Area briefs

Sloan seeks re-election

State Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, wants to return to Topeka next year for a fifth term in the Kansas House of Representatives.

Sloan filed for re-election Monday morning at the Douglas County Courthouse. His reapportioned 45th District includes most Lawrence residents north of Sixth Street and those west of Monterey Way; also included are Kanwaka and Lecompton townships in northwest Douglas County.

Sloan and his wife, Gail, own Sloan & Associates, a strategic planning and communications consulting firm.

Olympian to address American Indian issues

American Indian activist and Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills will present a lecture, “Battles of Tribal Sovereignty on the Home Front: Contemporary American Indian Issues and Solutions in the United States,” at 6 p.m. today at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union at Kansas University. A reception will follow.

Mills’ appearance is sponsored by KU’s Center for Indigenous Studies, First Nations Student Assn., American Studies Department and the American Studies Association of Graduate Students.

A Lakota Sioux, Mills grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, becoming an orphan when he was 12 years old. He attended Haskell Institute before graduating from KU in 1962. He won the gold medal in the 10,000-meter run at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.

Now 63, he remains active on issues affecting Indian reservations.

Bicyclist struck by car

A man riding a bicycle at the intersection of Fourth and Florida streets was injured Monday afternoon when he was struck by a car.

Lawrence Police and Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical were called to the scene at 4:03 p.m. after Tony Stone, 34, Lawrence, drove his bike through a stop sign on Florida Street and was struck by a 1992 Ford Taurus driven by Morgan J. Anderson, 30, Lawrence. Anderson’s 3-year-old daughter was a passenger in the car.

Stone was wearing a helmet and was transported to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where he was in fair condition Monday with a broken leg and bruises.

“The driver of the Taurus attempted to stop but wasn’t able to do so and the two collided,” said Lt. Steve Zarnowiec of the Lawrence Police Department.

Haskell student wins scholarship

The American Indian Higher Education Consortium has awarded Haskell Indian Nations University student Mekko Tyner a $1,000 scholarship.

Tyner, a senior majoring in business administration, is president of the student senate and is active in Future Tribal Leaders, Native American Church Club and other clubs.

After graduation, Tyner plans to attend law school at Kansas University. At Haskell, he’s maintained a 3.5 grade point average.

American Indian College Fund is the largest provider of privately funded Indian scholarships in the United States.

Tyner is from Tulsa, Okla.