Keeping children engaged while they and their grownups take shelter from the novel coronavirus pandemic can be a challenge, especially if the adults are working from home. Danielle Waite, Director UC Merceds Early Childhood Education Center, compiled this list of age-appropriate activities for kids.

One of the goals of these activities is to give children an alternative to computers or phones. Screen time can be used to assist parents and caregivers during part of the day, but children need a break from these devices.

Safety reminder: If your child puts objects and materials in the mouth, please choose larger materials that are not a choking hazard.

Remember, children like repetition. These activities can be cycled every few days. Change an item or two or put them in a different location to keep them interesting and fresh.

Light Table: Line the sides of a transparent tub or container with aluminum foil, leaving the bottom uncovered. Place battery-operated or plug-in string lights under the inverted tub. Youve created a light table! This can be a base for translucent plastics, arranging loose parts (toothpicks, flowers, leaves, corks, bottle caps, feathers, etc.) for ephemeral art designs, and tracing (for older children). Its a great attraction in the dark corner of a room.

Table Tent: Convert any tall table (dining room or kitchen table) into a cozy tent and hiding spot. Place a large sheet or blanket over the table and add pillows, toys or books to make it an entertaining getaway. If you made a light table (above), add it to the tent. You can check in on their play by leaving the blanket six inches or so above the floor. The children still will feel they are in a secret hiding area.

Paper Airplanes: Make an abundance of paper airplanes. Talk your child through the construction or quickly fold a number of them. You can use recycled paper. Let them decorate the planes, then throw! You can limit which rooms (if indoors) or directions (if outdoors) your child can throw them. Children like to throw and retrieve them over and over. You can encourage building an airport or similar docking area from old cereal boxes. For infants, you can throw the paper airplane for the child to retrieve, encouraging movement.

Card Slot/Ball Drop: Using an oatmeal container, coffee container, Pringles can, wipes container, etc., create a simple activity that engages fine motor and auditory skills. Make a small hole or slit in the lid and let your child drop corks, playing cards, paper clips, balls, or other small toys through the lid. Let them experiment with different sizes of objects and discover the different sounds they make.

Animal Tape Rescue: Use masking tape to trap plastic animals/dinosaurs/vehicles on walls, the floor or doors. You can even tape them together. Use less tape for younger children, more for older ones. Have your child figure out how to free the toy! Provide tweezers and scissors for older children to help with their fine motor skill development.

Muffin Pan Sorting: Provide your child with assorted muffin pans for a variety of sorting projects. Small blocks, Duplos, magnetic letters, small rocks and even small toys can be put into the muffin slots. Watch how your child begins to use the sections of the pans. Sometimes this type of open-ended activity is the most inspiring for a young child.

Shredded Paper: Grab a big pot, basket or box, fill it with paper from a paper shredder (or use grass cuttings), and hide objects and toys in the container for your child to find. This may get messy, but it is easy to clean up.

Tape Parades: Place masking tapeon your carpet or floors. Make patterns or designs to inspire your child. Have your child place toys, rocks, cars, trains, Duplos, bottle caps, and natural items (flowers, leaves, small pinecones, etc.) on the tape to make their own parade. Your child may be inspired to make other play scenarios from the patterns on the floor.

Sink/Float: Fill a tall pot, dishpan, or clear large-mouth jar (mayonnaise or spaghetti jars are ideal) with water to experiment with sink/float aspects. Provide objects like small balls, pieces of sponge, toys, leaves, rocks, utensils, etc., and let the child experiment. Older children can chart their predictions and/or findings on whether an object sinks or floats. Add dish soap to see if it changes the properties. Make sure you have a towel nearby for any spills.

Pouring: This is a good activity for outside or inside a dishpan. Give your child a number of small containers (small glasses, coffee cups, vases, bowls, etc.). If you have watercolors, you can color the water. I do not recommend food coloring for this because it stains. You also can add a little oil or soap. Children love to pour from container to container. They see shape and volume. You can provide a small sponge for your child to mop up spills in the dishpans. Squeezing a sponge is great for strengthening hands and fingers for writing and other fine motor activities. You can add eye droppers, turkey basters, spoons, small scoops and syringes (use clean medication syringes). You also can do this as a dry activity instead of water, use dirt, sand or gravel with small scoops, spoons and other utensils.

Sticky Webs: Take some tape and criss-cross it in an open doorway or between two chairs, making a web that is child height. Then provide items for your child to stick on the tape (and peel them off again). Light items such as paper scraps, feathers, Q-tips, small toys, etc. work best.

