This is a column about how dysfunction in Washington is handing billions over to Wall Street while threatening thousands of jobs on the Central Coast. Just a year ago, Allergan shut its Goleta breast implant operation after it came under siege from corporate raiders, Activis, a New Jersey-based company that used an acquisition in Ireland Read More →
By Elijah Brumback / Friday, July 31st, 2015 / Columns, Real Estate / Comments Off on Oriental rug store may be razed for 4-story mixed-use project
The owners of Aga John Oriental Rugs want to demolish the company’s Santa Barbara retail store to make way for a new four-story mixed-use development. Located at 15 S. Hope St., just across from the La Cumbre Mall, the property was purchase by Aga John in 2005 from Wye Road Properties for $4.1 million. The Read More →
By Henry Dubroff / Friday, July 31st, 2015 / Columns / Comments Off on Dubroff: Facing long odds, Steve Westly preps for 2nd run for governor
During four years as California controller, former eBay executive Steve Westly was known for his innovative approach to making California’s creaky revenue system more efficient. Since leaving office in 2007, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist and former Tesla board member has mounted an unsuccessful primary effort to gain the Democratic Party nomination for governor. He Read More →
Craig Minus was recently elected president of the Coastal Housing Coalition Board of Directors as the organization marks a decade of advocating and creating opportunities to increase workforce housing on the South Coast. The appointment comes at a critical juncture as the supply of workforce housing has significantly decreased in the past several years, according Read More →
One of the biggest stories in Ventura County these days is the debate over the so-called “peaker plant” proposed by independent power producer NRG to replace a couple of aging power stations along the Oxnard coastline. And, when the Business Times editorialized in favor of building a peaker plant on July 17, we clearly created Read More →
With all of the talk about hacking of big business and government, it’s time for small business owners to access their own vulnerabilities and design a plan of action. If they do not tackle this head on, small business owners risk the possibility of significant financial loss, litigation or even business failure. Ignorance is not Read More →
By Guest commentary / Friday, July 17th, 2015 / Columns, Energy / Comments Off on Refugio oil spill shows companies haven’t learned lesson after 46 years
Why does our collective memory seem so short? The gorgeous coast where we live and work was despoiled by a massive oil spill 46 years ago and we vowed never to let it happen again. That was in 1969, when a Union Oil Co. platform six miles off the Santa Barbara County coast suffered a Read More →
