Recuperating governor returning to work

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons intends to preside over two meetings by telephone Tuesday as he returns to his official duties for the first time since his Sept. 21 horse-riding accident.

Gibbons, 65, will chair the state Transportation Board and the Board of Examiners meetings from his hospital bed at the rehabilitation center at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.

A staff member will be by the governor's bedside and another at the meetings to assist him, said Daniel Burns, his spokesman.

Burns said Gibbons continues to improve, but his doctor has not yet given a date when he can be released and move back into the Governor's Mansion in Carson City.

The governor's pelvis was broken in several places when he was thrown from a horse at a ranch north of Reno.

Burns said Gibbons was able to move around in a wheelchair on Wednesday.

Gibbons lost the Republican primary in June to Brian Sandoval. Since his term expires at the end of the year, it is doubtful he can return to work in the Capitol.

"Every day he looks and sounds better," said Burns, acknowledging that the governor still suffers pain from his injury.