Peltier asks Congress to intervene in his case

Denver — A lawyer for imprisoned American Indian activist Leonard Peltier is asking Congress to intervene in his case because courts refuse to release him.

Peltier, 59, is serving two life sentences at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., for the 1975 slayings of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Peltier has maintained his innocence, but several appeals have failed to overturn the convictions or order a parole hearing.

“We challenge Congress to finish the work the Church Committee began nearly 30 years ago,” his lawyer, Barry Bachrach, said.

“Uncover the (counterintelligence) tactics employed against AIM (the American Indian Movement). They are not any less egregious than the tactics used against other activists of the time — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., for example.”

The Church Committee was a 1975 investigation of CIA and FBI tactics by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, led by the late Sen. Frank Church of Idaho.

Baker students to stage storm-spotting seminar

A Baker University student group will offer tips on storm-spotting during a meeting Wednesday in Baldwin.

SkyWarn Storm Spotters will present “Weather 101” at 7 p.m. in the Owens Musical Arts Building audio-visual room.

The seminar will include storm-spotting techniques and safety tips provided by speaker Mike Akulow, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Topeka.

Scottish fiddler to play free concert preview

Scottish fiddler Bonnie Rideout will give a free preview of her Friday evening Lied Center performance Friday afternoon at Brits, 929 Mass.

The 2 p.m. appearance will give listeners a taste of Rideout’s style, which has earned her acclaim as the best contemporary Scottish fiddler.

Rideout and her trio perform traditional Scottish dance tunes, Highland bagpipe music and ancient Gaelic melodies.

Their Lied Center performance will be accompanied by the City of Washington Pipe Band.

Those who attend the preview performance will have a chance to win free tickets to the evening concert. To purchase tickets, call the Lied Center at 864-2787.

Ex-Lawrence pastor to read from poetry

Mike Poage, former associate pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church, will read from his latest poetry collection, “Abundance,” at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The book is published by 219 Press of Perry.

Poage is the author of four other collections of poetry. He has a master of fine arts in creative writing from the University of Montana, where he studied with Richard Hugo and Madeline DeFrees.

Poage is pastor at Fairmount Congregational Church in Wichita.

The reading will be in the writing room at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H.

Math competition this weekend at KU

Students in elementary through high schools will compete Saturday in the Kansas University mathematics department’s annual competition.

Prizes will be given for first, second and third places in elementary, junior high and high school divisions.

Presentation of solutions is part of the grading of the exams, and calculators are allowed on the tests. Sample exams can be found at www.math.ukans.edu.

Registration begins at 2 p.m., with competition lasting until 3:30 p.m.

Pre-registration and more information is available by contacting Bozenna Pasik-Duncan at 864-5162 or bozenna@math.ukans.edu.