On Memorial Day itself, I found myself at two services: an anti-war gathering at Christ Church Cathedral in which both civilian and military dead were remembered, and the traditional military honors at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.

Both were moving in their own ways.

And, participants from both events can find one plot of common ground. Both believe that this is no time for apathy. With U.S. servicemembers fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, the underlying message from both events was that Americans should recognize what is happening everyday, and not just on Memorial Day.

I have always found Zachary Taylor National Cemetery to be a peaceful and patriotic place. It reminds me of my mother teaching her children the World War One poem "In Flanders Fields," admonishing us to remember that those grave markers are not props, but represent real lives and real sacrifice.

"We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields."

As I stood in the shade of a tree toward the front of the grounds for the program, I looked down at the grave marker below me, a group of five members of the Army Air Corps in 1945, presumably killed together on the same warplane. I thought of their families standing at that spot more than 60 years earlier. An eleven year old boy (as it turns out the son of Iraq veteran and politician Andrew Horne) noticed the same marker and knelt to brush off grass clippings. It was a sweet moment, however far removed from World War II.

Fast forward to Freeman Field in Seymour, Indiana, ironically the home for air training during World War II. Though much of the original airfield property has been parceled out for businesses, a working airport remains. And that is where a charter jet carrying Joey Montgomery's body landed after making similar stops in Detroit and Fargo.

Scottsburg Mayor Bill Graham had encouraged the media to recognize his nephew's ultimate sacrifice. The Indiana National Guard set aside an area for our cameras near the hearse.

I took some notes, but I knew that the images of this day would speak volumes more than I could. So, when Montgomery's wife, the mother of their three children met her worst fears in receiving his casket, I choked back tears. And as other family surrounded the flag draped coffin and laid hands on it, the lump in my throat was somehow deeply personal.

I imagined my own tight knit family. I thought of my children. I thought of my country.

A reporter needs to have enough distance from a story to offer the best perspective for the viewer. But, a reporter never stops being human. And, my sympathy and admiration that day were deeply felt.

When I returned to the newsroom, a voice mail was waiting for me. How dare we show the widow in her nightmare? Do we not have any respect?

I wish the caller had left her name. It is a conversation newsrooms should have, to determine what is gained by airing certain images. The caller suggested that "ratings" trumped taste in showing this homecoming.

I would have told her in my return phone call that Missie Montgomery's personal grief was a public testament to her husband's sacrifice. The media kept our distance from all the family, except for the appointed spokesman, Mayor Graham. And, he had requested that we be present and document this very personal but very American story.

This is, indeed, no time for apathy. In a war that has not changed life on the homefront much at all for non-military families, a TV camera is a useful tool to remind all of us of how it has profoundly changed the lives of many others.

Regardless of your views on this or any war, we can all agree on that.

Other definitions include an “agricultural drought” which refers to dry weather leading to diminished moisture in the root zone for plants. The timing of this kind of drought during the growing season can have serious impacts for the food supply. There is also a “hydrological drought”. This kind of drought usually persists for a significant length of time and has serious implications on the area’s water table. While all droughts are serious, this one usually brings about mandatory and widespread water conservation efforts.

As of this writing only the southeast counties of Kentucky are considered dry enough to be in a moderate drought. The rest of the state and southern Indiana would be considered abnormally dry (perhaps one could even say a slight drought). Despite the fact that yards and gardens are showing some stress across southern Indiana and northern Kentucky, this area has still received 75 to 90% of their normal rainfall for the year. However, down across southeast Kentucky only about 50% of their normal rainfall for the year has occurred.

So, is this the start of the “Drought of 2007”? It’s never a good sign to go into the summer season dry. Why? Because of the nature of summertime precipitation which can be rather spotty. You could get a heavy downpour of rain that drops an inch or two of rain on you in a short period of time but your neighbor a mile down the road might not receive a drop. This kind of precipitation is less than ideal to alleviate any widespread, long term dry conditions. In fact, it doesn’t do a whole lot to help in the short term either as so much of those summer downpours goes into runoff or doesn’t get a chance to percolate down into the ground. Oddly, one of the best ways to eliminate drought in this part of the country during the summer is with the remnants of a tropical storm or hurricane.

