Michael Cabanatuan

As part of an effort to save Big Sur from its own growing popularity — fueled in part by social media — U.S. Forest Service officials are considering requiring reservations at popular spots like Pfeiffer Beach and clamping down on now-unrestricted camping areas. Known for its spectacular views of the rugged Pacific shoreline, towering redwoods and the scenic drive along winding and landslide-plagued Highway 1, Big Sur has always drawn crowds, particularly in the summer, to visit what has become…

The main runway at Sonoma County Airport reopened Friday afternoon after a sinkhole was repaired. The sinkhole, discovered after the last flight on Thursday had landed, closed the runway for about 16 hours and disrupted two commercial flights on Friday. The runway reopened at about 2 p.m., said Daniel Virkstis, a county spokesperson. Repairs to the 12-18 inch sinkhole were completed by 10 a.m. but were not reviewed and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration until 2 p.m. The runway closu…

The seemingly endless battle over public access to Martins Beach in San Mateo County will continue after a Superior Court judge decided last week that the California State Lands Commission has cause to sue and set a trial date for next year. But before then, on Sept. 9, the court will consider a motion to throw the case out, said Sheri Pemberton, a Lands Commission spokesperson. The case pits surfers, beach lovers and the state against billionaire tech executive Vinod Khosla, who bought the land…

The talk of the town in Orinda — the small, affluent city nestled on the eastern side of the wooded Berkeley Hills in Contra Costa County — is not about a recent spate of home burglaries or the downtown movie theater going dark two nights a week to save on electricity. Instead, the buzz is all about the California home insurance crisis — a far drier subject, but a particularly dire one in Orinda. Like many others statewide, Orinda residents have been hit by major insurance companies notifying c…

BART’s slant-nosed legacy fleet of trains said their final farewell to the Bay Area on Saturday as thousands of people — from folks who rode the first train in 1972 to BART officials and self-described transit nerds from across the country — gathered in Oakland to celebrate the trains. Three of the trains made their final journeys, heading to Fremont before returning to the Hayward yard en route to a wrecking yard, where most of the original cars will be ground up and recycled. Saturday was a ha…

Authorities in Sacramento are investigating the cutting of a cable that interrupted internet access Thursday and caused delays at Sacramento International Airport. They believe the cutting was intentional. According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, an AT&T aerial internet and phone line was cut, affecting internet communications to at least one airline — Southwest — at the airport. The airport alerted travelers to the outage at 5:07 a.m. and said it was causing delays. The line, locate…

Four consecutive weekends of highway closures — two weekends for each direction — are coming to busy Highway 37 between Vallejo and Sears Point. The first set of closures, scheduled for the weekends of April 12 and 19, will fully shut down the westbound side, starting at the Highway 29 junction near Mare Island and extending to the Highway 121 junction at Sears Point. All closures will begin on Friday at 9 p.m. and continue until Monday at 4 a.m. During the westbound closures, drivers in Vallejo…

A United Airlines flight that departed San Francisco International Airport bound for Paris turned around just short of the Canadian border Thursday night and headed for Denver International Airport after the flight crew reported trouble with one engine. The incident, on Flight 990, was the latest in a series of mechanical and operational problems that have plagued United in the past few weeks, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to order a safety review last week. String of incidents:…

From a blown-out Boeing 737 Max door on an Alaska Airlines flight to a string of incidents involving United Airlines planes, including a wheel falling off during takeoff from San Francisco International Airport, the recent travails of aircraft manufacturer Boeing and air carrier United have raised safety concerns among travelers. Both companies are receiving close scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Administration. Depending on how those separate reviews proceed, one air travel expert said, opera…

Commercial air service, already on the rise at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, got another lift this week when Alaska Airlines announced a new direct flight to and from Las Vegas. The flights will start Oct. 1, the airline said Thursday, and will make Las Vegas the airline’s seventh nonstop destination out of the Wine Country airport. News of the additional flight comes on the heels of upstart Avelo Airlines’ announcement last month that it will offer four new nonstop flights in May, ma…