Quarries

After the city staff gave Azusa Rock Inc.'s quarry a clean bill of health in their annual review of the facility, planning commissioners Tuesday delayed approval of the quarry's operating permit at the request of environmentalists. Planning commissioners voted to continue the public hearing until Jan. 13 to give environmentalists time to review the city staff's report.

A newly created boxing panel has advised the state to reject a request to allow former heavyweight Jerry Quarry to return to the ring at age 45. Marlene A. Cummings, secretary of the Department of Regulation and Licensing, said she was leaning strongly toward accepting the panel's recommendation. The boxing panel was formed this week at the request of Gov. Tommy G. Thompson in the aftermath of a dispute over former junior welterweight champion Aaron Pryor's return to the ring last week.

It took a few years for the world to realize how powerful Craig Venter's blitzkrieg gene-hunting method would be for understanding the human genetic code. But when he modified his technique and moved on to microbes, the reaction was immediate. "The first dozen organizations into our Web site when we published the paper in July of '95 were every major pharmaceutical company in the world," Venter says with pride.

The Moorpark City Council will consider Wednesday whether to ask the county to severely curtail the expansion plans of a quarry north of the city. Blue Star Quarry, at 9035 Happy Camp Road, wants to expand its gravel-mining operation by 249 acres. In addition, the company, which also processes the gravel into concrete, wants to add an asphalt-mixing plant.

The City Council tentatively adopted a compromise agreement Monday to allow Azusa Rock Co. to continue mining Fish Canyon under a set of conditions that modify the quarry's 32-year-old mining permit. Under the ordinance's conditions, Azusa Rock will face limits on when and where it digs, the routes used by gravel trucks, city oversight of blasting and other provisions that give the city more control of the operation.

Jerry Quarry appeared at the California Athletic Commission meeting in Sacramento Friday, asking for a boxing license. The commission did not turn the 45-year-old heavyweight down, but it didn't give him what he sought, either. Quarry, who wanted to appear in a Sept. 15 sparring exhibition with former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes in Ontario, was instead issued a sparring permit. His proposed exhibition with Holmes would have been for five rounds, with 16-ounce gloves and headgear.

With the threat of litigation looming as large as the 800-foot scar on the hillside, the Azusa City Council has sought expert opinion to sift through the conflicting claims surrounding a controversial rock quarry. After a rancorous public hearing in which council members fought with each other, the audience and officials from neighboring Duarte, the council followed City Administrator Julio J.

A deadlocked vote by county supervisors has apparently derailed a proposed quarry for Merriam Mountain near Escondido, but the plan will get a second chance June 3. H. G. Fenton Materials Co. wants to mine about half of a 501-acre site north of Escondido, removing 50 million tons of rock over the next three decades. The company also proposes to build a freeway interchange on Interstate 15 for truck traffic at the quarry.

Most fishermen target certain fish by using certain baits, but they are never entirely sure what they'll catch. Gary Hatzfeld of Chino Hills was at Lake Skinner near Hemet on New Year's Day, fishing for trout with a silver spoon, when he hooked a 35-pound striped bass--a lake record. Although Skinner isn't known for giant stripers, Peter Gauci of Chino Hills had taken a 29-pound striper only five days earlier.

Mayor Eugene Moses said last week that the City Council will seek an impartial second opinion on whether to close Azusa Rock's quarry after the company's attorneys threatened legal action if a lawyer is selected from a list provided by an anti-quarry activist. Moses said the city administrator will add names to a list provided by activist Jim McJunkin. "We will look at McJunkin's list. If they are too pro-environment, we will look at other attorneys.