Fort Sumter restricts access

Fort Sumter restricts access

CHARLESTON, S.C.

The National Park Service says people can no longer stop by a historic South Carolina fort for free, unregulated visits.

The Post and Courier reported recently rangers have now limited access to Fort Sumter in Charleston, blocking people and boaters from using a nearby sandbar beach to pop in for an unregulated visit.

Park Superintendent J. Tracy Stakely announced the closure in a letter that says “security in the era of the active shooter requires a change from previous times.” He said the beach attracts partiers instead of people hoping for a historical visit.

The park service said it needs to increase security and the management of erosion and artifact looting. The nearly 200-year-old fort was the target of the bombardment that launched the Civil War.

Rome tests recycling bottles for transit cash

ROME

Travelers in Rome have a new way to earn cash toward public transportation tickets: recycling plastic bottles.

The city of Rome unveiled three test machines recently around metro stations where passengers can drop plastic water bottles, receiving five cents apiece through a scan on their phones.

According to Rome’s transportation authority ATAC, the money goes to passengers’ accounts in partner apps “MyCicero” or “Tabnet,” which can be redeemed for public transportation.

ATAC President Paolo Simioni said that “in a period in which cryptocurrency is talked about, we have plastic currency. Substantially, it’s a system in which one recycles, we build customer loyalty and citizens’ virtuous behavior is rewarded.”

La. Children’s Museum moving to new location

NEW ORLEANS

The Louisiana Children’s Museum is moving to a new, $47.5 million campus in New Orleans.

NOLA.com reported that the museum closed its old location and will reopen Labor Day weekend at an 8.5 acre site in New Orleans City Park.

Museum CEO Julia Bland said many museum favorites such as the grocery store and infant-toddler play area have been improved in the new space.

There’s also a front porch overlooking a lagoon and a floating classroom. A 15,000-gallon cistern will collect rainwater, creating an area where children can splash around.

Children’s book museum set to open in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

A museum that celebrates a century of children’s literature with immersive galleries, dozens of exhibits and a lab to encourage young people to read and write is opening in a Kansas City warehouse next year, according to the artist-driven nonprofit behind the project.

Debbie Pettid, co-founder of Rabbit Hole, said they chose renowned works and sometimes-overlooked titles by authors from diverse backgrounds spanning 1900 to 2000 to fill the 165,000- square-foot space just north of downtown, KCUR-FM reported.

Just beyond the two-story front door, there will be limestone steps that descend into the burrow of a magical creature named Fox Rabbit.

The museum will have at least 30 exhibits, including Max’s room from Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are,” and a “Goodnight Moon” room to host book clubs and other events. Immersive storybook galleries, or books that you can walk inside, will alternate about every six months.

Associated Press