You’re right. I haven’t answered the question about the Drought of 2007. My feeling is that it might get worse before it gets better. The summer might start dry but perhaps ease back into more normal precipitation by the mid to late summer. In any case, let’s be smart about our water usage and outdoor burning during this period of dry weather.

The crowning jewel in the Adult Swim line-up, for my money at least, is The Venture Bros [sic], a parody of the old Jonny Quest series and “boys adventure” tropes in general, all undercut with megadoses of post-modern humor, cynicism and the ever-popular “adult themes.” Even better, the show is properly animated, so it’s aesthetically pleasing as well, something that much of Adult Swim’s programming – good and bad -- can’t claim because they’re all done on the cheap (or at least, they look that way).

The Venture Bros. depicts the adventures of the titular fraternal duo, Hank and Dean Venture, who, despite the show’s present-day setting, seem locked in a screwy 1967 time bubble: their dress, mannerisms and vocabulary are all quirkily yet charmingly anachronistic, and their naivety and ignorance both gets them into dire situations and gets them out of same.

The boys are seemingly the bane of their father’s existence, but Hank and Dean are the least of Dr. Thaddeus “Rusty” Venture’s problems: While he bills himself as a scientific genius, many of his inventions are flawed, and he is frequently portrayed as a cowardly nitwit. Rounding out the central cast is Brock Samson, the Venture family’s government-sanctioned bodyguard. A hyper-masculine killing machine, Samson is nevertheless the show’s prime voice of reason. He is shown accepting his charges’s various physical, mental and moral shortcomings with a stoic but good-humored resignation.

Typical of the series is “Escape to the House of Mummies, Part II,” from the second season, wherein Team Venture find themselves trapped by a mysterious Egyptian cult – the absolute worst kind of Egyptian cult – who are in the possession of a time machine. After the gang are locked in a death trap, Dr. Venture manages to escape but forgets about rescuing Brock and the boys, so, with the help of Sigmund Freud and Edgar Allan Poe, they arrange their own rescue. Or do they?

“House of Mummies” is a clever send-up of the old cliffhanger serials. It opens with a recap of the non-existent Part I and concludes with a preview of the equally non-existent Part III. The script is therefore full of references to plot events that the viewers will never see, which makes for plenty of comedy, while adequtely displaying the protagonists’s personalities and idiosyncracies. Also, Dean gets decapitated.

Each episode can be enjoyed on its own, naturally, but they all contribute to an ongoing big picture, as bits and pieces of the characters’s backgrounds are revealed, often providing added dividends to faithful viewers as well as those who purchase the DVD collections (seasons one and two are available now at your favorite retail outlet!).

And yet the Adult Swim juggernaut lumbers onward: Last week, the network aired a pilot that could be another winner. The Drinky Crow Show perfectly captures the spirit of its source material, Tony Millionaire’s Maakies comic strip – it’s cartoonishly violent in the manner of classic Tom & Jerry shorts; it’s absurdist without being self-congratulatory about it; its computerized animation looks really, really good (which I didn’t think was possible), and best of all, it’s funny.

(Also: It’s not really appropriate for the kiddies, so parents beware, but then again, if your kids are up at 11:45 on a Sunday night watching cartoons, you’ve got bigger problems than animated segments about an alcoholic seafaring bird.)

It's tremendously cheesy to say cartoons aren't just for kids anymore, but it's appropriate here. Adult Swim is broadcasting some of the most witty, intelligent and subversive programming on TV today. Don't miss it.

The envelope of gas surrounding the Earth changes from the ground up. Four distinct layers have been identified using thermal characteristics (temperature changes), chemical composition, movement, and density.

The troposphere starts at the Earth's surface and extends 5 to 9 miles up. Since the troposphere is located at the bottom of the atmosphere, it is the densest part. Temperatures drop rapidly as you climb through the troposphere at an average rate of about 10 degrees Celsius per kilometer. Almost all weather occurs in this part of the atmosphere. The tropopause, a strong temperature inversion, separates the troposphere from the next layer.