Wrapping Paper Play: If you have rolls of wrapping paper youre willing to sacrifice, children of all ages love to play with it and can be entertained for hours. Older children can design a fort, explore how they can drape it, color the backside, or design something new. Younger children love the papers rustling sound and enjoy hiding under it, crawling or waking on it, and ripping it. Save the tubes for another activity and imagination play.

Mirror and Window Painting: For older children, provide dry erase markers or shaving cream for painting on a window or mirror. For children who still put things in their mouth, you can use something edible such as pudding or whipped cream. Shaving cream should not be used by children who may put it in their mouth. Make it extra challenging by using tape to make designs and create a stained-glass window look!

Flashlights: Set this up in a darker part of the house and watch the fun! For infants, you can hang the flashlights from above so your baby can explore the light on the floor. Walking infants and older will want to hold it and turn it on and off while exploring the beam of light.

Water Painting: With a small container and an old paintbrush, give your child some water to paint outside on cement and wooden fencing. The water will create a darker shade, then evaporate. If you have extra pans and rollers from a painting project, have your child use these as well, experimenting with different sizes and shapes. Spray bottles also are a big hit for water painting or watering the foliage in your yard.

Shadow Drawing: This is best for older children and can be done outdoors and indoors. For outdoors, place an object or toy on the driveway or sidewalk and have your child trace the shadow with chalk. Indoors, you can use the sunlight through a window and trace the shadows on paper with pencil, crayon or markers. Children can outline their dinosaurs, farm animals, flowers, your shadow or a pet onto the pavement or paper. Endless possibilities!

Coloring in a Box: Get a large box, put your child in it and let her color. Depending on the type of writing tools you provide, you may end up with a marked-up child as well. Colored pencils and crayons are safe against skin coloring, just watch for those who still may try to eat them. If you have small crayons or broken pieces and want to make larger ones that are difficult to put in the mouth, set an oven to 200 degrees or use a microwave to melt crayons into a larger mass. A silicone mold works best, but an old can will do. There are many videos and instructions online that show how to do this.

Loose Parts: As weve seen in our classrooms, sometimes simple, everyday material can become something interesting. Collections of things to put into containers, boxes from the recycling taped up to make a city, scarves to stuff and pull or dress up with or tie together, washers and nuts from a drawer to put together, cookie cutters as stencils, clothes pins or chip bag clips to clip onto edges, sticks and hand-sized stones. Small toys that may be getting old (Duplos or other manipulatives) can be added to the mix. Setting up these things in bowls, baskets or boxes and leaving them in a place to be discovered (and viewed safely from where youre working) can be part of the fun. Mirrors can be added as well.

Water play: With a large pot or dish pan, you can set up a water activity on the kitchen floor that you can supervise. Make sure you have a towel or two handy and its advisable, especially with younger children, to make sure the container isnt big enough to sit in. You dont need to provide too much water for these, just enough to keep your childs interest. For younger children, providing a few toys, small cups, old infant formula scoops or small measuring cups, and even rocks, will engage your child for quite a while. For older children, you can have them develop a theme with some small toys, provide some of the materials listed for younger children, as well as safe syringes or eye droppers (from old medicine dosing, cleaned), sponges trimmed for a childs hand, small glasses or vases, and fresh flowers or leaves from outside.

Ice Play: Take an empty half-gallon milk carton, wash it well, and then add water and freeze. This block of ice can keep your child entertained for a while. You choose to add toys before freezing so child can work to get the toys out. You can provide salt, water, eye droppers, a small rock to smash, or other tools for your child to try to free the captive toys. If you prefer to just offer a block of ice, theres still plenty to explore. You can provide toys and other loose parts. The child provides the imagination. Just remember to put the ice into a pot or dishpan to catch water as the block melts and have a towel available nearby.

Homemade Playdough : This requires a little adult preparation, but it will last for weeks. The playdough is edible and if it gets into the carpet, just let it dry, scrape it off, then wash the area with soap and water. If you dont have corn oil, other vegetable oils will work, but they dry faster. When not in use, store in an airtight container or plastic zip-lock bag. Making it without colors is fine, too.

Recipe

1 cups flour1 cup salt

2 cups water

4 tsp cream of tartar

2 TBSP corn oil

Food coloring or watercolor

Mix dry ingredients, then mix in wet ingredients. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat when the dough is not sticky to the touch.

The last two activities use food items for play. Not every family believes food is something for children to play with, but these are easy activities that are safe to provide at home with materials you may already have.

