Gomers: What's going wrong

REBATE ANGST: Iowa's Office of Energy Independence administered the federal stimulus appliance rebate program for the state's $2.87 million share toward rebates for those purchasing very energy-efficient appliances. Officials planned for a two-week application period. Within six hours, the money was gone. About 9,000 people secured rebates but many thousands more spent many frustrating hours trying to access the Web site or phone center. More than 1.1 million hits on the Web site in a state with 1.2 million households. State officials seemed woefully off base in anticipating Iowans' interest in this program during these cash-strapped times.

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MORE ABUSE FOUND: Reports and official findings of child abuse both rose 11 percent in 2009 in Iowa. Department of Human Services experts point to more economic stress on families as one cause but didn't rule out other causes. This at a time when DHS is facing big losses of front-line workers because of state budget cuts.

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DOLDRUMS: As The Gazette's series portrayed this week, University of Iowa men's basketball program has sunk to all-time lows by most measures. No where to go but up, we hope.