Cautions issued for Italy, France

AMERICANS should be cautious when visiting France and Italy because of demonstrations there, the U.S. State Department said.

In a March 27 public announcement, it cited “ongoing security concerns” in Paris and other large French cities because of sometimes-violent protests against a new law affecting job contracts for young workers. Nationwide strikes in France last week also disrupted airline, train and bus service and closed the Eiffel Tower, the Associated Press reported.

The State Department’s March 21 announcement on Italy said demonstrations in advance of elections, April 9 and 10 and in May, have occasionally become violent. It also said Italy continued to be “under heightened public threat” from terrorists.

The State Department urged Americans visiting Italy and France to avoid areas where crowds are expected to gather. For updates, visit www.travel.state.gov.

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Rain damages Hawaii beaches and roads

Weeks of persistent rain have affected beaches and roads on two Hawaiian islands. The situation as of Thursday:

On Oahu, signs warning visitors to stay out of the water were posted along the Waikiki shore in Honolulu after a ruptured sewer line spilled millions of gallons of raw sewage.

City officials said it could be a month before bacteria levels at several beaches return to normal, the Associated Press reported.

The 42-inch main line cracked March 24 after a month of rain.

On Kauai, where a dam breach March 14 in the Kilauea area caused flooding and at least three fatalities, Kuhio Highway -- the sole road access to the North Shore, including Princeville and Hanalei -- was fully reopened Wednesday. A quarter-mile stretch of one lane had been closed for two weeks by storm damage, said Scott Ishikawa, state Transportation Department spokesman.

Lihue Airport and the island’s resorts were open, but a few reported water damage, said Susan A. Kanoho, executive director of the Kauai Visitors Bureau.

Times staff and wires

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Airfare war pushes down prices in Hawaii

A new airline has sparked an airfare war within Hawaii, with one-way flights between the islands costing as little as $39.

Go, a start-up launched by Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group Inc., began selling the $39 tickets March 23. Competitors Aloha and Hawaiian airlines immediately matched that price.

For all three carriers, you must book by Friday and travel between June 9 and Sept. 30 to get a shot at the $39 fares, which are limited and may not be available for all routes or dates.

Go, which has leased 50-passenger jets, will start flying June 9 between Honolulu and Kona (Big Island), Lihue (Kauai) and Kahului (Maui); by June 30, Honolulu-Hilo flights will be added. Information: (888) IFLYGO2 (435-9462), www.iflygo.com.

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Searching for petal power in California

LOOKING for wildflowers? It hasn’t been a great season so far in Southern California’s parks, although storms last week raised hopes for a late bloom.

At Death Valley National Park (www.nps.gov/deva), ranger Charlie Callagan reports, spring flowers bloomed early, in late February and early March, in numbers well short of last year, an unusually fertile season.

“We just didn’t get enough rain at the right time,” said John Delaney, a volunteer at the visitor center at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (www.anzaborrego.statepark.org) east of San Diego.

Likewise, there wasn’t much popping last week at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve west of Lancaster, where the bright-orange flowers typically get going about mid-March, said Jean Scott, an interpretive specialist with California State Parks, www.parks.ca.gov. (Search under “Find a Park.”)

Meanwhile, one-third of the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch (www.theflowerfields.com) in northern San Diego County, a 53-acre working farm, was already in full bloom last week with multihued ranunculus, spokeswoman Liz Wilkins said. The visitor center will be open through May 7.

-- Jane Engle