Colander Threading: For the younger child, an inverted colander (or other food strainers/sieve) is great to stick dried spaghetti/vermicelli through. Give your child a small handful of unbroken spaghetti in a cup and let him experiment with pushing the dried pasta through the holes. For an older child, you can use this as a threading activity. Give the child a long piece of yarn or string with a taped end needle and let the fun begin!

Goop: Combine cornstarch and water in a brownie-type pan or dishpan. Add enough water to give the cornstarch a wet, goopy consistency. The mixture is both a liquid and a solid. It is recommended that you do this outside or in the kitchen. It can be quite messy, but its fun!

Read more:
23 Fun Ways to Keep Kids Busy While Everyone is Home | Newsroom - UC Merced University News

A MUM has shared her painstaking house renovation, and it looks so good people have asked whether she knocked it down and bought a new one.

Joanne Lewis from Kent said she once owned the ugliest house on the street, but after three years and a few extensions, shes turned it into her dream home.

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The mum-of-two and her partner bought their forever home by the sea back in 2017, but admitted it was upside down, with the bedrooms and bathroom on the ground floor, while the kitchen and living room was on the second floor.

The pair set about creating a sensible layout, and added an extension on the ground floor for their kitchen.

Sharing the progress on Instagram and Twitter, Joanne revealed their-step-by-step process, saying: We changed the windows in the living room, from rectangle to square.

The house itself was square so we worked with what we had keeping the theme of the house square but modern.

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After all this is a stepping stone to our forever home. So working with what we had was key.

Upstairs was the kitchen and lounge. We created a hallway which would lead into one master bedroom, a second bedroom and a shower room.

The couple stripped wallpaper, knocked down walls, tackled the garden and even added a new staircase.

Documenting their extreme renovation, Joanne said: A year later we added another floor to the house.

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Making the house four bedrooms, two bathrooms and two balconies with sea views.

The house was rendered. Wood added to balcony areas. Intended to paint the wood black but still unsure.

Aluminium fascia was added to the roof and under balconies. Paving on the driveway completed.

Electricity box is still to be covered with wood that matches the house.

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As the house grew so did their family, with the couple welcoming two children along the way.

They adapted the house to accommodate their brood, continuing: Another nursery and our new bedroom.

The original master bedroom below, with the built in wardrobes is now a dressing room. This has been finished very recently, still working on furnishing the main room.

Sky light above the bed means perfect star gazing at night.

In the last few days the couple have finally finished their garden, and shared incredible before-and-after photos to social media.

Joanne said: A modern home by the sea is the end result to what was once a garage, then a 2 bedroom house now a four bed.

Its still a work in progress. But very nearly complete.

Also sharing the transformation on Twitter, Joanne said: The ugliest house on the street" as quoted by a neighbour...

Well, not anymore.

Her post has racked up more than 40,000 likes, as people could scarecely believe it was the same property.

Commenting online, one person said: What a transformation. It's amazing.

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Another wrote: This is incredible. Well done! Looks like a massive job.

A third said: What an amazing transformation. I bet it's easily the nicest house on the street now.

Someone else asked: Did you knock it down and build a new one? Looks fantastic.

While this person raved: Love this, such an amazing transformation!

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And this mum completely transformed ashabby Wendy house she got second hand with some old paint and charity shop bargains.

Meanwhile thisdad-of-three made an incredible playhouse for his kidswhich includes a garage and private lawn and it cost just 150.

Plus this bloke transformed his tired bedroom into trendy boutique hotel style room with bargains from Amazon and eBay.

Read more:
Mum with ugliest house on the street reveals amazing transformation & people think she built a new one - The Irish Sun

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Burlington streets are less icy as the weather warms, but there are potholes in its place. Here's where to be on the lookout.

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Your road woes are over as the ice melts in Burlington, right? Tell that to the people reporting potholes around the Queen City.

Burlington's SeeClickFix gives the public a chance to flag issues, like graffiti and icy conditions, for the city to address. Manyrecent complaints are filed under "Street Pavement Condition" and point to potholes spotted around town. The Department of Public Works tweeted March 7 about the crews addressing the craters around the city.

Until the road dips are completely addressed, you might want to stay alert. Here are the locations flagged by complainants in recent days:

Want to see more stories like this?

Contact Maleeha Syed at mzsyed@freepressmedia.com or 802-495-6595. Follow her on Twitter@MaleehaSyed89.

This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up today for a digital subscription.

