Sen. Baucus recovering

BILLINGS, Mont. -- Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, was recovering yesterday, a day after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, his spokesman reported.

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., planned to keep the senator in the hospital last night and perform another CT scan today, Baucus staffer Barrett Kaiser said in Billings. He said doctors hope to release Baucus this afternoon.

Kaiser said Baucus will be able to fly back to Washington with his wife, Wanda, and their son, Zeno, once he is released.

The 62-year-old senator apparently injured his head when he fell in the JFK 50-mile road race Nov. 22 in Maryland. He finished the race, but sported a black eye and had to receive several stitches to close a wound.

Baucus became ill Thursday on a flight to Phoenix, where he was to deliver an energy policy speech at the Edison Electric Institute.

Kaiser said a CT scan showed fluid had built up on the outside of his brain, a condition known as a subdural hematoma. The operation was Friday.