What a Monday!

Hot Springs County residents experienced a trifecta of events on Monday that have left many stunned and in shock.

A severe thunderstorm brought strong winds blasting through town that caused a major amount of damage to various vehicle and buildings.

As the wind was subsiding, a lightning strike heard around the community started a wildfire southeast of Thermopolis called the West Warm Springs Fire.

By far the most tragic of the events was an officer/deputy involved shooting that resulted on the death of a local man. Officials are releasing limited details but a variety of information is making the rounds online and in our neighborhoods.

We ask all our community members to avoid participating in the Grapevine. Grapevine is a game in which each successive participant secretly whispers to the next a phrase whispered to them by the preceding participant. Cumulative errors from mishearing often result in the phrase heard by the last player differing greatly from the one uttered by the first.

Those involved in and affected by a tragedy deserve better.