Homers -- What's going right

UI TIES: Philip Levine, a 1957 graduate of the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, and a 1995 Pulitzer Prize winner in poetry, was named the nation's 18th poet laureate. Levine is at least the fifth U.S. poet laureate with ties to the UI's famed workshop as a student or lecturer.

lll

UI IN SPACE: The Aug. 5 launch of NASA's Juno is the seventh trip to Jupiter with University of Iowa-designed research instruments on board.

lll

GRANT NOT LOST: Cedar Rapids officials persuaded a federal agency to let the city use what remains of a $9 million grant that was to have gone toward a new public transit facility. The money was thought to be forfeited after the City Council decided to renovate the flood-damaged transportation center instead of build a new one. But the city now can use the money on the existing facility.

lll

NEIGHBORLY PLACE: Cedar Rapids' Northwest Neighbors Neighborhood Association recently opened its new resource center at 1412 Ellis Blvd. NW. The former church minister's residence was renovated, adding to the neighborhood's considerable flood recovery progress.