Watkins: California’s budget surplus thanks to stock market, not Brown
California is adding jobs faster than the national average, and the state has a budget surplus for the first time since the dot-com bubble burst in 2000. That’s led to some glowing national press for Gov. Jerry Brown, including a Rolling Stone article that called his budget turnaround a “miracle.”
Bain Capital debt strikes sour note at Guitar Center
With rumors swirling of an ownership change at debt-laden Guitar Center, all eyes will be on whether the Westlake Village-based company reversed its sagging online sales over the critical holiday season.
Thousand Oaks law seminars focus on big questions in biotech
Organizers promise a steady progression from relatively anodyne topics like 3-D printers and intellectual property to touchier subjects, such as genetically engineered salmon, how animals are treated in biotech research and what ethical and legal obligations biotech researchers have when they appropriate and commercialize molecules traditionally used by indigenous cultures.
As big-box firms slash stores, uncertainty for Tri-Counties
Radio Shack plans to close up 1,100 stores around the U.S. and Staples, the largest office-supplies company in the U.S., said it would shutter 225 stores nationwide in a plan to cut costs by $500 million.
Big firms check in to Santa Barbara hotel boom
A Philadelphia company’s $41.7 million purchase of Hotel Oceana in Santa Barbara signals that large out-of-town investors are betting on a major boom in South Coast tourism.
Angling for change: Bren School startup serves up new model for sustainable seafood
A team of UCSB graduate students has created an online marketplace where restaurants and fishermen can connect directly to buy sustainable, traceable seafood.
