ESTHERVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Children are still doing schoolwork during snow days at a district based in the northern Iowa community of Estherville. The Des Moines Register reports that Estherville Lincoln Central students are given assignments to complete at home and then connect remotely to post completed assignments or answer teacher questions. Teachers can conduct online video chats with small groups of students.

The virtual snow days are new to the district this school year, and Superintendent Tara Paul says there were complaints from students about having to work instead of play on their day off from their classrooms.
Students in kindergarten through second grade are given assignment options that can be completed without computers in case they’re not available to all students. Students in grades three through 12 have Chromebooks provided by the school, so the snow day assignments are completed on their devices.

Red Oak Police report two women were arrested, Wednesday. At around 7:30-p.m., officers took into custody 24-year old Kaylie Louise Hudson, of Red Oak, on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Theft in the 3rd Degree. Her cash or surety bond was set at $2,000. And, just before 10-p.m., Red Oak Police arrested 35-year old Elysia Tylene White, of Red Oak.  White was taken into custody on a Montgomery County warrantr for failure to appear on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault/1st Offense. White was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash-only bond.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports that a traffic stop on Maple street in Sidney Wednesday night, lead to the arrest of two Glenwood residents. At around 7:20-p.m., Deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the K9-unit conducted a traffic stop in the 2000 block of maple street in Sidney.

During the course of the stop, Deputies located one-quarter pound of marijuana in the vehicle and numerous pieces of paraphernalia. Taken into custody, was 18-year old Logan Christopher Harding,  and 20-year old Chelsey Marie Spiegelberg, both of Glenwood. They were charged with two counts each, of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver.

Both subjects were transported to the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center being held on $10,000 bond.

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Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CST

ALBIA, Iowa (AP) — Animal rescue officials in Iowa say they’ve found one dead steer and rescued seven other ailing animals from a rural southern Iowa property. The Animal Rescue League of Iowa says in a news release that its response team helped Monroe County officials rescue three horses, one burro, a steer and two dogs that were left in freezing weather with no food, water or shelter. Charges are pending against the animals’ owner.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former worker at Sioux City’s wastewater treatment plant has pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to tamper with wastewater sampling and testing. The Sioux City Journal reports that 69-year-old Patrick Schwarte entered the plea Wednesday in federal court. Prosecutors say chlorine was added to wastewater on days that E. coli samples were taken, then reduced after the tests, saving the city money.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — House Republicans leading a committee to review the results of a contested northeast Iowa House district election say they plan to recommend not opening and counting 29 absentee mail ballots that could reverse the outcome of the race. Committee Chairman Steven Holt says since the ballots had no postmark and didn’t have a seldom-used county election official tracking barcode, they can’t be counted even though postal officials have confirmed they were mailed in time to be valid votes.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state judge has struck down Iowa’s restrictive “fetal heartbeat” abortion law. Judge Michael Huppert on Tuesday found the law unconstitutional. The law would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. That can happen as early as six weeks into pregnancy. It would have been the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the nation.