Read or Share this story: https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/2020/03/09/burlington-see-click-fix-potholes-where-to-look-out-around-city-dpw-addressing/4998687002/

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Read more:
Burlington SeeClickFix users report potholes around the city: Here's where to be careful - Burlington Free Press

Pavement parking campaigners are frantically pushing to stretch a blanket ban across the UK in a bid to improve road safety.Under proposals, campaigners are looking to introduce a new obstructive placement parking and unnecessary obstruction offences into law.

The changes could see motorists fined or prosecuted for stopping on a kerb leaving many road users caught out.

The Department for Transport has launched a national consultation on the plans which could be introduced later this year if approved.

Local councils will be responsible for deciding where pavement parking rules should be most heavily enforced based on historical data of the area.

The DfT ware signs can also obstruct the pavement with ministers warning the price of new road infrastructure could be paid by the taxpayer.

READ MORE:Pavement parking near schools could soon be banned

Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary said: Vehicles parked on the pavement can cause very real difficulties for many pedestrians.

Thats why I am taking action to make payments safer and I will be launching a consultation to find a long-term solution for this complex issue.

This will look at a variety of options - including giving local authorities extended powers to crack down on this behaviour.

In a report last year the Transport Select Committee said pavement parking made it harder for many to get around.

DON'T MISSCar parking law: Motorists not entitled to park in front of house[INSIGHT]Anyone can park on your driveway for free today[ANALYSIS]Parking crackdown: MPs want to ban drivers from parking[COMMENT]

The report claimed parking on the kerb was detrimental to disabled citizens and parents with young children.

The group found pavement parking could contribute to loneliness as many may feel forced to stay at home.

The Committee made a list of improvements to the road networks to increase safety such as the introduction of public awareness campaigns and extra traffic regulation orders.

Campaign teams such as Living Streets and Guide Dogs have been in support of a widespread ban and backed findings from the Transport Select Committee.

Stephen Edwards, policy and communications director at Living Streets said pavement parking had an impact on the lives of many people.

He said: Cars parked on pavements force people with wheelchairs, parents with buggies and those living with sight loss into the carriageway and oncoming traffic.

The committee is right to draw attention to the impact of pavement parking on loneliness.

Many older adults we speak to feel stuck in their homes because theyre not able to navigate their local pavements.

Currently, London is the only UK region which charged a fine for parking on the pavement.

Offenders can be hit with a 70 charge for stopping on the kerb in the capital whereas no further laws exist for the rest of the UK.

Motoring experts, the AA, said fines should be introduced for offenders but have warned the ban could lead to unintended consequences.

The recovery group claimed a ban could lead to widespread parking chaos and urged the government to introduce new measures which better targeted key areas.

The AA said: An outright ban could lead to unintended consequences with parking chaos becoming more widespread.

A better solution would be for councils to make a street-by-street assessment and where pavement parking could be allowed it be clearly marked and signed.

Original post:
Pavement parking could soon be banned across the UK under these new proposals - Express

Facing robust opposition from Old Church Lane residents, the Lewisboro Town Board has dropped, at least for now, any plans to pave over that mile-long stretch of dirt road.

The board, which had already approved borrowing as much as a half-million dollars for the job, agreed last week to forgo the paving this year.

Scrapping the initiative was a setback for Supervisor Peter Parsons, who had labeled the South Salem road a disaster and made its rehabilitation a key project in his capital improvement budget. But board members enthusiasm waned after contentious, back-to-back meetings this month and Parsons concluded that the town would delay any decision [on the road] until next year.

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The people who live along the rustic byway filled town hall on Feb. 11 and again on Feb. 24, dismissing Parsons stated concerns about the roadways costly and recurring drainage fixes and the damage it inflicts on vehicles such as school buses.

There are alternatives, and good alternatives, to paving that road, one resident, Dr. James Jones, told the board at last weeks meeting. Paving is not the answer to the drainage issues that you have.

After the boisterous Feb. 11 meeting, which included a public hearing on borrowing for the project, Parsons had considered three approaches to dealing with the road: not paving it, paving the entirety of that road or a middle way...unlikely to satisfy anybody.

That compromise solution, tackling the most difficult parts of that road in terms of maintenance, called for taking the three quarters of a mile nearest the Pound Ridge border and paving that stretch.

While most residents who spoke at the Feb. 24 meeting opposed any paving, some, like Luis G. Formoso, supported any measures that would address the roads drainage woes.

I cant use my garage for its intended purpose, to park cars, he told the board. Thats ridiculous.

Formoso offered to help pay to solve the drainage problem.

If borrowing this money and using some of it to fix this has to happen, if I have to spend money out of my pocket...then so be it.

