‘Bloom County’ Creator Has Surgery

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Cartoonist Berke Breathed, creator of the comic strip “Bloom County,” was in satisfactory condition Friday in St. Joseph’s Hospital intensive care unit after surgery to stabilize a fractured spine.

Breathed, 28, underwent the 5 1/2-hour operation Thursday night to stabilize a compression fracture suffered in Wednesday’s crash of his ultralight aircraft near Albuquerque.