TO offers buyouts
The city of Thousand Oaks will offer buyouts to certain employees to offset a budget shortfall, following approval by the city council at its March 10 meeting. Council members also voted to appropriate up to $400,000 to pay for the buyout program, which can accommodate up to 20 employees who are at least 50 years Read More →
Amgen CEO gets pay hike
Amgen Chairman and Chief Executive Kevin Sharer saw his compensation rise 4 percent in 2008 to just under $13.8 million as the company’s stock recovered from safety issues over its anemia drugs and were bolstered by a possible osteoporosis treatment. Sharer’s base salary was $1.56 million — roughly $21,400 per week — and he earned Read More →
Hertel & Sons to file Ch. 7
After several creditors pushed it to file involuntarily for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, R.W. Hertel & Sons was ordered to do so March 11 by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central California District in Santa Barbara, according to court documents. Hertel & Sons, which built more than 1,100 homes in the Tri-Counties, has been the Read More →
Embezzlement charges reach $1.3 million in SB County
Two Santa Barbara County women have been arrested on charges of embezzling a combined $1.3 million in recent days. Angela Phillips, a 37-year-old Montecito resident, was arrested March 11 on suspicion of embezzling $850,000 from her employer, Windsor Capital Group, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department. In a separate incident, sheriff’s officials arrested Read More →
Projects on bubble as budget gridlock ends
Expect a lot more potholes now that the state legislature has plugged California’s $42 billion budget gap. Infrastructure officials and state workers are breathing a tentative sigh of relief after the budget compromise. But road maintenance stands to take a huge hit, projects remain uncertain, and state workers still aren’t sure whether their jobs are Read More →
Westridge assets still in freeze
A federal judge in New York kept the assets of Santa Barbara-based Westridge Capital Management frozen March 3 while the FBI investigates its two New York-based principals for allegedly swindling more than $550 million from investors. Officials remain tight-lipped about Westridge as well as Santa Barbara men James Carder and Mark Yeager, who apparently ran Read More →
