ITEMS IN THE NEWS

Boris Yeltsin, the enigmatic, quirky leader to took Russia out of Communist rule, died yesterday at the age of 76.
Those of us who followed him around the day he visited Wichita at the invitation of then-Kansas U.S. Senator Bob Dole have a vault full of memories--taking an American flag and marching up and down with it in front of a bleacher full of delighted airmen at McConnell; giving a surprised plant manager at Dold Foods his jacket (and, he told a Wichita State audience, also offering his pants); and laughing as he scattered photographers driving a combine, pulling up at the wrong end of a line of reporters and shaking hands.
Of the 15 world leaders I've met, Yeltsin was by far the most likeable.
--R.J. Dickens