NEWS BRIEtrS

Eight Calif. firms (including Kaiser Cement and American Cement) have been charged with price fixing and, conspiracy by Bohannan Bros., Inc., a bankrupt No. Hollywood ready-mix concrete concern. Southusest Forest Ind,u,$ ries is acquiring Carolina Pacifrc Plywood, Medford, Ore., in an involved exchange of stoek.,.

Olympic Stain Co., Seattle and Tacoma Millwork Supply have been acquired for an undisclosed amount by Comerco, Inc., a new, priaately held entity headed by C. A. Black, president, and C. D. Weyerhaeuser, board chairman

Collin Lovesee recently sold 20/o oI Boy d,- Lou ese e Lurnb e r Co., Riverside, Calif ., to manager George 1'. Champion ... the wooden pallet industry set a proiluction and, sales record Ior the lfth year in succession: 115,009,000 pallets Lumber consumed {or pallets in 1968 exceeds 2,875.225,000 bf....

Pope & Talbot, for cash-no amoGrt given-has bought the outrtanding stock of Boundary Sawmills, Ltd.. in B.C. Included are two sawmills and cutting rights to 1.5 million acres of Canadian timber San Bruno Lumber, San Bruno, Calif. has fin. ished the extension to their yard builditrg..

,\ll Arcadia sliding glass doors, will now be equipped with tempered glass, the move by the biggest mfgr. of such doors was done for safety reason s . , American black ualnut trees are now being grown by the thousands in Australia a nt'I. survev bv the asphalt shingle industry .how. *hite is still the favorite color, tho rustic colored shingles are gaining popularity. ..

Bldg. Material Dealers Credit Assn., is trying to protect those whose inventory was abnormally high on inventory tax day -Mar. l, due to Spring floods; some Calif. legislators seem sympathetic, want to avoid the state getting a tax winillall lrom llaoil d,isaster. Contact BMDCA in Los An. geles, see if you can supply nee&d info..

Boise Cascade's Union Lumber Region plans to build a $6 million particleboard plant in Mendocino County, Calif., production due to start in '7I Hillsid,e Ce. d,ar Supply, Puyallup, Wash., has been purchased by George F. Comber, formerly with Nalos Lumber Ltd., and Mauk Lum. ber Proilucts of Seattle

The Interbr Dept. has made partial reimbursement for lands taken for the redwood nat'I. park; $I8.2 million for Arcata National Corp. and $4.1 for Georgia-Pa. cific Simpson Timber says it will desigr and manufacture air pollution control equipment.

Latest housing start figures in Calif. show Feb. sagged 3O/o below the average of the last 3 months in '68. Handymnn Home Center had a great opening for their new Beaverton, Ore. store, the largest selfservice bldg. mtls. store in Ore.; they have 100,000 sq. ft. under eover Thc Canndinn govl, to encourage new building and rehab work, is seriously considering re. duction or complete elimination of some sales taxes on bldg. mtls.

Weyerhaeuser has ok'd a 2-for.I stock split and has authorized ner,v shares to be held for future acquisitions the m,obil.e home industry posted unprecedented growth in Feb., retail sales up 56/o, Lactory shipments up 34/o. SP has ordered 900 Hydra-Cushion box ears and 70 loco. motives, cost: $36 miUion. Redco Systems, Inc., Seattle maker of lumber and plywood drives, memory systems and coranters, is 15 years old

Palmer C, Leuis, bldg. r,ntls. wholesaler in the N.W. and Alaska reports record sales & earnings for their fiscal year ended

Jan. 3I Euans Prcd,ucx Co. says theh first quarter sales & earnings were at a record high. . Kaiser Cement net earnings in the first guarter dropped, to 6l per share from tlle 9$ per share they did in the same period in '68

Progress towards a wood d,om.eil, stod,ium is being made in Seattle; Seattle Building Advisory Board has ok'd code ehanges needed, fire dept. has acknowledged timber's superior fire performance , citry council must now decide sales oL Arrnstrong Cork building products in '68 reached a record level for the lgth consecutive year. ..

Fourteen Hoo-Hoo-Ette clubs from Ariz., Calif. and Ore. will meet at Mt. Shadows, Scottsdale, Ariz., May 16-18, for their nt'l. convention , Wm. D. Hagenstein, exec. vp., Industrial Forestry Assn., was on NBC's Tod,ay Show spreading the gospel on the need to cut more.federal timber and why.. .Westwood Proiltrcts, .Inc., Salem, Ore., says they'll do more than $l million thisyear...

Natipnal Assn, ol Homa Builders'metropolitan housing forecasters see nothing but a slight rise in housing starts over last year's 154 million mark . Wesley L. Hubbard, president, Hwbbard & Iohnson Lumber Co., reports the purchase of O'IYeill & E[iE! Inc., San Jose, Calif. . . Senator Warren G. Magnuson (D-!lrash.,) charged the Interstate Cotnmerce Commissinn with delaying to raise boxcar rates under three' year-old Public Law 89-430

Dean I. Hacketq general manager, Mt. Adarns Veneer Co., Randle, Wash., startled a Senate subcommittee with the report thal excluding Alaska, I0 billion board ft. of dead, lumber is rotting away yeaiy in western states national forests . . . Boise Cas. cad,e Corp. announced a net earnings increase of BB/o, up 62Q in the first quarter of 1969 compared wi$, 346 for the first three months of 1968 . B.C. also started new plant building throughout the west in first quarter 1969.