The Times has changed their site, again. Now you must pay to read the articles. Go to San Mateo County Times website to get the articles. I'm in the process of taking out the old links that no longer work.

Articles from 2002 2001 2000

August 20, 2003

SFO slashes runway fees

Justin Jouvenal

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday slashed landing fees by 50 percent for airlines that begin service to new cities. The move is a bid to lower fares and make the struggling airport more competitive in the region. The fire sale already has showed dividends as low-cost carrier AirTran Airways announced Tuesday it will add two flights between SFO and Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport over the next seven months.

July 25, 2003

Lantos announces security grant

Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, announced Thursday that the federal Department of Transportation will give San Francisco International Airport more than $13 million in grants to improve safety and security at the airport.

June 26, 2003

Science solid on runways, but more study needed

Justin Jouvenal

SAN FRANCISCO -- Despite $75 million and five years of work, studies for San Francisco Airport's runway projects contain uncertainties that make it difficult to assess the project's full impact on the Bay, an independent panel of scientists reported Wednesday.

June 21, 2003

Report highlights impact runway construction would have had on Bay

Justin Jouvenal

More than 200,000 pounds of toxic chemicals could be released into the Bay during construction of new runways at San Francisco Airport, according to a report released Friday. The 5,000-page study is the most detailed scientific analysis to date on the recently canceled plans to fill 300 to 900 acres of the Bay for new landing strips.

May 31, 2003

Business leaders want runway project saved

Justin Jouvenal

County and Bay Area business leaders are calling for San Francisco Airport's runway project to continue, saying it would be "throwing away" the public's money to cancel the project now. The move is a last-ditch effort to save the beleaguered project, which SFO's top official announced last week would be shelved because of the airport's financial woes and a lack of political will to move it forward.

May 22, 2003

SFO kills runway project

Justin Jouvenal

SAN FRANCISCO -- After five years and $75 million, the politically charged and controversial plan to fill up to a square mile of the Bay for new runways at San Francisco International Airport is dead, airport officials announced Wednesday. The project, which environmentalists called an ecological disaster and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown looked on as his legacy, was a victim of the airport's financial woes and heavy political turbulence.

May 17, 2003

S.F. supervisors strafe runway study request

Justin Jouvenal

SAN FRANCISCO -- A city supervisor accused San Francisco Airport's top official of breaking the law as a hearing on the airport's budget and the future of its runway project hit severe turbulence Friday. While often contentious, the relationship between the Board of Supervisors and airport officials hit a new low that seemed to throw any new funding for the runway project into serious doubt.

May 16, 2003

Runway project to be scaled back

Justin Jouvenal

Plans to build multi-billion dollar runways in the Bay at San Francisco Airport are slowing to a near-halt after SFO spent five years and $75 million on the controversial project. Airport Director John Martin has suspended most work, citing the airport's economic difficulties, uncertainty in the aviation industry and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' reluctance to release funds for the project.

May 7, 2003

Official seeks to hold up runway money

Jean Whitney

SAN FRANCISCO -- With the air-travel industry brought nearly to its knees first by the terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001, and then the war on Iraq and the SARS scare, San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin said Tuesday that "it's a no-brainer" that expanding the runways at San Francisco International Airport should not be a priority. Peskin heads the Finance and Audits Committee that is set to vote today over whether to move on allocating more money toward a $125 million