Homers: What's going right

SPARED: The USS Iowa is among a dozen ships that won't be sent any time soon to the recycling yard, unlike 52 other military vessels in the “ghost fleet” anchored in San Francisco Bay. The USS Iowa, commissioned in 1943, still is considered useful. Those destined for recycling are considered to be the heaviest polluters in the bay. The USS Iowa saw heavy action in the World War II Pacific theater, and transported President Franklin Roosevelt to talks with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill in 1943.

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LEADING THE WAY: Residents of Water Tower Place, a warehouse converted into condos in Cedar Rapids, are installing what is the city's first-known “green” roof on their building. Green roofs use plants and a rooftop drainage system to absorb water and help reduce storm water runoff that causes flooding. Water Tower Place also will be a demonstration site.

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TENTS ON THE WAY: Dr. Chris Buresh, emergency physician at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, has treated Haitians since the devastating January earthquake. Recently, he bought $26,000 worth of tents to provide temporary housing as the rainy season arrives in Haiti.