The Leader-Post from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada • 2

A2 Tuesday, January 31, 2012 Leader-Post Icaderpost.com LEADER-POST READERS GUIDE LEADER-POST MOBILIZE your NEWS ONLINE TWITTER Follow the Leader-Post on Twitter to get the latest updates on local and International stories, and interesting photos and entertaining videos. Head to twitter.comleaderpost to follow your local news source. LIFESTYLES Irene Selberlmg, 781-5238 lselberllngleaderpost.com ENTERTAINMENT Jeff DeDekker. 781-5321 jdedekkerleaderpost.com LEADERPOST.COM Matt Kruchak, 781-5244 mkruchakleaderpost.com SPORTS Rob Vanstone, 781-5216 rvanstoneleaderpost.com WEEKENDER TRAVEL Pat Carlson, 781-5249 pcarlsonleaderpost.com GENERAL INQUIRIES 781-5211 (8:30 a.m. 4:30 P-m.) CLASSIFIED 522-7355 READER SERVICES Missed deliveries or customer concerns 781-5212 or 1-800-667-8751 PUBLISHER M.L.

(Marty) Klyne mklyrieleaderpost.com EDITOR IN CHIEF Rob McLaughlin rmclaughlinpostmedla.com MANAGING EDITOR Marlon Marshall, 781 5241 mmarshallleaderpost.com DEPUTY EDITOR Veronica Rhodes, 781-5408 vrhodesleaderpost.com CITY PROVINCIAL NEWS Tim Switzer, 781-5300 cltydeskleaderpost.com BUSINESS Bruce Johnstone, 781-5304 bjohnstoneleaderpost.com EDITORIALS Andy Cooper, 781-5246 acooperleaderpost.com LETTERS lettersleaderpost.com This ScanLife code allows you to Instantly connect to news, contests and Information all with a click of your smartphone. Ilf you haven't used ScanLife codes before, please visit www.2tfscan. com and download the FREE application for your smartphone. WEDNESDAY GOOD TO KNOW Learn the details of a new plan to remember the 1912 Regina cyclone. SUMA The annual urban municipalities convention continues today in Regina.

2 Using the ScanLife application, scan any code you see in the Every day at 2 p.m the Leader-Post will publish an updated Leader-Post. tally of how many patients are waiting for Regina emergency 3 You'll be instantly linked to the room beds. Go to leaderpost.com to see the updates, content Wall Sfobbe Little reaction said he is very distressed to hear the premiers comments suggesting austerity measures in the upcoming budget. He said the premier should reveal details about what cuts are on the table, not just drop hints. "I think what we have to recognize is that the premier has some bad news that he doesnt want to tell us, Nilson said.

Lets not delay this third-quarter report and if in fact hes going to be making cuts throughout the civil service, if in fact the budget coming this spring is one that all of us will feel as a chill on the good economy that supposedly we have, then I think he better get that announcement out right away ahallleaderpost.com CONTINUED FROM A1 Wall said there may be spending reductions, but not overall cuts in the budget. He noted the Saskatchewan Party promised during the 2011 election campaign to keep government spending growth to about four per cent a year. The premier also repeated the governments commitment, first outlined two years ago, to reduce the number of full-time equivalent positions in the civil service by 16 per cent over four years. He said steps have been taken to have a smaller government without limiting service. I think we need to look at that at every level of government in this province, Wall said.

But NDP Leader John Nilson STARS CONTINUED FROM A1 During this altercation, portions of her skull and clumps of her hair were chopped off. Blood was left at the murder scene, she told jurors. "The severity of her injuries are such that you should have no difficulty in concluding that the killer, who we say is Mark Stobbe, was enraged at Beverly Rowbotham. Dawson said Stobbe then put his dead wife in the car, drove it into Selkirk and parked it near a gas station. He then rode a bike back to the house in the nights darkness in an attempt to cover up what he had done, hosing down the spot where he killed his wife.

There was little reaction from Stobbe, 54, who has been allowed by Court of Queens Bench Justice Chris Martin to sit outside the prisoners box so that he can be closer to his lawyer Tim Killeen. Dawson said by all accounts, Stobbe and his wife were a happy couple in the early years after their 1993 marriage and the birth of their two sons, Nicholas and Jacob. But when they moved from Regina to Manitoba in June 2000, their relationship started to fall apart. I dont know if I can do it anymore," Rowbotham told her best friend in confidence, Dawson said. Stobbe, hired as a high-ranking communications specialist by the Doer government, worked long hours, leaving his wife to look after the two young boys in a home that was semi-isolated for a new family Dawson said to make matters worse, that summer it rained a lot and the kids were confined indoors because of mosquitoes.

Their log-style home also had structural problems that required Rowbotham to be in almost constant contact with repairmen to fix things like a stuck door and an ant infestation. More stressful was that she was dealing with an ill mother who was suffering with dementia, Dawson said. Those pressures drove Rowbotham to want to sell the house, but Stobbe didnt want to move, Dawson said. WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Beverly Rowbotham ly specialized emergency medical air transport for critically ill and injured patients. It will complement Saskatchewans existing emergency medical transportation services.

Jordan expects the fee for the helicopter medical service will be on par with current air ambulance fees, which are $350. Patients will be responsible for paying the cost of ground ambulance services, which are typically between either way. Patients will be billed by the Ministry of Health, not STARS. pcowanleaderpost.com CONTINUED FROM A1 Jordan expects the Shock-Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS) helicopter will start serving Regina and southern Saskatchewan in April or early May. Meanwhile, renovations continue on an existing hangar, purchased by STARS from Redhead Equipment Ltd.

