Gomers -- What's going wrong

AGENCY CLOSES: Life Skills Inc., a non-profit agency serving about 125 Johnson County-area clients with mental health issues, abruptly closed a week ago. The founder of the 21-year-old agency predicts there will be more social service agencies that don't survive because of cuts in state and federal funding, especially Medicaid reimbursement rates. Meanwhile, other local agencies are working to accommodate Life Skills' clients.

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ALCOHOL STILL NO. 1: Alcohol continues to be the substance most abused by Iowans, the Partnership for a Drug-Free Iowa reports. In 2010, alcohol was the villain in 58.6 percent of clients screened for or admitted to substance abuse treatment. Iowans' per capita consumption has risen steadily over a decade - in 2010, the average adult consumed 2.14 gallons of distilled spirits, 1.86 gallons of wine and 37.2 gallons of beer.

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STUDENT RECORDS: Nearly 12 percent, or 332, of the 2,867 University of Iowa seniors who received degrees a week ago also had at least one criminal conviction in Johnson County - most were alcohol-related. Nearly one-third of those had two or more convictions.

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