Entertainment

Area vespers concerts to ring in holiday season

Sounds of the season will fill northeast Kansas this weekend, with holiday vespers performances scheduled in Lawrence, Baldwin and Lecompton.

The shows start tonight, when Kansas University has its annual Jazz Vespers concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Lied Center. Performers include KU’s Jazz Ensemble I and solo artists.

KU’s annual Holiday Vespers show will have three performances this weekend, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, also at the Lied Center. KU’s Vespers will feature 250 singers, the KU Symphony Orchestra, a bell choir and Random Harmony, a men’s quartet.

The Lecompton Historical Society will stage its annual Christmas Vespers concert at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Territorial Capitol Museum, 640 E. Woodson Ave. The show features Frances Sanford on piano, Cindy Daniels on organ and a choir.

Baker University also will present its annual Christmas Candlelight Vespers at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Baldwin’s First United Methodist Church, 704 Eighth St.

College Football

Students offered free tickets to KU bowl game

Kansas University students wanting to see the Jayhawks play in the Tangerine Bowl may have to foot the bill for a trip to Orlando, but they won’t have to buy a ticket to the game.

Athletic director Lew Perkins announced Wednesday that students wanting to attend the game could receive free tickets, courtesy of the athletics department.

Students must present a valid student ID and register at the athletic ticket office in Allen Fieldhouse by 5 p.m. Dec. 15. They will be given a voucher that will be redeemable for a ticket at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium.

Tickets are normally $45 to the game, which begins at 4:30 p.m. CST Dec. 22.

Energy

Officials to visit oil-recovery project

Lt. Gov. John Moore will join officials from Kansas University and the oil industry to mark the beginning of a pilot project that could revitalize energy prospects in Kansas.

The event will be from noon to 3:30 p.m. today at an oil field near Russell. The project, led by the Kansas Geological Survey and the Tertiary Oil Recovery Project at KU, involves injecting carbon dioxide into the field to produce oil that was left behind by previous processes. KU officials have estimated the economic impact could be more than $1 billion.

Others expected to attend include Chancellor Robert Hemenway, legislators, an official with the U.S. Department of Energy and representatives from industry partners involved with the project.