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The State Fair sent about 100 4-H participants home because several members contracted the H1N1 virus and about a dozen more developed flu-like symptoms.

Canandaigua, N.Y. - After heavy lobbying from animals-rights groups including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Canandaigua Academy Principal Lynne Erdle has terminated the so-called “chicken project” which has a class of students each year raising chickens and killing them. Lindsay Rajt, manager of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said Friday that Erdle sent an e-mail to the organization saying that school officials “recognize the concern” and had discontinued the project, which had been part of a high school ecology class for the past three years. “In no way were we trying to create a controversy,” wrote...

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2008 – In mid-March, Indiana school administrators, military support groups and volunteers met at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds in Noblesville, Ind., to learn about ways to assist children affected by a family member’s deployment. One way is through “Operation Military Kids,” a program initiated by U.S. Army Child and Youth Services. Now in 42 states, the program works through the 4-H program and other volunteer organizations that connect with military youth and provide support through a network of community resources. "The idea of the meeting is to give training to the educators to know what...

CROWN POINT, Ind. -- Prayer has been banned at 4-H meetings in Lake County, Ind. A memorandum issued last month by the Lake County Cooperative Extension Service said prayer is forbidden at all times, including to "begin or close meetings, fundraisers, camp sessions, including meals, and/or award ceremonies." Stan Sims, the county extension director, said he issued the directive because: "We want to respect peoples' beliefs and be inclusive." No single incident prompted his note. The formal prayers had been a tradition at various events, including 4-H, which has more than 800 youth members in Lake County. The new policy...

4-H Members and military families have a lot of similarities, starting with the 4-H motto: To make the best, better. For more than 100 years 4-H groups have improved their communities through service, almost like the military's mission to serve and protect Americans. 4-H Members grow personally through their project work, while military personnel strive to better themselves every day through combat readiness. So, it wasn't a big stretch in 1995 for National 4-H Headquarters to reach out to the U.S. Army Child and Youth Services and Air Force Family Member Programs to bring 4-H to the children of military...

It has come to our attention that there are several unscrupulous business and organizations that are misinforming FFA, 4H students and others that : "The Texas Animal Health Commission requires all producers to register a premises identification" We all know this is false information and scare tactics. It is our understanding that TAHC has contracted numerous business and associations to be paid advocates for NAIS. That's right these organization and their subcontractors are on the payroll of TAHC to promote NAIS ! We don't know all the details at this time but appears these people are getting paid to sign...

BURLEY -- The enormity of tagging and electronically tracking every animal in the United States hit home to livestock owner and 4-H Club leader Maria Brown recently when her Cassia County extension office informed her that 4-H steers in the county would be required to have radio frequency identification/electronic identification (RFID/EID) tags this year. Another surprise, she said, was when the extension office asked if she had registered her "premises" (farm,ranch,acreage) with the state. Brown's experience is what farm animal and poultry owners across the nation can come to expect in the next few years as the U.S. Department of...

PHOENIX The Arizona Board of Regents has agreed, at least temporarily, to allow a 4-H shooting program to continue around the state. The Board oversees the University of Arizona-sponsored 4-H. It decided to end the long-time Shooting Sports Program after an audit alerted board members to its existence. The program was shut down for three days last month until outraged parents and participants persuaded the board to bring it back. The program teaches marksmanship and responsible firearm use of 22-caliber rifles, air pistols, air rifles, archery, shot guns and muzzle-loading arms. No live ammunition is used. Regents spokeswoman Anne Barton...

Ambrea Johnson, 9, right, and sister Aijah, 7, bottom, put on camouflage paint with the help from Pfc. Kenneth Crim during Sunday's 4-H Club visit to a Fort Huachuca obstacle course. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review) Youngsters conquer obstacles on fort, learn team conceptBy Michael SullivanHerald/Review FORT HUACHUCA — “The emphasis today is on teamwork,� Lt. Robert Parker advised about 30 eager-eyed 4-H’ers Sunday morning at the Robert C. Sheetz Jr. Warrior Complex. The kids had other ideas. With the gusto and general fearlessness of youth, the boys and girls charged through the grueling obstacle course with one goal in mind: to...

