Caruso’s Miramar hotel revival gets OK to begin construction
The controversial multimillion-dollar revival of the Miramar Hotel and Resort in Montecito is moving forward after the Montecito Water District allowed developer Rick Caruso to increase the size of the project’s water meters. The MWD initially denied the newest iteration of the long-debated Miramar project because of the district’s severe water shortage. The issue at Read More →
Dubroff: UCSB vice chancellor takes expertise to Berkeley lab
When Mike Witherell moved back to UC Santa Barbara in 2005 to become vice chancellor for research, he left behind a job running Illinois-based Fermilab, one of the world’s leading places for research into high energy physics. Now, after helping to forge much closer ties between the university, corporate funders and spinoff companies, he’s moving Read More →
SLO company helps growers manage water use
Hortau Irrigation Management Systems drummed up funds for new research and development, allowing it to take its technology to the Pacific Northwest. Headquartered in San Luis Obispo, the agriculture technology company completed a third round of financing in two years, netting $10 million. With the money, Hortau hired additional staff in Washington state and plans Read More →
Obama’s Asian trade strategy could keep China in check
Striding confidently across the tarmac at the Palm Springs International Airport on Feb. 16, President Barack Obama was leaving what has become his favorite winter getaway spot with a bit of swagger. He had just come from a press conference where he argued that he, not the GOP-controlled Senate, held the constitutional high ground in Read More →
Downtown SLO development raises issue of building heights
The San Luis Obispo City Council gave a preliminary nod to the concept of a mixed-use development slated for the heart of downtown SLO. It was not a formal action, the developers were just looking for feedback prior to submitting a final project. While the development isn’t necessarily pivotal to SLO’s economic vitality, the conversation Read More →
Artisan winemakers star at Solvang Garagiste Festival
The winemakers who gathered to pour at the Garagiste Festival in Solvang on Feb. 13-14 are mostly unknown in the marketplace, have limited equipment of their own and produce in such small quantities that financially, as one artisan told me, “it’s not for the faint of heart, to put it mildly.” This is the world Read More →
New app helps travelers reduce carbon footprint
A new app created by a Santa Barbara travel shop owner caught my eye when I walked into Vita Travel on Feb. 5 because it seems like the perfect app for eco-conscious Millennial travelers. Greg Bellowe created VitaExplorer as a way to force people to think about their impact on the environment when they travel. Read More →
