Accidents causing much sorrow locally

Odessa has had more than its share of tragedy in recent months. Traffic accidents of various kinds have affected several local families. The two most recent incidents were not fatalities, but they will certainly have enormous repercussions.

The Grant County Sheriff reported that the car Larry Zagelow was driving drifted too far to the right, then rolled, perhaps several times. Larry’s son Jeff Zagelow spoke to The Record Tuesday and said that his father is making a slow recovery, but a recovery nonetheless. He has been moved out of the intensive care unit at Sacred Heart in Spokane and is now in a regular hospital room. He faces a long road ahead of healing and rehabilitation.

Just this past weekend, another accident struck a local cattle rancher Mike Connolly. He and several friends were riding motorcycles on country roads after having made a trip to Spokane. They were somewhere near Edwall, with Connolly bringing up the rear, when Connolly failed to negotiate a moderate curve and went off the road, through a barbed-wire fence and into a field, never once letting go of his motorcycle, said eyewitness Frank White, one of his traveling companions. Connolly is also at Sacred Heart, currently in intensive care. His daughter Jill Connolly is providing updates on his condition on her Facebook page.