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Politics 12 2 24

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Today In Politics: Monday, December 2, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Today In Politics: Monday, December 2, 2024

 "I’m getting one of these shirts to wear next time I’m in Seattle..."

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Public Safety

Wildfires are burning homes and habitat across the western U.S., filling the skies with smoke, but even these fearsome flames can have incredible moments of beauty.

 witnessed along the banks of the Snake River in eastern Idaho on Sunday. As the fire raged near Heise, the conflicting wind currents came together into a twirling spire of destruction.

“It came and went for a couple of minutes, at least,” Duke told Cowboy State Daily. “It would spin up and die down, and then do it again.”

The Big Rock Fire started on the north bank of the Snake River, 30 miles west of the Wyoming state line, on July 31. As of Monday afternoon, the lightning-strike fire had burned nearly 2,500 acres and was 0% contained.

Duke lives around three miles from where the first flames were spotted. Since it was burning away from him, he decided to step outside to get some photos.

“I was working in the yard and could see the fire off in the distance,” he said. “I've got a pretty big wildlife lens on my camera, so I figured I’d try to go get a few action shots of helicopters dumping water buckets.”

From across the river, Duke could see the fire spreading and brush spontaneously bursting into flames from the surrounding heat.

As he watched and documented, the flames suddenly started swirling together. As multiple spokes of flame came together, they were thrust into the air.

“I was about a mile away from the spin,” he said. “It's hard to say how high it went, but I would guess a couple hundred feet.”

The spiral would slow down and collapse, only to surge upward again with renewed intensity.

“It was changing pretty quickly,” he said. “The sun was going down, temperatures and humidity were changing, and it was going uphill. That all affected how fast it was moving.”

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/jduke8/reel/DbhEfHYPnfu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="display:block;text-decoration:none;color:inherit;width:100%;max-width:460px;background:#ffffff;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid #dedede;box-shadow:0 1px 4px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);font-family:-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><div style="width:100%;aspect-ratio:16 / 9;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.05);overflow:hidden"><img src="https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.71878-15/762864159_3272173343170551_6548764045925133745_n.jpg?stp=cmp1_dst-jpg_e35_s640x640_tt6&amp;_nc_cat=106&amp;ccb=7-5&amp;_nc_sid=18de74&amp;efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0xJUFMuYmVzdF9pbWFnZV91cmxnZW4uQzIifQ%3D%3D&amp;_nc_ohc=5FNZo_pwvpgQ7kNvwGyBTVr&amp;_nc_oc=AdrgLBzSnjRELwx22kMgw4xQRLa1LpxeGfuMrBezQ4JMxYHI87v-Uxz9YXvxhEixvZQ&amp;_nc_zt=23&amp;_nc_ht=scontent.cdninstagram.com&amp;_nc_gid=2dkfk_SIZ8mIYJeyZIR6hw&amp;_nc_ss=70689&amp;oh=00_AQHdquCkKLmclx4ZhDHryBm-Osp5zT7jgaVqDE331avfDQ&amp;oe=6A76BBFA" alt="" onerror="this.onerror=null;this.src='https://static.cdninstagram.com/rsrc.php/yr/r/rzWiSjZRxk5.webp';this.style.objectFit='contain';this.style.padding='15%'" style="width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;display:block" /></div><div style="padding:14px 16px;display:flex;flex-direction:column;gap:6px"><div style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:8px;flex-wrap:wrap;min-height:15px"><img src="https://static.cdninstagram.com/rsrc.php/yr/r/rzWiSjZRxk5.webp" alt="" style="width:15px;height:15px;border-radius:4px;flex-shrink:0" /><span style="font-size:11px;font-weight:400;color:#999999;letter-spacing:0.5px;text-transform:uppercase">Instagram</span></div><div style="font-size:16px;font-weight:400;color:#000000;line-height:1.4;margin:0">Justin Duke (@jduke8) • Instagram reel</div><div style="font-size:13px;color:#000000;line-height:1.4;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-line-clamp:3;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;overflow:hidden;margin:0">108 likes, 4 comments - jduke8 on August 1, 2026: “The Big Rock fire spun up this little guy. Check out the trees for scale. #fire #seidaho #fireseason #wildfire”.</div></div></a>

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Fire Devils"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"These swirling spirals of fire are seen during many wildfires."}]

Many people call them “fire tornadoes.” Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day would prefer they didn’t.

