Memorial Day is the traditional kick off to the summer tourism season on the Central Coast. This year will be different. With airport schedules sharply curbed, cruise ships not sailing, entertainment venues shut and restaurants just figuring out what reopening will look like, the short-term looks pretty bleak. As months progress and things get sorted Read More →
The decision of how fast to reopen the regional economy presents difficult choices for our elected officials. No where is it more complex than in Ventura County, where management of COVID-19 incidents has been commendable and so far the first steps toward opening have been reasonably well executed. Moreover, Ventura County’s economy, which has labored Read More →
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 →
With no sign of a quick return to health for retail and tourism, universities going virtual and signs of reshoring for manufacturers, some of the contours for a post-pandemic economy are beginning to emerge. The numbers are striking — even before the full impact of Nordstrom and others closing stores takes effect. Before the pandemic, Read More →
This article is only available to Business Times subscribers Subscribers: LOG IN or REGISTER for complete digital access. Not a Subscriber? SUBSCRIBE for full access to our weekly newspaper, online edition and Book of Lists. Check the STATUS of your Subscription Account.
For Santa Paula entrepreneur Clint Garman, the eponymous tavern he ran for more than a decade was never about the Guinness he poured or the happy hour specials he served. It was, he told me, “about bringing people of all cultures together under one roof. About bringing conversation back to the table.” With conversations muted Read More →
May 5 being Giving Tuesday, my inbox has been filled with emails from worthy charities reaching out for funding. This year’s appeals take on additional urgency give the state of the economy, stock market volatility and what could be a decline in giving. Among the more recent items that caught my attention was a $5,000 Read More →