Homers -- What's going right

TIDIER PARKS: State park managers have more money for maintenance, and are hiring back some of the seasonal workers that they lost last year amid budget cuts. The number fell from 325 to 85, but is expected to climb to about 200 this summer. Hopefully, that reversal translates into fewer complaints about unmown picnic areas and some park facilities that couldn't be used. Improvements already are being reported.

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HOME SALES: Iowa Realtors say the first quarter of this year was the strongest for home sales since 2007. Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Corridor agents reported substantial increases in average sale prices in April compared to a year earlier. All signs of an improving market.

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GOOD DEAL: Cedar Rapids' efforts to keep the girls state volleyball tournament in town were rewarded when state officials unanimously OK'd using the city's Ice Arena for a second straight year before returning to the U.S. Cellular Center - undergoing a major renovation - in 2013 through 2016. Initially, city officials said the Center would be ready by this November's tournament.

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