DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – In what may be a sign of an improving state economy, Iowa officials say community college enrollment has dropped for the second year in a row.  The Des Moines Register reports that this fall’s enrollment hit just over 100,500 students, a drop of 5 percent from a year ago. Last year’s drop was less than 1 percent. The Department of Education says enrollment rose nearly 6 percent to peak at more than 106,000 students in 2010. It rose more than 14 percent in 2009.

M.J. Dolan is executive director of the Iowa Association of Community College Trustees, and he says that “when the economy improves, people that were going to school go back to work. When the economy declines, people come to community college to hone their skills.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A monthly economic index report suggests an economic slump over the next three to six months for nine Midwest and Plains states. The Mid-America Business Conditions index dropped to 46.5 last month from 50.4 in September.

The survey of business leaders and supply managers uses a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth while a score below 50 suggests decline for that factor. The overall index figure was 49.7 in August, 48.7 in July and 57.2 in June.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says “growth in the regional economy is definitely moving lower.” The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

The Iowa Supreme Court has granted a request for a review of a case involving a Pottawattamie County man convicted of attempted murder. According to the Council Bluffs Daily Non Pareil, the decision was made by the court last week, in the case against Craig Finney, of Macedonia, who pleaded guilty in Nov. 2011, to the attempted murder of Patricia Harker, of Minden. Finney shot the woman, with whom he had a failed romantic relationship, during an altercation in June, 2011. Another man in the home hide a in the bathroom during the shooting, and narrowly missed being shot when a bullet passed through the door.

Finney was apprehended June 17th near the Lake of the Ozarks, in Missouri. He was later sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison. He remains at the Clarinda Correctional Facility. Court documents say during his appeal of the guilty plea and sentence, Finney argued he received ineffective counsel because a factual basis to support the charge of attempted murder hadn’t been established. The court of appeals ruled in favor of Finney, and the Iowa Attorney General appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has now followed suite in granting a review of the case, but no decision on whether the or not the justices will hear oral arguments, has been made. The court also hasn’t scheduled a date for hearing the case, just yet.