BALCO Will Be Fined $772,000 for Violations

The owner and former medical director of a San Francisco Bay area laboratory will be fined more than $772,000 -- the largest fine ever levied against a licensed lab in California, according to newspaper reports.

Victor Conte, the lab’s founder, and Dr. Brian Goldman, its medical director, face the fines, which are more than double the previous top penalty against a lab, as a result of “willful and unlawful conduct,” according to a certified letter to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.

The San Francisco Chronicle and the Washington Post reported that the California Department of Health Services on June 30 sent a “notice of intent to impose sanctions” to Conte and Goldman.

In February, Conte was indicted as the alleged ringleader of a conspiracy to distribute illegal performance-enhancing drugs to elite athletes. He has pleaded not guilty.

“He has a defense to everything, but this is not the time to talk about it,” Conte’s attorney, Robert Holley, said of the civil charges.

The state health department cited three violations in imposing the fine: operation of a licensed clinical lab without proper personnel, submitting false statements on licensed documents and allowing an unlicensed person to perform complex testing.

The Burlingame lab is at the center of an international sports doping scandal that has enveloped prominent athletes, including San Francisco Giant left fielder Barry Bonds and sprinters Tim Montgomery and Marion Jones.

Olympics

The worst blackout in more than a decade hit Athens and southern Greece, raising concerns about whether the lights will go out at next month’s Olympics.

The government blamed the outage on “mismanagement” of the electricity grid. Still, officials promised the network was ready to handle the Aug. 13-29 Olympics.

In one embarrassing moment for the government, Transport Minister Mihalis Liapis was making a test run to showcase a new Olympic rail link from central Athens to the airport -- and got stranded when the power failed.

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The U.S. Olympic Committee announced the promotion of Jim Grice to chief marketing officer.

Soccer

Teenager Freddy Adu of D.C. United was one of seven reserves picked for the East team at the MLS All-Star game. West Coach Sigi Schmid of the Galaxy picked seven reserves, including Galaxy keeper Kevin Hartman and forward Jovan Kirovski.

Hockey

The Mighty Ducks signed defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski to a two-year deal worth about $2.75 million. Vishnevski, 24, played 73 games for the Ducks last season, finishing with six goals and 16 points.

WNBA

Ruthie Bolton scored 10 points in the second half, spearheading a surge by the Sacramento bench that helped the Monarchs beat the Shock, 67-51, in front of 8,852 at Detroit.... Lauren Jackson scored 25 points and the Storm beat the San Antonio Silver Stars, 75-59, in front of 6,800 at Seattle.

Miscellany

The San Diego City Council approved a new lease between the city and the Chargers that will keep the team at Qualcomm Stadium through the 2008 season but make it easier for it to move starting in 2009.

Under the agreement, the city will not be required to buy unsold tickets for home games. But the team could leave after the 2008 season if it pays $56.2 million to retire bonds sold in 1995 to pay for an expansion of the stadium to make it big enough for a Super Bowl.

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Former Olympic heavyweight boxing champion Henry Tillman was sentenced to 37 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal identity theft charges at Las Vegas.... Mariano Zabaleta outlasted French Open champion Gaston Gaudio, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (4), to win an all-Argentine rain-delayed final in the Swedish Open at Bastad, Sweden.