Water woes: Publishing of nitrate data at issue
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Ratings agencies unfazed as county pension costs rise
Despite dire warnings that future pension costs could cause a fiscal meltdown for tri-county governments, credit ratings for Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo county bonds remain mostly unaffected by looming gaps in their retirement obligation funding.
Standard & Poor’s, a leading rating agency, ranks all three counties near the top of a scale that spans from its highest AAA to C, the lowest rating a bond can have without defaulting. Santa Barbara County carries the agency’s second highest AA-plus designation. Ventura County is assigned a slightly lower AA-rating this year and SLO County is ranked AA-minus.
Gills Onions looks to biogas for future revenue
Steve Gill, president and co-founder of Gills Onions in Oxnard, said at an energy sustainability seminar in Westlake Village Oct. 23 that the next big technology push for his company will be to convert solid onion waste into methane gas to be sold as biomethane. That is a product that will be in demand as Read More →
Paso looks to future after long-delayed step toward 11 AVAs
The TTB designates viticultural areas to help vintners better describe the origin of their wines and to inform consumers about wines they might purchase.
Massive retail and apartment project in Goleta is under way
Developer Westar Associates has broken ground on Hollister Village, a mixed-use project in Goleta that will include 266 apartments and a shopping center.
After years in the planning process that included fierce opposition from some neighborhood activists, Costa Mesa-based Westar secured approvals for the project at Hollister Avenue and Glen Annie Road in October 2012.
Banking on downtown SLO: Heritage Oaks buys former Union Bank building
The multimillion-dollar sale of a prime property in the heart of the Central Coast’s busiest downtown comes amid a flurry of building activity that had some developers bidding on the lot in hopes of developing the bank building’s adjacent parking lot, which faces the corner of Marsh and Osos streets. But the timing was too good for Heritage Oaks to pass the location up, said Simone Lagomarsino, the bank’s CEO.