“It’s not a tornado moving into a wildfire,” Day said. “It’s not a fire strong enough to create a tornado, in terms of what a tornado actually is. Putting ‘-nado’ at the end of things isn’t the correct thing to do.”

Nevertheless, these “fire devils,” as Day prefers to call them, can be extremely dangerous. They result from a wildfire strong enough to essentially create its own weather as it burns and intensifies.

“The heat from the fire generates a lot of rising motion, because hot air has to lift,” Day said. “There’s a natural spin motion in the atmosphere that these tap into. When you combine that vertical motion of the heat and flame with the natural horizontal motion of the wind, you get a ‘fire devil.’”

That’s a distinctly different phenomenon from a tornado, even if they have some superficial similarities.

According to Day, fire devils are a signal that a wildfire is getting worse. As they form, they feed the flames burning at their base.

“These vertical motions draw air up, and when you draw air up, you're pulling oxygen into the fire, which makes it worse,” Day said. “If fire devils pop up, it’s a very dangerous situation for firefighters, and there's nothing you're going to be able to do to mitigate them.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Exorcising Devils"}]

 in southern Utah in July 2025. Jerod DeLay, assistant state forester and fire management officer with the Wyoming State Forestry Division, said he’d “never seen one as large as that.”

When firefighters respond to a wildfire, they don’t try to engage with the flames directly. They attempt to anticipate the fire’s next move and establish fire lines that will, hopefully, cut it off or redirect it into another line.

According to DeLay, fire devils tend to break through fire lines, making them even more dangerous and unpredictable.

“You have to make sure to see if your lines held,” he said in July 2025. “If your lines didn't hold, you make another plan to see where you can go. If they hold, you continue to strengthen and improve the lines that you already have.”

The one thing firefighters won’t do is attack the fire devil. It’s not worth the risk.

“You make sure you’re in a good, safe place and let it run its course,” DeLay said. “It adds another element that you probably weren't expecting.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Fire Season In Full Swing"}]

As of Monday, four confirmed wildfires were burning in northeastern Wyoming. Two, the Left Creek and Newton fires, sparked within 

Day, without wanting to jinx anything, said Wyoming was “lucky” to get through a dry July with only a few wildfires.

“I think that the higher humidity and thunderstorm activity we did see really kept the activity down in July,” he said. “We had a lot of thunderstorms that kept the mountains in northwest and western Wyoming very active. Where it fell, that July rain really helped.”

That said, Wyoming’s fire season extends from July through October. If the first days of August are any indication, many potentially dangerous months are ahead.

Duke wasn’t anticipating an evacuation from his Heise home. The fire’s still 0% contained, but responding agencies seem confident they’ll be able to protect people and structures.

“It’s just burning through trees and stuff on public land,” he said. “I don’t think the situation’s improved much, but I know they've got the structures protected, and that's the main concern.”

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And where there’s fire, there’s a chance that a fire devil will spiral up and out of control.

Not every wildfire creates fire devils, but they’re real and potent threats that shouldn’t be underestimated.

“It was remarkable that we got through the month of July with very little activity in terms of wildfires in Wyoming,” Day said. “We dodged the bullet there, but I don't want to shout from the mountaintop that fire season's over. We’re not done, by a long shot.”

Fire tornado 1

<title>100-Foot ‘Fire Devil’ Spirals Out Of Control In Eastern Idaho Wildfire | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A wildfire watcher observing the Big Draw Fire in eastern Idaho on Sunday captured video of a spiraling tower of flame rising more than 100 feet into the air. "Fire devils" are created when flames reach high enough that they swirl.

