Homers -- What's going right

STAY AT HOME DADS: The rise in stay-at-home dads in Iowa and across the country is a good thing - experts say co-parenting is the best for children - and there still are some ways we need to catch up with the trend. We must be mindful of everything from the availability of changing tables in family restrooms to assumptions by school officials and others about who is “in charge” at home.

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HEALTHY GENEROSITY: People from Vinton, Van Horne, Urbana and other nearby towns raised $87,000 to help pay for a new mammography unit at Virginia Gay Hospital in Vinton. After purchasing its first-ever $500,000 machine, the hospital put out a call to its community to cover related additional costs. The fundraising total far exceeded expectations and delivers a big boost to efforts to deliver potentially lifesaving cancer screenings to area women.

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TOP POLITICAL VIDEO: A three-minute video of Iowa City's Zach Walls offering a passionate defense of his family in the face of state legislative efforts to ban same-sex marriages in Iowa has garnered more than 18 million hits on YouTube. This week the online sight named Walls' speech before the Iowa House of Representatives its 2011 political video of the year. His short, poignant address attracted more viewers than videos featuring the president and presidential hopefuls.