Wet gold
TechnologyWater supply has been a critical issue throughout the history of the American West, but in an age when global warming concerns and an increasingly complex water distribution system create new challenges for regulators the world over, Mark Twain’s words — “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over” — have renewed meaning. In Read More →
Rejecting Measure B is crucial to city
OpinionWe’ll go ahead and put the Business Times officially on the record as opposing so-called Measure B height limits for the city of Santa Barbara. We’ve generally been opposed to the more onerous of these measures, whether they cropped up in Ventura or San Luis Obispo. And there are really sound business reasons why unreasonable Read More →
Rivals, regulators wait for PCBC results
Personal FinanceAs the end of the third quarter approaches, Wall Street is focused on one number in Pacific Capital Bancorp’s results: tier one capital. After Sept. 30, the region’s largest independent banking company and parent of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust will have to show federal regulators that it’s raised its all-important tier one leverage ratio, Read More →
Your right to know
OpinionThe Business Times Web site received quite a bit of flak from our recent story on a bankruptcy filing involving Montecito’s Klink family. We’ll take a minute to state something that should be obvious — a bankruptcy filing is a public document, which provides any media outlet with an absolute privilege to publish the information Read More →
Let them eat cupcakes
Small BusinessCall it comfort food if you will, but cupcakes may just be the perfect recession-proof little indulgences. In the Tri-Counties, cupcake bakeries – or cupcakeries – have proliferated over the past two years, and their owners say they’re only getting more popular. Maybe it’s because the HBO series “Sex and the City” shows its characters Read More →
