I would be horribly remiss if I didn't back up Cowbud and make mention of this over here in the ….moment of silence …. thread.

Yesterday a horrible tragedy befell the beleagured Aplington/Parkersburg Iowa community when a troubled young adult (allegedly Mark Becker)went on a rampage that culminated w/the murder of the local high school football coach (Ed Thomas). Now to many, that would seem like yet another sad marker in a long and seemingly never ending litany of increasingly violent reminders of how insane our world has become. What makes THIS INCIDENT much more tragic is the story of what this town has been through lately and what this football coach meant not only to the high school/team, but to this struggling community itself. I implore you to google the news story for the complete details (if you haven't already done so or heard) as I don't want to butcher the story or fail to do it the justice it rightly deserves. But I will repeat what i've said elsewhere on this site. My thoughts and prayers go out to EVERYONE involved in this story and may they use this horrible tragedy to somehow be yet another beacon of solidarity to make this community even stronger and closer knit to prevail over this latest setback…together.

Horrible. I live in a community that was devastated by natural disaster about a year and a half ago and then again in January. It is unimaginable what a community goes through unless you are part of it. To have this occur on top of that would be even more devastating.