The stratosphere starts just above the troposphere and extends to roughly 30 miles high. Compared to the troposphere, this part of the atmosphere is dry and less dense. The temperature in this region increases gradually due to the absorption of ultraviolet radiation. The ozone layer, which absorbs and scatters the solar ultraviolet radiation, is in this layer. Ninety-nine percent of "air" is located in the troposphere and stratosphere. The stratopause separates the stratosphere from the next layer.

The mesosphere starts just above the stratosphere and extends to more than 50 miles high. In this region, the temperatures again fall rapidly with height and can reach nearly 100 degrees Celsius below zero. Chemicals in this layer are in an excited state, as they absorb unfiltered energy from the Sun. The mesopause separates the mesophere from the highest layer in the atmosphere.

The thermosphere starts just above the mesosphere and extends to an astonishing 500 plus miles above the surface of the Earth. Here temperatures go up as you increase in altitude due to the Sun's energy. Temperatures in this region can go as high as 1,700 degrees Celsius! Although the air is extremely thin here, chemical reactions occur much faster than on the surface of the Earth. Finally, at roughly 500 miles up, you begin to run out of gas and into the realm of space.

Earlier in the day, our assignment desk had heard over the scanners a report of "smoke in the cockpit." That turned out to be only a drill, but it was the first thing I thought of when our newsroom diverted us to the airport.

As we headed west, the true nature of our assignment was revealed. Larry Birkhead had landed in a private jet with his cause-celebre daughter and her nanny in tow. Even those of us who don't read US Magazine or watch the entertainment news shows know Birkhead's name and his claim to fame: being the father of the late Anna Nicole Smith's baby daughter, (determined after a protracted, nasty, bizarre circus of a paternity battle).

He had landed at Atlantic Aviation, where travelers don't have to go through a terminal and its associated nuisances.

And so with my limited knowledge of Smith, her husband Howard K. Stern and the baby, I had Chesser open my headset microphone in Sky11 to narrate the unfolding drama to the viewers watching our video streamed live on WHAS11.com. Did you happen to see it? Let me know at joe.arnold@whas11.com.

I was surprised at how much I could remember of the saga, and how surreal it was to be reporting on an "entertainment" story that had already received a ridiculous amount of attention on nearly every media outlet in America and beyond.

And so, I kept my eyes trained on the small jet's stairway and with no resemblance to Mary Hart or her voice, let viewers know when Birkhead stepped off the plane and walked to the gaggle of waiting media, and when his infant daughter was carried to a waiting SUV.

Thanks to Dan and Michael for correcting me on the baby's name. I said "Danielle." For the record, it's "Dannielynn."

Then, it got really surreal. We tracked Birkhead's entourage from the airport to Preston Highway, I-65, I-264, I-71, US42 and finally the Hunting Creek subdivision in Oldham County. I half expected to see OJ's white Bronco in the pursuit. It was that surreal. Sky11 bumped in the wake of another news helicopter. We helped guide reporter Kirby Adams and photojournalist Forrest Clem as they chased Birkhead on the roads.

Finally, with about one minute of fuel left before we had to turn back for Bowman Field, Birkhead's SUV pulled into the garage of a home in that Oldham County estate development. We had gotten all the shots possible, and we turned for home.

Speaking of home... Welcome home, Larry. At the end of the day and absent the glare of the media, this is about an 8 month old girl who will grow up without her mother and whose entire life is predetermined to include constant attention. I pray her fate is happier and different than her late mother's and brother's. Maybe Louisville is just low key enough that she could grow up here and we would live her alone.

In the mean time, Sky11 has quite a zoom lens.

A sunburn is literally a burn on your skin caused by over exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The short term consequences of a sunburn are painful inflammation, redness and sometimes blistering of the skin. However, the long term consequences are far greater and include premature aging, wrinkling and skin cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, one in five Americans will develop some form of skin cancer during their lifetime and more than one million new cases will be diagnosed this year. These figures include diagnosis of the most curable types of skin cancer as well as the most deadly, melanoma. Melanoma killed nearly 8,000 Americans in 2006. Melanoma is increasing faster than any other cancer among Western countries, with more than 50,000 new cases within the United States each year.

