To keep up to date with this breakdown of news in the United States and Canada, visit www.AggMan.com for daily updates.

By Therese Dunphy, Editor in Chief

Arizona

In early February, a bipartisan vote of the state Senate endorsed a three-year hike in the state sales tax. The YumaSun.com reports that — if approved — the tax increase would help forestall more than $900 million in annual cuts throughout the next three years as the state faces an anticipated deficit of $3.4 billion next year. During the debate, Sen. Rebecca Rios (D-Apache Junction) led an effort to extend the 1-percent point hike to taxes paid by the mining and sand and gravel industries. She pointed out that mining has a 2.5-percent tax levy on extracted minerals while sand and gravel is taxed at a 3.2-percent rate. She said the industries should be “good corporate neighbors” and contribute their share. Lawmakers rejected her proposal.

California

Cemex announced that it will permanently shut down its cement plant and quarry on Santa Cruz County’s North Coast. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that the 133-year-old operation was temporarily closed last March and company officials said it would reopen when cement demand improved. “Unfortunately, market conditions have not improved and the company has made the very difficult decision to permanently shut down operations,” Cemex Vice President of Human Resources John Andrews wrote in a letter to employees. The facility employed approximately 120 people.

California

Vandals damaged four large pieces of equipment at quarries owned by Graniterock near Davenport and Felton, according to The Monterey County Herald. Authorities say the damage could cost as much as $400,000 to repair. Employees reported the damage after finding that someone apparently poured a powdery substance in the motors and transmissions of the heavy equipment, including three bulldozers and one excavator. Graniterock President Bruce Woolpert told the newspaper that he is aware of at least one other Felton area company that sustained similar damage.

Colorado

By a 3-0 vote, El Paso County Commissioners approved a special use permit that will allow Lafarge to expand its operations there, despite neighbor opposition. According to KRDO.com, the company has agreed to make more than $1 million in improvements to boost safety at the I-25 exit ramp near its operation. Steve Brown, Lafarge’s director of land management for the Western U.S. Region, told the television station that the company has agreed to conditions that would require extensive groundwater monitoring. It also has a reclamation plan for lakes or reservoirs on the property. The 15-year project will take place in two phases, with the first phase being reclaimed upon completion of its mining.

Illinois

The Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers will present its Illinois Teachers Workshop July 19-21 at the Chestnut Mountain Resort in Galena. Titled “Rocks, Minerals & Mining in Today’s Society,” the seminar will offer creative ways to teach earth science for elementary and high school students. Lectures, as well as hands-on activities, will be offered. For more information and a registration form, visit the association’s Web site at iaap-aggregates.org/workshop.htm. Registration is limited to the first 35 teachers.

Massachusetts

A news release from the Conservation Law Foundation says that environmental advocates hailed the release of the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan as a giant step toward achieving enduring stewardship of the state’s ocean waters and described it as a “critical first building block for the Obama Administration’s effort to develop a National Ocean Policy built around regional ocean management plans.” The foundation and Mass Audubon praised the plan’s scope and substance, particularly its strong protections for special, sensitive, and unique marine resources, noting that 11 categories of ocean wildlife and habitat areas are “particularly vulnerable to certain ocean uses such as sand and gravel mining and construction on the seafloor.”

Massachusetts

A news release from the Conservation Law Foundation says that environmental advocates hailed the release of the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan as a giant step toward achieving enduring stewardship of the state’s ocean waters and described it as a “critical first building block for the Obama Administration’s effort to develop a National Ocean Policy built around regional ocean management plans.” The foundation and Mass Audubon praised the plan’s scope and substance, particularly its strong protections for special, sensitive, and unique marine resources, noting that 11 categories of ocean wildlife and habitat areas are “particularly vulnerable to certain ocean uses such as sand and gravel mining and construction on the seafloor.”