Mayor's son injured in Montana car accident, family at his side in Great Falls

  GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- Nathan Louws, son of Mayor Jack and Cindy Louws of Lynden, sustained serious brain injury in a vehicle accident in western Montana early Saturday morning, and his parents are with him in a Great Falls, Mont., hospital.
  The latest "great news" on Nathan's condition, posted Tuesday morning on the www.caringbridge.org Web site journal, was that he had opened his eyes twice when taken off paralytic medicine and that "he thrashed around and ... tried to get out of bed."
  A new drain tube to reduce swelling pressure on the brain was also working well, the family reported. Nathan had been in a medically induced coma.
  On the internet CaringBridge site, readers may stay informed of an injured person and exchange comments with family members.
  Nathan, a 2004 graduate of Lynden High School, was a student at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont. He was traveling toward Spokane when the accident occurred.
  The Louws family may need to be in Montana for a number of weeks, the site has reported.
  "Nate’s road to recovery will not be a short one and we have truly been blessed by the wonderful people of Great Falls. A couple here, Darwin and Pat, have offered us their home until the end of November," the Tuesday posting said.
  City Councilor Gary Bode is mayor pro-tem. He said Tuesday that a good process is in place for doing the duties if the regular mayor is not available.
  "When he's on vacation, I do the same thing. Whatever's necessary to be done to conduct the city's business, we stand ready to do that," Bode said.
-- Calvin Bratt