Although a little exposure to the sun is healthy, a burn is not. And it only takes one serious burn to increase your risk for skin cancer by 50%. Remember, a tan will fade in days but prevention can go a long ways…

*Minimize your exposure to the sun during peak heating between the hours of 10:00AM and 3:00PM.

*Wear loose fitting and light colored clothing that covers your body and shades your face.

*Apply sunscreen with at least a SPF-15 or higher, to all areas of the body which are exposed to the sun.

*Reapply sunscreen every two hours, even on cloudy days. Reapply after swimming or perspiring.

Whether you’re at The Downs this Saturday sipping on a Mint Julep or just relaxing in your own backyard with an ice cold beer, don’t forget to protect your skin. A little prevention will keep you partying on Derby Day for years to come.

Coffman, though, is certainly at home in her courtroom, with all the formality you would expect for federal court, yet an evenhandedness which gives the impression that she wants each attorney to succeed in presenting the best case possible.

Here is a sampling of the observations I made during the cruising lawsuit:

-- Reverend Louis Coleman and activist Dick Gregory both arrived a few minutes after the hearing had started. Both took seats at the plaintiffs' table despite Coleman having no personal standing in the case and his Justice Resource Center's standing up for debate. Attorney Ramon McGee didn't miss a beat, shaking Gregory's hand while deftly continuing his argument before the judge.

-- Judge Coffman was due to be on vacation this week.

-- Judge Coffman has no problem interrupting attorneys for questions and clarifications. She apologizes, but those interruptions are a clue into her focus. For instance, she asked McGee to focus on the harm to others and the public interest facets of this case. Both ended up being her primary motivations for declining the injunction.

-- LMPD Chief Robert White and Deputy Chief Phillip Turner sat behind the county attorneys. White was visibly perturbed by McGee's argument, sighing and rolling his eyes.

-- McGee cited citizens' complaints that the police crackdown reminded them of a "Nazi like" state, and "martial law."

-- About fifty people, including roughly ten journalists and forty spectators sat in the gallery. But some opponents of the police plan made their sentiments too public for the judge with under their breath comments and asides. Finally, Judge Coffman quieted them, saying "This is not a party, and not church. If you can't keep quiet, just leave."

-- Coffman says the timing of the lawsuit, just one week before Derby was a problem. McGee says the police announced their plan late, giving little opportunity for protest.

-- This case may have some legs before Derby 2008. "I do believe that the plaintiffs are correct," Coffman warned, "that this notion of (vehicle) passes raises serious logistical questions.

-- Ramon McGee says he will have camera crews shooting other Derby celebrations to show that questionable behavior is not limited to West Broadway.

I spoke with attorneys from both sides after the hearing on Monday. Ramon McGee represents several West Broadway business owners. He says their due process and equal protection rights are being violated by the massive police presence on Broadway, Derby weekend. Three business owners testified that they lost thousands of dollars in business as a result of the crackdown last year. McGee compared the presence of police to "martial law," and the judge at one point directly asked a witness if customers felt "intimidated" by police. Without question, he said.

Meanwhile, lawyers from the County Attorney's office repeatedy asked the judge what "federal question" is present in this controversy.

The judge was not able to rule at the first hearing partly because of errors in the way the lawsuit was filed in the first place. Rev. Louis Coleman submitted the original suit, despite not being a lawyer. And, several of the business owners who filed affadavits in the case needed to sign some documents after the hearing.

McGee and the city's lawyers need to file their briefs in the case by Thursday, with a hearing and ruling scheduled at 1pm Monday.

Instability: Instability is a condition in which air will rise freely on its own due to positive buoyancy. As an example, imagine a beach ball at the bottom of a swimming pool. Once the beach ball is released, it accelerates upward to the top of the pool. The beach ball rises because it is less dense than the water surrounding it. A similar process occurs when instability is released in the atmosphere. Air in the lower part of the atmosphere is lifted until it becomes less dense than surrounding air. Once it is less dense, it rises on its own. The speed that is rises depends on the density difference between the air rising and the surrounding air. In a thunderstorm, this rising air is called an updraft. It is the updraft of a storm that allows it to grow and sustain itself as it feeds on low-level moisture.

