June unemployment drops in region, still historically high
Unemployment rates in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties all dropped in June, but all three remained in double digits, and worse than the nadir of the Great Recession a decade ago, according to data released July 17 by the California Employment Development Department. Ventura County’s unemployment rate was 12.6 percent in June, Read More →
Several tri-county companies got at least $5M in PPP funding
At least a dozen companies in the Tri-Counties received more than $5 million each in Paycheck Protection Program funding since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released July 6 by the Trump administration. The companies’ names were listed because of the size of the loans they took out. All companies who took Read More →
Tri-county businesses adapt to COVID-19’s new reality
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Tri-Counties accelerate reopening but under strict guidelines
All three of the Tri-Counties are now allowed to reopen places of worship, hair salons and barber shops, as of amendments to state guidelines on May 25 and 26. The new guidance comes almost a week after the region was approved, almost uniformly, to go into accelerated reopening. More industries can reopen, including dine-in restaurants Read More →
Tri-county medical care providers adopt healthy practices
Many medical offices in the Tri-Counties never closed during the coronavirus pandemic. As essential parts of their communities, they needed to stay open to serve patients with non-COVID-19 matters, such as helping people recover from surgeries or keep their eye sight. Many practices whittled down the number of people they were seeing to only the Read More →
Reopening will not be easy, but it can be done
The pain from the COVID-19 pandemic will be here for a while, but we can learn from it. That was a theme of a UC Santa Barbara economic webinar examining the effects of COVID-19 on Santa Barbara County and what that means going forward. The May 7 webinar featured four local experts on subjects ranging Read More →
Our view: Lompoc prison COVID-19 outbreak should be investigated
The outbreak of COVID-19 cases at the federal penitentiary in Lompoc is giving the region’s otherwise stellar record for flattening the curve a black eye. A recent letter from legislators and Santa Barbara County supervisors asking the state to carve out the Lompoc prison COVID-19 cases from the rest of the region for purposes of Read More →
