Community Corner

Karl Rove, Leon Panetta Scheduled to Speak in Indian Wells

The men will be part of next year's Desert Town Hall annual speaker series in Indian Wells.

Onetime U.S. defense secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta and former presidential adviser Karl Rove will be among those headlining next year's Desert Town Hall annual speaker series in Indian Wells.

The series kicks off Jan. 28 with Panetta's speech, according to organizers. The events are held at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa, with all talks beginning at 5 p.m.

On Feb. 13, sisters and television journalists Lisa and Laura Ling will talk about Laura's arrest in North Korea while filming a documentary along the China-North Korea border, and Lisa's work to set her free, "along with other stories full of compassion and hope," series spokeswoman Chris Martello said.

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Rove's speech is set for March 6. The political strategist and former deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to President George W. Bush has more than 20 years of experience in politics. He is also a Fox News contributor and Wall Street columnist.

Dr. Ben Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon who grew up in the inner city and became a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, will wrap up the series on March 24. He performed the first separation of Siamese twins joined at the back of the head in 1987, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian award, in 2008.

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Panetta, a Monterey native, represented California's central coast in the U.S. House of Representatives for 16 years, headed the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, served as director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton administration and then as Clinton's chief of staff. He became CIA director in 2009 and secretary of defense in 2011. He left the post earlier this year.

"Our board focuses on bringing the finest speakers from around the world to Indian Wells each year. We are so pleased to bring these topical, timely and intriguing leaders to our wonderful audience," said Desert Town Hall Board President Brian Harnik.

Past speakers include former presidents George W. and George H.W. Bush, neurosurgeon and health expert Sanjay Gupta, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Pakistan President Musharraf, former Britain Prime Minister Tony Blair, retired Army general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, diplomat Henry Kissinger and ocean explorers Bob Ballard and Jean- Michel Cousteau.

The series is sponsored by local companies, organizations and philanthropists. The nonprofit Desert Forum produces Desert Town Hall.

Desert Forum invites 150 local high school students to attend each lecture and meet the speaker.

Tickets for all four lectures are $1,150 for a reserved seat with dinner, $500 for a reserved seat and $250 for an unreserved seat. Any available individual tickets are sold two weeks beforehand.

For tickets and information, call (760) 610-2852 or go to www.deserttownhall.org.

-- City News Service


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