- Mary Hightower

Katie Cobb Receives Prestigious Florence Hall Award

Katie Cobb, county Extension agent - family and consumer sciences, White County, was honored recently at the National Extension Association for Family and Consumer Sciences (NEAFCS) 2006 annual session. She received the National and Southern Region Florence Hall Award at the conference held October 2-6 in Denver, Colorado.

In receiving the award, Cobb was recognized for her work at the Wilbur D. Mills Center in Searcy. She stated, "When you are a recovering drug addict, eating well is hard. Most recovering addicts struggle with sugar, salt and caffeine cravings. On their list of priorities, nutrition is far from the top. But during the summer programs conducted at the Mills Center, residents learned that they could become addicted to healthy habits."

The Florence Hall Award is presented for an outstanding program conducted by one or more NEAFCS members who have been alert in recognizing new concerns and interests of families and have involved people in planning and implementing programs that benefit families. Miss Florence Hall, regional field agent - eastern states, initiated the award in 1952 to recognize outstanding accomplishments of NEAFCS members. Katie’s commitment to meeting the needs of individuals, families and communities is exemplary.

"Reaching New Heights" was the conference theme. Katie also presented a concurrent session titled, "Reaching New Heights After Falling to Record Lows."

– Brian W. Haller

Craighead County Extension Dedicates New Facility

The Craighead County Extension Service recently moved into a new state-of-the-art facility. Three years of planning and many committee meetings were held to plan, develop, select a bid and construct the facility. Total cost of the 19,000 square foot facility was over $1.7 million for a building housing the Craighead County Extension Service and Craighead County Health Unit. The Extension Office space is valued at $523,000.

Additional space includes a large reception area, 10 offices, larger conference room and a modern-equipped demonstration kitchen, which are assets for the Extension Office. Each office is equipped with built-in shelving and storage units which allow more efficient use of office space. A larger conference room with seating capacity for over 100 people and state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment is shared jointly by the Health Unit and Extension Office.

Parking is also greatly improved with the addition of 125 parking spaces compared to the few located at the old facility near the courthouse complex. An efficient geothermal heating and cooling system has been utilized for climate control.

Landscape design was provided for the facility by Dr. Kim Pitcock, an ASU horticulturist. Master Gardeners have installed plants and will maintain the landscaping for the facility.

Steve Culp, county Extension agent - staff chair, thanked County Judge Dale Haas and the Craighead County Quorum Court for building the facility at a recent open house ceremony. Culp pointed out that Craighead County was not obligated to build this facility for the Extension Office but did so due to their extremely generous support for Extension. Judge Haas said that agriculture is still a key component of the economy of Craighead County and that the Extension Office here processed more soil samples than any other county in the state.

The Extension staff would like to thank Dr. Ivory Lyles, Kent Rorie, Judy Riley and Dr. Darlene Baker for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend this event.

– Branon Thiesse

4-H Officer Training Provides Leadership Skills to Faulkner County Youth

More than 89 youth, leaders and parents attended the Faulkner County 4-H Officer Training held on November 9, 2006, at the Faulkner County Natural Resources Center. 4-H officers from 13 different Faulkner County 4-H clubs were in attendance for the workshop aimed at educating new and returning 4-H officers on the important role they play in conducting a productive and enjoyable 4-H meeting. Officers were divided into groups according to their respective office, and then instructors taught the groups what duties each role required.

Leigh Helms, Faulkner County 4-H agent, planned the training with the assistance of fellow agents Kami Marsh (agriculture) and Melanie Malone (family and consumer sciences). After evaluation of the county 4-H clubs, agents and leaders saw a definite need for formal officer training, which would in turn strengthen not only the individual clubs but improve the overall Faulkner County 4-H program.

Bob Reynolds, director of communications and marketing for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, taught club photographers the importance of applying the "Rule of Three" and using the camera’s focus to produce high-quality pictures. Bulah Stock, Faulkner County 4-H leader, also conducted a session for the club presidents and vice presidents and then used these youth to conduct a model 4-H meeting for the group.

This is the first officers’ workshop to be held in Faulkner County in the past several years, but the overwhelming positive response and attendance assure future trainings like this will provide additional positive impact for the 4-H program.

– Leigh Helms

Lockheed Martin Interviews Arkansas Manufacturers

Lockheed Martin, the giant aerospace company, is interested in doing business with Arkansas machine shop operators. Lockheed’s Michood Assembly Facility in New Orleans needs companies to support their large contracts with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Department of Defense.

Machine shops from across Arkansas attended a meeting recently with Wayne Wright, Lockheed’s manager of Small Business Programs, at the Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center in Malvern.

"We surveyed Arkansas companies known to be pursuing government contracts and subcontracts, identified shops that seemed to have the capability Lockheed required and compiled an invitation list of Arkansas firms," said Sue Coates, APAC director. "Fifteen people from eight companies from nine counties attended."

Wright discussed Lockheed’s needs, and the Arkansas companies presented information about their companies for evaluation. The procurement center assisted some of the companies in preparing their quality control manuals for presentation. Of the firms accepting invitations, three are veteranowned, three are owned by females, two are minorityowned and three are located in Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) zones. All are small businesses.

