Fraud verdict for former Countrywide unit
[wikichart align=”right” ticker=”NYSE:BAC” showannotations=”true” livequote=”true” startdate=”23-04-2013″ enddate=”23-10-2013″ width=”300″ height=”245″] A fraud verdict against Bank of America and its former Countrywide unit – once a major employer in East Ventura County – has handed the U.S. government a rare victory in a lawsuit that stems from the subprime mortgage meltdown and subsequent financial crisis. A Manhattan Read More →
Amgen profits leap in third quarter
Shares of Thousand Oaks-based Amgen climbed past the $117 mark in after-hours trading Oct. 22 as third-quarter results blew through analyst forecasts with profits rising 24 percent. The world’s biggest biotech company reported a profit of $1.37 billion, or $1.79 per share, on revenue of $4.75 billion. Analysts were forecasting revenue of $4.6 billion and Read More →
Heritage Oaks to buy Mission Community for $56M
Paso Robles-based Heritage Oaks Bancorp is buying Mission Community Bank of San Luis Obispo for $56.4 million in cash and stock, the firms announced Oct. 21. Under the terms of the deal, Mission Community shareholders will get $8 million in cash and about 7.5 million shares of Heritage Oaks stock. The deal is valued at Read More →

Paso looks to future after long-delayed step toward 11 AVAs
The TTB designates viticultural areas to help vintners better describe the origin of their wines and to inform consumers about wines they might purchase.

First coffee, then the world: Teeccino breaks into breakfast market
After spending the past 18 years growing the leading coffee alternative product in the country, Carpinteria-based Teeccino is expanding into the fast-growing health foods market.
Precision agriculture is a timely idea, but profits may not grow fast
Farmers are a skeptical lot. And Ventura County farmers have good reasons to be skeptical. They, and their counterparts in the Tri-Counties, grow high-risk, high-yield crops on relatively small plots of land surrounded by housing developments and urban areas. They are subject to heavy regulations on fertilizer, pesticide and water use. Particularly on strawberry fields Read More →









