News Articles

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• ECONOMY: Unemployment edges higher as governments and schools shed jobs
  Inland Empire rate hits highest level since 1990
  
  By PAT MAIO - pmaio@nctimes.com | Posted: Friday, August 20, 2010 9:33 pm
  
  Unemployment rose in July in San Diego County and the Inland Empire as local governments and schools shed thousands of seasonal jobs, forcing the unemployment rate to its highest level in 20 years for the two-county Riverside-San Bernardino region.
  
  Some economists characterized the unemployment rise as a "blip" that may vanish by the time September rolls around, and local school districts have rehired their seasonal workers.
  
  U.S. census workers fueled a rise in joblessness in June, and now with the July figures, the unemployment rates have jumped for a second consecutive month in the region, the economists said.
  
  (Click here to read the full story)
  
  
• San Diego County Charged with Highest Aggregate Prices in the State
  As local sand and gravel production dwindles, area projects are also hit by rising fuel costs for imported construction materials
  
  By MANDY JACKSON CREJ Staff Writer
  
  With an increasing reliance on sand and gravel supplies from outside the region, construction aggregates cost more in San Diego County than anywhere else in the state.
  
  Nearby quarries are closing, and the permitting process for new mining operations is not keeping pace with demand. Meanwhile, contractors are getting sand and gravel from sites farther and farther away, adding diesel fuel costs to aggregate prices.
  
  According to the state Department of Conservation's California Geological Survey from 2006, western San Diego County has 198 million tons of aggregate reserves remaining out of the 1.16 billion tons needed for the next 50 years. That would amount to a 10-year supply if contractors in the region only used aggregates from San Diego-area quarries.
  
  (Click here to read the full story)
  
  
• FORUM: Quarry will improve region's environment
  
  By VINCE DAVIS -- Temecula | Posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010 12:01 am
  
  In an area as environmentally conscious as Southern California, you'd think the opponents of the proposed Liberty Quarry would be more open to a project that reduces traffic, improves our freeway interchanges and embraces new green technologies to make local trucks run cleaner.
  
  Instead, these opponents stubbornly claim that the quarry will increase air pollution and truck traffic, regardless of the facts. But as someone who has actually read the draft environmental impact report for the project, I can say these statements are not true. The construction of Liberty Quarry was deemed the "environmentally superior" option to no quarry at all.
  
  (Click here to read the full story)
  
  
• A Look Back: Granite has a long history in Temecula area
  
  By VANESSA EBBELING - Special to The Press-Enterprise | 10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, March 20, 2010
  
  The discovery of high-quality granite in the Temecula area in the late 19th century was a boon for the region's economy as local quarrymen worked to feed building booms throughout the state.
  
  Proprietors in the early 1880s noted the quality of the Temecula area's granite and the ease at which it could be harvested. Because the granite rested on top of the ground instead of in quarries, no digging was necessary to harvest the stone.
  
  (Click here to read the full story)
  
  
• Quarry promises economic boost
  
  By Jeff Bradley - The Press-Enterprise | 10:00 PM PST on Friday, January 15, 2010
  
  I and thousands of workers who once earned a good living in construction are unexpectedly unemployed and caught in a downward financial spiral.
  
  My family and I moved here because of the promise of great schools for my son and in the hope that I would be rehired by Granite Construction after working 4½ years for the company.
  
  My family trusts Granite. We know the California-based company has a proven record of good working conditions along with fair pay and benefits.
  
  My hope for a new job at the proposed Liberty Quarry has been dampened by misplaced opposition to this important project.
  
  (Click here to read the full story)
  

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