For more information, contact Coates at (501) 337- 5355 or scoates@uaex.edu. For information about APAC services, or similar services in neighboring states, you can visit www.arcommunities.org/apac.htm.

– Lamar James

Arkansas Beef Quiz Bowl

The 2006 Arkansas Beef Quiz Bowl sponsored by the Arkansas Beef Council was held on Friday, October 20, at the Little Rock state office. The Beef Quiz Bowl is designed to encourage 4-H and FFA youth to become more knowledgeable about beef cattle husbandry and the cattle industry. This knowledge will be of great value as they pursue further education and will be useful in the development of future beef cattle industry leadership. The quiz bowl is a great opportunity for youth to test their intellectual abilities and mental agility, all in the spirit of fun.

Nine counties from across the state were represented at the competition. Fifty-one high school students competed. Winning first place was Green County 4-H Team #1 consisting of Jimmy Williams, Kristin Wright and Chris Hunt. West Fork’s FFA Team, made up of Kyle Marrs, Nick Dill, Clayton Cantrell and Cody Marrs, was second, and coming in third was Benton County 4-H. Competition questions were compiled by University of Arkansas Animal Science graduate students who served as moderators for the contest.

– Ann Bowman

Pulaski County 4-H’ers Serve as Election Pages

On November 7, Election Day 2006, several members of the Pulaski County 4-H Teen Leaders Club had the opportunity to serve as Election Day pages at different polling sites across the county. Election pages’ responsibilities are similar to those citizens who are poll workers. However, poll workers are paid for their services rendered whereas election pages are volunteers.

Election pages are typically youth, ages 14 and older, who have not yet reached the age to participate in the democratic voting process but want to learn more and observe the important procedure by which Americans select government leaders.

The teens were excused from classes by their school administrators to allow them to participate in this learning experience. The pages volunteered at their local neighborhood precincts. They arrived at the polling sites at 7 a.m. Election Day morning, and many volunteered until the polls closed that evening. Their volunteer responsibilities included assisting voters at the voting device, checking voters in on the voter lists, distributing ballots, greeting voters and maintaining order in poll locations. Sheila Farley, an adult volunteer leader of the county Teen Leaders Club, contacted the Pulaski County Election Commission and arranged for the club members to participate in this unique opportunity. Several of the teens are eager to serve as election pages again, and many expressed how this opportunity has given them more insight about the electoral process as well as the importance for young people to take advantage of their right to vote.

– Erica Harris

New Horticulture CD Released

We’re pleased to announce the release of the 2007 Arkansas Horticulture Highlights CD. Counties are encouraged to order CDs for resale through the county office.

Look for Janet Carson’s column in the Democrat-Gazette on Saturday, December 9. In her column, she will announce the CD for purchase through our web site or by contacting the county office.

By the time you read this article, you should have received an e-mail explaining how to order the CD if you wish to sell it through your county office. This is a great way to promote the county office and generate additional revenue to support your county programs.

While the CD will retail for $10.25 plus shipping and handling and tax through our web site, counties may order as few as 10 CDs for only $7 each for resale through the county office at $11 each. Counties will not collect sales tax. Financial Services will handle the sales tax, which will be taken from the $7 wholesale price you pay. By participating, you will keep $4 per CD to benefit your county horticulture program.

The updated CD is loaded with information to include portions of MP 44 and 144 that provide advice for home gardens.

The searchable CD has a hydrangea and crape myrtle database, complete with pictures. There are 16 video clips on everything from butterfly gardening to how to plant a tree or shrub. There is a plant disease image library with more than 100 plant disease images.

The CD has an excellent tree database and tree key to allow a user to identify trees in Arkansas.

And there is much, much more.

Only county offices will be allowed to purchase the CD at the $7 per CD rate with a minimum order of 10. To take advantage of this opportunity, send a check to Martha Brothers in the Communications Department of the State Office, made out to UACES, and she will send the CDs to you.

– Bob Reynolds

FBI: Beware of E-Mail Confirming the Purchase of a Computer

The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center [IC3] has received the following information concerning multiple e-mail hoaxes confirming the recipient’s purchase of a computer:

The first e-mail hoax claims the recipient made the purchase through an online service provider. The e-mail contains a link if the recipient wishes to dispute the charges to their account. Once the link is selected, the recipient is requested to provide their account information.

The second e-mail hoax includes a PDF attachment claiming to be the order summary. The attachment contains a virus which will infect your computer. THE E-MAILS ARE FRAUDULENT.

Be cautious of e-mails requesting personal and/or financial information. When made aware of any fraudulent purchases to your account, contact the respective company to file a report.

Further, do not open attachments from individuals you do not trust or know.

FBI – IC3

NOTE: The Extension virus protection will detect the virus in the second e-mail and protect you against it. However, the first e-mail presents a dangerous threat to your personal information.

Spam continues to increase across the globe. Mark Barnhard reports that 58 percent of all incoming mail identified as spam by our filter is blocked before reaching you.

– Nina R. Boston