Greece Struggles to Clear Hurdles in Sprint to Games

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Greece Struggles to Clear Hurdles in Sprint to Games
-Run-up to the Olympics has been beset by bombs, worker deaths, unhappy hookers and ambivalent Athenians.

By Tracy Wilkinson, Times Staff Writer

ATHENS — With fanfare and free hors d'oeuvres, the publicity-savvy mayor of this ancient city, Dora Bakoyannis, gathered the national and international press at a party to unveil a media center for this summer's Olympic Games.

Basking in the limelight, Bakoyannis extolled the virtues of ancient Athens and its great cultural legacy. Minutes into the session, however, came the showstopper: Why, demanded an American interloper, are the city's stray dogs disappearing?

That is exactly the kind of question Bakoyannis and other senior Greek officials do not want to hear.

As they struggle to prepare sports venues in time for the opening of the Olympics in three months, they're also struggling to put out fires on many other fronts.

More at the Los Angeles Times