The building includes space for the helicopter, aircraft engineering equipment and medical and aviation crew training and staging areas. i STARS is a non-profit organization that provides rapid and high there earlier in the day with her younger son and having a fully stocked fridge and kitchen. Dawson said court will be told Rowbotham never entered the store. "We do not know what started the altercation, Dawson said, saying a pathologist will testify that Rowbothams wrists were grabbed in a physical struggle between the husband and wife. During the struggle Beverly Rowbotham sustained numerous Dawson said.

"It then culminated in a violent, lethal attack in their backyard where Beverly Rowbotham was struck 16 times on the head with a hatchet. RCMP later found 11 skull pieces, 13 clumps of hair and 69 tiny blood stains in the backyard. Police forensic experts also found 172 small projected blood stains on the back seat and rear window of the Crown Victoria, an indiction she was struck again after placed in the backseat. Although their life together outwardly appeared happy and contented, and it would seem Mr. Stobbe would have no motive to murder his wife, there were some small cracks appearing in the relationship, Dawson told jurors.

What happened that night between Stobbe and his wife is unknown, she added, although the next morning Rowbotham was supposed to be interviewed for a human resources job with the Manitoba government after dropping her kids off with her sister. The kids had just had baths mostly without event Nicholas did have a meltdown and were soon put to bed. Rowbotham then spoke to her mom on the phone for 13 minutes while Stobbe started watching a baseball game on TV Dawson said according to Stobbe, his wife made a spur-of-the-moment, late evening shopping trip to Safeway in Selkirk and didnt return home, despite shopping frost Minister Harper does act against people who disagree with him McGrane said studies have shown increasing concentrations of power by every prime minister since Pierre Trudeau. Harpers office now has unprecedented influence over party This lack of democracy was criticized by the Conservatives forerunner, the Reform party, when it was created, but Harper has turned his back on that largely" McGrane said. Some MPs who are ejected from a party fail to take supporters with them, but others are successful Trost could make it difficult for Harper to take action against him if he positions himself as a potential martyr for democracy Trost said hes "kicking around" the idea of introducing a private members bill on the topic, but realizes he faces an uphill battle.

Democratic reform items are difficult to get through, he said. CONTINUED FROM A1 Trost said he admires politicians of all stripes who have voted according to their conscience or the will of residents in their ridings, rather than blindly following the national party line. We need to have a cultural change. I think it would relax everybody Trost said. The (party) whip needs to have less authority over members.

University of Saskatchewan political studies Prof. David McGrane said Trost is correct, but wonders whether Harper will tolerate Trosts increasing rebelliousness on issues such as abortion, the Indian Act and democratic reform All the research on this topic would back up Mr. Trost, (but) is this a good move to make? McGrane said. It takes a lot of courage, but the repercussions can be swift. Prime Distracted Big risks have a cellphone in it.

We have had a few in RCMP jurisdiction, that we have determined through investigation that a person was using their handheld when the collision occurred and someone had been killed, said Lockyear. She reminds people that when people are travelling 110 kilometres an hour on the highway the vehicle they are in is covering over 100 metres per second. So if you think how long it would take to type a three-or four-word text or if your mind is taken away (from the road) for any reason, just how much distance you would cover during that time and what could go horribly wrong in that distance, said Lockyear. kbenJoeleaderpost.com lems, but that would be a lie. I did not crash, but I did run a stop sign, failed to yield and I could not maintain the posted speed limit.

It wasnt an easy task to drive and watch for signs and manoeuvre through the twists and turns on the course. Although my driving instructor, RCMP Cpl. Shelley Doncaster, was very nice, she was still there to shout at me to speed up and to keep texting. It was difficult to keep my mind on one task and Im sure many were confused by my random and sometimes indecipherable texts. Cpl.

Erin Lockyear, RCMP collision reconstructionist, knows first hand the dangers of being distracted behind the wheel We are seeing it to be a big issue, more of an issue in recent years, (with) everyone carrying around a cellphone, Blackberry, iPhone, an iPad or whatever, she said. It is a big issue because it takes your eyes off the road. It takes your mind off the road and its causing serious injuries and fatalities in our province." She said its a rare vehicle that they see at a crash that does not CONTINUED FROM A1 According to SGI, last year 3,000 tickets were issued to drivers for using cellphones while driving. That is why the RCMP, the Regina Police Service and SGI are reminding motorists of the risks involved with using cellphones to talk or text while driving. Kwei Quaye, assistant vice-president traffic safety services for SGI, said Mondays driving drill shows that driving requires a motorists complete attention.

"In 2010, we had 8,500 collisions that involved the use of cellphones and other types of distractions and we had 2,300 injuries that involved driver distractions and about 61 fatalities, he said. "Its quite significant that driver distraction contributes a lot to the tragic events we see on our roadways. If the first half of Mondays test hadnt already diminished my confidence, next on the agenda was to drive and text on an RCMP driving course. After putting on the necessary safety gear a fluorescent sash away I went. I would like to say I blew through the course with little or no prob sy LOTTERY NUMBERS Pick 3 Monday: 822 Extra Monday: 6654868 In the event of any discrepancy between this list and the official numbers, the latter shall prevail..