VANOC's last annual general meeting before the 2010 Winter Olympics is Wednesday, but it's behind closed doors.
The agenda for the scheduled 20-minute session at 8 a.m. in VANOC's headquarters says late chairman Jack Poole will be remembered before a meeting chair is elected.
Poole died Oct. 23 of pancreatic cancer.
The last regularly scheduled meeting of directors for 2009 immediately follows. The agenda says it includes the election of a deputy chair of the board, which means it's possible that Poole's post may be left ceremonially vacant.
The agenda also includes ratification of minutes for a secret meeting Oct. 16. No prior notice of that meeting was published. On May 16, 2007, VANOC pledged to increase transparency by posting agendas before and summaries after meetings.
U.S. papers pull out of Games
The Winter Olympics are returning to North America in February, but many newspapers are not. Sports Business Journal says the U.S. Olympic Committee approved 68 newspapers to cover Vancouver 2010, almost half as many as the 134 from Salt Lake 2002. USOC issued 481 individual passes, but 135 were returned. Many were redistributed to online publications, including Yahoo which will have 21 people at the Games. USA Today (56 passes) and Sports Illustrated (35) are the top two.
