The Macon Telegraph from Macon, Georgia • A3

ag 1 Friday, October 30, 2009 3AThe Telegraph Bru Childs, also on hand to hear from her future representatives, agreed. need to be here in per- she said. can see their vi- sion more when they speak to About 300 people mingled Thurs- day from 5 to 8 p.m. inside the new conference center, formerly department store, with the likes of gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine, Secretary of State can- didate Brian Kemp and local candi- dates including sitting Centerville Mayor Harold Edwards. Efforts to get an exact head count or how many candidates actually showed up for the event were unsuc- cessful late Thursday after the event ended.

Candidates who attended the event or sent a representative were allowed a brief chance to tell peo- ple about themselves or why they should throw votes in their direc- tion. Many spent the evening around those short speeches answering questions, listening to concerns or catching up with other candidates. The event was billed as a way for area residents to have a chance to get face time with candidates from this local elections and 2010 statewide races. Some candidates who made the trip to Centerville also discussed is- sues that were driving them toward office. Beth Farokhi, a Democrat running for the state schools super- intendent job, said students are be- ing wronged by an unbalanced cur- riculum that needs to be addressed.

are focused so much on test- ing and not enough on Farokhi said, Some talked about the impact Middle Georgia could have on a state election. growth here has been as- said Attorney General candidate Rob Teilhet. important to me. You have to have support from everywhere when running in a statewide State Sen. Gail Buckner, who is running for secretary of state, walked through the room holding conversations with the familiar and the unfamiliar alike.

She said she miss the chance to repre- sent herself in Middle Georgia. is a very important part of the state because a part of she said. secre- tary of state must represent every citizen in the state. If a candidate have time for you before elected, then that should be a red flag right To contact writer Marlon A. Walker, call 256-9685.

HobNob Continued from 1A build his programming from syndicated material and other networks such as Retro TV. The Retro Television Net- work includes shows such as Hitchcock M.E.” and Register said be keep- ing Martha Stew- all the program- ming that people already see during the day, other than the soaps and this pretty rough prime-time programming we be Those shows holding onto are syndicated and do not come through ABC. Lynn Murphey, a vice pres- ident at the Cox Communi- cations cable company, said Thursday the company was just learning of the changes. She said Cox will determine how to carry the channels in the two months before the switch. In other words, there has been no decision about what will happen with prized Channel 6 location on local cable boxes.

Register said he think his loca- tion would change. Register said been ar- guing for years with president over the nature of its programming. Regis- ter said this year, instead of ABC offering WPGA a small amount of money to carry show, ABC demanded that it be paid instead. ABC requires most of its shows to be broadcast and restricts how shows can be aired or interrupted. Reg- ister said that was a tough complication: He be able to break into one of his shows with results from next local elections.

Losing the ABC affiliation adds flexibility. feel a lot of good syndicated and other network programming out there, and we just have to put ABC on Register said. may be making a big mistake, but we think WPGA has a heavy reli- ance on ABC programming. broadcast, for exam- ple, includes 13 hours of ABC programming, includ- ing Morning Ameri- and Register said he plans to televise the three hours of Morning Mix with Charles and Kenny Currently, it airs on radio for three hours, but only one hour is televised. Register said his station is still researching its options for the primetime lineup and other spots.

just too many pos- itive things for us to continue with he said. fully we can do better things than they do, especially with the Macon Telegraph staff writer Phillip Ramati contributed to this report. To contact writer Mike Stucka, call 744-4251. AbC Continued from 1A There has been no decision about what will happen with Channel 6 location on local cable boxes. JAsOn TelegrAph Richard Woods, left, a candidate for state schools superintendent, greets visitors at the second annual Middle Georgia HobNob at the Galleria Conference Center and Banquet Hall in Centerville..