Published: December 05, 2008 11:25 pm      

In brief: Bull testing under way

The state Department of Agriculture has announced the start of the 2008-09 Bull Performance Testing Program at the Livestock Evaluation Center at Pennsylvania Furnace, Huntingdon County.

Beef producers from Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia have 120 bulls participating.

Only the best performing bulls are selected for sale.

The bulls are evaluated, compared and indexed on average daily gain, weight per day of age, feed efficiency, loin eye area, fat thickness and meat-quality traits.

Data collected will be used to rank bulls for the 36th annual Pennsylvania Performance Tested Bull Sale March 27 at the evaluation center.

More information is available from Glenn Eberly, center director, at 238-2527 or geberly@state.pa.us.

Reading contest set for next week

Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8 will sponsor its annual reading competition for local and state elementary-, middle- and high-school students Tuesday and Wednesday at Richland Senior High School.

Tuesday’s competition is for middle- and high-school students and will begin at 4 p.m.

The elementary-school competition will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Competition organizer Henry Polasko said students, who play in teams, will be asked questions pertaining to books they were required to read for the competition.

An estimated 135 teams will participate in the two-day event.

First-, second- and third-place ribbons will be awarded.

The competition is free and open to the public.

Custom chopper will be on display

The “African Bike,” designed by West Coast Chopper’s Jesse James, will be on display Dec. 12-13 at Z & M Cycle Sales, Greensburg, Westmoreland County.

For a $20 donation, people will be able to take a chance on the bike that will benefit Angels of East Africa, a Central City-based mission group that operates

Children’s Village for orphans in southern Sudan.

The winner’s name will be drawn June 27 at Thunder in the Valley.

The custom chopper has been on tour all year throughout the U.S. and is signed by 21 celebrities and musicians.

The bike is valued at $300,000.

Amateur radio test will be today

Cambria County Amateur Radio Emergency Service and the Conemaugh Valley Amateur Radio Club in conjunction with Cambria County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service will conduct a Simulated Emergency Test (SET) exercise from 9 to 10 a.m. today.

The test will use 145.210 MHz FM KC3DES, 146.940 MHz FM WA3WGN, and 3.805 MHz LSB.

The purpose of this exercise is to further develop the growing capabilities of the local amateur radio community as it relates to emergency response and to strengthen the working relationship between the amateur radio community, served agencies and governmental emergency response agencies in and around Cambria County.

For additional information go to www.cvarc.info.