Campaign finance debate set

Here's an event involving national politics that will appeal to local political types: UNC-Chapel Hill will host "Money, Politics and the First Amendment: A Debate on Special Interest Advertising in Elections."

The event will be 5 to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 26 at Alumni Hall III, George Watts Hill Alumni Center. It is free and open to the public.

The event is billed as a debate between "two of the nation's pre-eminent legal scholars and experts in the field of campaign finance reform," Bradley A. Smith, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, and Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. The two will face off on government attempts to regulate political advertising paid for by corporations and other private organizations.

The debate will be moderated by UNC School of Law Professor William Marshall, currently serving as solicitor general of Ohio.

"LIDDY" IN THE BULL CITY: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth "Liddy" Dole will be in Durham on Feb. 2 to deliver a keynote speech at a Teach For America summit at Durham School of the Arts. Teach for America recruits recent college graduates from all academic backgrounds to teach in underfunded schools and urban districts for two years.

More than 200 Teach for America teachers from Eastern North Carolina and the Charlotte area will attend the all-day event. Dole was invited to speak because of her contributions to education reform.

For more information, contact Emily Del Pino, regional communications director for Teach For America, (212) 279-2080, ext. 619.

STATE OF THE COUNTY: Durham County commissioners Chairwoman Ellen Reckhow is scheduled to give the annual State of the County address 7 p.m. Monday.

She will outline some of the county's accomplishments over the past year and highlight initiatives for the future.

The address will take place in the commissioners' chambers on the second floor of 200 E. Main St. An open reception will be held at 6:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Durham County Government at 560-0000.

CAMPAIGN HQ: Jim Neal, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, opens a campaign headquarters Monday in Durham.

Neal supporters and others interested in his candidacy are invited to an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. at 200 Meredith Drive, off N.C. 55 just south of N.C. 54. Respond to rsvp@jimnealforsenate.com.

A Greensboro native, Neal is a former New York investment banker who lives in Chapel Hill. He was a fundraiser for Erskine Bowles' 2004 Senate campaign and for the presidential campaigns of Gen. Wesley Clark and John Kerry in 2004.

OBAMA RALLY: The Rev. Curtis Gatewood, former head of the Durham NAACP, is sponsoring a rally to "save Obama (and this nation) from the drama of dirty politics" at St. Joseph's AME Church on Feb. 2.

According to Gatewood's statements, the event is a protest against comments made and racial issues raised by Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters in their campaign against Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Gatewood calls the rally "a grass-roots effort to secure justice" rather than one promoting Obama's candidacy. Information: 603-5437.