December 29

PIZZA NIGHT, Thurs., December 29, 5:30-8:30 p.m. and MUSIC by “The Trio,” 6:00-9:00 p.m. at Kirkwood Elks Lodge.

January 6

YOGA CLASS, Fridays, beginning January 6, 10:00-11:00 a.m. at Blue Ridge Senior Center. Free, ages 60+. Call 879-2896 to register.

Monday, January 2: Centers are closed for New Year’s holiday.

Tuesday, January 3: stuffed shells, garden salad, minestrone soup, garlic bread, banana.

Wednesday, January 4: chicken & biscuits, mixed vegetables, crackers, fruit cocktail.

Thursday, January 5: roast turkey w/gravy, peas & pearl onions, cranberry sauce, dinner roll, stuffing, mixed berry crisp.

Friday, January 6: sweet & sour pork, Asian vegetables, brown rice, ww dinner roll, ambrosia.

WASHINGTON - USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced that the ranking period cut-off date for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is January 13, 2012. Producers interested in CSP should submit applications to their local NRCS office by the deadline so that their applications can be considered during the first ranking period of 2012.

“CSP is one of our most popular conservation programs, and we expect to receive many applications,” NRCS Chief Dave White said. “I encourage all farmers and ranchers who are interested in applying to contact their local NRCS office as soon as possible so they can meet the deadline.” According to NRCS District Conservationist Ain Welmon, “there have been 14 CSP contracts developed for Susquehanna County during the past two years. These contracts have brought $152000+ for landowners in this county and have further protected and enhanced our natural resources.”

CSP is offered in all 50 states, and the Pacific and Caribbean areas through continuous sign-ups. The program provides many conservation benefits including improvement of water and soil quality, wildlife habit enhancements and adoption of conservation activities that address the effects of climate change. Eligible lands include cropland, pastureland, rangeland, nonindustrial private forest land and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe.

A CSP self-screening checklist is available to help potential applicants determine if CSP is suitable for their operation. The checklist highlights basic information about CSP eligibility requirements, contract obligations and potential payments. It is available from local NRCS offices and on the CSP Web page.

As part of the CSP application process, applicants will work with NRCS field personnel to complete the resource inventory using a Conservation Measurement Tool (CMT). The CMT determines the conservation performance for existing and new conservation activities. The applicant’s conservation performance will be used to determine eligibility, ranking and payments.

In 2010 alone, nearly 21,000 applicants enrolled in CSP, putting additional conservation on 25.2 million acres, about the size of the state of Kentucky, to improve water and soil quality, enhance wildlife habitat and address the effects of climate change.

Visit the NRCS National Web site, and connect with an NRCS office near you. In northeast Pennsylvania, the Susquehanna County office can be reached at 278-1011 ext. 103; the Mayfield office (serving Wayne, Lackawanna, Monroe and Pike counties) can be reached at 282-8732 ext 618; the Wyoming county office 8636-2490 ext. 108; the Bradford county office at 265-6969 ext. 103 (this office also serves Sullivan county); the Tioga county office can be reached at 724-1726 ext. 117.

Susquehanna County Treasurer, Cathy Benedict, announces that 2012 dog licenses and tags are currently available in the Treasurer's office. Failure to license a dog is a summary offense and a maximum fine of $300 for each unlicensed dog may be issued.

Dog licenses must be purchased by January 1 of each year for all dogs over 3 months old. Licenses are only good for the county in which the dog resides.

In a combined effort with the Department of Agriculture, the treasurer’s office again this year is mailing applications for 2012 dog licenses to residents of the county. If you have already renewed please disregard. If you receive one and don't have a dog, please pass it on to someone else. If you don't receive one in the mail, applications are available at www.susqco.com on the Treasurer's page, or at the county courthouse in the treasurer's office. Any questions please call 278-4600 x 130, 131 or 132 or e-mail susqcotreas@hotmail.com.

Are you looking for more information to help make your livestock enterprise more profitable? Penn State Extension will be offering three Extension Home Study Courses this winter, beginning February 1, 2012. The purpose of the courses is to teach producers about production principles for beef, sheep or meat goats that will help their operations become more profitable.

All three courses are available through the postal service and the sheep and meat goat courses are available through email/internet. Each course has six lessons that are to be completed weekly. The lesson topics include basic production information, nutrition, health, reproduction, marketing, and financial issues. Each lesson has information about the topic and a worksheet for producers to complete and mail or email back to the Extension Office for comments. Producers can also submit any questions that they would like answered.

Melanie Barkley, Bedford County Extension Agent, said “each course is a great way for producers to learn new information without having to rearrange their schedule to accommodate a meeting. Producers can study the lessons at their leisure in their own home.” The worksheet questions are designed to ask producers about their current operation so that comments from the instructor are tailored to participants’ individual situations to help them improve their management skills.

According to Barkley, over 1,400 producers from across the country have taken one or more of the three courses. Comments following the courses show that information contained in the courses is very beneficial and that producers are able to adapt the information for use in their own operations.

For more details or to sign up for a course, go to http://guest.cvent.com/d/sdqb58 or call 877-489-1398. To speak to one of the instructors you can contact the Penn State Extension Office in Bedford County at (814) 623-4800 or in Fulton County at (717) 485-4111. Deadline for registration is January 23, 2012.

TUNKHANNOCK - Reps. Sandra Major (R-Susquehanna/Wyoming/Wayne) and Karen Boback (R-Columbia/Luzerne/Wyoming) announced the January dates for visits to Tunkhannock by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ mobile veterans center, which provides services to veterans and their families.

The mobile veterans center will visit the area of the Route 29 and Route 6 Bypass in Tunkhannock (across the street from Gay’s True Value), from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 9. It will be available at Boback’s office, located at 608 Hunter Highway, Suite 110, in Tunkhannock from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 23.

Appointments for mobile veterans center services are not required. More information about the center and veterans services is available at RepMajor.com or RepBoback.com.