HALF MOON BAY, Calif., Nov. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Sam's Chowder House in Half Moon Bay, California, is proud to announce that culinary entrepreneur and owner Paul Shenkman has been named National "2010 Restaurateur of the Year" by Sante, the Magazine for Restaurant Professionals.

By Julia Scott PACIFICA -- When it comes to Coastal Cleanup Day, Lynn Adams has discovered that it's not enough to pick up trash along the beach once a year. She has taken to scouring streets for cigarette butts, and she once found 600 of them along the sidewalks of a single city block.

By Julia Scott, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif. Dec. 6--PRINCETON-BY-THE-SEA -- A simple plaque bearing 16 names sits at the entrance to Pillar Point Harbor -- the names of fishermen who disappeared at sea.

Moss Landing crab fishermen are in limbo. On Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suspended all fishing in the waters contaminated by last week's oil spill in San Francisco Bay.

An Oregon man won the annual pumpkin weigh-off here, presenting a gigantic gourd that came it at 1,524 pounds. Thad Starr, of Pleasant Hill, Ore., set a contest record with the pumpkin. He'll get $6 a pound, bringing his winnings to $9,144.