New labor rules may create permanent underclass of businesses
Columns, Latest news, Small BusinessAmerica’s small business owners are a resilient group. We’ve put up with increased regulation, the financial crisis, the credit crunch, unsound fiscal policy and political gridlock. But since 2004, the total number of U.S. small businesses has been in decline – there have not been enough new business starts to replace companies that were sold Read More →
Charges, lawsuits Plains’ Refugio oil spill legacy
Editorials, Latest news, OpinionOne year later, the Refugio oil spill remains in the headlines amid rising costs and the first of what could be a series of criminal misconduct charges. Plains All American now faces a 46-count indictment at the state level for a May 2015 incident that spilled 21,000 gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean. The Read More →
Labor secretary defends new overtime rules
Latest newsWASHINGTON, D.C. — Labor Secretary Thomas Perez mounted a vigorous defense of the administration’s new overtime rules, saying objections by universities and retailers are overblown. In remarks to business journalists, Perez said the rules, which go into effect Dec. 1, are designed to play catch up with standards that were “manipulated” in 2004. He said Read More →
Dubroff: Plains prosecution either carefully crafted or grandstanding
Columns, Energy, Latest newsThere are two ways to look at the May 17 announcement that Plains All American Pipeline will face criminal charges over last year’s Refugio oil spill. During a press conference that made national news, California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley said that a California grand jury had indicted Read More →
Settlement reasonable amid political pressure
Editorials, Latest news, OpinionMaybe there’s not a major Supreme Court decision lurking in every case that’s in the headlines. That’s our takeaway from the court’s order to litigants in Zubick vs. Burwell, a case involving nonprofits seeking an exemption from the Affordable Care Act’s mandate to provide coverage for contraception. Among those seeking relief was Thomas Aquinas College Read More →
Dubroff: Creating CSU satellite campus makes sense for Santa Maria
Columns, Higher Education, Latest newsSometimes it only takes a single slide to make your point. So when Allan Hancock College President Kevin Walthers began his May 6 talk in Santa Maria, the first image was an eye-opener. It said “California’s Higher Education Desert” and 300 North Santa Barbara County leaders who attended the UCSB Economic Forecast Summit early that Read More →
One year later, Plains still dragging feet over oil spill
Editorials, Latest news, OpinionNearly a year after a Plains All American pipeline broke, spilling an estimated 123,270 gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean and disrupting tourism along the California Coast, there has been little progress in resolving the underlying issues that led to the region’s biggest environmental disaster in decades. Plains All American has proved adept at Read More →
