carriers active in fire-prone communities must incorporate his “Safer from Wildfires” program into their premiums.

According to the first in a series of reports to come from a consulting firm hired by California officials, PG&E’s efforts to improve wildfire safety are hindered by aging equipment, damaged power poles and hazardous trees that went undetected by the utility’s crews.

For those living in wildfire-ravaged regions, help might be on the way. Covered California recently announced an application window for victims of wildfires, as well as those who live in fire-prone regions, to apply for assistance.

The Community Services and Workforce Development announced residents can apply for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides discounts to families and households struggling to afford internet service. The program is funded by the FCC.

California faces the prospect of a drought-fueled summer of power shortages, hydroelectric plant shutdowns and rising electricity costs, a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration warns.

Some Californians have spent thousands of dollars trying to fireproof their homes to reduce their risk of burning. But taking those steps doesn’t prevent their premiums from ballooning, or keep them from being dropped by their insurance company.

The state of California has released an Extreme Heat Action Plan outlining a comprehensive set of state actions to adapt and strengthen resilience to extreme heat.

The Cal Fire Air Attack Base in Hollister now has an even greater defense going into this fire season: the S70i. Also known as the fire hawk, the chopper is the newest version of the Blackhawk and its capabilities are a turning point for fighting fires.

This year figures to be a bad one for California wildfires. The driest regions include parts of the North Bay area and the northern Sacramento Valley, each devastated by major fires since 2017.

Aerosols carried in wildfire smoke plumes that are hundreds of hours old can still affect climate, according to a study out of the University of California, Davis.

Winery owner and UC Santa Cruz chemistry professor Phil Crews teamed up with a group of researchers to conduct a study on how the taste of wine was affected by wildfire smoke.

Two California congressional representatives, Tom McClintock and Doug LaMalfa, have introduced legislation directing the U.S. Forest Service to suppress wildfires on national forest system lands and end the policy of letting fires burn.

Despite spending nearly $4.9 billion last year to prevent wildfires, PG&E Corp. still found itself responsible for the second-largest fire in California history. This year it promises to shell out almost $6 billion on its 2022 “wildfire mitigation plan.”

California’s wildfires have been burning hotter and longer. Cal Fire keeps records of acres burned, structures destroyed and human lives lost, but there are no records of how many animals die or are injured by wildfires.

Some plants and patches of Earth withstand heat and dry spells better than others. A new Stanford University study shows those different coping mechanisms are closely linked to wildfire burn areas.

To address the growing need for a competitive insurance market for farm owners, wineries, ranchers and other outdoor agricultural businesses, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has approved the FAIR Plan starting Feb. 1.