San Francisco

Bay Area’s rapid rail finally extends to airport

A nearly 7-mile extension connecting the San Francisco Bay area’s rapid rail system to the city’s airport is opening today, three decades after the project began.

Bay Area Rapid Transit trains will roll directly into San Francisco International Airport, picking up and dropping off travelers at the international terminal for a fraction of the cost of a cab ride — a $4.70 ride to downtown, compared with a $40 taxi fare.

Opposed at times by politicians, environmentalists and airlines that worried about their share of the cost, the project endured fits and starts after it was first proposed in 1972.

Construction began in 1997 but at one point was halted for 18 days — costing BART more than $1 million — after an endangered California Garter Snake was found squashed on a construction road.

In all, the extension project finished two years later than projected and cost more than $1.4 billion.

San Francisco

Senator won’t replace governor if he’s recalled

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., eliminated herself Saturday as a possible replacement for Gov. Gray Davis, who is facing a recall drive rapidly gaining momentum.

Feinstein, the Democratic nominee for governor in 1990, had been considered the strongest potential Democratic candidate. But party officials have long been urging prominent Democrats to stay off the ballot, insisting the governor should be allowed to stave off the recall without facing challengers from his own party.

Recall supporters claim to have gathered 800,000 signatures in favor of an election to recall Davis, who won a second term in November.

The recall is being backed largely by donations from Rep. Darrell Issa, a socially conservative multimillionaire who wants Davis’ job.

Colorado

Boy, 11, accused of shooting father after argument

An 11-year-old boy was arrested Saturday after he fired five shots at his father following an argument over chores, hitting him once in the chest with a .357 magnum, police said.

The bullet that struck Steve Worley failed to break the skin, said Fountain Police Chief John Morse. Worley, a police officer in nearby Colorado Springs, was treated at the hospital and released.

His son was being held at a juvenile facility on suspicion of attempted murder and possession of a handgun by a juvenile. The gun was not Worley’s service revolver, but he had trained his son to use it and it was not locked away, Morse said.