Copper theft bill clears state senate

A proposal to make it easier to find people who steal copper and aluminum has cleared the state senate. Senator Rob Mayer’s legislation requires extensive improvements in record-keeping by scrap yards and others who buy used copper and aluminum.

Mayer, who is from Dexter, calls the thefts of copper and aluminum a "horrible problem." His bill sets up a tracking system to find the thieves that use salvage yards as places to turn a profit on their thefts.