Tre Profirio is one pretty lucky guy, all things considered.

Tre is a voice network system tech stationed with the 88th Communications Squadron at Wright Patt, a group who dubs themselves "Combat Nerds". While on duty with the 755th Air Expeditionary Group in Afghanistan, he was shot 3 times by an insurgent just before Thanksgiving Day.

Tre's injuries were critical and life-threatening. Fortunately, the top-notch care he recieved in the field got him stablized and well enough to get him back to Walter Reed Army Hospital. There, he had to have his pancreas removed, and, in breakthrough surgery, islet cells taken from his pancreas at the University of Miami Medical Center were sent back to Walter Reed and were implanted in the young man's liver. A short time later, those islet cells (think of them as stem cells inside his pancreas), began producing insulin from his liver.

He's been through some 11 surgeries, and will need time to recover. But doctors say he will be able to live a "nearly" normal life. And, they say he's made a particularly strong recovery.

Today, a C-130 medical plane brought Tre back to Wright Patterson Air Force Base. A couple hundred of his friends and colleagues and Patriot Guard Riders bearing flags were on hand to welcome him home.

His doctors call him a miracle. To me, the term "warrior hero" is just as appropriate. I mean, who could come through something like that, then stand in front of crowd as Tre did today and say..."It was an OK experience"? And he's only 21.

Welcome home, Airman. And thank you for a job well done.

As a February baby...and as a native of Dayton, it's true I've seen my share of snow storms.

And I was just thinking a few minutes ago that what it looks like out my window right now, is very close to what I remember winters being like in Dayton when I was a very young child.

You know...snow piled up not in inches, but in feet. Dad, with his very descriptive and colorful language heading out the door with the snow shovel for the 5th or 6th time. Mom, dressing me more like the kid in "The Christmas Story" so overlayered in clothing, if I fell down, it would take a crane company to get me upright.

And the snow seemed constant. You'd get a couple of days without it and next thing you know...here it comes again.

School closings? Heck, I wasn't old enough to go to school then. But, I do remember, I spent a lot of time sitting on or near that big furnace register in the floor of our house. (It was probably the warmest place to be!)

You all think it gets tedious with your kids watching Barney and The Wiggles over and over? For my Mom, it was Captain Kangaroo, followed by Alvin And The Chipmonks (or, maybe it was the morning Popeye The Sailor cartoons...) And I controlled the TV...well, until Ruth Lyons came on at noon, that is. (Maybe that's why Mom dressed me up and pushed me out the door around that time.)

And, who knows? Maybe my memory is a bit faulty thinking about all this. But, this kind of weather sure gives me that "deja vu" feeling.

Having gone through many winters lately with just one or two "significant" snow events, and Christmases with 65 degree temperatures, the weather right now just feels like the winter in Dayton we haven't seen for a long time.

I admit, I don't like driving in it anymore than you do. But, looking out my living room window, (or a window at the station), for maybe just a minute or two, I feel (just a little) like a kid again.

Do you know the kind of Dayton winters I'm talking about? I'd love to hear from you.

Amateur radio operators perform lifesaving functions. Whether you're talking about the great work local "hams" perform providing communication lifelines during serious storms or natural disasters...or the work many have done providing communications systems in earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, being an amateur operator can be a fun and important hobby or interest.

Best of all, you no longer need to learn Morse Code to be an amateur radio operator.

Greene County's Amateur Radio Emergency Service, known as GCARES is offering a series of nine week Amateur license classes. These classes are available for those wanting to become entry level Technician Class licensees, intermediate General Class licensees, or top level Extra Class licensees, beginning Sunday in Beavercreek and Fairborn. The courses and test session is free. Optional study guides are offered at discount prices during the irst two class sessions, or alternate study guides may be downloaded from the internet.

Call Michael Crawford for more information at 937-426-2721 or e-mail kc8gle@earthlink.net.

The official definition of a "Level 3 Snow Emergency":

All roadways are closed to non-emergency personnel. No one should be driving during this condition unless it is absolutely necessary or a personal emergency exists. All employees should contact their employer to see if they should report for work. Anyone traveling on the roads may subject themselves to citation or arrest.

Now...where does it say here, "except if you have a four wheel drive vehcle with a snow plow blade attached to it"?

I completely agree with Darke County Sheriff Toby Spencer who today, issued a request to residents to remember this the next time a big snow falls. Seems the county lost an entire day of snow plowing, pulling out stuck vehicles that were blocking roadways. Many of those pulled out, says the Sheriff's office, were independent 4 wheel drive snow plow operators.

