The Leader-Post from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada • 3

Page A3 -Leader Post Phone: 565-8300 Fax: 565-2588 City Editor: Andy Cooper Quote Me It was a good Tight, but it's not good for the heart. Ward 8 incumbent Victor McDougall comments on his narrow victory over Joe McKeown. See story on this page. By TREVOR SUTTER of The Leader-Post Regina city council incumbents won the war of the wards, suffering only one casualty in Wednesdays civic election. Michael Fougere, co-founder of the Association of Concerned Taxpayers, defeated Ward 4 incumbent Linda McKay to become the voice of disgruntled homeowners in the affluent southeast Regina ward and the only new face on city council.

The people of Ward 4 are upset and feeling alienated, Fougere said following his victory over McKay, one of five new councillors elected in 1994. We dont need a miracle worker, we just need someone to bring them back into the fold. McKay, who couldnt be reached following her defeat, said in an interview prior to the polls closing that shed be disappointed if her hard work in the past wasnt recognized by another term in council. In her first term, McKay was outspoken on many issues including property tax reassessment. But she was also viewed as a maverick and often isolated by the rest of council.

I think it would send the message to other people who are thinking about running for council that hard work doesnt necessarily pay off, she said. Voter turnout in Ward 4 was almost 34.5 per cent, significantly higher than the citywide turnout of 25.7 per cent. The only other close race saw Ward 8 incumbent Victor McDougall narrowly defeat Joe McKeown, a 15-year city councillor for Ward 6 who lost his seat in 1994. Kelly Hague (left) and Bill Hutchinson watch results come in Newcomer tops public board vote one incumbent signals Regina voters are satisfied with the direction of the preyious council. Incumbents Darlene Hincks, Rob Deglau, Mike Badham, Fred Clipsham, Bill Gray and Ray Hamilton staved off all challengers, while Bill Hutchinson and Bill Wells were officially acclaimed.

I think the low voter turnout is a reflection of the publics confidence in the incumbents, said Wells, who will be serving his fifth term on city council. the school board. In March, the board voted to close down six elementary schools and two French immersion programs in response to declining enrolment and financial concerns. Many school system supporters found themselves paying higher taxes as a result of sweeping reassessment changes. Of those who failed to be elected Wednesday, the closest was Janet Brown, an education student and homemaker who had been critical of the incumbent school board over the way it handled the closures.

Brown received 8,431 votes, almost 700 fewer than George Ogilvie, who was re-elected. Travel On A Budget Australia and New Zealand are among the worlds most desired travel destinations. Climbing Ayers Rock at sunrise, bungee jumping in Queenstown, cruising in Sydney Harbor the options are endless. However, the travel decisions to make those daydreams a reality can be complicated. To help make these decisions easier, Travel CUTS is hosting an Australia and New Zealand on a Budget Travel Talk.

Speakers from Travel CUTS and Hostelling International will share their travel industry knowledge and first-hand travel experiences in these areas. Topics covered will include understanding airfares, necessary travel documentation, transportation options within each country, as well as safety and packing tips. The talk will take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Central Library Theatre, 2311-12th Ave. Tickets are free in advance from Travel CUTS or $3 at the door.

For more information, please contact Linda Muderewich at Travel CUTS at 586-0011. RoundUp Days Change that $14.49 purchase into and Chili for Children will thank you. During Sears Canadas RoundUp Days," Oct. 25-26, customers will be invited to round up their bill of sale to the nearest dollar. The extra cash amount will be 'matched by Sears, and both amounts will be donated to the Chili for Children hot meal program.

For more information about RoundUp Days, call Robert Carter at 569-1344. Lecture Tonight fmmmmmwmmmmmmmmanrnmimm The life and work of pioneer Canadian photographer Geraldine Joodie will be explored in a public ecture tonight. Donny White, curator of cultural listory at the Medicine Hat Museum and Art Gallery, will deliver a lecture entitled In Search of Geraldine Joodie, illustrated with slides of Joodies photos. The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. the University of Reginas Language Institute Theatre.

