Gomers -- What's going wrong

COUGH, COUGH: Another attempt to get a statewide casino smoking ban failed last week when legislators OK'd a gambling bill that otherwise serves to expand the industry by allowing people to place bets on horse races by phone or computer. The legislation also requires only one referendum asking local voters whether to continue allowing gambling in their jurisdiction; after that, any referendum would have to be called for by voter petition. Meanwhile, casinos still get a pass from the statewide ban on smoking in workplaces and public buildings. Boo.

lll

WAY BEHIND: The unseasonably cold and wet April weather put Iowa farmers way behind on planting. For corn, only 8 percent of the intended acres were planted by May 2; the five-year average is 48 percent. Warmer, drier weather, please.

lll

TRAGIC 5 DAYS: Two murders and a fatal fall within five days: A beloved grandmother, artist and cabdriver repeatedly stabbed in a Cedar Rapids neighborhood where she raised her family (April 29); a woman shot as she mowed the lawn at her home near Riverside (May 1); and a veteran employee who fell at the new C.R. federal courthouse construction site (May 3).