WASHINGTON - Two Little Rock School District employees met Tuesday with members of Arkansas’ delegation to talk about what the district has done to provide students with healthier food.
Child Nutrition Director Lilly Bouie and Health Services Director Margo Bushmiaer were in Washington as part of a national effort to improve school nutrition hosted by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
“In Arkansas, we’re in an obesity crisis,” Bushmiaer said. “We believe that schools could be a model of healthy change.”
Bushmiaer said schools can substantially change students’ health because so many students eat meals there.
“There is a correlation between the health of our children and academic outcomes, and nutrition plays a key role,” she said.
According to the Arkansas Department of Education, 61 percent of Arkansas’ 471,867 students received free or reduced price meals in the 2012-2013 school year. In that year, 72 percent of the Little Rock School District’s 23,594 students received free or reduced price lunches.
The two met with U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Mark Pryor and U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin about how their district is serving healthier meals, snacks and drinks.
The district is making healthier options available in vending machines, using whole-grain products and low-fat and skim milk in meals, and offering more fruits and vegetables.
Pew project director Jessica Donze Black said Pew paid for the trip.
FUNDRAISING
U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton’s campaign denied that the Senate candidate attended the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas during the last weekend of March. The Democratic Party of Arkansas claimed in a news release last week that Cotton attended the meeting.
Cotton spokesman David Ray said Cotton traveled to raise money that weekend but would not say where.
“We don’t print the details of his fundraising schedule,” Ray said.
Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson held private conversations with several candidates and potential 2016 presidential hopefuls during the event at his Venetian Palazzo Las Vegas casino.
On March 30, conservative political action committee Rushmore PAC posted a photo of Cotton and Veterans for a Strong America Chairman Joel Arends to the micro-blogging site Twitter. The photo was posted from Paradise, Nev., and Arends appears to be wearing a Republican Jewish Coalition lanyard.
VETERANS ASSISTANCE
Cotton’s staff members have scheduled a help session for veterans Tuesday in Warren. Staff members will be available to answer questions about Veterans Affairs-related issues. The meeting is scheduled for 1-3 p.m. at Warren City Hall, 104 N. Myrtle St.
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Chris Carter of Fort Smith visited Boozman, Pryor and U.S. Rep. Steve Womack last week. He was recently named 2014 Arkansas Assistant Principal of the Year by the Arkansas Association of Secondary School Principals.
Carter has been Northside High School’s assistant principal for eight years.
AMERICAN POW
Arkansas’ House delegation introduced legislation to name the U.S. post office located at 201 B St. in Perryville the Harold George Bennett post office.
After being captured bythe Viet Cong in 1964, Bennett spent 179 days as a prisoner of war, according to a news release from Griffin’s office. During his third escape attempt, Bennett injured an enemy soldier and was executed. He was the first American POW killed in Vietnam, the release states. His remains have never been returned to the United States.
RURAL PHONE SERVICE
The Republican members of Arkansas’ delegation sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler on Wednesday, questioning a proposal that could increase the cost of basic telephone service in rural areas by nearly 40 percent.
The FCC is weighing whether to raise the lowest possible monthly rate service providers can charge from $14 to more than $20 starting July 1. Providers offering service at rates below the minimum risk losing access to government funding if they do not immediately raise their telephone rates.
Pryor sent a similar letter to the FCC on March 26.
Planning to visit the nation’s capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Contact us at (202) 662-7690 or swire@arkansasonline.com.
Front Section, Pages 10 on 04/06/2014