Kayaking

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The national governing body for Olympic canoeing and kayaking is moving its headquarters to Oklahoma City.

USA Canoe/Kayak CEO Joe Jacobi announced Tuesday that the group's offices will move from Charlotte, N.C., to the site where the sports held their 2008 Olympic trials for flatwater events.

Oklahoma City has become a hub for rowing in the United States after a riverbed that sat dry for decades was redeveloped about a decade ago. A series of boathouses are being built along the Oklahoma River just east of downtown, and another $57 million will be spent in the next few years on further improvements, including a whitewater course.

OGDEN -- An operator of a pizza shop and brew pub on the banks of the Ogden River says his business is riding the tide of success because of a $6.3 million effort to clean up a polluted downtown section of the waterway.

OGDEN -- Dinah Novy, accompanied by her dog, Max, eased the golf cart away from Pioneer Park and slowly drove along a paved path next to the swollen Ogden River. Novy, a member of Ogden's Community Emergency Response Team, spent Thursday making rounds along a section of the Ogden River Parkway as part of a city-sponsored volunteer effort to warn pedestrians of the dangers of the fast-moving water.

Last week, when I was setting up my kayak at a launch site in Florida, I drew an audience of anglers who wanted to know where I got my specialized kayak fishing gear -- an anchor system and mounts for electronics and rod-holders.

Not only was I able to tell them about things that worked, I could reel off a lot of things that didn't when I learned about kayak fishing the hard way, by trial and error. Today, you can buy books about kayak fishing that cover the subject pretty well.