Balance the state budget
In the train wreck that is the California state budget, one of the biggest fiscal derailments concerns the creation of a new class of highly paid bureaucrats. Quoting a recent survey by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Ventura County Taxpayers Association reports that state workers’ salaries have increased by an eye-popping 37 percent in just Read More →
Vaya con Dios, Padre Virgil
The South Coast has lost a symbol of its history almost as familiar as the Old Santa Barbara Mission itself. Father Virgil Cordano took on the persona of the mission padres in his brown, flowing robe and wide-brimmed hat. He died May 22 after a series of ailments at the age of 89. Read More →
Partnership needed for bridge barrier plan
Plans to build a suicide-prevention barrier on the Cold Springs Bridge at the San Marcos Pass in Santa Barbara County have ranged in price from $605,000 to $3 million. Forty-three suicides – 31 in the past 25 years – have been committed by men and women leaping from the scenic, 400-foot-high bridge on Highway 154 Read More →
Props. 98, 99 don
California needs to reform eminent domain. However, it appears both of the eminent domain measures – known as Proposition 98 and Proposition 99 – on the June 3 statewide ballot are unsupportable. Eminent domain allows governments to seize private property with proper compensation to allow for projects “in the public’s interest.” Many property owners have Read More →
Way to go Moorpark High students
Moorpark High School teacher andacademic decathlon team coach Larry Jones and members of his team are to becongratulated for winning another national title. This is the third national title forMoorpark High School, having won National Academic Decathlon titles in 1999 and2003, with all three under Jones. The team from Moorpark won the nationaltitle with a Read More →
More bad times ahead for South Coast Paper
Even though daily newspapers across thenation are suffering from the loss of subscribers and plummeting advertisingrevenues, the Santa Barbara News-Press should not blame all of its troubles onthose factors. Sure, the paper faces labor and legaltroubles, but these were brought on by mishandling of employee relations and aneventual purge of almost all editors. News-Press Co-publisher Read More →
Museum without walls
While the actual building still is on the drawing boards, a lot is going on at the Discovery Center for Science and Technology, which is based in Westlake Village for now. When completed, the 58,000-square-foot center will feature interactive exhibits, demonstrations, workshops, touring exhibitions, a training facility for teachers and a science park. Visitors will Read More →
