Thirty-six-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Brian Naseman died Friday in Taji, Iraq. Naseman is a native of New Bremen, Ohio, but was recently a resident of Racine, Wisconsin.

Department of Defense officials announced Naseman's death Sunday. They say the circumstances surrounding his death are being investigated.

Naseman was assigned to the 108th Forward Support Company, attached to 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team out of Sussex.

Article courtesy The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Riverside City Manager Bob Murray says that he could envision hundreds, even thousands, of passengers loading and unloading from the lot on Springfield Street across from the U.S. Air Force Museum. He's hoping that the location will be included along the planned 3-C Corridor passenger rail being planned from Cincinnati through Dayton and on up to Columbus and Cleveland.

Murray says the transportation hub would draw businesses to the surrounding four acres, raising the value of the land from its current $13 million to $108 million. He says that location would be perfect for those commuting to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base each day, or to visit the state's top public tourist attraction, the museum.

The only issue is that Riverside isn't the only local municipality pushing for a stop along the rail line. Dayton itself believes there should be a stop downtown, while towns like Fairborn and West Carrollton have also pushed for a stop.

State officials say it's doubtful that the Dayton area can have more than two stops without slowing down the train service. That decision will ultimately be made by state legislators, some of whom don't even support the railway being built in the first place.

Until then, the spot on Springfield Street remains vacant, and Murray can only continue his visions of the hustle and bustle that he - and many others in towns around the area - hopes become a reality.

Saturday, there was a vigil at that intersection. Friends and family remembered Kasey, who was shot and killed after stepping outside to see a fight in progress.

Kasey is the 15th Dayton murder victim this year, in a string of high-profile and gang related murders.

Even vigils can be dangerous.  There have been two prayer vigil murders between late last year and now. There was even a shooting at another murder victim's funeral.

Extra security was in place for Saturday's vigil.

The checkpoint will be on South Smithville Road.

The boy ended up back at his elementary school playground, where he was found unharmed.  His mother Tamika Wade says it was all a misunderstanding.

But police issued a "child is missing" phone alert system, and Wade spent about five hours looking for Dhiari. A neighbor spotted Dhiari on the playground and called police.

Witnesses say there were flames everywhere. The name of the victim and his condition have not yet been released.

Firefighters say the fire may have started from an aerosol can or gas tank, but nothing is confirmed at this time.

He is the son of Richard and Diane Naseman of New Bremen. He graduated from New Bremen High School in 1990.

Brian Naseman is survived by his wife Peggy of Racine, Wisconsin and two sons.  He has three sisters living in and around New Bremen.

The funeral is expected to be in Wisconsin. His cause of death has not yet been revealed.

No one was injured.

The Clark County Combined Health District says it will continue to watch the situation closely.

The school, meanwhile, will conduct "business as usual" as suggested in guidelines from the Centers For Disease Control.

Police say Tony Bryant lost control, went off the right side of the road, overturned, rolled across a ditch. Bryant and his passenger, 31 year old Travis Bryant of Piqua, were ejected.

Tony Bryant was pronounced dead at the scene. Travis Bryant was taken by medical helicoptor to a Lima hospital.

I've been reading with amusement the comments not only on our site but on DaytonDailyNews.com from people frustrated over the alleged "inaccurate" weather forecast you got from us and other media outlets over the weekend.

Now, I can appreciate your frustration if you changed your plans or otherwise suffered some loss due to the storm not pounding us like it had originally been thought it would.  But, to say that somehow that the forecast could have been done better, or making the lame comment that "you guys are always trying to scare us" simply shows your lack of knowledge of the science of meteorology.

No, I am not a meteorologist.  But, I have piloted single engine aircraft, so, like all pilots, I have some basic knowledge of weather and weather systems.  The one thing I do know about it - is that it's an inexact science. The reason for that is simply, sometimes Mother Nature decides to have a mind of her own.

For example, a meteorologist can see the "potential" for a tornado. He or she can predict the general area that could get hit.  But until the funnel cloud is seen, or the hook echo appears on radar, it's tough to say who's gonna get hit, if anyone is.  Furthermore, even with such a hypothetical funnel on the ground, your meteorologist could say (as an example), "It's moving toward Piqua at 30 miles an hour, so take cover if you're in the path of the storm".  But, as soon as they say that, the twister could (having a mind of its' own), then return up to the sky and never be seen again.

So, was the meteorologist just trying to scare the bejesus out of people in Miami County? Or just trying to sound the alarm?  If you were in the potential path of that storm, wouldn't you rather know that you could get hit so you could take cover?  Or, do you want us Radio/TV types to wait until the storm is ripping a town up to say something?  

Now, back to Friday night.  The storm system formed exactly as it had been predicted, and moved early on exactly as expected.  Then, Ma Nature decided to throw a curve ball and the storm tracked just a few degrees further north than early models predicted.  When that happened, with the rain-ice/snow line just a little bit north of the original predictions, Dayton got some ice (which had been predicted), but got a daytime temperature Saturday that was a smidge warmer and thus, instead of snow, we got mostly a little sleet and a lot of rain.

That slight movement of the storm track could not be predicted until the storm was almost right on top of us. 

And that's why sometimes the forecast is dead on, and sometimes it's way off. You try to be correct more times than not, but sometimes Mother Nature just decides to change her mind. That's a woman's perogative, as I understand it.

