Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Farmers in many states are surprised at the abundance of corn coming from their fields, and record harvests are likely in many states. In southeastern Nebraska, farmer Ben Steffen says his first field brought in 168 bushels an acre, above the average of 140. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates this year’s harvest will break the 2009 record of 13.1 billion bushels.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa National Guard has laid off 100 state employees and canceled more training due to the ongoing partial government shutdown. The state Department of Public Defense employees received notice yesterday afternoon that they would be temporarily laid off for up to 60 days beginning today. Officials say this immediate action is in lieu of a 30-day temporary layoff that was scheduled to begin on October 18th.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Catholic college in Dubuque has launched a campaign to pay its professors better. Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reports Loras College in Dubuque kicked off the campaign yesterday to raise $75 million.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — About 200 families from the Des Moines area received food and household supplies thanks to the Salvation Army of Des Moines and an Oklahoma City-based organization. A truck loaded with groceries and household supplies was unloaded yesterday afternoon at a Salvation Army center, where the items were given to pre-selected families.

On the heels of a Public Safety Commission meeting held Sept 23rd,  the Cass County Board of Supervisors next Wednesday will discuss the possibility of privatizing Emergency/Public Safety Communications. When informed by KJAN News about the Board’s agenda item, Cass County 9-1-1 Director Rob Koppert said he wasn’t aware it would be brought up at next week’s meeting, and as far as he knew, neither was anyone on the Commission. The topic was brought up at the September meeting by Supervisors Board Chair Mark Wedemeyer, who also sits on the Public Safety Communications Commission.

Koppert said at that meeting that he wasn’t aware of any firms in Iowa or around the region that would handle 9-1-1 calls in the private sector. In fact, there are very few instances across the country, where emergency dispatch services have been turned over from County-run operations to a private provider. One such case is Lawrence Township, in Mercer County, NJ., which in January, 2013, agreed to hired iXP Corporation out of Cranbury, NJ, to handle its 9-1-1 dispatches.  iXP was awarded a two-year, $719,400 contract to run police dispatch for the community, whose population as of the 2010 Census was nearly 33,500. It was estimated the move would save the county $1.1-million over a period of 5-years.

Another is Sandy Springs, GA, an incorporated suburb of Atlanta with 94,000 residents, which has its 9-1-1 dispatch center also operated by iXP. The theory behind privatizing the service is to save a County money, but there are many questions that remain, including: A private firm’s hiring practices – would current dispatchers with knowledge of the county be utilized?; Where would the facility be located?; Will the service be as efficient as the current system? And more.

Koppert said he will find out along with the rest of us, what next Wednesday’s discussion will cover, and to what extent the County will pursue the privatization of emergency/public communications.

SCHALLER, Iowa (AP) — The Sac County Sheriff’s Office says a Schaller woman has died in a skid loader accident at her home. The sheriff’s office says in a news release Thursday that a friend found 53-year-old Karen Jeanne Terry on Wednesday. She was pinned beneath a skid loader and a boom arm.

Friends had become concerned after being unable to reach Terry on Wednesday, prompting someone to visit her home. The friend called 911. Terry was pronounced dead at the scene. The Sac County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.

The Harlan Community School District saw another reduction in their allowable growth aid for special education students. In a board meeting Monday, the board approved the balance of $56,512.56 for the allowable growth and supplement aid for negative special education. The District in the past three years has seen a reduction totaling $300,000 in their special education debt. Harlan Community Superintendent Justin Wagner says the reduction deals with more federal dollars to the district.

He said “The primary reason is because we were able to find some loopholes in the Medicaid funding and what that does is bring in federal dollars to the district. Huge kudos to the staff but in the long run it is a huge win for tax payers. ” He says the district hopes to have a surplus in special education by next year.

“We have a goal for that next year and now we have a surplus from the federal government instead of local funds. I am really proud of. We keep hitting our local folks up and it’s good to have an outside funding source for this.”

(Joel McCall/KNOD)