Nation in brief: Dodd’s surgery called a success

Washington – Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd underwent surgery for prostate cancer on Tuesday and was recuperating at a New York hospital.

Dr. Peter Scardino of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center said the surgery was successful and Dodd was resting comfortably.

“It is anticipated that he will be able to return to full activity within a few weeks,” Scardino said in a statement released by Dodd’s office.

Dodd, 65, is expected to remain at the hospital for a few days before returning home to Connecticut.

The five-term Democrat announced last month that he had been diagnosed with an early, treatable stage of cancer. He expects to return to a full Senate schedule later this month after a few weeks of rest.

Visiting swimmer bitten by otters

Drummond, Wis. – An Austrian woman on vacation in Wisconsin is getting rabies shots after she said she was bitten by otters while swimming in a lake.

Fifty-one-year-old Brigitte France told the Duluth News Tribune that she was swimming on Lake Owen near Drummond last Wednesday when three otters suddenly appeared. Feeling concerned, she swam to shore.

Just as she got there, she said, “there they were – one on the right leg and one on the left leg.”

She said they swam off when she shook her legs, but not before biting her eight or nine times.

Although France says the bites didn’t hurt much, she did go to a hospital, where doctors started a series of rabies shots.