Green jobs are no cure-all for the economy
ColumnsJust as President Barack Obama was delivering his Oval Office speech promoting a green jobs agenda as part of the next administration push, a report from California Lutheran University economist Bill Watkins was hitting the office printer. The message from Watkins was sobering. Green jobs are costly to produce, the opportunity is limited and, most Read More →
Banks adapt by changing their ways and revamping their looks
ColumnsThe financial crisis rocked the very foundations of the banking world — and going forward, it may change the way banks look from the ground up, too. Few people can better speak to that than Elisa Garcia, owner of Garcia Architects in Santa Barbara. She specializes in banking design; if you live in the Santa Read More →
Editorial: Santa Barbara, stand and be counted
OpinionThe city of Santa Barbara is the latest among the region’s cities to review and update its general plan. The next public meetings are on June 22 and June 23 at 630 Garden St. This is a chance to create a denser, more energy efficient and more prosperous city that better attends to the needs Read More →
Editorial: Capps steps up on Gulf oil spill
OpinionU.S. Rep. Lois Capps usually is content to capably represent her district and stick to her strengths on issues such as education and health care. But in her response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster on the Gulf Coast, she’s demonstrated real leadership — and proven to her constituents in the 23rd Congressional District that when Read More →
Limoneira refinances its loans on planned Paso Robles project
ColumnsLimoneira Co. has refinanced debt on Windfall Farms, its large San Luis Obispo County real estate development. The Santa Paula-based citrus and avocado grower increased its Windfall Farms debt held with Farm Credit West to $13 million, from $10.5 million outstanding, and extended the maturity date to May 1, 2013, according to filings with the U.S. Read More →
A mid-year update from the newsroom
ColumnsIn just a few weeks, June 30 will roll around on the calendar and the second half of the year will begin. That’s why I’m going to take a bit of a timeout this week and give you an update from the newsroom on developments for the rest of 2010. As you can tell from Read More →
Learning hard lessons: Meier regroups, writes again after selling Writers Conference
Women Inc.Marcia Meier has been knocked around by the publishing world enough times by now to know how to navigate it. That’s because the former owner of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference has learned about writing and publishing — and business — the hard way. Meier, who makes her living as a writing coach, recently released Read More →
