Free Republic

Students in the nonprofit agriculture program 4H, which teaches youth ages 9-19 how to raise livestock, found their animals fatally wounded Saturday morning. Four animals were stabbed in the head and face; two lambs were killed, and one lamb and piglet are recovering from the attack. The piglet is seemingly in good health with a minor gash to the head, while the sheep sustained a broken leg. Police are investigating the gruesome attack captured on surveillance footage, which shows a male suspect, according to the program's sheep leader, Erin Askew. "The first thing that went through my mind was I...

Forcing children to sleep and undress next to kids of the opposite sex effectively puts up a ‘Christian kids need not apply’ sign on public recreation activities.This spring I got an email from 4-H, a club I participated in as a child, effectively communicating that my Christian family need not apply to summer camps and other activities sponsored by the quasi-public organization. (County governments often sponsor 4-H activities.) This email was signed by a 4-H staffer who put pronouns in his signature and told me, “Youth are assigned cabins based on gender indicated on the 4-H camp application and registration,”...

As County Fair season draws near, 4-H families should be aware of activists who are targeting show animals. County fair season is upon us, and in case you missed it, last week I blogged about a 10-year study that showed the benefits of 4-H in developing young people who go on to be active civically, who volunteer in their communities and who lead happy, healthy lives. As 4-H youth prepare for the county and state fair, presenting their livestock before a judge is ultimately the culmination of a year’s worth of work. It takes time, dedication, consistency, patience and continually...

Two young sisters who survived for 44 hours in the wilderness of Northern California before they were found alive on Sunday did so by using basic survival skills they learned at their local 4-H club. Carolina Carrico, 5 and Leia Carrico, 8, were discovered around 10:30 a.m. by two firefighters who were able to follow their tracks and locate them, Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal told reporters. "This is an absolute miracle," he said. "This is rugged territory, this is an extreme environment. How they were out there for 44 hours is pretty amazing." Officials were able to locate the...

Program would have imposed transgender bathroom, housing, pronoun policies on rural youths

Lindsay Binegar was 14 the first time she spent any winnings from years of showing hogs. She bought a purse. The second time, at 18, she splurged. She bought a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a two-car garage. And she paid in cash. "I've never heard of a teenager buying a house," said Nikki Gasbarro, spokeswoman for the Ohio Association of Realtors. "Smart girl." The Greenfield teenager has been saving money since she was 4 years old and won $100 showing a hog. "I didn't get the money; it went to the bank," said Binegar, now a 19-year-old freshman at Ohio...

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,...