(Radio Iowa) — The definition of “snow day” is changing for middle school and high school students in one northwest Iowa school district. Tara Paul, superintendent at Estherville Lincoln Central Schools, says there will be “online learning days” in her district when winter weather is too treacherous for students and staff to get to school. “It’s not going to be where they are sitting behind the computer or at their device for eight hours,” Paul says. “It will be: ‘We have a five to 10 minute assignment,’ maybe ‘A 10 to 15 minute assignment’ depending on their age level and on the course.”

There could be longer assignments for high school courses. “Our teachers will be available to the students throughout the day and that could be through email, it could be through a phone call, it could be through Google Hangout, any other video chat that the teachers choose to use,” Paul says. “The kids will be either practicing or learning material and then having an opportunity to ask questions on that material from their teachers throughout the day.”

Teachers are encouraged to collaborate on course work. “So they won’t have any social studies the first snow day, but the second snow day social studies will have a longer activity and they won’t have any English or literacy that day,” Paul says. The school has plotted out a schedule for up to nine snow days. The first three days classes in the classroom are cancelled will be “online learning days” for students. The next three snow days will be professional development days for staff. Snow days number seven, eight and nine — if there are that many snow days in the Estherville Lincoln Central District this season — would be more “virtual days’ for students. The school is making arrangements for students who do not have online access outside of school, so all students can be involved in the learning process during a snow day. If the weather is truly frightful, with power being knocked out in the area, the school will opt for the traditional snow day — and kids in the Estherville Lincoln Central district will not have to check in online.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Government investigators say the board created to enforce Iowa’s open meetings law violated its requirements last year by twice refusing to explain its votes in a high-profile case. The Iowa Public Information Board has set a goal of being the most transparent government body in Iowa and setting the standard for those it regulates. Yet a report released Thursday by the state ombudsman’s office says the board went into closed session on shaky legal footing during two meetings last year to discuss a case.

The report says the board then took votes in open meetings that were so vague that the public had no idea what actions were taken. The Open Meetings Law requires that decisions be “easily accessible to the people.” The report says the board refused to provide minutes and audio recordings from its closed sessions despite a state law that grants the ombudsman access. The board denies any wrongdoing.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police are investigating a man’s death in central Des Moines as a homicide. Officers sent Wednesday afternoon to check on a resident found the man’s body. His name hasn’t been released, and police have not said what led officers to suspect a crime had been committed. No arrests have been reported. Police say the slaying is Des Moines’ 11th homicide of the year.

Creston Police report a woman from Creston was arrested early this (Thursday) morning, at the Union County Law Enforcement Center. 36-year old Candace Russell was taken into custody at around 1:35-a.m., for OWI/2nd offense. She was being held in the Adams County Jail for Union County, on a $2000 bond.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Appeals Court has ordered a resentencing for a man imprisoned for beating an 11-year-old boy. The Sioux City Journal reports that the court ruled Wednesday that the trial judge considered an improper sentencing factor when giving 36-year-old Matthew Spaans four years in prison. Spaans and his wife, Nina Spaans, of Hawarden, pleaded guilty to four counts of child endangerment. She received a four-year suspended prison sentence and was placed on two years of probation.

Records say Matthew Spaans beat his stepson with his hands, a 56-inch sword and another item, severely bruising the boy. The documents say the boy was told to make up stories about his bruises or his next beating would be worse.

Police in Council Bluffs say two men, one wearing a Batman costume, the other a green, full-body suit, robbed a Casey’s General Store early this (Thursday) morning. The incident happened a little before 4-a.m., at the 2301 South 24th Street Casey’s in Council Bluffs. The men appeared to be brandishing a rifle and a sword. The robbers gave the clerk a bag, who filled it with an undisclosed amount of cash. The two suspects then left the store through the back door.

Robbery suspects 12-20-18

The incident remains under investigation. If you have any information that may help solve the crime, call the Council Bluffs Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.

An accident in Atlantic Wednesday afternoon at 10^th and Chestnut Streets resulted in one person being transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital. Authorities say a Toyota SUV traveling westbound on 10^th Street was struck by an eastbound SUV that was turning north onto Walnut.

One of the drivers suffered unknown/possible injuries, while the other driver was not hurt. A citation for Failure to Yield upon left turn was pending against the driver of the vehicle that struck the Toyota.

Additional details were not immediately available.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman has been given seven years in prison for stealing more than $192,000 from her now-dead fiance and his elderly mother. Robin Ann Bertelli, of Cedar Rapids, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. She pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft. Prosecutors say the 61-year-old Bertelli stole checks from July 2013 through September 2016 that belonged to former Navy SEAL Ken Martin Jr. and Martin’s mother and wrote them payable to herself, forging their signatures.

Prosecutors say Bertelli started a relationship with Martin around 2013 and moved in with him and his mother. Martin died in February 2016 while on vacation with Bertelli in Puerto Rico from what Bertelli said was an accidental drowning after hitting his head on a rock.