DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Department of Agriculture says farmers are expected to harvest 146 bushels per acre of corn this fall, down 12 percent from the June estimate of 166 bushels per acre. A widespread drought has burned up the crop in portions of Illinois and Indiana and has reduced yields in other states. The season average farm price for corn is projected at $5.40 to $6.40 per bushel, up sharply from $4.20 to $5 per bushel in June.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Governor Terry Branstad will hold a public meeting next week on the drought conditions plaguing Iowa this summer. The meeting is set for 9 a.m. Tuesday at Mount Pleasant High School. The USDA is already streamlining the process for farmers to apply for government disaster help.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – Allegations of racial profiling have raised heated discussions in Dubuque. Several black people in the audience Tuesday expressed their frustrations at being targeted by police solely because of race. City Councilwoman Lynn Sutton and Police Lieutenant Joe Messerich said they can’t address problems unless people came forward with formal complaints that could be investigated.

HOUSTON (AP) – A Texas judge has ruled the atmosphere and the air must be protected for public use just like water. The written ruling issued Monday by Texas District Court Judge Gisela Triana could help attorneys arguing climate change lawsuits in 11 other states. The cases are aimed at forcing states to cut emissions.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – Some neighboring landowners say they’ll oppose rezoning of agricultural land so a $1.5 billion fertilizer plant project can be built in eastern Iowa’s Scott County. The 318-acre site between Walcott and Davenport is among the sites being considered by Iowa Fertilizer Company. The firm is a subsidiary of Egypt-based Orascom Construction Industries.

WALCOTT, Iowa (AP) – Police have released the name of an 87-year-old woman found dead in a burning home in Walcott in eastern Iowa. Police Chief Jeff Blake says firefighters found Lois Moldenschardt after they entered the house to put out the flames on Sunday. Moldenschardt lived alone. Results of an autopsy are pending.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office is looking for the driver a vehicle involved in a hit and run accident that occurred Tuesday evening in Council Bluffs.

The Sheriff’s Office says shortly after 6:00 PM Tuesday, 46 year old Daniel Owens of Treynor was riding his bicycle westbound near Highway 92 when he was struck by a vehicle that was also traveling westbound.  Owens sustained non life threatening injuries and was transported to University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

No specific description of the hit and run vehicle was obtained, however a black passenger side mirror that broke off of the vehicle was found at the  scene.

If you have any knowledge of the incident, please contact the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office at 712-890-2200.

The Atlantic Police Department reports that 21-year-old Timothy Brown of Atlantic turned himself in on a Cass County Warrant for Assault without Intent Causing Serious Injury.  Brown was booked in and held.

The Audubon City Council met Monday evening.  Audubon City Clerk Lora Hansen tells KJAN news the council voted 4 to 1 to increase sewer rates in the city by 15 percent.  The Council will discuss at a later date when that rate increase might go into effect.  The Audubon City Council also voted Monday not to raise the salaries of city employees.  Any increase in salaries will likely not be brought up again until next May or June.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors had their regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday morning at the Cass County Courthouse.

On the agenda first was the assignment of county held tax sale certificates of purchase to the city of Cumberland for a piece of property located in the town.  The supervisors unanimously approved the sale.  The city of Cumberland will primarily use the property for restoration work and then possibly re-sell to any interested bidders.

The board then heard from County Attorney Dan Feistner, who talked about the counties ongoing policy of directly negotiating collective bargaining with unions.  Supervisor Reiken agreed that there are several advantages to keeping the negotiating process local rather than hiring outside help.

The board also heard from county engineer Charles Marker, who spoke about road work taking place on county road M56 around Marne.  He says work is ongoing on paving county road M56 between Marne and I-80.

Marker says Marne Mayor Randy Baxter asked if other roads in town could be paved as well. They include the road in front of the post office and the bar.  He says the Marne City Council has already agreed the city would eventually pay for that work on the roads.

The supervisors also received a written letter from the Cass County Historical Society updating the board on some of there recent work in the county.

The Atlantic School Board had their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night at Atlantic High School.  The board approved the signing of a lease for a mobile classroom that will be used at Washington Elementary this fall.  Atlantic Schools Superintendent Dr. Mike Amstein says the school was so short on classroom space that it created the need for the mobile classroom.  It will be primarily used for music and art classes.

He says the lease will be for two years, which was the minimum the school board could get.  For the first year the lease would cost $22,500 because of set up charges, but for the second year the cost will only be the lease itself which is $10,500.

Once the lease for the mobile classroom is up in two years, Amstein says the board will take a look at district needs for the future and determine if there is still need for the mobile classroom at Washington Elementary.

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The Adair County Board of Supervisors will hold their regularly scheduled meeting Thursday morning.

On the agenda is an update on the manure management plan and an EMS Grant Final draw Down.  The Board Adair Supervisors will also hear from County Auditor Mindy Schaefer about server/laptop bids.  Jerry Christensen will speak to the board about courthouse windows, and county treasurer Brenda Wallace will give the treasurer’s semi annual report.

The meeting of the Adair County Board of Supervisors will be held Thursday at 9:00 at the Adair County Courthouse in Greenfield.

The House Agriculture Committee is could vote today (Wednesday) on a farm bill package. Western Iowa Congressman Steve King, a Republican from Kiron, is a member of the committee.

He says they’ve been putting it together on the House side for a long time, with hearings starting back in April. He says they will “mark up” a farm bill on July 11th. King says one of the areas of the ag bill he wants to bring under control is the spending on the program formerly known as food stamps.

He says just a few years ago, there were 19 million Americans on food stamps, and now there’s 44-point-seven (44.7) million. “We have the U-S Department of Agriculture spending millions of dollars advertising to get more people to sign up on food stamps. Now I’d rather spend that money on food than advertisement, if people are hungry then they are going to find a way to get fed. So that’s what we’re missing here, the philosophy of the U-S-D-A,” King says. “Neither do I buy the line that for every dollar worth of food stamps you hand out you get a dollar-four of economic activity. That’s not the way to grow the economy.” King says the way to grow the economy is to create more jobs. The U-S Ag Secretary is former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack and the husband of King’s Democratic opponent, Christie Vilsack. King says he hopes the full House can pass a bill before the month.

He says the goal is to get a bill done and get it to the conference committee, that way they can work on it during the month of August and have a bill ready to vote on after Labor Day “before the real silly season of politics is upon us.” Overall, the House bill would cut Agriculture Department spending by 35-billion-dollars over 10 years, or 12-billion-dollars more than the Senate. The House bill’s revenue plan would pay growers when revenue is from 15-25 percent below average, while the Senate bill would eliminate traditional subsidies such as target prices and instead compensate growers when revenue from a crop is 11-21 percent below average. In either bill, crop insurance would cover deeper losses.