Roundup: Alaska Air canceling flights to/from Alaska & West Coast; Toronto transportation reopened; Beijing Drum Tower perspective

Airline news | If you are flying to Alaska today, double check the status of your flight. Alaska Air has canceled 41 flights between West Coast cities and Alaska due to ash from a volcanic eruption in the Aleutian Islands on Thursday. The Anchorage Daily News reports that the inconvenience comes from a shift in the wind that carried the ash plume from the North Pacific to the Panhandle. Read: Volcanic ash prompts flight cancellations

> What to do: If you have tickets on Alaska Air to/from Anchorage, Fairbanks, or Southeast Alaska through Aug. 17, 2008, and are affected by the volcanic ash cloud, change fees will be waived if new/rescheduled travel is on/before Aug. 24, 2008. Call Alaska Air (800) 252-7522. Check your flight status here.

Toronto explosion follow-up | Thousands of residents who evacuated their homes Sunday because of the explosion at a propane facility were allowed to return home Monday. However, a quarter of the area continues to be closed off to residents because of asbestos debris. Toronto Star has a list of the streets that are still closed off by police.

> Transportation: Toronto Transit Commission has resumed full subway service. The Yorkdale, Wilson and Downsview subway stations that were closed have reopened. Go Transit reports that the Yorkdale bus station has reopened and is operating as scheduled. Check flightstats.com or your airline for flight updates. When I first checked FlightStats, there were no explosion-related delays but, looking more closely, a few individual flight cancellations and delays for some flights could be found.

Olympics | Over the weekend, an American tourist was killed and two other victims seriously injured in a stabbing at the 13th century landmark Drum Tower in Beijing, only five miles from the Olympic village. Get the full story and video: A dark turn in Beijing as U.S. Olympic tourist is killed

> Chicago Tribune correspondent Evan Osnos gives a neighborhood perspective and reports that the Drum Tower is closed until further notice. Read: Attack distorts protective aura of the Drum Tower

– Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger

[Photo: Frederic J. Brown AFP/Getty Images]

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 11, 2008 at 8:00 am by Jen Leo and is filed under Good Morning, News, Tips & Advice, Olympics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.