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Virginia task force seeks to make school meals, calendars more culturally inclusive

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Thursday formed a task force charged with making school meals and academic calendars more culturally inclusive.

Its two subcommittees will make recommendations on providing more diverse food offerings to students of different religious and ethnic backgrounds.

The goal is to also recognize a diverse list of religious and cultural holidays “such as Eid al-Fitr, Ash Wednesday, Lunar New Year, Yom Kippur, Diwali, and other days that may not be acknowledged on school calendars but bear significant cultural importance to many students in our classrooms,” Education Secretary Atif Qarni said in a statement from Northam’s office.

“When our school environments reflect the history, values, cultures, and traditions of the communities they serve our students are better positioned to learn and thrive,” Northam said in the statement.

The task force comprises students, parents, teachers, nutrition experts and more. They began meeting late last month and will meet every other week in June and July, Northam’s office said. They’ll make their recommendations in August.

Trump announces a $22.5B makeover of Dulles airport that will eliminate the ‘people movers’

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a $22.5 billion renovation of Washington Dulles International Airport that will end the use of the widely disliked “people movers,” the mobile lounges that have been used for decades to shuttle travelers to and from the main terminal. In place of the people movers, the airport will add a new U-shaped passenger train, a central walking tunnel, more moving walkways and new concourses. An above-ground parking garage closer to the main terminal with space for 32,000 vehicles is also in the offing, according to Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The airport makeover would add to a long list of renovation projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave a lasting mark on the Washington region after his term ends in January 2029. Among other undertakings, he is building a new White House ballroom and wants to build a towering triumphal arch near the Lincoln Memorial. But of all the construction projects Trump is pursuing, the renovations at Dulles could prove to be his most popular and benefit the greatest number of people. The airport, the area’s primary international airport, served roughly 29 million passengers over the past year, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
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