News Articles

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• Smiles & Scowls
  
  The Californian.com, December 16, 2009
  
  Smiles to the employees at Granite Construction who took $40,000 budgeted for their annual
  Christmas party and used it instead for helping the needy during the holidays. For a second year in a
  row, the company chose to donate the money to charity rather than spend it on itself.
  
  These community agencies each received between $5,000 and $7,500 from Granite: Food Bank for
  Monterey County, Dorothy's Kitchen, Alliance on Aging, Second Harvest Food Bank, Five Star
  Catering Holiday Party, Watsonville Police Activities League and the Santa Cruz AIDS Project.
  
  Talk about a corporate citizen thinking globally and acting locally.
  
  
  
• Granite project will benefit all
  
  North County Times | LETTERS: The Californian, Oct. 25, 2009
  
  I was a Granite employee from 2003 to 2008, and I got to see firsthand the type of company they are. They are a company of values, concerns and responsibilities. At Granite, multitasking and responsibility are a daily action for all. I grew up in Orange County and always thought that I would never move out near the desert.
  
  But working for Granite gave me the ability and will to move forward in these very tough times. So, my family and I moved to Murrieta in 2007. The schools and people here are great.
  
  Yes, times are tough for us and everyone else, but times have to change, and Granite's Liberty Quarry project will help everyone. Their goals and values will benefit all.
  
  Jeff Bradley
  
  Murrieta
  
  
  
• Company shaves off 20 acres for a "reduced footprint"
  
  By AARON CLAVERIE - aclaverie@californian.com | Friday, July 24, 2009 11:04 PM PDT
  
  The Californian Editor's note: This article is one in an occasional series on the Liberty Quarry draft environmental impact report.
  
  To appease the county's Planning Department and help secure approval of plans for a quarry near Temecula's southwestern border, Granite Construction has redesigned its project so that the quarry produces roughly the same amount of aggregate each year from a smaller site.
  
  Granite officials said this week that the smaller site ---- called a "reduced footprint" in the bulky draft environmental impact report that was released Monday ---- was crafted, in part, to achieve two key objectives:
  
  (Click here to read the full story)
  
  
• Draft environmental report points to smaller mine in Temecula area

  BY JEFF HORSEMAN - THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE | 10:53 PM PDT on Monday, July 20, 2009
  
  A gravel quarry planned for the Temecula-area foothills would have "significant and unavoidable" effects on air quality and traffic, but not building the quarry would still lead to pollution and truck-filled roads, according to an environmental study released Monday.
  
  (Click here to read the full story)

• Temecula's annexation of area around proposed quarry site vetoed
  
  http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_annex05.4a28289.html
  
  There is a video.
  
  BY JEFF HORSEMAN - THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE | 11:22 AM PDT on Friday, June 5, 2009
  
  A commission that sets municipal boundaries for Riverside County on Thursday night rejected Temecula's plan to annex nearly 5,000 acres, a decision that for now keeps alive a granite quarry proposed for the area.
  
  (Click here to read the full story.)

• Quarry Foes Fail at Land Grab
  
  BY DAVID KELLY - LOS ANGELES TIMES | Friday, June 5, 2009
  
  The city of Temecula is denied annexation of parcel near ecological reserve that would hold the proposed pit.
  
  (Click here to read the full story.)
  

• EDITORIAL: Panel should not stand in path of Riverside County quarry
  OUR VIEW: Annexation a thin cover to kill quarry
  
  By the North County Times Opinion staff -- opinion@nctimes.com | Wednesday, June 3, 2009 12:10 AM PDT ∞
  
  Across the county line from North County, the city of Temecula is out to expand dramatically and will
  present the case for its annexation of 5,000 acres before a Riverside County agency on Thursday.
  
  If the area southwest of Temecula was seen as part of the city's natural growth area, all would be well
  and fine. But it is not.
  
