Gomers -- What's going wrong

JUSTICE CENTER BLUES: With a voter turnout of just 15 percent, the Johnson County Justice Center bond referendum was defeated on Tuesday, a second defeat in six months. Instead of advancing a long-term fix for major security, safety and space problems that likely will get worse in this fast-growing county, officials still face $3 million in basic jail repairs alone - money that would be better used in a long-term plan instead of a patchwork approach. And, of course, the ongoing prisoner overload means $1 million-plus per year will continue to be spent on housing inmates elsewhere.

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WATCH YOUR STOVE: Iowa City firefighters responded to 225 fires in 2012 - up 39 percent from 2011. A big culprit in the increase: unattended cooking that becomes a grease fire on stovetops or a smoky blaze in ovens.

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IGNORANCE OR APATHY? The percentage of traffic camera citations issued for Cedar Rapids and other Linn County drivers caught speeding on I-380 through the city's center actually increased in 2012, from 29 percent to 30 percent. After nearly three years in operation, surely locals should know of the cameras.

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