Homers -- What's going right

READING, WRITING, MATH AND GARDENING: Mike Loots, a language arts teacher at Northwest Junior High in Coralville, wasn't satisfied with the traditional reading curriculum and its results. So he, with some help from a University of Iowa friend, created a student garden project that incorporates reading, writing and math into planning and planting a school garden. Loots, a proponent of project-based learning, has since seen encouraging academic improvements among the 15 participating students.

lll

GOING UP: Whether or not you support every public building project launched in the fiscal year ended June 30, the amount of private and public construction in post-flood Cedar Rapids is remarkable: $346.65 million worth in fiscal 2012 - a record by $51 million over fiscal 2008.

lll

CONFIRMED: U.S. Attorney Stephanie Rose of Center Point was confirmed 89 to 1 by the U.S. Senate to become the next federal judge in the Southern District of Iowa. She becomes the first woman judge for the Southern District and just the second in Iowa history to serve on the federal bench.

n Comments: editorial@sourcemedia.net or (319) 398-8262