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The Carroll County 4-H program has started an environmentally friendly fundraiser that offers citizens another option for recycling some of their wastepaper. With help from the county government, which is again pushing the recycling concept through single-stream recycling, 4-H has placed 12 marked bins around the county to collect several types of paper. Leeann Boyce, a 4-H educator, said she saw one of the bins in Silver Run and called about it. The project started with one bin, which is green and bright yellow with a "Local Fundraiser" sign on it, at the Carroll County Agriculture Center in March.

Because of the severe drought and associated crop losses this year, the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corp. has created a loan fund to help farmers with weather-related income losses. The 2007 Farm Drought and Weather Event Recovery Assistance Loan Fund offers low-interest operating loans to producers who have suffered significant crop, livestock, feed or dairy losses. The program helps pay for all or part of production costs associated with the drought, as well as essential family living expenses.

Record-setting temperatures depressed attendance at this year's Howard County Fair. The eight-day event, which ended Saturday, drew 10,000 to 20,000 fewer visitors than last year's estimated attendance of 100,000, according to organizers. As a result of the heat, fair officials plugged in additional fans, refrigerated prize-winning baked goods, loosened uniform requirements for 4-H members and allowed some animals to go home early. Two people fainted from heat stroke but declined to go to a hospital, said Chief Mickey Day of the West Friendship Volunteer Fire Department.

Eight-year-old Jason Vanisko admitted he was a little sad about selling his 1,708-pound steer, Michael, at the 4-H livestock sale at the Howard County Fair. He had raised the animal for more than a year, bottle-feeding it when it was a calf. "I'm sad to let it go," he said. But he was happy to auction his lamb, a 122-pounder named George. "I'm not sad to sell my lamb," said the Ellicott City resident. "It's mean. It head-butts me, and it tries to get away." Jason's emotions about the animals didn't change anything.

The 62nd Howard County Fair concludes its eight-day run tomorrow. Amusement rides and games begin at 1 p.m. today and at 11 a.m. tomorrow. A petting zoo and education center are open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Chain-saw carving, pig races and performances by magicians and clowns are planned throughout the day. Highlights today include a quarter horse show at 8 a.m., a 4-H livestock sale at 6:15 p.m. and performances by Alibi at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tomorrow's highlights...

At the Howard County Fair, it seems as though every third person is sporting a bright-green 4-H T-shirt. Teens wearing the shirts are showing off their pigs and goats. Adults are keeping an eye on their children or hovering near the animal stalls. Though farms and farming families have declined over the decades in Howard County, the 4-H Club is alive and well. The county organization has about 650 members, a number that has stayed constant over the years, said Sheryl Burdette, the 4-H extension coordinator.

What: Eight days of animal shows, exhibits, rides, contests, entertainment and demonstrations. When: Aug. 4 through 11, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Where: Howard County Fairgrounds, 2210 Fairground Road, West Friendship. Take Exit 80 off Interstate 70. Admission: $5 for guests ages 10 and older, $2 for those ages 62 and older, free for children younger than 10. Parking: Free at the fairgrounds. Information: www.howardcountyfair.org, or 410-442-1022. Daily highlights Amusement rides and games begin at noon Aug 4, at 11 a.m. Aug. 11 and at 1 p.m. every other day. A petting zoo and education center is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Chain-saw carving, pig races and performances by magicians and clowns happen throughout the day. Saturday, Aug. 4 (Preview Day)

The Carroll County 4-H Family of the Year doesn't raise large animals. They have no cows, pigs, chickens or sheep. The Scott family of Westminster instead works quietly behind-the-scenes in their basement, cheerily cluttered with crafts and little pets. Their animals of choice: hamsters and rats. "They just do a lot in the shadows," Cheryl Hill, an administrative assistant with the Maryland Cooperative Extension's Carroll County office, said of the family. "They aren't out there to get the glory or the pat on the back."

From arts and crafts to zinnias, garden tractors to monster tractors, rabbits to beef cattle, hogs to horses, fashions to photos, welding to writing, to music and dancing, the 110th Carroll County 4-H/FFA Fair has it all for free. This year's fair, with the theme "Harvest Your Dreams," opens Saturday and ends Aug. 3 at the Carroll County Agriculture Center in Westminster. "It's different displays that are geared toward their future hopes and plans," said Kathy Gordon, a Cooperative Extension 4-H and youth educator.

Before Matthew Hoffman even tested his robot in the competition arena set up in a meeting room at the Carroll County Agriculture Center, he ran into a problem. No matter what the 10-year-old pressed on the control in his hands, the machine he had constructed and programmed, with his father's help, wouldn't budge. A quick peek in the back of the box he held revealed the trouble. "The battery's not in," he said, turning to exchange the control for the correct -- and fully equipped -- one. Matthew tried again.