December 30, 2025

		

Editorial Department


| Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Editorial: Finally, signs of life in the housing market

Opinion

The housing market is sending a few positive signals — a welcome development, though not enough to conclude that a sustained recovery is yet at hand. The latest reports from DataQuick show home prices across Southern California are recovering from last year’s depressed levels, as the drop in sales volume has leveled off. Double-digit gains Read More →

| Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Down, but not out: Santa Maria plots its comeback

Top Stories

The Santa Maria Valley economy has suffered blows from many sides: 3,500 construction jobs have evaporated, a motion picture special-effects house with Oscar-nominated work has signaled its intention to leave town and, earlier this month, a UPS call center announced it would lay off 270 workers. But economic forecasters say Santa Maria — with its Read More →

| Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Property management software smackdown hits Santa Barbara

Top Stories

The two biggest players in residential property management software, Santa Barbara-based Yardi Systems and Texas-based RealPage, are locked in an arms race of acquisitions. And both have taken note of the threat posed by Santa Barbara-based AppFolio, an upstart backed by the founder of one of the South Coast’s most successful software firms. Yardi, one Read More →

| Monday, May 17th, 2010

Recession taking its toll as builders file for bankruptcy

Columns

Well-known Santa Barbara contractor David Lack has filed for both business and personal bankruptcy, listing a total of $2.6 million in debts for his firm and $3.1 million for himself. But Lack’s is just one in a flurry of filings that have rushed through the region’s bankruptcy court in recent months — many smaller construction Read More →

| Monday, May 17th, 2010

Greening the coast, world at UCSB

Columns

If it’s spring it must be summit season at UC Santa Barbara. Two recent events put on by UCSB underscore how important a player the campus has become in the convergence of energy and the environment now being called “sustainability.” Both the Corporate Partners Summit at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and Read More →

| Monday, May 17th, 2010

K-Swiss loses a factory

Top Stories

For the past two and a half years, Westlake Village-based K-Swiss has been trying to transform itself from a staid, shield-logoed company that introduced the first leather tennis shoe at Wimbledon in 1966 into a cutting-edge footwear brand. It’s put millions of dollars into developing and marketing specialized shoes for triathletes and runners, investments that Read More →

| Monday, May 17th, 2010

Editorial: Greece could be our future

Opinion

We can’t let the European-led rescue plan for Greece pass without a note or two about California. Obviously the excesses of the regime in Athens run closely parallel to the excesses of the various regimes in Sacramento. Too many civil servants make too much money. Too little time has been spent on telling the truth Read More →