100-Foot ‘Fire Devil’ Spirals Out Of Control In Eastern Idaho Wildfire

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

A super-sized male grizzly called Bruno for years has been one of Grand Teton National Park’s most famous bears, but age is catching up with him.

Big, dominant male grizzlies might hit their peak sometime in their early to mid-teens, bear biologist Cecily Costello told Cowboy State Daily.

Bruno, dubbed Grizzly 679 by researchers, is thought to be around 22. Grizzlies rarely live past 30 in the wild.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Observers say Bruno is over the hill."}]

Wildlife photographer Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven has watched Bruno for years and said another bear fan recently told him the beloved behemoth bear isn’t looking so great this summer.

“I just spoke with someone who saw Bruno in the last few days. Per his report, Bruno looks a bit thin and is starting to look old,” Vangoidtsenhoven texted to Cowboy State Daily.

One of Bruno’s biggest claims to fame was being a regular mate of Wyoming’s most renowned bear, Grizzly 399. She was struck and killed by a vehicle in October 2024.

In 2025, Bruno appeared with a nasty, oozing gash on his face. Bear managers usually let nature take its course with bear wounds.

But when Bruno was captured last fall for research by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST), he was treated for facial injuries out of an abundance of caution.

He emerged this spring showing no visible signs of that wound.

An IGBST biologist surmised he suffered the wound in a fight with another bear, perhaps a male, but wouldn’t speculate as to which bear it might have been.

Grizzly watchers and photographers said he might have also been clawed by another famous bear, Grizzly 610, while trying to mate with her.

Wildlife photographer Dominic Westkamp told Cowboy State Daily many think Bruno was slashed by another well-known female, Grizzly 1063.

Regardless of the origin of the healed wound, Bruno has other battle scars and is still a sight to behold, even in his senior years, Westkamp said.

“He’s got that rugged look. He’s been through many battles,” said Westkamp, who took video and photos of Bruno last week.

Bruno was busy in a roadside field, digging up roots, and wasn’t paying any mind to spectators, he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Bruno was looking thin, Westkamp added."}]

However, Westkamp noted it’s still a little early for bears to go into hyperphagia, essentially a pig-out period during which they gorge on as many calories as they can to fatten up before winter hibernation.

“I expect Bruno to be 80 to 100 pounds heavier the next time I see him, during hyperphagia,” Westkamp said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Past His Prime"}]

A male grizzly in his 20s is past his prime, said Costello, the statewide grizzly research biologist with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

“When they get to their late teens, that is when I expect them to be going into decline,” she said.

“He (Bruno) is definitely on the downhill side,” she added.

There’s no “direct data” she’s aware of on the prime age of grizzlies. However, research on black bears suggests the peak years are about 12 to 15, Costello said.

Moreover, Bruno is entering his twilight years during a time when competition among males for mates is getting tougher, she said.

Grizzlies by the thousands once roamed a huge swath of territory west of the Mississippi. However, by the early 1970s, they’d been pushed back to a tiny remnant population in or near Yellowstone National Park.

They were placed under federal Endangered Species Act protection in 1975 and have since expanded in range and numbers.

The early years of recovery would have been great for a big male grizzly, Costello said.

“When there’s only a few dominant males, they really dominate,” she said.

“In the early years of grizzly recovery, you would have seen one male doing all of the reproduction in an area. Now, it’s harder to compete for mates,” she said.

Bruno old 8 4 26

<title>End Of An Era: Grand Teton's Favorite Mighty Grizzly, Bruno, Is Getting Old | Cowboy State Daily</title>

For years, a huge male grizzly called Bruno was one of the brawniest bears in Grand Teton National Park. But at roughly age 22, Bruno is past his prime and those who routinely watch him are saying he's gotten thinner and "is on the downhill side."

End Of An Era: Grand Teton's Favorite Mighty Grizzly, Bruno, Is Getting Old

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

 an 87-pound elderly man with cerebral palsy in her care who’s mostly deaf, mostly blind and wears adult diapers that allegedly hadn’t been changed in 10-14 days has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The deal would knock down a felony charge of intentional neglect of a vulnerable adult to a misdemeanor neglect charge.