For more information, call Lorraine Nelson at 585-4758. Scary Good Time Come celebrate Halloween amongst the library booooks The Regina Public Library is hold-ng several Halloween events this week, including: Halloween Films Albert branch Friday, 3:454:45 p.m. for school-aged children Family Night Films The Vaunting of Barney Palma and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" Central Library Theatre Oct. 29, 7:00 p.m. Halloween Howls A scary good time for ages 5-7 George Bothwell Branch Oct.

29, 6 to 7 p.m. costumes required, pre-register Spook-tacular Halloween stories and "horror-gami for ages 7-11 Sunrise Branch Oct. 29, 4 to 5 p.m. pre-register And if you're too grown-up for you can always haunt the library shelves for a few ghost stories read on Halloween night. It was a good fight, but its not good for the heart, said McDougall, who claimed a nine-vote victory on a recount in the 1994 election.

Its a good thing I carry my nitro (heart medication) on me. McKeown blamed his defeat on low voter turnout and he vowed to return to public office. I would do it again, he said. Politics is my life I wont ever give up. McDougall said the return of all but to politics Susan Wigmore, who received 11.03 per cent of the vote.

This is so exciting," said Wigmore, a community volunteer who is president of the Sheldon-Williams Parents Association. Wigmore praised her election team for getting her elected, but said she didnt know why no other challengers were successful. The voters told us who they wanted, she said. Whether this means they were satisfied with the work they did or they were voting for the best people who knows. The re-election of the six incumbents (former trustee Lynne Johnson chose not to run) follows a turbulent year for trustees Malone said, adding he hoped he could contribute to the new board.

Im younger and I have young children wholl be entering the school system soon, he said. I guess thats the perspective Ill be bringing. As was the case for the public school board elections, most of the incumbent Catholic board trustees were re-elected. Debbie Ward, the chairman of the previous school board, received the greatest number of votes: 5,766, with 83 out of 86 polls reporting. Ron Petrie By KEVIN OCONNOR of The Leader-Post If voters were mad about 1997s tax changes and school closures, they didnt show it Wednesday night.

All six incumbents running in Wednesdays public school board race were re-elected. It reflects the fact theres been a very low turnout. People have either given up on change or feel they cant affect the direction the city is going and the school boards are going, said John Conway, who received the highest number of votes of all the re-elected trustees. But topping the polls was newcomer Two new By KEVIN OCONNOR of The Leader-Post A lawyer who believes joint schoolbuilding projects with the Regina public school system is a bad idea will be one of two new trustees elected to the Regina Catholic school board. Paul Malone, making his first run at the seven-member school board, was the only political newcomer to be elected Wednesday night.

Im grateful Ive managed to get in, on Catholic board Fougere said long-time city councillors had better be prepared to listen to residents of Ward 4, who are frustrated by high residential property taxes. Residential property taxes must be one of the priorities of the new city council, he said. Weve had tax reform on the business side, now we have to look at ways to reform taxes on the residential side. I am going to try to work co-operatively, but I wont hesitate to tell them what I think, he said. If candidates statements during the campaign are any indication, the new board will find itself heavily involved in the debate over business taxes.

City council has proposed eliminating the tax, but both school boards say theyre leery about the possibility they could lose millions of dollars in revenue. Another old issue that could resurface is the ward system of electing trustees. Conway said he was hopeful that with Wigmore on the board, a change from the at-large system to the ward system may be possible. But Wigmore said Wednesday she's not so sure if running a school board with wards is a good idea. eighth.

Although thousands of school supporters saw their property taxes increase in 1997, it never became a serious campaign issue. Important school board issues are on the horizon, however. The proposed elimination of the business tax could result in the board losing millions of dollars in revenue. There was guaranteed to be at least one new face on the board: Former chairman Gerry Welsh didnt run. project more within the average homeowners range of capabilities, such as replacing the twisty, leaky thingies under the toilet tank? And with a pair of pliers, I say, not the proper wrench, and with a nutcracker borrowed from the kitchen to hold the top twisty thingie in place.