  (Click here to read the full story)

• EDITORIAL: Panel should nix Temecula annexation bid
  OUR VIEW: Land grab may end up costing taxpayers
  
  By The Californian Opinion staff “ calopinion@californian.com | Wednesday, June 3, 2009 12:10 AM PDT ∞
  
  Few issues in Southwest County have elicited as emotional a response as a bid by Granite Construction to build a quarry in the hills southwest of the city.
  
  Public opinion is almost universally against the quarry; Temecula City Council members denounced the proposal long ago. But council members have done more than denounce it: They have crafted a legislative end run around it.
  
  (Click here to read the full story)

• Liberty annexation rebuffed by boundary agency staff

  Fallbrook Bonsall Village News
  Valley News Staff

  Friday, May 29th, 2009.
  Issue 22, Volume 13.

  Backed by a detailed analysis, staff of a Riverside County boundary-setting agency is recommending that Temecula’s bid to block a proposed surface mine by annexing 4,997 acres of granite-strewn hillsides be rejected next week.
  
  A recently-released report by George Spiliotis, executive officer of the Local Agency Formation Commission, concludes “there is no compelling reason” to shift jurisdiction over the area from the county to the city.
  
  (Click here to read the full story)
  

• LAFCO rejects City of Temecula annexation request for Liberty Quarry area
  
  BY Joe Naiman - Village News Correspondent
  Friday, May 29, 2009
  Issue 22, Volume 13
  
  UPDATE: June 11
  
  Riverside County’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) voted 5-2 June 4 to reject the City of Temecula’s request to annex approximately 5,000 acres of unincorporated Riverside County, including the site of the proposed Liberty Quarry.
  
  (Click here to read the full story.)

• QUARRY PLAN - Temecula land grab hits snag
  
  BY JEFF HORSEMAN - THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE | Friday, May 29, 2009
  
  Temecula’s intentions to ban open-pit mining could stymie its effort to annex nearly 5,000 acres
  that includes the proposed site of a granite quarry.
  
  In an 18-page report released Thursday, the staff of a boundarysetting agency recommended
  against the annexation of the hilly, rock-strewn land that includes the 414-acre site of the
  proposed Liberty Quarry.
  
  The report said any decision about the quarry should be made by the Riverside County Board of
  Supervisors, which currently has jurisdiction over the land, because the operation would affect
  people and commerce beyond Temecula’s borders.
  
  (Click here to read the full story.)

• Report: Temecula's land grab plan hits snag over quarry
  
  By JEFF HORSEMAN - The Press-Enterprise | 11:14 PM PDT on Thursday, May 28, 2009
  
  Temecula's intentions to ban open-pit mining could stymie its effort to annex nearly 5,000 acres that includes the proposed site of a granite quarry.
  
  In an 18-page report released Thursday, the staff of a boundary-setting agency recommended against the annexation of the hilly, rock-strewn land that includes the 414-acre site of the proposed Liberty Quarry.
  
  (Click here to read the full story)

• TEMECULA: Report slams city's annexation plan
  Request called "atypical"
  
  By AARON CLAVERIE - aclaverie@californian.com | Thursday, May 28, 2009 8:36 PM PDT
  
  TEMECULA ---- The city's bid to annex 5,000 acres on its southwestern border was dealt a blow
  Thursday when a report was released that recommends denial of the request.
  
  The report, which calls the city's request "atypical," was written by George Spiliotis, executive
  officer of the Local Agency Formation Commission, and two of the commission's local
  government analysts.
  
  (Click here to read the full story.)

• Temecula’s Land Grab Comes with Heavy Price Tag

  Fiscal impact report finds City’s proposed annexation would further drain badly needed tax dollars
  
  TEMECULA, CA (May 22, 2009) – The City of Temecula’s bid to seize nearly 5,000 acres of undeveloped land would cost taxpayers, siphoning off money from City coffers already depleted by plummeting tax revenues, according to a report released and submitted Thursday to the Local Agency Formation Commission
  
  (Click here to read the full story.)

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