Under the deal, Colleen Blakesley, 67, will plead guilty or no contest to the lesser charge and, if the judge follows the sentencing recommendation outlined in the agreement, avoid jail time and have a year of unsupervised probation.

A no-contest plea isn’t an admission of guilt, but acknowledges there’s enough evidence to secure a conviction.

Had she been convicted of the felony, Blakesley faced up to 10 years in prison.

She had a hearing on the plea Friday, but paperwork on whether the deal was accepted, and if so, if sentencing had been set, hadn’t been filed by Monday, according to the Hot Springs County District Court.

A call to the county attorney to clarify wasn’t immediately returned. This story will be updated when the results of Friday's hearing are available.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Started With A DFS Report"}]

The man’s condition came to the attention of the Thermopolis Police Department on Feb. 24 when a doctor doing a home visit for the man reported his condition to the Department of Family Services, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Sgt. Nicole Andersen filed in the case.

Andersen and a DFS agent “received a complaint regarding an elderly male being neglected,” the affidavit says. “The complaint included that the male, who wears diapers, had not been changed for 10-14 days. This complaint came from a trained professional.”

They arrived to be hit with “a pungent, strong, foul smell in the home, although the living room area seemed relatively clean,” the affidavit says. “At this time, the victim … was in clean clothes.”

The elderly man isn’t vocal, and a family member told Andersen that he’s deaf, nearly blind and that they communicate with him by tracing letters in his hand, she wrote.

“I observed Robert was very skinny and not mobile,” she added, later documenting that at the hospital, the man “weighed approximately 87 pounds at the time of admission.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Man Was Combative"}]

Blakesley is the legal caregiver for the man, Andersen wrote, adding that Blakesley said he was last changed three days before.

“Upon speaking with Colleen, she advised she had last changed his diaper on Sunday afternoon, but also stated that he had been in the clothing he was observed in by the complainant for approximately two weeks due to him being combative and her not being able to change him,” according to the affidavit.

Blakesley also told police she was aware that the man had multiple sores on his body and had not seen a doctor since August 2024.

While Andersen observed the man in clean clothes, that wasn’t the case when the visiting doctor was at the home earlier that day, the affidavit says. The doctor also provided a photo of the man’s condition.

“In this photo, I observed (the man’s) pants to be extremely soiled and having the appearance of being wet, along with stains on his shirt — to include what appears to be staining near the bottom of the shirt of urine, feces, or both,” the affidavit says.

As the man was transported to a local hospital by ambulance, “I was advised that his condition was highly concerning to both EMS staff and the doctor,” Sergeant Andersen wrote. “I took photos of his wounds while in the hospital, while wearing protective gear as there was a concern of scabies.”

Thermopolis sign and police vehicle 8 3 26

<title>Deal Calls For No Jail For Thermopolis Caregiver Accused Of Neglecting Elderly Man | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Thermopolis woman accused of neglecting an 87-pound elderly man who’s mostly deaf and blind, and wears diapers that allegedly hadn’t been changed in 10-14 days has reached a plea agreement. The deal calls for no jail time and a year of probation.

Deal Calls For No Jail For Thermopolis Caregiver Accused Of Neglecting Elderly Man

Outdoors

Public Lands

UPDATE 2 p.m.: This story has been updated to reflect the Left Creek Fire has been upgraded to 100% contained.

After getting bookended by a pair of wildfires that prompted the closure of Devils Tower over the weekend, the national monument reopened again to the public Monday — albeit on a limited basis.

While Devils Tower is open, the hiking trails around the tower and throughout the monument remain closed as crews continue to battle a pair of nearby fires, one just southwest of the monument’s boundary and another southeast.

“We were able to open it up this morning, but as of today, the hiking trails in the backcountry are closed,” said Dustin Sene, Powder River Group superintendent for the National Park Service.

“We’re hoping to get those back up as soon as possible,” he added. “I’m glad we were able to get it open today.”