But right now I cant even spend money on my two cars and my driveway to fix the problem because thats just washed away. I got quotes of $30,000 to do somethingand all thats going to do is divert it from coming into my garage.

Another of the roads residents, Marjorie Samuels, was less enthusiastic about paying for a fix.

I would just like to know what this is going to cost me, she said. Anything?

Parsons has estimated the town would spend about $370,000 to pave the entire 1.3 miles of Old Church Lane and make other repairs, including to its faulty drainage. Others, including Highway Superintendent Peter Ripperger, however, have put the cost at closer to $500,000. So at its Feb. 11 meeting the Town Board authorized borrowing of up to the higher number, with the understanding that it could seek less than that amount or not borrow at all.

Parsons told Samuels her taxes would pay a share of retiring the bonds cost. But we believe that will be less than what youre currently payingwell, not you, what the town is currently payingfor maintaining the road as it is, he said.

I just want to know, she said, that its not going to cost me any more than what I am paying now.

Samuels went on to say she was concerned that I may have to sell my house at some point down the road, and I am very distressed to hear that the property values are going down in our area. I would feel that by paving that road its going to erode the property value even more.

Parsons told her, Ive got no crystal ball, and I dont know.

The supervisor cited numerous complaints by school officials and others about the roads condition, saying, I get phone calls, phone calls, phone calls.

But critics in the crowd challenged him to quantify the calls and Jones insisted that a majority of the residents on the road...do not want this paved. But we continue to hear about your phone calls, phone calls, phone calls.

See the article here:
Opposition Thwarts Plans to Pave Old Church Lane - TAPinto.net

N. 1st Street is closed between Tacoma Avenue and Yakima Avenue in both directions to install track, beginning on March 2. The track installation process will take about 10 weeks. During this time, crews will install two sets of tracks, the platform for the Stadium District station, and new sidewalks and driveways. Work hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

The Division Avenue and S. J Street intersection will be closed for utility work on Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March 8. Work hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Please follow detours on I St., N. 3rd St., 6th Ave., and MLK Jr. Way.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Way from S. 18th Street to S. 15th Street, the contractor is installing track. Crews plan to lay asphalt on Wednesday, March 4, which will close MLK Jr. Way in both directions between S. 16th St. and S. 19th St. Please follow the detour on S. J St. After the asphalt work is completed, the contractor will open MLK Jr. Way between S. 18th St. to S. 16th St. to two-way traffic. Crews plan to install underground electrical vaults between S. 15th St. and S. 14th St. as soon as March 5.

In other areas on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, crews are installing stormwater structures at S. 13th Street and underground utilities near S. 3rd Street. On Division Avenue, crews are installing foundations for Link power poles between Yakima Avenue and I Street.

Construction and traffic restrictions on N. 1st Street, Division Avenue, J Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Way, S. 13th Street, S. 16th Street, S. 17th Street, and Stadium Way

Week of March 3

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N. 1st Street closes between Tacoma Avenue and Yakima Avenue for track installation - The Suburban Times

MANSFIELD -- Public input has resulted in several changes in the plan to convert Diamond Street to two-way traffic through the downtown.

City engineer Bob Bianchi went over the changes Tuesday during a Mansfield City Council streets committee meeting.

Bianchi said the new ideas all came from a Feb. 11 public meetingabout the conversion.

"It was a great meeting and we had a lot of great input," Bianchi said. "We looked at every comment at what we could possibly incorporate, considering costs. Most of them we can incorporate into this plan."

The conversion proposal, first presented to City Council on Jan. 21, is another part of the Mansfield Rising downtown reinvestment plan, which suggested the city adopt and implement a complete streets policy in the downtown area.

It would be similar to Mulberry Street, one-way southbound for many years, which was was converted to two-way traffic in August 2019.

The changes Bianchi outlined Tuesday were:

-- creating a right-in-right-out driveway at the gas station at the corner of Diamond and First streets. Bianchi said he spoke to the owner of the property who said it would be difficult to turn left out of the driveway closest to First Street. "'Right-in-right-out' features are great for access management and managing how vehicles enter public right of way," Bianchi said.

-- installing an ADA-compliant curb ramp at the corner Diamond and First.

-- installing a concrete "bump-out" for sight distance improvement along the east side of Diamond Street, north of Second Street.

-- prohibiting turning right on red from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for southbound Diamond Street traffic at Second Street.

-- creating a dedicated left-turn "split-phase signal" for traffic northbound on Diamond Street at Third, Fourth and Fifth streets.

-- moving four planned on-street parking spaces into the Municipal Parking Lot due to a utility conflict just before Fourth Street.

