Editorial: A tasty billion as CKE goes private
It’s always hard to swallow the loss of a publicly traded company. But that’s what happened on July 12, when CKE Restaurants went private after tossing in the napkin and agreeing to be gobbled up by an affiliate of Wall Street financier Leon Black’s Apollo Management empire. We’ll take a minute to wish CEO Andy Read More →
Editorial: Time to heal after trauma center debate
After a sometimes contentious fight, Ventura County has the framework for a trauma care system in place. In recent weeks, the county Board of Supervisors approved Level II trauma centers for Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura and Los Robles Medical Center in Thousand Oaks. That gives both the east and west counties a designated Read More →
Editorial: EDV-VC advances small business agenda
Ventura County scored a coup of sorts last month when the Economic Development Collaborative of Ventura County was granted the contract to run small business training programs. The programs, put together under the Small Business Development Center umbrella, are operated out of the Long Beach Community College District. In our region, the EDC-VC will keep Read More →
Editorial: Shared sacrifice
Unions hate making concessions. The very purpose of a union is to secure better pay and benefits for its members. The idea of lower compensation is usually a non-starter. That’s why it’s refreshing to see so many public-sector unions in the Tri-Counties accepting wage and benefit concessions. In some cases, unions have agreed to reductions Read More →
Editorial: Santa Barbara DA talks tough on white-collar crime
For the first time in recent memory, white-collar crime is going to be a top priority of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s office. That’s the word from newly named Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley, who already has designated one of her deputies, attorney Gordon Auchincloss, as her point person on the white-collar Read More →
Editorial: Pacific Capital deal moving along
There are signs that the $500 million investment by Ford Financial Fund into Pacific Capital Bancorp is inching forward. An increased offer to bondholders has met, we understand, with positive responses from a large group of investors. The expiration of TARP funding this fall means the U.S. Treasury might be highly motivated to swap its Read More →
Editorial: Small business is the real key to fixing state
A California Forward meeting for Ventura and Santa Barbara business leaders on June 16 provides a useful marker for how far California has come toward real reform — and how far it needs to go. Over the past several years, voters have overhauled the state’s method for drawing districts and, thanks in part to Lt. Read More →
