Nation in brief: ‘Citizen Kane’ Oscar to be auctioned

Orson Welles’ 1941 Oscar for “Citizen Kane,” considered one of the greatest movies of all time, will go on the auction block in December.

Sotheby’s auction house estimated Tuesday that the Academy Award for Best Screenplay will sell for between $800,000 and $1.2 million.

The golden statuette, believed to have been once lost by Welles himself, resurfaced in 1994, and after an extended legal battle was returned to his estate. In 2003, it was acquired by the Dax Foundation, a Los Angeles-based charity. The proceeds will help fund the organization’s worldwide efforts.

Columbia, S.C.

Bob Jones III endorses Romney

Bob Jones III, chancellor of the Christian fundamentalist school named for his family, is endorsing Republican Mitt Romney for president.

Romney’s campaign confirmed Jones’ endorsement Tuesday.

Jones didn’t immediately respond to a message left Tuesday evening by the Associated Press. But he told a Greenville newspaper that supporting Romney is critical to make sure former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani doesn’t win the GOP nomination and that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton doesn’t win the election.

“If it turns out to be Giuliani and Hillary we’ve got two pro-choice candidates, and that would be a disaster,” Jones told the Greenville News.

Mobile, Ala.

Woman shoots man in her laundry room

An 81-year-old woman shot a homeless man after finding him washing his clothes in her laundry room, police said, but the man said from his hospital room Tuesday that he’s known the woman for years.

Ethel Sanders told police she heard noises in her laundry room Monday morning, so she grabbed her handgun and found James Penn, 25, standing in his underwear near the washing machine, Mobile police Officer Eric Gallichant said.

Sanders, who normally uses a walker, shot Penn when he came at her, Gallichant said. She was knocked to the ground by the force of the shot and Penn grabbed the gun from her, the officer said.

Penn pointed the gun at Sanders, took his clothes from the washing machine and fled, Gallichant said.

Officers quickly found the nearly naked suspect at a nearby community center. A bullet had gone through his leg into his stomach, but he was expected to survive.