Palmer mayor returns home from hospital

June 16, 2006

By DAWN DE BUSK

Frontiersman

PALMER - Ten days after being hospitalized, Palmer Mayor John Combs is recovering at home.

Palmer City Clerk Janette Bower said Combs returned home Thursday and will be on intravenous antibiotics for a month. Even after that, she said, it could take weeks more for him to recover.

Bower didn't know how soon Combs would be able to join council meetings again - through teleconference technology.

&#8220We're waiting to see how he's doing. I don't know what's going to happen next,” she said.

So far, different council members have been filling in, volunteering to attend events to which Combs had committed, Bower said.

With a life-threatening lung infection, Combs was transported by ambulance on the night of June 5 from Mat-Su Regional Medical Center to Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage. Doctors scraped the lining of his lungs and placed Combs in isolated care, where he stayed for several days before he was moved to surgical isolation.

Combs, who turned 55 in January, was elected to the Palmer City Council in October 2000. Palmer residents elected him as mayor in 2004, during which time he was employed as a juvenile justice officer, or counselor, at Mat-Su Youth Facility.

During his three years with Mat-Su Youth Facility, Combs' energy and humor were appreciated, according to superintendent Bruce Collins. Some of the staff members there have kept updated on Combs' condition through phone calls to his wife, Linda. Collins said he e-mailed Combs on Thursday.

&#8220We've definitely sent our positive thoughts to him,” Collins said.

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252, or dawn.debusk@frontiersman.com.