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A web-like substance was seen falling from the skies across the Central Coast Wednesday morning. The sticky and fluffy substance has been seen falling in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. It is reminiscent of spider silk, but that has not been confirmed to be the source. Wednesday's winds were coming from the east across the mountains. So far, the substance was reported in Hollister, Santa Cruz, Salinas and Monterey. If you have seen the substance falling, you can send photos and videos to KSBW by uploading them here: ksbw.com/upload.

Paine's Restaurant and Bar in Hollister is staying open despite San Benito County being in the San Joaquin Valley Region which is under a regional stay-at-home order from the state. Advertisement Restaurant owner, John Kouretas, says he’s staying open to make sure his employees remain employed and can pay their bills. "If you lock it down, they have no place to go," Kouretas said. "How are they going to survive?" Kouretas said he has spent at least $10,000 outfitting an outdoor patio and if he's forced to close, his 40 year business may go under. But he's most concerned with...

The FBI asked for the public’s help Monday in identifying people who have severed underground fiber-optic cables throughout the Bay Area. Over the past year, vandals have used tools to intentionally cut the cables in Berkeley, Fremont, Alamo, Walnut Creek and San Jose in 10 separate incidents, most of which happened in the middle of the night, said FBI Special Agent Greg Wuthrich. The cost of the damage was not discosed. The FBI is coordinating the investigation, which involves several local law enforcement agencies, Wuthrich said. The cases are not related to a mysterious rifle attack on a Pacific Gas...

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has set an ambitious plan that requires a third of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020. But a fight over where to build large clean-energy projects is slowing the green revolution. Credit: Alyson Hurt, NPR One of these battlegrounds is Panoche Valley, ringed by rolling, scrub-covered hills. Located in California's rural San Benito County, the area was used mostly for cattle grazing, and it has escaped the notice of many Californians. Until now.

San Benito’s new water tower to commemorate singer-songwriter SAN BENITO — El Be-Bop Kid will be celebrating his 67th birthday in grand style on Saturday. Freddy Fender, one of the city’s claims to fame is scheduled to take part in a ribbon-cutting and lighting ceremony for an elevated water storage tank recently built here. An image of the singer-songwriter is painted on the tower with the inscription, "Hometown of Freddy Fender." The tower is the last of a three-phase $32.4 million project that includes a water treatment plant and a wastewater system improvement project. The San Benito native was born...

A tearful Frances Flores was jailed Friday after Judge Ben Euresti sentenced her to seven years in prison for stealing funds while she was San Benito’s municipal court judge. As she was being sentenced, Flores, 49, said she did not steal the money. Flores will be held at a location to be determined by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. “I made a big mistake,” she said. “I failed myself and the citizens of San Benito. I did not take $743,000. I did favors, a lot of favors.” Euresti has made no ruling on whether Flores must make restitution as...