TOPEKA

Kansas Christmas tree to honor Czar exhibit

This year’s official Kansas Christmas tree will feature the emblem of Russia.

The ornaments to be displayed on the tree will honor the “Czars: 400 Years of Imperial Grandeur” exhibit in Topeka. The exhibit is on display until March 15, 2003.

Topekan Anita Wolgast created the ornaments to be displayed on the Kansas Tree on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

President Bush will light the National Tree and state trees in a televised ceremony Dec. 5.

WICHITA

Veterans center to be named for Dole

The Department of Veterans Affairs will name its facility here after former Sen. Bob Dole, who was injured in combat during World War II.

Anthony J. Principi, secretary of Veterans Affairs, announced Thursday the building ” containing a medical center and a regional office ” would be renamed in a ceremony today.

GARDEN CITY

Autopsy shows victim was strangled to death

An 18-year-old woman found dead last month was strangled, according to autopsy results.

Garden City Police Capt. Mike Utz said investigators determined Chi Kim Thi Nguyen died on or about Oct. 5. Her body was found six days later beneath a bed at the Best Western Red Baron Hotel.

Kim Phuong Lam, 36, of Memphis, Tenn., was arrested Nov. 1 in San Jose, Calif. Lam has been charged with second-degree murder.