the
Sun
Sopris Carbondale’s
weekly, non-profit newspaper
Volume 2, Number 35 | October 21, 2010
Marge Palmer’s tree arrives
Marge Palmer’s gigantic silver maple (shown here) made Colorado’s registry of big trees 10 years ago but next year is the year she’s been looking forward to. That’s because Palmer’s tree is included in the 2011 calendar of Notable Trees of Colorado. For more, please turn to page 13. Photo by Lynn Burton
Police officer plans to rejoin department after losing leg By Lynn Burton The Sopris Sun Drake Rooks was two months into his tenure with the Carbondale Police Department, and eight days away from being covered by the town’s insurance policy, when his life turned upside down. On Aug. 23, Rooks was involved in a motorcycle accident in Fruita that resulted in the amputation of his left leg below the knee. Rooks, 34, wants to return to the department as soon as he finishes rehabilitation and is fitted with a prosthetic device. To help make that happen, and to help pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, the Carbondale Police Depart-
ment is holding a community fund-raiser on Oct. 30 that includes a “bike cruz” through town from 11 a.m. to noon, and spaghetti lunch, auction and entertainment at the firehouse from noon to 2 p.m. The entry fee for the bike ride is $20; the entry form/waiver and release is available at town hall. The cost for just the lunch is $10 (kids are free). Rooks, a Pinedale, Wyoming native who played football at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, said he was riding his Honda road bike that day when a car headed in the opposite direction swerved into his lane. Rooks couldn’t avoid the car and hit the vehicle’s bumper.
An ambulance transported Rooks to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, then he was airlifted to a trauma center in Denver. “The guy who hit me had the bare minimum insurance,” Rooks told the Sopris Sun this week. “It covered the ambulance to St. Mary’s and the plane ride to Denver.” After five surgeries, doctors told Rooks they could save his leg but he’d have trouble with it for the rest of his life. The doctors thought it would be best to amputate the leg.“I thought that was the best route as well.” Rooks’s wife, Mandy, helped him make the decision. With five surgeries and two weeks in the ROOKS page 5
Drake Rooks
The Birdbrain returns
Curry files a lawsuit
Volleyballers clinch title
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