American Scene

CALIFORNIA

Schwab resting after surgery

SAN FRANCISCO — Charles Schwab, the founder and chairman of discount brokerage Charles Schwab Corp., is recuperating after undergoing successful heart-valve replacement surgery on Friday.

CEO and President Walt Bettinger said Monday that the 73-year-old Mr. Schwab is “resting comfortably and recuperating well” and is expected to return home in the next few days.

Mr. Schwab founded the San Francisco-based company in 1971 as a traditional brokerage, and in 1974 shifted to the lower-fee discount brokerage model. The company now has more than 300 offices, with 8 million client brokerage accounts and $1.5 trillion in client assets.

Mr. Schwab has served as chairman since 1986. He also led the company as CEO and co-CEO nearly continuously from 1986 until October 2008.

Shares rose 17 cents to $17.19 in midday trading.

FLORIDA

Tourist killed by park bus

ORLANDO — A tourist from Massachusetts was killed when he walked in front of a bus at a Walt Disney World resort.

Authorities say 69-year-old Robert Krueger of Yarmouth Port, Mass., stepped in front of a Disney bus traveling through the parking lot at the Port Orleans resort Sunday afternoon. Mr. Krueger died at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

The Florida Highway Patrol says the bus driver was 57-year-old Rosemary Kincaid. There were passengers on the bus, but no one aboard was injured.

An investigation is continuing, but authorities said Mr. Krueger was not in the crosswalk and the bus had the right of way.

In April, a St. Petersburg boy was hit and killed by a bus while riding his bike at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort campground.

IOWA

Drunken driver turns self in

IOWA CITY — Iowa City police say a 25-year-old man called 911 to report a drunken driver: himself.

According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, police say Francisco Castro called the emergency number around 8:30 a.m. on Christmas morning. Officers found Mr. Castro sitting in the driver’s seat of a running vehicle.

Police say Mr. Castro told officers that he called 911 because he thought he was too drunk to drive. A follow-up test showed his blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit.

MARYLAND

Police rescue duck hunters

ANNAPOLIS — Maryland Natural Resources Police say they broke through ice and faced rough seas to rescue two duck hunters that became stuck on an island in the Chesapeake Bay during severe weather.

Natural Resources Police say the two hunters became stranded Monday on Hart-Miller Island, where they had intended to hunt. The two men apparently left Rocky Point boat ramp at about 8 a.m. in a 14-foot aluminum boat but immediately took on water from rough seas.

The pair called 911 for help from the island. Police say Todd Troxell, 40, of Codorus, Pa., was issued a citation for negligent operation. He told officers he did not check weather reports before setting out on his trip.

MICHIGAN

Dad waives key hearing

ADRIAN — A Michigan man blamed for the disappearance of his three sons will go straight to trial on charges of parental kidnapping.

John Skelton waived his right to a hearing to determine if prosecutors had probable cause to charge him. Court officials in Lenawee County say he informed a judge on Monday, which means a hearing set for Tuesday is canceled.

Mr. Skelton’s sons — Andrew, 9; Alexander, 7; and Tanner, 5 — haven’t been seen since Thanksgiving, when they were at his home in Morenci, a town on the Michigan-Ohio border. The father says he gave them to someone from an “organization,” although he hasn’t identified either.

Mr. Skelton is charged with keeping his boys more than 24 hours with the intent of concealing them from their mother. His next court date is Jan. 5.

PENNSYLVANIA

Warhol’s brother dies at 85

ROCHESTER — John Warhola, the older brother who helped raise pop art icon Andy Warhol and later helped establish the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, has died.

Mr. Warhola’s son, Donald, says his father died on Christmas Eve after battling pneumonia in a Pittsburgh hospital. He was 85.

Mr. Warhola was one of three founding members of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and was its vice president for 20 years. The foundation established the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

After their father died in 1942, John Warhola was tasked with raising his younger brother, Andy, and making sure he attended college. Andy Warhol whose given name was Andy Warhola died at 58 in 1987 after complications from gall bladder surgery.

Mr. Warhola’s funeral is Wednesday, and he’ll be buried in a family plot at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery in Bethel Park.

WYOMING

Coroner: Skier, 5, was wearing helmet

CASPER — A Wyoming coroner says a 5-year-old skier who died in a collision with a snowboarder was wearing a helmet, contrary to officials’ earlier reports.

Natrona County Coroner Connie Jacobson says the girl, Elise Johnson, and 22-year-old Craig Shirley died of internal injuries from blunt force trauma.

Witnesses have said Mr. Shirley was snowboarding at high speed Friday at Hogadon Ski Area when he collided with Elise and her mother. The mother and daughter had stopped in the middle of a black run, which is rated difficult.

The mother was hospitalized. Her name hasn’t been released.

Officials initially said no one wore a helmet, but Miss Jacobson said Monday that Elise was wearing one. Elise had skied for three years, and her mother is also an experienced skier.

All three people involved in the collision were from Casper.

• From wire dispatches and staff reports