• Gold's Gym recently opened its first facility in Columbus, OH. The 58,000-square-foot club features an indoor swimming pool, a panoramic elevated indoor track, a full-court basketball court, a racquetball court, cardio areas, group exercise classes, a smoothie bar and a pro shop. Another addition is the Fit Factory for children, which is equipped with a basketball court, computer stations and a floor-to-ceiling play land.

• For the second consecutive year, Charity Navigator recognized the JCC Association for its fundraising practices. The continental umbrella organization for the JCC Movement earned the group's highest four-star rating for fiscal 2005, which was the most recent data available.

• A number of bills were recently introduced in states across the country. In Kansas, House Bill 2008, which would prohibit automatic renewal of contracts for an additional period of one year or more, was introduced and referred to the House Committee on Commerce and Labor. In Indiana, two separate pieces of legislation have been introduced that would require that state's health clubs to purchase an automated external defibrillator. In New York, Assembly Bill 351, which would require every health club to have at least one employee trained to provide first aid and CPR on premises during business hours, was recently introduced and referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection.

• Parisi Sports Clubs, a northern New Jersey sports and fitness center chain, chose CheckPoint HR for its Web-based human resource management system. CheckPoint HR is an administrative service organization that offers small- to mid-size organizations a single source for human resources, payroll services and benefits administration.

• A bomb threat at an LA Fitness club in Escondido, CA, turned out to be a hoax. According to local police, someone called in the bomb threat the night of April 23. The building and the surrounding area were evacuated, and bomb-sniffing dogs swept it for explosives, which were not found.

• The Make a Splash campaign, a public service initiative of USA Swimming that recently launched, is aimed at decreasing the number of drowning accidents in the United States, fostering greater diversity in the sport and encouraging people of all ages to embrace swimming. The first phase of the campaign will be executed through a number of new programs and partnerships. Also, three USA Swimming representatives will speak at the 2007 World Aquatic Health Conference, scheduled for Oct. 2-4 in Cincinnati, OH.

• Retention Management formed an alliance with Johnson Health Tech, a provider of fitness equipment in the European market. In the alliance, Johnson Health Tech will be responsible for the sales and marketing of Retention Management's service while Retention Management will provide the ongoing service delivery. The UK market will be the focus in the first year, with additional European markets to follow.

• New York Health & Racquet was recognized by New York Magazine for having the best bathrooms in the city when it comes to innovative design and attention to detail.

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