While the trails remain off limits because of the fires burning nearby, Sene said that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do at Devils Tower other than stand there and look at it.

“You can still come in, drive the roads, and the visitors center and bookstore are open,” he said.

Asked if climbing the tower is still off-limits, he answered, “Oh yes, that’s affirm.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Another Fire"}]

Wyoming State Forestry, NPS and firefighting officials had contemplated discussing reopening Devils Tower on Sunday afternoon after the 282-acre 

 on the southwest border of the monument was started Friday.

That didn’t happen, however, with the discovery Sunday afternoon of the now-300-acre 

 just southeast of Devils Tower and just east of Wyoming Highway 24.

With progress on the Left Creek Fire, fire managers were able to divert resources to the Newton Fire quickly, which has kept it relatively in check for the past 12 hour or so, Sene said.

“Boy, they did get there quick, and so did the air resources,” he told Cowboy State Daily on Monday. “It’s nice we had these resources here at the park already.

“If there was a time to have a second fire, this was it. I’m just really impressed with the local fire folks here.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Really Scary’"}]

The National Interagency Fire Center reports that the Left Creek Fire hasn’t grown since Saturday, and by Monday afternoon is 100% contained. That doesn't mean the fire's not still burning, but that crews are confident thier fire lines will hold.

The Newton Fire isn’t reporting any containment; however, it also hasn’t shown much growth overnight and a previous order putting area residents at “set” status to evacuate has been lifted.

Highway 24 also had been closed for a time Sunday south of Devils Tower, but has since reopened.

While both fires seem to be going well for the wildland firefighting crews working them, it was “really scary” when the Left Creek Fire was discovered, said state Sen. Ogden Driskill.

The fire, believed to have been started by lightning, is on the fence line of his property — and it’s land the ranch depends on.

“It was really scary, because that’s some of the grass we depend on in the fall and winter,” he told Cowboy State Daily on Sunday morning while meeting with state and National Park Service officials.

“In my opinion, it without a doubt could’ve been a 5,000-acre-plus fire — or more,” Driskill said, adding that quick and precise work from the more than 100 firefighters on the scene have kept the wildfire in check.

“We literally watched helicopters put out crown fires all day long,” he said. “They kept it in the original line all day long (Saturday), and the ground crews kept it from spreading on the ground.”

That work has kept the fire at an estimated 282 acres, said Dick Terry, district forester for Wyoming State Forestry.

While he wouldn’t say the fire is contained, he said he’s confident it’s basically under control.

“We’ve got fire line around most of it, but it’s indirect,” he said. “It’s still small and not contained just because we’ve got the east side with a shaky line until we get a little bit of a handle on that.”

The fire has so far also stayed outside the boundary of the national monument, Terry said.

“I would assume it’s lightning,” he added about the suspected cause of the fire. “But, I haven’t seen the start of it yet. But it’s 99% sure it’s lightning.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Newton Fire, And Another One"}]

The Newton Fire was discovered at about 1:15 p.m. Sunday, and had grown to an estimated 200 acres in a couple of hours, the National Interagency Fire Center and Crook County Emergency Management report.

Asked later Sunday for an update on the wildfire situation around Devils Tower — which has closed the monument for much of Saturday and all of Sunday — county Emergency Management Coordinator Ed Robinson was blunt.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It sucks,” he said."}]

“We get one fire almost contained, and then we’re fighting another one now, too,” he told Cowboy State Daily from the scene of the Newton Fire on Sunday.

The Left Creek and Newton fires aren’t the only serious wildfire being fought in northern Wyoming.

Two counties to the east, a Wyoming Type 3 incident management team was called in to help fight a fire in the Clearmont area of Sheridan County, which has ballooned to more than 7,200 acres since it was started by lightning on Friday, according to the Type 3 team.

“A lightning storm moved across the region starting multiple fires north of Clearmont, Wyoming, in Sheridan County,” according to a report from the Type 3 team and its commander, Jon Warder.

“Weather and fuel conditions led to the fire quickly growing in size,” the report says. “While structures were threatened, none have been lost so far.”

