Candidate promotes write-in campaign

Topeka — Former state transportation secretary Horace Edwards is mounting a write-in candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

Edwards, who served under former Gov. Mike Hayden, seeks to defeat incumbent Sam Brownback, R-Kan., whom Edwards has criticized as being too focused on conservative social issues.

Edwards tried to get on the ballot as an independent candidate through a petition drive. But the Secretary of State’s office ruled he didn’t get a sufficient number of signatures. That decision was upheld by a state district court.

Today, Edwards will hold news conferences in Olathe, Topeka and Wichita to campaign as a write-in candidate.

Lee Jones, of Lenexa, is the Democratic candidate.

Politics

Dole Institute sponsors pre-election programs

In an effort to increase awareness of global and national issues before Election Day, Nov. 2, the Dole Institute of Politics at Kansas University will sponsor four political programs.

The programs start Thursday at the institute with “Planning the War in Iraq: An Insider’s View.” Col. Kevin Benson, one of the Army’s central planners for the Iraq invasion, will give an insider’s view of the conflict.

On Oct. 26, KU political science professor Burdett Loomis will moderate a roundtable discussion on the role of the media in this year’s election.

The third program is scheduled for Oct. 27. An international panel will take part in a discussion entitled “U.S. Elections: The World is Watching.”

The final program, the only one in the series not to be held at the Dole Institute, will feature New York Times columnist and PBS commentator David Brooks. Brooks will speak at KU’s Budig Hall on Oct. 28.

All programs start at 7:30 p.m. and are free and open to the public. For more information, call the Dole Institute at 864-4900.

KU-Haskell ceremony to celebrate cooperation

Kansas University and Haskell Indian Nations University officials will meet Wednesday on the Haskell campus for a ceremony recognizing past and future cooperation between the two institutions.

The 30-minute ceremony will begin at 8 a.m. at Stidham Hall. Haskell President Karen Swisher and KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway will address the gathering.

Civil War group to meet Thursday

The Lawrence Camp of the Sons of Union Veterans will meet Thursday at Watkins Community Museum of History, 1047 Mass.

The Civil War group’s meeting starts at 7 p.m. Carolyn Green, of Humbolt, will present a story about Humbolt during the Civil War. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Moms In Touch plan state rally

The Kansas Moms In Touch will meet for a rally from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 13 at First Covenant Church in Salina.

Registration is $15 and includes a box lunch. For registration and car-pooling information, call Gay Sauer at 841-0600 or Lori Lange at 865-3741.

Moms In Touch International is an interdenominational organization of mothers meeting weekly to pray for their children and their schools.