HOBART | Joe Negron and his 7-year-old son, Nicholas, wore matching smiles Tuesday as the two were reunited after nearly eight months."It's great to be back," beamed Joe Negron, a Navy serviceman who completed his fourth tour of duty in the Persian Gulf on Friday.Joe Negron's visit to John Wood Elementary School at the end of the day was done to surprise Nicholas, a second-grader, who hadn't seen his father since June."It's super Tuesday for the Negron boys," quipped Cheryl Negron, Nicholas' mother.Joe Negron couldn't fly into Chicago Midway Airport on Monday night as planned because of the fog, said Maryann Reynolds, Cheryl Negron's mother.But Joe Negron arrived in the area Tuesday morning and wanted to surprise his oldest son, who had been bummed out by the delay, she said.The surprise was a hit with Nicholas, who couldn't stop looking at his father and giving him an occasional hug."It's awesome," Nicholas said of his father's return.Cheryl Negron and her sons, Nicholas and Michael, 4, have been staying with her parents, Maryann and Gordon Reynolds, who live in rural Crown Point.The Reynolds family moved there from Lansing, where Cheryl Negron attended high school."This is a wonderful thing," Maryann Reynolds said while videotaping the father-and-son reunion.In coming days, the Negron family plans to get reacquainted by dining out at Joe's favorite pizza place, the Home Run Inn in Chicago, and hanging out at home playing video games.Cheryl Negron said family members have a lot of catching up to do since they didn't spend Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's together."This is very surreal.

Thinking of spring training, Francoeur’s future

With so much attention understandably directed toward the return of Glavine, the situation with Teixeira, the huge question mark in center field, and other matters with the Braves, it's possible that much of their success could also ride on the continued development of their right fielder, who's now the veteran of the Braves outfield, a Gold Glove winner, the team's union player rep, and a team spokesman on many matters. That leadership is emerging, more and more. He's made for that role.

Oh, and it'll obviously be interesting to see if and when he and the Braves come to a multi-year contract agreement that could both cement his status as a face of the franchise and possibly lift at least a little of the pressure off his sizeable shoulders.

Cops, fire are the 'right priorities'

When the household income shrinks, you eat more meat loaf and less steak.It's also disingenuous to neglect to mention Hammond, while losing property tax money, will be getting a big chunk of that back in the form of the increase in sales tax.Hammond doesn't need to cut cops and firefighters. It needs the right priorities.Now where have I heard that before?The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at markk@nwitimes.com or (219) 933-4170.