-- constructing four on-street parking spaces along the east side of Diamond Street, just north of Fourth Street.

-- constructing three on-street parking spaces along the east side of Diamond Street, just north of Fifth Street.

-- widening the northeast intersection radius for truck turning movements at the Diamond/Fifth street intersection.

Bianchi said the cost of the project, first estimated at about $360,000, will rise by $40,000 to $60,000, depending on the quantities of asphalt, concrete and curb are needed.

The engineer said the city has the funds to pay for the project. Mayor Tim Theaker has said no general funds will be used. Instead, funds for the project would come from four sources -- the permissive sales tax, the street fund, road resurfacing fund and the Downtown Improvement Fund, which began when City Council approveda $5 increase inmotor vehicle registration feesin May of 2018.

That increase generates about $220,000 annually and was used in 2019 to help fund a downtown beautification effort, the Mulberry Street conversion and the addition of amid-block, brick crosswalk on Fourth Streetbetween Main and Diamond streets.

The Downtown Improvement Advisory Board recommended on Feb. 20 that City Council spend $50,000 from the downtown improvement fund on the conversion.

City Council is expected to have three readings on the proposal -- March 18, April 7 and April 21. A vote on the conversion is expected April 21.

Bianchi has said concrete work could begin in May, followed by paving in July and in signal installation in August, if the signal poles are available.

Also on Tuesday, City Council:

-- gave second reading to an ordinance that would require council approval for any multi-vendor projects exceeding $50,000. Bidding will not be required except if an individual contract exceeds $50,000. The change will also require the city's board of control to approve all multi-vendor projects totaling more than $25,000.

-- approved a resolution honoring detectiveRonald Packer Sr., who recently retiredafter more than 31 years with the Mansfield Police Department.

-- approved the appointment of Russ White to fill an unexpired term on the city's utility appeals board.

-- approved a $1,200 payment to Michael Connolly for damage caused by sewer backups at his 48 N. Brookwood Way property in June and July of 2019.

-- approved demolition of dilapidated properties at 91 Lind Ave., 148 Willow St., 195 Sycamore St., 249 W. Fifth St., 345 Cedar St., 648 W. Fourth St. and 720 Burns St.

-- voted to accept $3,600 in donations for Cyclops Field, including $3,000 from Warren Rupp Inc., $500 from Larry Abrams and $100 from Skybox Packaging, LLC.

-- discussed in caucus the city's proposed 2020 final budget, which was the focus of a lengthy finance committee meeting on Monday night.Under state law, the budget must be adopted by the end of March.

-- heard an update from Public Works Director David Remy on the city-wide water meter replacement program. Remy said the mass replacement process should begin by mid-May. City residents will receive a booklet about the conversion later this month.

During the public participation portion of the meeting, Council heard from:

-- Kathleen Boyle, who repeated her request that the city construct a pavilion at Liberty Park that would allow senior citizens an indoor facility for events and gatherings.

--Jodie Perry,president & CEO ofRichland Area Chamber & Economic Development, who updated council on the countywide-branding campaign effort.

-- former 4th Ward CouncilmanWalden "Butch" Jefferson, who said he was concerned council members were losing losing their authority as an oversight group in allowing the mayor's administration to announce the Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center would be closing.

-- Geron Tate, president and CEO of G. Tate and Associates, an outpatient drug and alcohol treatment organization that has an office in Ocie Hill, who again expressed an interest in keeping the facility open. He invited council members to attend a public art event at Ocie Hill April 23 to 25 to learn more about what is going on at the center. He also urged city officials to talk to residents in the neighborhood to discuss what kind of programming they would like to see at the facility.

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Changes in Diamond St. 2-way conversion plan unveiled to Mansfield City Council - Richland Source

Evelyn Mae Boswell was reportedly last seen in December 2019. She was reported as a missing child on February 18. Knoxville

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.Evelyn Mae Boswell the Tennessee toddler missing since December was born into chaos to a teen mom whose childhood had been marred by domestic violence, family upheaval and isolation, a Knox News investigation of court and public records shows.

Evelyn, a 15-month-old girl with wispy reddish-blonde hair and big blue eyes, remains nowhere to be found despite almost two weeks of intense media coverage across the nation of her reported disappearance. Authorities say she hasnt been seen since mid-December.

Evelyns mom, Megan Maggie Boswell, is now behind bars after an arrest warrant statedshe refusedto tell the truth about her babys whereabouts. Shes been spinning yarns the sheriff's office called them "inaccuracies" in television interviews, too.