You guys who are married understand that, don't you?

BTW: they said we'd some snow overnight.  Guess what, we did.  It was just a little more than expected.  Blame the storm track again.

It simply intregues and amazes me how so many so-called "sensible" adults turn into blubbering lumps of jelly or else seem to want to show the world "I can drive better than you can" the second the snow starts to fly. And usually, this means a there's a ditch somewhere with their names on it.

Now, me?  I'm a careful driver. I can count the number of accidents I've had on the palm of one hand since I started driving and thank God, they were all minor.  I haven't had a traffic ticket since the early 1990's.

Sure, I've spun out in bad winter weather.  I hit a patch of black ice a couple of years ago trying to get on SB I-675 from I-70 West.  I spun around, but there was no accident and nothing was damaged other that my nerves for a few minutes.  

But, I understand this can happen in winter weather.  I'm also not so much a nervous nelly that I slow down to 20 miles an hour in snow.  But, unlike a lot of drivers, I will slow down by 5 to 15 miles an hour if conditions warrant. I drive according to conditions.  And yes, I'll make sure there's more distance between me and the car in front of me.  I'll even (if necessary) drive in a lower gear to help me stop.

It just amazes me that people, seemingly in the "hurry" of their lives refuse to do this.

The people in their big SUV's who mistakenly think they can drive on anything because they have a 4 wheel drive...

The impatient people who look at people like me who are doing, say...45 in a 55 zone in bad weather as impediments in their path, because they wouldn't get up 10 minutes earlier and give themselves more time to get to work.

I just wave at these people as I pass them sitting in the median or in a ditch.

Now, I know professional drivers have lots of bones to pick with these bonehead drivers. And, in many cases, they have a good point.  But, we've all seen some truckers whose actions have also made us shake our heads.  Not every one...just some. In fact, I've followed many an 18 wheeler (at a reasonable distance) because I know if that truck suddenly slows down for no apparent reason, maybe I should, too.  

So...how 'bout you?  Let's hear your bad winter driver stories! 

And if all the predictions come to pass - drive carefully this weekend, OK?  That just might be me in the car behind you...

I've been amused reading some of your comments about the Ohio smoking ban which, though approved in a vote of the people, seems to be languishing at the hands of lackadaisical legislators who, of course, don't want to offend anyone. So, a law it was made, but one with no real teeth in it (in terms of budget for enforcement). So if you're a smoker, you're probably not feeling too concerned if you light up at your nearby pub.

Now, I want to state for the record - I do not smoke and, other than for a brief couple of week fancy with it way back in the 70's, have never smoked. (OK, forget the times I did "inhale" as a younger guy, if you get my drift...but that was then. I think the statute of limitations expired on that a long time ago...)  

But, I am not, nor have I ever really been a cigarette smoker.  But, I grew up around plenty. My mother and grandmother both smoked cigarettes...my Dad smoked a pipe.  So, I don't recoil in horror if someone lights up in my presence. If the smoke begins to make me uncomfortable...I move.

I also believe in the right of the individual.  So, I have no problem if you smoke, provided, you do not infringe on the rights of others.

That's where the sticky part of this comes in.  You see, I also have no problem if a business owner wants to not allow smoking at his or her business.  In a "family" restuarant or similarly styled business, it's probably for the better not to allow smoking, given the young lungs which may be patronizing the place with their parents.  If you smoke, you have the right to decide whether or not to spend your money at that establishment.

But, likewise, private clubs (such as American Legions and the like), ones that do not just allow citizens to walk in off the street without "joining", should, in my view, be within their rights to poll their members.  And, if a majority of the membership wants the right to smoke in such an establishment, so be it.

I guess (with sincere apologies to Neal Boortz), my libertarian streak makes my issue with the smoking ban merely the fact that, once again, we see Big Daddy Government and the people who supported the ban attempting to legislate personal behavior.  And by the way, I feel the same about proposed "obesity taxes" (though I drink diet sodas exclusively) and other forms of legislative "nannyism".

I feel that there should be businesses who voluntarily say "no smoking, please" (and are not afraid to remind you of that policy if you light up), as well as businesses who feel it's in their interests to permit smoking on their premises.  You, with your wallet, have the right to decide what businesses you support with your dollars.  I support you either way.

I just think that the current law, as it was passed and written is about as good as no law at all, particularly with the Ohio legislature's refusal to spend the money to enforce it.  So, if our legislators are going to be the namby-pamby wimps they seem to be on this subject, you might as well ditch the smoking ban.   Then, those of you who don't smoke, and don't like it, can remember those legislators come next election.

Dayton faces a budget shortfall, as does the state of Ohio as a whole.  It's inevitable that some city workers will be pink slipped.

So it is heard, some 25-40 or so Dayton employees could find themselves out of jobs.

Hopefully, the cuts can be minimized. But, until the economy in general improves, this is what we're probably going to be looking at...at home, in the state and in the nation.

If this is as far as it goes, we should throw a party.  Though, personally, I think things are going to get worse before they get better.  I fear we're looking at only the tip of the iceberg.  

But, there are always cases where people go above and beyond the call of duty to help out their fellow man in times of need.

So, with this post, I'd like to invite you, if you have a story about a church or community organization that's having, say...a food drive, or a toy drive or is doing something good to help people in need this holiday, to please respond to this post and let me know...so I can give a "virtual" pat on the back to people who deserve it.