Briefs: Doping Doctor, Legal Trouble for German Circus Owner, Melting Ski Track
Prosecutors announced that the doctor who admitted prescribing EPO for athletes over a 12-year period will not face charges as the statute of limitations has expired.
The cases occurred from 1995-2007 and involved Tartu doctor Vitali Bernatski.
There was no expectation that the case would go forward: authorities were notified as a formality as Kristjan Port, a board member of an anti-doping organization, had claimed in a newspaper that an offense had been committed.
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The traveling German circus owner convicted in the court of public opinion in the death of an elephant in the Narva River in June did not face charges in Estonia, but now is heading to court in Germany.
The video shot in Estonia is the key piece of evidence in an action taken by authorities in Hessen to close down a crocodile zoo operated by Rene Renz, reported Õhtuleht via Frankfurter Allgemeine.
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The unseasonably warm temperatures in December have already resulted in the first ski facility closing, even before the season has started.
A 1.7-kilometer track in Otepää constructed of artificial snow produced during last year's chillier winter and stored over the summer had deteriorated to the point where it could not longer be maintained.