Gomers

HEROIN DEATHS: Johnson County officials report that 10 people have died from heroin-related incidents in the county so far this year - a record number. Officials are meeting to try to come up with new ideas for combating this dangerous drug.

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BAD DEBT: A new report shows that one in three adult Americans are so behind on their debt payments that they've gone to collections agencies. The number is slightly better in Iowa, where 26 percent of adult Iowans are in collections for debts averaging $4,810, apiece. Four percent of Iowans have debts 90 days or more past due.

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POLLUTANT FOUND: Researchers have found traces of neonicotinoids in area waterways including the Iowa, Cedar and Maquoketa rivers and some of their tributaries. The neurotoxins - used in increasingly popular agricultural insecticides - have been targeted as one possible cause of colony collapse syndrome, which has been threatening U.S. bee populations and the agricultural products they pollinate.

More research is needed to determine what effects, if any, these toxins will have.

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