Local briefs

Black Leadership

Former ambassador to speak at KU gathering

Delano Lewis, a former U.S. ambassador to South Africa and former president of National Public Radio, will speak today to a group of 500 black high school students gathered at Kansas University.

Lewis, who graduated from KU in 1960, will speak on “Preparing African-American Youth for Global Leadership” during the 17th annual Black Leadership Symposium. The speech is at 10 a.m. in Woodruff Auditorium of the Kansas Union.

Lewis, a Kansas City, Kan., native, was ambassador from 1999 to 2001. He was president of NPR from 1993 to 1998.

Crime

Suspects in custody in tobacco store robbery

Lawrence Police have detained three suspects in connection with Monday’s mid-afternoon robbery of a tobacco shop.

The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office has filed aggravated robbery charges against 21-year-old Lashell Lee Mitchell and 18-year-old William Donavan Mitchell, both from Lawrence.

A 16-year-old girl believed to be involved in the robbery also is in custody at the Douglas County Youth Services detention facility.

Police Sgt. Mike Pattrick said detectives investigating the robbery at Tobacco Express, 925 Iowa, received information that the three were possible suspects in the case. All three were taken into custody Tuesday night.

Creative Endeavors

Book lists Lawrence as arts-friendly place

They don’t call it “City of the Arts” for nothing.

Artists should consider pursuing their creative endeavors in Lawrence instead of New York or Los Angeles, author Susan M. Brackney has concluded.

Brackney, author of “The Not-so-Lost Soul Companion,” picked Lawrence 12th on her list of 15 cities she recommends over the two larger coastal giants.

Brackney made her selections by combining census figures and other statistics, including data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics with qualitative research. She particularly looked at cost of living and affordable housing data.

Other cities on the list include Iowa City, Iowa; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Eureka Springs, Ark.; and Austin, Tex.

Philanthropy

Run to raise funds for new charity

Greek organizations at Kansas University and Kansas State University will run a football from Wagner Field in Manhattan to Memorial Stadium in Lawrence to raise money for charity.

KU’s Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and KSU’s Pi Beta Phi sorority will donate money they raise from the football run to the Ali Kemp Educational Foundation in Leawood. Kemp, a Pi Beta Phi member at KSU, was murdered in June in Leawood.

Students plan to begin running between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Saturday and arrive in Lawrence by the 1 p.m. kickoff of the KU-KSU football game.

The foundation is seeking to develop programs for public education and safety awareness, volunteer services and college scholarships.