Canada’s greatest male cross country skier and his son, who could be the next, are both auditioning for a place in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Pierre Harvey, 51, is just like his son Alex, 20, one of the rising young stars on the international nordic scene. Neither Harvey is guaranteed a place in the Whistler Games next February, however, though Alex’s performance this weekend against the world’s elite in only the fourth World Cup cross country ski event ever staged in Canada could move him closer to that goal.

Pierre is trying to make a return trip to Whistler as a stadium announcer. VANOC, the organizing committee, invited him to to do French language commentary at the pre-Olympic test events for cross country and nordic combined this weekend in the Callaghan Valley. If he passes the test, he’ll be back next year.

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MOUNT VERNON — Knox County was quickly blanketed with snow Wednesday, resulting in early school dismissals and slow-moving traffic throughout the area.
Knox County Sheriff David Barber issued a Level 2 snow emergency at 2:35 p.m. Wednesday. A Level 2, according to Barber’s press release, means “roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Only those who feel it is necessary to drive should be out on the roadways.”
Road crews worked throughout the night to keep city and county roads safe.
Mount Vernon streets are “snow covered but passable,” Dave Carpenter, Mount Vernon Streets Department superintendent, said this morning. Although only three trucks are currently operable, Carpenter hopes to have six trucks out today.
“We normally have seven trucks out,” he said. “We are just facing routine issues that we have when we are out plowing snow, things like a transmission leak.”
Despite the shortage of plow trucks, crews were able to take care of the first priority streets, such as the main roads and streets with hills. With that accomplished, Carpenter said crews will start work today on the secondary or residential streets.
“Streets aren’t going to be cleared today, maybe not until tomorrow. It will take some sun on them to get down to bare streets,” Carpenter said. “We have some that are bare now, but not much.”
With temperatures well below freezing, traditional road salt does nothing to clear the streets of snow and ice.
Carpenter said the city is using a 50-50 mixture of salt and No. 9 gravel, which is small, pea-like gravel, on areas where necessary. The application will help with traction and will melt snow and ice once temperatures start to rebound and the sun shines.
The public is reminded that Mount Vernon has several streets that are deemed snow streets. When snow exceeds 3 inches, parking on these roads is prohibited allowing road crews the opportunity to clean from curb to curb.
“If [cars] aren’t moved, we just plow around them,” Carpenter said. “They get plowed in and that makes it pretty difficult to get the car out.”
Kate Stickle, public information officer for the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 5, said 11 crews were out since 4 p.m. Wednesday, and will continue to work around the clock.

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — Isabel Clark, a Brazilian female snowboarder, began her quest on Sunday for a spot on the Brazilian Olympic team for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada.

In order to qualify for the Games, Clark will have to place among the top 25 in the world by January 15, 2010.

If last season was any indication of what to expect, she will again win the chance to represent Brazil in Vancouver. Her first Winter Games appearance was in 2006 at Turin, Italy.

In 2008, she was ranked 18th worldwide. In the first event of the 2009 season worth points towards the year’s new ranking, the athlete placed 17th. The first stage of the World Cup of snowboarding held in Bad Gastein, Germany.

“Isabel has all the talent necessary to return to the Games and try to better her Olympic results won in Turin-2006. Today, she is widely recognized and respected throughout the world, attracting more attention to Brazil’s snowboarders in general,” said Stefano Arnhold, president of the Brazilian Confederation of Snow Sport.

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Harsh news for Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic fans: If you don’t have a ticket confirmation by the end of today, odds are you’ll be dealing with a scalper.

The 2010 Olympics, even though they’re more than 13 months away, are all but sold out.

Thousands of would-be U.S. ticket buyers hoping to attend the Feb. 12-28, 2010 Games were notified about the success of their ticket requests this week by CoSport, the exclusive U.S. ticket agency. And for most, the news wasn’t good.

Some would-be fans who contacted The Times said they requested thousands of dollars’ worth of tickets — up to the maximum number of 48 per person — only to be notified they’re being issued only a few. And the vast majority of fans who requested tickets only for a single, favorite event apparently were shut out.

“The lottery for USA tickets to the Olympics was a huge joke,” one disgruntled fan from Oregon wrote on Olympics Insider, The Times’ Olympics blog.

The reader said his family, which has a time share in Whistler and planned to attend the Games, requested 96 tickets for a multitude of events and received only seven.

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