Homers: What's going right

OVER THE TOP: The Johnson County Salvation Army beat its Christmas goal of $225,000 by $42,108. Good news for an organization whose services, like many charitable agencies, are in higher demand these days because of high unemployment and other problems related to the economic recession.

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HOMES SALES HOLD UP: During one of our nation's weakest economic years in decades, 2009 home sales in the Corridor were far better than in many parts of the country. Iowa City's sales by licensed real estate agents increased 1.8 percent over 2008. Cedar Rapids area sales dropped 5.7 percent but still wound up with the seventh-highest year on record for the Cedar Rapids Area Association of Realtors.

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DOING THEIR PART: University of Northern Iowa faculty agreed to cut their salaries this fiscal year by an average of nearly $1,000 to save more than a half-million dollars toward helping meet budget cuts ordered by the governor. The cuts mean no layoffs or furloughs through June 30. That seems better for UNI students - who had to pay a state-ordered $100 surcharge this semester - because professors will stay on the job full-time.