(Radio Iowa) — The State Board of Education meeting Wednesday included a discussion about online teaching. Board member Mike May of Spirit Lake questioned how well teachers are prepared. “I think most people would agree that in March we weren’t prepared for what happened. For whatever reason, no one anticipated anything like this would happen. It’s reasonable to assume the department couldn’t have anticipated this would happen — no one could have,” May says. “We weren’t ready. And consequently, from March to June, very little learning took place.” May, who is a former teacher, questioned how the situation has changed since then. “How have we prepared teachers to be ready….teaching is an art — but how have we transitioned? What difference have we made in terms of their ability to deliver online?,” he asked”

The online learning was optional once the governor shut down the schools for the year in the midst of the pandemic. The Department of Education’s Amy Williamson says they were immediately working with teachers. “You know we made sure that we provided a substantial amount of resources to support teachers in that process — and that’s what lives in those return to learn modules, different training supports for offering a different kind of learning, and how to sort of even address public health circumstances,” Williamson says. Williamson is the Chief of the Bureau of School Improvement and says the situation now is very different. “Because it’s no longer voluntary — so it isn’t really an option anymore to not be successful. The professional development offered for teaching online through the A-E-A’s, some of the tools that we are providing will make teachers be better prepared for this as well,” according to Williamson.

May still has his doubts. “I’m skeptical that we are really prepared to be effective online teachers or instructors,” according to May. “And I think some of what you say is true. I think in some places we are — but I am not sure that that’s ubiquitous.” Williamson says teachers won’t stop learning. “I certainly think it’s going to be a process. It’s going to have to continue to get better as we go,” Williamson says. “But I think what you identified is that where can we make sure that if we feel our districts are falling short we can support them. To make sure that we are offering the resources to them so that they can get better — because that will be important.”

May reiterated that he was not trying to place blame on anyone for not being prepared for the big change in teaching methods. He says he is going on what he has heard from teachers and he could be behind in knowing how prepared schools are for a new era of teaching.

(Updated 9:17-a.m., 8/6) – Fort Dodge police said a man wanted on first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of his estranged wife was captured today (Thursday). Police said Justin Hurdel was captured after officers were called to the area of Quail Avenue/P59 and Nelson Avenue, an area just north of the junction of Highway 20 and County Road P59. According to police, a K-9 unit helped officers track Hurdel to a nearby shed, where he was taken into custody without incident.

Police said Hurdel was transported to a local hospital for treatment of injuries sustained prior to his arrest. He will be charged with first-degree murder in the death of his estranged wife, 38-year-old Maggie Hurdel, who was found with a gunshot wound in the garage of a home in the 500 block of South 19th Street in Fort Dodge Wednesday. Neighbors said the couple lived in separate homes just two streets apart. One neighbor said they saw Justin Hurdel speed away after the shooting.

Police in Red Oak, Wednesday afternoon, were called to the Fareway Food Store in Red Oak, to review video for a theft that took place on July 30th. While reviewing the video, it was noticed that the suspect in the incident just happened to be in the store. 23-year old Amanda Kathleen Lunsford, of Red Oak, was placed under arrest for Theft in the 5th Degree, since the items she allegedly stole were valued at under $200. Lunsford was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 cash bond.

An assisted care facility in Oakland is dealing with more residents who have tested positive for COVID-19, and a total of four deaths. The first death at the Oakland Manor was reported in late July, along with 18 residents who had contracted COVID-19. KETV in Omaha says since then Pottawattamie County officials have confirmed 10 additional residents have required treatment for the virus, and three more have died. The County says the latest victim was a man aged 61-80, who died Sunday.

Pott. County Planning Director Matt Wyant says that at last check, seven residents have spent the required 10 days in isolation and are considered ‘recovering,’ but added they could still show symptoms for some time. Knowing the residents require round-the-clock care, Wyant says the county has offered support for laundry services, hotel rooms and additional nursing staff.

In providing that relief, Wyant said the county hopes Oakland Manor staff will continue self-monitoring and strongly recommends the same employees care for either healthy or recovering residents.

A man from Polk County died during an accident Wednesday afternoon, in Harrison County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 56-year old Christopher J. Kubas, of Edwardsville, KS., was driving a 2006 Chevy Silverado pickup northbound on I-29 at around 2:20-p.m., when the vehicle lost a tire near mile marker 29, a few miles north of the Mondamin exit.

The tire went northbound through the median and struck 51-year old Homero T. Carrillo, of Des Moines, who was working on the southbound I-29 bridge, in the east lane. The road had been shut-down for the construction project. Carillo died at the scene shortly after he was struck by the tire.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed an executive order granting convicted felons the right to vote, ending Iowa’s place as the only remaining state to broadly deny voting rights to felons. The Republican governor signed the order Wednesday after promising in June that she would take such action. Reynolds says she’ll continue to press the Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment restoring felon voting rights, which couldn’t be reversed by a future governor. She proposed that last year but couldn’t get Republican state senators to support it. The order excludes automatic restoration for more serious crimes, such as murder, requiring those people to seek individual restoration but does not require repayment of victim restitution before they could vote.

UNDATED (AP) — U.S. testing for the coronavirus is dropping even as infections remain high and the death toll rises by more than 1,000 a day. It’s a worrisome trend that officials attribute largely to Americans getting discouraged over having to wait hours to get a test and days or weeks to find out the results. An Associated Press analysis finds that the number of tests per day slid 3.6% over the past two weeks to 750,000, with the count falling in 22 states. That includes places like Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri and Iowa where the percentage of positive tests is high and continuing to climb, an indicator that the virus is still spreading uncontrolled.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Iowa state police say a Fort Dodge woman who was reported to be acting erratically while wielding knives has been shot and killed by police. A news release from the Iowa Department of Public Safety says the shooting happened Tuesday night, after Webster County officials received a 911 call about the woman. The department’s Division of Criminal Investigation says deputies from the Webster County Sheriff’s Office and a Fort Dodge police officer responded, and during their interaction, the woman was shot and killed. Officials have not released the woman’s identity. An autopsy will be conducted by the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has taken over the investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two doughnut franchise employees have been fired after refusing to serve a Des Moines police officer. Television station KCCI reports that Sgt. Paul Parizek, a spokesman for the Des Moines Police Department, says he was refused service over the weekend at a Dunkin’ doughnut shop. Parizek said when he asked a woman behind the shop’s counter “what’s going on,” she replied that the store would not serve him and that he needed to leave. Corporate Dunkin’ officials sent a statement saying the Des Moines store’s franchise owner fired two employees over the incident and had contacted police to apologize.