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Some Columbia residents have asked the Columbia Council to build a new 50-meter pool so that local competitive swimmers can train more effectively.At a pre-budget public hearing before the Columbia Council on Thursday, 14 residents spoke out on various issues. Six of them HTC argued strongly in favor of a 50-meter pool, which they said is much needed locally for such competitions as swim meets and triathlete training.Columbia now has 23 public pools, all of which are 25 meters.The council will consider the issue in pre-budget discussions, council members said.

Major League Lacrosse With 3 goals, Berger named All-Star MVP Stephen Berger (Mount St. Joseph) helped the Old School All Stars defeat the Young Guns, 18-17, Saturday night in Palm Beach County, Fla. Berger scored three times, and the Chesapeake Bayhawks' Steven Brooks scored the eventual game-winning goal with just inside one minute remaining. Berger, a member of the Charlotte Hounds, opened scoring by beating Charlotte teammate and Young Guns goalie Adam Ghitelman from just inside of the 2-point arc. Former Bayhawk Kyle Hartzell (Salisbury)

EUGENE, Ore. - Sprinter Marion Jones, hurdlers Gail Devers and Allen Johnson and pole vaulter Lawrence Johnson climbed to familiar positions at the top rung of the victory platform. Tireless distance runner Regina Jacobs won her second gold medal of the U.S. National Outdoor Track and Field Championships and nearly added a third before the curtain came down yesterday on the final day of the four-day meet at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field. But Bernard Williams took the day off. The 23-year-old graduate of Baltimore's Carver High School, who won the NCAA 100-meter title last year for the University of Florida, and earned an Olympic gold medal as second runner on the U.S. 4x100-meter relay team at the Sydney Games, had been tabbed as a potential 200-meter gold medalist at the world championships in Edmonton, Alberta, in early August.

Jim Tudor Parking enforcement officer Baltimore County government Salary --$13.66 an hour Age --56 Years on the job --Two How he got started --Tudor retired from his job with General Motors after working there 33 years. Wanting to stay active, he took the job with parking enforcement. "I want to keep busy. This job keeps me walking." Typical day --Tudor works Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. After arriving at work he is assigned to a specific area in Baltimore County to patrol for parking violations.

OMAHA, Neb. -- At some point over the past several years - it's difficult to pinpoint exactly when - Katie Hoff figured out a way to channel all her nervous pre-race energy into a frenetic, yet disciplined, routine. When she stands on the starting block, she practices her stroke, then adjusts her goggles. She fidgets with her swimsuit, then tugs on her swim cap. The cycle repeats itself as she goes over the race in her mind. Goggles. Swimsuit. Swim cap. Adjust. Fidget. Tug. It can seem chaotic to the casual observer, but watch it a few times and you realize how businesslike the routine is. By the time the race starts, there is only one thing left on her checklist.

SYDNEY, Australia - The warm-up track next to the Olympic Stadium has seating large enough to accommodate just about any American meet outside of the U.S. trials or the Penn Relays. An informal meet was held there Thursday and Baltimore's James Carter won his heat of the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in an effortless 49.90 seconds. "I basically stopped pushing it with 150 meters to go," Carter said. "I jogged in." It was Carters second 400 hurdles race in his two weeks here after several months of seclusion and practice after the U.S. trials.

The problem: A paving stone barely covered an open water meter vault in Upper Fells Point. The back story: Finding a parking spot near Patterson Park can be a challenge. But one location on Bank Street presented a hidden danger for Janice Evans of Nottingham. About two months ago, she parked in the 2200 block of Bank St., just east of North Patterson Park Avenue, to visit a friend. Evans had to get out of her vehicle somewhat awkwardly because the tree well had been walled in with bricks.

PARK CITY, Utah - He can't come out of nowhere anymore. Switzerland's Simon Ammann, who surprised the field Sunday in the 90-meter ski jumping event to snatch the gold, hopes his form holds today in the 120-meter competition. Standing in his way are the same guys he beat before, but this time they know what they're up against. And there's another dark horse, who like Ammann wasn't on anyone's radar screen before competition. Also taking his measure of the leaders is Alan "Airborne" Alborn, the 21-year-old from Anchorage, Alaska, who considers the large hill his best event.

The morning after he became the most decorated Olympian ever, after answering congratulatory tweets from President Obama and fellow Baltimorean Josh Charles among others, Michael Phelps was back in the pool Wednesday morning, swimming fast enough to qualify as the fourth seed in tonight's 200-meter individual medley. His American rival Ryan Lochte is seeded second to preliminary heats' winner Laszlo Cseh of Hungary. Lochte earlier in the morning qualified for the 200-meter backstroke semifinals tonight, placing second to teammate Tyler Clary's first.

PARK CITY, Utah - Like gunslingers at a Western shootout, the top three ski jumpers left nothing in the chambers during the final jump at the 90-meter event yesterday morning. The crowd of 18,999 went wild as each man upped the ante during the final three minutes of competition. Switzerland's Simon Ammann, the last to compete, coolly landed a 98.5-meter jump to walk away with the gold at Utah Olympic Park. His two-jump total score was 269. He was immediately buried beneath his two teammates as they rolled on the snow in joy, and then was hoisted to their shoulders in a victory lap. Ammann earned the first Swiss medal in ski jumping since the 1972 Winter Games.