The NIFC reports the Lumin Fire is about 50% contained, and that terrain and fuels are making the wildfire difficult to fight.

While he was at the Devils Tower site Sunday, Terry said he also had been checking in on the Lumin Fire.

Crews there have made considerable progress on getting more control and protecting buildings in the area, he said.

“It kind of sounded like they got some burnouts completed and, hopefully, they’ll be winding down on that,” he said.

Devils Tower Fire Jennifer Pierson via Crook County Fire 8 3 26

<title>‘Really Scary’: Devils Tower Reopens As Two Wildfires Burn Nearby | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After getting bookended by a pair of wildfires that prompted the closure of Devils Tower over the weekend, it reopened again Monday as the fires continue to burn. “It was really scary,” said Ogden Driskill, whose ranch is impacted.

‘Really Scary’: Devils Tower Reopens As Two Wildfires Burn Nearby

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Inside Rawlins Family Church on Sunday afternoon, worshippers paused when the sound of blaring sirens rushed toward East State Street. 

[{"type":"text","text":"No one inside knew exactly what had happened."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"But Michelle Greer said she knew it was serious."}]

"We started hearing police cars," Greer told Cowboy State Daily. "Then I stepped outside."

Emergency vehicles from surrounded the intersection where a small bicycle lay twisted on the pavement. Nearby, a black tarp answered everyone's immediate question. 

"I was devastated," Greer said. "I work at the school, and I knew it was one of our kids. My heart was just so broken all day yesterday. I just couldn't even really function." 

The Rawlins Police Department confirmed an 8-year-old boy died Sunday after a collision involving a bicycle and a vehicle around 12:21 p.m. near East State Street and Jefferson Avenue. 

Officers from the Rawlins Fire Department, Carbon County Sheriff's Office, Carbon County EMS and the Wyoming Highway Patrol also responded.

A preliminary Wyoming Highway Patrol report says the boy was riding north on Jefferson Street when he possibly failed to stop at a posted stop sign before entering the intersection with East State Street. A Ram 2500 traveling east on State Street struck the child.

Investigators reported the roads were dry, the weather was clear, and the pickup driver was not injured. 

The crash remains under investigation and authorities have not released additional details.

For Greer, the facts mattered less in the immediate aftermath than the overwhelming sense of loss.

[{"type":"text","text":"As emergency crews worked, people gathered quietly nearby."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"They were coming down. They were standing on the street,\" she said. "}]

Roads around the scene were blocked for hours while investigators documented what happened. 

[{"type":"text","text":"'Happy-Go-Lucky' "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The crash happened in an area where children are a common sight."}]

"State Street is pretty busy," Greer said. "Jefferson is not, but there's a park right behind our church, so there's always kids at the park." 

Only a week earlier, Greer had watched neighborhood children laughing together during a family event at that same spot.

[{"type":"text","text":"The child who died was among them. "}]

"He was there all day playing with all the kids," she recalled. "He was just happy-go-lucky, and he just had a great time the whole day." 

[{"type":"text","text":"That memory has replayed in her mind ever since."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"'We're Praying For Them'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Greer is also a mother."}]

Her daughter recently turned 18, and her son is 30. She said thinking about the victim's parents has been almost unbearable.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Oh my gosh,\" she said. \"I can't even imagine that phone call.\" "}]

She said members of Rawlins Family Church are praying for the family and want them to know they are ready to help however they can.

"Our hearts go out to them," she said. "We're praying for them, and our church is there if they need any help or counseling." 

As police continue investigating what led to Sunday's tragedy, Greer hopes at least one lesson reaches other families.

Watching children ride bicycles and scooters through town has always made her nervous.

[{"type":"text","text":"Now, she says, it carries a different weight."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It can be gone so fast,\" she said. "}]

A Rawlins churchgoer says her "heart was just so broken" after worshippers stepped outside of Sunday service to find remnants of a bicycle crash that killed an 8-year-old boy. "I work at the school, and I knew it was one of our kids," she said.

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