Gomers -- What's going wrong

WORSE AND WORSE: So, it's official. The state climatologist, Harry Hillaker, last week declared that our drought has become worse than the last bad one, in 1988. Worse yet, it's only early August. Worse yet, the weather guys say the high pressure dome that keeps major storms out of Iowa and much of the Midwest grain belt is getting stronger and could keep us dry for two more months.

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STATE PAYOUTS SOAR: Iowa paid legal judgments against state public entities totaling nearly $13.2 million in fiscal 2012 - the second highest amount in the past decade. It trailed only 2008, when the controversial TouchPlay program of the Iowa Lottery accounted for a majority of the record $23.5 million in payouts. For fiscal 2012, nearly half the total involved prelitigation settlements with movie producers who had sought state tax credits under a state incentive program that was shut down in 2009 after an audit revealed millions of dollars were awarded improperly. The next largest factor was several large sums for claims against regent universities. In most years, the settlement totals against the state typically run between $2 million and $4 million.

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