Homers -- What's going right

OPEN AGAIN: Admirable persistence by founder Henry Davison, volunteers and other supporters led to the reopening of the H.D. Youth Center with Soul Food, one of the Cedar Rapids community's resources for children and families. The facility was heavily damaged in the 2008 flood, but its after-school youth programs are up and running again at a new site, an abandoned laundromat at 1445 Mt. Vernon Road SE that was renovated over the past four years.

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BIG SPLASH TIMES 2: Linn-Mar school district opened its new aquatic center last week. The facility will serve all grade levels. Meanwhile, the City of Marion opened a new police station that is six times the size of the old facility, which was considered too small from the get-go in this fast-growing community that has nearly doubled in size over the past 30 years. The new station will accommodate service needs for predicted major population growth.

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NEW ANIMAL SHELTER: The new Cedar Rapids Animal Care and Control Center opened last week, providing improved conditions for housing and handling stray pets and adoption programs. It replaces the flood-damaged old facility and succeeds a temporary facility.