Recession catches up to ag – Citrus, wine feel global slowdown
If life gives you lemons, sell them and be glad you didn’t get high-end wine grapes. That’s the takeaway from recent updates from tri-county agriculture veterans and experts. Lemon prices will probably be down this year, and high temperatures mean the third paltry California avocado crop in a row. But with wine consumers trading down Read More →
Players in the online game – Presidio Sports fills a niche on South Coast
Presidio Sports founders Blake Dorfman and John Dvorak stepped up to the plate last year to provide Santa Barbara with more sports coverage, and they’re hoping to score in a tough market. The former Santa Barbara News-Press sports reporters co-founded the Web site of sports news and features in September 2008, knowing that starting an Read More →
Scholar, engineer, magician
Just a few months shy of 10 years ago, I arrived in the Santa Barbara area to start what would become the Pacific Coast Business Times. I was introduced to Paul Glenn, an investor and philanthropist, who graciously hosted a lunch for me and several area business leaders. Glenn said at the time that he Read More →
Bank sues contractor, alleging his home is not his house
Some heavy accusations are being thrown at a well-known area contractor by a Santa Barbara bank. According to a lawsuit filed in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, David Lack of David Lack General Contractors and Bank of Santa Barbara are tangling over the matter of Lack’s house. Or, rather, the house Lack appears to lack. Read More →
State budget farce as 10-penny opera
What will a smaller state government look like? What if it is $24 billion-a-year smaller? Those are the questions being debated in Sacramento these days. And no one is more important in that debate than Assemblymember Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo. Blakeslee recently was elected minority leader of the assembly and from that perch he Read More →
A well-deserved retirement
During our nine years in business, we’ve gotten to know Jim Lokey, first as president of Mid-State Bank & Trust and later at Rabobank, which acquired Mid-State a couple of years ago. During his time at Mid-State, Lokey worked closely with Chairman Carrol Pruett. He and his team helped build Mid-State’s branch network across the Read More →
Cal Poly could furlough
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, may force all employees except university police to take two unpaid days off a month in a 10 percent pay to cut deal with a budget crunch, The Tribune reported. The cuts come as other state schools are struggling with their own shrinking budgets as state dollars evaporate. Read More →
