The bids are in for the Devil’s Slide Tunnel, and the Chronicle is reporting that at $272 million, the lowest bid is $32 million higher than Caltrans estimated it would cost. That doesn’t include the bridge and highway realignment at the south entrance, which bring the total to $330 million.

The good new is that low bidder Kiewit Pacific says they can get it done in four years, not five. Construction begins next summer. Since we were expecting the tunnel to be done in 2011, it’s not clear that the four-year completion estimate gets the tunnel here any sooner.

The crab season began today, once crabbers and processors agreed to a market price of $1.85/lb, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The Sentinel is also reporting that more fishermen are turning to crab to offset their losses in the salmon business.

The earthquake in Japan caused some big waves on California’s Coast this afternoon. The peak of the wave activity is believed to be over, but the National Weather Service says that surge waves of 1 to 3 feet and traveling at 30mph have been observed at northern and central California tide guages.  Crescent City Harbor reported a surge wave of 6ft that caused extensive damage at the harbor.

We’re organizing a cleanup for Saturday, November 18. Earlier this year, Coastsider adopted the northbound stretch of Highway 1 from Montara to Gray Whale Cove and we need some help cleaning it up.  If you’ve ever wanted to do something to support Coastsider, this is your opportunity to give us a hand.

If you’re interested, you can either email Barry using the link on the left-hand navigation column, or add a comment on this story by clicking the "comment" link below the headline.  We’ll send you an email with the details.

The plan is to meet in the Montara Water and Sanitary District parking area (just South of the lighthouse on the West side of Hwy #1) around 11am.

Coastsider will supply the equipment and refreshments.

Crab fisherman are deciding whether to hold out for more money from processors, reports the Chronicle.

Local crab fisherman this morning are deciding whether to accept the $1.75 per pound price being offered by processors. Dungeness crab season legally begins Wednesday, but fishermen are allowed to start throwing out their pots today.

The groups that represent crab fisherman in San Francisco, Bodega Bay and Half Moon Bay were weighing the offer, which is 40 cents less than they originally asked for and 15 cents less than what they say they now want.

Last year’s negotiations delayed the start of the season by two weeks.

Don’t like artichokes as much as you used to?  Maybe it’s because the ones you’re likely to get at the store are the new, cheaper, tasteless variety, reports Julia Scott in the County Times.

The board introduced the first annual seeded artichokes, the most popular of which is known as the imperial star, to farmers in the early 1980s. The new plant had a lot of obvious benefits. The annuals could be planted closer together than the globes, producing double the amount of the globes at 900 cartons per acre. Whereas globes took a year to reach maximum yield, the seeded chokes could be harvested in six months, leaving space to grow lettuce and other cash crops on the same land for double the profits. They weren’t dependent on the cooler, Mediterranean climate globes need to thrive.

The only difference was quality. The seeded chokes were cheaper, but far less tasty. Their leaves were thinner than the pulpy globe’s. But over the years, geneticists have worked hard to change that and to replicate every other aspect of the globe artichoke, down to the thorns that crown each leaf.

The article includes interviews with Coastside farmers John Giusti and Joe Muzzi.  Muzzi spoke on this topic at the Committee for Green Foothills event a couple of months ago.  It was one of many eye-opening things we learned that day.

The last day for in-person Little League sign-ups is Wednesday, November 15 from 7 to 9pm at Round Table Pizza in Half Moon Bay. Or you may sign up online. Please bring with you:

• $115 registration fee for ages 7 to 12
• $135 registration fee for ages 13 - 15
• Proof of player age, if new to Little League (note: CYA Instructional baseball is NOT affiliated with Little League)

Tryouts will be held at Smith Field on Saturdays, Dec. 2nd and Dec. 9th at times to be announced. The regular season runs from March 30 to June 10.

James V. Fitzgerald, creator of the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and a longtime San Mateo County Supervisor 1960 to 1980, died on Monday at the age of 87, reports Julia Scott in the County Times.

An avid scuba diver and snorkeler, Fitzgerald took action to protect the delicate marine reef at Moss Beach that later became his namesake after a team of marine biologists from Stanford University approached him about protecting the area in 1969. Back then, the site was overrun with visitors who would steal starfish and other pieces of sea life to take home with them, and motorcyclists who sped over the bluffs above.
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Preserving open space was important to Fitzgerald, but he wasn’t one to stand in the way of progress when he deemed it important. He was part of a slim majority of supervisors who voted to replace the Dumbarton Bridge in the late 1970s, overriding objections from environmentalists who were attached to the two-lane drawbridge that preceded it. He was also part of a controversial vote to build a four-lane bypass highway near Devil’s Slide on Highway 1, but the decision was overturned by a subsequent group of supervisors.

Fitzgerald was involved in the creation of San Pedro Valley Park in Pacifica, San Bruno Mountain State and County Park, Wunderlich Park in Woodside and Junipero Serra Park in San Bruno and Coyote Point marina and rifle range.

Caltrans will open bids for the Devil’s Slide tunnels contract at 2pm Tuesday Nov 14. A webcast of the event will be available on the Caltrans web site.

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District will hold an interactive "Issues & Opportunities Public Workshop" on Thursday, November 16, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. at the La Honda Elementary School in La Honda to assist the District in developing a resource protection and visitor-use plan for the nearly 5,800-acre La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve.

In 2004, the District kicked off the master planning process for La Honda Creek Preserve with two public workshops. The planning process was postponed in early 2005 to allow staff to focus on the purchase of the Driscoll Ranch property as an addition to La Honda Open Space Preserve so that it could be formally incorporated as part of the project.  Staff has also been working on completing a detailed assessment of the Preserve’s roads and trails; expanding the available fisheries information for creek corridors, analyzing the costs and benefits of grazing; and compiling highway transportation data.  This information, combined with a detailed biological resources inventory, will allow the District and the public to develop an ecologically sound plan.

At the November 16 workshop, the public will have a much larger area to consider than the original 2,042-acre La Honda Creek Preserve because the District purchased the 3,681-acre Driscoll Ranch, located southwest of the Preserve, earlier this year. With the integration of Driscoll Ranch, La Honda Creek Preserve will now encompass nearly 5,800 acres and become the largest District preserve in San Mateo County.