Third-graders fire scaled-down shotguns at moving clay targets. Middle school students fire arrows from bows in a back yard. And high school students unload handgun clips at boards. Despite skepticism about a 4-H program that teaches youngsters how to use handguns, bows and rifles, the county’s shooting-sport program is continuing to grow four years after it was started. “At the time it started, it was pretty controversial,” said Kyle Wheat, 16, a club member and Whiteland Community High School student. “A lot of people didn’t think it would happen. But look where we are now.” The Johnson County 4-H Shooting...

Why did the chicken cross the bench? To win the Poultry Olympics, of course. In keeping with a four-year tradition, a flock of feathered friends - along with their young 4-H Club owners - showed up at the Stoughton Fair on Sunday morning to demonstrate their avian athleticism. If you can call it that. No pullets were asked to toss a javelin or play a round of water polo. All the birds had to do was walk a straight-ish line and devour a few corn kernels. In contrast, their pint-sized handlers faced most of the day's zany challenges, enduring events...

Hello! Just wanted to pass this information along to everyone, thought you might enjoying watching it. Attention!! We would like every llama owner and lover to be aware of an exciting 1/2 hour llama program that is being aired on RFD-TV. The showings will be at the following times: July 4th at 6:30pm. July 5th at 2:30am and again at 10:30am July 9th at 5:00pm. It will be shown on channels: Dish Network channel #9409 Direct T.V. channel #379 Cable T.V. (check your local listings) This was filmed on a llama ranch and features Cart Pulling, Fiber, Youth, A Breeding...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard of Greenville has been appointed by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The court, commonly referred to as America's Secret Court, considers requests for surveillance and physical search orders from the U.S. Department of Justice and various U.S. intelligence agencies. This court has nationwide jurisdiction to authorize the U.S. government to conduct electronic surveillance and physical searches for national security purposes when the target is a foreign power or when an individual is acting as an agent for a foreign power. The Supreme Court Chief Justice...

Please Read and Disseminate If you are a veterinarian, please do not assume you know what this is until you have read this entire report. Horses are dying of this infection in as little as 12 hours, and multiple deaths on a farm are the norm. THIS IS NOT MOLD RELATED, IT IS CLEARLY BACTERIAL What's new.... This is more alarming by the minute. The vast majority of the cases have occurred in the last 60 days and the area is increasing. The extent of this has grown to include Minnesota, Wyoming, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee,...

<p>The Sacramento County supervisors got their first taste Tuesday of the public ire sure to be unleashed if they slash maintenance along the American River Parkway and allow the region's open-space jewel to rot.</p> <p>Entire days would pass without patrols and illegal camping would flourish, said Ron Suter, county parks director.</p>

Lesbian bride dolls. Fourth grade "gay" clubs. A king and king at the high school prom. Dating tips for same-sex teens. Bathroom ogling -- and sometimes quick encounters -- in the middle school boys' restroom. These are just the first snapshots of the bizarre new world in store for American children if homosexual marriage is legalized. Most of the major players who mold our youth have already endorsed homosexuality and even cross-dressing. The National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers' union, favors support for "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender" students and teachers, which translates into uncritical acceptance throughout the curriculum...

FReepers, I found this in my "in-box". I ask Michigan Freepers to take a moment to write, call, fax, e-mail, whatever it takes. 4-H is a family oriented, CONSERVATIVE group that deserves our support. My daughter is mildly autistic and 4-H has done her a world of good! Having to talk to judges, work as a team, complete projects and work with a large, cranky animal has ALL done her a world of good ! She has blossemed! And this is REAL confidence she has grown, not some "self-esteem" crap. Sorry for the crummy formatting. I am SO upset just...