Then of course one of the twisty thingies breaks, thus requiring a trip to a home-improvement centre and a 48-minute wait for the next available 17-year-old clerk, who hasnt the foggiest idea of the specific plumbing part the expert needs and instead sells him a $32 universal replacement kit for twisty plastic toilet thingies, complete with installation instructions from the Korean manufacturer: Acquire true stick on principal component and make great fasten following only second application of many counterrotations. Huh? TODAY ON HOME AND GARDEN TELEVISION: What to do for the next 24 hours while waiting for the caulking compound to dry that you gobbed around the leaky toilet thingie in one last ftitile attempt to avoid calling a plumber. LATER, ON THE GOLF CHANNEL: Your one-stroke escape from the sand trap and 18-foot putt for par. Golf Listener Man is waiting. Ron Petries column appears each Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The only other non-incumbent being re-elected was Kevin Boyle, who came in seventh. Boyle is a former school board trustee and chairman who was defeated in the 1994 election. Jim Graham, an incumbent who had replaced former trustee Dolores Gray in a by-election, was defeated, coming in ninth. The closest unsuccessful non-incumbent was former school board administrator Ray Tourigny, who came in New channels dont cater to real people As of this week, balancing leisure with domestic responsibility has never been easier. Now when Im feeling guilty about the hours spent watching the Golf Channel, with one flick of the remote control, Im up and at it and watching yardwork on Home and Garden Television.

I do have one criticism, however, a small niggling point, hardly worth raising. My problem is merely with everything from start to finish that the two new cable channels decided upon by way of programming. Did nobody test-market the material? By test-market, I dont mean waiting for feedback from the free previews currently under way in several Canadian markets. What I mean is, before going to air, did no one think to screen the programs before a scientifically selected audience made up entirely of typical Canadian guys? Take the Golf Channel, which boasts more live coverage of the sport than all other networks combined, plus instructional videos, plus interview programs, plus reruns of classic tournaments, plus more in other words, 24-hour-a-day coverage of other people playing golf, talking golf and demonstrating golf technique. Real-life golf is nothing of the sort.

Non-TV golf is typically an agonizing and frustrating half-day of hooks, slices, whiffs and three-putts, an exercise in ego-destruction relieved waiting. Any time of the day or year, a fellow could tune in from the comfort of his own sofa and describe his latest round, or any memorable shot, to Golf Listener Man, which is what I would call the host of the channel. No need to phone in; simply speak directly to the TV, to Golf Listener Man. His job would be to maintain a sincere thinky face to indicate genuine interest and occasionally utter an appropriate generic remark: Really? or You dont say? or Well, Ill be darned!" For all Golf Listener Man back in the studio knows, nodding and tsk-tsking, his conversation with the viewer has long since drifted off the topic of golf and into the realm of home improvement. "And another thing," says the viewer, jabbing his index finger at the TV screen.

"Whats up with those little Mr. Perfects on the Home and Garden Television? "Oh, for sure, says Golf Listener Man. "I hear you." Because, frankly, the male experts on Home and Garden Television really frost us regular viewer guys. Where the channel found its on-air personalities is anybody's guess, but mine would be the Martha Stewart Clinic. They are way too competent at home repair for any of us to relate.

Wouldnt it be refreshing if just once, rather than adding a second floor to a house, the TV handyman took on a I only by the occasional dumb-luck par on one hole or, if fate is particularly cruel, a birdie so as to bring you back to the course the next weekend. And thats not even the most annoying part. When you arrive at work Monday, eager to sit down with the guys over coffee and detail to them every aspect of that one hole you parred the distance, the wind speed and direction, your choice of clubs first you have to feign interest for the colossally boring descriptions, one after another, of their respective golf rounds. People who dont golf, who suppose these Monday sessions at work to be as dull as dull gets, dont know the worst half of it the torture that comes with listening to all the blah-blah-blah while waiting for an opportunity to jump in with an account of one's own greatness. Not that I was ever consulted, but my Golf Channel would have consisted entirely of one actor, 40-ish, sitting in front of the studio camera, two ears.