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should let the state Board of Education continue to make decisions on standards.
• The State Affairs Committee also approved a bill that would prevent the collection of some kinds of information from students and restrict how information on individual students can be shared.
• Venhuizen said the governor supports the privacy bill, which state education officials helped write. He said some of the privacy protections are already in place, but the bill spells out what information about individual students the state can provide to federal agencies.
• The bill also prevents collection of information from students about their political beliefs, religious practices, gun ownership and other subjects.
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Another blizzard wallops northeastern South Dakota
BLAKE NICHOLSON, Associated Press
• Many schools were closed Wednesday and motorists struggled to get around as the second blizzard in less than a week ripped through northeastern South Dakota.
• The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for the region through Wednesday evening, and the state Transportation Department reported poor road conditions throughout the area.
• "It's starting to blow pretty good, and they're starting to shut down schools," Gloria Robertson, who works at the Dakota Connection Casino & Travel Plaza at Sisseton, said Wednesday morning. "It's pretty quiet. We've got one customer."
• Bev Paulson, who works at the Hot Cakes Cafe and Lodging in Hankinson, in the southeastern North Dakota, said: "Anybody that has attempted to travel any distance has turned around and come back home."
• Temperatures in the region were below zero, with wind chills plummeting to 30 degrees below. The life-threatening conditions were forecast to continue into Thursday morning.
• Similar conditions blanketed the region last Thursday, though that system brought winds that surpassed 70 mph to some areas and reached near-hurricane force. The weather is associated with strong Arctic cold fronts -- something that is normal this time of year, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jeff Makowski.
• "We've been stuck in a similar pattern for the last few weeks, seeing these systems dive down into the Northern Plains," he said. "Each of them has a little period of snow in advance, and some very gusty winds behind it. We've had some fresh snow to blow around, and that's exacerbated the situation."
• Robertson said area residents are getting tired of the brutal conditions.
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