There has been a lot of bad news this week, starting with Hurricane Ian that severely damaged many areas of Florida. It is going to take years to build back the infrastructure and homes that were in the path of the storm.

I have friends and family that live in Florida and have been keeping track of them through Facebook. Thankfully they survived with some damage and loss of power and water that are slowly coming back online.

The Associated Press reported the death toll caused by Hurricane Ian was at 101 as of Oct. 6, which included 92 in Florida, five in North Carolina, three in Cuba and one in Virginia.

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Some of the photos of the damage makes me wonder how it will ever get cleared up.

My heart goes out to those people in the path of that horrific storm.

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Closer to home, the Nebraska State 4-H camp in Halsey was burned to the ground by a wildfire. The Bovee Fire that started on Oct. 1, burned the camp and 19,000 acres of forest and grassland.

I am sure there are thousands of people in Nebraska who attended that 4-H camp and are mourning its loss, but the people of Nebraska, who are dedicated to the 4-H organization, will find a way to rebuild the camp.

To make matters worse, the Purdum Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Mike Moody, 59, died of a medical emergency while fighting the fire.

You can read more about the Bovee Fire starting on page 34.

As of Oct. 6, the fire was 94 percent contained and hopefully it will be totally contained as I write this editor’s note.

In other bad news, an apparent wolf attack led to the death of 18 head of 600-pound calves on a ranch in Meeker, Colo.

Ironically, while the attack was taking place, the rancher, Lenny Klinglesmith, was in Montana touring ranches that have banded together to learn to coexist with wolves.

For more information on the wolf depredation, read Rachel Gabel’s story starting on page 32.

And finally, This week I included an opinion piece from Texas because it involves an issue that Colorado farmers and ranchers may have to deal with in the future.

The city of Wichita Falls and the people in Clay County are at odds over a planned reservoir that would cover more than 16,000 acres of agricultural land and wildlife habitat. The city claims it needs the water in the reservoir for its growing population.

The residents in the county and ag groups are fighting this plan and hopefully they will prevail.

I can’t say that I hate to be the bearer of bad news because I’m a journalist and some might say that’s what we do and we’re good at that. So I’m just going to say that I find no joy in being the bearer of bad news.

Let’s hope that next week has some better news.