Homers

VETERANS: As secret waiting lists at other Department of Veterans Affairs facilities continue to make the news, we're glad to see that an internal audit found no such practices at VA's Iowa City or other Midwest facilities. In fact, it found that 96 percent of appointments were accommodated within 30 days at the Iowa City VA. Average wait times were in the middle of the pack, nationally.

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HOME: Kennedy High School's class of 2015 is planning the school's first senior service project. Over the course of the school year, every member of the incoming senior class will be involved in some way in building a house for the Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity, whether it be through fundraising, constructing or otherwise supporting the project.

Kennedy Principal Jason Kline told The Gazette he wanted a project that would bring the class together and benefit the community.

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WINNING HAND: Congratulations to Cedar Rapids Fire Department Captain Don Maas, who took second place at the World Series of Poker last week. Maas, 58, won $388,054 at the weekend-long event, putting in 40 hours at poker tables and besting all his opponents save a professional player from Los Angeles.

But it sounds, at least, as if he's not letting the success go to his head. 'I'm going to pay a lot of bills,” he told a Gazette reporter, after showing up at work mere hours after cashing in his chips. 'But first, I've got to find out how much they're going to take out (for taxes) so I know where I'm at.”