Some school lunch programs in the Dayton area are changing.

In today’s Morning Briefing, we look at those changes and how more students are participating in free meal programs. We also look at The BlackFly, an electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle being tested at the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport.

If you have thoughts or feedback on this newsletter or other news tips, please let me know at Greg.Lynch@coxinc.com.

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The newsletter should take about 3 minutes, 10 seconds to read.

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More kids access school meals across the region this year with local changes

Local schools have more students accessing free and reduced meals.

• Growing program: The federal government has expanded parts of the free school meal program because it was so popular during the pandemic.

• Who qualifies: Most students with Medicaid coverage automatically qualify.

• School district changes:

— Mad River: Universal free breakfast and lunch.

— Beavercreek: Breakfast is served in all schools for the first time this school year.

— Dayton: Rolled out a revised menu this school year after multiple students requested changes. The district added more fresh items to the menu, like fruit and salad bars, and a condiment bar with low-sodium options. More changes are on the way.

• Expanded access: Several districts said most of the expanded access happened last year, when the state changed its rules and expanded Medicaid eligibility.

— Springboro: The district’s free and reduced percentage went up 5% last year.

— Centerville: The percentage eligible student went up last year, and that is continuing this year.

— Lebanon: Has also seen an increase in the number of kids qualifying for free and reduced lunch.

— Huber Heights: The district is on track to have the highest number of students qualifying in years.

Gnau: Springfield flight of BlackFly eVTOL wowed crowd, stopped drivers

Since early summer, the BlackFly eVTOL has been flying above the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport in tests for the Air Force.

• Aptly named: The BlackFly is a light, nimble, single-seat aircraft that hardly makes a noise. Sometimes it seems to be floating rather than flying.

• Air Force interest: AFWERX — the Air Force arm dedicated to discovering and finding useful technologies — wants to know what this craft can and can’t do.

• What they’re saying: “We’re exploring a range of military-type use cases, from logistics and material transport to emergency response and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions,” said Jacob Wilson, AFWERX Agility Prime acting branch chief.

• Possible uses: Disaster response, intelligence flights, aerial inspections, deliveries, search and rescue or more.

What to know today

• One big takeaway: A mosquito sample tested positive for West Nile virus in a trap set in the city of Vandalia.

• Tip of the day: We compared grocery prices at 5 Dayton-area stores: Here’s what we found.

• Person to know today: Tony Sanders. The COO of the soon-to-open The Laugh Zone House of Comedy, is doing his part toward the revitalization of the west side of Dayton.

• Stat of the day: NFL teams have until 4 p.m. today to submit their 53-man roster. Here are our predictions on who will make the team.

• Big move of the day: The U.S. Army is hiring Sierra Nevada Corp., an aviation company with a growing Dayton presence, to prepare a key intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance airplane.

• Thing to do: Hidden Valley Orchards in Lebanon has a full slate of apple-themed and fall events starting soon.

• Photo of the day: The 31st annual Greater Dayton Lebanese Festival happened on the grounds of the St. Ignatius of Antioch Maronite Catholic Church this past weekend. Photographer Tom Gilliam was there. Here is his gallery of images.