Gomers: What's going wrong

DOWNTOWN VALUES DROP: Commercial property valuations in Cedar Rapids' downtown, which traditionally have provided a large share of the city's property tax revenue, dropped for the second straight year, this time by 10 percent, the city assessor reported last week. It's a sign of the lingering effects of the 2008 flood; some businesses are struggling and some buildings are still vacant or have considerable empty space. On the bright side, overall property valuations in the city increased 5.7 percent since Jan. 1, 2007.

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MORE DROPOUTS: The number of high school dropouts increased slightly across the state and by sharper levels closer to home for the 2008-09 school year. Cedar Rapids dropouts increased by 70 over the previous year, College Community by 20, Linn-Mar by 27 and Marion by 17. Graduation rates among the Corridor's large districts varied substantially, from 91.78 percent in Iowa City to 80.09 percent for Cedar Rapids. Graduation rates fell at all districts. State education officials caution that because the formula used to track dropouts and graduation rates changed last year, the figures are not exact comparisons, so the data may be somewhat misleading. Next year's report should be clearer.