Montana soldiers in Iraq will have a merrier Christmas thanks to the small Stillwater County community of Fishtail. With the help of their neighbors in Absarokee, Columbus and Reed Point, they plan to send at least 100 personally wrapped gift packages to the troops. The idea started with Nancy Mendenhall, a customer at the Fishtail General Store, who had been buying a lot of candy. Katy Martin, who owns the store with her husband Bill, said her husband remarked that Mendenhall must really like the candy. "She said, 'No, it's for my son in Iraq,' " Martin recalled. That got...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.WESTFORD -- Sheep will be sheared, horses will be mounted, and local youths will display prowess honed with a multitude of other beasts and crafts when the 48th annual Middlesex County 4-H Fair opens tomorrow. But the fair and the 4-H Youth and Family Development Program may be an endangered species. "4-H is very much in limbo-land right now," says Mary McBrady, executive director of the Massachusetts 4-H Foundation, a non-profit organization that holds fund-raisers to support 4-H training and after-school programs statewide. 4-H is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,...

MENOMONIE -- Animals sold on the Governor's Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction weren't the only ones bringing in large amounts of money, as a local feed dealer went snout-to-snout with the nation's largest retailer. Tracie Wold, 11, received $12.50 per pound on her 285-pound Hampshire cross hog, Jeffie. This set a new record at the Dunn County Fair Livestock Auction. "She was pretty excited. Everyone wanted to know what her secret was, and she just said 'I don't know,'" said Tracie's mother, LeeAnn Wold. Herdsman Feeds of Connorsville purchased her hog, after bidding against Wal-Mart Distribution. Tracie said that the auction...

I suppose I should stop being surprised when something outrageous happens and I find out it comes from California. This time California is threatening to prohibit the 4H Club, a club formed to promote awareness and appreciation for agriculture through activities and education, from participating in a community fair because they have not reached racial quotas. They have even gone so far as to threaten to disband the group should they not meet the requirements immediately. The idea of racial diversity is a good one in theory. The practice of forced racial diversity through forced participation is asinine. Because the...

DANBURY — For several area shooters, the chance to make the National Olympic Developmental Team begins Saturday at the National Junior Olympic Trap and Skeet Shooting Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo. In all, nine shooters from the Brazoria County 4-H shooting sports club will compete alongside 46 to 48 other participants for a chance to make the team. Competing for the Brazoria County team are Kelsey Williams, 15, Lauren Kulcak, 19, Jennifer Smith, 18, Jimmy Tillman, 15, Cory Williams, 17, Vincent Griffing, 16, Logan Kulcak, 16, Chris Minter, 17, and Calvin Smiley, 14. “We probably have the highest number of...

ROANOKE, Va. -- Sheriff's officers are investigating allegations that counselors at a 4-H summer camp arranged fistfights between children ages 9 to 13, charged admission to the brawls and allowed betting. Not strange enough? Read more strange news from WFTV.com. Sign Up To Receive Our Daily News Of The Strange Email Franklin County Sheriff Quint Overton said Tuesday that the youngsters were told to lie to parents about the fights after several campers suffered black eyes and one broke his hand. No charges have been filed, but Overton said he had six officers investigating the five-day camp that began June...

ROANOKE, Va. — Sheriff's officers are investigating allegations that counselors at a 4-H summer camp (search) arranged fistfights between children ages 9 to 13, charged admission to the brawls and allowed betting. Franklin County Sheriff Quint Overton said Tuesday that the youngsters were told to lie to parents about the fights after several campers suffered black eyes and one broke his hand. The sheriff said investigators have talked to several parents since the first complaint came in Monday from Richard Rawls, who said his 10-year-old son came home with a black eye. Rawls said his son claimed at first that...

4-H Camp Counselors Accused Of Arranging Fistfights POSTED: 5:42 p.m. EDT July 8, 2003 ROANOKE, Va. -- Police are investigating charges that 4-H camp counselors in Virginia arranged fistfights between campers as young as 9 years old. What's more, there are reports that the counselors charged admission -- and that they and the campers made bets on the fights. The sheriff's office said the youngsters were told to lie about the fights after several campers suffered black eyes and one broke his hand. About 300 children ages nine to 13 attended last week's camp near Roanoke. The investigation began after...

<p>Ellen Brumley, 11, of Escalon now knows that her brother Brett's pig Denise will not meet the fate of many of the livestock at the State Fair, which are sold for food. The Brumley family has decided that Denise will be more valuable as a breeder. Ellen and Brett are 4-H members.</p>