Vertical Wind Shear: First, it is important to note that there are two types of vertical wind shear. The first is called “vertical speed shear” and is a significant increase in wind speed with height. The second is called “vertical direction shear” and is a significant change of wind direction with height. Both of these are important in the development of severe storms for several reasons. A significant increase of wind speed with height will tilt a storm's updraft. This allows the updraft and downdraft to occur in separate regions of the storm allowing the storm to have a longer life span. Strong upper atmospheric winds, associated with the jet stream, allow the updraft of the storm to sustain itself while keeping the storm fed with low-level moisture. Directional shear in the lower part of the atmosphere helps initiate the development of a rotating updraft. This is one of the most important factors in determining whether a storm will be capable of producing a tornado or not.

Lift: While instability release is like a beach ball rising from the bottom of a swimming pool, lift occurs when air is forced to rise. Newton’s first law states that an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. The same is true when referring to lift in the atmosphere. Often times the air near the surface will not rise unless acted upon by an outside force. This outside force is called a lifting mechanism. A lifting mechanism is needed to force air near the surface to initially rise. Without a lifting mechanism, parcels of air will not reach the point in the atmosphere where they can rise on their own due to positive buoyancy. Therefore, despite having sufficient instability in the atmosphere, it will not be released without a lifting mechanism. Some lifting mechanisms include; Frontal Boundaries (like cold fronts or warm fronts), Upper Level Disturbances, Orographic Lifting (upslope flow associated with higher elevations), Low Level Warm Air or Moisture Advection (the transport of warmer temps or higher amounts of moisture by the wind), and Low Pressure Systems.

Moisture: Low-level moisture is the fuel to which a thunderstorm feeds off of. While dew point temperature is a measure of how much moisture is in the air, severe thunderstorms are more likely when the surface dew point is generally 55 F or higher. Low dew point values inhibit sufficient energy release in the atmosphere and significantly reduce the threat of severe storms. The depth of moisture in the lower troposphere and the rate of moisture advection are also important. While a lack of moisture in the lower atmosphere reduces the severe storm threat, a lack of moisture in the middle of the atmosphere can actually increase the threat of severe weather. Dry air in the middle layers of the atmosphere can act as a lid helping to increase amounts of heat and moisture at the lower levels. This low level heat and moisture is often released suddenly with the help of a lifting mechanism creating explosive thunderstorm development. The advection of low-level moisture brought by the wind can aid in a thunderstorm’s growth by increasing the amount of fuel available for the storm to feed off of.

"We like to think it keeps us on target," Turner said.

One benchmark they use is the previous year's crime rate. In the first quarter of 2007, property and violent crime are down a combined seven percent compared to that same time period last year. Metro Louisville has the same number of homicides now as this time last year, but Turner says Louisville has not experienced the national trend of a rise in violent crime.

Turner oversees patrol officers, the police often first on the scene. Each month, LMPD assembles a deployment schedule. "We put our people where the problem is," Turner added, saying the numbers might also trigger a change in tactics.

What Col. Turner stressed the most, however, is the need to localize police strategy as much as possible. Metro-wide statistics are useful, but division numbers are better. One size does not fit all.

"We have to stay focused on neighborhood problems," Turner explained, "we try to break it down into the smallest areas we can."

For instance, of concern in 2007 are residential burglaries in Old Louisville, which Turner says is complicated by a high percentage of rental property, thefts from autos in several subdivisions off Shelbyville Road, and both of those crimes in a relatively small area off Preston Highway in Okolona.

When there is more than one problem, police seek any relationships between them.

LMPD might look to its Third Division to see what's working. Violent and property crime are down an amazing 14 percent compared to last year in that division in Southwest Louisville.

Meanwhile, auto thefts which experienced a 19 percent spike last year, are down metro-wide in the first quarter of 2007.

Please let me know where you want CrimeTracker to investigate! joe.arnold@whas11.com.

