Poster Contest

State police continue to investigate the death of a highway worker who was struck by a truck Wednesday afternoon while making repairs to a section of guardrail on the outer loop of the Baltimore Beltway in Linthicum. Michael D. Guthridge, 19, of Broad Top City, Pa., and a co-worker were standing along the center grass median near the Baltimore-Washington Parkway about 1:30 p.m. when a 1999 International box truck struck Guthridge, dragging him several feet. Guthridge was taken by ambulance to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he died a short time later.

The Carroll County Farm Museum has announced the 2006 Maryland Wine Festival poster design contest. The winning design will be reproduced on posters, T-shirts, brochures and other promotional materials for the Wine Festival, to be held Sept. 16-17 at the farm museum. The winning artist will receive a $1,000 cash award. Five honorable mentions will be chosen. Any two-dimensional medium is acceptable, including painting, drawing, collage, photography and computer-generated design. Artists must be 21 or older and Maryland residents.

Third-grader wins poster contest Kara Leigh Brady, a third-grader at Fort Smallwood Elementary School in Pasadena, has been named the winner of the Read & Hit a Home Run poster contest. Kara's poster was chosen from among more than 4,500 entries in Anne Arundel County. Her poster will be distributed to Anne Arundel and Howard County schools participating in the Read & Hit a Home Run program. The program encourages children to read four books, and teachers track the pupils' progress on the poster.

In partnership with Corridor Transportation and the Howard County Office of Public Information, the Columbia Association recently held an "Images of Freedom" poster contest in honor of Black History Month. Columbia middle and high school students were asked to create artwork illustrating what the theme "Images of Freedom" meant to them. The five winning entries will be displayed on the sides of five Howard Transit buses through the end of the month. Winners were Brian Ferrick of Wilde Lake High School; Lillian Yu of River Hill High School; and Kristen Klotz, Grace Nelson and Ashley Roland, of Harper's Choice Middle School.

The Lazarus Foundation, a Columbia-based nonprofit organization that refurbishes computers and promotes computer recycling, distributed awards Thursday at Atholton High School to winners of its CyberSafety-CyberEthics Art Poster Contest. The foundation, which holds workshops at Atholton and at the Applications and Research Laboratory, launched the poster contest to encourage families to discuss safe practices and responsibilities for children when they are online. One hundred sixty-seven students from 23 schools submitted 155 posters.

The Carroll County Volunteer Emergency Services Association recently held its ninth annual Fire Prevention Poster Award Contest for elementary school pupils. The winners are: Homeschooled Grade 4: Savannah Field, first. Winfield Grade 1: McKala Krauss, first; Anders Entwistle, second; Amanda Blaney, third. Winfield Grade 2: Dana Biederman, first; Lizbeth Gomez, second; Kristin Hamby, third. Winfield Grade 3: Jessica McWilliams, first; Zellie Wothers, second; Carissa Cowman, third. Winfield Grade 4: Kaitlyn Talbott, first; Scott Fisher, second; Zachary Collette, third.

Teams RAVEN and RAMROD - made up of teams from the Applications and Research Laboratory in Ellicott City - competed in the national finals of Team America Rocketry Challenge on May 22 in Plains, Va. It was the largest model rocket contest ever, according to the Web site of its sponsor, Aerospace Industries Association. The participants, all students in the Howard County schools' Technology Magnet Program, attend Long Reach and River Hill high schools. "The issue is that there were over 600 teams, and the top 100 got to go to the national finals.