Dubroff: Race for Lois Capps’ House seat mirrors national politics
Columns, Latest newsOnce a gerrymandered district known as the “ribbon of shame” for wrapping up Democratic strongholds, the safe House seat held for two decades by Democrat Lois Capps is looking more and more like national politics in microcosm. Capps’ decision not to run in California’s 24th Congressional District created a wide open field that was narrowed Read More →
Fraud charges cap sad demise of Melchiori
Editorials, Higher Education, Latest news, Opinion, Real Estate, TourismIt was an iconic company among general contractors and its rise marked a pivot point in Santa Barbara’s emergence as a hub for tourism and technology in the 1990s. Ugo Melchiori, an immigrant from Northern Italy, turned skills as a craftsman into a business that, beginning in the late 1980s, was nearly as powerful as Read More →
Dubroff: C-Suite shift at Deckers Brands fitting exit for Martinez
Columns, Latest newsAs you read this column, one of the legendary business leaders in the Tri-Counties will be headed into retirement. Sort of. Angel Martinez, 60, the strategist who charted a growth path for Deckers Brands and helped turn the region into a hub for fashion forward design, said just before Memorial Day he’ll be stepping down Read More →
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 →
