Homers: What's going right

CRIME DOWN: Parts of Cedar Rapids have seen more violent crime this year but 2008 saw a big drop in such incidents citywide, the FBI's annual national crime report states. Violent crime was down 10.4 percent, mostly because aggravated assaults dropped sharply. Overall crime fell from 4.0 crimes per 1,000 residents to 3.5..

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STUDENT SURGE: Wow. Kirkwood Community College enrollment for the fall semester was a record 17,841, a whopping 17 percent increase from last year. While the reason for much of it - the economic recession - wasn't welcome, the goal of more people retraining themselves for new careers is smart.

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IOWA CITY LEADS: Iowa City West, with 19, and Iowa City High, with 14, rank first and second, respectively, in the number of Iowa high school seniors named semifinalists in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship program. Combined, that's one of every six qualifiers among nearly 200 from Iowa.

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ACHIEVERS: Kudos to Nixon Elementary, the ninth Cedar Rapids district school to win a federal Blue Ribbon award for student achievement.