Homers -- What's going right

ASTRONAUT EXTRAORDINAIRE: Peggy Whitson is in great company. The Beaconsfield native was a guest speaker at an event last week in Marion marking the 50th anniversary of the first female in space, Russian Valentina Tereshkova, and the 30th anniversary of the first American woman, Sally Ride. Whitson, 53, also has achievements of note: she is the record holder for the most time in space, 377 days, and the first female commander of the International Space Station. She now works on improving training for future astronauts.

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WELCOME OPTION: We applaud the Iowa School for the Deaf for holding its first-ever summer camp in Eastern Iowa. Traditionally, the camps have been held at the school's Council Bluffs campus but last week a session was conducted in Vinton at the former Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School to provide more access to students on this side of the state.

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UNITED FRONT: The mayors of Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha, Fairfax and Robins stood as one last week in announcing support for a 10-year extension of the 1 percent local-option sales tax to fix infrastructure. There's a lot of fixing to do and the state isn't helping enough.

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