New DNR fisheries chief wants to focus on research

DAILY MAIL OUTDOORS EDITOR

WEST Virginia has a new bass czar.

The official title for Bret Preston is the Division of NaturalResources' "assistant chief of the Wildlife Resources Section, incharge of warmwater fisheries." Around the agency and around thestate, however, he'll simply be the "warmwater chief."

That means he'll be in charge of all the state's bass fisheries,its muskie fisheries, its catfish fisheries, its walleye fisheries -well, you get the point. If it's a fish and not a trout, Preston willbe in charge of it.

He replaces Bert Pierce, who retired in early November. ForPreston, who had served as Pierce's assistant since 1995, thetransition …

Falcioni's luck begins to turn at Boca Juniors

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Boca Juniors' new coach, Julio Cesar Falcioni, is starting to see his luck turn.

Boca Juniors picked up their second consecutive victory on Sunday, defeating league-leading Estudiantes 2-1 on a goal in the last minute by substitute Lucas Viatri.

Falcioni sent on Viatri and fellow forward Pablo Mouche in the second half, and it was Mouche's cross that found Viatri before he headed home the winner.

Boca won only one of its first six matches, but has now won two straight with a match coming up next week against Lanus.

Rodrigo Lopez gave Estudiantes a 1-0 lead in the 7th minute, but Boca's Juan Roman Riquelme equalized in the 16th on a …

Supreme Court Judge Breyer joins architecture jury

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has a new judging gig where he'll be focusing on matters architectural rather than constitutional.

Organizers of the Pritzker Architecture Prize — often referred to as the Nobel Prize for building design — announced Wednesday that Breyer and British architect Zaha Hadid were joining the jury that picks the award's annual winner.

The Hyatt Foundation, …

LGBT youth invited to speak out about their experiences

Students are invited to help GLSEN inform education policymakers and the public about what's really going on in the nation's schools. By completing the 2009 National School Climate Survey, GLSEN's sixth national survey about the experiences of LGBT youth in school, youth can speak out about their lives in school.

The National School Climate Survey aims to shed light on the real experiences of LGBT youth. It touches on issues like verbal and physical bullying, attitudes of other students, faculty and …

Barcelona's Spanish league chances fade with 0-0 draw against Espanyol

Second-place FC Barcelona drew crosstown rival Espanyol 0-0 at Camp Nou on Saturday and continued to diminish its hopes of winning the Spanish league.

Barcelona, the 2005 and '06 champion, has won just one of its last eight games and will trail Real Madrid by 11 points if the leader wins at Racing Santander on Sunday.

"We haven't given up because we could win our remaining games," Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard told news agency Efe. "We are a bit disappointed with the result because we gave our all."

Also, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla each suffered heavy home defeats which dented their hopes of playing in next season's …

US stocks mostly higher after mortgage deal

A deal that would prevent more mortgage foreclosures has pulled Wall Street out of a deep early slump and given the market a most higher close. Democratic lawmakers reached an agreement with Citigroup Inc. on a plan to let bankruptcy judges alter home loans in an effort to prevent foreclosures. Other lenders are expected to follow suit.

Wall Street had traded lower for much of the session after a profit warning from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. intensified fears that consumers are even worse off than thought. Their reluctance to spend _ evident in Thursday's retail sales reports from many of the nation's biggest merchants _ could make it harder for the nation to recover from the recession.

Although the Dow Jones industrial average is down 27 at 8,742 level, broader indicators are higher and there are more advancing than declining issues on the New York Stock Exchange.

Blatter says English FA could have punished Rooney

NEWPORT, Wales (AP) — FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Saturday that England's Football Association could have retrospectively punished Wayne Rooney for elbowing an opponent and urged managers — including Manchester United's Alex Ferguson — to show referees more respect.

Ferguson questioned the integrity of referee Martin Atkinson who failed to send off Chelsea defender David Luiz for fouling Rooney and then awarding a penalty kick against Chris Smalling, which led to United losing 2-1 in the Premier League on Tuesday.

But the weekend before admonishing Atkinson for not being "fair or strong," Ferguson was pleased to see United striker Rooney avoid being sent off for his elbow on Wigan's James McCarthy.

Only a free kick was awarded by referee Mark Clattenburg, whose vision of the incident was restricted, and the FA said that FIFA's rules prevented them from taking action against Rooney by reviewing video evidence.

But Blatter maintains that it was possible to act retrospectively, appearing to go against the advice given to the FA by FIFA's disciplinary unit.

"This is up to the discretion of the national association," Blatter said. "They can use video evidence in the discipline and control committee.

"They can impose or change a decision if a red or yellow card has been given to the wrong player. If there's violence the national association can intervene and punish a player — this is permitted at the discretion of the national association."

But FA chairman David Bernstein, who was sitting next to Blatter during a media briefing following the International Football Association Board meeting, insisted that his organization followed FIFA's rules.

"In the Wayne Rooney situation, under FIFA regulations if the referee sees the incident — which in this case he did do — the FA has no authority except in what is called exceptional circumstances, really exceptional," Bernstein said. "If you open the door to 'halfway exceptional' the floodgates will open."

What the FA can do is sanction manager after matches for their criticism of referees. Ferguson was charged with improper conduct for his criticism of Atkinson.

Blatter was asked Saturday whether he is concerned by senior managers like Ferguson questioning the integrity and fairness of referees.

"Everyone deserves fair play," Blatter responded. "Respect starts with self discipline. This is what we are asking everywhere, from youth teams upwards and it is also valid for personalities.

"The higher your position, the higher your responsibility. Those that have more power should be more responsible towards others. This is a principle in life."

If Ferguson is found guilty, he would have to serve a suspension of at least two matches. Half of a four-match penalty for questioning referee Alan Wiley's fitness last season was suspended until the end of this campaign.