TRUMBULL COUNTY 'Liberty in Bloom' program will beautify schools, bridge

Fifty volunteers will be beautifying the Liberty schools this weekend.
LIBERTY -- Township residents, the school system and a prison alternative facility are beginning a three-pronged beautification program.
"Liberty in Bloom," which will concentrate on landscaping of the three district schools, will take place Saturday and Sunday.
Jodi Stoyak, a township resident, will gather 50 volunteers during the weekend to plant trees, shrubs and flowers around the Shady Road campus, where the school buildings are located.
June Smallwood, township parks and projects coordinator, said flower beds will also be prepared.
Bridge painting: Also this weekend, Smallwood explained, high and middle school art students will paint designs on the Shady Road bridge over Interstate 80 to replace graffiti.
Art teachers and students have come up with designs such as leopard paws in maroon and gold to coincide with the school district's mascot and colors.
Smallwood said this will be a continuing program that will see paintings on sidewalks.
Inmates of the Northeast Ohio Community Alternative Program in Warren will prepare the concrete surfaces Thursday and Friday for the painting.
NEOCAP is a facility for first-time, nonviolent offenders as an alternative to prison.
In addition, township Trustee Jack Simon has initiated an anti-litter campaign.
Smallwood said NEOCAP inmates will begin the first week in October to pick up litter along the main highways in the community.
At the same time, anti-litter signs will be posted and police will enforce anti-litter laws.