III, Spring Arrives Spring colours are starting to bloom at Cullen Gardens and Miniature Village. Thousands of bulbs planted for the Gardens' annual tulip festival are just beginning to show off. Above, Patrick Irish gazes at the display. Whitby voters By MIKE KOWALSKI Free Press Staff Writer For the first time in nearly a decade, all Whitby voters will be handed the same federal election ballot when they go to the pols on June 2. Due to redistribution, the entire Town of Whitby will be represented by one Member of Parliament as population growth has necessitated the creation of a fourth federal riding in Durham Region. Although area residents will have an additional voice in the House of Commons, the new riding has also meant the loss of an historic name dating back to Confederation. Ontario riding, which has existed in one form or another for well over a century, has disappeared and been replaced by the new ridings of Whitby- Ajax and Pickering-Ajax- Uxbridge. Incumbent Liberal MP i one Dan McTeague, who repre- sented Whitby residents south of Taunton Road for the past four years, has opted to seek re-election in the latter riding which takes in all of Pickering and Uxbridge and the por- tion of Ajax north of Highway 2. While for those resi- dents living north of Taunton, they are no longer in Durham riding, represented by incumbent Liberal MP Alex Shepherd, Boards busing to save By MARK REESOR Free Press Staff Writer Durham's two school boards are looking to save millions of dollars by com- bining their bus opera- tions into one system, putting public and sepa- rate school children on the same buses. The amalgamation and the use of 'Map Net' rout- ing software, which has already been instituted, and a coordinated school year calendar coming into effect in the fall, will allow the two boards to reduce the number of buses required while still trans- porting the same number of students, . says public board business superinten- dent Ron Trbovich. The public board is expecting to save at least $1.3 million annually through the measures, he says. The changes prescribed by the computer program won't be painless, though.Twelve thousand students in 49 schools will join routes tax have to begin school earli- er or later to allow more efficient use of buses, prompting protests from parents worried about their children's safety and how the changes will affect them. More changes are on the way, warns Trbovich. Combining busing with the separate board will $ require changing start times in "at least" 60 more schools in the fail of 1998, although he promises no time will change by more than 30-minutes, and less in most cases. Although he admits the changes are disruptive to some fami- lies, Trbovich says the Turn to page 2 INSIDE We're back. The Whitby Free Press returns to regular production with today's issue, with a new look, using electronic pagination. Among other changes are the full color photos (you are hold- ing an example on this page), regular editorials, and a new distribution date - Saturday. See our lead editorial on Page 6. SCHOOLS Two schools in downtown Whitby are holding reunions this week. Henry Street High School marks its 175th anniversary, and R.A.Sennett Public School its 75th. riding but are now in Whitby- Ajax (south of Highway 2) riding. Hoping to become the first Member of Parliament for Whitby- Ajax riding are Liberal candidate and Whitby councillor Judi Longfield; Progressive Conservative candidate Frank Snyder; Bill Serjeantson of the Reform Party, and New Democratic Party candi- date Karen Dolan. In Pickering-Ajax- Uxbridge riding, McTeague is being chal- lenged by Progressive Conservative candidate Leanne Lewis; Reform Party candidate Ken Griffith and New Democrat Doug Grey. Although McTeague's opponents have called on him to drop out of the race because of 1993 campaign literature which erro- neously credits him with a university degree he did Turn to page 2 Both are holding a vari- ety of events, includ- ing open houses'this afternoon. See Page 12 for stories on both reumons. FRAUD Durham Regional Police have issued warnings about fraud. Since January, two elderly women in the region have been bilked of $20,000 and $11,000 respectively after being told they had won contest prizes. See story on Page 2. va-M.'le - -, > ý , . *. . 1