Now, I understand some of these snow plow operators have contracts to which they must attend. If you need to plow, say, a hospital parking lot, or a major business that needs to stay open around the clock, then you probably fall under the definition of an "essential service" which needs to be out even during these times.

But, if you're out to plow businesses which normally wouldn't be open in such weather, or school lots...Or worse...if you're just out to try and get to an open store to get supplies, then you have no business being out in a level 3 snow emergency! And, I agree with the sheriff...Darke County shouldn't have to spend an entire day pulling independent plows out of ditches and from blocked highways.

There's a difference between performing a legitimate necessary business persuit, and in effect, "getting in the way". I'm sure no independent plow intended to get stuck and be a problem for the county. But, like the old saying says, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Sometimes even 4 wheel drive with a plow isn't enough. Next time, be thoughtful and use some common sense, drivers!

Sitting here watching our snow fall, it's amusing to hear that Washington D.C., which just got done dealing with a large snowstorm just about a week ago, is getting pounded again with almost two and a half feet of snow.

Here's hoping those in the House and Senate are enjoying blowing or shoveling that 30 inches of "global warming" off their driveways and walks....

I certainly hope that Dayton and the National Museum Of The United States Air Force succeeds in their efforts to get NASA to permanently place one of the Space Shuttles at the Museum once the shuttles are retired.

It would give us the distinction of having one of the few places in America we can take our children, and be able to point to vehicles that took Americans into space and back. You see, President Obama is bound and determined to save what amounts to a budgetary "drop in the bucket" to cancel the Constellation program that would have seen Americans on the moon before around 2020 and to Mars by, perhaps 25 years later.

If the President succeeds in his wishes, we may not see Americans send Americans into space for the rest of our lives.

Yeah, I hear the President. He wants to spend money to encourage private industry to develop heavy launch vehicles. I'm all in favor of seeing private industry do this. But, private industry is just barely getting the hang of sending pilots into suborbital flights. Privately funded development of vehicles capable of going into and maneuvering in low earth orbit, and training pilots to do this job could take another 10, 15, maybe even 20 years. It's not easy to do. And it won't happen at the snap of fingers just because President Obama wants it to happen.

What seems so sad to me about this: It was Democrat John Fitzgerald Kennedy who understood that America would not stay a world power if it was not perceived to be technologically superior to other nations. That's why we raced the Russians to the Moon in the 1960's. He also knew that it would encourage the young people of the time to take an interest in science, math and engineering, and bring another generation of Americans to the forefront in developing new inventions and technological achievements.

What did all this gain America? Do you like having a cell phone? How about an i-Pod? How about your laptop? Notebook? Or PC? Or hand held GPS? Do you like being able to have an information source like the internet? Do you appreciate the eye surgeon that did your lazer or lasik surgery? Or, the surgeon who was able to do a heart procedure on you using minimally invasive techniques, instead of having to saw your chest open?

These are just a few things that came directly or indirectly out of America's space efforts, both manned and unmanned from the creation of NASA in 1958 until today.

You see, the sad part about going into space is that: the real benefits actually come 10, 20, 30 or more years down the road in terms of the technologies that develop as a springboard off going into space. And what benefits could be realized by Americans by going back to the moon and later to Mars could be truly incalculable.

"But, it costs so much money!", you say. "And we really don't have that kind of money anymore".

Well, I agree 15 billion dollars sounds like a lot of money, especially if you make what I make. But that's been about the same amount of money NASA has been given to spend each year (give or take a billion) for about the past 10-15 years. America wastes 10 or 20 times this amount of money in pork barrel spending and pet congressional projects every year.

We wasted more money in the stimulus spending of the past year, than NASA has had to spend in at least the last five!

And what galls me: this program is being stopped because the government would have to have given NASA another 3 billion dollars a year to make it happen. Again, a total drop in the bucket next to a Federal budget of a thousand times that figure! And let me repeat that: a thousand times that figure!

"But the program was having cost overruns"! True. But I defy you to show me any government program that comes in on time and under budget! And logic dictates that if a program is doing something that either hasn't been done before or is breaking new ground on something that has, any cost estimate in the early stages of the program can only be that...an estimate.

