Gomers: What's going wrong

CURVEBALL: Iowa City's search for a new city manager to replace Michael Lombardo, who was dismissed in April after less than a year on the job, drew a curveball last week. The PAR Group of Lake Bluff, Ill., the firm the city used to find Lombardo, had agreed to waive its fee for a successive search if the first person hired was fired within the first year on the job. However, last week, PAR informed the city attorney that it has closed for business and has no assets to pay creditors. Which means the city's costs to find a new city manager likely will be more expensive. Maybe it's better this news came now rather than halfway through any new PAR search.

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TROUBLING TREND: Not SO surprising, because of the economic recession and ongoing flood-recovery obstacles, but nonethless troubling: Bankruptcies rose 26 percent in Iowa last year. It was even worse in Linn County, with a 36 percent increase, and Johnson county, up 35 percent - higher than the U.S.figure of 32 percent. Lawyers experienced in handling these cases say it's likely to get worse before it gets better. Overreliance on credit cards is one of the culprits, along with medical expenses, job loss and mortgage foreclosures.