Paso
After more than 30 meetings about water, Paso Robles Mayor Frank Mecham hopes that just two more will do the trick. Mecham is vying to persuade residents that a proposed water rate increase is worth it to secure a reliable source of water for the city. The increase would help pay for water infrastructure improvements, Read More →
Hard lessons for surviving economic troubles
On Friday, Oct. 10, I had the honor of delivering the keynote address to the annual meeting of Coastal Business Finance, a nonprofit organization that helps small businesses get financing on the Central Coast. It was a sunny afternoon in Santa Maria and I was trying to strike an upbeat note as the stock market Read More →
Wood & Bender attorneys go on tour to discuss AIG issues
In the wake of the federal government’s $85 billion seizure of insurance giant American International Group, or AIG, Wood & Bender, a Ventura-based firm that specializes in helping companies wrench claims from their insurers, has gone on tour to explain what it all means and how companies can boost their chances of getting insurers to Read More →
Joy of cooking – Business teaches urban-style skills in San Luis
Within a bland industrial park on the edges of San Luis Obispo lies a converted warehouse, which is home to The Garden’s Kitchen, the complex’s most unlikely tenant. A couple of times a week, owner Ashleigh Hutchison teaches themed cooking classes in what she calls “an urban dwelling where friends and food come together.” But Read More →
Campus housing in the Tri-Counties continues to grow by leaps and bound
On the Central Coast, there’s one big exception to the industry-wide slowdown of the residential real estate market: university housing. Area colleges are planning, building or opening dormitory projects that could add more than 8,500 beds to the region’s student housing stock and 2,500 faculty and staff residential units. Cal Poly California Polytechnic State University, Read More →
California, Iceland caught in economic meltdown
Iceland and California are two places you don’t often find mentioned in the same sentence. But they are part of the reason why mayhem in the financial markets shows no sign of quieting down anytime soon. California’s budget problems are well documented in these news pages. This newspaper warned just a few weeks ago that Read More →
Montecito commission OKs Miramar plan
Construction on a the new Miramar Hotel in Montecito could begin in January unless the renovation plan approved Oct. 8 is appealed to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors within the next two weeks. The Montecito Planning Commission approved plans to rebuild the derelict beachfront hotel near Highway 101. However, opponents still could appeal Read More →
