Westar leader to speak at KU lecture series

The president and chief executive of Topeka-based Westar Energy will deliver an address on business ethics at Kansas University.

Jim Haines will deliver the KU Business School’s Anderson Chandler Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Lied Center. Haines, who took over the reigns of the troubled Topeka utility in December 2002, will present a speech titled “Corporate Governance, Business Ethics and Individual Responsibility.”

The event is open to the public. There is no charge to attend and tickets or reservations are not required.

Election 2004

Republican headquarters finally finds location

Douglas County Republicans got a late start this year opening their headquarters, causing confusion for Lawrence residents seeking yard signs or literature.

“About a week ago I started looking, and I couldn’t find their number in the phone book, so I called the county clerk,” said Leanna Riley, who stopped by GOP headquarters Thursday to pick up a Bush/Cheney yard sign.

The headquarters at 944 Ky. was opened Oct. 3. Richard Todd, treasurer for the Douglas County Republicans, said the late start was due to difficulty finding a prime location.

“Typically we have one between the primary and general election, but this time we had a little trouble locating a spot,” he said.

Todd said he wanted to make sure the location was centrally located.

The office has literature and yard signs for local Republican candidates and President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Lied Center

U.S. Marine Band show included security sweep

Local and state police did a thorough security sweep of the Lied Center on Wednesday before an evening performance by the U.S. Marine Band, above.

Fred Pawlicki, associate director of the Lied Center, said police searched the performance hall and dressing rooms using bomb-sniffing dogs in places.

Gunnery Sgt. Kristin Mergen, public affairs chief for the Marine Band, said the band had coordinated security efforts with host sites since the 9-11 attacks.

“Because of the name of the group and the mission, there needs to be a high security presence at the performances,” Mergen said. “We want to make sure that both the patrons and the performers are safe.”

Kansas University police Capt. Schuyler Bailey confirmed campus police helped secure the Lied Center before the performance, but declined to comment on specifics.

Audience members noted an increased security presence throughout the evening, but the performance went off undisturbed.

Rural Kids Voting sites need more volunteers

Kids Voting Douglas County needs about 100 more people to man polling sites Nov. 2.

David Morrissey, spokesman for the Roger Hill Volunteer Center, said about 300 people had volunteered to help. But positions remain unfilled for polling sites in rural Douglas County, Baldwin and Eudora.

“Lawrence itself is in really good shape,” Morrissey said. “We’ve had a lot of local businesses and Kansas University organizations come forward and sponsor polling sites.”

Coordinated by the Lawrence Journal-World, Douglas County public schools and the Roger Hill Volunteer Center, Kids Voting provides students from kindergarten through 12th grade the opportunity to have a voting experience.

Kids Voting sites are located at each of the county’s 67 polling places.

Shifts are from 6:45 a.m. to 9 a.m., 2:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. to 7 p.m. To volunteer, call 865-5030.

Seminar to teach genealogy for novices

The Douglas County Genealogy Society will conduct a daylong genealogy seminar Saturday for beginners in the Lawrence Public Library auditorium, 707 Vt.

The seminar will be from 9:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Saturday. Topics to be discussed include checking census, land ownership, courthouse, church and cemetery records, searching the Internet and listening to oral histories.

The seminar is free and open to the public. For more information, call Maria Butler, 843-3833, ext. 123, or go to the library’s Web site, www.lawrencepubliclibrary.org/events.html.