"Oh, but so many poor people could be fed on that money". Ten times as many poor people (and maybe more than that) could be fed off the waste from the stimulus money. In fact, had the government chosen to just write a check to every American taxpayer, rich or poor for about $100 grand, we wouldn't have spent so much on stimulus. And a lot of poor people would be far better off if they spent that cash wisely.

But, let me get back on topic here. Yes, spending money sending people into space seems too romantic to be practical. But, if it produces positive benefits for the country, such as helping us keep a technological edge allowing us to produce products, services, jobs and technology that strengthens our nation for decades in the future, I'm all for it. And proving American exceptionalism to the world is worthwhile to our image. Our leaders for decades (both Republican and Democratic) understood this...

Until Barack Obama got to the White House.

Every groundhog in the country, it seemed...from Punxatauney Phil to any of the dozens of weather prognosticating rodents in America all said "six more weeks of winter" today!

But, not in Ohio. Dayton's own Ivy...and Marion's weather-forecasting Buckeye Chuck both said, "Heck No...I won't go" with six more weeks of winter and said spring is just around the corner.

Let's hope they're right. Otherwise, I'm going back to have a serious talk with a wooly worm!

So today, we have been officially showered with Obamabucks!

400 million dollars of federal stimulus money aimed at building a passenger rail line to connect Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati.

I must admit, I'm skeptical about whether this thing'll make money or not. (You have to forgive me here. I once lived in Illinois where, everyday, within sight of my home, I could watch the almost passenger-less Amtrak train headed to Chicago...and would watch the almost passenger-less Amtrak return from Chi-town at night.)

I do, though, see some possible use for the rail line. Say, if I had tickets for a Reds or Bengals game and could conveniently get to the stadiums from the rail terminal, I might take it to beat the traffic. If I wanted to go, say...to the Rock Hall of Fame in Cleveland, a 60 dollar or so roundtrip that would drop me off in Riverside (one of the expected Dayton terminals) would save me on gas....especially when gas returns to 4 bucks a gallon.

And, yes, I do think having the second terminal directly across the street from the National Museum Of The U.S. Air Force makes a whole lot of sense and could help bring in tourists.

And, well...if some of our public officials would ride the train to Columbus every day (though I won't hold my breath on that)...

But, how many people routinely travel between the major cities each day that would find the train service convenient and find the number of trains they could catch would be compatible with their work schedules? Especially when it's expected (according to the FAQ on the DOT website) to take the train 3 hours to go between Cincinnati and Columbus...and you can drive it in 2 hours.

I don't know. I see some possibilities...but I'm still a skeptic.

Members of a surgical team from Wright Patterson AFB are currently making their fourth deployment to Haiti to assist in the medical efforts there. And, I'm sure their hard work and assistance makes us all proud.

Medical staff on the scene there have told those of us at WHIO that though there is more "order" to the chaos in Haiti, medical help faces serious challeges, if for no other reason that the number of injuries and casualties have been so severe.

Many residents of that nation still find it hard to find food and water. Many have been rendered homeless, still others survived the horrendous earthquake but now find it impossible to find work to earn even meager cash to be able to feed themselves and their families. And when the "emergency" ends, another crisis will begin. We've been told by those on the scene that Haiti will need prosthetics, due to the large number of men, women and children who have become amputees, due to the nature of their injuries in the quake.

It's a situation that may be improving, but will take not just days, or weeks, but months for a sense of "normalcy" to return. (Imagine the windstorm of a couple of years ago here...except now, imagine that the winds toppled thousands of houses, and it took not days, but months to restore all the electricity.) Not a pleasant thought, is it? Haiti may just be in worse shape.

This is where the residents of Dayton and the Miami Valley shine. With your caring and compassion, and your willingness to spare a couple of bucks if they're available to you. Please take the time to find out how you can make a donation to the American Red Cross right here on our website, and do your part.

Once again, a law enforcement report confirms that a lead-footed driver has been the cause of an accident that has taken the lives of Dayton-area residents.

The latest report from the Dayton Daily News quotes the State Patrol as saying a semi trailer going too fast for conditions lost control, slid across the median slamming into a shuttle bus from the Creative Learning Workshop in Springfield, killing 4 developmentally disabled adults and injuring the bus driver and 5 others. This, on I-70 on that snowy day January 7th

I'll say it now...I'll say it again...I'll say it until it needs to be said no more - the wanton disregard of the speed limits on our highways needs to stop! Truckers need to obey the speed limits, auto drivers need to obey the speed limits...all of you need to slow down.

How many more people will be killed before people get the message?