Q. Is it permissible to rent out sleeping rooms in a residential area in south Waterloo without any permits?

A. Shane Graham of the Waterloo Planning and Zoning office said the office wouldn't need to issue a zoning permit; however, there cannot be more than four non-related people in a single family home. If the homeowner were to remodel or make accommodations for the new resident or residents, they would have to go through the Building Inspections office to get a permit to do so.

Q. Is the city of La Porte so bonded out they can't fix their streets?

A. La Porte City Mayor Rick Lubben responds : In the past, the city has issued bonds for street repairs. However, there is a limit to how much bond debt any city may have. La Porte City has the ability to issue more bonds for street repairs, but such repairs are expensive. What may appear to be a lot of cash, $250,000 as an example, may only repair 3 or 4 blocks of a street. The particularly harsh winter resulted in greater seasonal damage to the streets. Reduction in state road use tax funds reduced the amount of other money available to repair streets. The combination of these factors, as in other communities, has resulted in damage to the streets being more widespread and more difficult to repair.

Q. What is the average rainfall for Waterloo for the months of April through August? How does this year compare so far?

A. The 30-year average rainfall for April is 3.23 inches, May, 4.15; June, 4.82; July, 4.20; and August, 4.08, according to the National Climatic Data Center. April 2008 set a new record for rainfall at 10.79 inches, beating the old record set in April 1991 at 8.53 inches. This year's rainfall: April, 10.79 inches; May, 6.25; June,12.54, according to KWWL and Weather.com.

Q. Whatever happened to Tony Bruno that was a host on the national radio talk show that aired on KCMV in Cedar Falls in the mornings?

A. Bruno's contract with Sporting News Radio in Los Angeles, which broadcasted the show, expired in April of this year. He went off the air in mid-January but continues living in California, said Scott Fenzloff, news director at KCMV.

Q: When will the Sonic restaurant open in Waterloo?

A. According to authorities quoted in a Courier story Feb. 16 on the announcement of plans to build the two new restaurants, they will be open by late this year or early next year. The Waterloo store will be at the southeast corner of Kimball Avenue and Tower Park Drive, just south of the All-Stop convenience store in the Martin Plaza area. The Cedar Falls store will be located in front of Wal-Mart on Viking Road.

Q. What happened to Lisa Carponelli, anchor for WOI Channel 5 news?

A. She left the station more than a month ago to take a teaching job at Simpson College.