Gomers: What's going wrong

DISAPPEARING ACT: After 25 years, prairie dogs are no longer residing at Cedar Rapids' Bever Park Children's Zoo. And nobody seems to know what happened to them for sure. The number peaked at 20 adults and 10 pups several years ago but dwindled until only one female popped her head up in the exhibit last spring after the winter thaw. She somehow escaped and wasn't caught before disappearing into the woods this summer. Park officials say several harsh winters or predators like hawks could account for the loss of the others despite the 9-foot-deep solid pen and electric fence.

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MORE POOR: The latest Census data on poverty verified what most Iowans knew: The recession's effects took hold hard in 2009. More than 1 in 9 Iowans are in poverty, up nearly 1 percent from 2007, when the recession began. Child poverty was higher, 15.1 percent, a 2 percent jump. Meanwhile, the median household income dropped nearly $900 to just over $48,000. Linn County's poverty rate of 9.5 percent is below the state rate of 11.8 percent but the trend since 1999 is troubling: a net increase of 7,348 more people in poverty. Johnson County's was up nearly 6,000.