Meltdown shows what happens when trust disappears
It’s becoming clearer that the events of September 2008 will go down as some of the worst in Wall Street history. Consider, if you will, recent comments by a couple of people who represent some of the best thinking on this subject. Writing in a note to investors, David Decker, portfolio manager for Janus Contrarian Read More →
Commercial brokers have sober view of sales, vacancies, leases
The tri-county commercial real estate market can expect to see rising vacancies and dwindling sales numbers and asking rates in 2009, according to several recent reports. Radius Group Commercial Real Estate, Hayes Commercial Group and NAI Capital all published market outlooks for the new year indicating that the pendulum is swinging from landlords to tenants. Read More →
Oil spill
The 40th anniversary of the Santa Barbara oil spill, widely credited with helping give birth to the environmental movement, would not seem to be a time to pay some new respect to the free enterprise system. After all, the Jan. 29 offshore spill, which polluted beaches in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, led to a Read More →
Harbor, 101 power past recession
While the overall economy struggles to gain altitude, here are two signs of improvement. First, a turnaround at Channel Islands Harbor. The latest development is the hiring of Lauterbach Associates, an Oxnard-based architecture firm, to transform the Port Royal restaurant site into the new home of the Ventura County Maritime Museum. Relocating the museum is Read More →
Am-Pac acquired for $75M
Simi Valley-based Am-Pac Tire, a nationwide wholesale tire distributor, was bought by Investcorp Bank BSC’s U.S. unit, American Tire Distributors, Jan. 27 for $75 million. Investcorp is a Bahrain-based buyout, hedge fund and property firm. The company said in a statement on the Bahrain Stock Exchange that the acquisition will enable American Tire to offer Read More →
News-Press case dismissed
Federal labor officials on Jan. 23 dismissed five unfair labor practices charges that Ampersand Publishing, parent of the Santa Barbara News-Press, filed against newsroom union representatives. The filings stem from the union’s attempts to persuade News-Press advertisers to boycott the newspaper. The News-Press accused union representatives of bad-faith bargaining and breaking laws in their boycott Read More →
Cottage gets $3M donation
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital garnered a second substantial gift from Montecito residents Stephen and Toni Haselton for $3 million. This recent Haselton donation comes at the close of the not-for-profit hospital’s largest fundraising effort ever — a five-year drive to raise $100 million to support its rebuilding. Since the campaign’s launch in 2004, the Haseltons Read More →
