Homers

LIBRARY HONORED:

The University of Iowa Libraries is a Library of the Year, one of four nationwide named by the U.S. Government Printing Office. The honor goes for leadership, educational outreach and commitment to providing free public access to information available from the federal government, as part of the federal depository program that links 1,200 libraries. UI also was singled out for successfully blending partnerships and projects within the university as well as the local community. Marianne Mason is the UI's federal information librarian.

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AIRPORT ICON SAVED:

Catching up on this story: The 6-foot-diameter terrestrial globe, once an icon at The Eastern Iowa Airport - where it was installed in 1953 as a gift from a local donor later identified as Howard Hall, and later moved to the city's Ground Transportation Center - was damaged in the flood of 2008 and at risk of being scrapped. But rescue efforts by the city's Visual Arts Commission and the restoration work of Todd Sabin last year saved the globe. It now sits at renovated Linn Hall on the Kirkwood Community College campus.

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IMPROVED FIRE PROTECTION:

An additional 12.5 percent of Cedar Rapidians are within 1.5 miles of a fire station, now that the new westside station at 3520 Crestwood Drive NW is open. It follows the completion last year of the city's new central fire station on First Avenue SE.