Rice to speak at King luncheon in Peoria

PEORIA — Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will speak at next year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon in Peoria.

The group that organizes the annual luncheon, Public Employees for Community Concerns, on Wednesday announced that Rice would be the speaker for the 2013 event. Rice served under former President George W. Bush and is now a professor at Stanford University and a fellow at the Hoover Institution.

The (Peoria) Journal Star reports the luncheon has drawn high-profile speakers in the past including Maya Angelou, Bill Cosby and Danny Glover. The luncheon is scheduled for Jan. 21 at the Civic Center in Peoria.