The director of law enforcement of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was questioned at the three-hour long US subcommittee hearing held at Gloucester’s City Hall this week regarding the fishing enforcement practices in New England.

Director Dale Jones faced tough questions and challenges from the lawmakers regarding the findings of an investigative report initiated by US Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser. According to the report, there have been incidences of targeted abuse and excessive fines in the Northeast region.

More than 150 fishing activists attended the hearing and listened as Jones attempted to defend his office. The committee hearing was headed by Chairman Dennis Kucinich together with Congressmen Barney Frank and John Tierney.

During the hearing, Jones did not challenge the findings of the report. He gave his word that he will be reviewing the procedures of his department.

bbi Display Sytem, a California-based corporation that designs billboards that can be placed on land and see, has set another achievement by setting up advertising at the Ricoh Lake, the world’s largest indoor lake located in Canada. This took place at the annual Toronto Boat Show and their works were seen by millions of people all over the world who were tuned in at the international boat show telecast.

Ricoh Lake has more than a million gallons of water and is one of the widely visited destinations. The boat show featured several activities such as boating demonstrations, paddleboat rides, kayak, water skiing and wakeboarding.

bbi has secured a US patented and international patent pending inflatable billboard. The company operates in more than fifty countries and is globally recognized for their on-water advertising and their famous inflatable billboards.

Nearly a decade after suffering a near-death experience from diving, Bill Demong is back and brought honor to the United States by helping the Nordic Combined ski team get the silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics.

Eight years ago in Germany, Demong smacked his head on the bottom of a 40foot hotel pool. He was 21 at that time and he thought that his career was already over.

His hard work paid off after all these years after the first Olympic medal won by his team at the 4 by 5 kilometer relay event on Tuesday. Austria won the event, being ahead by 5.2 seconds.

Despite the second place finish, Demong said that the team was satisfied with their performance, saying that good teamwork took place. No swimwear needed this time by Demong as he finished in second place.

Joining Demong in the team were Johnny Spillane, Todd Lodwick and Brett Camerota.

Lake Okabena in Worthington, Minnesota becomes the venue for the highly anticipated windsurfing event this coming June 2010.

At this point, the said lake is frozen with snow but in about three months time, the summer sun sinks in and the frozen lake will melt away to make way for this adrenaline-inducing event.

The 11th annual Worthington Windsurfing Regatta and Unvarnished Music Festival is scheduled to take place from June 11 to 13. Windsurfers from neighboring states will gather and compete. Once the event is over, everyone gets to party with the music.

Board president Cyndi Morrison said that fundraising activities are now taking place in order to make this year’s event possible. She said that letters have been sent out to potential sponsors. A grant is now being requested at the Southwest Minnesota Arts and Humanities Council in order to provide much needed funding for the artists to perform at the Music festival

The 27-year old athlete was arrested after reports of disturbance in the store’s Beckenham branch was made on Friday. He was released on bail until next month.

Aldridge is known to have partnered with youngest British Olympian Tom Daley at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The due finished eighth in the ten meter synchronized dive. This caused some form of controversy in the country as it was found out that Aldridge made a phone call to his mother and blaming Daley’s nerves which caused their fall in the rankings.

The incident sparked outrage among fans in the country and most of the public supported Daley in this regard. The European cliff diving champion was forced to pull out of the British Championships because of the issues.

This served as the third consecutive “Horse of the Year” achievement for Jess Jackson, the owner of Rachel Alexandra. In 2007 and 2008, he achieved the honors for his horse named Curlin.

Jackson said after receiving the award that he was happy with the award but acknowledged the other nominee Zenyatta for being just as deserving of the award.

The final voting tally was as follows: Rachel Alexandra received 130 votes as opposed to Zenyatta with 99.

John Shirreffs, Zenyatta’s trainer, said that he was not disappointed with the outcome.

The Forest Heath District Council officials have pledged £700,000 for funding a horse racing museum that was proposed to be set up to become one of the major tourist attractions in the area.

The Home of Horseracing project which will be built in Newmarket is scheduled to be open to the public by April of 2012. The establishment is deemed to be a world class museum for the horse racing industry wherein priceless works of art in relation with horse racing will be displayed.

The district council currently owns the buildings which date from way back from the reign of King Charles II, touted as the founder of organized horse racing.

The horse racing museum is said to cost £11 million with other funds coming from other councils who agreed to help in making this dream a reality.

According to reports, a dressage taskforce (DTF) has been set up to make dressage more mainstream just like any other mainstream sports wherein judges can be assessed, supervised and continually educated.

Part of the proposal includes increasing the number of judges in major championships – from five to seven in a bid to spread the influence when it comes to individual scores.

DTF member Frank Kempermann said that even if the judge has been into the sport for more than two decades, he or she should still undergo educational activities to be more updated with the latest trends and rules. DTF was formed by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

According to reports, racing horses Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra have great credentials that either will certainly deserve getting the award. This will be the first time since 2002 that a female horse will get honored once more.

Rachel Alexandra won eight out of eight races this year with three of them winning over male horses. As for Zenyatta, she improved to 14-0 after winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic, with most of the competitors are male horses.

The verdict will be determined this coming January at the Eclipse Awards, considered as the Oscars of horse racing. The winner will be announced during a special gathering in Beverly Hills.

Lack of horse racing program in the state of Oklahoma has led to the decision by the officials of the Blue Ribbon Downs, the pari-mutuel horse racing track in the state, to shut down its operations for good by November. Another major factor was the lack of support from the public due to financial crisis or other patrons may have ventured to other forms of entertainment – such as online casinos.

Blue Ribbon Downs owner Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma released the official statement on Thursday, stating that the horse racing track will close for good on November 28.

The racetrack has served as an icon in the state, having started in the 1960s and started offering pari-mutuel bets in 1984, the first in the state. Choctaw bought the track six years ago after the previous owner was forced to file for bankruptcy due to financial struggles over the years.