Evelyns maternal grandmother, Angela Mae Boswell, was just released Friday from that same Sullivan County Jail, accused of fleeing town in a stolen car with a boyfriend after her ex-husband Evelyns grandfather reported the toddler missing Feb. 18.

And Evelyns grandfather, Tommy Boswell Sr., isnt talking publicly especially to journalists.

Background: Mom arrested, North Carolina pond searched: Tennessee toddler Evelyn Boswell still missing

Evelyn Boswell: Why did it take months to issue an Amber Alert for the missing Tennessee toddler?

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Youre all vultures, he told the USA TODAY Network's Knox News this week in an encounter at the Boswell family compound in the tiny town of Blountville where Evelyn once lived.

The Sullivan County Sheriffs Office has been working around the clock with help from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI to figure out where Evelyn is and, more importantly, whether shes safe and alive.

Sullivan Sheriff Jeff Cassidy and Captain Andy Seabolt said Evelyns mother's story has changed multiple times.Cassidy'sagency isnt saying much else, though. Search warrants have been obtained, authorities have confirmed, but remain sealed. Cassidy has said the agency remains hopeful the toddler is alive but has quashed the idea of citizen searches.

Knox News has been sifting through court and public records this week to glean a portrait of the Boswell clan into which Evelyn was born.

Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy gives an update on the case of 15-month-old Evelyn Boswell. Knoxville

Angela Boswell was just 16 when she gave birth to Tommy Boswell Sr.s first son Tommy Jr. in 1993. A background check shows Tommy racked up an assault charge in Sullivan County a few months after the boys birth, but the specific details on the arrest are no longer available. A Tennessee Bureau of Investigationreport shows he was convicted of misdemeanor assault a year later in that case.

The couple, records show, eventually moved to Bulls Gap, Tennessee. In March 2001, Angela Boswell gave birth to the couples second child Megan Boswell, Evelyns mother. Angela married Tommy Boswell Sr.a few months later.

By 2009, the couple was back in Sullivan County, settling the kids in a manufactured home atop a hill on a family-owned plot of land.

But there was little harmony inside those walls, court records show. In March of that year, Tommy Boswell Sr. told deputies his wife attacked him, stabbing his neck with an ink pen, and struggling with their then-14-year-old son, Tommy Jr., as he tried to rescue his dad.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation gives an update on the Amber Alert case of 15-month-old Evelyn Mae Boswell.(Photo: PKNS)

Months later, records show, an angry Tommy Boswell Sr., showed up at the home of his wifes father, David Lynn Jones. Jones would later tell authorities Tommy Boswell Sr.accused his son of theft and had been drinking when he sped away in his Chevy Camaro.

Less than three minutes later, Jones stated the power went off at his house, a warrant stated.

Angela Boswell was with Jones and claimed her husband called her minutes later to say hed crashed the Camaro and ran away. She initially told authorities she was driving but under prodding by Jones later insisted she lied to protect her husband, court records show.

Tommy Boswell Sr. refused to return to the crash scene but eventually paid a fine for leaving the scene of an accident.

Less than two years after that incident, Tommy Boswell Sr. was angry again this time because another man was inside his home with his wife, according to an affidavit of complaint.

It was a cold February morning in 2012 when Brandon Yates and Angela Boswell awakened to shouts from outside the Muddy Creek home in which they had been sleeping, court records stated.

Angela Boswell was naked and said she could hear her husbands truck and his voice outside. When Brandon Yates went to the door, the Boswells'son, Tommy Jr., threatened him with some type of wooden club and told him to come outside, arrest warrants state.

Yates did, heading down the steep driveway leading to the exit of the Boswell family compound.

Brandon said that he was about half way down the driveway to Muddy Creek Road when he observed a grey colored Chevrolet pickup truck with Tommys Paving on the side heading straight for him, the warrant states.

Brandon stated that he was in fear for his life, and he began running toward a fence that was in the yard, it continued. Brandon stated that he was unable to outrun the truck and was struck by the vehicle and was flipped over the hood and landed on the driveway.

He later told Sullivan County deputies Tommy Boswell Sr., his son and a third, unidentified man surrounded him, kicking and punching him, before he broke free and ran to a neighbors house for help.

When detectives called Tommy Boswell Sr., he confessed the three of us did work him over but hung up, a warrant stated. The two Boswell men Tommy Jr. was 19 by then were arrested.

Seventeen months later, a reunited Tommy Boswell Sr. and his wife celebrated the birth of another son, Elijah. Tommy Boswell Sr. and his son soon struck plea deals in the Yatesassault, garnering probation.