Middletown Division Chief Dave Thompson instructed our class how to respond to a car accident. He first showed us the tremendous force behind the deployment of an air bag. Even though we knew it was coming, the explosion startled us, even inducing a yelp out of one of my fellow journalists, who shall remain unnamed.

If any injuries are suspected and if victims need to be helped out of a crashed vehicle, the first thing firefighters do is prop the car up on "chalks," wooden blocks next to each tire that keep the car from moving, and that movement from causing further injury or pain to the occupants of a vehicle.

Thompson says if getting out of a car can cause more pain or injury, the car is removed away from the victim. That's where hydraulic tools come in. You often hear the "Jaws of Life," but that is only one brand nickname. In actuality, these tools can cut, pull apart, crunch and manipulate a car frame so it is out of the way for ambulance crews.

My turn with the "jaws" was nowhere near as easy as I imagined. The tool weighs more than fifty pounds, so lifting it into a vertical position to get a good angle at the top of a car door was difficult and cumbersome. You open or close these giant pliers with a handle skin to a motorcycle accelerator. It takes me a good ten minutes, but I finally succeed with a huge pop and the car door flying off.

A few random notes:

Getting someone out of a piece of machinery (including cars) is called an "extrication." If someone is trapped in a structure, building or trench, getting them out is a "rescue."

Firefighters do not wear "oxygen tanks," they use air canisters with the same proportion of oxygen in normal air, 21 percent.

Each firefighter goes through about 100 hours of training every year. Like the military, the fire profession believes that such training makes decisions automatic and instinctual when under duress, "in the line of fire."

Safety and Accountability are being drummed into our heads in the Jefferson County Media Fire Academy. We five media members must go through 20 hours of training before we are allowed to participate in real fire exercises. Our classes are at the Highview Fire Department on Fegenbush Lane; all of the firefighters here have been immensely helpful and seem genuinely interested in helping us better understand what they do so we can cover their work more accurately.

Assistant Chief Dave Goldsmith is coordinating the Academy. What I really appreciate about this program is that they are not trying to put on a "show" for us with bells and whistles and flames. Instead, we are being treated like firefighters and are expected to learn the essentials of this profession.

Dave quizzes us on some important numbers: what temperature will water turn to steam? (212 degrees), one gallon of water = 1700 cubic feet of steam, what temperature will carbon monoxide ignite? (1128 degrees). Why are these numbers important? It could be the difference between life and death for a firefighter.

Too much steam can bring oppressive heat upon firefighters. And, when carbon monoxide ignites, the smoke is aflame. It's called a flashover and it has killed firefighters in Jefferson County. Before our training is done, we will experience a flashover first hand inside the flashover trainer of the Jefferson County fire service.

Now that we have become accustomed to the warm weather, it looks like we will become reacquainted with the cold. While we were sitting back and enjoying the early summer-like weather, cold air was being bottled up across a large section of Canada. Now that bottle has been opened and cold air will continue to pour into the region for much of the next week to come. In fact, today’s afternoon temperatures should be some 30 to 35 degrees colder than what we saw yesterday. Ouch!

It looks like the coldest of the weather should occur during the early morning hours on Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday. Be prepared for temperatures to dip well into the 20s. Be sure to protect those daffodils.

The first question a TV producer will ask a photographer covering a fire is, "IAre there any flames?" In other words, how big, how newsworthy of a fire is it? The good news for local residents is that most times the firefighters don't give us too much of a chance to shoot video of flames because they are so effective in getting fires under control.

I will be sure to bring you flames when my fire experience airs on WHAS11 News, but I also need to convey a sense of how much classroom time and education goes into training. On Day 1 of our training, about seven of our nine hours was spent on education: fire prevention, safety and accountability, helicopter scene safety, incident management with national guidelines post 9-11, and our PPE's, or personal protective equipment.

Most enlightening is the military approach to firefighting and the need for an Incident Commander with a command staff to coordinate each effort. You might think of firefighters as a bunch of gung-ho guys who can't wait to run into a burning building. But, I am learning that a professional firefighter approaches his job as a science, with deliberate decisions to ensure safety.

Stay tuned.. as I try to get my PPE on (including breathing appartus) in under two minutes!