Gomers: What's going wrong

LEFT STANDING: Demolition crews are taking down hundreds of flood-damaged homes in Cedar Rapids. But if there's a detached garage or shed on some properties, those are left standing if Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funds are involved. FEMA rules prohibit paying for demolition of detached structures. So it's up to the city to remove those free-standing buildings later and find a way to pay for it. Another frustrating hitch in the complicated federal disaster assistance program.

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STD CASES UP: Sexually transmitted disease cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis topped 1,000 for the first time in Linn County last year. Statewide, chlamydia cases, on the rise for a decade now, reached a record 9,352 in 2009, although Johnson County saw some decline from 2008. Most of the overall increase is among young adults, with African Americans accounting for 20 percent of the cases while representing just 2 percent of Iowa's population, as state health officials' reported preliminary figures for 2009 last week. Are families, schools, churches and/or public health agencies becoming lax in delivering the STD message and behavior guidelines to our young folks?