But it didnt take long for trouble to erupt once again in the Boswell home.

Angela Boswell filed for divorce from her husband in September 2014 two months before Elijahs first birthday. Megan Boswell was 13. She wanted custody of both. She got the divorce over with a year later in an agreed settlement entered at a hearing Tommy Boswell Sr. didnt attend.

A year later, the couple were celebrating another birth Charlotte Boswell. By the time Charlotte was 2 years old, the Boswells were again in turmoil, records show.

It was early fall of 2018 and the Boswells were separated again. Angela Boswell was shuffling the three children a pregnant Megan plus Elijah and Charlotte between the Muddy Creek compound, her fathers home in Kingsport and an apartment in Johnson City, records show.

Angela Boswell appears in Wilkes County District Court in Wilkesboro, N.C., for her extradition hearing on Monday, February 24, 2020.(Photo: Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel )

Her drivers license was suspended. The tags on her car were expired. Police repeatedly stopped her, often finding her children unrestrained, records show. She was repeatedly jailed.

Tommy Boswell Sr. insisted she was endangering their children, including Megan, and asked a judge to award custody to him.

(Angela Boswell) is currently in jail, Tommy Boswell Sr. wrote in a petition for a restraining order against her. She has stated that she is out for blood and she will get revenge on me when she is released from jail.

I am in fear for myself and my children, Megan, Elijah and Charlotte Boswell, he wrote. She is using illegal drugs in front of our children. She is exposing our children to criminals.

Tommy Boswell Sr. won his request and moved the children back to Muddy Creek. Angela Boswell, nabbed trying to sneak stimulant pills into jail, was behind bars when Megan's baby Evelyn was born, records show.

Evelyns father, Ethan Perry, joined the military before she was born. So far, he has remained largely silent about her disappearance. There isnt much known about the relationship between Perry and Megan Boswell when it began and when it ended.

Photographs of Evelyn suggest she and her mom were living at the Boswell family compound with Megan Boswells two younger siblings at some point before she disappeared.

Tommy Boswell Sr. operates with Tommy Jr. a paving company from the compound, which now includes three manufactured homes, a double bay garage, a work shed and a stable of dump trucks, heavy equipment and personal vehicles. A Sullivan County Sheriff's Office captain says Elijah and Charlotte are living there now with Tommy Sr.

Angela Boswell was continuing to rack up arrests in 2019 for shoplifting and driving offenses. Sometimes, she told authorities she was living at Muddy Creek. Other times, she listed her fathers address or the Kingsport apartment.

Megan Boswell lamented in September 2019 in a Facebook post that her life was tough but Evelyn made it bearable.

I'm not the best mom in the world, but I try so hard for this little beauty, she wrote. I can't even explain the love I feel for her, and I know she loves me too. Lately my lifes been really sucky but she'll come reach for me and say mom mom and my heart melts and I'm reminded of her unconditional love.

You can say whatever you want about me being a young mom, but I promise you my life is so much better with this angel, she wrote. My life wasnt ruined when I had her, she gave me a purpose and a reason to wake up every day and to better myself. Theres no love like the love from your child!

Five months later, Megan Boswell hasn't explainedwhere her angel is.

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Missing Tennessee toddler Evelyn Boswell was born into family racked by chaos, violence - USA TODAY

MANKATO The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) advises haulers that Minnesota 91 from Nobles County 16 (160th Street) to the Nobles/Murray County line will be restricted to 7 tons per axle when spring weight restrictions are in place, which could begin in early March.

Construction on the 45-mile stretch of Minnesota 91 from Adrian to Russell is expected to resume when weather allows this spring and be complete in late June.

Spring load restrictions are typically placed in March and removed in May to prevent damage to highway pavement structure during the spring thaw. With Minnesota 91 still under construction, portions of the highway did not get the final surface paved, making it more susceptible to damage from heavy loads.

More information on seasonal road restrictions can be found at mndot.gov/materials/pvmtdesign/sll/index.html.

The remaining work on Minnesota 91 includes final paving, culvert lining, lighting, seeding and striping, and will take place without detouring traffic. The construction project includes bridge replacements and rural box culvert construction. Resurfacing will be completed as well as sidewalk and driveway improvements in Adrian and Lake Wilson and additional lighting at rural intersections.

Central Specialties Inc. of Alexandria was awarded the contract with a bid of $18,451,694.

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Six miles of Minnesota 91 restricted during spring thaw | The Globe - The Globe

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Whats all that work on Michigan? - Midland Reporter-Telegram