The Third District Supervisor race in Santa Barbara County caught our eye recently when the topic of finding new homes for UC Santa Barbara spinout technology companies came up. Bruce Porter, a West Point alum and stockbroker, has suggested a more comprehensive effort to link UCSB technology startups to communities in north Santa Barbara Read More →
While California’s political class is salivating over the thought of tax windfalls and a spending spree, the state’s employers are coughing up $1.7 billion in payroll taxes this month to put a small patch over the state’s insolvent unemployment fund. That enormous haul was enough to close just a fraction of the $8 billion the Read More →
Baxalta, we hardly knew ya. Just six months after it was spun off from parent Baxter International, Baxalta, a major employer in East Ventura County, is to be sold to Shire, an Irish firm. The future of some 1,200 employees in Westlake Village and the Newbury Park area of Thousand Oaks is now uncertain, as Read More →
Chipotle is an iconic consumer brand that until recently stood for hip, healthy and high-quality fast food for a high-tech generation. But lately, the Denver-based restaurant chain has been devastated by health-related problems, including a series of E. coli incidents. The once favored spot for a new generation is looking about as relevant as a Read More →
Ventura County firefighters are a dedicated bunch. Once again, they made their point, proving over Christmas weekend that their ability to fight fires and protect private property are unmatched on the Central Coast. The so-called Solimar Fire broke out early in the morning of Dec. 26 and quickly jumped Highway 101, threatening beachside enclaves. The Read More →
The climate change accords signed in Paris this month have been a vindication of Gov. Jerry Brown’s view of a less carbon intensive economy. That is no small accomplishment, which vindicates San Luis Obispo County’s decision to embrace “Big Solar” and efforts in Ventura County to combine industrial-scale solar with waste recycling to reduce carbon Read More →
Federal regulators should stop dragging their heels and release requested information about the oil pipelines that run through the Tri-Counties immediately. Business Times staff writer Alex Kacik reports in this issue that the Environmental Defense Center has filed a lawsuit against the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, alleging that the agency is refusing Read More →